Sautee Nacoochie Valley, Georgia

We were very excited about tonight's lesson, and as God would have it, Billy's message Sunday led right into this week's lesson AND a big announcement we had for the kids. Tonight, both youth groups stayed together.

To start things off, we read Acts 13:1-13 and then we did a little role playing. We picked a John Mark, a Saul/Paul, a Branabas, a BarJesus, and a Sergius Paulus. The rest of the kids played the part of the Antioch church.

The "church" laid hands on Paul and Barnabas and sent them out into their mission field with John Mark. Sergius Paulus sent for Paul and Barnabas because he wanted to hear more about their God and His ways. BarJesus performed signs and wonders and did whatever he could to dissuade Sergius from finding the truth of these missionaries. With that, Paul rebuked BarJesus and pronounced blindness on him for his treachery.

We talked then about how, when we pray, God moves. We talked about Paul and Barnabas traveling together as missionaries because we're not called to be lone rangers on the missions field. Paul and Barnabas were committed. And they represented the entire church of Antioch who, in spirit, went with them. Christ had them set on a course and they went. In the same way, He has each of us set on a course and we too must go.

That's when we announced to the kids that next summer, from July 22nd to the 28th, we are going on a missions trip to Sautee Nacoochie Valley, Georgia. We talked about the commitment this would be for those who wanted to go and how we couldn't let distractions and a passive attitude about our call to missions make us like John Mark who chose to leave the mission field and go back home after traveling a short time with Paul and Barnabas. We spoke of the importance of obedience to God in His call on each of our lives.

That all being said, we also discussed how that didn't mean all of the youth would be going on this trip. Some might not see themselves as ready spiritually or mentally. Some may even not feel called to go at this point or have parents who believe they are ready to go. And that's not disobedience if God's will sought through prayer leads them to that conclusion.

We talked then about the preparations for the trip, gave the kids their information packets, including a trip application and code of conduct. We asked them to begin praying right now about their role on this team, be it as a member, a prayer partner, a fundraiser, whatever. We warned them that many BarJesus types would try to dissuade them from going, would feed them untruths about the trip and our mission, and try to distract them from the call of God on their lives. We reminded them that the key to tuning out the enemy and hearing the voice of God could be found through prayer, journaling, quiet times with the Lord, spending time in the Word, and meditating on Scriptures of truth.

The kids seemed very excited about this upcoming opportunity, as well they should be. We won't be redundant in the details, as your kids likely came home with all of the information you need. If there are any further questions not addressed in those materials, please do not hesitate to call Tara or I or Wes Crenshaw.

Please join with us now in praying for this trip, the mission these kids will have once there, each child's role and what God will do in and through each of them on this trip, as well as for the people they will serve in Georgia and all of the details from now until then....fundraising, heart preparation, spiritual readiness. We are certain of one thing...God will be glorified in Sautee Nacoochie Valley, Georgia from July 22nd through the 28th next summer! Hallelujah!

"Don't Worry, Be Happy"

Well of course we watched the classic Bobby McFerrin video! It fit! But in all seriousness, we also talked about fear, anxiety and worry and the fruitlessness of it. We had some serious Scripture drills and the kids took turns looking up and reading...

• Philippians 4:6-7
• Isaiah 26:3
• Psalm 37:4
• Matthew 10:30
• Hebrews 13:5
• Proverbs 3:5-6
• Matthew 6:25-34
• Psalm 55:22
• Matthew 11:28-30
• Psalm 23:4
• Psalm 46:1
• Psalm 121:1-2
• Matthew 14:22-31

We filled a glass half full of water then and asked the kids to describe it to us. We talked about the different views people can have about their lives, circumstances and futures and how important having the right perspective can be. Peter's perspective was one of fear and it caused him to sink. We discussed how, as Christians, our perspective need never be one of fear and anxiety and why that's so. We showed them with a pitcher of water and our original glass how, if we have a personal relationship with Christ, we should always view our glass as full and even overflowing.

We read some of the things on ZG's thankful board then and talked about how journaling reminders such as those can help us keep a healthy perspective. We gave each of the kids a spiral notebook journal of their own to take home then and begin journaling in. Tara read them some of the things in her journal to give them ideas and get them started down the right path. We encouraged the kids that journaling is a way to remember the Lord's involvement in their lives.

The Power of Prayer

Acts 12

We started off tonight by showing the kids a few YouTubes of escape artists/illusionists escaping precarious situations. There was the underwater handcuffed in a locked tank escape, the straightjacket escape made famous by the late Houdini, and illusionist Criss Angel's escape from an imploding building.

Then we read Acts 12 and discussed Peter's miraculous escape from prison. Peter wasn't an escape artist or illusionist, but he served a God who can do the seemingly impossible (Matt. 19:26, Mark 10:27, Luke 18:27). I told the kids then that I was still hungry because I hadn't had much dinner and to excuse me while I ate a small snack. I took out a banana. I pretended to have forgotten a knife then and claimed there were none clean in the kitchen. So I prayed for the banana to simply be sliced when I peeled it. To the kids' amazement, the banana was sliced inside the peel, even though the peel had never been removed! Cool trick I learned!

Then we spoke to the kids about the power of prayer and asked them why they should be amazed that we prayed for the banana to be sliced and it was. We prayed for it didn't we? We talked about the awesome God we serve and how capable He is of doing what to us seems impossible. He can heal people of cancer, stop tornadoes just short of a particular house, feed thousands of people with a few fish and loaves of bread, make blind people see and deaf people hear, and even raise people from the dead.

We gave an empty soda can to one of the kids then and asked them to demonstrate their strength by crushing it with only their hands. They did. Now air is invisible, but we wanted to show the kids that it can be just as powerful, if not more, than we can be. We told the kids that air could crush an empty soda can just as well, if not better than they could. To demonstrate this, we did a little science experiment. We boiled a few tablespoons of water on the stovetop until it was so hot, steam was coming out the top of it. Using tongs, we then took the can and inverted it into a bowl of ice water. Instantly, the can "popped" and the air pressure created a vacuum effect that crushed the can....entirely!

We asked the kids then if they can physically see God with their eyes. Of course they cannot, but like the air, that doesn't mean He is weak or not capable of doing the most awesome of things...like crushing a can, moving a mountain, raising someone who's been dead for four days, or breaking someone out of a maximum security prison.

We need to pray. We need to believe. We serve a God with whom ALL things are possible! It doesn't mean He'll always answer our prayers the way we want Him to, but that must never hinder our prayers in faith or keep us from praying in the first place. And that's a lesson we can all use to be reminded of!

Ephesians 3:20-21 - Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.

Walking the Walk

Six ZG kids, 3 STOMP kids, and even 2 PC kids went into downtown Tampa yesterday morning to pass snack bags out to the city's homeless. Government protesters made the people we were there to serve a little difficult to find at first, but once we found a few, they were eager to share with us where their friends were so they could be blessed too. We gave them snack bags full of granola bars, cans of fruits and veggies, water, and Slim Jims. We even had hard boiled eggs, cartons of milk, OJ, and cookies to pass out. By the end of our outing, the majority of our bags were distributed, stomachs were full, and lives were blessed....on both sides of the equation.

Amazing Grace

Luke 7:36-50

We talked to the kids about grace tonight, about getting what we don't deserve (or not getting what we do deserve). It was agonizing trying to figure out which verses to share with them and which examples because there are so many!! We started with the one in Luke with the prostitute who washed Jesus' feet with her tears and hair and the grace He extended to her as a result. Then, we gave each youth a verse to look up and had them read their verses individually as we....washed their feet. Yes, we actually washed their feet! This is much easier mind you when they are smaller and their feet are cuter, less smelly, and even kissable, but kissing and washing baby feet does not require grace, does it?! Washing big smelly kid feet does! The kids were taken aback a little at first and some were even hesitant to let us wash them at all, but they eventually did. We even pampered them by bringing in the foyer chairs for them to sit on during the process! Coolest thing was seeing some of the kids then volunteer to wash their friends' feet!

As they read their verses, we discussed what each one meant and then asked for specific examples of ways grace had been given to them and by whom....teachers, friends, parents, siblings. We also talked about people in the Bible that had been shown grace and how. Some of the verses read were 2 Corinthians 9:8, James 4:6, 1 Peter 4:10, Colossians 4:6, Ephesians 4:7, 2 Corinthians 8:9, 1 Corinthians 15:10, and Ephesians 2:7-9. We talked about the grace God poured out on each of us by sending Jesus to die for our sins, the grace He pours out on us each and every day through ordinary situations, the grace we see being displayed in the lives of others (Ms. Billie), and the grace we can show to others. We talked about practical examples the kids can apply to themselves on a daily basis with everyone they come in contact with.

And God is so good because, as He would have it, this Saturday we will get to practice extending grace to complete strangers on the street as we give food to and pray for the homeless in downtown Tampa. We made up bags tonight with food, water bottles, and Scriptures. I love it when we can have the kids practice what we teach them because it's more than sitting and listening to us read them a Bible story or do some science experiment to help them remember a truth.

Then we read Matthew 18:21-35 to the kids, the parable about the unmerciful servant and the lack of grace he displayed to others. We talked about our role in being grace-givers, not just receivers...and the consequences of refusing to extend grace to others.

We finished this evening tossing a softball to each other while we read a story to the kids about a baseball game. It goes like this:

THE LORD'S BASEBALL GAME

Bob was caught up in the spirit where he and the Lord stood by to observe a baseball game. The Lord's team was playing Satan's team. The Lord's team was at bat, the score was tied zero to zero, and it was the bottom of the 9th inning with two outs.

They continued to watch as a batter stepped up to the plate whose name was Love. Love swung at the first pitch and hit a single, because Love never fails.

The next batter was named Faith, who also got a single because Faith works with Love.

The next batter up was named Godly Wisdom. Satan wound up and threw the first pitch. Godly Wisdom looked it over and let it pass, because Godly Wisdom does not swing at Satan's pitches.

Ball one. Three more pitches and Godly Wisdom walked, because Godly wisdom never swings at Satan's throws.

The Lord looked at Bob and told him He was now going to bring in His star player. Up to the plate stepped Grace. Bob said he sure did not look like much.

Satan's whole team relaxed when they saw Grace. Thinking he had won the game, Satan wound up and fired his first pitch. To the shock of everyone, Grace hit the ball harder than anyone had ever seen. But Satan was not worried. His center fielder, the Prince of the air, let very few get by. The ball slammed into his glove, hit him on the head, and sent him crashing to the ground; then it continued over the fence for a home run.

The Lord's team won.

The Lord then asked Bob if he knew why Love, Faith, and Godly Wisdom could get on base but could not win the game. Bob answered that he did not know why.

The Lord explained: “If your love, faith and wisdom had won the game you would think you had done it by yourself. Love, faith and wisdom will get you on base, but only My grace can get you home. My grace is the one thing Satan cannot stop.”

Powerful! Amazing Grace! Aren't you glad you're on God's team! He'll get you to home!