This is a blog for parents of children or teens at Arlington Woods Church.
Subscribe to the blog to receive regular updates! Included in this blog are weekly posts that summarize our youth talks and include discussion questions for parents to follow-up and encourage their teens.
This week at CATALYST, we continued our "WHO CARES?" series by talking about being generous with our skills, interests, and abilities-- all things that God has uniquely wired into us! In Acts 9: 36-42 we learned about a woman named Dorcas. DORCAS WAS A DISCIPLE! She is the only woman in the Bible SPECIFICALLY referred to as a disciple (even though there were other women disciples at the time). This is pretty significant because it was a pretty male-centric society. Men were the ones who could have an education. Men were the ones who had positions of leadership. Only men would have been called disciples. This shows us how much God cares about gender equality. Jesus had women disciples who learned from him and were a part of church leadership! This was pretty counter-cultural at the time. DORCAS WAS "ALWAYS DOING GOOD AND HELPING THE POOR"! Because Dorcas was a person of faith who followed Jesus with her life, she naturally dedicated her life to helping others. She had an amazing legacy! She was known for helping the poorest of the poor in that society (specifically mentioning widows). Widows were among the most poor and vulnerable people because they didn't have husbands to provide for them (remember, it was a male-centric culture at the time). All through the Bible, it encourages followers of God to take care of the poor, refugees, widows, and orphans- to be involved in social justice issues. For example, in Deuteronomy 24:19 it encourages people to not keep all of their crops for themselves, but to leave some for foreigners, orphans and widows. This is something that the church (and Christians) are known for today. Nearly every major helping organization or emergency relief organization that is in existence today is a Christian organization or founded by Christians (Salvation Army, World Vision, Compassion International, Red Cross, Ottawa Mission, Capital City Mission, Ottawa Innercity Ministries). 1 John 3:16-17 says that we can't have God's love in us if we don't have compassion on people in need. DORCAS USED HER SKILLS, ABILITIES & INTERESTS TO HELP OTHERS! Acts 9:39 says, "All the widows stood around him (Peter), crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them". Dorcas had some skills! She knew how to sew! She knew how to make clothing, and she used those skills and abilities not just for her own benefit or livelihood, but so that she could be a help to others as part of the church community. God has given us all unique skills, interests, and abilities, and they haven't been given to us so that we hoard them for ourselves, but so that we can show CARE to others. It's important that we think about our skills, abilities, and interests and how we each might be able to use them in ways that assist with the mission of the church (to help people know Jesus and to share his love with others), or ways that help people in need. DISCUSSION FOR HOME: 1. Dorcas was known as being someone who was always doing good and helping the poor. Talk about what your teen would like to be known for- what they would want remembered the most about them. Does any of it include generosity, kindness, or giving? 2. As a family, talk about the ways that you might use your skills/interests/abilities to help others or as a part of the church community. Help your teen think of ways that they could use what God has given them to be a help and benefit to others. Encourage them to talk to Pastor Ben or Christine about ways they could serve at Arlington Woods or at CATALYST youth. 3. Pray together, thanking God for some of the talents, abilities, or interests that he's uniquely given each one of us. Ask God to help your teens be known for their generosity-- that they would give of their time, their abilities/interests, and their money to be a help and benefit to others.
This week at CATALYST youth, we talked about GENEROSITY—particularly about how we can be generous with the most valuable thing that any of us have or ever will have--- no, it’s not money—it’s TIME! Time is so valuable to us that we get paid by the hour! We often spend money to save time (like avoiding lineups at an amusement park)! Some adults will pay for people to wash their clothes or clean their homes, or do things that they COULD do themselves. People will eat at restaurants and spend more than they would on groceries in a week JUST BECAUSE it saves time and is convenient! People can even become really angry if their time is wasted! We all have the same amount of time every day! Days can pass by quickly, our time can fill up quickly, and once we spend that hour, DESPITE what AVENGERS: ENDGAME teaches us, we just can’t ever get it back! My dad recently learned an important lesson about time. He was feeling a bit sick and went to the hospital only to discover that he had a heart attack! They thought it was pretty minor until they ran tests—and they ended up doing a quadruple bypass on him (putting in new tubes so that blood isn’t blocked from getting in/out of your heart). In fact, the doctor said that if he hadn’t gone to the hospital when he did, he could have just DROPPED DEAD at any time! That’s a pretty scary thing to hear--- and even though teens might not think about it very often, the reality is that WE HAVE NO GUARANTEES how long we have to live. An accident or sickness can happen at any time! Nobody has a guarantee of living for exactly 100 years and in being good health the whole time! Every single day that we have is a gift from God to us! So what are we going to do with that gift? Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” This is a prayer that we would remember how precious time is and that we would use our time WISELY—to manage our time well and to spend some of our time on things that REALLY matter. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t play video games or binge-watch Netflix, because it’s super important to relax and unwind and have fun, but IF THAT'S ALL WE DID every night, we might have regrets later on. We might feel that we wasted the time that God gave us. We might feel that we should have invested it more wisely. We might wish that we had spent our time doing things that would have helped others or made our world a better place. Instead of regretting stuff later, it makes A WHOLE LOT OF sense to manage our time well NOW! This week, I shared from the Bible about two valuable ways that we can spend our time. We looked at a time when two sisters named Mary and Martha invited Jesus over to their house for dinner in Luke 10:38-42. LOVE GOD WITH YOUR TIME Martha was angry and annoyed with Mary, but it turns out, Jesus said that she was spending her time wisely. What was she doing? She was listening to his teaching. She was talking to him. She was investing in their friendship. This reminds us of something really important. The most important thing that any of us can do—the thing that matters more than anything else is that we know Jesus, that we’ve experienced his love and forgiveness, and that we are growing closer to God spiritually! Jesus, in Matthew 16:26 said, “What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” In other words, if you are rich and famous and have everything you ever wanted in life, but are far from God, then all of that other stuff is just empty and meaningless! We can love God with our time by setting time aside in our schedules to grow in our faith (being a part of CATALYST, singing and listening to worship music, reading the Bible or doing a devotional etc...). Don’t go days, weeks, months or years without investing in your friendship with Jesus! LOVE OTHERS WITH YOUR TIME! Martha sometimes gets a bad rap here. She was doing something pretty important. She was doing something that was pretty great! She was showing generosity by spending money on food to prepare an awesome dinner for Jesus who was tired from travelling. She was showing hospitality by turning her home into an AIR BnB for Jesus! She was loving Jesus with her time too! Of course, the main thing we can learn here is that we can be SUPER BUSY doing all kinds of good things, but if we don’t know and follow Jesus than NONE OF THAT REALLY MATTERS. Knowing God is the most important thing…and then loving others with our time naturally comes from that! Oftentimes kids or teens might think that because they don’t have a job and don’t have very much money that they can’t really be generous- that generosity is something that only adults can do. But even if they don’t have any money (or very little of it), they can still show GENEROSITY with their time---the most valuable thing they have! We can all be generous with our time by not being too busy to help others (think of the Good Samaritan!). We can be generous with our time by being a help around the house or volunteering in the church or community. We are encouraged in the Bible to NUMBER OUR DAYS- to think about the time we have, and make wise choices with how we spend our time. Two of the wisest uses of our time is to invest in our friendship with Jesus and to devote some of our time to caring for others. HOME DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Talk about ways that you (as parents), or as a family, show generosity with your time. Why is it important to you? 2. Talk about how you and your family can be like Mary. Mary hung out with Jesus and listened to his teaching, and Jesus said this was the BEST way she could have spent her time! What are some things that you can do as individuals or as a family to ensure that you're growing in your faith? Is there something new you could start doing? 3. Pray together and thank God for the time he has given you! We are blessed to be alive and every day is a gift! Ask God to help you spend your time wisely and not to neglect carving out time in your schedules to grow closer to God and to make time to help, serve or volunteer in ways that shows others that you care.
This week, CATALYST youth returned, and we kicked off a brand new series called "WHO CARES?" where we'll be talking about friendship, generosity, selflessness (as opposed to selfishness) and kindness. This week, we looked at the important of surrounding ourselves with REAL FRIENDS and being that kind of friend to others. What is a REAL friend? A FRIEND SHOULD BE A VOICE OF WISDOM One of the things the Bible says is that we should choose friends who are WISE. Proverbs 13:20- Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble. What that’s getting at is that if you’re hanging out with people who use their heads and make wise life choices, it’s going to benefit you a lot! The Bible tells us here that wisdom rubs off! If you’ve got friends who are making good life choices, then they’ll influence you for the better! Of course, the opposite is true. If your “friends” are like the little devil sitting on your shoulder, it’s going to bring you disaster! A FRIEND SHOULD MAKE YOU A BETTER PERSON Proverbs 27:17- As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. Back in Bible times, people would sharpen knives by rubbing the blades against each other, and this little proverb is telling us that a great friend will make you better and stronger! Being around them will make you a better person! They will be a benefit to you! A FRIEND SHOULD BE THERE FOR YOU Ecclesiastes 4:9-10- “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble”. This verse again reminds us that TRUE friendship should be one where you HELP EACH OTHER SUCCEED, and then the last part of the verse says, “SOMEONE WHO FALLS ALONE IS IN REAL TROUBLE”. When you need help, a real friend should be there for you! If you call yourself a Christian (if you've accepted God's love and forgiveness and are trying to follow Jesus with your life), there's one other thing the Bible encourages us about friendship: A FRIEND SHOULD HELP OTHERS COME TO KNOW AND FOLLOW JESUS When I was a teen, my closest friends were people who encouraged me in my faith. They would remind me sometimes of what the Bible said and how it related to something I was going through. They would actually PRAY for me and with me! They would encourage me to be a part of the church or a part of our youth group! They helped me grow closer to God instead of pulling me farther away! That’s the kind of friend that God wants us to be to others! John 1:43-46 tells us about how a guy named Philip was that kind of friend: “The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me”. Philip then found Nathanael (his friend) and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. Philip was a guy who met Jesus and was pretty much totally convinced that Jesus was the son of God- the Messiah—the person God promised who would save the world from their sins! So much so, that he left his job to follow Jesus around and help him! I imagine his friends and family thought he was completely crazy! But before Philip left to hang with Jesus…he did one simple thing- he went and found his friend Nathanael and told him about Jesus. Nathanael had a lot of questions. He kind of doubted what Philip told him. He was a bit skeptical. He was like, “SURE…This person that you met from Nazareth is God’s promised savior. NOTHING good comes from Nazareth, it’s a small, insignificant town!” And Philip simply said—“come and see for yourself”! You probably have friends like Nathanael—friends who have questions about God or faith (even if they haven’t told you yet), they might have doubts, they might be a bit skeptical. Some of your friends have probably never heard of Jesus beyond hearing his name used as a swear word! They’ve probably never even been inside a church before! SO CAN YOU HELP INTRODUCE YOUR FRIENDS TO JESUS? Here are a few pro-tips to help you be like Philip: PRO TIP 1: PRAY FOR YOUR FRIENDS! Pray that they would come to know and follow Jesus and that God would use you to be a part of that introduction! Pray that your friends would make wise choices! PRO TIP 2: LITERALLY STOP AND PRAY FOR YOUR FRIENDS! If your friend tells you about something rough they’re going through, here’s a CRAZY idea that takes a bit of boldness—just offer right then and there to pray for them! Just say, “Would it be ok if I prayed for you right now?” Most of the time, even friends who have never been to church before will REALLY appreciate you praying for them and it shows them how much you love God and that you really care about them! PRO TIP 3: BE OPEN AND HONEST ABOUT YOUR FAITH. Don’t hide the fact that you’re connected to church or a youth group! When your friend asks you what you did over the weekend, tell them about CATALYST! They might ask you questions about it and there might even be an opportunity for you to invite them along with you! PRO TIP 4: INVITE YOUR FRIENDS TO JOIN YOU AT CATALYST! Some of them might say “no thanks”, but some might want to come out! If you don’t invite them out, you’ll never know! PRO TIP 5: IF YOUR FRIEND HAS QUESTIONS ABOUT GOD/FAITH, AND YOU DON’T KNOW THE ANSWER, JUST SAY, “LET ME GET BACK TO YOU”. You can even email myself or one of our youth leaders with the question and we can help you out! You don’t have to have all the answers all the time! When Nathanael had questions—Philip didn’t have all the answers—he just told him to come with him to meet Jesus for himself! PARENT/TEEN DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Have your teen think about their friends. What are some of their AMAZING qualities? What makes them REAL friends? Do any of them share some of the characteristics that the Bible says are important? 2. Remind your teens of the PRO-TIPS that Pastor Ben shared. What are some simple ways that your teen might be able to show/tell their friends that their faith is important to them? What are some simple things they could do that might help introduce their friends to Jesus? 3. Parents- pray for your teens. Pray that they would be a REAL friend to the people around them. Pray that God would help them make great choices when it comes to the friends they choose.
This week, we talked about FAILS! I’m sure every single one of you have watched fail videos on Youtube, where people wipe out, fall down, or embarrass themselves for the entire world to watch over and over again! Fail videos get MILLIONS of views! But of course, in real life, FAILS aren’t quite as much fun.
Have you ever felt that as hard as you tried, you just ended up failing? Have you ever felt like giving up? Have you ever felt super frustrated with yourself or had super low self-esteem and thought of yourself as the WORST?
Tonight, we continued our series "HIGHLIGHT REEL", by looking at how the people of Israel were experts at failing! They failed constantly! In fact, sometimes when I read the Bible, I get kind of frustrated! It’s kind of like watching a movie like INFINITY WAR and wishing that things would end up differently….that Star Lord would just keep it together for 5 minutes! That’s often how I feel when reading about the people of Israel, because it seems that they constantly made the same bad choices over and over again!
The last time we got together, we had a bit of a movie night--- watching the classic ANIMATED movie- The Prince of Egypt. That movie depicts God's epic rescue of the Israelites from slavery, culminating in a wall of fire falling from heaven to block the Egyptian army from attacking them, and then God telling Moses to smash his staff into the sea, parting the water and creating a path for the Israelites to escape to safety. It was an amazing moment! I would like to think that if I had gone through that experience and seen God working incredible miracles with my own eyes, that nothing would stop me from trusting and following him in the future…but that wasn’t the case for the people of Israel!
After walking through the Red Sea, the people spontaneously sang this amazing worship song to God (the first worship song recorded in the Bible)—where they celebrated the fact that God had rescued them, that God loved them, that he had promised to take care of them and give them a future full of hope! But then the failing started! Here are just a few of Israel's MANY fails...
FAIL #1: They had run out of food and wished that God had killed them in Egypt and that following God was pointless. (Exodus 16:3)
FAIL #2: They had run out of water and doubted that God could take care of them. (Exodus 17:3)
FAIL #3: They thought that Moses (and God) had abandoned them, so they made a golden calf and worshipped it as one of the gods that rescued them from Egypt. (Exodus 32:4)
FAIL #4: They were right on the edge of the land that God had promised them, but were too scared to enter the land. They accused God of being a horrible leader who didn't know what he was doing, and when Moses and Aaron tried to talk sense into them, they tried to kill them! They then talked about choosing a new leader and returning to Egypt. (Number 14:1-4, 10)
FAIL #5: They rejected God as their leader and asked to have a king like other nations. (1 Samuel 8)
MULTIPLE FAILS #6: All through the Book of Judges, the people of Israel went through what’s known as the SIN CYCLE. They loved and followed God for a little while, but then would start to adopt the values of the cultures around them, would ignore how God wanted them to live and go their own way (including worshiping false gods and doing evil). When they experienced hardship and difficulty because they had walked away from God, God sent messengers (Judges) to tell the people to get back on track and to ask God to forgive them….and they did….until they started ignoring how God wanted them to live and go their own way again. This cycle is repeated 7 times!
All through the Old Testament, the people of Israel are known for their FAILS. They’re known for rejecting God and going their own way over and over again! They’re known for doubting that God would take care of them over and over again! It just drives me crazy! But I think all of these FAILS are in the Bible for a couple of really important reasons.
1. WE ALL FAIL! Every single one of us! All of us have sinned (where we’ve made choices to reject what God wants for our lives and go our own way). It’s not easy to do the right thing. It’s not easy to live our lives the way God designed them to be lived when we’re surrounded by loads of temptation and where everyone else lives however they want!
As much as I’m frustrated at reading how the people of Israel failed over and over again, what makes it worse is that I’m EXACTLY the same! I try to follow God and make right choices--- to live the way he wants me to--- and I might get it right ¼ of the time….but the other ¾ is just epic fails! I can SO relate to the story of the Israelites. These guys were colossal failures! They constantly sinned against God! But here’s what really amazes to me….
2) GOD’S LOVE & GRACE SURPASSES OUR FAILURE
Psalm 103:8-10 (Message) says, “God is sheer mercy and grace; not easily angered, he's rich in love. He doesn't endlessly nag and scold, nor hold grudges forever. He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve, nor pay us back in full for our wrongs”.
This kind of amazes me, but God never gave up on the people of Israel. He never said, “Ok, that was the last straw--- I’m leaving you bozos to do life without me! I’m totally fed up with you! You guys are FAILURES!” All through Israel’s story, God constantly offers them second chances! He constantly begs them to repent (to say sorry for their sins and try to make better choices)! God displays an incredible amount of love and patience! The people of Israel didn’t deserve it at all! I mean, maybe one or two chances…but after hundreds of years of FAILS, they didn’t really deserve God’s love and forgiveness anymore….but God kept offering it to them over and over again!
God had mercy on them! Mercy means being offered forgiveness when you deserve punishment. God showed them AMAZING GRACE- the dictionary describes grace as “the free and unmerited favor of God”. We can’t earn it!
Here’s the deal. We all fail. We fail all the time! Some of us have failed today! We’ve all sinned! We’ve all rejected God and have decided to go our own way….and none of us deserves God’s mercy and grace! And yet he KEEPS extending it to us because he loves us like crazy. Because he wants us to be tight with him. Because he wants the very best for us. And he’s willing to put up with all of our crap and forgive us a BILLION TIMES because he just loves us so much!
That blows me away! No matter what we’ve said or done! No matter how many times we’ve failed, God doesn’t look at us (at me) like we’re garbage! He doesn’t walk away from us or treat us like we deserve, but he CONSTANTLY offers us a second, third, fourth, ONE BILLIONTH chance!
That is amazing! How can we not live for him when we’ve experienced a love like that! And that’s why, even though it frustrates me a ton, I’m glad the history of God with the people of Israel is recorded for us because it proves the LOVE, the KINDNESS, the PATIENCE, the MERCY, the GRACE of God!
When you fail….when you fall flat on your face...when you feel that God couldn’t possibly love you or forgive you, we’re reminded that HE WILL NEVER STOP LOVING OR FORGIVING US….that his love is RECKLESS! It’s MIND-BOGGLING! When you’ve failed, when you’ve sinned, God wants you to go to him- to ask him to forgive you even though you don’t deserve it and to accept his love, his mercy, and his AMAZING grace!
YOU CAN PRAY:
Jesus, I mess up so much. I sin against you. I don't deserve love and forgiveness, and yet you offer it to me over and over again. Thank you for loving me like that. Please forgive me for my sin, for my choices to go my own way instead of your way. I invite You to come into my life. Thank you for your mercy! Thank you for your grace! Thank you for your love. Amen. Note: If you said that prayer after reading this, send Pastor Ben an email to let him know- ben@arlingtonwoods.ca.
Last week, we talked about how God wants us to know and follow him….to do what’s RIGHT, even if it’s really hard! He wants us to live life the way he designed it to be lived! That kind of thing might seem a little CRAZY today! Most of your friends might not really know or care that much about God and what he wants for their lives…so if you’re someone who is living in a way that’s different from them…it definitely STANDS OUT! I shared a story of how, when I was a teenager and decided to follow Jesus, God brought some awesome changes in my life. For example, I used to swear like a sailor (do sailor's really swear a lot???), but soon after I invited Jesus into my life, I found that I wanted God to be proud of the things I said. Well guess what? It wasn't long until people noticed that my language was different. In fact, I had friends who even DARED me to swear and offered me money just to say a bad word--- just so they could hear it coming out of my mouth! Isn’t that crazy? That's just one example that reminds us that if you are serious about loving and following God, people MIGHT think that you're a bit odd. They might not understand why you do what you do. It might lead them to ask you some questions! They might even make fun of you because of it! Tonight, we're looking at the story of Abraham and how God invited him on an adventure....to follow him! Genesis 12:1, 4 says, “The Lord had said to Abraham, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. So Abraham departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot (his nephew) went with him. Abraham was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.”
Imagine this. Imagine that your mom or dad called a family meeting and told you that God spoke to them and said that he wanted them to move to a new country (and they aren’t sure what that country will be…they’ll find out on the way), AND THAT THEY WERE DOING IT. How would you feel? Scared? Angry? Shocked? Would you think they were totally insane?
Well, that’s what God was asking Abraham to do—to leave life the way he had known it, to step WAY OUTSIDE his comfort zone, and move to a new country—to go on an adventure. And he wasn’t an adventurous 20 year-old either--- he was 75 YEARS OLD! That’s like your grandma or grandpa deciding all of a sudden to move away without giving their next address! You would probably try to talk some sense into them! You would probably tell them that they should sit back, relax and enjoy life instead of going off to do something crazy! But here’s the deal—God had a special plan for Abraham…and God just asked Abraham to trust him--- to trust that he would lead him someplace good—to trust that he had a good plan for his life!
God actually told Abraham that “if you love and follow me, I’ll be committed to you and your family. I’ll be your God and you will be my people. I’ll take care of you! I’ll bless you! In fact—ALL PEOPLE ON EARTH will be blessed through you!” God said that Abraham would have a huge family with many descendants!”
Now, here’s Abraham. He’s 75 years old. And God is telling him to move to a new place and that he would have KIDS. He didn’t have any kids at the time…and his wife was just 10 years younger than he was (65 at the time)! Well, guess what Abraham did? He followed God on this adventure. He trusted that God would take care of him….and He moved away to a new country and it wasn’t until YEARS later that he had a kid. In fact, he was 100 and his wife was 90 when they had their kid. It was kind of a miracle! His wife Sarah, actually LAUGHED HYSTERICALLY AT THE THOUGHT THAT AN OLD LADY LIKE HER COULD HAVE A KID! But God kept his promise!
And spoiler alert—Abraham’s descendants would become the people of Israel---and all through the Bible, we see God sticking with them even when they bailed on him and sinned---God constantly offered them love and forgiveness, even if they didn’t deserve it….because of the commitment that he had made with Abraham ----and Jesus—the saviour of the world (remember, God said that he would BLESS THE ENTIRE WORLD through Abraham) was born in that family line! Joseph, Jesus’ adopted dad was a descendant of Abraham!
So, God had pretty big plans for Abraham and his family---but if Abraham had said, “No way! I’m too old! I want to play it safe! I don’t want people to think I’m crazy!”—none of that would have happened!) Instead, Abraham packed up and went on this road trip
There’s something that we can learn from Abraham’s story….and that’s that God asks us to FOLLOW HIM- to live life the way he designed it to be lived and to trust that He knows and wants the best for us!
For you, following God might not meaning moving to a strange new country or having a kid when you’re 100 years old…but it’ll definitely mean that you’ll stand out in a crowd! Just like for Abraham, following God can be super risky and might seem totally crazy to some people!
It might be as simple as living in a way that’s different from other people around you (actually living what you believe). That might mean being honest when you could get away with something or refusing to gossip or make fun of somebody else. It might mean asking someone for forgiveness when you did something wrong or hurt them in some way?
Following God might mean going on a mission trip to help others around the world or to share God’s love with others. For example, even our trip to the Capital City Mission as a youth group might be something that’s out of your comfort zone or something that scares you--- but it’s a way that we can be a help and show God’s love to others who might be poor or looked down on by the rest of society! FOLLOWING GOD ISN’T SUPPOSED TO BE COMFORTABLE AND SAFE!
Following God—might mean GASP—actually letting your friends know that you’re someone who loves God and that you go to a church or youth group….and maybe even INVITING THEM TO JOIN YOU! Sure, some people might think it’s kind of weird, but you never know how just an invite might change somebody’s whole life!
Following God might mean giving money to charity, giving money to the church, or volunteering in the church or community when you could spend the money on yourself or spend your time sitting at home playing video games instead!
That’s what following God looks like—it means standing out--- it means being COUNTER-CULTURAL--- doing the opposite of what a lot of others around us might do--- being committed to doing what’s right, even if it’s really hard or might mean people think we’re crazy!
Each one of us will have to make the decision for ourselves--- If God created me to know and follow him….AM I ACTUALLY GOING TO DO IT? Am I going to live life the way he designed it to be lived? Am I going to go on the adventure that God has planned out for me?
Abraham is a pretty inspiring old dude. He trusted God with his life- and it meant stepping WAY OUTSIDE his comfort zone--- but as a result, God blessed him and his family in AMAZING WAYS—and ultimately, God used his family to be a part of his plan to SAVE THE WORLD—to offer love and forgiveness to EVERYONE through Jesus! Just like God called Abraham to an adventure, he's calling us to an adventure-- and we can trust that when we follow him, wherever it leads it'll be a place where we can really make a difference with our lives.
QUESTIONS FOR HOME
1. What is the most adventurous thing you've ever done? Parents, share some stories with your teens about adventures you've gone on! Can you think of ways that you trusted or followed God even if it was out of your comfort zone? What happened?
2. What do you think a Christian should look like? For example, what are some things that a Christian might say or do that might be different from what others would do? When people look at you, do they see those things?
3. Take the time to pray together and ask God to help your teen trust and follow Him. Pray that your teen would do what's right EVEN if it's REALLY hard and everybody else is going in the opposite direction. Pray that your teen would hear God's leading and direction in their life and that they would trust God enough to follow him wherever he leads.
This week, we kicked off a brand new series at CATALYST called "HIGHLIGHT REEL" where we're looking at some of the GREATEST MOMENTS, the highlights, in the Bible! Kicking things off, we started right on the first page of the Bible looking at the CREATION story in Genesis. We talked about how, in our culture today (including school) we're never really given the possibility that we were CREATED as even a potential option or possible theory. Instead, we're told that our existence is a result of some weird cosmic accident that happened billions of years ago, and over the process of time, that accident somehow produced a planet that’s perfectly suited to sustain life, and that the accident also created all of LIFE itself-- including creatures that evolved into living, intelligent and creative PEOPLE with distinct personalities, skills, and interests! But the problem is that no textbook or scientific study has ever been able to explain HOW life started….how something came to exist out of nothing! It’s a big question mark even in the scientific community.
The reason why scientists, our textbook writers, and the people on the news choose to believe that life came about because of some random chance, as far-fetched as it might seem, is because they start off with the assumption that there is no God. Science is all about observing and reporting on those observations, and for the most part, it discounts the supernatural. Because of this, they are looking for any natural explanation for our existence. But tonight, we explored how-- if we have open minds, there is a A LOT more reason to believe in a creator than to believe that all of life and creation just happened by accident. When we try to explain life without factoring God or the supernatural into it, we’re left with a lot of big question marks--- because EVERYTHING coming from NOTHING is a pretty big miracle!
In the first few pages of the Bible—in the Book of Genesis, we’re given an alternate theory for all of us to consider--- what I think is a far more plausible reason why life exists and why this planet is perfectly suited for us!
Now there are some Christians who interpret the Creation story very LITERALLY—where they believe that God created all of those things over a LITERAL period of 6 days…and that each of those days was a 24 hour period (which, I might add- is not impossible—because we’re talking about God here).
There are others who aren’t super nitpicky about the specific details of the Creation story, These people would suggest that it’s not really important whether or not this happened in 7 literal days---or whether it took a billion years--- or whether God sped up the growth process of our planet to make it appear older than it is, or whether or not there’s a million years between each day of creation, because this was never meant to be a scientific research paper-- it was something that was passed down from generation to generation and was told in a way that could be easily remembered and memorized so that people could learn and remember ONE IMPORTANT TRUTH.
The key takeaway from the Bible’s creation story, and one that ALL Christians agree on--- is that WE WERE CREATED. That, “IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WAS GOD…AND HE CREATED!”
If there is a CREATOR—than it means that we aren’t here by accident. It’s not random chance that our planet is the only one we’ve ever discovered that can sustain life and has life on it! The Bible tells us that our planet and humankind was CREATED with intention and purpose by a God who loves us.
John 1:3 says, “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made”.
Job 12:7-11- “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind”.
This isn’t saying that animals will LITERALLY take us to school and teach us stuff or that the earth has a mouth--- but it’s saying that by scientifically examining animals, the earth, plant life and all of the things we find in nature, the intricacy of those things lets us know that they couldn't have all appeared out of nothing by complete accident, rather, “the hand of the LORD has done this.”
I’ve used this example before, but if you were to walk in the woods and happened across a chair— you wouldn’t assume that it just grew out of the ground and naturally appeared that way--- you would ASSUME that it was CREATED and put there by somebody. By looking at it, you would see that it was sanded or painted, that pieces of wood were cut, that metal or plastic was melted down and poured into a mold—that someone shaped the materials and put it all together.
But here’s the thing--a chair, in comparison to humanity or what we see in nature, isn't really that complex. Look at our bodies—our eyes compete with some of the best cameras that technology can build! When we cut ourselves, our body has the ability to heal itself! Look at our minds—we can create and invent all kinds of amazing things, from a tablet to an amazing piece of artwork! Nature, our bodies and our minds are far more intricate and complex than a chair—and yet we say it’s OBVIOUS that someone made the chair, but it’s not OBVIOUS that someone created life? That life is a completely random occurrence!
Our textbooks always say that the first spark of life came from nothing. That a big bang happened (and again, there’s no answer to who might have caused that big bang), and somehow a spark of life occurred and it started as a plankton and it took billions of years for that plankton to slowly improve and eventually become a human being. Our textbooks say that the answer is in the "billions of years"—that somehow, when you add a long period of time to the equation- ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE! But, that doesn’t make sense.
To use another of my favorite illustrations. I’m a fan of LEGO—I actually have a big collection of Star Wars Microfighters in my office. A LEGO set isn’t very complex. You can have a box with around a hundred pieces that contains ALL of the parts inside to build that exact model. But if I shook that box for billions of years, do you think at the end, a fully built LEGO set would be inside the box? No. If anything, the pieces would wear down and degrade over time!
I'm a colossal failure when it comes to baking. Just a little while ago I made some homemade bread…but I accidentally had one ingredient wrong--- I used Baking Soda instead of Baking Powder. Let me tell you, the look on my kids faces said it all--- just one simple mistake and the bread turned into a doorstop! To say that a loaf of bread could be made out of nothing, with no intelligence, no creator, nobody stirring or mixing things together is completely ridiculous! I mean, BAKING is insanely complicated—you’re supposed to mix it--- but if you OVER-MIX it, you’ve ruined it! How a tree works (this living thing that grows from a seed, produces delicious fruit, and even creates oxygen) or how a baby is born is WAY more complex and miraculous than making a loaf of bread.
But, that’s what we’re being told is the most PLAUSIBLE explanation for our existence—that the building blocks of life (and remember, they can’t explain how those building blocks of life came to exist in the first place) somehow became something as complex and intricate as a human body over billions of years WITHOUT SOMEONE ACTUALLY CREATING IT OR CAUSING IT TO HAPPEN! Our bodies and minds are WAY more complex than a few pieces of shaped plastic! To say that we evolved over a process of billions of years with no intelligent designer or creator is a HUGE stretch of logic! It’s like saying that a simple LEGO model built itself! It's like saying that a loaf of bread made itself!
Psalm 19:1-4 says, “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world”.
Here, the Bible isn’t saying that nature LITERALLY talks to us—but that everything in nature, is in a sense, SCREAMING out that it was created by a “craftsman”- by an intelligent designer! The evidence is ALL around us!
So what does that mean for you and me?
Well, if we agree that all of the complexity of life and this planet couldn’t have just happened by accident, then it leads us to ask some deep questions!
WHO CREATED US? CAN WE KNOW OUR CREATOR? DOES THIS CREATOR HAVE A PLAN AND PURPOSE FOR OUR LIVES? IS THERE AN ACTUAL RIGHT/WRONG WAY TO DO THIS THING CALLED LIFE?
Next week, we’re going to look at the story of Adam and Eve—and what it says about who God is and why we were created.
DISCUSSION FOR HOME
1. What are some reasons why people might disbelieve that God created all of life and creation?
2. This week we looked at how all of Creation bears God's signature (that creation tells us about God). By looking at life and creation, what are some clues that reveal that it isn't be accident-- that we were created?
3. If God is our creator, what do you think that means for our everyday life? Should it affect or change how we live?
Usually, around this time of year, when we’re getting close to LOVE DAY, we take at least one night to check out what the Bible has to say about dating and relationships in a series called RELATIONSHIP STATUS. While some teens haven’t even thought about dating yet, MOST of them will choose to date someone at some point and maybe even get married someday. Of course, the perfect time to get some relationship advice is BEFORE you actually need it. You don’t start driving a car BEFORE you take driving lessons or get your license, right?! All of the stuff you learn PREPARES you so that you won’t drive the car off the road!
If you’re looking to our culture for advice or guidance on dating and relationships, you might just find that you end up living with a lot of regret. Back in the day, people used to get relationship advice from people they knew and respected- people they considered to be wise- people who had been married for years and had managed to stay together and work at their relationship when others would have bailed.
Where do we get our relationship advice today? Are the people we listen to examples of "relationship success stories"? Probably not so much.
Maybe you’re getting advice from friends who might be lovely, well-meaning people, but are just as confused as everyone else? Maybe you’re learning about dating and relationships from media--- like those horrible magazines you find near the cash at the grocery store, song lyrics and music videos, Netflix shows or movies, or from celebrity culture?
Most of the entertainment we watch/listen to doesn’t really depict what a real-life, healthy relationship is like. It’s usually depicted as super-glamorous (like something out of a fairy tale), where the couple sleeps together 5 minutes after meeting in a bar (which is actually super unwise and even dangerous) and then they go on to live happily ever after! The music and videos that are getting the most hits are usually full of content where women are depicted as objects and where women are lovingly called some pretty despicable names! Our celebrities (the people who our culture seems to idolize the most) jump from relationship to relationship with marriages barely ever lasting. While their lifestyle might look glamorous (and believe me, they WANT you to believe that), the reality is that they're not happy. We constantly see stories of celebs who are addicted to drugs or alcohol, who commit suicide, who are dealing with mental health issues, who have their hearts broken over and over again, who have kids and go through painful divorces, and who have the person they loved and trusted cheat on them.
Maybe, just maybe we’re learning about relationships from the wrong source? Maybe, just maybe, we need to look to what God has to say? After all—GOD INVENTED LOVE--- HE WAS THE VERY FIRST MATCHMAKER! HE CREATED US AND KNOWS AND WANTS THE BEST FOR US!
Tonight, we watched a clip from an online dating show called VERSUS 1. In it, a girl interviewed a bunch of guys without seeing them, and then eliminated them one-by-one until there was just one person left who seemed like the best match for them! What's really cool about that clip is that:
It actually stands out from what’s normal in our culture (where hotness and physical attractiveness is viewed as the most important thing in a relationship). IT’S A BLIND INTERVIEW! It’s completely different from shows like the BACHELOR where a guy chooses girls to date based on their looks and make-out abilities. The girl in the video clip isn’t making the choice based on superficial stuff—like how dreamy the guy’s hair is. Now, that’s not saying that being physically attracted to someone isn’t important…but it’s not EVERYTHING. It's not what's MOST important. If you were dating and your boyfriend/girlfriend decided to leave you because you got a scar in an accident, wouldn’t that just seem insanely superficial and gross? Wouldn’t that be a horrifying reason to break up? I think we all know deep down inside that love, romance, and relationships has to be more than just physical attraction and hotness. There are, after all, a lot of people who are beautiful on the outside, but kind of ugly on the inside.
The second thing that I think is pretty cool about the dating show is that she’s putting some thought into the kinds of people she wants to date! There’s a bit of an interview process going on! It’s really important that you put a bit of thought and effort into who it is that you choose to date and why you want to date them. You should be picky! You should have some standards! A person being “into you” really isn’t a good enough reason to date them! You’re worth more than that!
Tonight, we focused on the MOST IMPORTANT THING we should consider before dating someone, and we did it, by looking at one of the biggest DATING DISASTERS in the Bible, focusing on the story of Samson.
The Bible tells us that Samson was strong, not because he was hit with a gamma ray and got superpowers, and not even because he had magical hair--but because God made him supernaturally strong for a special mission—to free the Israelites from captivity! Before Samson was born, God told his mom about this special purpose he had for her son and that as a symbol of that, he shouldn’t cut his hair (that’s where the hair thing comes from).
Just to give you a bit of backstory--the nation of Israel had been captured by a despicable group of people called the Philistines and they were basically being treated as slaves, being mistreated and abused for 40 years—so God chose Samson to be the person to help rescue his people!
One thing you might not know about Samson though, is that he ended up becoming one of the biggest CREEPS in the Bible. He really isn't a hero that we should look up to. He was super vain and conceited, and he CONSTANTLY chose to disobey God and do whatever he wanted instead. Part of that involved making HORRIBLE dating choices!
“Samson went down to Timnah. There he saw a young Philistine woman. When he returned, he spoke to his father and mother. He said, “I’ve seen a Philistine woman in Timnah. Get her for me. I want her to be my wife.” His father and mother replied, “Isn’t there one among any of our people? Do you have to go to the Philistines to get a wife? They aren’t God’s people!... But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.” (Judges 14:1-3)
In these first few verses, we discover that Samson is kind of creepy. We also discover that he refused to listen to his parent’s advice. Because he didn't have high standards, he ended up getting engaged to this girl who didn’t share his faith and values…and I’m editing out some of the insane drama--- but she ended up running off with the best man at the wedding! It wasn't a great relationship.
Now, you might think that this would have taught Samson to make better choices when it came to who he became involved with….but you would be wrong. Just a chapter later we read that he went to visit a prostitute! After that, he fell in love with a woman that he didn't TRUST at all. In fact, she was deceiving him the whole time so that she could help the Philistines defeat him! Samson's relationship choices ended up costing him big time. Samson’s story ends pretty tragically. God had huge plans for him. God had chosen him to be the rescuer of his people….and yet Samson ended up blind and ultimately committing suicide. It's a really sad end to a life that had so much promise, and it all ended that way because he kept making terrible choices.
If there’s anything that Samson’s story tells us, it’s how important it is to make good dating choices! Samson is one of the biggest creeps in the Bible….and part of his problem is that he wasn’t all that choosy when it came to who he chose to love! His parents even tried to be the voice of reason and reminded him that he should find a woman who shared his faith and values… but he totally ignored them! He was like a caveman! “Woman look good. Fetch her for me”. The guy didn’t have high standards at all—and because of that, he wasn’t just unhappy—but his life was a complete disaster!
WHEN YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT DATING SOMEONE, YOU SHOULD FIRST MAKE SURE THAT THEY SHARE YOUR FAITH AND VALUES.
That's one of the most important dating tips we find in the Bible! It's something that we rarely hear mentioned when we see relationships in music or movies.
2 Corinthians 6:14-15 says, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial (a false god)? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?”
The first part of that verse talks about not being YOKED together with unbelievers. It has nothing to do with eggs—but it’s actually a farming metaphor (because in Bible times, everybody raised animals and farmed for a living--- they didn’t have grocery stores back then--- they needed to do it to survive)
A yoke is a farming tool that was used to help make it easier for animals to pull heavy loads and till the ground—for example--- in the above picture, there are two oxes who are yoked together. The yoke not only helps them distribute the weight of what they’re carrying better, but it helps them work together as a team! They’re headed in the same direction. They’ve got the same goal! So here, the Bible is saying that if one ox wants to go in a different direction and is fighting against the yoke, you've got some major problems!
To use a modern illustration—have you ever gone canoeing before? The secret to canoeing (when you’ve got two people in the boat) is that you have to work together with the other person so that you’re dipping the oar into the water at the same time, and you’re rowing in perfect timing. I shared about how my kids often play a video game that has them rowing in the same boat, and it's pretty hilarious to watch. They’re arguing and fighting the whole time! They row against each other! When one kid wants to go one way, the other is rowing in the opposite direction! Usually, they get stuck going around in circles or floating out-of-bounds because they haven’t realized that you can’t row on the same side of the boat!
This is actually a pretty decent analogy for dating and relationships! It’s SUPER IMPORTANT that you’re in a relationship with someone who shares your values, and especially someone who shares YOUR FAITH IN GOD! You want to find someone who is your partner and teammate in life instead of someone who is trying to go in a different direction or has different values and priorities.
There are no guarantees in life that, after you use a lot of wisdom and are selective in choosing someone to date or marry, life will be a fairytale and it won’t end in failure. Dating and relationships is RISKY stuff. It means risking that you might get hurt! It means making yourself super vulnerable! But all that said, your relationship has a FAR greater chance of success if you choose someone who loves and follows Jesus and who can encourage you and help you grow in your faith, so that you’re on the same team and heading in the same direction instead of steering each other in opposite directions! Statistically, couples who consider themselves to be happier, have less problems in marriage, and are less likely to go through divorce are ones who both consider themselves to be committed Christians and are a regular part of church community. Again, that’s not a guarantee—but dating/marrying someone who shares your faith and values gives you a far better chance at having a healthy and strong relationship!
For Samson, he wasn’t someone who really took following God all that seriously in the first place, but then he made some HUGE dating mistakes by choosing people based on their looks instead of who they were as people or whether or not they shared his values and faith in God--- and it ruined his life! God doesn’t want that for any of us! He wants us to find a real teammate—someone who is a real help and strength to us! So use wisdom! Be picky! Make it a priority to date someone who shares your values and your faith!
DISCUSSION FOR HOME
1. What are some important qualities that your teen feels are essential to someone they might date?
2. What are some potential problems that might result if you rush into a relationship without putting some thought into it or listening to wise advice?
3. Watch one of the shows/movies your teen likes with them (particularly if it focuses on relationships). Does it teach us anything about relationships? What are some of the positives/negatives to how it portrays relationships?
