I-DENTITY: DISCOVERING WHO GOD CREATED ME TO BE Week 1: Who I Am Not

Galatians 1:10 - Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.

This week's topic built on our previous conversation about finding our identity in Jesus Christ. We live in a world where it's common for people to wear many "hats" and conform to different groups' expectations. Sometimes things get ugly. People hurt one another with their words. They think that relationships will make them complete-and then they jump from relationship to relationship to try to fill a void in life. People base their value on the wrong things. This week's lesson gave the youth some ideas and tools as they considered who they are NOT and how God wants them to NOT live.

Lesson Objectives:

• WHAT: God calls us to interact with people in ways that defy our culture's expectations.
• WHY: As we gain confidence in our identity in Christ, we can begin to develop healthier patterns of interaction with other people.
• HOW: We examined three patterns of behavior to avoid-and by avoiding these patterns, they will affirm their identity in Christ and point other people toward him, too.  (3 Patterns of Behavior - letting other people's opinions define you, focusing on just yourself, focusing on other people's appearances).

We looked at Galatians 1:10, 1 Samuel 16:7 and James 4:1-2.

We can choose to follow God's way, or we can choose to follow the world's way. The choice to follow our culture usually gets us caught in the trap of trying to win people's approval. In this week's key verse in Galatians, we saw how Paul had chosen to not fall into this trap.

Jesus avoided this trap, too. Jesus didn't treat people based on what they could do for Him. The Pharisees were concerned only with people who were "holy" enough. The disciples were constantly guarding Jesus from people they deemed unimportant. A crowd of people constantly surrounded Jesus looking for the next miracle-they were concerned with what Jesus had done for them lately.

But then there's Jesus. He consistently shattered people's expectations of who should get attention. Religious leaders of His day didn't expect him to hang out with tax collectors, Samaritans, fishermen, or sexually promiscuous women-but He did, because those were the people who needed a savior.
Our students live in a world where people are deemed valuable based on their wealth, personality, clothing, attractiveness, athletic ability, or musical talents. Many young people act in certain ways or hang with certain crowds because they believe being friends with these individuals will make THEM more valuable.

What if our youth broke this cycle? What if they were so clear of their identity in Jesus that they felt the freedom to live differently? It could change the world they live in!

I-DENTITY: DISCOVERING WHO GOD CREATED ME TO BE Week 1: Who I Am

We started our next unit tonight talking about our identity in Christ.  We began with this powerful YouTube.

We asked the kids to bring in their favorite hats this week.  We discussed their hat choices.

• Tell us about the hat you brought today. Why did you choose it? What does it remind you of, or what does it represent?
•  What does the hat say about you when you wear it?
•  What are some jobs that are easy to identify because of the hats those workers wear?

When you see someone wearing an easily recognizable hat, you instantly know something about that person. It defines how that person makes a living-whether it's as a firefighter or a fast food employee or a nurse or an astronaut. The hat reveals that person's role-and to a degree, it tells us something about that person's identity. Imagine what it would be like if YOU wore different hats that described the different roles you play each day.

• What are some of the different "hats" you wear each day-in other words, what are some of the different roles you play?  
• Think about one specific role you play. When you're in that role, who are you thinking about the most? When you're making a decision, who do you think about impressing-or not disappointing?

One of the most important tasks in life is understanding who we truly are. Our culture has trained us to believe that our value is found in what "hat" we wear. So we gain value from how good an athlete we are, how many friends we have, what kind of clothes we wear, how good our grades are. These are important things, but Jesus wants us to find our identity in him-your friendship with Jesus is the most significant decision you make in life, and it's a "hat" that ought to affect all areas of your life.

We talked about how our culture says to change hats frequently.

• What are some of the different peer groups you interact with each day-groups like artists, athletes, musicians, class clowns, bookworms, and so on?
•  How often do you feel pressure to act or talk differently, depending on which peer group you're around? How does this pressure make you feel, and how do you respond to it?
•  What are some of the "hats" you are trying to wear that feel impossible or are stressing you out?
•  What are some of the BAD "hats" people want you to wear? Tell us about the stuff you've felt pressured to say or do.
•  Romans 12:2 says followers of Jesus shouldn't "copy the behavior and customs of this world." How easy or difficult is it to obey this instruction?

At some point in time, we all feel pressured to act or talk a certain way to fit in with a specific group of people. Even adults feel this pressure! That's why it's so important to really think about those words from Romans 12:2. "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." God wants to change our thinking on this-and that leads us to our next teaching point.

God says to wear just one hat. 

We read Colossians 3:17.

• What do you think it means to be "a representative of the Lord Jesus"?
• Based on this verse, what do you think Jesus would say about changing hats frequently? How might it affect your ability to be Jesus' representative in everything you do and everything you say?
•  Think through your areas of commitment or responsibility or your roles in life. How might these areas of life look different if you saw yourself first and foremost as being a follower of Jesus?
•  Why do you think God might want us to be defined by just one hat in life?

Wearing just one "hat" doesn't mean we ignore our responsibilities in life. It simply means that we find our identity in Jesus-we are loved, we are valued, we have a purpose in life, we have something to contribute, and we are made in God's image. We have the opportunity to be God's representative in a world that is broken and needs to be fixed through the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. When we choose to wear just one "hat" and find our identity in Jesus, we're able to fulfill our role as Jesus' representative.

We ended the night talking about how sometimes we find it difficult to find our identity in Christ because we don't believe that God can really use us for anything.  We feel unqualified to identify with Christ.  We watched The March of the Unqualified video then to see just how unqualified many of Jesus' followers in the Bible were...and how God used them despite their qualifications.

God can use anyone!  Amen!

GOD’S BIG STORY Week 4: New Creation - A New Life Has Begun

This is our fourth lesson exploring God's Big Story. God's plan of redemption means that we don't have to experience eternal separation from God-but it also means we can experience a significant, meaningful life here on earth. We aren't perfect. As Christ-followers, we need to continue growing. We're works in progress who look forward to the day when that work is finished and we experience eternal life with God.

Lesson Objectives:

WHAT: God wants to give everyone a "new" life, both here on earth and someday in heaven.
WHY: Youth have the opportunity to experience the meaningful life God desires for them-and share the good news of that life with others.
HOW: We examined what it means to have a new life now and eternal life in heaven, and we considered ways to continue growing spiritually.

We looked at 2 Corinthians 5:17, John 3:16, 10:10 and Titus 3:3-7.

We also watched Matthew West's new song video, Day One , which sums up very nicely what we talked about tonight.  Our key words this week were New and Grow.

We pulled our four flowerpots out again and talked about their representation of our four-part story...Creation (perfect pot), the Fall (pot in pieces), Redemption (pot glued back together), and New Creation (perfect pot).  In many ways, these flowerpots represent our lives. We started out perfect and complete, like the first pot, but our lives became broken because of sin-even when we were little kids, we sinned. That's the second one, which is broken. But God gives us a remedy through Jesus to become fixed and repaired and redeemed, like the flowerpot we repaired in our last lesson. Still, you can see the cracks and the evidence of our brokenness. We remain imperfect. But that's OK because it doesn't mean we're worthless to God. We're still valuable, even with our flaws and imperfections. This pot still could be used for many things, just like our lives still have purpose and meaning, even if we aren't perfect.

We talked about changes we might expect to see in the life of someone who becomes a believer, changes they have personally experienced, and how they are different today from even just a year ago.  God gives us a new life by helping us change and become more like Jesus. It's important that we focus on both the inside and the outside of our lives. Our actions and deeds matter, but God also cares about our hearts-our motives, our thoughts, and our attitudes.

One of the greatest truths about being a follower of Jesus is that you're never done growing. God wants to challenge you and help you to grow for the rest of your life. It's similar to being an athlete or musician or artist or writer-no matter how good you are, you can continue to grow and practice and learn. God wants to give you a new life through Jesus, but God also wants you to continue growing as you travel the journey of faith with Jesus.

Amen!

GOD’S BIG STORY Week 3: Redemption—The World Can Be Fixed

Our lesson tonight moved our group into the third "part" of God's Big Story, building on the previous themes of how God created the world as something good, and how Adam and Eve made a choice that caused the world to become broken. This week, we saw how God provided a way to fix our brokenness, but the remedy of Jesus is one we must receive for ourselves. God does the fixing, and we can only receive it-we can't do it ourselves.

Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ephesians 2:8-10 - God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Lesson Objectives:

• WHAT: Although our world is broken, God has a remedy to fix things.
• WHY: Redemption adds purpose to our lives as we join God in His plan for the world.
• HOW: We examined God's plan to fix our broken world through Jesus and saw how each of us must decide if we will receive the gift God offers.

We started with a game that involved the youth dropping clothepins while standing on chairs into cups on the floor.  For each clothespin they made into the cup, they received one ticket.  They then were able to redeem those tickets for pieces of candy....and an example of something being redeemed for something else of greater value.

There were two main points to tonight's lesson.

1. God provided a way to FIX the world.

• God created the world, and it was good. Adam and Eve chose to sin, and the world became broken. How is Jesus the solution to the world's brokenness?
• How has Jesus fixed problems or challenges in your life?
• Earlier, you redeemed your paper tickets for something better-some cool prizes. What's the similarity between that experience and Jesus helping you and me experience something better in our lives?

Being a "slave" to sin is like having sin as your boss; that's why the Apostle Paul talks about the "wages of sin" in this verse. When you work at a job, you receive money-wages from the boss. So, if we're working for sin as our boss, we'll receive the payment of death-eternal separation from God. But God's remedy for our sin and for our broken world was to send Jesus to pay the price for our sins by dying on the cross-and then coming back to life again. God redeems through his Son Jesus-but it's a solution we must choose to accept and receive.

2. We must choose to RECEIVE God's remedy.

• Romans 6:23 says that "the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." How would you explain this to your friends?
• Explain in your own words what it means to "become a Christian" and how you make the choice to receive God's remedy of forgiveness and redemption through Jesus Christ.

When we talk about God "fixing" the world, we're really talking about God's plan of redemption-that which was broken can now be fixed, restored, redeemed through Jesus Christ. And the word "receive" is important because God is the one who does the fixing. We can only receive His gift of being "fixed" or redeemed through Jesus-we can't do it ourselves.

We let a few kids attempt to "fix" a clay flower pot that had been broken.  As you accept the gift of God and see that your life is redeemed from a broken mess and restored to something useful again, the next step is to join God in His plan for fixing the brokenness in our world. When we live the way God intended us to live, we bring small pieces of redemption to the world we live in. This is what God intended us to do.

We ended with some take-home challenge questions for the kids to think about and work on during the next week as they continue to reflect on Romans 6:23 and Ephesians 2:8-10.