Setting the Table
I started planning for a youth lesson with the goal in mind for students to find their true identity in Christ. How was I ever going to accomplish this? How do you get someone to understand who they are? One of the biggest questions teenagers ask is... "Who am I?" I thought endlessly about how I could answer this question for them. But then I realized I can't answer this. If they want to know who they are then they have to ask, "Who is God?". So how do I get them to ask this and find the answer? I tried to look up the best bible verses and create some kind of incredible sermon I could preach to get them to understand. Nothing seemed good enough so I then turned to intense prayer. Haha not really... I went straight to google and typed "finding your identity in Christ best youth lesson ever" in the search bar. Shockingly enough, google didn't seem good enough either.
Somewhere in between prayer and google I came up with the idea that I can't spoon feed anyone their identity in Christ. It is something they have to experience. I need to create an experience for students to encounter the living Christ. So I made seven different prayer stations where they could read scripture about who God has made them to be, and they were invited to participate in an activity at each prayer station that helped them discover more of who God is. They weren't anything elaborate or fancy, but something simple they could do to spend quality time with God.
It's a funny thing how God surprises you when you don't have many expectations. Some of the students I thought would hate this type of activity loved it. When I gave students an opportunity to share what they learned I was completely blown away by their responses. I saw some of my students for the first time in a long time show passion and hunger for the living God. The Holy Spirit was very present.
In the car on the way home I had an enlightening conversation with my husband.
I expressed to him, "I can't believe it actually worked tonight! I think some of them are really starting to experience God."
"Yeah, it was really neat tonight how you set the table." Andrew said.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
He further explained, "We set the table and prepare the food, then we invite God and students to sit down and have a meal so they can spend quality time together."
I need to try and set the table more often instead of taking God's seat at the table.
Somewhere in between prayer and google I came up with the idea that I can't spoon feed anyone their identity in Christ. It is something they have to experience. I need to create an experience for students to encounter the living Christ. So I made seven different prayer stations where they could read scripture about who God has made them to be, and they were invited to participate in an activity at each prayer station that helped them discover more of who God is. They weren't anything elaborate or fancy, but something simple they could do to spend quality time with God.
It's a funny thing how God surprises you when you don't have many expectations. Some of the students I thought would hate this type of activity loved it. When I gave students an opportunity to share what they learned I was completely blown away by their responses. I saw some of my students for the first time in a long time show passion and hunger for the living God. The Holy Spirit was very present.
In the car on the way home I had an enlightening conversation with my husband.
I expressed to him, "I can't believe it actually worked tonight! I think some of them are really starting to experience God."
"Yeah, it was really neat tonight how you set the table." Andrew said."Huh? What do you mean?"
He further explained, "We set the table and prepare the food, then we invite God and students to sit down and have a meal so they can spend quality time together."
I need to try and set the table more often instead of taking God's seat at the table.
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