Come Follow Me for Teens: "If The Lord Be God, Follow Him" (1 Kings 12-22)
“If the Lord Be God, Follow Him”
This week’s Come Follow Me lesson from 1 Kings 12–22 teaches powerful truths about what we choose to follow, how hearts drift from God, and how the Lord invites us to return to Him with an undivided heart. Through Rehoboam’s prideful choice, Jeroboam’s counterfeit worship, Elijah and the widow of Zarephath, and Elijah’s confrontation with the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel, we see that our hearts are always being led somewhere — by the voices we trust, the fears we follow, the approval we chase, or the God we choose to put first.
In this episode of Come Follow Me for Teens, we explore how Rehoboam and Jeroboam teach youth that wrong voices, pride, fear, convenience, and false sources of identity or peace can slowly pull us away from the Lord. We also study Elijah and the widow of Zarephath and discuss how choosing faith over fear, trusting prophetic counsel, and putting God first can invite the Lord’s power to bless, preserve, heal, strengthen, and restore us. Finally, we look at Elijah’s powerful question on Mount Carmel: “How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him.” This episode invites teens to examine what they are really following and to choose Jesus Christ with more of their hearts.
This week’s Come Follow Me for Teens Study & Teaching Guide helps teens and those who teach them explore the powerful lessons found in 1 Kings 12–22.
In these chapters, Rehoboam and Jeroboam show how wrong voices, pride, fear, convenience, and counterfeit worship can pull hearts away from the Lord. Elijah and the widow of Zarephath teach the blessings that come when we follow faith instead of fear and put God first. And Elijah’s confrontation with the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel invites youth to consider one of the most important questions of discipleship: If the Lord is God, will we follow Him?
This guide helps youth focus on three powerful principles:
“Many Things Can Pull Our Hearts Away from God”
How Rehoboam’s and Jeroboam’s choices teach teens that we are always being led somewhere — by the voices we trust, the fears we follow, the approval we chase, and the substitutes we turn to for identity, peace, or belonging.
“When We Put God First, He Can Bless, Preserve, Heal, and Strengthen Us”
How Elijah and the widow of Zarephath teach teens that when we trust the Lord, follow His prophets, and choose faith over fear, God can sustain, bless, heal, and restore us in ways we could never provide for ourselves.
“If the Lord Is God, Follow Him”
How Elijah’s invitation on Mount Carmel teaches youth to stop wavering between God and the world and choose to follow the Lord with an undivided heart.
This guide is designed to help teens see one central truth:
God does not want half of our hearts. He wants to lead, heal, strengthen, and save all of us.
Inside this guide:
Full background for the week
3 readiness / object lesson activities
3 complete teaching principles
Exact scripture blocks from the weekly study
Discovery, discussion and journal questions
Expanded teacher-friendly teaching sections
Powerful quotes from Church leaders
Testimony prompts and personal application ideas
Practical application actions for each principle
Christ-centered connections to faith, repentance, healing, obedience, and the word of the Lord
Designed for:
Parents teaching teens at home
Youth Sunday School support
Young Men and Young Women leaders
Seminary-style family discussions
Teens studying Come Follow Me on their own
Teachers wanting a ready-to-use weekly lesson framework
Ideal for:
10–20 minute family gospel lessons
Youth class discussions
One-on-one parent/teen conversations
Personal study during the week
Leaders who want deeper teaching without starting from scratch
This week’s guide points youth to the central message of these chapters:
Our hearts are always following something. The Lord invites us to follow Him.
As teens study Rehoboam, Jeroboam, Elijah, the widow of Zarephath, and the people of Israel on Mount Carmel, they will be invited to examine the voices, fears, desires, habits, and influences that are shaping who they are becoming. They will consider what may be pulling their hearts away from God, what it means to put Him first, and how to stop wavering between the Lord and the world.
These chapters remind youth that spiritual drift often happens gradually, that faith sometimes means trusting God before we see the blessing, and that Jesus Christ can help us become men and women of God with undivided hearts.
Everything parents and youth leaders need to teach "Come Follow Me" to teens - Without hours of prep.
