This Week #3-23

This Week in OFFROAD we took a journey through the story of the cross discovering, not only what Jesus went through, but why he did what he did. Many of us have heard the story of the cross over and over and we understand basically what happened, but when we stop to think about it we have a hard time really comprehending why. Why that way? Why death? After looking into more detail about the excruciating pain that Jesus endured the why questions were answered. Why live as a lowly person, being executed with the lowest of criminal? God wants to know that we truly love Him. If he were to come as a great king with power we would all probably love him for his greatness, but he wants us to love Him for Him. Also he was setting the ultimate example of love. It takes little love to have great power and Lord it over others. It takes all the love that exists to go through what Jesus went through for us. But why die? “For the wages of sin is DEATH.” Our God is a just God and what we have all earned is death. Somehow that wage needs to be paid= Death. Jesus takes that on for us, pays the debt and conquers death so that we may live!!!!

Questions for this week:
• Is there anything about Jesus’ death that you don’t get/ still doesn’t make sense?
• What does Jesus’ death mean to you personally?
• In the steps of choosing your fate (Faith, Acceptance, Trust, and Eternity) where would you say you are?
• Have you asked Jesus into your life? If so how has that changed who you are? If not what is keeping you from that?
• What are the benefits (besides eternity) of knowing Christ?
• Who is someone you want to have faith like as you grow. (who do you look to ask an example?) What about them, specifically, do you want to be like in your faith?

This Week #3-22

This Week in OFF ROAD we started to look into the story of Easter, beginning with the night Jesus is betrayed (Matt 26:36-46). Jesus, who is in complete anguish asks his disciples one little favor, stay up and pray, and His disciples FAIL miserably, 3 times! Even though they totally fail Jesus returns to His prayer time with God and allows God’s love to be poured out through Him. From this story we gleaned 2 important messages. #1) God loves us even when we fail Him. #2) Our love for others should be like Jesus’, not dependent on how they treat us. I’m sure none of us would have blamed Jesus if he walked up to his disciples, slapped them in the face and shouted, “WAKE UP!! I’m about to die for you and you can even stay awake, I’m out of here.” In fact that is what most of us would have probably done. Instead Jesus is patient and loves them through it. We need to be like that. But how? Look at Jesus’ example, he stayed connected to God. We can’t do this on our own, we have to stay connected to God though continual pray, making sure we commit ourselves to, “Not my will, but yours be done God.”

Questions for this week:
What would you have done in Jesus’s situation?
How should Jesus’s reaction to the disciple influence the way we act towards others?
On a scale of 1-10 (1 being none- 10 being totally) how connected would you say you are to God? Why?
What are some steps you can take to be more connected to Him?
How should knowing how much Jesus continues to show us love, even when we wrong him, change your relationships with others.
What is one person you need to better at loving, even if they don’t love you? Pray for connectedness to God to help you with this.

This Week #3-21

This week in OFF ROAD we dove into chapter 3 of Jonah and learned that: God is looking for people who are lost; he loves the lost and wants them to be found. We shared stories with each other of times that we were lost and scared and compared that to being emotionally lost and far from God. In Jonah 3, we see God’s love for Nineveh and his desire to help them be found, and his great compassion when they turned from their evil ways and towards God. We also looked at Matthew 18:12-14…and talked about the Shepherd’s love for the 1 lost sheep. Students were encouraged to think through areas in their lives where they are lost…and allow God to enter those areas. And challenged to think of one person in their life who they know is lost and far from God and be a Jonah to that person by praying for them and reaching out to them this week.

Questions for Students:
Can you remember a time when you were lost and scared?
How about a time when you felt lost emotionally and needed to call out to get help from someone (maybe a parent, friend, or God)…
Spend some time thinking about the people of Nineveh who went from being ‘Lost to Found’…did they deserve God’s compassion? Now apply this question to us…do we deserve God’s compassion? What does this tell us about God?
Can you think of anyone in your life who you know is lost…share about that person.
What can you do this week…to be obedient like Jonah and share God’s love with this friend or person you know that is lost?
Spend some time in prayer, asking God to help you have courage to help your Lost friend be Found.

This Week #3-20

This Week in OFF ROAD we realized that we need to make the shift from independence to dependence on God. After Jonah is thrown into the ocean God send a giant fish to swallow him. At this time Jonah realizes that he can do nothing without the help of God. It took Jonah getting thrown into the raging ocean and then getting swallowed by a fish for him to realize that he needs to depend on God. In Jonah 2 we see Jonah’s cry for help, admitting that he needs God. We too need to realize that we need to be more dependent on God, that we shouldn’t wait until we are in the worst of places to call out to God, but we should be doing that on a daily basis. One way of seeing how dependent you are on God is looking at your prayer life. Does your prayer life reflect independence or dependence?

Questions for students:

Would you say that you are dependent of God?
What would your life look like if you were more dependent on God? How would that show?
Who in your life do you see as dependent on God? What makes you think that they are dependent on God?
What is one thing you can do this week to try to depend more on God?
Do you find it easy or hard to pray? Why do you think that is?
A.C.T.S. is an acronym that can help you through your prayer time (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supply) Which of these would you say is most prevalent in your prayers? Which of these is lacking in your prayer? Why do you think that is?

This Week #3-19

Continuing our “Shift” series we dove further into the book of Jonah, looking a the first 16 verses. In reading this section of the story it is clear that the main idea is that God is trying to get Jonah’s attention. God uses 2 main venues to get Jonah’s attention. The first is the storm, or circumstance he is in. Unfortunately Jonah’s not the smartest of guys and at first the raging storm doesn’t even wake him. The next thing God used is the people around Jonah. This finally gets Jonah’s attention and he then realizes the circumstance he is in and pays attention to God. So how does this relate to the life of a Junior Higher? Well, just as God used Jonah’s circumstance and the people in his life, God is constantly using the people and the circumstances in our life to get our attention and draw us closer to Him. We need to understand that God is doing this all the time, not just at church, or with church people, but that through the tough stuff at school, home, interaction with friends, whatever, God is trying to get you attention and draw you closer to Him. If we take that perspective into every area of our life we will shift to see those things God sees as important.

Questions for discussion with your child:
• What tough stuff do you face being a Junior Higher?
• What circumstances in your life might God be using to get your attention?
• Who are people that God has placed in your life that God might be using to get you attention? How so?
• What can you do to make sure that when God is trying to get your attention you are ready to listen?
• What do you think god wants to tell you right now?