SL Podcast Prep | Guidance

Intro

Hello, hello! You’re listening to the studentlife podcast, where we take a deep dive into recent topics from StudentLife Youth Ministry and look at how we can live them out. Our goal is to help you know and follow Jesus, step by step.

My name is Joe Farage and I’m one of the youth leaders at StudentLife. Let’s dig in!

We’ve been in a series on TESTIMONIES

hearing from studentlife leaders and guest speakers about their stories and how God has brought them through.

Before we look at Trevor’s testimony and God’s plan for our lives, I wanted to share a quick conversation I had with Amber, my wife.

Buffer

Get Amber to do the 1 minute recording

Name

Favorite Bible Verse

If you had 1 minute to say something to middle and high school students, what would you tell them?

A magician promises that he can throw a ball as hard as he can and have it stop, change direction, and come back to him. He claims he can do it without the ball bouncing off of anything, the ball being tied to anything, or the use of magnets. How is this possible? Answer: He throws the ball straight up in the air.

If a red-house is made of red bricks, has a red wooden door, and a red roof, and a yellow-house is made of yellow bricks, has a yellow wooden door, and a yellow roof, then what is a green-house made of? Answer: Glass.

Recap

Trevor shared his testimony

Quick recap, he grew up in Christian family and served a ton in church (sometimes it was just for the donuts). As time went on he continued serving, but really had ulterior motives. He was in a not-so-healthy relationship with his girlfriend and his parents kept encouraging him and pushing him to do what he knew was right, which led to fighting and frustration between him and his parents.

Fast forward a bit, and he’s broken things off with that girl, he’s forced to move, and decides to pursue what he thinks God’s plan is for him, so he heads to a ministry school. While there he realized that school wasn’t actually God’s plan for him and he was trying to force his own plans onto God. Through all of this, he realizes that when he tries to force his plans, it usually ends up worse, so he decides to stop forcing his plans and rely on God’s strength and God’s plans. He ended up returning to Buffalo and getting connected to Life Church where he’s now service on staff as the Production Director

Deep Dive

I really enjoyed hearing Trevor shared his testimony, it helped me get to know him a bit more and know some of his story. It’s also really cool to see how God was worked in him in to bring him to where he is today.

So Trevor challenged us to trust God with our lives, to let God handle our plans for our life. I want to take a look at the “Why?”

Why should I trust God with my life and my plans?

The simplest way to find out is, just do it. 100% commit to trusting God and letting Him direct you and see what happens. As Trevor said, even if God’s plan for you looks tough, it’s the best for you and will turn out way better than you could ever imagine.

If you want a bit more to chew on about on this topic, you’re in luck!

Trevor talked about Romans 8:28, which says

Romans 8:28 CSB

We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

You may have heard this verse before, but that phrase “all things” literally means ALL, “We know that ALL THINGS work together”. Paul’s saying that there’s not one thing that happens that God isn’t working through. Now, this does NOT mean that there’s bad stuff doesn’t happen, but it means that even the bad stuff can be used to bring Glory to God.

A personal example from my life. Amber, my wife and I have 3 awesome kids, ages 6, 3, and almost 7 months. But over the last 6 years, we’ve also been through 3 miscarriages. We’ve been to counseling and are very open about processing them, and while the miscarriages are still painful and difficult, and honestly, I still struggle with why they happened, they’ve opened up unique opportunities for me, but specifically Amber. She’s had women come to her who are suffering through miscarriages and they haven’t told ANYONE else. She’s become their confidant and is able to share how there’s hope and joy and love even in the midst of losing a child. It doesn’t make our miscarriages “okay”, but it’s a way that God is using them to help others who are hurting.

In Philippians 1:21, Paul goes so far as saying that, “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Paul wrote that from Prison, and we see a and goes on to say that he will continue his “fruitful work” of serving God and helping the church, but if he’s killed in prison, that means he gets to be with God in heaven for eternity, which is even better. Paul really means ALL things, in life and in death.

In this account from Paul, we also see that he has no clue what the future holds for him. He doesn’t know if he’s going to live or die! He knows he’s in prison, he knows that whatever outcome happens, God’s using it for God’s glory and goodness, but Paul doesn’t know what that outcome is! He can’t see that many steps ahead.

Psalm 119:105 says “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.” A lamp doesn’t throw a ton of light. It’s not like a floodlight that lights up 20 yards in front of you when you’re walking in the dark. With a lamp, even if you hold it as high as you can, you can only see a couple feet in any direction. God’s word, the Bible, is meant to guide us in God’s plan for our lives. Psalm 119 is very long, so it’s broken into sections titled by the letters of the Hebrew language. This verse, Psalm 119:105 is the first verse in the section titled “Nun”. The section right before this, titled “Mem” is all about the psalmist’s love for God’s word, his desire to understand it more.

The psalmist knows that God often only shows us one step at a time. And he knows that that revealing of God’s plan is supported and even provided by knowing God’s word. It’s very rare that we get to see multiple parts of the plan at the same time. Usually we get just enough to get us through the next part while relying on Holy Spirit to guide us.

If we got to see the whole plan, we wouldn’t have to trust in God’s plan and rely on His strength. We’d be able to do it all ourselves. Solomon recounts this in Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.”

When it comes down to it, Paul, David, Solomon, Trevor, and myself can say with certainty that God’s plan is better than ours. That we can trust God with our lives, because His plans are better than we could ever make for ourselves.

Charles Finney, a church leader from the 1800’s, says it this way

300 Quotations for Preachers from the Modern Church “Grace to Ride out the Storm”

I looked to God with great earnestness day after day, to be directed; asking him to show me the path of duty, and give me grace to ride out the storm.

CHARLES FINNEY*

Takeaway

So if you hear ONE thing from this message, I want you to make it a point to ask God to show you what He’s doing around and through you. Ask him how He’s going to use it for His glory and His plan.

MUSIC TRANSITION

Announcements/News

This week is our last week of the Testimony series at StudentLife, and then we have a week off on August 23 because of summer camp.

BUT! After we get back we’re having AS ONE on August 30! Which is when middle school and high school are combined on Wednesday night and we have an awesome night. The 30th is 70’s night so we’d love if you came to check us out and dressed up too!

Outro and Acknowledgements

Wrap up

That’s all we got for today

Remember Jesus loves you and has a plan for your life, ask Him what it is and listen for his response!

On behalf of Pastor Jordan and all the StudentLife Youth Leaders, thanks for listening and we hope to see you on Wednesday night!

StudentLife is a ministry of Life Church Buffalo. High School meets Wednesday nights at 7pm, and Middle School meets Sunday mornings at 11am.

The original music for this episode is by Blakeis, you can find him on Spotify, check out the link in the show notes

Show Notes

NOTES ABOUT PODCAST

Verses referenced:

Romans 8:28 CSB “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”

Philippians 1:21 CSB “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Psalm 119:105 CSB “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 CSB “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Charles Finney quote from:

Ritzema, Elliot, and Elizabeth Vince, eds. 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Modern Church. Pastorum Series. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013.

StudentLife is a ministry of Life Church Buffalo. High School meets Wednesday nights at 7pm, and Middle School meets Sunday mornings at 11am.

You can find StudentLife on Instagram (@lcbstudentlife) and TikTok (@lcb_student_life).

You can find Life Church Buffalo online at www.lifechurchbuffalo.com.

The original music for this episode was by Blakeis, you can find him on Spotify, or by going to https://bit.ly/blakeis

Have a question you want answers to? Or do you want more information about StudentLife? Text 716-712-4957