Luau- Introduction to SUMMER IN THE PSALMS

Lets take just one more second this morning to think about this before we move into our lesson. This is such an exciting time because we just added all these new awesome people to CREW. AND we get to get to know each other. Not only to we get to know each other in here, but we also will get to know God. Its so cool that We get to have a conversations with the creator of the universe! We get guidance from the one who guides the planets in their motion throughout the galaxies. The one who placed the sun 93 million miles from us and caused it to heat at the perfect level that allows us to be kept warm, He wants to know you. He cares about you and loves you so much that He sent His son Jesus do die for your mistakes and pay for your slip ups.

Not only did He create all things in the universe, but He created us as His masterpiece. One of the ways we are so different from God is that we need things. God does not NEED anything, but WE NEED THINGS!!

There are some things that we need that are obvious.

FOOD- Our bodies need food. That is the way they were created by God and that is the way they work. Every few hours our bodies even remind us that we need food. Sometimes, if we go a long time without eating, WHAT HAPPENS??

REST- Our bodies NEED REST! that is also part of the way we were created. We are not like the DC character superman who gets his energy from the sun!

Our bodies cannot go but so long without sleeping. I use to think it was fun to try and push this as long as I could. When I was in college, I had classes, a few jobs, and I played football for the school team and a lot of preaching and Bible teaching classes. There was a ton of reading, writing, and learning languages and it all took up so much time. I was just always doing something! And my personal record is 5.5 days (132 hours) with zero sleep. The world record for no sleep was set in 1964 by Randy Gardner, a high school student in San Diego, California. He stayed awake for 11 days and 25 minutes. (264 hours)

Our bodies cannot go but so long without sleeping. I use to think it was fun to try and push this as long as I could. When I was in college, I had classes, a few jobs, and I played football for the school team and a lot of preaching and Bible teaching classes. There was a ton of reading, writing, and learning languages and it all took up so much time. I was just always doing something! And my personal record is 5.5 days (132 hours) with zero sleep. The world record for no sleep was set in 1964 by Randy Gardner, a high school student in San Diego, California. He stayed awake for 11 days and 25 minutes. (264 hours)

We also need rest from physical exertion! We are going to have some fun with this one now. I need everyone to go ahead and stand up. We are going to use a funny pose in order to help us see that our bodies really do need rest. Everyone do the T pose and we are going to hold it for 2 minutes! you cannot touch anyone and you cannot move your arms at all!

by the time your finished, how does your body tell you that you need rest?

There are many needs that our bodies have that are obvious, but others are not so obvious. We have another need that is a little different from other needs that we talked about. He created us in a special way in that He made us worshippers. He made us with a need that was different form any other needs that we have. Different from our need to eat, or to drink, or to be healthy, or to have friends. The different thing that we need is GOD! Its interesting that the Bible shows us that we were made to worship God, but also we need Him.

Most people are more in tune with all these physical needs that we have talked about. Some people who want to follow God KNOW that it is something they need, but we dont really know how to do it or what the warning signs are when we are not doing it.

Even tho we forget that we need God we need God we cannot change what we are. We are created to praise God. We are created to worship and we are created to NEED HIM.

I dont want to spend too much time this morning for our new students talking about what we do in the CREW. Instead, I want yall to know WHY we gather together as a CREW.

We will get back to this in just a second because first, we need to Look at what God has to say about what we need. After all, He created us so it only makes sense that we see what Hesas about it.

The New International Version Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the one

who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers,

2 but whose delight is in the law of the LORD,

and who meditates on his law day and night.

3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

whatever they do prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!

They are like chaff

that the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Lets look back at these passage a little bit closer.

This Psalm shows us that there are 2 different types of people in the world And we are going to begin this morning by pointing those types out.

Those people who live according to their purpose and those people who DO NOT. Those who LIVE ACCORDING TO GOD’S PLAN AND THOSE WHO DO NOT.

I love how he describes the people who do. What are they like?

They are alike a tree. See Psalm 1:3-4.

Blessed

We are talking about a person who follows God. A person who is interested in doing the things that God wants. normally when we think of a Blessed person or a godly person we think of people who say nice things or someone who reads their Bible all the time or maybe they even have a 365 day reading streak on the Bible app. We like to think that a godly person never gets in trouble or at least dot all that much. I am so excited to tell you that that is NOT true!! The most godly person who ever lived (Jesus Christ) got in trouble ALL THE TIME! But not because he sinned. You see, the message of the Bible is much simpler than we like to think. All it means to be a godly person is to follow Jesus and put Him first! Thats it! Because when we follow Jesus, everything else comes after.

Wicked

This is as person who does not seek to follow God. Many times when we think of a wicked person we think of someone who says terrible things or someone who hates God and the Bible. That person would be wicked, but that is not all there is to being wicked. I think we overcomplicate it when we think of a wicked person. All a wicked person is is someone who does not follow God.

But His delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on his law day and night.

This is where we get to see straight from God what he wants our lives to look like.

Challenge:

Ask yourself this question “What am I choosing?”

The reason I ask this is because God has already done all the work. God has already paved the way. God has already set your path to follow Him, But HE WONT MAKE YOU FOLLOW. He lets you choose. So that is why I give you this challenge. SO that we can grow as a youth group and so that you can take the next step that God has for you!

Prayer

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dont leave the room yet. you have some free time.