Lesson Loop 7.17.09

This week in our Student Ministry:

Third Place: "Wrestling with God"
Genesis 32

Ronnie Ani taught the students from Genesis 32 about how Jacob wrestles the angel.

LUCID: "Guided by the Holy Spirit"


We dove into Galatians 5:16-25, and saw how we are called to keep in step with the Spirit. This means that we spend time with God, and learn how to match His rythms, rather than go out on our own and try to live this life. Spending time with God will enable us to "live by the Spirit" rather than by the flesh.

We talked about how we are a new creation if we have placed our faith solely in Christ, and we have  a new nature. Yet some how, mysteriously, we are still susceptible to the temptation of sin. Yes, we have died to sin, but we still live in these fleshly bodies and we are weak. Because of this we must daily abide in Christ and allow Him to renew our mind. Without this ongoing renewal we will begin to think worldly and follow our fleshly desires.

The most significant thing we emphasized was that there is a direct contrast between the "works of the flesh" and the "fruit of the Spirit". Works are something we accomplish (work for), while fruit is something that God produces in us. We cannot become more like Jesus simply by wishing it any more than a tree can produce fruit by wishing really hard. A tree is completely dependent on God to send rain, sunshine, good soil filled with nutrients, etc... Likewise, we are dependent on God to make us more like Jesus, and this means keeping in step with the Spirit.

To conclude each student signed their initials on a pair of sneakers I have, so that they can be reminded to "keep in step with the Spirit"  Of course, Todd made me promise to wear them to Beach Day, so I will be sporting them on Wednesday!