Teaching Notes

Excerpt from a message at:

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?