Sermons for Youth: The Weather Vane

One day C.H. Spurgeon was walking through the English countryside with a friend. As they strolled along, the evangelist noticed a barn with a weather vane on its roof. At the top of the vane were these words: GOD IS LOVE. Spurgeon remarked to his companion that he thought this was a rather inappropriate place for such a message. "Weather vanes are changeable," he said, "but God's love is constant."

"I don't agree with you about those words, Charles," replied his friend. "You misunderstood the meaning. That sign is indicating a truth: Regardless of which way the wind blows, God is love."

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Youth Ideas: Spiritual Gardening

In the Beginning, the Garden

According to Genesis, life on earth started in a garden. The Bible is filled with references to gardens and gardening or farming. Psalm 1 begins with a tree planted by the water, which yields its fruit in season. Solomon talks about the seasons of life. Most of the parables of Jesus refer to growing things. Jesus prayed before his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. Then in John 19:41 we are told the place of crucifixion on the cross, where Jesus was nailed to “a tree”, was near a garden. On Easter morning the two women mistook the resurrected Savior for the gardener.

Spiritual Lessons from the Garden

Biblical metaphors reference planting and harvesting, seeds and soil, vines and plants, fruitfulness and barrenness. All of these carried meaningful and profound truths easily understood by people whose day-to-day relationship with growing things was fundamental to their existence. Even though many of us may be city-slickers today, most of us still have some connection to the garden and the nature beyond our doorsteps. And those same truths are easily grasped today. There are many lessons to be learned from the cycle of life in a garden or gardening on a farm.

Personal Truths I've Learned from Gardening

• You must sow if you want to harvest.
• You reap what you sow.
• The life is in the seed. You can create the right conditions for growth, but you cannot guarantee that it will sprout or that growth will occur.
• There is a time for planting and a time for harvest.
• There are seasons of life.
• A plant always reaches for the light.
• Roots sunk deep can sustain the plant through times of drought.
• There are weeds and pests that seek to use the plant for their own ends and may destroy it in the process if we are not diligent in our care.
• That which is left behind, which dies can be used again as nourishing soil for new growth.
• A gardener cares for his plants and at times cuts off and prunes so that maximum fruitfulness can take place.
• Sometimes we can get so caught up in the tending of the plants that we fail to smell, taste, and enjoy the fruits of our labors.
• From a single seed can spring forth and abundance.
• You sometimes you have to let some of the fields rest (lie fallow) so that that they can be more fruitful later.

Spiritual Lessons from Jesus Related to Gardening

• Jesus knew how to prepare soil for planting - Luke 14:35
• Jesus understood that location and the type of soil was important - Matthew 13:8
• Jesus understood that a seed must be planted and die before new life can come forth from it - John 12:24
• Jesus understood that the farm was often a group effort and that different people had different roles - John 4:38
• Jesus knew that the life was in the vine - John 15: 1-4
• Jesus knew that the plant must be pruned to become more fruitful - John 15:1-4
• Jesus knew that some plants might produce fruit a little slower and sometimes you had to wait before the harvest - Luke 13:6-9
• Jesus knew that some plants, regardless of how long you waited would never produce fruit and were best removed to make way for others - Matthew 21:18-19
• Jesus knew that even the smallest of seeds, with proper care can become a great canopy to shelter others through the storms of life - Matthew 13:31–32
• Jesus knew that sometimes we need to simply sit back and enjoy the time God has given us, rather than worry and toil our life away - Matthew 6:27-30

Applying Spiritual Lessons from Gardening

Seeds of truth sprout in our hearts, are nourished and grow in maturity and fruitfulness. Like the vine, we stretch ourselves toward the light and bask in the warmth of the sun. We sink our roots deep in the Word and draw vital sustenance as branches attached to the vine and thus producing abundant fruit. There are times for planting and times for harvest, times of quick growth and times of strengthening, times of lush active life and times of dormancy and waiting, times of morning glories and night fragrances. The cycle of the harvest is the cycle of life - the rhythm of God's timing and God's care. It is God's timing and all our busyness and frantic activity will not hasten the ripening of the fruit or produce the sweet taste of the harvest. We can create, and must create, the conditions and make sure all the right things are in place, but only God can make us grow and then make us fruitful. There will be storms and blights and famine, but the same storms bring life nourishing water. The blights and the famines make the times of abundant harvest so much more delightful. Then, there are those delightful times, when the Spirit flows from the source into all the areas of our life and fruit is produced in ever increasing measure.

Spiritual growth takes time. Spiritual maturity is not instant. It’s a slow gradual process of growth that will continue all your years. There are no shortcuts. And even if there is life and growth, fruitfulness is not guaranteed. Fruit appears in season when the conditions are right. When you try to ripen fruit quickly it loses it flavor. The same is true with us.

And for each of us there is some area of our life where you are not yielding all you could, places where you might prefer the rocks and be content to tolerate the thorns. Tilling the soil in our hearts, pulling the weeds, breaking of the tough ground can be hard work. But God is the divine Garner and wants to produce a life of joyful harvest in you if you will simply allow Him into the garden of your life. Invite Him in. There is work to be done, but there will also be times to taste and see that the Lord is good. - time to enjoy the harvest of His work in your life.

Spiritual Gardening 101

Need a little help in getting started with spiritual gardening? Need a manual on spiritual gardening? Check out the many lessons on the website Creative Youth Ideas about spiritual growth and spiritual fruit. There is also a youth camp / youth Bible study series shown below.

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Youth Leadership Lessons: Pearls

"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:18, niv).

Into the shell of an oyster a tiny grain of sand finds its way. The intruder, though small, is a source of irritation and pain to the soft body of the oyster. Unable to rid itself of the unwelcome pebble, the oyster seeks to reduce the irritation by coating it with layers of soft, iridescent mother-of-pearl material from its own shell. Over time, the oyster transforms a painful irritation into a beautiful pearl of great value.

Most of us have irritations, "grains of sand", or annoying "pebbles" that come into our life on a regular basis … many of which can be very frustrating and even painful.

But every one of these annoyances gives us a chance to grow. Some will require great patience, others tough love. Some will require our turning the other cheek, some confrontation, and some kindness and understanding. For example, addicts need to be treated with tough love. Bullies require us to maintain healthy boundaries. Cheaters need to be confronted. Manipulators need to be managed. Control freaks need to be resisted, guilt throwers need to be challenged, and toxic people may need to be avoided, and so on.

With God's help, if we so choose, we can turn every one of these annoying pebbles into pearls or we can allow them to make us bitter. For it's not what happens to us that matters, but how we react to what happens. What we do about it is what matters—and that's a choice we make either consciously or unconsciously.

A pearl is a victory over a problem. Problems have value. We grow and mature in the midst of difficulties. We learn skills for life. Every irritation that comes into our lives is an opportunity for a pearl culture. The more
irritations, the greater the number of pearls we may possess. All one has to do is welcome the problem, perceive it as an educational experience, and cover it with love, the most precious part of us. Irritations will be smoothed out.
You'll be richer for peacefully handling your problems.

Ask God, to help you see an opportunity for growth in every annoying situation.

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Youth Ideas: Little Town of Bethlehem

Read Micah 5:2,4-5

The wisemen followed the star to Bethlehem. In Joshua 15, the cities of the land were divided among the tribes of Israel. Bethlehem, however, was too small and insignificant to be mentioned. Although it was "too little to be among the clans," God selected it to hold the honor of being the birthplace of the Messiah.

God demonstrates his use of the weak and foolish to be the source of his mightiest works. Great things do come in small packages. Just as Bethlehem was considered insignificant, so perhaps did the people consider the infant Jesus as an unlikely candidate for the Messiah.

Yet, within the being of the gentle baby Jesus, resided the glory and majesty of the great Triune God. The Word of God, in communion with the Father and the Spirit in eternity past, did not burst forth into history with great fanfare, but amidst the sounds of common animals in their stalls.

Thus, when Satan and his minions seek to trample and invade our lives, we have only to remember that in the darkest night, there is a bright star, indeed the Morning Star, who pierces the darkness to say that "in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

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Youth Leadership Lessons: How To Pray For Your Children

What a comfort it is to know that our Lord prays for His own. It is of great comfort to even the very young child to know that his parents love him and care for him so much that they pray to their Heavenly Father about him. The following suggestions might be helpful as you think of praying for your child, for his needs now and in the future.

1. That they will know Christ as Saviour early in life (Psalm 63:1 and I Timothy 3:15).
2. That they will have a hatred for sin (Psalm 97:10).
3. That they will be caught when guilty (Psalm 119:71).
4. That they will be protected from the evil one in each area of their lives: spiritual, emotional, and physical (John 17.15).
5. That they will have a responsible attitude in all their interpersonal relationships (Daniel 6:3).
6. That they will respect those in authority over them (Romans 13:1).
7. That they will desire the right kind of friends and be protected from the wrong friends (Proverbs 1:10-11).
8. That they will be kept from the wrong mate and saved for the right one (II Corinthians 6.14-17).
9. That they, as well as those they marry, will be kept pure until marriage (I Corinthians 6:18-20).
10. That they will learn to totally submit to God and actively resist Satan in all circumstances (James 4:7).
11. That they will be single-hearted, willing to be sold out to Jesus Christ (Romans 12:1-2).
12. That they will be hedged in so they cannot find their way to wrong people or wrong places and that the wrong people cannot find their way to them (Hosea 2:6).

Pick one point a month to concentrate on. Within a year, you will have consistently prayed this entire list.

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Youth Ideas: Forgiveness at the Cross

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)

"Father"
These are the first recorded words we have from Jesus on the Cross. He begins with a prayer to our intimate heavenly Father. He does not address his beloved disciple John, nor the grieving women who followed him nor the religious leaders, nor the sinners on each side, nor the gawking crowd below. Jesus did not look at the people around him, but up to the Father above. He will only be able to see the people around him in proper perspective when he focuses on the Father first. Are our first thoughts toward God in everything?

"Father, forgive them"
But there's more. While in excruciating pain, Jesus asked God to forgive his tormentors. I don't know about you, but in the midst of the pain, especially when I am on the receiving end, I find it difficult to think about forgiveness. Christ's pain wasn't even over yet, it had just begun! The people on the receiving end of God's forgiveness certainly didn’t deserve it. They didn’t even ask for it. It wasn't even a past event. More was to come. Yet he still asked the Father to forgive them. What amazing grace! What amazing love! This may be the most powerful example of grace and forgiving love in the whole Bible.

"Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing."
Did the soldiers, the gawkers, the Jewish leaders, the angry spectators, fully comprehend the consequences of their actions? We don't know all the reasons they were there on that day at the cross. All we need to do is to think about ourselves a little -- How often do we actually think through the repercussions of what WE do? We may think we are doing the right things. We have noble ambitions. We may be protecting the truth. Standing up for righteousness. Making sure the wicked don't go unpunished. Our reasons may even be less than honorable or outright rebellious. In the end it doesn't really matter why they were there. They thought they knew what they were doing, but in the eternal scheme of things they had no clue!

But Christ's concern wasn't the "Why?" When faced with persecution, with trials, with pain, our first response is to ask God "why?" Maybe we want to understand to have a reason to grant forgiveness! But Christ's didn't need a reason. True love doesn't need a reason. His first response was reconciliation, forgiveness, grace!

That's the first and final conclusion of the cross - grace - God loved us first, taking the initiative to reconcile with us, even at the greatest possible cost to himself.

May this Easter season be a time of reconciliation for all of us! Don't ask for an explanation. Don't try to understand. Don't wait for someone to ask you for forgiveness. Don't focus on what is happening down here. Focus on your heavenly Father. Look up in prayer on their behalf. When you do, you will find the grace to take the first loving steps toward loving forgiveness for those around you, regardless of what they are doing, or why they are doing it. Simply forgive and leave the rest up to God!

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Youth Ideas: Crabgrass

A man wrote to the department of agriculture to find out how to cope with the crabgrass that was spoiling his lawn. They gave him a number of suggestions, and he tried them all, but nothing worked. Finally, he was completely frustrated, and sought help again, informing them that every method they'd suggested had failed, and his yard was still filled with crabgrass. He got back a rather short reply which read, "We suggest you learn to love it."

You can probably relate to that problem of crabgrass if you have ever tried to remove habitual sin in your life. You may feel you have tried everything and nothing works. Change eludes you! The sin remains and maybe even grows!

Unfortunately too often, in a our failures at living a life a purity, we give up and come to live with our sin and maybe even love it.

One of the key struggles in the Christian walk is dealing with the process of change as we struggle to live a life of purity. Lasting change never comes about without a change in attitude, a change in heart. When we hate sin as God hates sin, we will be committed to avoid sin and live a life of purity.

But we also have to realize that we can never change our sinful nature in our own strength. We must cry as David cried, "Create in me a clean heart, Oh God" (Psalm 51:10) and "renew a right spirit within me."

When God creates a new heart in us, new actions will follow. Only through constant renewal in the Lord will the new actions remain and take root in your life.

* What are some of the areas of your life where sin seems to taking over your lawn?
* What are the attitudes about those sins that need to be changed before you can eliminate them from your life?
* Ask God, as David did, to create in you a clean heart, to change those attitudes to agree with His.
* Ask God to daily renew your heart and strengthen your spirit. Depend on him. Trust in Him. Trust in his strength.
* And when you fail, don't give up. Confess ask God to renew a right spirit within you!

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