This week’s episode begins our study of Psalms 1–46 and the theme: “The Lord Is My Shepherd.”

We’ll talk about how to read Psalms in a way that helps teens discover meaning for themselves, beginning with Psalm 1 and the image of a person who delights in the law of the Lord becoming like “a tree planted by the rivers of water.” We’ll explore why God’s laws can bring stability, protection, peace, and lasting happiness, and how noticing contrasts, images, and repeated ideas can help us better understand what a psalm is teaching.

Next, we’ll turn to Psalm 23 and the declaration, “The Lord is my shepherd.” We’ll discuss what it means to make Jesus Christ our personal Shepherd, how to recognize His voice among all the other voices competing for our attention, and why following Him can bring peace, restoration, direction, and strength even when the path leads through difficult valleys.

Finally, we’ll study Psalm 119:105: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” We’ll talk about how scripture and the words of living prophets can provide enough light to help us take the next faithful step, even when we cannot see the entire road ahead.

This episode also introduces a special “Find the Psalm You Need” resource that helps teens search Psalms for themselves when they feel afraid, alone, in need of direction, in need of forgiveness, grateful, surrounded by opposition, unsure whether God hears them, or simply want to praise Him.

This week’s lesson helps teens do more than understand a few familiar psalms. It helps them learn how to open the scriptures, discover truth for themselves, and find words from God that can speak directly to what they are experiencing. https://joshdowns.com/cfm-resources/p/psalms-1-46-the-lord-is-my-shepherd

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This week’s episode focuses on the book of Job: “Yet Will I Trust in Him.”

We’ll talk about why bad things can still happen to good and faithful people, what Job’s story teaches about mortality as a test, and how Jesus Christ can strengthen us when we face things we cannot immediately solve. We’ll also study Job’s powerful declaration, “For I know that my redeemer liveth,” and connect it with Peter walking on the water to see how focusing on Christ can bring peace and strength even while the wind and waves are still present.

Finally, we’ll explore Job’s testimony, “When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold,” and what trials can teach us about refinement, growth, compassion, and becoming more like the Savior. Along the way, we’ll connect Job’s experience with Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail, Francis Webster and the Martin Handcart Company, and personal experiences that show how Jesus Christ can help us survive what we cannot yet solve and redeem even the hardest parts of our story.

The book of Job helps teens understand that suffering is not always punishment, unanswered questions do not have to destroy faith, and even when we cannot see what God is doing, He still knows the way we take.

• Get this week’s Study & Teaching Guide:
https://joshdowns.com/cfm-resources/p/come-follow-me-job-for-teens-yet-will-i-trust-in-him

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This week’s episode focuses on the book of Esther: “For Such a Time as This.”

We’ll talk about how the many seemingly ordinary events in Esther’s life reveal the quiet work of an all-knowing God; how fasting helped Esther place faith above fear and receive spiritual strength to do something difficult; and how the Lord completely reversed Haman’s plan so that what was intended for destruction was “turned to the contrary.” We’ll also connect Esther’s story with Joseph of Egypt, Bart Millard and the story behind “I Can Only Imagine,” and other examples of how Jesus Christ can take painful experiences and turn them toward growth, compassion, service, and eventual good. The book of Esther helps teens see that God may be preparing them long before they understand why, that prayer and fasting can strengthen them when the next step feels frightening, and that in the hands of Jesus Christ, their worst days do not have to become wasted days.

• Get this week’s Study & Teaching Guide: https://joshdowns.com/cfm-resources/p/come-follow-me-esther-for-teens-study-teaching-guide

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Study & Teaching Resources

This week’s episode focuses on Ezra 1–7 and Nehemiah 1–8: “I Am Doing a Great Work.”

We’ll talk about how God worked through Cyrus, a Persian king outside the covenant faith, to help His people return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple; how Jesus Christ can rebuild testimony, hope, trust, worthiness, and other holy things that may feel weakened or broken; and how Nehemiah protected the work when opposition, fear, distraction, and pressure came. We’ll also compare Nehemiah’s declaration, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down,” with Lahonti being drawn away from safety and poisoned “by degrees.” These chapters help teens see that God is working through more people than we may realize, that no life is too damaged for Christ to restore, and that when He helps us rebuild something holy, we must be prepared to protect it and remain faithful.

• Get this week’s Study & Teaching Guide: https://joshdowns.com/cfm-resources/p/come-follow-me-for-teens-ezra-nehemiah-study-teaching-guide

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Study & Teaching Resources

This week’s episode focuses on 2 Chronicles 14–30: “Our Eyes Are upon Thee.”

We’ll talk about Asa trusting the Lord when Judah faced an overwhelming army and how we must keep relying on God even when pressure increases; Micaiah standing for truth when 400 other voices told the king what he wanted to hear; and Jehoshaphat’s powerful prayer, “Neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.” These chapters help teens see that faith does not always mean having every answer. Sometimes faith means turning our fear toward God, trusting His prophets, standing for truth with courage and compassion, and keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ when the battles of life feel bigger than we are.

• Get this week’s Study & Teaching Guide: https://joshdowns.com/cfm-resources/p/2-chronicles-14-20-26-30-our-eyes-are-upon-thee

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This week’s episode focuses on 2 Kings 16–25: “He Trusted in the Lord God of Israel.”

We’ll talk about Israel being carried away captive and how ignoring the Lord’s voice and breaking covenants can lead us away from true freedom; how God’s commandments are not meant to control us, but to protect us; King Josiah’s rediscovery of the book of the law and how each of us must discover the scriptures for ourselves; and Josiah’s reforms as a powerful pattern for repentance and change. As we increase the light of Jesus Christ through scripture, prayer, worship, covenant connection, and the Holy Ghost, the things that once pulled us away from God can begin to lose their power.

• Get this week’s Study & Teaching Guide: https://joshdowns.com/cfm-resources/p/come-follow-me-for-teens-2-kings-16-25-study-teaching-guide

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This week’s episode focuses on 2 Kings 2–7: “There Is a Prophet in Israel.”

We’ll talk about the ministry and miracles of Elisha and how prophets point us to Jesus Christ; the widow’s oil and how the Savior can pay the debts we cannot pay and provide what we cannot provide on our own; Naaman’s healing and how simple prophetic counsel can lead to miracles when we are humble enough to trust and obey; and Elisha’s servant seeing the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire as a powerful reminder that when we stand with the Lord and His prophets, we are never as alone or outnumbered as we may feel.

• Get this week’s Study & Teaching Guide: https://joshdowns.com/cfm-resources/p/come-follow-me-for-teens-2-kings-2-7-there-is-a-prophet-in-israel

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Study & Teaching Resources

This week’s episode focuses on 1 Kings 12–22: “If the Lord Be God, Follow Him.”

We’ll talk about Rehoboam and Jeroboam and how wrong voices, pride, fear, convenience, and counterfeit worship can pull our hearts away from God; Elijah and the widow of Zarephath and how choosing faith over fear can invite the Lord to bless, preserve, heal, strengthen, and restore us; and Elijah’s powerful question on Mount Carmel — “How long halt ye between two opinions?” — as an invitation for teens to examine what they are really following and choose Jesus Christ with an undivided heart.

• Get this week’s Study & Teaching Guide: https://joshdowns.com/cfm-resources/p/come-follow-me-for-teens-1-kings-12-22-if-the-lord-be-god-follow-him

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This week’s episode focuses on 2 Samuel 11–12 and 1 Kings 3–11: “Hear Thou in Heaven Their Prayer.”

We’ll talk about the fall of King David and how small choices can lead the heart away from the Lord, Solomon’s request for “an understanding heart” and why teens need wisdom and discernment, and the blessings of the temple taught in Solomon’s dedicatory prayer — including forgiveness, direction, healing, protection, restoration, compassion, and hearts turned more fully toward God.

• Get this week’s Study & Teaching Guide: https://joshdowns.com/cfm-resources/p/come-follow-me-teens-2-samuel-11-12-1-kings-3-11-hear-thou-in-heaven-their-prayer

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This week’s episode focuses on 1 Samuel 17–26 and 2 Samuel 5–7: “The Battle Is the Lord’s.”

We’ll talk about David facing Goliath with faith in the living God, Jonathan and David’s friendship and the marks of a true friend, and what the story of Uzzah and the ark teaches about sacred things, priesthood order, stewardship, and trusting the Lord to direct His own work.

• Get this week’s Study & Teaching Guide: https://joshdowns.com/cfm-resources/p/come-follow-me-teens-11-samuel-17-26-2-samuel-5-7-teen-lesson

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