Leadership MTG.

Sunday Night Feb. 26

What is the root cause behind all sin that we commit as human beings?

if you could sum it up in one or two words, what would you say?

I would argue SELFISHNESS is the root of all sin.

Pride would be another way to say it, but ultimately acting on our pride in selfishness.

Judges 21:25, “In those days there was no king in Israel, everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

Shane Pruitt, the Next-Generation director for NAMB said yesterday.

1980s: “self-esteem” movement

1990s: “self-made” movement

2000s: “self-help” movement

2010s: “believe in self” movement

2020s: “self-love” movement

Its all humanistic “self-worship” with different lingo. However, you’re created to worship Someone other than “self”. He is Jesus.

Luke 9:23 “23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

There is always a war for us.

Especially for teens, during their formative years, there is a war for their minds.

This call to deny self and trust in Jesus is a difficult call.

Especially in this age of “Self-love” that Pruitt says we live in.

I think he’s dead on in this assessment.

so given that landscape, How do we minister to teens in 2023?

Remind them of the MIT: “Your walk with Christ.”

I love the chronological reading this year.

I don’t love being in Numbers right now haha.

But frequently if your in our student ministry, you will hear me challenging our teens with questions about the Bible reading. But keep that in front of them.

It may be boring at times right now, but encourage teens to stay in God’s Word.

Sunday Morning:

Interlocked

Diving deep into the Truth of God’s Word.

Imagine you know one truth about God, “God is love,” but also imagine that’s all you know.

Let’s say you experience a lot of difficulties in a short period of time: someone dies, someone gets very sick, you wreck your car and don’t have a vehicle, you

Is God still loving?

We need a complete view of who God is and what He reveals about Himself through His Word.

That’s what our Interlocked study is helping us do.

Wednesday Night:

In the Fall, we looked at worldviews.

We looked at different worldviews

The goal was to sharpen what we believe.

And to help teens own their faith. No one can tell a teen what to believe, they must own it for themselves.

One of the best ways to help teens solidify what they believe is to force them to think about what they believe compared to other false worldviews.

Currently, we are doing Girls/Guys small groups.

Girls are doing a book study called “God’s Brave Girl.” In this study, the girls are studying various bible passages and discovering how God makes them brave in today’s world! They will be learning about how we can believe who God says he is, believe his plan, live boldly, love fiercely, and pray fearlessly. This is a great time of discussion, connection and encouragement with one another.

Guys are currently writing questions in to me and or suggesting books of the Bible to learn more about and we are doing that together.

Again, the goal here is to get our teen girls and guys into the Bible and to walk alongside them as they read God’s word.

Summer:

Awanita.

No cell service.

strong interactions with one another.

Great opportunities to study the word together in a large group setting, small group setting, and personal study.