Refuge - Foundations

Welcome everyone to our first Wednesday Refuge program.

First wednesday of every month is family dinner night…bring a friend and bring an appetite.

Monthly out of church activity. Some months it’ll be fun stuff…tell about the 23rd (hand out invitation & devo packet). Some months it’ll be service activities (christmas boxes).

Explain devotionals and parent info sheets.

Introduce myself and bring all of our volunteers up front to introduce them as well - NAME, PET’S NAME, HOPE THEY HAVE FOR THE FUTURE.

I want to get to know all of you as well but I want you to get to know all of you too. So…here is what we are going to do...

Give them two minutes to meet one other person and find out their name, their pets name, and a hope they have for the future.

INSERT 2 MINUTE TIME HERE.

NAME - PET’S NAME - HOPE THEY HAVE FOR THE FUTURE

We really took it easy last year only meeting every other week and keeping the teaching pretty light. This year, however, I want us to dive deeper. I want to dive deeper into your stories, how you guys see yourselves. What hopes and dreams you have for your amazing future, the struggles you are going through at school, work, and in your family, and how you fit into God’s plan for the world. I want to take all of those things and we are going to see how knowing God changes all of that. That is actually the point of this entire year of student ministry that is kicking off tonight;

The Point this year = To convince you that knowing God changes the most important aspects of your life in some really big ways for the better.

Explain safe space and what I promise from us and what I need from them.

If we are going know God and how that changes our lives though, we have to know how to know God if that makes sense. And so, before we start any of the different series we are going to be looking at this year, I want to look at the Bible itself.

Here is the big idea for tonight’s lesson:

Big Idea: God’s Word is the foundation of our life with Him.

Do card house foundation bit and link to a sturdy foundation for our life.

Here check out this video about the Bible real quick:

INSERT BIBLE PROJECT VIDEO HERE

I want to share a really neat part of the Bible that actually talks about this whole subject.

Briefly explain Paul and Timothy’s relationship and that Timmy was probably not any older than you guys when he started doing some world changing things.

Check out Paul’s words about knowing God through the Bible and how that changes his life in some huge ways:

2 Timothy 3:14–17 NIV

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

So based on this passage of the Bible, I have a few questions:

What do you think Paul means when he says to “continue” in what Timothy had learned?

A: It means that it's not enough to learn about God when we are becoming Christians. As we continue to mature, our faith must mature also. We never STOP learning about God. There are issues today that weren’t issues for me even last year…not to mention when I was your age. It means we have to continually asking the big question and allowing people who are a little further in their journey of faith and life to walk with us.

What does it mean to become convinced of something?

A: It means to come to believe it. But there is the connotation of a process, or of a journey to understanding. Explain…zipper into the year theme of convining them that knowing God changes everything in important and good ways.

Can we just all admit, though…that the Bible is hard. A lot of people have some major issues with the Bible. So...

What are some of the criticisms of the Bible you have heard before?

Let them answer...

What are some of things that make the Bible difficult for you to believe?

Let them answer...

Why do you think it matters who Timothy learned the Bible from? How can having other people help you understand the Bible be important?

Answers will vary. Help students understand that we know from Scripture that Timothy’s mother and grandmother were instrumental in leading him to know God and know God more. Paul talks about the faith and example of these women. When people who have a vibrant faith lead us to know God and His word, it’s a more powerful example. We can know that the knowledge they are passing to us has first transformed them. It’s more authentic. That is actually why we are here. I could just play some video of guys teaching you the Bible that would do a lot better job than I can…guys that are funnier and teach in more engaging ways. What they can’t do, however, is work out the practical issues and questions you have by giving their own experiences with how the Bible and knowing God has changed their story in big ways…that’s why this group of adults is here helping out this year.

The bottom line is this: The Bible isn’t a how-to guide. The Bible is ultimately about how God has revealed himself to us. A how to guide isn’t good enough…its only when we come to know God that things actually begin to change.

Would someone volunteer to read verses 16-17 again for us so we can see how that process actually works? Pay attention to what knowing God does to us:

2 Timothy 3:16–17 NIV

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

So, what does the Bible do?

It teaches, rebukes, corrects, and trains in righteousness.

Anyone think they can explain all of those concepts?

Teaches - How to do something. Ultimately it teaches us who God is.

Rebuke & Correct - You are doing this thing…stop. Is it ever helpful to hear that from someone besides your parents?

Training in Righteousness - Boiled down, righteousness is like the gas that makes life work. God created life and relationships and says if you do life this way, it works. If you do it another way, it leads to some terrible things.

Righteousness is choosing to live the way God defines as good.

Anybody know what the longest book in the Bible is?

Anybody know what the longest chapter in that book is?

Anybody know what it is about?

Psalm 119 is about how good God’s word is and how it teaches, rebukes, corrects, and trains us in righteousness and how that changes our lives in some really big ways.

Explain that it is an acrostic. Anybody know what that is?

It is poetry in Hebrew…but since you don’t read Hebrew it doesn’t really sound much like poetry.

Check out these verses from Psalm 119.

Psalm 119:101–103 NIV

101 I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word. 102 I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me. 103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Explain that you can say more with one line of poetry than a page of narrative…the Psalmist didn’t mean that he literally tastes honey in his mouth when he reads the Bible...

Anybody want to take a stab at what he is saying here?

Explain…when I listen to your word. When I understand who you are, it tells me who I am. When I know who God is, it lets me know how life, and friendships, and school, and families, and hopes and dreams, and the difficult things are supposed to work. Ultimately, knowing God through His Words he has given us in the form of the Bible changes life for the better…it makes life just all around sweeter. I come to value the things I learn about who God is and that is sweeter than honey.

That is where we are headed this year. To know God and to be transformed by knowing him so that life is just all-around sweeter.

I know that some of you may have some huge hang ups around that. Some of you may feel intimidated by that. Some of you may not even believe God is real. Here is what I want you to know…this is a safe place to work through all of that. We aren’t going to shove something down your throat. We aren’t going to be shocked by your skepticism or hard questions because like Paul told Timothy, coming to know God is a process. And some of you are going to have to deal with some hard questions and major doubts before you can ever believe that. And listen to me right here…that is ok.

Check out this verse from the book of Psalms about God’s word.