This Week # 2-45

This Week #2-45

We ended our “Heroes” series and our summer with the focus of what we are all about- Jesus. We looked at the awesome example He set in his life, noting what it looks like to be a true hero, something we are all called to be. Jesus loved and loves us tremendously and that loved showed in two huge ways. First, Jesus was humble. We looked at the verses that describe Jesus being betrayed and I talked about how if it were me I would have never let Judas kiss me (in fact I would have probably punched his lights out) and I would have surely not healed the guys ear that got looped of, BUT Jesus, who was going to be killed for being perfect, humbled himself and, not only accepted Judas’ kiss, healed the guys ears, but ended up dying for both of them- WOW!!! Jesus also showed his love through service. Again, Jesus went to the cross enduring pain we couldn’t even imagine all to serve God and to serve us- WOW!!!! The challenge of all this was to make this part of daily prayers – “God give me your eyes, open my eyes to the things unseen and break my heart for what breaks yours.” In doing this and honestly seeking it we will hopefully start seeing the world the way Jesus does and then it will be easier to love others through humility and service, the way we are called to.

Questions:

Do you desire to love others because Christ first loved you? What does this look like?

How do you think you would treat others different if you saw the world through Jesus’ eyes?

What can you do to make that difference in your life (treating the world the way Jesus would)?

As you return to school, how do you want to love others at school the way Christ loved you?

What is harder for you Humility or Service? Why? How can you get better at both of these? (Hint-practice)

This Week # 2-43

This week in OFF road we were able to look at a few more heroes of the bible. This time the heroes were a little bit more obscure than the big names of David, Moses and Paul. These three heroes were judges of tribes of Israel, but all ended up delivering Israel from the hands of oppressors. The three heroes and their super powers are listed below. If you have a chance to read about Look up Judges 3 and 4, pretty fascinating.
Ehud
Super power- left- handedness
Shamgar
Superpower- a stick with a needle on the end
Deborah
Super power- trust & an ear

Questions for this week:
What is unique about you? How can you use that as your superpower?
What things, big or small, has God given you that can be used to do great things for His glory?
Do you really trust God? If so, are you listening?

This Week # 2-42

This week in OFF ROAD we had the privilege of having Paul Slayton speak to us. Paul was one of my Jr. High leaders when I was a young’n and he is an awesome guy. Paul shared so ridiculous stories that were totally crazy and not true about me growing up ;) which is better than sharing the ridiculous stories that are true about me. He then told us a stomach twisting story of an incident that happened to him a few weeks ago. The story involved a little girl who had her finger pulled off, where just the bone was showing. This happened at a mall and he was a witness to it. Now Paul, being a teacher and a formed boy scout is trained in first aid, and when it happened he knew the right thing to do, but stood there and watched. Eventually he stepped forward and helped out. The point was this;

James 1:22- Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says…

See our calling is not to have head knowledge that does nothing, but knowledge that leads to action. In our school many people are in the same situation as that little girl, probably not physically, but emotionally and spiritually. The challenge was- Will you be one that knows what the right thing to do is but stands there, or will you see the people in your school and, with the knowledge gained at church, love like Christ, act like Christ, and reach out like Christ?

Questions for this week:
As you go back to school what are some ways you can take what you have learned at church and put them into practice at school?

Who are some people you know that are made fun of that you know you should stick up for? Will you stick up for them this year?

Are you one who typically stands around not doing anything about the hurting people around you or are you one who sees the needs of others and acts on that? How can you do that better now?