Wired Week 1- Purpose

Big Idea: God created you with a purpose.

Primary Scripture: 1 Peter 4:10-11

Supporting Scripture: Ephesians 2:10

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CAPTURE (Why should students pay attention to and care about your message?)

· Have you ever been in the middle of something you do all the time—totally routine—when a random question just pops into your head? And before you know it, you’re five videos deep down a YouTube rabbit trail?

· You find out things like this: modern peanut butter was most likely invented back in 1895 by John Harvey Kellogg (yes, the cereal guy).

· Jams have been around for thousands of years, but grape jelly as we know it was first introduced during World War I and was originally called “Grapelade.”

· But bread is basically a mystery.

· We know that it goes back thousands of years, likely originating somewhere in the Middle East, but we really have no idea who invented it… or why.

· I get the idea that “peanuts taste good, so let’s make peanut butter,” and “grapes taste good, so let’s make grape jelly,” but no one really knows who first thought, “Let’s grind wheat into powder, add milk from a cow, eggs from a chicken, salt from a cave, oil from olives, and yeast—which is a fungus—and bake it all together.”

· And each ingredient needs to be prepared the right way, added in the right amount, and added in the right order, or your bread isn’t going to be very… bready.

· So then who was the first person to mix all of this together and then bake it? And who was the first person brave enough to actually eat it?!?

· Questions like that help me better understand how things work and why things are the way they are.

· We’re kicking off a new series called Wired.

· We’ll be taking a look at how (and why!) God wired each of us and what it means for us to really lean in and become the people God is creating us to be.

SCRIPTURE (What does God’s Word say?)

· If you look around the room, some of us might be about the same height or have similar hair color, but none of us are exactly the same.

[Teacher note: If you have one or more sets of twins (or triplets) in your group, this would be an excellent time to point out that even though they look alike, they still have differences that set them apart from each other. We would suggest asking ahead of time if they are okay with you calling attention to them, as some students might find this uncomfortable.]

· Those differences become even more obvious when you consider how each of us is wired.

· Just like that first person who figured out bread didn’t just throw ingredients together by accident, God didn’t just throw us together randomly and hope for the best.

· Just like bread is meant to be shared and enjoyed, our gifts are intended to be shared with others.

· The Apostle Peter wrote to remind early Christians about this truth.

· They were scattered across the Roman Empire, trying to figure out how to live out their faith in a world that didn’t always understand or accept them.

· Peter wanted to remind them (and us) that our differences actually make us stronger.

10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen. (1 Peter 4:10-11 – NLT)

· Peter was writing to Jewish Christians who had been displaced from their homes and were living as refugees in cities throughout modern-day Turkey.

· Many of them likely felt isolated, like outsiders, trying to fit in… yet never quite succeeding.

· Peter wanted them to understand that God hadn’t made a mistake when He created them.

· Every gift, every ability, every unique way God wired them was intentional and valuable.

· Peter’s message is just as important today as it has ever been.

INSIGHTS (What might this Scripture mean?)

1. God has given gifts to each one of us.

· Look back to that first verse we just read to see an important word that we can’t miss.

10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. (1 Peter 4:10 – NLT)

· When Peter said, “each of you,” he was talking about every single person who might be reading his letter, including you.

· We can get stuck thinking spiritual gifts only mean preaching, leading worship, or something “religious.”

· Peter is clear that any ability you have can become a spiritual gift when you use it to serve others and bring glory to God.

· Every strength, every ability, every way you’re wired—they’re all part of God’s intentional design for your life and for His kingdom.

2. Our gifts are meant to be shared.

· Gifts aren’t meant to be hoarded or hidden away.

· Imagine if the person who first figured out bread had said, “You know what, this bread is just for me and my family. I’m not sharing this with anyone else.”

· We’d probably just be eating peanut butter and jelly with a spoon.  

· Thankfully, someone shared their knowledge, taught others, and now bread is one of the most eaten foods on the planet.

· That was only possible because the first person who made bread didn’t keep their secret to themselves.

· Gifts are about how God wants to use you to make a difference in other people’s lives.

· Even in the middle of your own struggles, God has given you gifts that can make a difference in someone else’s life.

Charles Spurgeon said: “God gives much to you that you may give it to others; it is only meant to run through you as through a pipe. You are a steward. If a steward should receive his lord’s goods and keep them for himself, he would be an unfaithful steward”

*A Bee Movie Illustration slides*

· Peter said that when we use our gifts to serve one another, “everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ.”

3. When we use our gifts, we point others to God.

· Peter challenged us to see a much bigger picture.

11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen. (1 Peter 4:10-11 – NLT)

· When we use our gifts to serve others, we’re giving people a glimpse of how much God cares through the way we care.

· This is what Peter meant when he said we should use our gifts “with all the strength and energy that God supplies.”

· When we serve, we’re partnering with God to make our world better.

· When Peter talked about speaking “as though God himself were speaking through you,” he wasn’t saying you have to be a pro or never mess up.

· If you have the right heart then God can use even your imperfect efforts to make a real difference.

· The early Christians to whom Peter was writing were outsiders in foreign places, just struggling to survive.

· Peter wanted them to understand that even in their difficult circumstances, God could use their gifts to point others toward Him.

· God wants to use your gifts right now, exactly as you are, to show His love to the people around you.

· When you do that, you’re becoming part of how God reveals Himself to the world.

ACTION (How could we live this out?)

1. Ask someone you trust to call out your strengths.

· Sometimes, it’s easier for other people to see our gifts than it is for us to see them ourselves.

· Ask someone else who knows you well to call out the strengths they see in you.

· You might be surprised by what they say. They might mention things you've never thought of as "gifts.”

· Don't overthink it.

· Just ask, listen, and let God use their words to highlight what He’s already planted in you.

2. Look for opportunities to help others this week.

Spurgeon: “As for the rest of our life, it has immediate demands. The way to do a great deal is to keep on doing a little. The way to do nothing at all is to be continually resolving that you will do everything. Let that grand dream of yours, “baseless fabric of a vision” as it is, go where dreams must go, and begin to do the day’s work in the day.”

There’s great dreams that God gives us for the calling he has on our lives. But if we sit around dreaming and talking about dreams without looking at the needs around us each day, we’ll just be all talk.

This week, instead of waiting for the perfect opportunity or the right moment, just start small.

· It doesn’t have to be huge.

· Just look for opportunities to use whatever abilities you have to make someone else's day a little better.

“Whatever your hand finds to do—do it with your might” (Eccles 9:10)

If we were all determined to do what we could, and to do it well, we would serve the Lord and be blessed in doing it.

3. Thank God for the gifts He’s given you.

· Take a moment this week and thank God that He created you with purpose.

· Thank God that He didn't make a mistake when He made you.

10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:10 – NLT)

· He’s been planning how to use your life and your gifts for longer than you can imagine.

· Don’t stop after thanking Him for your abilities.

· Ask Him to show you more ways to use them.

· Ask Him to open your eyes to opportunities you might otherwise miss.

*Growth Track Highlight*

*Prayer*