small group questions for tomorrow night

Parents who will be at Family Night tomorrow -
Like usual we will break up into groups to discuss after the lesson. If you are there with your children you will meet as a family, while the rest of the students will meet in their growth groups.
Here are the questions we are going to go over. If you have an opportunity to look over them ahead of time, it may help you as you prepare to go through them with your children after the lesson tomorrow night.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MhVRlCvHW93SZBmUIx_UROdYi7Dq_N50Zg4dfM0Rw-s/edit?usp=sharing

Hope to see some of you tomorrow night!

lesson loop 6.3.13

David Day shared with our students last Tuesday from 2 Corinthians 12.

Here are the questions that the growth groups went over -

What are the things in our lives that we consider thorns in the flesh?

What do you usually boast about?

What are the things you consider yourself weakest in?

Why should we boast in our weaknesses?

What would it look like for someone to be boasting in their weakness and trials as Paul describes?

How does Paul's description of our attitude as it should be compare to your attitude today?

In what ways can you act more intentionally in your weaknesses to bring glory to God?

lesson loop 5.22.13

Middle School and High School

Last night we watched the final episode (9) of our Gospel Journey Maui series, and we addressed this question -

1. What is Jesus' Message?

This was the most intense discussion so far, because everything has been leading to this. Everyone respected each other greatly during the dialogue, but there was some passionate and emotional responses to the challenge they each were given to read the book of John. Rachel Officer expressed frustration with the way that Greg and Zane and many other Christians do not consider her a Christian because she doesn't believe that Jesus is God, but only God's Son. Jonathan also was extremely emotional because he can't get past his Jewish ancestors who survived the holocaust. Why God would allow this is something that cannot be easily explained, and that really bothers Jonathan. Jassar was also pretty closed to Christianity, even after this entire trip. And yet he still respected everyone else and said he was going to keep an open mind going forward. The rest of the cast all expressed that they were becoming more and more open to Christianity. Emma Blue said this was the first time she ever read a Bible, and she was really beginning to be interested in Jesus Christ. We found out after the video that she was the first to receive Jesus Christ as her Savior! No one expected that since she had a mixture of Buddhist and New Age religions that she held to. The other Rachel confessed that she was very close to following Jesus as her Savior.

All in all, I believe that this series has been so incredible for several reasons -

1. Our teens have seen their faith in Jesus as the God-man grow strong. I have heard a few students mention that they had doubts before but now are convinced.
2. Our teens had an opportunity to bring out their unchurced friends to hear the gospel. A number of them took advantage of this!
3. The students who came as visitors heard the gospel clearly every week!
4. Our teens observed that you can boldly share your faith and still maintain respect for those who disagree with you.

Next week we have a special speaker sharing with the students - David Day (a former Ebenezer student!)

The week after that we will begin a brand new series on the book of Judges. I am excited about this.

One last thing - I wanted each of you parents and staff members to know that I often post articles relevant to student ministry or the Christian life, and I do so on Google + . If you would like to find me on there, you can do so here - gplus.to/markculton

Here is the outline of what was covered in small groups this past Tuesday -
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VYn5oM-eRkqFsi9gMtiYUmDx1KdI3G32n9loETQyBQM/edit?usp=sharing

lesson loop 5.15.13

Middle School and High School

Last night we watched Episode 8 of our Gospel Journey Maui series, and we addressed this question -

1. Who is Jesus Christ?

It has been interesting to see how each week the conversation has become more and more intense. Each cast member has a mutual respect for each other, but we are starting to get to the heart of what everyone believes about Jesus, and that tends to divide people. Jonathan in particular is getting uncomfortable with having Christianity "pushed on him" as he put it. But some of the other students are really thinking about what Greg shared, and I believe the Holy Spirit is drawing at least a couple of the students. This past episode they visited a leper colony and talked about one man and woman who decided to risk their lives by moving to the leper colony and caring for those who were there. Everyone else had abandoned these individuals, but one man in particular showed the love of Christ - Father Damian. He eventually contracted leprosy and died from it.
Greg used this as a perfect illustration of what Jesus Christ did when He came to earth and took our sin upon Himself and died for us.
The gospel was shared more clearly and throroughly than any previous episode, and I was really impressed with this week's conversation.
As far as our youth group, I heard several growth group leaders share how their students have really been growing through the GJM, and even this past week a few students who aren't Christians felt comfortable enough to share they didn't believe Jesus was God. So I am thankful for the honest dialogue we are getting and I am praying that God uses His powerful gospel in each student's heart.

Here is the outline of what was covered in small groups -
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17W5BX8pNplbRrzgbxSUaftSJVCI7SDDF_36BOhHYQSQ/edit?usp=sharing

Please continue to encourage your child to invite their friends! We had brand new visitors again this past week!

lesson loop 5.2.13

Middle School and High School

Last night we watched Episode 7 of our Gospel Journey Maui series, and we addressed this question -

1. What happens after we die?

This was some of the cast's least favorite question to talk about, because no one likes to think about death and what happens afterwards.

As they talked they came up with 3 options -

Extinction
Reincarnation
Resurrection


Greg took extra time to talk about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and its validity. If Christ truly rose, than that opens the door for our resurrection. We can trust everything He said. If He did not raise from the dead, we cannot believe His words. Everything hangs or falls on the resurrection.

They also discussed heaven (and the holiness of God) and a literal hell. 

One of the things that was also talked about is the law of non-contradiction. This is a logical argument which basically rules out the option that all 3 possibilities (extinctino, reincarnation and resurrection) can be right.
 Here is a short description and illustration (using a chair) that I find helpful: http://carm.org/dictionary-law-of-non-contradiction

I want to really encourage you this week to ask your child about the video, and what they think about the afterlife. I find most young people today struggle with the idea of an eternal hell for people who are "good" but don't receive Christ.
You can check out the small group discussion questions for more ideas on how to intelligently talk with your child.
Here is the outline of what was covered in small groups -
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oGwq89rYn4y9ecU4mf_T3M9WNamDf_ZUr4SbHqvSI_4/edit?usp=sharing

Praying for God to use parents and youth leaders together for His glory and the growth of our students!

lesson loop 4.17.13

Middle School and High School

Last night we watched Episode 5 of our Gospel Journey Maui series, and we addressed this question -

1. Is it religion or relationship?

The conversation continued deeper than it ever has up to this point, with each cast member sharing their thoughts on religion. Greg and Zane both shared how Christianity was different than simply a religion, and that it is more about a relationship. They shared how the word "religion" comes from Latin, and it means "to bind ourselves back to God." However, when we follow Jesus, God binds Himself to us through His Son's death on the cross. When we receive what He has done for us, and have faith in Him alone, we have the assurance that God will always be for us, bound to us. This is so different from the religion that was being described by the other cast members. I really believe that some of those cast members were having their eyes and hearts opened for the first time. I also am praying that some of our students fully understand the difference between a relationship with God and our normal idea of "religion". They also mentioned how many teenagers believe what they believe because of the influence of their family, and while this is to be expected and is of course something parents desire, it is essential for every teenager and young adult to really examine their faith to see whether it is real or not.
I want to really encourage you this week to ask your child about the video, and what they think the difference is between religion and relationship. This could lead to an excellent discussion where your child's faith is tested and maybe they examine it like never before. You can check out the small group discussion questions for more ideas on how to intelligently talk with your child.

Here is the outline of what was covered in small groups -
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_5qeu6lQC1q3iAdJh4AX3kkoHDVJFoW_6cEyYf4ytrw/edit?usp=sharing

Please continue to encourage your child to invite their friends! We had some again this past week!

lesson loop 4.10.13

Middle School and High School

Last night we watched Episode 4 of our Gospel Journey Maui series, and we addressed 2 big questions -

1. Why are there so many religions?
2. Is it possible that they could all be right?

It was an excellent episode where each cast member shared their opinion about religion. Several of them said that our various religions are like personalities, and just like every person has a different personality, each person gravitates to the religion that works for them.
Initially they all seemed open to the possibility that every religion could be valid, but by the end of the episode there was a slight change. More and more it became clear that many of these religions directly contradict each other, and logically they cannot all be right.
One of my favorite parts about the episode was watching these people with very different (and even conflicting) beliefs still respect and care for one another. That is a good example of how we should treat those around us who believe very different things.

Here is the outline of what was covered in small groups -
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AYc68Lwnc33K7D5aVYOsXIFl7wAjeMrsFOKw4QEYAs4/edit?usp=sharing
Make sure you check out the resources and helps at the top of the outline!
Here is "Paschal's Wager", which was discussed - https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2zJ0haVL2YNVkFpLVphajlKX1U/edit?usp=sharing

Please continue to encourage your child to invite their friends! We had some again this past week!