Life, Light, and Love: Advocate

February 24
1 John 2:1
KEY QUESTION:
What is John’s goal for the believer?
MAIN IDEAS:
John wants believers to recognize 4 things:
1. His Authority
– “my little children, beloved”
– John speaks with tenderness but for the purpose of instruction
– his message: don’t be content with sin in your life!
2. Their Challenge
– John challenges them to live sinless lives
– It is a high goal, John does not leave room for mediocrity
– His instruction will help them move in this direction
– Why try not to sin?
– because God has given us new hearts
– because God has forgiven us and given us hope
– because God have redeemed me
– because we have been bought with a price
– because God wants to be glorified in me
– because God is my life
– because God has rescued me from that which was worthless
3. God’s Grace
– but if we do sin, there is grace
– this is a failsafe not an excuse
– all is not lost – why?
– every believer has no righteousness of their own
– we are redeemed by Christ’s merit
4. Christ’s Role
– he is an advocate: a person who pleads on someone else’s behalf
– he stands in our defense
– why is Christ identified as “the righteous”?
– his righteousness is ours
– see also: 2 Cor 5:21, 1 Cor. 1:30-31, Phil 3:8-10
– because

Life, Light, and Love: Walk in the Light

February 17
1 John 1:5-10
KEY QUESTION:
What does it mean to “walk in the light”?
MAIN IDEAS:
1. It means we will follow Jesus (vs. 5)
– “this is the message we heard from him: God is light”
– when? John 8:12
– “whoever follows me…will not walk in darkness”
– what does following Jesus look like?
– a commitment of our time (the disciples lived their lives with Jesus)
– a commitment of our relationships (the disciples hung out with each other)
– a commitment of our selves (the cost of discipleship – take up your cross)
2. It means we will live distinct lives (vs. 5-7)
– John only presents two options: walking in darkness or light
– our lives are lived in one or the other
– there is no neutrality
3. It means we will value unity (vs. 6-7)
– walking in the light means we are in fellowship
– warning: no unity = no light = no relationship with God
– the importance God places on unity should raise our awareness
– don’t lie to yourself and say you have unity when you don’t
4. It means we will take sin seriously (vs. 8-10)
– sin offends God
– sin creates the need for rescue/forgiveness
– sin ignores the role of Word in bringing conviction
– taking sin seriously requires humility and honesty with ourselves and God

Life, Light, and Love: Reality Check

February 10
1 John 1:1-4
MAIN IDEAS:
1 John gives a
A. Reality Check (vs 1)
– this is the testimony of an Apostle
– notice the use of senses (this is real!)
– John wants believers to be confident
B. Concerning Jesus (vs 1)
– the “Word” is similar to John 1:1
– words clarify ideas, difficult concepts
– Jesus came and clarified what God’s character is like
C. Seeing Brings Response (vs 2-3)
– 2 times “what we have believed we now proclaim…”
– if we know Jesus (reality) then we will tell others about him
– we have to remember that people’s biggest need is Jesus
– define reconciliation: bringing two sides together
– First: God and Man, Second: Man and Man
D. Why? It is for our Joy
– seeing Jesus truly and responding to him is what we were created for
– Joy is found in being like Christ, and living the Christian life in unity!
– Joy is not found in drama which thrives on separation and division!
– Joy can say:
Christ is the treasure (Matthew 13:44)
Better is one day in your courts than thousands elsewhere (Psalm 84:10)
In your presence is fulness of joy (Psalm 16:11)

Life, Light, and Love

so i think for the next few weeks we’ll be walking through 1 John with the students; as a parent maybe you could read through the entire letter a few times to get a feel for what John is trying to get the church to understand…that way you can help your kids digest our discussions on Sunday nights.

Sight

to see: to become aware of something from observation

I wanted to let you guys know of some of the things I’ve seen while observing our youth group…the most obvious one is that our kids tend to not really see the other kids around them…they see them as to avoid bumping into them, but they don’t really see what’s going on with them…a kid gets left sitting on a chair by himself while everyone else his age runs outside…a girl shows up for the first time in a long time but doesn’t get asked to be on a team with everyone else her age…i see these situations every week and am praying that our kids will become less myopic, less nearsighted, as they are challenged to love one another. if those kids were ignored in a public school, I would be sad but not surprised…I hope the church can strive to be different…

…you can help:

1) prepare your kids as you drop them off for what they’re about to experience, the temptation to just think about themselves for an hour and encourage them to think through ways they can serve the group and their peers while in the car driving to church…remember as a family the purpose of the body of Christ…if you don’t know…let’s talk because that would help out a bunch!

2) if your kids think they are spiritually mature…find out how they’re serving and encourage them to keep it up…I didn’t learn it until after high school – that spiritual maturity was more about loving others by putting them first and less about knowing the churchy answers…

3) remember that you never know who is going to be at church…sometimes your kid’s presence means there will be 3 in a group instead of 2 (that’s a huge difference when trying to lead discussion)…sometimes a quiet kid shows up and we need quiet kids here to just sit next to them so that they can both be quiet together…sometimes a crazy kid shows up who listen to metal music and we need kids to be here who can relate to them…sometimes kids show up who think they’re better than everyone else and we need kids to be here who can just smile and love them anyways…sometimes kids show up who are struggling through issues of faith and we need kids to be here who can remind them that no one really has it all together…you get the picture…every type of kid can find a place to serve in the church…the question is do you as parents think that serving is reason enough to get your kids here for 3 hours a week?

4) let them see it in you…the same situations happen with adults too…how many people have you ignored at church this week while getting to where you were going or so that you could talk in your comfortable group of friends?

SuperBowl Party

Well we had a great SuperBowl party this past Sunday night…a number of kids came but no new faces unfortunately (as you parents plan on bringing your kids to events like these let me encourage you to help them think of friends who need to be in an environment where they can hear about our hope in Christ or even friends who might just be alone)…there were a few opportunities missed to serve one another but I’m thankful that a few opportunities were taken advantage of…

As always, I hope you’ll include these conversation starters in your follow-up with your kids:

What kind of food did they have?
How did your friends do with inviting people to come tonight?
Who was there that you hadn’t talked to in a while?
What sort of games did you play?
How were you able to serve the group tonight?
Along with having fun, what spiritual things happened tonight?

Fresh Start II

January 27
2 Corinthians 5:17-19
KEY QUESTION:
How does God give me opportunities to experience his grace?
MAIN IDEAS:
- We can experience grace in 3 ways:
1) With NEW LIFE (2 Cor 5:17, Gal 6:15); this is the first step in a relationship with God in which we are rescued by grace through faith
2) With NEW DIRECTION (Micah 7:8-9)
Do not rejoice over me, my enemy;
       When I fall, I will arise;
       When I sit in darkness,
       The LORD will be a light to me.
       I will bear the indignation of the LORD,
       Because I have sinned against Him,
       Until He pleads my case
       And executes justice for me.
       He will bring me forth to the light;
       I will see His righteousness.
– It is what we need after a season of wandering
– Emphasizes honesty (not ignoring sin)
- Emphasizes reality (feeling the weight of sin)
- Emphasizes repentance (moving away from sin towards a life of righteousness)
- Emphasizes grace (the unmerited favor of God)
3) With NEW VISION (2 Corinthians 5:18)
– In the journey towards maturity, God begins to show us that we have a new ministry – that of making him know to those around us
– We want to be “missional”: having a heart that takes advantages of opportunities to talk about the greatness of Christ
– Remember we looked at 2 Corinthians 5:17 earlier – the NEW LIFE must result in NEW VISION – it’s not optional
– Do we sometimes think that spiritual neutrality is a viable way to live the Christian life?
– To participate in God’s redemptive purpose in the Earth we have to keep Grace in mind…to remember what God did for us in Christ and so that we will be eager to extend that grace to others through reconciled relationships.

Journey IV. Follow

Sept 2
Mark 1:16-18
KEY QUESTION:
Am I willing to follow Christ as my leader no matter what?
MAIN IDEAS:
- The defining quality of the Christian life is the presence of God living inside of you.
- This makes the Christian life less about doing something for God and more about following his leadership.
- We express that we understand the presence of God is living inside of us by taking responsibility for the gifts he has given to us and being responsive (obedient) to his instruction.
- Following God messus up our lives. What we once had in our control becomes a life to be lived by faith.
TAKE SOME HOME:
- Do I protect my comfortable, clean life and ignore God’s leadership to move into more uncomfortable opportunities and ministries?
- What gifts has God given you that you haven’t recognized and then used for his glory?
- How would your life change if you were responsive to his instruction? Would your friends change? The places you go? Would the things you say, listen to, or wear be different?

Journey III. Forgive

August 26
Psalm 32:1, Romans 8:1-2
KEY QUESTION:
What happens when I fail?
MAIN IDEAS:
- Sin is sin. No sin is too great for God to forgive because God is able to distinguish between what we’ve done and who we are in Christ.
- In Christ we have forgiveness so the purpose of confession isn’t to create an opportunity for God to forgive but rather to agree with him that what we’ve done was wrong.
- After we sin we must deal with our past and then move on knowing that God can still use us for his glory.
TAKE SOME HOME:
- When you think about God forgiving your sin, what response do you have?
- Have you tried to cover up any sin that you really just need to confess?
- Are you withholding forgiveness from someone who has wronged you?

Journey II. Trust

July 29
Mark 4:35-41
KEY QUESTION:
Why don’t I always understand what’s happening in my life?
MAIN IDEAS:
- In order for trust to happen, chaos must exist. trust acknowledges that we don’t have to know all the answers but that we know who is in control.
- Trust turns the focus away from what God can do for you to simply focusing on who God is.
TAKE SOME HOME:
- What storms am I facing in my life?
- How can I prepare now to respond well in them?
- If God leaves “needs” unmet in my life, it is because he wants me to trust him as my _________________.