lesson loop 9.27.13

High School - "Believable - The Story of the Centurion"
We began a 5 week video series called "Anything But Ordinary". It is our prayer that through this next month and a half we will all be challenged to live a life that is much more than ordinary, allowing God to use us greatly, and where we see "heaven and earth collide"!

This first week we looked at Matthew 8:5-13, and we looked at the faith of the Centurion man. We considered what we would ask Jesus for if we were standing face to face with Him. We also explored what we actually believe about Jesus.
The night ended with a challenge to find a verse from Scripture that provides hope and can build our faith in Jesus Christ and what He can really do through our life if we surrender completely to Him.

If you would like to watch the 2 videos from last Tuesday, here they are:

Intro Video - https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2zJ0haVL2YNQzJLUjVuNEwzN0U/edit?usp=sharing

Lesson Video - https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2zJ0haVL2YNSnV6aHV4dHZyWDQ/edit?usp=sharing


Middle School - "God's Mercy"
We began by talking about the "popularity scale" that is present at most every middle school. To be part of the "in" crowd, you have to dress a certain way, act a certain way, and maintain a certain amount of popularity.
We then talked about the "in" group in the Old Testament, who were the Jews. They were privileged to receive many blessings and benefits from God, most importantly the covenants that God established with Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, etc...
As the story of redemption unfolds in Scripture however, God opens up the way through Jesus Christ to people from all walks of life, from every nation. This was always the plan, and God receives much glory through it. The beautiful thing about being "in" God's family is it has nothing to do with our popularity, the way we dress, or anything like that. It is simply because of God's mercy. God chose Abraham because of His mercy, He chose David because of His mercy, and He chooses us because of His mercy.
The students considered Romans 9 and talked in their groups about God's election, fairness, and ultimately God's astounding mercy to us.
We ended the night by gathering in a circle on the floor representing the fact that we have been brought "in", and we prayed thanking God for His mercy, and also asked Him to use us to bring others into this special circle.