General Epistles
A Rooted Yearlong Curriculum – $225
This 26-lesson curriculum on the general epistles will show students how these letters are still relevant today, all while pointing them to Jesus and the good news of what He’s done for them.
BUY NOWWhy teach the General Epistles?
Tucked away in the New Testament are some smaller but mighty books: the general epistles. Though these authors were writing to audiences in a specific context at a specific time, they have lots to say to our teenagers today. These early church fathers, many of whom knew Jesus personally, help students grow in their understanding of how to live as a disciple of Christ.
James provides practical, godly wisdom for students on many issues they will confront in their daily lives. Peter offers students encouragement to live as faithful exiles in a culture where it’s not always easy to be a Chrisitan. John’s letters ground students in the Truth that was, is, and always will be true. Jude shows students that no matter what life throws at them, they are kept by God, the faithful one.
We encourage you to study the general epistles with your students and see how these letters resonate with them today, all while pointing them to Jesus and the good news of what He’s done for them.
James: Written by Mac Harris, Edited by Elisabeth Elliott Hayes
1 Peter: Written by Elisabeth Elliott Hayes, Edited by Kendal Conner
123 John: Written by Mac Harris, Edited by Elisabeth Elliott Hayes
Jude: Written by Mac Harris, Edited by Kendal Conner
Lesson Outline
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James
Written by Mac Harris, Edited by Elisabeth Elliott Hayes
LIVE OUT YOUR FAITH (1:1-2:26)
- Lesson 1: The Testing of Faith (1:1-18)
- Lesson 2: Don’t Just Talk the Talk (1:19-2:13)
- Lesson 3: Living Life with Living Faith (2:14-26)
WHAT CHRISTIAN LIVING LOOKS LIKE (3:1-5:20)- Lesson 4: Taming the Tongue (3:1-18)
- Lesson 5: Who’s Got Your Back? (4:1-17)
- Lesson 6: What Matters Most? (5:1-20)
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1 Peter
Written by Elisabeth Elliott Hayes, Edited by Kendal Conner
INTRODUCTION AND CONCLUSION (1:1-2, 5:12-14)- Lesson 1: An Open Letter to Exiles (1:1-2, 5:12-14)
A FIRM FOUNDATION: CHOSEN AS GOD’S PEOPLE (1:3-2:10)- Lesson 2: The Best News for Hard Times (1:3-12)
- Lesson 3: New Family Traits (1:13-2:3)
- Lesson 4: Chosen as the New People of God (2:4-10)
LIVING AS GOD’S PEOPLE IN EXILE (2:11-4:11)- Lesson 5: How to Be a Stranger (2:11-17)
- Lesson 6: True Freedom for the Non-Free (2:18-3:7)
- Lesson 7: Bearing Suffering with Hope (3:8-22)
- Lesson 8: New Priorities for a New Age (4:1-11)
STANDING FIRM AMIDST PERSECUTION (4:12-5:11)- Lesson 9: Enduring with Hope (4:12-19)
- Lesson 10: Humble Leaders and Humble Followers (5:1-11)
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1, 2, 3, John
Written by Mac Harris, Edited by Elisabeth Elliott Hayes
- Lesson 1: Living Out Your Faith: Walking in the Light (1 Jn 1:1-2:6)
- Lesson 2: Living Out Your Faith: Abiding in God (1 Jn 2:7-2:27)
- Lesson 3: Living as Children of God (1 Jn 2:28-3:24)
- Lesson 4: Living and Loving by the Love of God (1 Jn 4:1-4:21)
- Lesson 5: The Character of Jesus (1 Jn 5:1-21)
- Lesson 6: Faithful Living by Faithfully Loving the Stranger (2 Jn-3 Jn)
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Jude
Written by Mac Harris, Edited by Kendal Conner
- Lesson 1: Fight for the Faith (1-4)
- Lesson 2: The Righteous Judgment of God (5-8)
- Lesson 3: Beware the Ungodly (9-16)
- Lesson 4: Kept by Christ (17-25)
Contributors
Mac Harris, Writer
After graduating from Davidson College, where he studied history and religious studies, Mac Harris worked for a year as a Charlotte Fellow. He interned in the youth ministries at two churches, both in Birmingham, AL. He currently serves as Assistant Coordinator of Youth and Families at Hope Community Church while working towards his M.Div at RTS Charlotte. An avid Alabama football fan, Mac also enjoys fly fishing, ultimate frisbee, and Bojangles’ fried chicken.
Elisabeth Elliott Hayes, Writer and Editor
Elisabeth Elliott Hayes worked in student ministry for 7 years – first as a youth minister in Birmingham, Alabama, and later as Director of Spiritual Formation at Nicaragua Christian Academy in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. She has been involved with Rooted since its humble beginnings in 2010. Elisabeth holds a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies from Reformed Theological Seminary and is pursuing a ThM in Theology and Ethics from Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. She loves to travel, cook, garden, and explore Richmond with her friends and her husband, Will.
Kendal Conner, Editor
After spending 10 years working in youth ministry, Kendal currently serves as a Groups Minister at Redemer Fellowship in Kansas City, MO. Originally from Memphis, Tenn. Kendal received her BA from Union University. After graduation, she served 2 years overseas working with youth in Central Asia. After returning to America, she spent several years working for a parachurch youth ministry before moving to Oklahoma to serve as a Girls Minister in a local church. Kendal loves to travel, and dreams of one day being able to say she has enjoyed coffee in every country.
Rooted’s Scope & Sequence
Don’t know where to start? Check out our Scope & Sequence
All the lessons you need for your students’ entire time in your ministry — from brand new middle schooler to high school graduate. Whether you choose to walk through the Bible chronologically or you’d rather stick with a developmental stage approach, we have both plans written out for you, free of charge! Download the Scope & Sequence Plans for free, and purchase all the included curriculum in the Scope and Sequence Bundle to get started.
LEARN MORE“Unlike some of the other Student Ministry curriculum we have used that tries to cover the entire Bible in a year, Rooted allows us to carefully and exegetically walk through books of the Bible at our own pace. We truly enjoy the fact that Rooted has many options that allow us to pick the books of the Bible that we want to study for the year. We love how engaged our students have become with the Holy Scriptures, the lesson, and each other.”
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Download NowWhat will students learn from James?
Our current cultural climate forces students to wrestle with issues of ethics and justice, and we must learn how to be both hearers and doers of the Word in our schools, churches, families, and beyond.
Even at young ages, students will face trials and difficulties in their everyday lives, and James offers encouragement and hope for us in the midst of our suffering.
James provides practical, godly wisdom for students on many issues they will confront, such as taming the tongue, caring for their neighbor and for the poor, acting impartially towards others, anxieties and worries about the future, and many more topics that can be hard to discuss.
Every day students are faced with choices to follow the world or seek the Lord. James offers a helpful reminder of this choice, as well as practical guidance for following the Lord.
What will students learn from 1 Peter?
Everyone who has been scared and uncertain, not knowing which way to go, knows what it feels like to simply want someone trustworthy to tell you what to do, to orient you to the new reality in which you find yourself. That’s what Peter is doing in this letter.
Today’s world is not too different from the world of the early Christians to whom Peter wrote. For most of us, it’s not illegal to be a Christian, and we probably aren’t risking our lives for Jesus, but it may not be socially acceptable, either. American culture today is quick to “cancel” someone who is found to have values that are unacceptable to secular society, and Christian values often fall into that category. How does Jesus call us to live in light of our identity as His people in a world that is hostile to us?
And just like those early Christians, we’re waiting for Jesus to return, too. They were surprised when they were still waiting 30 years later. Here we are, more than 2,000 years later, still waiting. It’s easy to wonder, “Did we get it wrong? Will He ever really come back?” While we wait in exile to be delivered to the eternal promised land, 1 Peter offers us encouragement to remember our identity and hold fast to our faith, which is the only firm ground on which we can stand.
What will students learn from 1, 2, 3 John?
John’s letters are written to Christians in the early church who have just experienced a schism. A group of their brothers and sisters left the church, claiming to have a new, better morality and belief system. There was immense confusion for the early Christians, and for some of them, pressure to follow those who left.
Our students are surrounded by loud, competing voices claiming to hold the truth. In our current “cancel culture,” there is more pressure than ever before for our students to hold a morality and belief system—religious or otherwise—that is acceptable to their peers and to the broader society. When what students read in Scripture and hear in church conflicts with those cultural norms, it can leave students feeling deep confusion, and in some cases, pressure to leave the church behind.
John’s letters ground students in the truth that was, is, and always will be true. He reminds them that claims of new, enlightened belief systems may seem easier to digest, but they are not complete. John takes us back to the basics and calls us to remember what we knew in the beginning to be true.
What will students learn from Jude?
1) God Keeps You: Jude begins and ends his letter with the promise that God will “keep” His people (vv. 1, 24). This means that He guards, protects, and preserves us from “stumbling,” and that He keeps us for a purpose—to live with Him in heaven and experience His radiant glory forever. No matter what life throws at you, know that you are secure in God’s hands.
2) God is Judge: Jude devotes the majority of his letter to condemning and warning false teachers. God has always judged the rebellious and ungodly, and He will continue to do so. Today, we are invited to examine ourselves: Am I living more like a false teacher (v. 4), or like one who is building up my faith (vv. 20-21)?