Teaching Notes

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Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit - Youth Event

                                                                                                                                 Psalm 139:14 “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”


Roman 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."


We read these two scriptures but we do not always see this evidence in the lives of people. People don’t always live with the understanding that they were created for greatness. They do not see that all that they face in life, no matter how bad, does not have to stop them from reaching the purpose set before them, if only they trust God.

We know this is true if we listen to the news and the media today. We hear some disheartening things about the world we live in, and especially our youth. Let me give you some of the statistics of what’s happening in our world:

· There were 2.6 million new marijuana users in 2003. That was an average of 7,000 new users each day. 69% of these new users were under 18. That is 4,830 teens (and of those 52% are girls). If these trends are still true today, then that means 2,560 teen girls and 2,270 teen boys will start smoking marijuana this very day.


· Stats show that 80% of teens are involved in some type of music piracy within a six-month period of time and of this number a large percentage say they are born again believers or attend church.


· Statistics show that every day 1,000 new teens start to drink. If these numbers are still true today, then 1,000 teens will have their first drink this Sunday.


· 5.1 million teens say they binge drink.


· Statistics show that nearly ½ of all teens say they have had sex by their 18th birthday. Their hope was for the romantic feelings they saw in movies and the media. However, the reality of it set in and of that total, 61% of girls said they wish they had waited, and 40% of boys said the same.


· 1n the year 2000, there were 14.5 abortions per 1,000 teen females (ages 15-17)


These are only a few of the statistics of things happening in our world. When you hear this statistics, it might make you feel things are hopeless. What has happened in the world (especially in the Christian world) is we have heard these types of statistics about our youth and we have written them off. We have decided that many of these things are simply going to be, so why fight them. Our youth have been called such names as generation X as if they have no identity. But did you know something important about statistics? Statistics are numbers that report information that has happened and can only “Project” what might happen.

In other words, these numbers are not a truth until it has happened. I’m here to tell you this; it is not God’s plan for you to be just another negative statistic. He has not planned it in his heart that our youth will become only stats of hurt, disappointment and sinful life styles. In fact the scripture that was read said you were fearfully and wonderfully made.

What does that mean? When something is fearfully made it means extreme care has been used to get that thing just as the creator wants it. It has not been done haphazardly. To be wonderfully made means God took delight in how he made you. You are marvelously made, done up with the brilliancy of God and with his magnificence. So you and I were made with extreme care and when God looked at his finished work he delighted in it and thought his work was marvelous, brilliant and magnificent. And anything God took such time with, surely he has a plan for. God had a plan for you when he formed you in the womb of your mother.

Now you may be saying, but if you look at my life now, this could not be true. I understood to well what that feels like not see the true purpose of your life, for this was me. I did not have hope in my life and I could not see any good coming from me until God turned me around.

Yet, I have an important fact to tell you no matter what life looks like; you were not created by God to be just another statistic. You were created for greatness. God created you; you were fearfully and wonderfully made. Because of that, he takes all the good and the bad situations that we face in life and he uses them to make us into what he has called us to be. He takes the bitter situations in our lives and uses them. I’m a cookie baker. I love to bake chocolate chip cookies. One of the ingredients is salt. You would think why do you put salt in something you want to make sweet? Well the salt enhances the sweetness of the cookie. Try leaving it out and the cookie is bland. That is what God does with the salty, bitter things in our lives. He uses it to enhance the sweetness. I leave you with this one thing. You are not just another negative statistic. God created you for a purpose. The question to you tonight is this, do you want what God has in store for you or do you want to become just another negative statistic?

Teaching Notes

MONDAY

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” Psalm 51:10

A spirit lead life. Made New. Having a Spirit lead life means being a follower of Christ and allowing God’s spirit to lead and guide us. This week we will look at what are the steps we need to take to have a spirit lead life.

In this verse of Psalm, the request is being made to create a clean heart and renew a right spirit within. One of the very first steps we must take on our journey to being lead by God’s spirit is to bring ourselves before the Lord and use him as our mirror to our lives.

We need to first recognize that we need to have the right spirit within us. We need to have God’s Spirit within us in order to understand that which is of God, otherwise we are still lost in the darkness of this world. So in order to have God’s Spirit we must first accept Christ’s sacrifice for our salvation.

Secondly this is also referring to us having a right spirit in terms of our attitude and our behavior. When we become Christians we need God’s Spirit to be taught how to change our behavior and our attitudes. We need the directing of the Holy Spirit. See if we could do all this by ourselves, we wouldn’t need the direction of the Holy Spirit.

We need to ask God to make us new. This scripture also let’s us know that daily we need to ask God to check our attitude, our thoughts and our actions. If anything in me is not in line with God, then I need to ask him to clean my heart and bring my spirit back to the place where it needs to be.

So today, let us go before the Lord and ask him to renew our minds, our attitude and our hearts. I pray for us that we go to God daily to seek his direction in our lives.


TUESDAY
“Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” Ezekiel 36:26-27

A spirit lead life. A Right spirit. When we ask God to create in us a new heart, he will do just that. He will cleanse us from all that would make us unclean. He will take away the heart of stone. When we think of a heart, we know it functions to pump the life giving blood to the entire body. So when we talk about the heart of man, as in this scripture we are talking about the vital center and source of one’s being, emotions, and sensibilities. We are talking about the place where you make the choices that give life to the spiritual body. Just as a physical heart that isn’t working well will create problems, so will a spiritual heart that is not functioning well cause death to the spiritual body.

When we ask God to change us he is willing to do it, and then we must follow what he does. He says if we allow him to cleanse us, we are to then walk in his ways and keep those things, which he tells us to. How are we able to keep them? We are able to keep them because we are following God and his Spirit is leading us and empowering us to do so.

So today I pray that we allow God access to our hearts so that we can give up all the things that would hinder us and entrap us. When we do, then our hearts are able to function as God intends them to, allowing the life giving actions to come forth and bring not only life to us, but also life to others around us.


WEDNESDAY
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and build up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” Romans 2:6-8

A spirit led life. The Christian walk. When we have taken ourselves to the Lord for his check of our hearts, and we are allowing him access, we then must go forth in that which we know. In other words, we need to start doing.

It amazes we how many Christians don’t really study their word. How can you know what the instructions are, if you don’t read them? It’s great to go to church and hear what the Pastor is saying, but how do you know if what you hear is accurate or not?

In these verses we are warned to beware that we are not spoiled because of vain traditions or philosophy. When I think of something spoiled it isn’t worth much of anything. Do you want to eat spoiled food? I think not! We don’t want our lives to become worthless because we are not taking the time to be taught in the word. Go to your Bible studies at church. Get yourself a time dedicated to the studying of your word. And if anyone has the thought they understand the word so they are fine, you are already deceived. It doesn’t matter how many times you read a scripture, there is always some new and fresh thing for the day in the word.

I have just completed a book, called “God is speaking, are you listening – A walk with the prophet Jeremiah”. What this book has shone me is I have so much more to learn about God and his goodness. I have been in the book of Jeremiah since October of last year. And guest what, I’m going to read it again from the beginning.

What am I trying to tell us? We need to have the word inside of us. We need to sit down at the table and pull up the word and dig in as if we are digging into our most favorite meal. We need to eat the word and allow it to flow through us. Think about this. When you eat, the food is broken down in your body and the nutrients are distributed throughout the body to help it keep healthy. Some of the nutrients are stored and others are used right away. If we go too long without eating, we will eventually die. Yes first our bodies will try to break down what we have already stored, but when that’s gone, it’s over.

That’s how it is with our spiritual life. When we read God’s word we get what we need and it blesses our souls. Some of it however is stored inside for another time when we will need it. It becomes the nutrients we need to stay spiritually healthy. If we don’t sit down and feast on the word, what will happen is we will seem to be just fine at first. What is happening is our body is living off of what was stored. But when that’s used up, we begin to die, slowly and painfully.

So today I pray that we become grounded in truth. We can only do this by getting in the word. The word comes to bring us life. Let us take a hold of it to help us with the day-to-day things we must face. God bless us as we seek to follow him in the truth of his word.


THURDSAY
“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” St. John 4:24

A spirit led life. Our expected worship. What do you mean worship in spirit and in truth? God is a spirit. He is not natural or physical in nature. God is not carnal in nature. God is supreme and perfect. We are not able to worship in spirit, without the indwelling of the spirit of God.

We receive his spirit when we become part of his family. We are purified and sanctified by his spirit. We cannot understand the word of God without his spirit. So for us to worship in spirit and in truth means we must first be of the spirit of God and then we must allow the spirit to lead us in the worship of God. The spirit leads us in worship by teaching us in the word of God what is our expected service unto the Lord.

What is carnal cannot show true worship unto God. So it’s not us having more bigger or better programs or activities that constitutes worship. Those things are physical, natural. But it is our hearts being in total submission unto the Lord and his will that we are able to come into true worship of the Lord. For we are worshipping in spirit and in the truth of who God is. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that services or things of that nature are wrong, but they cannot be the deciding factor on true worship.

We have to seek God first on what his plan is and then we make our plan, not make our plans and then ask God to bless them. We also have to be careful, because the outward seems to be what a lot of people are using in deciding what is true worship. We look at the big and better and think something must be wrong with our worship service because we aren’t doing the same. Don’t be fooled by bigger and better. That isn’t an accurate way to know if God’s spirit is being worshipped in truth.

Now I have to say this so allow me a moment, we all don’t worship in the same way. Some people are emotional people. I happen to be a cry baby. I was nicknamed the weeping prophet several years ago by friends that know me. I cry because my mind thinks about the goodness of God and how much he loves me. My crying doesn’t make me a true worshipper it is my heart condition.

Why do I say that, because we have allowed ourselves to look at outward signs to determine true worship. I’ve seen some true believers that are very quiet and reserved. Are they not worshipping? Not so. God looks on the spirit, not physical, outward activities. So today I pray for us to seek to worship God in true worship. Let’s not allow ourselves to be caught up in things that don’t constitute true worship.


FRIDAY
“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” 2 Corinthians 3:17

A spirit led life. Freedom. When we are allowing God’s spirit to lead us and guide us, our understanding is opened to the things of God. We are no longer in darkness. We have freedom from the blindness that darkness brings. If you can’t see, you don’t know what you are walking into or what is around you. When your eyes have been opened, you are able to see clearly the things around you.

That is what God does for his people. His spirit allows us to see clearly the world around us. We are able to see and understand how we are to walk, how we are to talk, how we are to behave. We now have the freedom from those things, which would bring bondage to us.

When we are tied up in situations we can’t seem to get ourselves freed, yet where the spirit is, there is freedom. If God’s spirit is present, then the situations cannot tie us up or trip us up. The verses before this one tells about the people not having understanding, because their minds were blind. The veil was taken away with Christ, that veil of darkness or lack of understanding. So it is because of Christ that our darkness is removed.

We have the freedom of spiritual sight. We can see through the spirit’s leading how to side step traps and snares. We can have the freedom to worship without condemnation, because there is now no more condemnation in Christ Jesus. We have the freedom to come asking from the Lord all that we need. Free, yes free indeed.

So I pray for us today to rejoice in the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus. And when we go to worship this weekend, let us ask God to remove any darkness from our eyes. If there is anything that is keeping us from seeing clearly, remove it Lord. Let us rejoice in the total freedom he brings.

Teaching Notes

MONDAY
Greater love hath no man that this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. - John 15:13


Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepest not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me. - John 14:23


Love, what’s the big deal? My life for yours. I have been listening to some songs by an artist and he sings a lot about love in relationships with others and with God. I asked myself this questions, what’s the big deal about love and why is it so important for us to really understand what love is and what love is not? If you look up the word love it has many meanings. One meaning is to have a deep, tender feeling of affection towards a person. It also means to have an intense desire and attraction towards a person. While there are many meanings in our dictionary, I believe if we read the word of God we get a better understanding of what God wants us to understand about love.

The greatest love there is first comes down to us from God. God showed the greatest love when he sacrificed his son so that you and I could have access to his provisions. This love was given even when we did not deserve it. It was extended to us when we were mean, lost and quite ugly in our sin. This love saw past what we were not to what we could become. This love was not deserved, but was extended so that we could become what we should be. This love is available to us if we accept it. Then we are expected to reciprocate our love back to God. We do so by following what he requires of us. This is something I don’t think we look at often. God’s love is not one-sided.

He loves us but he does require that his love be acted upon. He requires our life for his son. He gave his son’s life for you and I and he expects us to then give him ourselves. This is how we express our love for him. Love is a big deal to God. He does not merely talk about love but his love is one that is acted on. His love is one that is giving and it gives with the intention of bringing out the best in the receiver. That is what our love should look like. When we love our husbands or wives, we should love them with a love that builds them up, that seeks their best and not a selfishness that seeks only what one can get. When we love our children it should be one that things about their needs and not only our own. When we love others (believers or not) we should do so with intention and purpose and that being to build them up.


Worldly love, fleshly love is self-seeking. I don’t even like to use the word love when describing what takes place in the world arena. In and out of relationships looking for love, but with a selfish agenda of looking for what will make you feel good, not caring how others are hurt or affected. I have difficulty looking at that as love. Loving parents as long as they can give you something, but when they don’t have anything else to give, your love stops. That isn’t love. God showed us true love. It gives itself for others. True love is willing to lay down its own agenda so that others can be lifted up.


I pray today that we ask God to show us what is his truth about love. How are we to love? How are we to show it so that others will see who we belong to and who dwells within our hearts? Today, Lord help us to love as you did, by being willing to be a living sacrifice for you.


TUESDAY
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. – 1 John 2:15

And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. – 1 John 4:21


Love, what’s the big deal? Love, the right priority. Yesterday we established the fact that the love I am speaking of comes from and is set in motion by God. From the love God gives us should spring forth all the love we have, from the love of our spouse, to our children to our neighbors and ends with ourselves.

God’s word now gives us some guidelines on how he expects us to exhibit true love. I’ll continue to call it true love, because there is a false love, a counterfeit love that this world wants to establish as real, yet it does not line up with God’s words regarding love. This is what God is trying to protect us from so that we will not become confused and therefore cause harm to our selves or others.

We are first warned that we cannot love (show devotion or great affection) for the things in the world. If we do we have set ourselves apart from the Father. If your affections and devotion are for the things, the pleasures of this world you cannot claim to have the love of the Father in you, otherwise you are only fooling yourself. The reason why you cannot claim the love of the Father is because his love compels you to give of yourself, to think of others and to do that which is pleasing to him. If what you are doing does not compel you to think about others feelings, or if it makes you focus solely on your own pleasures and desires and not on God, then it is not love he gives.

The second message is that if we do love God then we must love our brothers. There is no out clause. It doesn’t say you can love them as long as you get along together. Or you love them as long as it is beneficial to you. You are simply told to love them and that means no matter what.

So the question is how do you know if you are walking in this way? If you find it difficult to do those things that are right because you are torn up inside about releasing the “pleasures of this world” then maybe you need to check where your devotions are. Is it more important to gain status or position such that you have no problem missing church or limiting your praying time or eliminating your read of the Bible because something has to give way to that pursuit? Is there something you have planned for yourself that is so important that you are willing to let everything else go because of it? Even if it means hurting others? What’s the big deal about love? Love is a big deal because it is through love that lives are changed, hearts are healed, relationships are put back right and sins are forgiven. It was the love of the Father for you and I that change the course of our lives heading for destruction.

I pray for us today, is there something in me that is keeping me attached to the things of this world? Is there something I am having difficulty letting go of? Then I ask God that you help me so that I can give my complete devotion and affection to you. Help me to love you and when I do, I will follow your commandments and be an avenue of help to my brothers and sisters. Help me Lord as I yield my complete self unto you. This day Lord, I say thank you for loving me when I was unlovable. Thank you for loving me when I choose other things instead of you, now today I give you my all. Thank you for loving me into your kingdom, into your presence. Help me to love others into your kingdom and into your presence.



WEDNESDAY
The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy. – Psalm 145:20


Love, what’s the big deal? My safety. I have had the opportunity to pray with several people regarding the things that Satan is trying to do in their lives through the hands of others. It sometimes saddens your heart to hear the things that people will do to others, but you come away with the understanding that this is how evil works.


Sometimes it is hard to understand why as a child of God you go through so much difficulty yet others seem to prosper and go unchallenged or unaffected by the wickedness they do. I have come to the place that I understand what may seem like an individual is getting away with evil, is not the truth.


God is a just God and in his time he will deal with each persons actions. What we must do as children of God is trust in his way and in his timing. We can also rely on his promises. We have some benefits for loving God. One of the benefits is he promises to preserve us. That means several things. He promises to defend us. He will defend us against the attacks of the enemy against us. He will save us from not only the wickedness in this world, but even from ourselves. He also promises to maintain us. That means he will keep us from falling when we are faced with the attacks against us.

The God that saves us is also the God that can keep us. We do not have to continue in sin because the power of God through Christ Jesus’ sacrifice is sufficient to keep us safe in our walk on this earth. He also promises to put in safeguards for us. That is what his word does, it safeguards you and I from our self and from the tricks of the enemy.

So you and I don’t have to worry about what the wicked do, because God says those he will handle. He will destroy those that refuse to obey him and follow after his ways. We must also realize that God in his mercy allows these individuals an opportunity to come to him. He gives to our enemies the same opportunity that he gave to us, when we were his enemy.


So today, the big deal about love is God promises to take care of us through whatever situation we find our selves in. He promises to save us, to defend us against the onslaught of attack, he will maintain us in a right relationship with him and he safeguards us from the tricks of the enemy by giving us his word and his Spirit. So today we give our love to God but he gives us so much more in return. Lord help us today to accept this love you offer to us with a gracious heart. Help us to walk in your ways, even when it seems all around us is prospering, but yet we struggle. For in God’s time and in God’s way, he will bring all things to pass. Just continue to trust him, for he is faithful and he never fails.


THURSDAY
The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O Virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry. – Jeremiah 31:3-4


Love, what’s the big deal? Everlasting love. There was a song or movie, I guess I’m old I can’t remember which one, that had the name, everlasting love. Yet it did not really speak about a love that could last forever, through everything and face every adverse situation. God however, shows us what it means to be loved with an everlasting love.


This is the message he gave to the prophet Jeremiah as he spoke to the every turning, every sinning people of God. Jeremiah preached the same message to the people of God over 20 plus years. Can you image having to try and tell your children the same thing for twenty years? You would give up and tell those rebellious people to get out of your sight and out of your house. Yet here God is giving them a promise of restoration, even after they continue to reject his love.


Do you notice what he calls them? He says “O virgin of Israel”. Do you think that is strange when previously they have been called wicked, adulterous people following after other gods? Why then does he call them this? I believe God is giving them a promise of the state he will restore them to, one of purity. They have lost that state of being holy and set apart because of their sinning and going after lesser things. Yet God says he love them with an everlasting love (eternal, never-ending, perpetual, endless, ceaseless). God gives them this promise because his love never ends and he wants to restore them if they turn from their wickedness back to a right relationship. He will restore them to a state of “spiritual virginity”. He will cleanse them of the sins of their adultery and bring them back to a state of being set aside, holy unto him, his bride, and his precious one.


WHAT A LOVE! Is there something in your life that no matter how much you try, you cannot change? Is there someone that has been seeking lesser things and in the process failed to walk before the Lord has he has called you to? Have you believed the illusion that Satan brings to your mind that the life you “see” is all there is? Have you then decided to seek something to fill the void? Have you been seeking for love yet looking in all the wrong places, in all the wrong things? Things that numb your mind or your soul? Then I come to tell you there is an everlasting love that can fill that void with completely. What if you feel you are in a place where you are being punished for your sins, did you know God has a promise for you? He gives you this promise that he gave to the sinful children of Israel even when they too would suffer for their sins; “I love you with an everlasting Love”.


That love says, come back to me and I will remove all the sin from you life. Come back to me and I will restore our relationship to a place of wholeness. Accept my love and I will remove the spiritual sickness and restore you and I will never remember that sin again. I will call you “O Virgin”, O one that is pure before me. One that I will restore merriment to your heart so that you can dance before me in joy.

I pray for us today that we rejoice in knowing that we have a God that loves us with an everlasting love. His love is waiting and available to all that seek him. He is merciful to forgive us and will restore us to a right, and holy place before him. He promises to change us from that sinful state we may find ourselves in to one of honor. All he asks of us is that we accept his love and return his love to him. He will even help us to love him in the right way. You and I cannot even express true love until we first receive it from him storehouse of treasures. Ask him how to love and accept his, and watch him show you how to love.


FRIDAY

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. - Ephesian 3:17-18


Love, what’s the big deal? Love brings understanding. So what is the big deal about love? The greatest gift we can ever receive is the love of God as exhibited through the supreme sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ. We all have somewhat of an understanding about love. We love our parents, our children or our spouses. This is even understood by the unsaved individuals. Yet, for those that belong to Christ, there comes a greater understanding regarding love.

That understanding comes because of the wisdom that God grants to us as we follow after him and express our love to him in our obedience. Christ dwells inside our hearts by us placing faith in God. That faith is the first key to opening our understanding of this great love. This key opens up the door to our understanding the greatness (to the best of our human ability) of God like we never could without our acceptance of his love in our lives as expressed in our salvation experience.


We begin to understand this love that Christ gives us and it passes all understanding on the human level. How could someone love us so much that they would give their life for us, even when the chance of us rejecting it was present? How can someone love us continually when we do not always show that love in return? God’s love for us is freely given. The horror is that God does not remove his love from us, but we reject it. Can you image a place where there is no love? A place where there is no joy or peace? A place where even the simplest of pleasures are not? A place where you will remember all the gifts you could have had from God, but now you can no longer receive them and the chance to ask for them is gone? Can you image a place where you will be forever regretful because you rejected God’s love? Can you image being given a full glimpse of God’s greatness to have it removed from you, but that your mind would forever remember what you could have had, but rejected. There is a place just like that, hell.

The wonderful thing is we do not ever have to experience such a place because the love of God is so great he continues to woo us to come to him and to be completely his. Let us heed him while he calls us. He wants to open to you and I the riches from his storehouse. I pray for us today that we would understand God’s love is a big deal. His desire for us to show our love for him in our yielding is a big deal. His desire for us to express our love towards each other is a big deal because it reflects him in our lives. This love of God is a big deal. The big deal is, we receive from the storehouse of God now and then we receive the rewards in eternity that is a big deal.


When you go to worship this weekend, go seeking God to help you walk closer to him so that you can be a walking expression of godly love. Go thanking him for opening your understanding to the depths of this love and how wide it goes and how much it covers. God thanking him for loving you when you were not quite loveable. Oh what a wonderful gift to have, the love of the Father.