Youth Leadership Lessons: God Speaking through us

Luke 1:13-15

Zacharias, a man in his old age and Elizabeth his wife, a woman well along in years, had never been able to bear children. Now here is an angel, none other than Gabriel (who in his own words stood in the presence of God) telling Zacharias that his wife would bear a son.

But this would be no ordinary son. This was to be John of prophesy who would go ahead of the Messiah, preparing the way for the Lord.

What future parents would not be thrilled to hear that their child was to be a joy and delight and, above all would be filled with the Holy Spirit from birth!

But wait a minute, doesn't the Holy Spirit come into our lives at our acceptance of Christ as our Savior? We did say that this was to be no ordinary son. John was to be the fulfillment of a miracle; a man prepared by God for a wonderful mission hereon Earth, to proclaim the coming of the Son of God. He was filled with the Holy Spirit so the Holy Spirit could speak through him!

Let our prayer this Christmas season be that the Holy Spirit will be able to speak and work through us to proclaim Christ to the World.

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Youth Ideas: A Demonstration of God's Power and Grace

Scripture: Psalm 147:4-5

Praise to the Gracious and Mighty God

In Psalm 147, the grace of God was revealed when he restored his people, who had been in exile from their homeland, to Israel. Yahweh was the one who, by his grace, healed the shattered in heart, attending their painful sorrows.

The power of God is then revealed in verses 4-6 by his mastery of the stars and his unsearchable wisdom. God's grace compelled him to "lift up the downtrodden." God's power allowed him to "cast the wicked to the ground." He is truly the gracious and mighty God.

These attributes are magnified during this special season we call Christmas. The coming of the Messiah is the ultimate demonstration of the grace and power of God. In God's mercy he was willing to send his own son into a sinful world. In his power he is able to forgive our sin and restore rebellious human beings.

Today may we "Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above"

Sing praise to God who reigns above,
The God of all creation, the God of power,
The God of love, the God of our salvation;
With healing balm my soul he fills,
And every faithless murmur stills:
To God all praise and glory!

What God's almighty power hath made,
His gracious mercy keepeth,
By morning glow or evening shade
His watchful eye never sleepeth;
Within the kingdom of his might,
Lo! All is just and all is right:
To God all praise and glory!

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Youth Leadership Lessons: Autumn Season of Life

At the root of God's agenda is this promise. Think of it as a guarantee. The One who started 'the good work within you' won't leave the task unfinished. At the end of the course, God won't get an 'incomplete.' For sure, He won't fail! Remember, it takes four seasons to make a year.

The autumn season of your life may be uncomfortable. Unemployment might be your lot. Or a broken romance. Perhaps you are grieving over a recent loss. Maybe you're lonely. Or hungry. Or cold. You feel anxious about those ugly clouds on the horizon that indicate an ominous tomorrow. The winds of adversity are picking up and you feel afraid...

'The roots grow deep when the winds are strong.' If autumn, the season of reflection, has come, expect your roots to deepen. Count on it. Yet, be assured of this, the Lord God specializes in roots. He plans to deepen you and strengthen you. But He won't overdo it. He is sovereignly and compassionately at work. We are more impressed with fruit. Not God--He's watching over the roots. We like the product, He emphasizes the process. And painful though it may be, 'He who... began...will keep right on...until His work...is finished.'

So we can boldly declare, 'Come wind, come weather, welcome autumn!'

Source: Charles R. Swindoll
"Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life"

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Youth Ideas: A Happy Heart

The Bible says,
"A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit." -Proverbs 15:13

A cheerful heart is good medicine. Laughter, as an expression of joy, is essential to our physical and emotional well-being. Dr. Hendrie Weisinger's manual on anger management, "Dr. Weisinger's Anger Work-Out Book", warns that if our daily total is less than fifteen laughs, including three belly laughs, we are under-laughed.

Laughter and humor are essential for coping with life, for relieving tension, and for keeping things in perspective. A noted theologian wrote that we resolve the ambiguities of life with faith and humor. When it comes to daily living, around the office or the home or the classroom, we need a combination of faith and laughter in abundance!

Followers of Christ know full well that some days do not bring much happiness. But we experience joy that no circumstance can touch. In an increasingly despondent world, believers can lead lives of joy mixed with laughter. As Grady Nutt said, "Laughter is God's hand on the shoulder of a troubled world."

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Object Lesson for Kids: Tension in Relationships

Introduction
Relationships often have tense moments. Use this youth object lesson / creative teaching idea to discuss the topic of relationships.

Description
Rubber bands will be used as an object lesson for youth on relationships, stress in relationships, closeness in relationships and the hurt we can experience in broken relationships.

Materials
A thin rubber band for each participant. Additional rubber bands and a few larger, thicker ones.

Preparation
None

What to do

1. Gather everyone in a circle
2. Pass around the rubber bands and have each person get one.
3. Have participants hook a finger inside the rubber band and link them together with the person on the right and left so that they are linked in one big circle by a rubber band on the left and right.
4. Have group members gradually step back stretching the rubber bands between them as far as possible without breaking them
5. Observe the responses of the participants as the rubber bands are being stretched.

Discussion

• What will happen if you continue to step apart?
• Who will likely be hurt when the rubber bands break?
• How is the tension like that in relationships with God, parents, family members, friends and others?
• What are the things that connect us in relationships?
• Make a list of some of the more significant relationships in your life. Who's on your list? How are the significant to you?
• What are the things that draw us closer?
• What are the things that move us apart?
• What are the consequences when we move away from God? Parents? Family members? Friends? Others?
• Throughout life relationships are always changing. At times we draw closer to God and others while at other times we may drift apart or even break the relationships. At times there will be tension and sometimes there will even be hurt. How can we more effectively manage relationships with others? Is it possible to end a relationship without causing hurt? What are some ways we can minimize the pain in relationships? How can we handle things gently?
• The closer to a person we are, the stronger the bonds that develop and more connections are established. This is similar to adding more rubber bands between a person and thicker rubber bands. How does this increase the risks for hurt if the relationship is broken?
• What are some of the biblical instructions regarding relationships with other Christians? With God? With family members? With our parents? With the lost? In general?

Closing Application
What are some ways you can manage your relationships better? With God? With your parents? Friends? Various family members? The lost? Significant people in your lives?

A few of the many Scripture References on relationships
James 4:8
Galatians 6:2
Exodus 20:12
Ephesians 4:26
Philippians 2:3-4
Philippians 2:14
Proverbs 4:1-17
Proverbs 6:20-23
Ephesians 6:1-4
1 Timothy 5:1-3
Matthew 7:12

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Youth Ministry Object Lessons: Sink or Float?

Object Lesson
Diet coke will float but regular coke will sink. (Technically this is because the sugar substitute used in diet coke is not as dense as real sugar)

Application
How many of us live on LITE or Diet Christianity... We want the grace but not the cross, we want forgiveness without obedience, we want blessing without the trials, we want security without the trust, we want service without sacrifice. Too often our Christianity has no depth. We just live Christianity on the surface.

Note: If you are having problems with it floating you can also use ICE water and warm coke light to make it float easier

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Object Lesson for Kids: Perfect Love

Resources

• a sheet of clean, unwrinkled paper.

What to do

• Give each youth a clean, unwrinkled sheet of paper.
• Ask the youth to close their eyes, and imagine this piece of paper represents the person in their life they love most.
• Order them to wrinkle it up into a ball.
• Then ask the youth smooth it out back to the way it was.
• "How do you feel?"

Take it to the Next Level

• Who was the person you thought of when holding the piece of paper?
• Were you hesitant to wrinkle up the paper? Did you find crumpling up the piece of paper difficult? Why or why not?
• In what ways does this paper represent relationships in life?
• Think about a time in your life when you felt like this wrinkled piece of paper? What happened?
• How did you feel when you tried to restore this piece of paper to its original state?
• Think about a time when you did something in a relationship and wished you could have set things back to the way they were before. What happened?
• Why is it so difficult to repair damaged relationships?
• What lessons does this simple object lesson hold for us when it comes to relationships in our own lives?


• In what ways do people ruin relationships?
• What can be done to put things back to the way they were?

The saying says "forgive and forget” but it is rarely that easy. In some relationships, people have greatly suffered physical, sexual and emotional abuse. How can they forgive? Sometimes we wonder, "How can I ever forgive this person for what s/he did to me?" How do we forgive? How do we receive forgiveness? How do we restore things back to the way they were?

It is impossible to smooth everything out when the paper has been damaged. Wrinkles and rough areas will remain. In the same way, when we take the important relationships in life lightly, there is a great potential for us to create rough areas and other areas that are difficult to smooth out. While forgiveness may take place, scars may still remain. Sometimes only God and time can repair the scars.

Things we do can damage our relationship with God AND with people. "Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, or his ear too dull to hear, but your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that He will not hear." (Isaiah 59:1-2) "He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends." (Proverbs 17:9)

But fortunately, God can mend broken hearts and he himself is forgiving and eternally loving. Sin has the same effect on our lives.. especially in the area of sexual purity. But when we go to God seeking forgiveness he restores the relationship with Him completely. We can find NEW life in Christ. In this lifetime there may still me some scars, but in the life to come everything will be made new. When we confess our sin, His blood washes us white as snow, and purifies us. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more." (Isaiah 43:25)

And in the same way God forgives us, we need to forgive others. "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you." (Ephesians 4:32)

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