Fear

This past Wednesday night we finished up our series entitled "Soul Detox" by taking a look at how fear can pollute our souls and stop us from becoming and doing all that God wants us to. We took some time to examine four different types of fear. Those four types were; 1) Fear of loss, 2) fear of rejection, 3) fear of failure, and 4) fear of the unknown. At the same time we took a look at how sometimes our fear is a reflection of where we trust God the least.

Here are some of the Scriptures that we used to determine what our response should be in the face of each of those fears.

Psalm 46:1

            God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

Isaiah 41

            So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 43

            But now, this is what the Lord says—he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God,    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

Psalm 34:4

            I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

     We ended the night be taking a look at Psalm 34:4 as our blueprint to really dealing with our fears. If we seek God and find refuge in Him, then He will deliver us from our fears and allow us to experience life as He intended.

Here are some questions that you might want to use to further the discussion with your student.

What is one of your biggest fears you have in life?

Out of the four, which category seems to be where most of your fears come from?

Fill in the blank

                I am fearful of losing _________

                I am scared of failing at _______

                I am afraid of being rejected by ___________

                The thing that scares me most about my future is ___________

Culture

     On Wednesday, we took the opportunity to begin to examine the culture that we allow to be part of who we are. We defined "culture" by the games that we play, the TV and movies that we watch, the music that we listen to, the things that we read, the friends that we hang out with, and the web that we surf. The students were encouraged to begin to examine each of their own lives and see if culture was having a negative impact on who they were. In evaluating this, we asked them to answer three questions. 1) Why do I watch/play/listen/hang out with _________________? 2) Does this bring me closer to God or draw me further away? 3) How does this affect me?

     Our basis for the night came from several different Scripture. Romans 12:2 (Message), Philippians 4:8 (TNIV), 1 Corinthians 6:12 (TNIV), and Proverbs 25:26 (TNIV).

How to Worship

We wrapped up our worship series this past Wednesday night by taking some time to look at how we should worship in our response to who God is and what He has done for us.

To start the challenge, we gave the opportunity for students to share moments in the past week in which they were awe of who God is. Many students took the opportunity to share with each other the many ways they had been in awe of God. From the setting sun, friends, to an opportunity to serve someone else, it was amazing to hear the students response.

We then moved into a time of looking at how we worship. We centered our focus once again on John 4 and Romans 12 and discussed our attitude and actions when it comes to how we worship. Our attitude should be one of desire instead of obligation. Our attitude gives our worship purpose and meaning and moves it beyond just singing a song.

We then talked about our actions when it comes to worship. Hebrews 13:15-16 was our focus for this section. We encouraged the students to be who God has created them to be in worship. If that means they raise their hands, close their eyes, kneel, etc. However they worship, let it be what comes naturally to them. Also, we encouraged them to not value one "style" of worship over another. We then took time to discuss how worship is not just the songs that we sing, but the life that we live. Everything we do can be done in worship when it is done to glorify God.

Here are some questions that you may want to use in follow up this week::

1. How often do you think of your actions as worship?
2. What needs in the lives of people around you seem most urgent to you?
3. What needs in the world around you tend to weigh down your own heart the most?
4. What’s one thing you can do this week to worship God by serving others?

Worship

     There is an interesting portion of Scripture that is found in Romans 12:1-2 that says, “Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is true worship.” And in another part of Scripture where Jesus is talking to a Samaritan woman there comes a point in the conversation where He tells her that, “a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”

    And if you were listening at all to those two portions of Scripture, you will find that there is a common word in both of those verses. Worship. Worship. Think about that word for a minute. Worship. What does that word mean to you? For some it is the songs that we sing on a Sunday morning or a Wednesday night. Others it is a time to stand up and catch up with our friends will all that is going on since no one else can hear them right? For some it’s that awkward moment when we may feel like everyone is watching us and so we are not sure what to do. But at its core, what is it? What is this thing that we call worship?

       This was our intro into this weeks series opener dealing with worship. We used this past Wednesday night to explore what exactly worship was. With the main thrust of the evening being that when you boil it down to the simplest of ideas, worship means to pay great honor to. To have  profound love and admiration for. To be stricken with awe.

      Psalm 65:8 says, “The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.” We need to see the awe around us. Both in the big and the small. To begin to see God is the middle of everything. To be amazed at what He has done. When we begin to see God in everything around you, when you begin to find Him in the big and the small, and you begin to truly be in awe of Him, our natural response will be worship.

     I'd encourage you to find an opportunity this week to talk with your teenager about our lesson. Here are some questions that might generate some good conversation:

        1. Why is it so hard to focus on God sometimes?

        2. When was the last time you were in awe of something? What was it?

        3. How have you seen God in everyday things in your life?

Here is a video that we used in the lesson as well.

Labels

     We finished up our Wednesday night series entitled "Identity" by taking a look at the labels that we sometimes place on others. We discussed how if labeled a certain way over and over again, that is the image that they begin to see in the mirror, so we need to be careful in regards to the way that we talk to and about people.

      We also talked about how the labels we can place on people can tarnish the fact that they are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). We also encouraged the students to examine their speech towards others in light of how Paul encourages us to speak in Ephesians 4:29.

Here are some questions you might want to use as you talk with your teenager about this week's lesson:

Why does it seem to come so naturally to label people?

What are some of the ways you have seen people labeled?

How are some of the ways that you have been labeled?

How have you been guilty of labeling someone?

Hello, My Name Is...

     This past Wednesday night, we kicked off our first series of the year which we are calling Identity. We are taking the next 3 weeks to take a look at our self esteem and the Biblical Truth behind what we should see when we look in the mirror. We started off the series by having the students take an honest look at what they see when they look in the mirror, both the good and the bad. Then we had them examine that in the light of what Psalm 139 tells us. We encouraged them to stop believing the lies that they are not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, athletic enough, etc. and begin to see themselves as God sees them; as His creation specifically made the way He desired them to be.

     Here are some of the small group questions that we used to facilitate some discussion after the challenge.

What do you see when you look in the mirror?

What are some things that you LOVE about yourself?

What is one thing you wish you could change about yourself?

What lies do you tend to believe about yourself? Why do you think you hear those things?