You Belong

Announcements

Rally Night // Friday, August 31 @ 6:30 - 9

Rally Night is going to be Friday August 31 from 6:30 to 9 pm. There will be food, drinks, games, contests, and just good hangout time. This is a great opportunity to invite your friends that may not be able to come on Wednesday or aren’t interested in “youth group”

Mission:SRQ // Friday, August 31

Our first Mission:SRQ event will be Friday morning. We will be assisting the Douglas’ in their move a couple hours north. Eileen and Gordon started the youth group here at FOB and we have the honor of building on their foundation and the honor of helping them as they move into the next season of life.

More Than Words // Saturday, October 20 @ All Day // Free

More than Words is a free conference for the youth and young adults at the Bradenton Convention Center. There will be several guest speakers from around the United States. We will be hanging out there all day, so while it is free, bring some money to buy snacks throughout the day.

Introduction

Keys to the House Illustration:

Generally, if you don’t have keys to the house, you don’t belong there

Have you ever found yourself in a place you didn’t belong?

you accidentally walk into a meeting

at a park

finding a present early

wrong bathroom // walked in on accident

How do you feel when you are in a place that you DO belong?

comfort

peace

stability

Tonight, let’s talk about the subject: YOU BELONG

Reading from the book of Ephesians, I believe we can learn from the church of Ephesus

Ephesus: was a port city, a huge central hub for religions, cultures, and economy. In that day, Ephesus was most noted for its temple of Diana (a little-g god) - this was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Easton’s Bible Dictionary Ephesus

In the time of the Romans it bore the title of “the first and greatest metropolis of Asia.”

In its time, it was called, “the first modern metropolis of its day”

The city was a mix of Jew and Gentile and most likely heard the gospel after the day of pentecost message delivered by Peter

Paul had visited the Ephesians several times. At one time he stayed for three years, which was abnormal for him in that time.

In this letter, he is writing to the church at Ephesus from his prison cell in Rome.

Ephesians 1:3–6 ESV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Take away...

You Are Adopted // Keys to the House

In case you didn’t know…God has adopted you and calls you a Son or Daughter

Adoption: legal transfer from one family or situation into another family

verb. to belong

IS NOT ADOPTION

You are just visiting - you can sleep & eat here

IS ADOPTION

You have a place to belong - you are now apart of the family, and have a right to the inheritance of that family

What Paul says in the tail of vs 4 into vs 5… “In Love

Ephesians 1:5 ESV

5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

God’s Plan = to adopt us as His own

We are Related

Be - Long // Enduring through the Highs and Lows

While we may not always get along with our siblings, we cannot escape the fact that we are related by blood

In the same way, all of us here are related by blood - the blood of Jesus

Every single one of us are in need of His grace and mercy to save us - without Him, we are all wrecked!

The devil is going to do everything that he can to divide us, then conquer us when we isolate ourselves.

What do we do when things aren’t working out so well and we aren’t loving this idea of adoption?

Remember: You Belong

Be - Long // Love Is The Greatest

In Ephesians, we see that we are adopted by God’s love ()

We are going to conquer our feelings to separate and isolate by LOVING

1 Corinthians 13:7–8 ESV

7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

-6

Bears all things - we are taking on burdens with our family

Believes all things - we listen before we speak, give the benefit over doubt

Hopes all things - encouraging and uplifting

Endures all things - press through the valleys, don’t lose sight on the mountaintops

Never ends - we don’t disappear

Unshaken & Unafraid

We are students that are unshaken in our faith and unafraid to show it.

The way we accomplish this is through a process of Discover, Develop, Display

We help you DISCOVER your gifts, talents, passions

You will learn to DEVELOP them to be used in a positive way

You will use them in form of DISPLAY

Serve Teams

Connection Team

Rec Team

Media Team

Worship Team

MC Team

Cafe Team

All our serve teams are going to give you an opportunity to use your talents, be creative, express yourself - and the best part is you take it all with you.

Media Team - we will teach you technical skills that you will be able to take with you outside of youth group

Connection Team - we will teach you how to connect to someone who is here for the first time and make sure they feel welcomed.

Small Groups (Huddles)

Get involved in the conversation

Learn each other’s names

Find out common interests

Talk outside of youth group and encourage one another

Commit // Make YG a priority

Jump in your Small Group and own it

Connect on Social Media

Attend events — it’s how you’ll connect to others

Talk outside of youth group and encourage one another

Come ready to worship and learn about God