Jr. & Sr. High Youth Group Fall Schedule

Jr./Sr. High Youth Group Schedule is as follows:


• Wednesday Evenings-Jr. & Sr. High D-Groups meet from 6-8 pm at the Youth Center.
• Youth Praise band practice meets Sunday at 4:00 pm in the Youth Center
• Jr. & Sr. High Youth Group meets Sunday evenings from 5:30-7:30 pm in the Youth Center.

2009 Jr. High & Sr. High Sunday School Lesson’s

The current lessons that the Jr. & Sr. High are using is put out by Student Life Bible Study. This year, we are doing an in-depth study on the Character.

The Old Testament is full of amazing stories about remarkable people. From the very beginning, God has been at work in people’s lives, whether kings, prophets, judges or ordinary individuals. By looking at how God worked in their lives, we see God’s character, His love and provision, His judgment and discipline, and His redemptive plan for humanity.

Character reveals how people of the Old Testament encountered God in amazing ways and their lives were drastically changed. In this study your students will be challenged to see how an encounter with God will change their lives forever.

Each Monday, Ryan will email out a link to an online .pdf file with a Family Devotion over the previous day’s lessons. If do not receive this email and would like to get it, please email him at: ryan@fccharlingen.com.

The Discipline of Celebration

Sunday School Lesson from May 4th, 2008

Without a joyful spirit of festivity the Disciplines become dull,
death-breathing tools in the hands of modern Pharisees

Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline

We have a disadvantage, today, when it comes to understanding the Spiritual Discipline of Celebration because we have become stimulated in this area. Americans celebrate everything: football games, parades, holidays, birthdays, freedom, CD releases, movie grand-openings, etc. In fact, we celebrate so often that celebration has lost much of its meaning. Scripture points out that “the joy of the Lord is our strength” (Neh 8:10). Richard Foster further states that, “Celebration brings joy into life, and joy makes us strong” (Foster, Celebration of Discipline, 191).

I find it very sad to see people who make a habit of “church hopping” in order to find a church home where they can be “happy.” “Joy is not found in singing a particular kind of music or in getting with the right kind of group or even in exercising the charismatic gifts of the Spirit . . . Joy is found in obedience” (Foster, Celebration of Discipline, 193).

Often, Christians try to “pump people up with joy.” It is as if we expect that followers of Jesus should always be joyful and happy. However, it is possible to try to “pump people up with joy” too quickly. We must always allow God time to work in people’s lives. Genuine joy is manifested when we are obedient to God’s will for our lives. Yet if we have not developed a pattern of discipline in our lives that frequently places us in a position where God can uses us, speak to us, and grow in us, then what reason do we have to celebrate? “Joy is the end result of Spiritual Disciplines’ functioning in our lives. God brings about the transformation of our lives through the Disciplines, and we will not know genuine joy until there is a transforming work within us” (Foster, Celebration of Discipline, 193). However, if we do not allow our practice of Spiritual disciplines to produce joy in us, then sooner or later, we will give up on them.

In the spiritual life only one thing will produce genuine joy, and that is
obedience” (Foster, Celebration of Discipline, 192).

To elicit genuine celebration, obedience must work itself into the ordinary fabric of our lives. . . For example, some people live in such a way that it is impossible to have any kind of happiness in their home, but then they go to church and sing songs and pray “in the Spirit,” hoping that God will somehow give them an infusion of joy to make it through the day. They are looking for some kind of heavenly transfusion that will bypass the misery of their daily lives and give them joy. But God’s desire is to transform the misery, not bypass it (Foster, Celebration of Discipline, 192-3).

The means that God uses to teach us joy is through “redeeming and sanctifying” our run-of-the-mill, everyday, ordinary lives. So let us now look at how God infuses us with joy in our everyday lives. The Apostle Paul tells us to:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! . . . not be anxious
about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all
understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus
(Philippians 4: 6-7).

To possess inward solitude means that we do not fear being alone, for we understand in the depths of our being that we are never and will never be alone. In the same regard, it also means that we do not fear being with others for they have no sway or control over us and our beliefs.

So what exactly does he mean by “Rejoice in the Lord always”?

Luckily, Paul goes on to answer this in the verses following. To be able to “rejoice in the Lord always,” we must first of all learn to “not be anxious about anything” “We have been trained since we were two years old to be full of care. We shout to our children as they run to the school bus, “Be careful,” that is, be full of care. The spirit of celebration will not be in us until we have learned to be ‘careful for nothing.’” (Foster, 195). We can only learn to be carefree when we learn to trust in God and rely on Him completely. When we rely on Him and take everything to Him “by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,” then “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard [our] hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7).

Yet, “Prayer and trust by themselves are not adequate to bring us joy” (Foster, 195). Paul goes on to tell us that we must guard our mind and thoughts:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is
excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Whatever you have learned or
received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of
peace will be with you (Philippians 4: 8-9).

By focusing our lives on the good things that God has provided and by constantly thanking Him for these things, we will become joyful; we will realize our reasons to celebrate. And once we decide to focus on these things, we will become so full of these things that most of our problems will seem small and insignificant.

Learning the Discipline of Celebration is crucial to our spiritual health. For without joy, we will not be able to persevere in anything we do. However, the three things Paul mentioned: 1) to not be anxious about anything, 2) to take everything to God and to trust in Him to supply all of our needs, 3) and to focus our attention on the excellent things of God are all acts of the will. They are things that we must deliberately choose to do, and this is why celebration is a Spiritual Discipline.

The Discipline of Celebration is meant to add “a note of gaiety, festivity, hilarity to our lives” (Ibid, 196). Of all people, Christians should be the “most free, alive, and interesting. Unfortunately, many deeply religious people are known to be life-less and boring. It is true that our souls “can become weary with straining after God just as our body can become weary with overwork” (Ibid, 196). But celebration is meant to fill us with joy.

“The most important benefit of celebration is that it saves us from taking ourselves too seriously” (Foster, 196). It give us a new perspective. It teaches us to see that “the causes we champion are not nearly so monumental as we would like to believe” (Ibid, 196). Once we are freed from our “inflated view of our own importance, we also are freed of a judgmental spirit” Others do not look so awful, so unspiritual. Common joys can be shared without sanctimonious value judgments” (Ibid, 196-7).

Finally, one of the best characteristic of celebration is that it naturally multiplies itself. “Joy begets joy. Laughter begets laughter” (Ibid, 197). I would like to mention a word of caution. We must be careful to avoid false-celebration: celebration when there really is nothing to celebrate. In the same light, we must also watch ourselves against pretending “to celebrate when the spirit of celebration is not in us” (Foster, Celebration of Discipline, 193).

Our children watch us bless the food and promptly proceed to gripe about
it—blessings that are not blessings. One of the things that nearly destroys
children is being forced to be grateful when they are not grateful. If we
pretend an air of celebration, our inner spirit is put in contradiction.
(Foster, Celebration of Discipline, 193-4).

True celebrations springs forth from a heart of joy. It is not something that we must force. Practice yes, coerce no.

We practice celebration by allowing ourselves to sing, shout, and dance. “Because of the goodness of God, the heart breaks forth into psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Worship, praise, adoration flow from the inner chambers” (Ibid, 197). Think of how little children celebrate. They become so excited that they cannot contain themselves. They sing, and dance, and shout, and laugh. How many adults do you know who act this way when they are excited. There is nothing wrong with this type of behavior at the appropriate time just as there is nothing wrong with silence at the appropriate time. Everything that God has created is good. Anything can be misused and abused, but in and of itself, God created us to be filled with joy and celebration in His presence.

The Discipline of Simplicity

Sunday School Lesson from April 13 & 20th, 2008

People nowadays take time far more seriously than eternity

Thomas Kelly

We live in an age where busyness and complexity are the norm. Instead of having a hobby with which to occupy our time, most Americans have three or four hobbies that consume their time. John Ortberg in his book, “The Life You’ve Always Wanted,” states it this way, “We suffer from what has come to be known as ‘hurry sickness.’ One of the greatest illusions of our day is that hurrying will buy us more time” (Ortberg, 77).

Meyer Friedman defines hurry sickness as “a continuous struggle and unremitting attempt to accomplish or achieve more and more things or participate in more and more events in less and less time, frequently in the face of opposition, real or imagined, from other persons.”

People who suffer from “hurry sickness” are never satisfied in spite of all their hurrying. They can never move fast enough or get enough accomplished. Hurry sickness has become so common and so accepted that our culture that we have even developed a new word to describe this type of behavior: Multi-tasking. Yet in spite of all the things we accomplish and become involved in, what we miss the most in our lives is depth and meaning. Our lives have been cursed by superficiality because depth always develops slowly over time.

Imagine if you will that your family doctor just gave you a diagnosis that your life depends on your ability to “ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” What would you do? Would you change your schedule? Your priorities? The way you live your life if your very life depended on it?

What if your very life does depend on it? “Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life in our day. As Carl Jung wrote, ‘Hurry is not of the devil. Hurry is the devil’” (Jung in Ortberg, 77). Hurry cuts to the heart of relationships and to our call to follow Christ. The most tragic side effects of hurry sickness is that it diminishes our capacity to love. “Love and hurry are fundamentally incompatible. Love always takes time, and time is one thing hurried people don’t have” (Ortberg, 81).

So what can we do to stop our lives from being consumed by “hurry-sickness”? One of the most important things that we must do is develop a skill that Ortberg calls “slowing.” We must deliberately choose to place ourselves in positions where we simply have to wait. For example: get in the longest line at the grocery store, get behind the longest line of cars at a red light (or behind that eighteen wheeler), eat your food slowly, take off your watch for a day, etc. Many people, especially Type-A people, believe that they will not be able to accomplish as much if they do not rush; however, “researchers have found that there is simply no correlation between hurry or Type-A behavior and productivity” (Ortberg, 84).

What we are talking about is otherwise know as the Spiritual Discipline of Simplicity. Simplicity is an inward reality that express itself outwardly through the way we live our lives. Basically, it is finding our center in life (God) and basing all of our life’s decisions around that center. It does encompass what we do (our behavior) but has much more to do with who we are (our attitudes and values) and in whom we place our priorities (in ourselves or in God). Richard Foster states, “We deceive ourselves if we believe we can possess the inward reality [of simplicity] without its having a profound effect on how we live. To attempt to arrange an outward life-style of simplicity without the inward reality leads to deadly legalism” (Foster, Celebration of Discipline, 79-80).

Simplicity is based upon the principle of making the “main thing the main thing.” In Matthew 6:33, Jesus tells us to, “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” To develop simplicity in our lives, we must put our priorities in the right order. We must be determined to put God first in our lives. Truth be known, the person who does not seek God’s Kingdom first, does not seek it at all. For as worthy as any other cause, concern, or person may be, the moment they take precedence over our efforts to “seek first His kingdom,” they become idolatry.

Yet, to develop the discipline of simplicity does not necessarily mean that our lives will become any less busy. Simplicity doesn’t necessarily control the quantity of things we do as much as it controls the type of things that we do. Once we have our lives focused or centered on God, then all our decisions, our priorities, and our goals will be easy to determine because everything we do will emanate out of our desire to please God and seek His will. So what we choose to become involved in will have a singleness and unity in purpose: God’s purpose.

We begin to simplify our lives through inward focus. See “hurry sickness” is not primarily about having a disordered schedule, it is about having a disordered heart. So we must begin by adjusting our attitude, our heart. To begin this, we must realize and accept two principles:

Everything that we have is a gift from God. It is God’s business, not ours, to care for what we have been given.

Once we have realized and accepted these two principles, we are ready to make the inner reality of simplicity become real, for inner simplicity can never be genuine until there is an outward expression of it. Yet, let me give a word of caution: Every attempt to give specific application to simplicity runs the risk of turning into legalism. Always remember that simplicity, like prayer, meditation, or any other Spiritual Discipline is only a means to an end, not the end in itself. The purpose for simplifying our lives is to attain singleness and purity of heart. If we do not reach that, we have failed. Everything we do must come forth out of love. Following rules without love = legalism.

Richard Foster lists “ten controlling principles” for the outward expression of simplicity. I shall briefly summarize them here.

1. Buy things for their usefulness rather than for their status. For example, consider your clothes. Most of us have no need for more clothes. Stop buying to keep up with the latest fashions. Buy only when new clothes are needed and buy practically.

2. Reject anything that is producing an addiction in you. Learn to distinguish between a real psychological need and an addiction. Eliminate or cut back on the use of addictive, non-nutritional drinks: alcohol, coffee, tea, Coke, etc. If there is any form of media (TV, radio, magazines) that you realize you cannot live without; you need to get rid of it. Refuse to be a slave to anything but God.

3. Develop a habit of giving things away. If you are becoming attached to some possessions, consider giving it to someone who needs it. De-accumulate. Get rid of that mass of stuff that clutters your home and life. Give it away.

4. Refuse to be propagandized by the custodians of modern gadgetry. Modern propagandists try to convince us that we must obtain the newest model of this or that because it features some new ability that will make our lives easier. The truth is that time saving devices almost never save time. Remember point number 1.

5. Learn to enjoy things without owning them. Our culture puts so much emphasis on owning things. “If we own it, we feel we can control it; and if we control it, we feel it will gives us more pleasure” (Foster, 93). This idea is an illusion. Borrow and share with others. Remember that we don’t really own anything, we only manage it for God.

6. Develop a deeper appreciation for the creation. “Simplicity means to discover once again that ‘The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it.’ (Ps 24:1) (Foster, 93).”

7. Look with a healthy skepticism at all “by now, pay later” schemes. The Bible views charging interest as an unbrotherly exploitation of another’s misfortune and a denial of community. These schemes are a trap that only deepen our bondage. Avoid them like the plague.

8. Obey Jesus’ instructions about plain, honest speech. Avoid speaking flattery and half-truths. If you promise to do something, do it. Refuse to be apart of jargon and abstract speculations. They tend to confuse rather than inform and illuminate. Simply put, let your yes’s be yes’s and your no’s be no’s.

9. Reject anything that breeds the oppression of others. This is one of the most difficult and sensitive issues for us to face, but face it we must. Do we sip our coffee and eat our bananas at the expense of exploiting Latin American peasants? Does our lust for wealth mean poverty for other? Should we buy products that are made by forcing people into dull assembly line jobs? Take a deeper look at the stuff you purchase. Who or what are you really supporting. Refuse to further the evils of this world by supporting them with your money.

10. Shun anything that distracts you from seeking first God’s Kingdom. It is easy to lose focus even if we pursue good things. We must be diligent and deliberate about seek God. As Brother Jim Bliffen has said, “It is wrong to do good when something better should be done.” We must always keep our priorities in the right place and our focus on the right thing: God.

Over the next month, re-evaluate your life. Look at the activities you’re involved in. What are your priorities, your values, your goals. It is not enough for us to say that God, or church, or our family is important to us. We must show it by giving of our time and attention. Take the time to practice the art of “slowing”. I pray we all learn this discipline before our life has passed us by.

Wisdom is learning these truths sooner rather than later.

The Discipline of Prayer

Sunday School Lesson for March 23 & April 6th, 2008

Of all the Spiritual Disciplines, prayer is the most centralbecause it ushers us
into perpetual communion with the Father.

Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline

There are many things that I could write on prayer, so I am going to take a paragraph to explain my beliefs on prayer in the attempt to give you a clearer understanding of this spiritual discipline. To properly understand this article, we must agree on the following three items:

1. Prayer is powerful (James 5). The Apostle James tells us that the prayer “of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). Yet, as he goes on to say, many times our prayers are not answered because we ask with wrong motives (James 4:3). To ask with the right motives, means to have our heart and mind in line with God’s will for our lives as well as for His world at large.

2. God hears our prayers. The Psalms are filled with references to God hearing our prayers and answering our cries for help (Psalm 34:17; 55:17; 69:33; 145:19: etc). Further, the Apostle John tells us in Revelations 8 that the prayers of the saints silenced heaven. God listens when we pray.

3. Prayer changes things. The first recorded prayer of any great length is recorded in Genesis 14 where Abram prays to God over the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah. Walter Wink points out: “Biblical prayer is impertinent, persistent, shameless, indecorous. It is more like haggling in an oriental bazaar than the polite monologues of the churches” (Wink in Ortberg, 95). The result of this lesson is clear: Prayer changes things.

With that said, let us begin . . .

For many, prayer remains a mystery. An unrelenting quest of how to communicate with an unseen God. Some have faired well and have emerged with a peace that God both hears and answers their prayers. Yet others have not faired so well coming away with feelings of isolation and dejection. In times of crisis, prayer is easy and is as precious as the air we breath; yet in times of plenty, prayer is often difficult, burdensome and awkward. In today’s fast-paced society, who has time to stop and pray?

Yet, real prayer is life-changing. It is the deepest and highest work of the human spirit. Richard Foster believes that, “to pray is to change. Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us. If we are unwilling to change, we will abandon prayer as a noticeable characteristic of our lives” (Foster, Celebration of Discipline, 33).

The fourteenth century Byzantine monk, Andre Louf, describes prayer using the analogy of a lute player:

The lute-player bends over his instrument and listens attentively to the tune,
while his fingers manipulate the plectrum and make the strings vibrate in
full-toned harmony. The lute has turned into music; and the man who strums upon
it is taken out of himself, for the music is soft and entrancing (Louf out of
Foster Spiritual Classics, 31).

Foster comments on Louf’s image saying:

You see, for the beginning musician playing the lute is difficult indeed. The
beginner faces a host of issues all at once: how to hold the lute, how to
manipulate the plectrum, what tune to play, and the need to memorize it, and so
forth. But for the master musician, playing the lute is sheer ease and joy. All
of the actions necessary to make a beautiful melody flow effortlessly from
ingrained habits of mind and muscle. As Father Louf notes, the accomplished lute
player “is taken out of himself, for the music is soft and entrancing.” With
this image Father Louf is helping us see that prayer is both difficult and easy.
In the beginning we are struggling with a host of issues: how we as finite
creatures approach the infinite God, what we are to say and how we are to say
it, how we are to listen in return, and so forth. But we can rest easy with
these difficulties of ours, for we know that over time a kind of practiced
experience will develop within us deeply ingrained habits of prayer (Foster,
Spiritual Classics, 35).

Prayer is powerful and changes things. Foster further comments that, “The closer we come to. . . God the more we see our need and the more we desire to be conformed to Christ” (Foster, Celebration of Discipline, 33).

So how do we pray. Consider Jesus disciples request of Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).

The disciples were Jews and would have known all about prayer. They would have experienced it and participated in it all of their lives, just as many of us have. Yet they saw something remarkably different in Jesus’ prayers so they asked Him to instruct them. Maybe we should begin in much the same way.

Here are a few guidelines compiled from Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline and John Ortberg’s The Life You’ve Always Wanted to assist you in further developing your prayer life:

1. Begin by asking God to assist you.

2. Commit to pray for 5 minutes per day. This may seem impossibly short, but it is better to establish a short time than to begin with a longer one that you give up on later. Pray for the same amount of time each day. It should not be longer on one day because it feels nice and shorter on another as the mood takes you. Even if you feel great enthusiasm and want to go longer on one day, please restrict yourself to only five minutes.

3. Choose a specific time each day to have prayer. We are busy people this may seem impossible, but if you allow the time to vary, it has a way of evaporating altogether.

4. Choose a specific place to pray. It is very helpful to pray in the same place day after day. But choose a place that is free from interruptions (no pager, cell phones, TV, radios, etc.).

5. Choose a time of day that you are at your best. Not everyone is a morning person. Choose a time when you can focus, stay awake, and can be uninterrupted.

6. Prepare your heart before entering into your place of prayer. A mind that is distracted by the external troubles is hardly prepared for prayer. Learn to calm your mind and heart (Huggett out of Foster, Spiritual Classics, paraphrased, 13).

7. Begin with what Ortberg and Foster refer to as “simple prayer.” Do not force yourself to pray about things that may seem more noble (world peace, starving children in Africa). Simple prayer is about praying what is really on your heart and not what you wish were (or think should be) in your heart (Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted, paraphrased, 100).

8. Take 3 or 4 minutes after you have finished praying to reflect on your prayer. This is not actually part of your prayer, it is only a review.

How did the prayer get started? Were you aware of God’s presence, or was there a sense that you were simply thinking by yourself? Did any parts of the prayer seem especially “alive” as you prayed? Did you have times of strong convictions or emotion, and if so, what were they? Did they seem to be moving you closer to God, or farther away? What difficulties did you encounter? Did you feel tired or bored or experience other barriers? Did you find your mind wandering, and if so, to what? What were you praying over when this happened? How did you respond?Did you have any sense of being called to respond or carry out some action? If so, what was it? What was the general “tone” of your prayer: Warm and loving? Difficult or painful? Dark? Reassuring? Sobering? Foggy? Write down the results of this review, as that can help you learn from your prayers over time (Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted, 103). A quick word of caution: Prayer is not something that can be mastered overnight. It will take years of practice (with both succeeding and failing attempts) to master. We will all get discouraged, bored, and be tempted to give up. When this happens, don’t play games with your pattern or skip a day and plan on “making up” tomorrow. Consistently try to pray everyday. However, when you do miss a day, only pray for the 5 minutes that you committed to pray. You can’t really make up the time (Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted, paraphrased, 97).

Accountability

Sunday School Lesson for March 16, 2008
Every believer is accountable to God.

The measure of discipleship is the degree to which a believer is like Jesus in attitudes, behaviors, and relationships. In Romans 14:12, Paul says: "each of us will give an account of himself to God" (NIV). So here we stand as children of God, sharing His name--and either bring Him shame or glory. That's no small responsibility. It requires a commitment to love, trust, and obey as Jesus did.

Jesus’ life brought honor and glory to God. Not once did Jesus shame His Father’s name. We probably aren’t even aware of all the times we bring dishonor to God. Oh, we may remember the big moments, the blatant instances. But there are so many things we choose to be blind to—sinful parasites that cling to our lives and bring shame to God’s name. We are accountable to God to for everything we say and do.

We bring dishonor to God’s name when we have temper tantrums while standing in long lines at a store, when we express road rage, when we selfishly ignore someone in need, or when we make watching the Super Bowl more important than worshiping the Lord. Finally, we bring dishonor to God’s name when we fail to obey God’s primary charge to us as believers: make disciples. These dishonorable actions are not the ways of Jesus. They are the ways of sinful man. Jesus did not start yelling and screaming at the bread seller for only having one line open. Jesus did not run people off the road when they weren’t traveling to fit His schedule. Jesus did not yell “Get a job!” to the homeless man on the street. Jesus did not skip His time with the Father to watch the Roman games. And Jesus certainly did not let anything deter Him from His mission of making disciples. Jesus obeyed His Father and thus brought honor and glory to His Father’s name. We are called to do the same—and when we do not, God holds us accountable for each and every instance of disobedience.

One of the most important things we must do as believers is learn to obey everything Jesus commanded, to live and honor God’s name as He did (Matt. 28:20).

Although we are accountable to God, God uses the church, spouse, other family members, friends, and fellow believers to keep us aware of accountability to Him. In essence God has created natural accountability groups to help us focus on becoming like Jesus. These natural accountability groups help us put Him first and honor His name—not out of fear of accusation, but out of love and respect—just like Jesus did. “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Luke 10:27).

Reflection Questions:
1. What accountability safeguards do you have around yourself? What person or persons do you have who you allow to hold you accountable?

2. One of the most important things a believer can do is learn how to obey everything Jesus commanded, to live and honor God’s name as He did. By becoming obedient, you naturally live out the accountability principle. How can you model obedience for others?

3. How would you be different if you sought to reflect Jesus in attitudes, behavior and relationships?

4. The accountability principle calls for believers to be accountable for their attitudes, actions/behavior, and relationships. This principle calls the church to help believers live their faith everyday in every sphere of influence it touches. Determine actions that could be taken to improve your attitudes, behavior, and relationships. Ask the your accountability to help you implement these into your life.

5. The accountability principle focuses on trusting, loving, and, especially, obeying God. How does your church call you to obey God? What is the connection between trusting, loving, and obeying?

Arrogant Irresponsibility

New Ground Lesson: Wed, March 26, 2008

Central Bible Truth: You can be sure that God honors dependable servants.

Teaching Aim: To lead youth to identify the biblical message about faithful living and to accept the challenge to be responsible young adults.

1. Actions of a Responsible Person

Have students write on the sheet of paper what they view as actions of a responsible person. Then ask:

Q-Are the actions you listed those of a young person or an older person?

Q-Is there a difference between responsible behavior for a teenager and a person of 50?

Q-What are examples of irresponsible behavior?

Q-Are these actions allowable for youth or older people?

Q-Are these actions attractive in oneself or in your friends?

Have students define the difference between arrogance and humility. Involve youth in an open discussion on their views of arrogance and humility. Ask youth to give examples. Then ask:

Q-What do you see as the meaning of the directive, "Straighten up and fly right"?

After several comments, explain the meaning of this directive. Stress that God is constantly warning each and every one of us, regardless of age, to "straighten up and fly right."

2. Advantages of Responsible Behavior

Divide students into 3 groups and have each read one of the following passages: Psalm 1:1-6; Psalm 14:1-3; and Psalm 119:9-11. Have groups make note of verses listed in their passages that correspond to the items they listed as responsible/irresponsible behavior from step 1. Call for students to identify the advantages of responsible behavior. (Note: The important thing is for the students themselves to see these truths.)

3. A Dangerous Trend

Current studies show that teenagers often think of themselves above the law, both civil and spiritual. Carefully point out this dangerous trend in social thinking today without condemning the youth. Point out that this trend expresses itself in things, such as disrupting a class, shoplifting, lying, cheating, and using alcohol and drugs. Also, note that lack of willingness to help someone without being paid for it is another sign of this trend. Stress that the saddest of all evidences of this trend is that teenagers often view Christianity as restricting rather than edifying. Then share these thoughts from Scripture with students.

1. Whether male or female, each person is accountable to God. Persons who have been given leadership roles are especially expected by the Lord to be dependable persons He can count on to live upright and responsible lives. God rewards righteousness, but He also punishes unrighteousness. God is a God of love, but he is also a God of justice. No one is exempt from doing what is right.

2. Humility (not to be confused with insecurity) is often in short supply among youth. It is usually viewed as weakness. God loves the week and humble. In contrast, the Bible says that God hates arrogance. To seek God's instruction and hide His Word in our hearts is humbly to release thoughts of self-sufficiency. It is also the Christian's greatest strength. It is impossible to intimidate a Christian who is empowered by the Holy Spirit.

3. Fleeing evil and evildoers is smart, not chicken. In recent teen surveys, a great fear boys express is that their friends will get them into trouble. Arrogance in refusing to walk away from a bad or evil idea is against God. Anything done against God is rebellion. Rebellion is always committed in arrogance.

4. Seeking company that God approves is an important step in exhibiting responsibility. No one is ever too young to understand this truth. Ignorance of God's Word is no excuse for displaying arrogant irresponsibility. Each person is to read his or her Bible every day. Also, regular Sunday School and worship attendance are ways to hear God's Word shared and to exhibit personal responsibility. The message of God's Word and the saving power of Jesus Christ can change lives.

4. A Personal Checkup

Allow time for personal evaluation by giving each youth a copy of "Irresponsibility—Personal Checkup Handout" to complete. Ask each youth to make note of how he or she might change for the better in light of what God expects from them, as shown in the lesson's Scripture passages.

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IRRESPONSIBILITY—PERSONAL CHECKUP HANDOUT

1. Do you know someone who is irresponsible and proud of it? Do you enjoy the company of such persons?

2. Have you been hurt by an irresponsible person? Did the person acknowledge that he or she had hurt you?

3. You know how you feel about irresponsible people. How do you think God feels about them?

4. How does a person become irresponsible? Why would a person be irresponsible?

5. How can an irresponsible person become a responsible person?

6. What does the Bible say about arrogance? What does the Bible say about humility? Which one is preferable over the other?

7. Is God's opinion important? Is it important to you?