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Middle School

Without a Doubt?

  • Lesson 5
  • Spring 2026
  • By: RLD Editorial Team
  • April 26, 2026
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Lesson Focus:

Take your doubts to Jesus.

Bible Basis:

John 20:19-29

Materials Needed:

Step 1:

  • Internet access

Step 4:

  • Water (1 cup per 3-4 students)
  • Cotton swabs (1 per student)
  • Rocks or black paper (1 per student)
  • Optional: Hair dryer

Summary & Links:

Students will watch the best plays of the Superbowl and begin to discuss how easy it is to doubt what we can’t see.

Memory Verse:

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
—Hebrews 11:1

Step 1:

Students will watch the best plays of the Superbowl and begin to discuss how easy it is to doubt what we can’t see.

Materials Needed:

  • Internet access

Welcome your students as they enter and begin a casual discussion on a time they experienced, saw, or heard something so crazy that it was almost unbelievable. Maybe something that they tried to tell their parents and friends about, but they didn’t believe them. It could be something trivial (I poured myself a bowl of fruity-flavored loops cereal and they were all green!) or something important (I was in a car accident, and the doctors can’t believe I didn’t break a bunch of bones.).

Sometimes these unbelievable things happen to get caught on camera. They go viral or are preserved as visual history. Let’s watch a video of some of the best plays of the Superbowl LX game played in February between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots.

Share the following video clip with your students [0:57]: Top 5 CRAZIEST Moments In Super Bowl 60!! New England Patriots vs Seattle Seahawks #shorts#superbowl

  • Which play did you find the most amazing? (Answers will vary.)
  • If you had been told you about these plays instead of seeing them with your own eyes, how would your reaction have been different? (Answers might include: I wouldn’t have believed it, I’d have wanted to see the video, it wouldn’t have seemed so amazing just hearing about it, instead of seeing it.)
  • What would it have been like to be there live in the stadium when these plays happened? How would you have reacted? (I would have been amazed, I would have cheered for my team, I would have told everyone I know about seeing it, etc.)

In our Bible story today, Jesus’ disciples witness the most unbelievable thing ever to happen in human history. Understandably, the one who missed out had his doubts. It’s only human to doubt unbelievable things that we haven’t witnessed for ourselves. Let’s see how Jesus handled this doubt.

Looking for Steps 2 & 3?

You can find Steps 2 and 3 in your teacher’s guide. To purchase a teacher’s guide, please visit: Bible-in-Life or Echoes.

Step 4:

Materials Needed:

  • Water (1 cup per 3-4 students)
  • Cotton swabs (1 per student)
  • Rocks or black paper (1 per student)
  • Optional: Hair dryer

If your class is meeting online, invite students to bring supplies with them to class. (You can also do the activity as a demonstration for students, rather than a participative activity.)

  • Looking back at our Bible story for today, can someone please summarize how Jesus handled Thomas’ doubt? (Jesus knew Thomas was doubting, He didn’t condemn Thomas, Jesus showed Thomas what he needed to see in order to believe.)

Our doubts aren’t sin. Jesus knows that we have them. We get into trouble when we try to hide them or deny them. Jesus wants us to bring our doubts out into the open and to trust that He will take care of them for us.

Take a rock (or piece of black paper), a cotton swab, and a cup of water. Dip the swab in water and write the word DOUBT on your rock. Watch as the water evaporates and the word fades. If you have one, you can use a blow dryer to speed up the drying process.

Imagine that this cup of water is my doubts. If I keep them all bottled up, like the water in this cup, they MIGHT fade (evaporate) eventually, but it will take a really long time. If I bring them out into the open, though, like writing with water on this rock, I can address my doubts and they will disappear. I can bring them to Jesus—my Rock—and He can help me with my doubts. He might have me get advice from mature Christians on how they deal with doubts. Maybe they can even offer answers to my questions.

Distribute supplies (or invite students to have them ready at home); have water close by. Give them opportunity to find a private spot if possible. Ask them to write a doubt on their rock/piece of black paper. Then ask them to pray about this doubt and watch the word fade from view. When everyone has had time for this process, bring everyone back together.

Read the memory verse together one more time. Challenge your students to keep their rock/piece of black paper in a prominent place this week. When doubts arise, they can write their doubt in water on their rock/piece of black paper as a reminder to bring their doubt out into the open so that Jesus can help them through it.

End in prayer, asking Jesus for the courage to bring their doubts out into the open and for clear answers to the doubts they bring up.

Spread the word

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