We started our study on the topic of truth in preparation for Acquire the Fire 2014 just a few weeks away now. The kids are working on creating smashbooks (scrapbook-like journals) on the topic that they will also use to take notes in at ATF.
We watched a few funny clips from the movie Liar Liar with Jim Carrey. In clip #1, his son Max makes a birthday wish that his dad (Jim Carrey) would not be able to lie anymore. In clip #2, Fletcher discovers his inability to lie, as his son's wish has apparently come true. In clip #3, Fletcher begs his son Max to take back his wish and tries to explain to him why adults sometimes need to lie. With that, we defined what truth really is....the true or actual state of a matter...a verified or indisputable fact...the state or character of being true...actuality.
After defining truth, we discussed with the kids what makes sharing their faith a challenge if they know it to be truth. Are they afraid of being made fun of, being rejected, looking weird? 48% of people their age walk away from their faith once they reach adulthood. They are called the "Nones," the ones who claim to have no religion anymore. We discussed reasons these young people are turning away from their faith. Next we talked about what pop culture says about you if you believe in Jesus and some of the one-liners they use to discourage Christians. "How can you believe in the Bible? It's just a book written by a bunch of different men?" We talked about how no one wants to be humiliated or intimidated and how Jesus calls us to be the "salt of the earth" and the "light of the world". We're not meant to live in fear of other people's attitudes or actions against us.
These are just a few of the topics that will be discussed at this year's ATF. We showed the week one pre-event curriculum video for ATF then with Ron Luce. We gave the kids each two notecards to write down the one thing they hoped God would reveal to them or prayer they hoped to be answered while at ATF. They kept one of the notecards for themselves and we kept the other. The cards they gave to us were anonymous so as to not infringe on their privacy, but with these notecards, we can better pray for each of the kids attending the event as the time draws nearer.
Next, we showed the kids two books. One was a Bible and one was not, but they couldn't tell the difference because both cover pages were conceiled with a piece of cardstock. The books looked alike and had almost the same number of pages. We polled the kids on which book they thought was the real Bible based on its outside appearance. It was hard to tell from the outside. The only way to know a Bible from any other book is by looking at what is inside. The Bible was written over a span of two thousand years by over forty writers, but it was inspired by God and it is the TRUTH! 2 Timothy 3:16 says that, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."
We closed with a game of two truths and a lie. The kids went around telling two truths and a lie about themselves. It was everyone else's job to figure out what the truths were and what the lies were. We learned a lot about each other in the process!
Very excited about this curriculum that emphasizes the TRUTH of God's Word and how we can more confidently share it with those God puts in our paths. God is good!! Three weeks until ATF!!
