Last night, we did the second part in the Unbroken series entitled "Broken." This is the part of the story where things go really bad and really wrong because of man's disobedience and sin against God. Here are a couple of points made last night.
1. Every good story starts off well, but then things get really bad before they get better. That's the same with the gospel story.
Examples: I used the examples of "Little Red Riding Hood" and "The 3 Little Pigs" as fun examples to prove that every story is like this (the wolves being the really bad part).
2. Things went wrong for Adam and Eve because they lost sight of their need for God.
God created man to reflect His image and have a perfect relationship with Him so that He was all they needed. Things went wrong when they thought they needed something else or something more.
3. All of mankind is broken because of sin and it's seen all around us.
Examples: death, divorce, sickness, povertly, pornography, cheating, lying, etc.
My challenge to students was to find where the brokenness was in their life.
4. Our sin puts us in a hopelessly bad situation, seperated from God and deserving death (Romans 3:23 and 6:23). Our condition is desperate.
I finished with this thought tonight because I wanted to have students understand the weight of their sin and the brokenness in the world. Without understanding this, we will never understand our need for Christ. I left them with the idea that God is the one who created us and He is the only one who could possibly get us out of this mess...we need Him...BAD!
Next week, we are going to talk about the greatest news of all time...when God made a way to get us back into that right relationship with Him...the way He created us to be.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Unbroken: Part 1
Last night, we continued our Edge series called "Unbroken." In this series, we are going through God's story for all time found in the Bible. This first part of the series is focused on God creating the world and creating man. Here are some key points from the night.
1. God's Creation is AMAZING and everything about it points to his glory.
From a caterpillar having 228 seperate and distinct muscles in it's head to the universe being 150 billion light years big (we watched a video that showed this), creation is amazing and shows how big and glorious our God truly is.
2. God created MAN in HIS Image
Out of all of God's amazing Creation, he chose to make something he treasured more than anything else in this world. He chose to create man. He made man in His image for the purpose of representing and reflecting Him. Mirror Analogy: A mirror's purpose is to reflect light so that when we look into it, we see an exact representation of ourselves. God is the same way. He created us so that when he looks at us, he sees an exact representation of Himself.
3. Because man was created in His image, man had a perfect relationship with God.
We talked about how Adam and Eve's lives were perfect because of one thing, God made them to be that way. They didn't have any problems (not because it was sunny every day), but because God created them to have perfect relationship with Him.
4. Stop and Worship God for His creation
This is only the beginning of the big story of God, but it's so amazing that it should cause us to stop and worship. Last night at Edge, we worshiped in some different ways. Students had the opportunity to respond through drawing, writing, and reflecting (ask them about it).
It was a great night. Next week, we will discuss the BROKENESS that came through sin.
1. God's Creation is AMAZING and everything about it points to his glory.
From a caterpillar having 228 seperate and distinct muscles in it's head to the universe being 150 billion light years big (we watched a video that showed this), creation is amazing and shows how big and glorious our God truly is.
2. God created MAN in HIS Image
Out of all of God's amazing Creation, he chose to make something he treasured more than anything else in this world. He chose to create man. He made man in His image for the purpose of representing and reflecting Him. Mirror Analogy: A mirror's purpose is to reflect light so that when we look into it, we see an exact representation of ourselves. God is the same way. He created us so that when he looks at us, he sees an exact representation of Himself.
3. Because man was created in His image, man had a perfect relationship with God.
We talked about how Adam and Eve's lives were perfect because of one thing, God made them to be that way. They didn't have any problems (not because it was sunny every day), but because God created them to have perfect relationship with Him.
4. Stop and Worship God for His creation
This is only the beginning of the big story of God, but it's so amazing that it should cause us to stop and worship. Last night at Edge, we worshiped in some different ways. Students had the opportunity to respond through drawing, writing, and reflecting (ask them about it).
It was a great night. Next week, we will discuss the BROKENESS that came through sin.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Unbroken (Intro)
Parents, as promised, here is the outline of my talk last night at Edge for you.
Tonight was the intro of Edge for the year and the introduction to our series called "Unbroken."
Here are a couple key points and take aways from the night.
1. Your life compared to eternity is like a mist. (James 4:14)
I used 2 illustrations for this point. You can ask your son/daughter about them. One involved my grandpa being in a movie and the other involves toilet paper. That is all I will say.
2. Since our lives are nothing compared to eternity this life is not about us, but this life is all about God. He is the main character.
From the beginning of creation to the time when everyone bows down to worship God, this whole story, this whole life is all about God.
3. Since this life is all about God, than wouldn't you want to make the very short time you have all about God.
4. Unbroken overview
I finished tonight by giving the overview of the Unbroken series that will happen over the next few weeks. It's this: God created us to reflect his image and have perfect relationship with Him, sin broke it and now all of us aren't living as we intended to live, but God did something so amazing...He made a way to get us back in that relationship.
That's the story for last night!
LATE NIGHT CHALLENGE
I also challenged students to invite their friends to the Late Night and to Edge throughout this month because the gospel story we are telling is not just for them, it's for everyone and they need to hear it. Help me challenge your son and daughter in this!
Tonight was the intro of Edge for the year and the introduction to our series called "Unbroken."
Here are a couple key points and take aways from the night.
1. Your life compared to eternity is like a mist. (James 4:14)
I used 2 illustrations for this point. You can ask your son/daughter about them. One involved my grandpa being in a movie and the other involves toilet paper. That is all I will say.
2. Since our lives are nothing compared to eternity this life is not about us, but this life is all about God. He is the main character.
From the beginning of creation to the time when everyone bows down to worship God, this whole story, this whole life is all about God.
3. Since this life is all about God, than wouldn't you want to make the very short time you have all about God.
4. Unbroken overview
I finished tonight by giving the overview of the Unbroken series that will happen over the next few weeks. It's this: God created us to reflect his image and have perfect relationship with Him, sin broke it and now all of us aren't living as we intended to live, but God did something so amazing...He made a way to get us back in that relationship.
That's the story for last night!
LATE NIGHT CHALLENGE
I also challenged students to invite their friends to the Late Night and to Edge throughout this month because the gospel story we are telling is not just for them, it's for everyone and they need to hear it. Help me challenge your son and daughter in this!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Parents Parents Parents
We just had our fall parent meeting and I am reminded of how it important parents our to the ministry I lead. I would even go so far as to say that Edge is a ministry to parents just as much as it is a ministry to students. If we don't value parents in this ministry, we wouldn't have students in this ministry...bottom line. The reason is that parents play a vital role in the lives of their kids. As a matter of fact, parents are way more influential on their kid's lives than any youth pastor or small group leader. Because this is true, it's my job to help. It's my job to partner with parents. Our leadership team has to come along side the parents to point their kids to Jesus Christ. Sometimes, we say the same things as the parents, but because we are not the parents, student's listen. This year, my staff and I have decided to beef up the parent aspect of our ministry. We are adding 2 things to help:
1. This blog will serve as a tool for parents. I will be posting 1-2 times per week with follow up outlines to my talks, recent culture news, middle school trends, valuable parenting resources, and more. My desire is to see this as a way that parents can join me in this ministry (really, I am joining parents).
2. This year, we are also going to record all of my teaching talks from Wednesday nights so that parents have access to them if they are interested in hearing what I talked about. This will help parents follow up with their sons/daughters more effectively. I start the conversation and my desire is to see the parents continue it.
1. This blog will serve as a tool for parents. I will be posting 1-2 times per week with follow up outlines to my talks, recent culture news, middle school trends, valuable parenting resources, and more. My desire is to see this as a way that parents can join me in this ministry (really, I am joining parents).
2. This year, we are also going to record all of my teaching talks from Wednesday nights so that parents have access to them if they are interested in hearing what I talked about. This will help parents follow up with their sons/daughters more effectively. I start the conversation and my desire is to see the parents continue it.
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