Love Increasing

Note: This lesson uses two readings which do not follow the lectionary schedule for 2025. Those scriptures, should a leader choose to substitute, are: Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4 and Psalm 119:137-144; Isaiah 1:10-18 and Psalm 32:1-7; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12 and Luke 19:1-10.

Note to Teacher

All Saints Day gives youth a chance to celebrate the people—famous or familiar—who have shaped their faith. This session emphasizes two truths:

1. We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses (Revelation 7).
2. We are called to live blessed lives as modern-day saints (Matthew 5).

The structure of this lesson follows Bloom’s Taxonomy:

• Remembering: recalling saints and their legacies
• Understanding: interpreting the meaning of scripture
• Applying: connecting those lessons to daily life
• Creating: designing a digital or artistic expression of faith lineage

Encourage open conversation; honor grief where it arises and help youth recognize that sainthood is not perfection; it’s persistence in love, justice, and mercy.

Opening Question/Icebreaker (10 minutes)

“Emoji to Icon”: This activity aims to translate abstract faith concepts into modern symbols and spark conversations about how we represent saints today.

Instructions:

Provide paper, markers, or digital devices (Canva, tablet drawing apps, etc.).

Ask students, “If you could create an emoji or icon that represents a modern-day saint, what would it look like?”

• Encourage creativity and allow youth to scroll through their phones to look at their entire library of emojis.
• Encourage youth to think of well-known people as well as more personally connected people from the church and community who have saint-like qualities and could be represented as an emoji.
• Allow combinations of up to three emojis, but no more than that.
• Let youth know that they will be asked to share their emojis and their explanations after five minutes of searching and drawing. 

After the youth have spent minutes drawing or designing, invite them to share their emojis/icons and explain their meanings. If space allows, tape emojis on the walls of your meeting space.

Discussion Questions

• What qualities make someone a “saint” today?
• Why do you think symbols help people remember faith stories?
• How does your emoji connect to someone who inspires you?

Read Scripture / Discussion (15 minutes)

Scripture Readings:

• Revelation 7:9–17 – The great multitude from every nation.
• Matthew 5:1–12 – The Beatitudes, Jesus’ portrait of the blessed life.

Both passages describe what it may look like when heaven and earth come close.

• Revelation gives a vision of who is gathered around God’s throne: people of every tribe and language—ordinary believers made extraordinary through faith.
• Matthew describes how to live as those people: merciful, peacemaking, humble, hungry for righteousness.

Discussion Prompts:

• In Revelation, what stands out about the people gathered around God’s throne?
• What do you think it means to live an “ordinary” life of faith?
• How does this passage remind us that sainthood is inclusive—every culture and language represented?
• In Matthew, which Beatitude feels hardest to live out right now? Why?
• What do these passages tell us about what kind of people God honors and remembers?
• How might your “emoji/icon” from earlier connect to one of these Beatitudes?

Activity / Discussion (20 minutes)

“Augmented Faith Family Tree” - Help youth recognize their spiritual lineage, internalize gratitude, and visualize how faith is passed through generations and relationships.

Instructions:

1. Provide large sheets of paper or invite students to create digital family trees using Canva, Padlet, or Google Slides.
2. At the base or center, have them write their names.
3. Ask them to add branches for people who have influenced their faith — family, mentors, teachers, pastors, authors, public figures, or biblical figures. These influences could be positive or negative.
4. Encourage digital enhancements. Encourage the youth to add photos, emojis, quotes, or icons. If they are writing, ask them to draw symbols or write dates or locations that show the connection and interaction.
5. Next, have them add future branches — people or groups they could encourage or inspire in their faith journey.

Discussion Prompts:

• Who appears most often in your tree? Are there repeats? What qualities do they share?
• What qualities or experiences seem to form a pattern of what is meaningful to you?
• What lessons have these people taught you about God?
• How can you “extend your branch” to encourage others?
• What similarities do you see between your faith family and the “great multitude” in Revelation?

Optional extension:

Invite students to present their trees to the group or share screenshots on a shared drive or wall.

Closing Prayer Suggestion

Invite students to name one person from their faith family tree aloud. After each name, the group responds together:

“We give thanks for their witness.”

End with a collective prayer of gratitude, in the tradition of your group, for those who came before and for the call to live as saints today.

Needed Resources

• Paper, markers, pens
• Optional tech: tablets, laptops, or phones with Canva/Padlet access
• Bibles or printed scripture handouts
• Optional music: instrumental or reflective playlist for tree activity
• Optional projector/slides for emoji samples

Preparation Tips

• Preview Revelation 7 and Matthew 5 for your own comfort with imagery.
• Encourage vulnerability and gratitude during the “Faith Family Tree” activity.
• Consider integrating this lesson into worship by displaying the group’s digital trees on a screen or bulletin board for All Saints Sunday.