Sorry folks! I forgot to post this last week! This week, we began a new series called "WHY"?" where we'll be exploring why Christians do the things they do or why they believe what they believe. If your teen would like to submit a question, they can do so anonymously by clicking here.
We kicked things off this Friday with our topic being "WHY CHURCH?" You might have friends who wonder why you head off to church on Sunday mornings instead of staying in your pajamas playing video games. You might have people wondering why you go to a church youth group on Friday nights when you could be binge-watching your favourite show on Netflix or working to make a few dollars. If someone were to ask you "Why do you go to church or to CATALYST youth?" what kind of answer would you give? "Just because?" "Because my parents drop me off and pick me up?" This week, we ran through a few reasons why church is important to Christians.
1. TRADITION
Christians are a part of a church because it’s something they’ve done all through history. For over 2000 years, people who love and follow Jesus have been getting together on a regular basis! And in the Old Testament, people had been meeting together in tents or temples for another 1500 years! When you get together as a part of the church, when you come to CATALYST, you’re a part of something bigger than yourself…you’re a part of something that has been happening for THOUSANDS of years!
2. WORSHIP
One of the main reasons why people have been a part of the church is to worship God together. To “worship” means to express worth, so we meet together to tell God that he’s worthwhile to us! We do that in a bunch of ways—but one of the more common ways we do that is by singing together! Exodus 15 is the first recorded time that a group of people sang to God together! The Israelites had just been rescued from years of slavery in Egypt and God had supernaturally intervened by parting the sea so they could escape from the army that was chasing them down. When they got to the other side they wrote poetry on the spot and started singing songs thanking God for how he had saved them! Ever since then, people who love and follow God have gotten together to express their love and thanks to him-- it's at the root of every song we sing.
Going to church or coming to CATALYST isn’t just an opportunity for you to TELL God how much he means to you, but JUST THE VERY ACT of getting together regularly is saying that God is important to you! You could be working, you could be doing homework, you could be playing video games or binge watching a show on Netflix, but instead you’ve set a time in your regular schedule to get together as the church or to come to CATALYST! That says something! It tells God that he’s important to you and worth your time! It’s showing him that he’s a top priority in your life!
On top of that, you being a part of a church or youth group also sends a message to other people! It shows them that your faith is important to you. In today’s culture—that kind of thing stands out! It might even lead people to ask you questions and give you an opportunity to share why you might do the things you do!
3. LEARNING
Another reason why Christians get together as the church is to learn together! In fact, it’s so important that Christians actually give their hard-earned money in an offering plate or online so that they can pay a pastor—someone they’ve chosen to lead them spiritually and help them learn more about who God is and what he wants for their lives!
When the very first Christians started meeting together, Acts 2:42 says that they, “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching”. The apostles were Jesus’ disciples who were eye witnesses to the things he said and did. So they would tell the people about their experiences with Jesus, they would repeat the things that Jesus taught them about God and life and they even wrote those things down so that we could still read and learn from their experiences thousands of years later! Every time we get together as the church, learning is a part of it.
4. COMMUNITY
When the first Christians started meeting together, it records the reasons why in Acts 2:42-47. In that passage, a lot of those words tell us that being a part of a church meant being a part of community! They would meet TOGETHER to worship, they would enjoy food and friendships, they would help other people together! In fact, there was such a great sense of community happening, that more and more people who coming to faith in Jesus because they wanted to be a part of it!
We get together as the church because community is important. We can become friends with people who share our values and beliefs. We can be encouraged and get good advice from people who really care about us and have our backs! It’s really important to have people in your life who care about the same things you care about and share the same values as you!
When we get together at CATALYST, there’s a reason why we play games, do fun events and enjoy food together! There’s a reason why we break out the dodgeballs and pummel each other—because all of those things help us form an awesome community!
It’s REALLY hard to follow God and live the way he wants you too when you’re surrounded by people who don’t share those same values or beliefs. Every day at school or work, you experience temptation to do things that you might know aren’t right. Every day you might experience pressure to give in, to forget about what God says, and go your own way.
Hebrews 10:25 says, “Let us not give up meeting together. Some are in the habit of doing this. Instead, let us encourage one another with words of hope”.
This verse reminds us not to stop being a part of the church—to not let the busyness of life or our work schedules prevent us from being a part of this community, because it’s a place where we can be encouraged! It’s a place where we can grow in our faith and be spurred on to make the right decisions in life! It's a place where we can be that kind of friend to others! It’s a place where we can make really meaningful friendships!
Being a part of church community also means working together to do things that we all feel are important—showing love to others and being a benefit to other people! When we get together, we often serve together in ways that benefit others in our church or in our neighborhood, pointing them in the direction of a God who loves them!
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR HOME
1. Talk to your teen about why YOU are a part of the church. Ask them why they think it's important to you. Was it always this way? Ask them why they think you serve or volunteer in the ways that you do.
2. The Bible says in Hebrews 10:25 that we shouldn't give up meeting together as the church. Discuss some things that might get in the way of being a part of church or youth group. Some of those things might not be bad in themselves (like work, homework, meeting friends etc...) but when those things take priority, there's a danger that you might find yourself drifting away from God. Discuss some possible outcomes if you were to drop out of church community or not make it a priority in your life.
3. An important component of being a part of the church is serving together to be a help and benefit to others. In what ways do you serve? Are your teens regularly involved in some aspect of service? If not, discuss how they can use the skills and interests that God has wired into them to be involved in the work and mission of the church. Encourage them to talk to Pastor Ben (or the pastor of the church they attend on Sundays) about ways they could be involved.
No comments:
Post a Comment