Dealing with Pressure: At School
Preached to: Middle School Students
Speaker: Pastor Amanda Hahn
As the school year winds down, many students are feeling the pressure: tests, final projects, social drama, and planning for summer can weigh heavily on young hearts. This month, we launched our new series "Bullies in Your Brain," focused on tackling stress and anxiety with God’s help.
We kicked off with a fun activity where students gauged their stress levels over everyday scenarios—like getting ready for school, pop quizzes, and giving presentations. It was clear: everyone deals with stress, but it looks different for each person.
We then looked at the life of Job, who faced unimaginable loss — losing his wealth, his servants, even his children — yet responded not with anger or blame, but with worship. His example reminds us: when life feels overwhelming, God is the one we can lean on.
Students identified their own stressors—things like school pressure, friendship drama, procrastination, and even their own expectations. Through scripture like 1 Peter 5:7 ("Cast all your cares on Him because He cares for you") and Philippians 4:6-7, we learned that God doesn’t just ask us to survive stress—He invites us to surrender it.
The students finished the night by writing a personal prayer about one stress they want to trust God with, remembering: God cares, God listens, and God brings peace that passes all understanding.
If you're feeling the pressure too, know you're not alone. And know that peace is just a prayer away.
Keep up with all that’s going on at Amplify Youth, including dates, times, sign-ups, and forms, on our main page.
-
STARTER:
Students explored personal stress triggers through a fun interactive activity, identifying school-related and life-related pressures.MESSAGE:
Stress and anxiety are "bullies" in our brains, but God invites us to cast our worries on Him; Job's example shows how to respond to overwhelming loss with worship instead of despair.DIG:
Through acting out Job 1 and group discussion, students recognized that while we can't control every situation, we can control how we respond — by trusting and worshipping God instead of panicking.APPLY:
Students brainstormed real stresses they face, learned how to surrender them to God, and created personal prayers asking for God's help, grounded in verses like 1 Peter 5:7 and Philippians 4:6-7. -
1. 1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)
"Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you."
2. Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)
"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."3. Matthew 6:33-34 (NLT)
"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today."4. Job 1:1-3, 13-22 (NLT)
The Life of Job
-
Night 1: Stress and Your School Year
Question: What’s something at school that causes you major stress right now?
Follow-up: How could you invite God into that specific situation this week?
Family Application: As a family, pick one stressor for each person and pray together for God’s peace over it.
Night 2: Learning from Job
Question: Job lost almost everything but chose to worship God anyway. What would be hard for you to trust God with if you lost it?
Follow-up: Why do you think Job was able to trust God even during heartbreak?
Family Application: Talk about a time your family faced a hard situation and how God showed up. Celebrate God's faithfulness.
Night 3: Practical Ways to Handle Pressure
Question: What are some healthy things you can do when you feel overwhelmed?
Follow-up: What’s one Bible verse you can memorize that would help when you're stressed?
Family Application: Create a "Stress Strategy List" together—practical ways your family can handle tough moments with faith and action.
