HT Chapter 3 (Wednesday Evening)
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
Gum Flavor Game:
Have two teams of 5 girls/boys. Set up two table with 9 numbered cups each. and number each pile of gum. Select two Teen Judges. The judges will have a cheat sheet for which numbered pile corresponds with the correct matching cup.
Each team will line up in single file in front of the table. The first person will grab a piece of gum chew it and guess which flavor it is. If he is correct, the judge will remove the cup . If he is wrong, he will go the back of the line and the next person will guess. The first team to correctly guess all the flavors wins.
Say: There was a built in challenge to that game.
Copyright - Ministry To Youth 5
Some of you didn't recognize the flavor right away and you needed to chew on it for a
while.
But what's the problem with chewing gum? (wait for it...)
Yes! The more you chew it, the less flavor it has!
Congratulations to the winning team.
And thanks for all who played.
1. What's your favorite flavor of gum or candy? least favorite?
2. Have you ever told a younger child or sibling that something bad would happen if
they swallowed their gum?
What did you tell them? (Or what did someone tell you?)
3. Describe a time where a parent or grandparent was worried about you?
When you think about it, was there anything they could have done to make a
difference?
Did worrying make a difference?
4. Describe something you recently were worried about.
Did worrying actually help the situation or person at all?
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
We talked about last night how Jesus wasn’t giving us a list to check off but rather he was describing how we can “burn the ships” and “be all in”
Tonight we are going to talk about “loving God with all our soul”
What do you think the scriptures mean when it says, to love God you all your soul? (allow for a few answers)
In Hebrew, the language of the original quote, the word for soul is nephesh.
We can often think of the soul as a spiritual part of us that lives forever, even when our physical body dies.
But this isnt the definition of nephesh in the Bible.
Nephesh actually means a "living, breathing physical being."
So we don’t just have a soul we are a soul.
So, when Jesus says that we must love the Lord our God with all our soul, He means we must devote our whole physical existence to our Creator.
After all, God is the one who granted us these amazing bodies in the first place.
It’s about offering your entire being with all of its capabilities and limitations in the effort to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself.
A large part of the New Testament is made up of letters.
Those letters were written to help Christians live this "all in" kind of life that God has designed for us.
The author of many of those letters was a man named Paul. One of the letters he wrote was to a church in Philippi and is called Philippians.
In it, he deals with the issue of worrying.
Have any of you ever worried before?
(Allow time for raised hands.)
Any of you have a parent who told you they've worried about you? Or a grandparent?
I have worried, too.
(Share some of your own worries here or list these.)
As a parent I have worried about my kids.
When we go on trips or to camp, I have worried about you or how you'll parents will react when they find out what you did.
But do you know what all the worrying has in common?
It never changes anything!
Sure, it gets people upset.
It makes us nervous.
It's actually physically unhealthy to worry!
And it's kind of like that gum chewing game.
The more you chew the gum, the less flavor you have and the less enjoyable the gum is.
The more you worry, the less it helps you. Actually, nothing changes for the person you are worried about and it affects you physically in the worst way.
And I don't know about you, but I've never "wished" to worry more.
But I sure have wanted to relax and have peace in my life.
When I think about it, it seems like a person who is "all in" with God - trusting and focusing on Him - would not have to worry about life but would have peace.
Those were Paul's thoughts, too.
Check out these words from his letter.
Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Now this morning we talk read part of the story.
Some one tell me what happened to Hudson Taylor that made everyone begin to worry? That’s right!
On his way to china his ship almost ran a ground. This could have caused it to sink and them all be drowned. Was the captain or Hudson Taylor able to stop the ship themselves? No, of course not.
If we're going to be "all in" with Jesus, that includes our thoughts and attitudes.
You can't say you trust God but worry that He won't take care of you.
That's like chewing gum a long time and thinking the flavor will get better.
It just doesn't make sense!
Think about this.
When you worry, you think to yourself over and over again about the bad things that might happen, but you don't actually do anything, and sometimes you aren't able to do anything to prevent bad things from happening or to make them better.
So what did Hudson Taylor suddenly remember moments before the ship would have run aground?
He remembered that he and the 3 other believers could pray. So that’s what they did.
Then what happened?
when we pray, we are talking to God - the all-powerful Creator of the entire universe who sent Jesus, His only son, on a rescue mission to take your place and die, allowing you to live free from the penalty of the sin you deserve.
That’s God you are talking to, the One who not only can but does work to care for us and to answer our requests.
Paul tosses in a subtle reminder here when he says, "Thank Him for all He has done." When you think about all that God has done to help people for thousands of years and all the ways He has loved and cared for you, it should remind you why you should want to be "all in" with Him.
He can be trusted and has proven that over and over and over.
So, you can worry…That won’t change the situation you are worried about or help the person you are worried about, but it has been proven to make you physically unhealthy.
Or, you can pray…As you think about what God has done, develop thankfulness in your heart, and give your requests to the One who can do something about them.
When you do that, you'll experience the peace that only God can give.
Not only is that peace beyond what we can understand or make on our own, that peace that guards our hearts and minds and our whole being.
When we are "all in" with God, He is "all in" in taking care of us.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.
Now this really only applies to those of us who have worried before.
If you say you’ve never worried, then maybe we need to talk about lying. LOL.
The bigger issue here is that Paul's letter is for people who are following Jesus.
It is for those of us who say we are "all in" with Jesus.
Think about times you have worried, been stressed, or experienced anxiety.
Would you have wanted to trade those horrible feelings for the peace that God offers?
Would you have wanted to have been calm, knowing God cared more about the situation and the person than you possibly could?
Imagine how different you would be if you could trade out those negative emotions for God's peace the next time you are in a similar situation.
Ironically, as you trust and love God more, you'll be in a better mental state and more capable physically to love and help the people around you!
So being “all in” means that we will chose to take our worries and concerns to God. It means that we will Love him by first giving him our hearts but then also we must love him by giving him our soul, our inner being.
When we do that we will learn to trust him. Trusting him is such a beautiful place to be in because it is free from worry and full of peace.
If you have not become a Christian yet you don't yet have access to this peace, maybe it's because you have some worries or "concerns" about what that could look like to be a christian.
Well like we talk about last night please ask one of your leaders or even me what it means to trust Jesus as your savior.
