In nearly every war movie, there's a scene where the hero has to go back onto the battlefield to rescue a wounded friend. It's usually at this point in the movie where the injured man says, "Leave me behind, save yourself." (a truly terrible acting moment). As tempting as it might be, the hero never leaves his friend behind, but hoists him onto his shoulders and runs in slow motion as the jungle behind them erupts in explosions.
In Luke 5:27-29, we're told the story of Levi (Matthew) first meeting Jesus. Levi then threw a party and invited many of his old friends (other tax collectors and criminals) to meet his new friends (Jesus and the other disciples). Levi didn't leave his friends behind. He wanted to introduce them to the person who showed him love and kindness when everybody else hated him, and he did so by simply inviting them all to a party.
If we've made the choice to follow Jesus, we shouldn't forget about our friends, but we should do what we can to introduce them to this person who has offered us love, forgiveness and a brand new start. It can be as simple as inviting a friend along with us to a special event at CATALYST (like our upcoming Mystery Night event on October 24). Also, starting in January, we're going to be running the YOUTH ALPHA series for several months. We're still going to play wacky games and sports, have the band play and eat some great food, but instead of me (Pastor Ben) getting up and talking, we'll be showing a video on the big screen and have breaks for discussion around tables. The video series is high quality and relevant (see the trailer below) and it will touch on some really deep questions: What's the point of life? Why am I here? Who was Jesus and why does he matter? What's the big deal about the Bible? Why is there so much evil and hate in our world? In short, it's a great starting point to introduce our friends to Jesus (and we'll probably learn a lot in the process ourselves).
CHALLENGE:
1. DISCUSS: Ask your teen some questions: Why would you want to introduce a friend to Jesus? Why does it matter? What difference would it make? What's the point?
2. PRAY: Encourage your teen to think about a friend who hasn't met Jesus and pray for them once a day.
3.ASK: Encourage your teen to ask, invite and bring a friend to CATALYST. While inviting someone is cool, when you offer to bring them with you, it makes people a lot more comfortable. If they think their friends aren't ready for a typical CATALYST night, any time we have a special event (or when YOUTH ALPHA starts) please continue to encourage your teen to bring someone along with them.
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