Youth Accomplishmehts

Some of our youth and alumni have made the news for academic accomplishments:

Five Greenwood students qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. These students are Blake Atkinson, Meredith Clouse, Julia Hansbrough, Paul Justice, and Nickolas Winquist.

Nine GHS students qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams. These students are Brett Austin, Matthew Bulka, Howard Clark, Rebecca Colvin, William Garrison, John Loughrin, Matthew Robeson, Madalyn (Brooke) Schreiner, and Colin Schumaker.

Thirty seniors from Warren County's Greenwood, Warren Central and Warren East high schools have been selected to participate this year in the STEP (Students Turning Education into Potential) program sponsored by the Leadership Bowling Green Alumni Association. Only the most  qualified individuals are selected to participate in the program. The program mirrors the adult Leadership Bowling Green program and develops fundamental leadership skills and exposes students to numerous civic, educational, and vocational opportunities within the community. This year's participants from Warren County high schools are:

>From Greenwood -- Alex Belt, James Farrage, James Hussung, Rachel Norris, Shannon White, Steven Smith and Jessica Young.

Weekly Update 9/28/09-10/4/09

Verse of the week: Genesis 49:18 (The Message)
I wait in hope for your salvation, God. 


We had a great time last night during our worship service. The band did absolutely amazing and we ended our "All Greek to Me" series with a bang! Here are the updates for this week:

• There is no WNL this week at the church.  We are taking a two week break. HOWEVER, Jared will be speaking at Warren East High School at "The 650," an outreach to youth in the schools. You are invited to join the youth for worship, games, and fun. It starts at 6:50 (hints the name) and will end around 8:00. Hope to see you out there as Jared speaks in their series entitled "Gamer".
• This Friday is a BIG day for The Movement. We will be having another tailgate at Bowling Green High School, this time in partnership with Bowling Green High's Fellowship of Christian Athletes. This will happen from 5:30-7:00pm.  Starting at 9:30pm at the church, we will be hosting a 5th Quarter party for all junior and senior high students in the world. Really. We will be having games, food, and different contests throughout the night in order to crown the 5th Quarter Golden Football Champion. If you are interested in attending, providing food, or being a supervisor for the event, just e-mail us at youth@bowlinggreenchristian.org
• This Sunday we are continuing our new BFC series that got off to a great start yesterday. Senior High will continue their "Blurred Lines" series with a discussion on Worship, while the Junior High will continue their "Tug O' War" series with a lesson on Friendship.
• Also, Sunday night we will be having Ignite at an all new time! We will meet from 6:00-7:30pm (see info in previous post). We will begin our new series "Masquerade". Hope to see all of you out!

Moving Time

Starting October 4, our Sunday night student ministry “Ignite” will be moved to a new time. We will begin to meet from 6:00-7:30pm. This change stems from much talk with our Student Leadership team, and the youth themselves. We feel rushed and are not being able to get accomplished what we want on Sunday nights since we are constrained by our hour time limit. We also wanted to make sure that we did not plan Ignite to be right in the middle of dinner. Thus we moved it up to 6pm to allow families to eat together before coming to Ignite.

We are so excited about the ministry we have going on Sunday nights, and we know that giving us more time will help achieve our goals to move towards God, with each other, and into the world. We truly feel that this is our best outreach, and extending the time helps us do more and not feel so rushed. We appreciate your support in this move and we look forward to continue to grow together and in numbers.

9/27 Ignite- "It's All Greek to Me- Hope"

Devotion-Jared Graves

As always, I could not have done this without the aide of William Barclay's work New Testament Words. 

What hope do we have?

• Hope for the resurrection of the dead (1 John 3:3). Death is the ultimate buzz kill unless you have hope for life after it.
• Hope for the glory of God (Romans 5:2). No more guessing, no more wondering, no more “blind faith’.
• Hope of a new dispensation (2 Corinthians 3:12). We no longer worry about the fact that we cannot hold to all of these laws, instead we see and live love.
• Hope of righteousness (Galatians 5:5). No more barriers between us and God.
• Hope of Salvation: 1) Safety in this world (2 Corinthians 1:10), 2) Safety in this world to come
• Hope of eternal life (Titus 1:2). Eternal doesn’t refer to a duration, but a quality of life in the NT.  Living like God lives. 
• Hope of the triumphant second coming of Christ (Titus 2:13). History is going somewhere, to a day when Christ is victorious and every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord!
• Hope laid up in Heaven. Something that is already prepared for us as a Christian.

Where does hope come from?

• Found in Christ: (1 Thessalonians 1:3)
• Hope is grounded in God (1 Timothy 4:10)
• Hope looks to God. The Christian keeps his or hers eyes on God.

9/27 Wake Up! BFC "Tug O' War- Marriage"

Introduction

• Write down your ideal husband/wife. What will they do, what will they look like.

Lesson

• Read 1 Corinthians 7:1-3. Paul just tells everyone that you shouldn’t get married.  Actually, Paul starts a new stage in his letter to the Corinthians, and it is focusing on answering some questions that the Corinthians had asked him. This question is obviously about marriage. He notes that there is nothing wrong with marriage, but to be very careful about it.
• 1 Corinthians 7:4-9. Some of the Corinthians had messed up views of what marriage was supposed to be. They knew how they acted before Christ entered their life, but now they don’t know what to do. They were abstaining from some things that married people do, and Paul was telling them that this was bad. Why? Because other temptations are sure to creep in.
• Read 1 Corinthians 7:10-16.  Like today, Corinth was a place that was steeped in divorce and remarriage. Now all of a sudden a new Gospel is being preached and they are faced with the question of whether they should do what is acceptable in culture or commanded by God. What was acceptable grounds for divorce for Paul?
• 1 Corinthians 7:17-24. Paul uses slavery and circumcision to illustrate the fact that when you become a Christian you stay in the state you are in; when you are converted you do not leave your unconverted wife or husband. You try to bring them along with you in your spiritual journey.
• 1 Corinthians 7:25-31. Paul notes that he would prefer if the Corinthians would remain in their present state due to a crisis.  There was a great food shortage in this time.
• Read 1 Corinthians 7:32-40. Does Paul say that you cannot be married and serve God? No, in the present case, he is simply giving advice to the people as they are faced with this food shortage and with being a Christian. The underlying theme in this passage is that God comes first! Paul’s advice is good here when talking about rushing into marriage. Do not rush into it, simply allow it to happen and make sure that you are the right fit.

Tug O’ War

• What is the worldly view of marriage?
• What does Paul say here about marriage?
• Where do you think the church as a whole is in the tug o’ war? Where are you?

9/27 Snooze Button BFC "Blurred Lines- Marriage"

Introduction

• There was a woman who gave her life to Christ.  She was happy, and so was her husband.  However two weeks later she came to the office of her church in tears. She said that her marriage was about to be over. Her husband was not happy with her and she said it was all because she became a Christian.  The preacher asked the woman, “Why is he mad at you” and she answered, “Because I won’t, well you know.”  The preacher was confused and remarked, “No, I don’t know.”  She replied, “I won’t you know, do anything with him. Since I’m a Christian now I know that I’m not supposed to and he doesn’t understand that.”  The preacher realized quickly what she was talking about and informed here that, well you know, isn’t wrong and was actually created by God. It is meant to be apart of a marriage and a vital part of that marriage.  She left with a skip in her step, and 20 years later, they are still married and going strong.
• We have a wrong view of sex in our churches that says that it is a bad thing, but in fact, it is not. It’s important, it’s a gift from God. However, the ability to contain it and understand it’s uses can get us in trouble.  The Corinthian church faced a similar problem and it is what kicks off our new series “Blurred Lines: When the world and the Word don’t match up”.

Lesson

• Read 1 Corinthians 7:1-7. Verses 1-3, Paul just tells everyone that you shouldn’t get married.  Actually, Paul starts a new stage in his letter to the Corinthians, and it is focusing on answering some questions that the Corinthians had asked him. This question is obviously about marriage. He notes that there is nothing wrong with marriage, but to be very careful about it. Verses 4-9, Some of the people in Corinth thought like the lady in our opening story.  Paul tells them that this is not right, and that sex is to be enjoyed inside the bonds of marriage.  He says that no one has the right to demand sex, and no one has a right to withhold it. However, if they do abstain from sex, they need to be careful, because sinful temptations my arrive and compromise the marriage.
• Read 1 Corinthians 7:10-16. Like today, Corinth was a place that was steeped in divorce and remarriage. Now all of a sudden a new Gospel is being preached and they are faced with the question of whether they should do what is acceptable in culture or commanded by God. What was acceptable grounds for divorce for Paul?
• Read 1 Corinthians 7:17-24. Paul uses slavery and circumcision to illustrate the fact that when you become a Christian you stay in the state you are in; when you are converted you do not leave your unconverted wife or husband. You try to bring them along with you in your spiritual journey.
• Read 1 Corinthians 7:25-31. Paul notes that he would prefer if the Corinthians would remain in their present state due to a crisis and the coming of Christ.  There was a great food shortage in this time.
• Read 1 Corinthians 7:32-40. Does Paul say that you cannot be married and serve God? No, in the present case, he is simply giving advice to the people as they are faced with this food shortage and with being a Christian. The underlying theme in this passage is that God comes first! Paul’s advice is good here when talking about rushing into marriage. Do not rush into it, simply allow it to happen and make sure that you are the right fit.

 Blurred Lines

• Where does Paul’s commands and guidance here in 1 Corinthians stand in contrast to what the world says?

A Few Reminders

Every week (earlier than this week though) we will be posting some news and notes for the upcoming week and some upcoming events. As always, if you need more information just e-mail us at youth@bowlinggreenchristian.org.

1. Just a reminder that we WILL NOT BE TAILGATING TOMORROW at Greenwood. A certain youth minister decided to schedule it on the same day as he moved into his new house... Also, with the rainy weather this week, we don't want to take the chance.
2. HOWEVER, we are going to be tailgating next week at Bowling Green High (October 2). We are partnering with the FCA there at Bowling Green and we hope to reach out and make more connections in the community.
3. FOLLOWING that football game we will be hosting a 5th Quarter party. We will have games, food, and much more. We will also be having a competition between schools to see who takes home the 2009 5th Quarter Golden Football. So bring as many people as possible. If you are interested in helping or providing some food please let us know.
4. This Sunday we are starting a couple of new BFC series.  The Senior High (Snooze Button BFC @ 8:30am) will be doing a series entitled "Blurred Lines: Where the world and the Word don't match up" as we continue our study of 1 Corinthians. The Junior High (Wake Up! BFC @ (9:45am) will also stay in 1 Corinthians, but will be doing a series entitled "Tug O' War," where we will explore our position as humans, being pulled one way by popular thought, and one way by the Word.
5. At Ignite this Sunday we will be doing something real cool. We are having a toga party in the Sanctuary. We will be praising God and looking good while doing it. We are concluding our series, "All Greek to Me", with a study on hope.

FALL RETREAT 2009: ENGAGED

To: Parents of Youth of BGCC

Re: Youth Fall Retreat 2009

It is my hope to take our youth on an annual retreat in the fall.  I want to cover issues that are important to our faith and how we are to live our lives.  I believe that it is important that we take this year’s retreat and focus on sexuality and purity. Many of our kids have told me about just how many of their classmates (some as young at 7^th grade) have gotten pregnant.  I hear about people with friends who are gay and they want to know why it is wrong, and how they are supposed to treat them.  Everyone has a television and anyone can find their way around filters to find things on the internet that they do not need to see.

I hope that you will prayerfully consider allowing your child to attend this retreat. If you have questions or concerns, you may call me in the office, or e-mail me.  I know that not all of our kids are going to be ready for this retreat. We are going to be revisiting this issue in 4 years, and hopefully they can join us then. While there will be a lot of fun had, there is also going to be some serious discussions, where maturity will be a requirement, not a choice.

We will be departing on the afternoon of Friday, November 20 and will be finished at noon on Sunday, November 22. We will be staying at Bluegrass Christian Camp in Lexington, KY and having a weekend of fun, and serious talks on our sexuality.  We will be going ice skating at the Lexington Ice Center, visiting Fayette Mall for a scavenger hunt, and enjoying times of fellowship with each other.  We will also be having periodic worship services and devotions all centered on exploring our sexuality.

The trip will cost $30 per person. Students will also need to bring money for dinner on Friday and Saturday nights.  If you are interested in going, there will be an informational meeting next Sunday following third service. We will be handing out schedules, and answering any questions. I pray that you will prayerfully consider to allow your child to attend this retreat.  Please do not hesitate to contact me for any questions that you have.

Jared Graves

9/21 Ignite-All Greek to Me: Euaggelion (Good News)

Devotion- Jared Graves

It’s important to note that the word for Gospel “euaggelion” isn’t used much in anything in the ancient text, except for the New Testament. Why?

Uses of the word “euaggelion” (per William Barclay)

• Summation of the entire Christian message. The word occurs 72 times in the NT and of these 72, 54 are in Paul’s letters.
• The “euaggelion”’ of God. It showed men a God whose heart was love & it was the Good News sent by God
• The “Euaggelion” of Jesus. Jesus brought it to men & Jesus ‘embodied’ it to men
• ‘My’ "euaggelion". It comes from God, through and in Jesus, but man must speak it to other people.
• The euaggelion is for all men.Jews believed that they were the favored nation of God, but we see that all peoples are favored by God and are meant to hear this message.

Closing

• I think last week and this week go hand in hand. We love people, and that is why we are meant to spread the greatest news ever, the “euaggelion” to the world. It is out of our love for people, and our love for God that we do this.

M&M Discussion

So we know what the premise of “euaggelion” is. We have heard the word “Gospel” or “Good news” our entire lives. But what truly does it mean?

Everyone get one of the slips of paper and a writing utensil. Write down what you think the “Gospel is”.

After they have written down their answers: As we go through these descriptions of what “euaggelion” is, see if your definition and your view of the Gospel matches up.

The euaggelion is, ‘the good news of truth"

• Read Galatians 2:5

The euaggelion is, ‘the good news of hope’

• Read Colossians 2:23
• John Buchan defined an atheist as “a man with no invisible means of support.’ When a man realizes what the good news means, he is filled with hope for himself and for the world.

The euaggelion is ‘the good news of peace’

• Read Ephesians 6:15

The euaggelion is ‘the good news of God’s promise’

• Read Ephesians 3:6
• William Barclay- “Jesus brought the good news which told not of the God of the threat, but the God of the promise”

The Euaggelion is, ‘the good news of immortality'

• Read 2 Timothy 1:10
• The good news is that death is not the end, but the beginning of life!

The euaggelion is, ‘good news of the risen Christ'

• Read 2 Timothy 2:8
• Barclay: “Our faith is not a faith in a figure in a book who lived and ddied, but in one who rose from death and who is alive forever more”

The euaggelion is ‘good news of salvation’

• Read Ephesians 1:13

Discuss their previous definitions and anything that they would change, or that they never thought of.

Together, come up with a definition of “Gospel”

9/21 Road Blocks- Immorality, 1 Corinthians 5-6

Read 1 Corinthians 5:1-5

• Seems kind of harsh to me. What right does Paul have to judge this person?
• Shouldn’t a church help those who fall out of the way?
• In Christianity today, have we become unable to tell the difference between Christian freedom and scandalous behavior?

Read 1 Corinthians 5:6-13

• Verses 6-8: “The whole Christian life, from this point of view, becomes one long Passover-celebration!” – Tom Wright.
• Verses 9-13:  Paul says that we should associate with non-believers and those who are not following the same practices as us. Why? Because we would have to form a space colony to make sure that we were free from their influence. However, what does he say about the immoral believer?

Read 1 Corinthians 6:1-8

•  Verses 1-6: Think about if you had a car and took it to a mechanic shop. You like that mechanic shop and you think they do a good job. But one day you are on the other side of town and happen to peer into another mechanic shop. There you see your mechanic getting his car fixed in someone else’s business. Would you trust your mechanic shop if the workers themselves go somewhere else to get their cars fixed? Paul’s point here is that we should settle Christian disputes within the Christian community.  Why go to someone who does not have the same morals and convictions and allow them to judge based upon man’s law? How would this mindset help the church today?
• Verses 7-8: In a Christian community there should be civilized ways to settle disputes and Christian love should win over selfish gain.

Read 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

• Does this mean that we simply give up on people who are living this lifestyle? No,  it actually should motivate us to work on them and bring them into the body of Christ.

Read 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

•  How does this stand in opposition to the mindset of many Christians today: I’m saved, so it doesn’t matter what I do, I’m forgiven?
• You can take some of this and almost make the statement that if we are having sex outside of marriage, if we are participating in sexual immorality, then we in fact are committing adultery against not only our future mate, but our present God.
•  Paul notes that sexual sins hurt yourself. Murder hurts someone else, and their families, stealing hurts the one being stole from, but sexual impurity actually hurts the one participating in the actions.

Road Block

• While the first two road blocks we talked about; loyalty and intellect, seem not to be a big deal and rather manageable, this road block is a big one. It has deterred many steady Christians. People who were on top of the world and were living righteously fall in a matter of seconds.  Sexual immorality is far and wide. It comes in many forms: homosexual behavior, sex outside the bonds of marriage, looking at pornography, lusting after girls or boys at school or in movies.
•  Anyone can find their ways around filters, anyone can get their hands on porn. You can find ways to be alone with him or her.  We are sexual beings. The fact that you feel that way towards the opposite sex is natural and is a gift from God. However, it is to be used only with your future wife or husband and to bring glory to God.

9/16 WNL- Faith & Flicks, Horton Hears a Who: Belief in the Unseen

Introduction:

• 10 minutes to go around and find things that show the existence of God.
• There was unbelief on two levels. The Whos didn’t believe the mayor that there was someone in the sky. Likewise, no one believed that there were little people living on a speck.
• Often times, the hardest thing that we have to do is to show people things that show evidence of God. People find it hard to believe in things that are unseen.

Discussion: Read 2 Corinthians 4

• How easy is it for you to get caught up in all the things that you can see?
• Do you find that the things you can see often get in the way of the things that you cannot see?
• How do you convince someone that there is truly something to believe in that is beyond this world, something that they cannot see?

9/13 Ignite- All Greek to Me: Agape

Devotion by Jared

• Contrast “love” words. Eros= love between the sexes. Storge= family love, love for a ruler, love of a nation/household for their god. mainly for parent-child love. Philia- to cherish. Love of Jesus for Lazarus, and the beloved disciple. Friendship/husband & wife love

Agape/Agapan

• Not always, but mostly used to describe Christian love.
• Agape demands the exercise of the whole man. It extends to the Christian, the neighbor, the enemy, to all the world
• Agape has to do with the mind, it’s not simply an emotion.
• Agape has to do with the will. A conquest for victory

Matthew 5.43-48

• We are told to love our enemies.
• William Barclay: “Agape is the spirit which says: ‘No matter what any man does to me, I will never seek to do harm to him. I will never set out for revenge, I will always seek nothing but his highest good.”
• Agape is treating men as God treats them.

Challenge:

• To look through these characteristics of love, and see if it helps your understanding of what we are called to do, as well as the verses that you are reading.

M&M Discussion

What is the most exhausting thing you have ever done?

In your spiritual life, What is the hardest thing to do?

Have you ever been in love? If not, what does being in love look like?

• Consider the fact that “agape” refers to loving someone with all your heart and mind. It is a conscious effort to love someone with every bit of our being.

Love is very hard. It is looking past faults and disagreements and loving someone with your whole self.

Read Luke 6:27-36

Consider our discussion on love earlier, and talking about it, does this mean more to you now? Love is not just tolerating them, it’s truly loving them with everything you have.

Who are some people that you find hard to love (no names!)?

Think about it, love is at the center of our faith because everything comes from it. If you love God and others you don’t murder, slander, gossip, steal, lust, make fun of, persecute, talk about, ignore, etc.

Let’s take a couple minutes to pray that God will help us get better at loving people. You know those who you do not love, those you hate, those you are mean to. You are called to love that person, with everything you have. Pray that God will help you.

After prayer, please have everyone get an accountability partner. They are to make sure they don’t talk about others, say mean things, gossip, or treat others wrong. They are trying to help each other love everyone, and love God.

9/13 Road Blocks- Intellect, 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:16

Intro:

• What are some intellectual arguments against the existence of God?
• What are some intellectual arguments against Jesus as Savior?
• I want you to sit here and think about God. Do you think you could possibly think your way out of faith?

Lesson

• Read 1 Corinthians 1:18. Paul is contrasting worldly wisdom with the message of the cross.
• Read 1 Corinthians 1:19. God has a great sense of humor here. Let’s think about all the scholars and people on television who say there is no God. These brainy people believe that they are so smart and they believe that there is no way a God could exist. God is saying if you try to find laws of motion, or physics or anything else that proves that I am here, you won’t find it. I made those laws, and am above those laws!
• Read 1 Corinthians 1:20-24. Why is the cross a stumbling block to Jews? It causes them to say their whole faith was fulfilled by the death of a carpenter. Why is the cross foolishness to Gentiles? Their attitude goes along the lines of: live like you want, earn the most you can, get rich and popular. That sounds a whole lot different than the life of Jesus, and the life that He calls His followers to live.
• Read 1 Corinthians 1:25-31. What aspects of the Christian life does not make sense to people?
• Read 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. Paul knew his audience when he came to Corinth to preach the Gospel. Do you know your audience when you are evangelizing?
• Read 1 Corinthians 2:6-16. Does this make sense why people cannot understand or fathom God? I don’t know what Oprah is thinking right now because I’m not a mind reader and my spirit/thoughts are not her thoughts. This is why people do not understand God. They rely on their intellect and try to see things, but they cannot understand God because God’s thoughts, His Spirit is not in them.

Road Blocks:

• What questions do you have about God? What answers do you need to know? What is in your mind that prevents you from truly trusting in God or accepting Him as real and true? Today, write your questions down, and earnestly seek God’s spirit, the one that lives in you, and have the Spirit fill your mind with knowledge. Will it make sense to your mind? Probably not, but it is the answer.

9/6 Ignite- All Greek to Me: Ekklesia (Church)

Devotion- Jared Graves

Intro

• What do you think a definition of church would be?
• What do you think a definition of church should be?

Devotion

• Today’s word is “ekklesia” or “church”. We have really screwed up the original idea of church. We have made a local selection of believers.
• There is a misconception that church means to be “called out”. That is not what ekklesia means. FJA Hort points out that ekkelsia means “summoned out”. People are summoned out of their homes to come and meet with God. Now, the summons is not for a selective number of individuals either. It is a summon for every man to come and listen to and act out the word of God.
• William Barclay- “The Church…is a body of people, not so much assembling because they have chosen to come together but assembling because God called them to himself; not so much assembling to share their own thoughts and opinions, but assembling to listen to the voice of God”

Application

• With this in mind, how does it change your view of “church”?
• You are going to explore some aspects of the church in your M&M time. I pray that today, you come away with a greater sense of “Church” and what it truly means.

M&M Discussion

William Barclay says this: “Any group of Roman citizens, meeting anywhere throughout the world, would be called “an assembly of Roman citizens.” Wherever they were meeting, they were a part of the great conception of Rome. They had no meaning apart from Rome; they were part of a great unity.”

Please note that throughout the NT, “ekklesia” is NEVER used to describe a building!

Relate this to the church. How should we view what we do here at BGCC and how we view our local church?

Three relationships in the New Testament church: 1) Human relationships- 1 Thessalonians 1:1- Men & women are the bricks out of which the edifice of the church is built. 2) “The Church of God”- 1 Corinthians 1:2- The Church belongs to God and comes from God. 3) “The Church of Christ”- Christ is the head of the Church- Ephesians 5:23-24, The Church is the Body of Christ- Colossians 1:24

An Indian once described the Church as “The Church which carries on the life of Christ." Do you think that we do that?

Since “Church” does not describe a building, then Church happens everywhere, even in your homes. How can you make your home a Church?

9/6 Road Blocks: Loyalty, 1 Corinthians 1:1-17, 3-4

Introduction:

• Each student got with other students who shared their same favorite this, or favorite that: favorite musician, favorite color, favorite movie, favorite TV show, favorite NFL team, favorite school subject
• We have favorite this, favorite that. Most of the time it’s not a big deal. But in some cases it could get very dangerous.
• Before we get into Corinthians, we must take a few notes about them. What do you know about them? Very well to do area, aristocratic, very Roman, Much like American society.

Lesson:

Read 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Read 1 Corinthians 1:10-17

• There was a problem with loyalty with the Corinthians. Some followed Paul because he was the first to bring the good news to them. Some Apollos, a newer, flashier evangelist, who brought the same message. Some followed Cephas, who is Cephas? (Peter). Some followed Peter because he was the first, the main leader of the church. Others did not follow any man, but Christ. Which ones were right?
• Paul notes that it doesn’t matter who brings the message, but rather the source of the message- Jesus.

Read 1 Corinthians 3:1-4

• Paul revisits the issue in chapter 3. Paul contrasts himself with Apollos.

Read 1 Corinthians 3:5-9

• Paul once again states that they were nothing more than messengers,

Read 1 Corinthians 3:10-22

• Foundations built on Christ cannot stay up unless the building on top of it remains Christ.

Read 1 Corinthians 4

• Paul warns them about being loyal to each other and looking out for themselves. He notes that they have plenty of brothers, but not many fathers. They don’t have the guidance they need within their own people. They have everything they could need, except for guidance. That is why he sent Timothy to them. Though he was young, he was mature enough to give them advice and walk them through their questions and quarrels

Road Blocks

• We are loyal to many things. There are some things that we do not want to give up. They may be our idols. But we are called to give them up. We cannot be loyal to a person. I’ve heard many people quit going to church because a pastor left, or a youth minister left. God is still the same, and is still there, we are not loyal to men, but to God. Let us come and write those things that are preventing us from being who God calls us to be.
• The students wrote on pieces of paper those things that they are loyal to that are keeping their relationship with God from moving, or preventing them from being the person they are called to be. They will be taped onto an actual 'road block' sign and displayed.

8/30 Ignite- Good Hygiene: Getting Cleaned Up

For Ignite, we had a rocking worship service and heard a message on the history of man's relationship with God. We noted that once sin entered the world we were Messy. However, God acted upon this, He desired a relationship with His creation, and sent His own, spotless Son, to take on all the mess that we were covered in. The only way for this to happen, however, is through accepting Christ as a personal Savior and Son of God, and being obedient in baptism, the cleansing of our sins.

8/30 Bankrupt- The Story of Job, Job 38-42

Introduction:

• Where did we leave off in the story?
• If you were God, would you have come to explain yourself to Job? When would you have done it?
• For whatever reason, now is the time for God to show up and to give all the answers that they were looking for

Lesson

Job 38-39

• God doesn’t sit Job down in a nice comfy chair and ask him to go through all of his problems. Instead God starts by stating exactly who He is, and exactly what He does.
• Do you think God wants to go on one of these explanations when we start to whine and complain?
• God continues His’ statements in chapter 40-41.

Job 42:1-6

• Throughout the book of Job, his friends tried to get Job to repent from his sin. Job finally repents here, but it is not the kind called for by his friends. He did not ask for forgiveness for committing secret sins, but for questioning God’s sovereignty and justice.

Job 42:7-9

• God turns his attention to the friends. He says that they are not speaking the truth and telling Job what God was actually doing. In our society, do you think there are people like Job’s friends who either intentionally, or unintentionally say things on the behalf of God that are completely false?
• How can this be a warning to us?

Job 42:10-17

• God replenishes what he took from Job. Why?
• Does this mean anytime something bad happens we will receive everything back?

Application

• What are your thoughts on the ending of the book of Job?
• What lessons have you learned throughout this study of Job?