Graduation Devotions

Free Graduation Lessons for Your Youth Group

By Doug Franklin March 12, 2021

We’ve compiled two graduation devotions to help you celebrate your seniors and encourage them to stay the course in their faith even after graduation.

Each graduation devotion can be used for small group discussion, a large group talk, or a Sunday School class.

In each download you’ll find:

• A Bible Study with Discussion Questions
• Suggestions for Application
• Media & Graphics
• and More!

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FREE graduation devotion #1:

The Good Shepherd and Host is a free graduation devotion from the Pursuit One-Year Bible Study Curriculum.

This lesson focuses on how God leads and pursues his people, especially through life’s transitions. Graduation is a transition for graduates, no matter where they’re headed, but also for younger students who will be saying goodbye to role models, friends, and siblings. Psalm 23 describes God first as a shepherd and then as a host. We see his care, provision, and guidance in both roles. When things are uncertain, he is certain. His hospitality is a foretaste of the place he’s preparing for us in heaven. Even when we respond poorly to transition and go our own way, he’s behind us and waiting to welcome us back to his table.

Students will discover the danger of abandoning our Shepherd after graduation, and students who aren’t graduating will be encouraged to build a foundation that will weather the transition when it comes.

THIS LESSON FEATURES:

1. A Bible Study with Discussion Questions
2. Real Life Examples and Illustrations
3. Suggestions for Application 
4. Memory Verse Graphic and Powerpoint or ProPresenter Slides

a look inside this graduation devotional

The Danger of Following Your Heart

You’ve probably heard stories about students making poor choices after high school graduation. Whether it’s skipping classes to play video games, or partying every weekend with friends, the choices a person makes will have consequences. Popular movies, music, and social media are full of encouragement to try everything and live in the moment, and college offers freedom to experiment, but the truth is, without a shepherd, we’re directionless. In a season where people will tell you to follow your heart, know that the human heart is an unfaithful friend. Jeremiah 17:9 says it’s “deceitful above all things.” Unchecked, following your heart will lead to a life of turmoil and unrest. Instead, invite the Good Shepherd to guide your heart in righteousness, and know that he’ll be working to make it more like his.

DISCUSS:

1. Why do you think some students make poor decisions after they’ve graduated?

2. What spiritual blessings do we have by following the Good Shepherd?

3. How can you remember God’s blessings when faced with temptations, especially after graduation?

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FREE graduation devotion #2:

Whatever You Do is a free graduation devotion for youth from the One-Year Bible Study Curriculum, The Black Letters of Jesus.

This lesson is a devotion for graduating seniors designed to help students trust God with their future. It will take students deeper into what it looks like to experience and live out the new perspective we receive as Christ-followers.

THIS LESSON FEATURES:

1. A Bible Study with Discussion Questions
2. Real Life Examples and Illustrations
3. An Interactive Activity
4. Suggestions for Application 
5. Promo Art and Powerpoint or ProPresenter Slides

a look inside the interactive activity for this graduation devotion

In this activity, your students will get a chance to write a new chapter of a well-known story together. This can be a fun game of imagination and creativity, but if your group is having a hard time coming up with the story, feel free to step in and push the story forward.

Instructions:

Ask each group of students for suggested words (about 30 nouns/verbs/adjectives) and write them down in list-form on a whiteboard or blank piece of paper so that everyone in the group can see them. Explain that each person in your group has been asked to write a new chapter for a character from a well-known book or movie (for example, The Lord of the Rings, Anne of Green Gables, The Chronicles of Narnia, Peter Pan). Participants will have to use the words you listed out on the white board—in order—in the story they tell. The participant who uses the most words (from the list) in his or her story wins.

Discuss:

1. As you thought about the new experiences for the character, what did they need for what was ahead of them?

2. What was difficult about this activity?

3. What is God asking you to bring with you as you look forward in your life?

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