Ben

God’s word is the loudest voice in the history of the world.  God spoke this world into creation.  God’s word continues working today through the Bible.  The power of God’s word should motivate us to “live loud”, which is why during this series we have encouraged the kids to memorize verses to go along with each message.  Here is a quick recap of the messages we during the “Living Loud” series, and the memory verses that went with them.

Moses

We began our series by speaking on the commission of Moses.  God called Moses to go an deliver His people from their oppression in Egypt.  Moses was afraid that his deficiencies would prevent him from being successful.  God reminded him that He would be with Moses.

Hey y’all,

I hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July weekend.   We are back from camp which means we are back on this Sunday for middle school group.  I know that many middle school students sure had a great time hanging out at the beach last week at Young Life’s Breakaway Lodge, but we are all excited to get things started up again.

This weekend we will pick up where we left off in our “Live Loud” series.  This Sunday, Jarred will be speaking to us about living loud no matter the cost.

Being a follower of Jesus isn’t always the easiest thing to do.  It can be much harder to live a life that screams out Jesus’ glory; it can be costly.  Jarred will reflect on John the Baptist.  John the Baptist had spent his life serving God by preparing the way for Jesus, but in Mark 6:14-29 we hear where his ministry led him.  Despite serving the Lord so faithfully, John the Baptist is ultimately beheaded.

Many of us are afraid to speak out in our faith, even when the cost is low.  John the Baptist paid the ultimate price, and his life illustrates that being faithful to the Lord is more important than anything else, even our own lives.  Being obedient to God will cost us all something, the question is are you willing to pay the price? We will wrestle with this on Sunday, so take the time to read over this passage with your student and discuss how it may have importance in our lives.

In Him,

Ben

This last Sunday we continued in our series, Live Loud, by looking at the life of Elijah found in 1 Kings 18.  God called Elijah to go and speak to the king of Israel, Ahab, who had led the people in to worship of pagan Gods, including Baal.  God was upset with the idolatry, and sought to bring judgment on Israel, and Elijah was prophet to proclaim God’s message.  Elijah confronted Ahab, stating that there would be a drought in Israel until he said rain would come.  Elijah departs, the rain stops falling, and almost three years pass.

You could imagine how Ahab was feeling.  No rain meant no crops.  No crops meant no food for the animals.  No food for the animals meant no food for the people.  No food or water for the people makes for an angry nation for the king.  Ahab was furious with Elijah, blaming him for the the drought and famine.  This anger lead to Ahab desiring to kill Elijah.

It would make sense then, for Elijah to avoid the king, but at this time the Lord told Elijah to confront Ahab again.  When Elijah meets Ahab, he states the the drought was Ahab’s fault because he had turned to the worship of Baal.  Then he calls for a showdown.

Now most of us know the story.  Hundreds of prophets of Baal gather to go against Elijah, the prophet of the Lord.  They each have an opportunity to petition their god to light their altar and offering on fire.  The prophet’s of Baal dance, sing, even cut themselves and spill their own blood to get Baal’s attention.  They do this for an entire day!  The result? Nothing happens!  Elijah mocks them, then requests that his altar be completely drenched in water, prays to the Lord, and immediately fire came down from heaven, incinerating the altar.

The Israelites marveled at the power of the Lord and acknowledged him as God, while Elijah had the prophets of Baal gathered and executed for their sins.

So what’s the point?  Elijah had many reasons why he should not follow God’s call.  He could have been killed.  He was outnumbered.  Nobody else seemed to care about the Lord. Still, this did not stop him from being to the Lord, and living loud.  The result was that God used him in an extraordinary way to reach His people.

The same goes for us.  We have excuses and reasons to not follow the Lord.  But when we are obedient to Him, He will use us in extraordinary ways!

Hey y’all

Last Sunday we finished up our series INHABIT in which we looked at the life of Daniel to see how God was able to work through him.  Daniel inhabited a spirit that was faithful to the Lord, and for this reason he was able to have influence on all of Babylon for God’s glory.

As the summer continues, we will introduce a new 6-week series entitled “LIVING LOUD.” The purpose of this series is to educate the students on how their lives can have an impact for God’s kingdom.  Everything we do, no matter how big or small, has an impact in this world somehow.  How can we make it so that our lives impact it in a way to spread God’s word?

In this series we’ll take a look at 6 different people in the Bible and how they worked for God’s mission.  We’ll begin this Sunday as Pastor Jeff teaches us on how God called Moses and he surrendered his life to the mission.

In week 2 we’ll look at Elijah’s life on mission in a hostile world.

Week 3 will have us looking at John the Baptist, and how he was on mission despite having to pay the ultimate price.

Nehemiah rising to the challenge, despite naysayers will be the focus of week 4.

In the penultimate session, we’ll take a look at Philip, and how he lived his life to be open to God’s ministry at anytime and anyplace.

Finally, we will conclude the series with a look at Barnabas, who humbly supported God’s mission without seeking glory for himself.

We hope that as we look in this series that you will follow along with your student and join in on God’s mission.

In Him,

Ben