Sarah sat on the couch with her Bible in her lap. She randomly opened the Bible and dropped her finger on a word. Sarah was about to graduate from high school, and was really scared about her future. What was next for her? Where would she go to college? Should she go to college? The first question she had to answer was, “What do I want to be when I grow up?” Sarah’s little sister, Heather, walked up and sat down beside her.
H – What are you doing?
S – I’m trying to figure out what I’m supposed to be when I grow up?
H – Do you think that the Bible will tell you that?
S – I was kind of hoping…
H – What about a dentist?
S – The office smells, and people’s mouths are gross.
H – How about a lawyer?
S – They work too much.
H – You know my friend’s mom is an administrative assistant, and I think that she likes her job.
S – I don’t know. Does anyone really ever start out in life saying, “I want to be an administrative assistant or I want to be middle management?” Most jobs are just where people end up, and not really what they really want.
H – Sarah, I really don’t care what you decide to be. I look up to you because you are my big sister. I’m more interested in you, than in what you do with your life.
S – Thanks, Heather. You’re the best sister ever!!!
Heather got off the couch, and went into the kitchen to help her mom get dinner ready. Sarah looked down at her Bible to see what verse she had landed on. Maybe it would answer all of her questions.
S – Isaiah 26:3 You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in You.
Somehow Sarah understood that God would take care of her, and that was enough. She closed her Bible and went into the kitchen for dinner.
First things first –
Your future is out there, and I don’t think that it’s a stretch to say that thinking about the future can be a frightening thing. You make decisions every day. Every decision that you make has the potential to change something about your life or the lives of others. Sometimes that change can be very drastic and sometimes not so much.
A man I work with told me that his son is going to head off to the Navy after he graduates which will be in about a month. I said, “That’s neat, but you’re going to have a very sad mother on your hands.” This is her first son leaving the house, and not only is he leaving, there is very real potential that he could be heading into a life that could be very dangerous and life-threatening. Then he told me that his other son is going to start studying to be a lawyer. I told him that his son should make very very sure that he wants to be a lawyer, because he may not like the life that comes with it. Lawyers work excruciating long hours. Those hours are all very detailed, and to my mind, they are stressful. He’ll have to go to very expensive school for several years. At the end of which, he will have school loans in the 100,000’s that will have to be paid off, and the only way to pay bills like that off is to be a lawyer or a doctor. He’ll be stuck.
My neighbor and I work at the same company. When we see each other outside, one of the first questions that we ask is, “How’s work?” He made an interesting comment to me the other day. He said, “My brother in law is starting the interview process to become a policeman this week. I’m really happy for him, because he has wanted to be a policeman for as long as he can remember. Very few people end up doing what they really want to do. Look at me, I consult clients on their companies insurance plans. Doing this for a living never even crossed my mind growing up. I didn’t even know that a job like this existed, but here I am. At least I’m getting paid.”
We all have dreams and goals. Sometimes they come true, and sometimes they don’t. Life happens. You get married. You need money. You have to work to get money. You find a job, and there you are. You are a carpenter’s apprentice. You are a stockboy at Dominick’s. You are working in a bank. For most people these are not dream jobs, but it’s what they do. Then every once in a while someone gets their dream job.
We spend a lot of time wondering what we’re going to be when we grow up. Usually we are really asking ourselves, “What am I going to DO when I grow up? The question we should really be concerned with is “WHO am I going to be, and what does God want me to do for Him?
God’s will for your life is to be like Him, perfect.
Philippians 1:6
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
God calls everyone who believes in him to be in the ministry.
Mathew 28:18-20
And Jesus came up and spoke to them saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
God calls some to be in the ministry AS their job.
God calls some to be in the ministry AT their job.
Ephesians 4:11&12
And God gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors, and some as teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.
God has chosen to call me to be a pastor, more specifically a youth pastor. I wish I had some magical story about how that happened, but I don’t.
All I know is that when I was graduating from high school, I was on one track, and that was to be a pastor. I sat in my friends car on day after church with her mother, and they asked me where I was going to go to college and what I would major in. I said, “I’m going to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago to be a pastor.” They said, “Really. You’re too spastic to be a pastor. You should be a youth pastor.” So I said, “OK”. So that’s what I did.
Sometimes, I still wake up wondering, “Am I doing what God wants me to do?” I spoke to a woman 2 days ago who confessed to me, “I’m 50 years old, and I still ask the question, What does God want me to do with my life?”
1. Start a relationship with Christ
2. Pray
3. Read your Bible
4. Talk to people about it who can give you good counsel
5. Be alert to what God is doing in your life
-------------------------------------------------------------
Breakout Session Guide B.S.L. stands for Breakout Session Leader -
1. Spend some time talking about what they want to be when they grow up. Celebrate their decisions with them. Encourage them on towards their goals.
What do you want to be when you grow up? Why?
BSL – Many of our dreams and aspirations are self-centered. They are what we want.
What God wants has never entered out minds. What is going to bring me pleasure in
This life? When our perspective is that true joy and contentment comes with pleasing
God, then we can begin to really answer that question, and trust that we will be happy
With that pursuit.
2. Encourage them further that their focus needs to be on who they will be as opposed to what they will do. What we do is a direct response to who we are. As adults we know that our career paths hardly characterize us as people.
3. If the group is willing, take some time praying for one another and that we will become what God wants us to become.
Showing posts with label Teen Talks - 7 Checkpoints: Wise Choices. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teen Talks - 7 Checkpoints: Wise Choices. Show all posts
Sunday, March 4, 2007
7 Checkpoints: Wise Choices
The bus had just dropped Jamie off in front of his house. That’s when Jamie realized that he had forgotten his homework assignment in his locker at school. This was an important assignment. It meant the difference between passing and failing his Sophmore year.
Jamie didn’t know what to do. Just that morning, his mom had warned him about what would happen if he forgot his homework one more time. He would have to take summer school, and do both his and his sisters chores for the whole summer. He couldn’t tell his mom that he forgot it again. He had to think of something and fast, because his mom had already seen him get off the bus.
Mom – Hi, Jamie. I’ve got some cookies inside. How was school today?
N – Jamie thought to himself,
Jamie – “I’ll avoid the conversation altogether until I think of something.”
Jamie – Hi, Mom. I’m starving. Do we have milk?
N – Jamie wasn’t really starving. He was stalling.
Mom – I asked you how school was today.
Jamie – School is school. It’s not great. It’s not horrible. It’s just school. More importantly, how was your day?
N – Now Jamie’s mom knew that something was going on here. The last time that Jamie asked his mom about her day was…….Never.
Mom – Jamie, where is your homework? I called your history teacher today, and she told me that you had a 3 page worksheet to complete and a chapter to read.
N – Busted. Was there a way out of this? Jamie thought to himself
Jamie – “If I say I forgot it, then I’m stuck in summer school and I’m doing Julie’s chores. History isn’t until after lunch. I can do my homework during lunch, and then noone will ever know that I didn’t do it tonight. I’ll tell my mom that I finished it on the bus. No that won’t work. She’ll want to see it. I’ll tell her that I finished it in study hall. She doesn’t know when my study hall is. That’s what I’ll say.”
Jamie – I finished that in study hall today. It was so easy. The questions were fill in the blank right out of the book. I just read the chapter and answered the questions as I went along. It was so easy. You could have done it.
Mom – I’m going to trust you, Jamie. If you are lying to me, then you will pay the consequences. By the way, I invited your teacher over for dinner tonight. I’m looking forward to talking about what you read today in study hall.Jamie probably didn’t make the wisest choice. Jamie lied to his mother. I wonder what dinner will be like for Jamie.
I want to read something to you. Open your Bibles to Ephesians 5:15-17.
That’s on page ______.
Tonight we are going to focus on those last six words, “The will of the Lord is”
The words, “God’s will,” seem to take on all kinds of different meaning, and bring out different emotions. Sometimes there is fear and uncertainty. Other times there is a indescribably peace and a strength that comes from the comfort of God’.
There’s a new country song out that actually made me cry. I couldn’t help it. It was about a little boy named, “Will”. He was handicapped, and a lady took care of him during the day. She would take him to the park, and they would play. He had a great attitude. It made her realize that if Will could get through the pain that was a part of his life, she could get through the pain that was a part of hers. In the end of the song we learn that Will only has a couple of months left to live, and Will and his mother are leaving to go to California to see a specialist. Will give his babysitter a card that just says, Thank you from Will and God.
That was a really nice play on words, but what is God’s will really? Many people ask the question, “What is God’s will for my life?” How will I know when I have achieved God’s will for my life?
The term “God’s Will” seems to me to be a bit mysterious and unapproachable until we break it down a little bit, and make less scary.
You have a will. You have willpower. “I had to eat that last donut. I just don’t have enough willpower. You got up this morning, because you willed it. You said, “I have to go to school. I will get up, and go.”
Another way to say this is that you have desires. Your teachers and your parents have desires, too. They desire that you get a good education, and that you attend school in order to that. You may not necessarily desire that for yourself, but you accept their desires for you and you go to school.
So lets change the question, “What is God’s desire for my life?” What does God want for me?
#1 – God wants you to have a relationship with Him.
1 Corinthians 1;9 – “God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but will have everlasting life.”
Jesus Christ died so that this would be possible. He shed His own blood on the cross for you and for me. He loves you that much. You need to hear that, “God loves you. He cares about you and he has a wonderful plan for your life.”
#2 – God wants you to have a good life.
John 10:10 – I came that you might have life, and that you might have it abundantly
God created you on purpose. He also created you for a purpose. God desires that we worship Him. He desires that we grow to be more like Him.
Philippians 1:6 – “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
He desires that we tell others about him. He desires that we have close relationships with eachother, and that we serve eachother
#3 – God wants your desires to be His desires.
Jamie’s mom and his teacher both want Jamie to succeed. They don’t want Jamie to fail and have to go through summer school to catch back up with his friends. Jamie wants to have fun and ‘enjoy life’. He doesn’t want to spend his time doing homework. He’ll do much better in school if he chooses to desire the same thing that his mom desires.
Tom wants to be an awesome drummer someday. When his teacher tells him that he will need to practice several times a week, he’s telling him because he wants Tom to succeed. If Tom chooses not to be obedient to his teacher, then he will only be a mediocre drummer who is capable of keeping a beat with a few little cymbal crashes for emphasis.
We all have choices to make every day. We can be wise or we can be foolish about our choices. When your desires are the same as God’s desires, then you will be making wise choices, unlike our friend, Jamie.
N – Later that afternoon Jamie walked up to his mom in the kitchen, because he knew that he had to make things right.
Jamie – Mom. I have something to tell you. I lied to you earlier. I didn’t do my homework yet, and I forgot it all in my locker. I guess that this means that I will be doing Julie’s chores for the summer, huh.
Mom – Jamie, I know that you lied to me. I’m your mother. It hurt that you didn’t think that you could tell me the truth the first time. I am glad that you were wise enough to come and set things straight. You will have to do some of Julie’s chores this summer, but because of your honesty you’ll only have to do them twice a week. As for your homework, your teacher is bringing over an extra copy of the book and an extra copy of the worksheet. I called her when I realized that you weren’t telling me the truth. She’ll be here in about an hour for dinner.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Breakout Session Guide B.S.L stands for Breakout Session Leader -
Have you ever been in a situation like Jamie’s? What did you do? Were you wise?
BSL – Story time. If you can think of a story from your own life, then share it. Let them
Do the same. Wise = Choosing right
What is your will? What is your will for being here tonight? Why are you here? What is it about The Grip that satisfies your will?
BSL – Let them answer how they want. Encourage all of the answers, and really
Encourage the great answers. J
1) Julie rushed home. “Good”, she thought, I beat Mom to the mailbox. Midterm progress reports were out. The failure notice in geometry would definitely not be a big hit. Since the divorce, Julie’s mother had been bugging her to improve her grades. Julie had tried, but Mr. Bradshaw didn’t teach geometry very well. Julie vowed to improve her grades. She knew she could do better. Why upset her mom when the quarter grades don’t count anyway?
What would you do in Julie’s situation? Reason?
What should you do in Julie’s situation? Reason?
What would Jesus do in Julie’s situation? Reason?
Genesis 12:11-13
2 Kings 6:19-23
Psalm 35:20
Proverbs 20:17
Jeremiah 17:9
2) Kim’s parents believed her again when she told them she didn’t know she was an hour late. They trusted her. Kim didn’t think it was her fault that she had to stretch the truth so often. She believed she wouldn’t have to do it at all if her parents weren’t so strict. Her curfew was just too early. All of her friends were allowed to stay out much later. Kim had tried talking to her parents several times, but they didn’t seem to listen.
What would you do in Julie’s situation? Reason?
What should you do in Julie’s situation? Reason?
What would Jesus do in Julie’s situation? Reason?
Psalm 35:20
Proverbs 23:25
Proverbs 30:11
Romans 7:11
Romans 7:18-23
Colossians 3:20
BSL – Pick one of the 2 above situations. Have the students in your group look up the
Verses. You may get nothing out of the verse or it may be great. Just have an open talk.
Jamie didn’t know what to do. Just that morning, his mom had warned him about what would happen if he forgot his homework one more time. He would have to take summer school, and do both his and his sisters chores for the whole summer. He couldn’t tell his mom that he forgot it again. He had to think of something and fast, because his mom had already seen him get off the bus.
Mom – Hi, Jamie. I’ve got some cookies inside. How was school today?
N – Jamie thought to himself,
Jamie – “I’ll avoid the conversation altogether until I think of something.”
Jamie – Hi, Mom. I’m starving. Do we have milk?
N – Jamie wasn’t really starving. He was stalling.
Mom – I asked you how school was today.
Jamie – School is school. It’s not great. It’s not horrible. It’s just school. More importantly, how was your day?
N – Now Jamie’s mom knew that something was going on here. The last time that Jamie asked his mom about her day was…….Never.
Mom – Jamie, where is your homework? I called your history teacher today, and she told me that you had a 3 page worksheet to complete and a chapter to read.
N – Busted. Was there a way out of this? Jamie thought to himself
Jamie – “If I say I forgot it, then I’m stuck in summer school and I’m doing Julie’s chores. History isn’t until after lunch. I can do my homework during lunch, and then noone will ever know that I didn’t do it tonight. I’ll tell my mom that I finished it on the bus. No that won’t work. She’ll want to see it. I’ll tell her that I finished it in study hall. She doesn’t know when my study hall is. That’s what I’ll say.”
Jamie – I finished that in study hall today. It was so easy. The questions were fill in the blank right out of the book. I just read the chapter and answered the questions as I went along. It was so easy. You could have done it.
Mom – I’m going to trust you, Jamie. If you are lying to me, then you will pay the consequences. By the way, I invited your teacher over for dinner tonight. I’m looking forward to talking about what you read today in study hall.Jamie probably didn’t make the wisest choice. Jamie lied to his mother. I wonder what dinner will be like for Jamie.
I want to read something to you. Open your Bibles to Ephesians 5:15-17.
That’s on page ______.
Tonight we are going to focus on those last six words, “The will of the Lord is”
The words, “God’s will,” seem to take on all kinds of different meaning, and bring out different emotions. Sometimes there is fear and uncertainty. Other times there is a indescribably peace and a strength that comes from the comfort of God’.
There’s a new country song out that actually made me cry. I couldn’t help it. It was about a little boy named, “Will”. He was handicapped, and a lady took care of him during the day. She would take him to the park, and they would play. He had a great attitude. It made her realize that if Will could get through the pain that was a part of his life, she could get through the pain that was a part of hers. In the end of the song we learn that Will only has a couple of months left to live, and Will and his mother are leaving to go to California to see a specialist. Will give his babysitter a card that just says, Thank you from Will and God.
That was a really nice play on words, but what is God’s will really? Many people ask the question, “What is God’s will for my life?” How will I know when I have achieved God’s will for my life?
The term “God’s Will” seems to me to be a bit mysterious and unapproachable until we break it down a little bit, and make less scary.
You have a will. You have willpower. “I had to eat that last donut. I just don’t have enough willpower. You got up this morning, because you willed it. You said, “I have to go to school. I will get up, and go.”
Another way to say this is that you have desires. Your teachers and your parents have desires, too. They desire that you get a good education, and that you attend school in order to that. You may not necessarily desire that for yourself, but you accept their desires for you and you go to school.
So lets change the question, “What is God’s desire for my life?” What does God want for me?
#1 – God wants you to have a relationship with Him.
1 Corinthians 1;9 – “God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but will have everlasting life.”
Jesus Christ died so that this would be possible. He shed His own blood on the cross for you and for me. He loves you that much. You need to hear that, “God loves you. He cares about you and he has a wonderful plan for your life.”
#2 – God wants you to have a good life.
John 10:10 – I came that you might have life, and that you might have it abundantly
God created you on purpose. He also created you for a purpose. God desires that we worship Him. He desires that we grow to be more like Him.
Philippians 1:6 – “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
He desires that we tell others about him. He desires that we have close relationships with eachother, and that we serve eachother
#3 – God wants your desires to be His desires.
Jamie’s mom and his teacher both want Jamie to succeed. They don’t want Jamie to fail and have to go through summer school to catch back up with his friends. Jamie wants to have fun and ‘enjoy life’. He doesn’t want to spend his time doing homework. He’ll do much better in school if he chooses to desire the same thing that his mom desires.
Tom wants to be an awesome drummer someday. When his teacher tells him that he will need to practice several times a week, he’s telling him because he wants Tom to succeed. If Tom chooses not to be obedient to his teacher, then he will only be a mediocre drummer who is capable of keeping a beat with a few little cymbal crashes for emphasis.
We all have choices to make every day. We can be wise or we can be foolish about our choices. When your desires are the same as God’s desires, then you will be making wise choices, unlike our friend, Jamie.
N – Later that afternoon Jamie walked up to his mom in the kitchen, because he knew that he had to make things right.
Jamie – Mom. I have something to tell you. I lied to you earlier. I didn’t do my homework yet, and I forgot it all in my locker. I guess that this means that I will be doing Julie’s chores for the summer, huh.
Mom – Jamie, I know that you lied to me. I’m your mother. It hurt that you didn’t think that you could tell me the truth the first time. I am glad that you were wise enough to come and set things straight. You will have to do some of Julie’s chores this summer, but because of your honesty you’ll only have to do them twice a week. As for your homework, your teacher is bringing over an extra copy of the book and an extra copy of the worksheet. I called her when I realized that you weren’t telling me the truth. She’ll be here in about an hour for dinner.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Breakout Session Guide B.S.L stands for Breakout Session Leader -
Have you ever been in a situation like Jamie’s? What did you do? Were you wise?
BSL – Story time. If you can think of a story from your own life, then share it. Let them
Do the same. Wise = Choosing right
What is your will? What is your will for being here tonight? Why are you here? What is it about The Grip that satisfies your will?
BSL – Let them answer how they want. Encourage all of the answers, and really
Encourage the great answers. J
1) Julie rushed home. “Good”, she thought, I beat Mom to the mailbox. Midterm progress reports were out. The failure notice in geometry would definitely not be a big hit. Since the divorce, Julie’s mother had been bugging her to improve her grades. Julie had tried, but Mr. Bradshaw didn’t teach geometry very well. Julie vowed to improve her grades. She knew she could do better. Why upset her mom when the quarter grades don’t count anyway?
What would you do in Julie’s situation? Reason?
What should you do in Julie’s situation? Reason?
What would Jesus do in Julie’s situation? Reason?
Genesis 12:11-13
2 Kings 6:19-23
Psalm 35:20
Proverbs 20:17
Jeremiah 17:9
2) Kim’s parents believed her again when she told them she didn’t know she was an hour late. They trusted her. Kim didn’t think it was her fault that she had to stretch the truth so often. She believed she wouldn’t have to do it at all if her parents weren’t so strict. Her curfew was just too early. All of her friends were allowed to stay out much later. Kim had tried talking to her parents several times, but they didn’t seem to listen.
What would you do in Julie’s situation? Reason?
What should you do in Julie’s situation? Reason?
What would Jesus do in Julie’s situation? Reason?
Psalm 35:20
Proverbs 23:25
Proverbs 30:11
Romans 7:11
Romans 7:18-23
Colossians 3:20
BSL – Pick one of the 2 above situations. Have the students in your group look up the
Verses. You may get nothing out of the verse or it may be great. Just have an open talk.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
