Liked (Session 1)

Hey 6th graders. I am so excited to have you join our student ministry. I know this is a big change and you may be nervous and excited at the same time.

I hope that you are able to find good friends in this ministry. I hope you are going to have a lot of fun but more importantly I hope that you will grow in your relationship with Jesus.

As your youth pastor you will hear me say some phrases over and over. One of them is this:

I believe that following Jesus is the best decision you will ever make.

I say this because I believe it. You will make many, many, many decision as you grow up but ultimately whether you will follow and surrender your life to Jesus is the most pressing and important decision you can make.

Another phrase you will hear me say is this:

Make sure you take notes because you will forgot what you hear but you will not forget what your write because you can go back to it. Make it a habit to take notes.

Aight, lets jump into the lesson today. Here is my main point:

Main Point: God likes you! You don’t have to impress Him.

Simple, but very profound. Often I see student and even adults like myself try to earn salvation by thinking that we need to do more or be better but the reality is that:

God wants us to be more than just moral beings.

God like us because of the value we hold.

I do mean the word “like”. I think sometimes we have the wrong view of God. Here is where things get tricky, because we have the wrong perception of value. We have a tendency to feel valued based on what we do, what we know or the things we like.

However, if you went to VBS this past summer, you remember we talked about Ephesians 2:10 “10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” We have value because of our creator.

Look at what the Psalmist says: Psalm 139:13-16 “13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”

There may be things you that you do not like about yourself. Maybe you don’t like your hair, or your nose, or maybe your height or build. I don’t know what it might be, but I know we sometimes get down on ourselves. Nothing about you is a mistake, though. You didn’t just happen to be tall or short. You are exactly as God made you. He made you on purpose, by hand.

While you were in your mother’s womb, when some would suggest you weren’t yet fully a person, God was there. He was with you, seeing you before anyone else would even recognize you, and He was forming you into who you are now. He simultaneously saw you in that moment and every single day you would ever live.

Luke 12:6-7 “6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

Illustration: Guess how many in a jar?

This simple illustration just tells you that I know the exact number of skittles in the jar because I put them there. In the same way, God is the only one that can determine your value because he created you.

Student hear me on this. God’s love for you is not dependent on your performance. God’s love is dependent on His Character.

Romans 5:8-11 “8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

I don’t know about you but I find comfort in knowing that God loves me no matter what. Not only that but I find motivation to know God more through the Bible because of what he did

God likes you! You don’t have to impress Him.

God loves you! You do have to surrender to Him.