Source SM Recap: Volume #35

Current Series: Imitate Title: “TAG (Time Alone with God)” The Word: 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Joshua 1:7-9, Romans 12:1-2, Psalm 119:105. Main Thought: For students to pause daily to spend TAG and live it.

Message Explanation: Where is there time for a TAG? We need to Pause. We NEED Jesus everyday through His Word to see through the FOG of this world. We are inundated with temptation, struggle, and pain. God’s Word is the light for our lives.

Psalms 119:105: Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path."

 Our time alone with God each day is crucial to learning to imitate Jesus. We need to hit the pause button on our lives and connect to the Power Source. Only when we understand that we cannot live on our own strength do we begin to grow.

 The Bible is the best-selling book of all time. The Bible is in many languages and I’m sure most of us have numerous Bibles at home. It wasn’t always this way before the fifteenth century. John Wycliffe began translating the Bible into languages because he wanted people to be able to read it. Wycliffe and his followers translated the English Bible in the 1380’s for the first time, giving people the opportunity to study the Bible.

 But, don’t we all take the Bible for GRANTED? Why is reading the Bible Important? Every relationship is dependent upon quality time. We need to be in fellowship with Jesus throughout our daily lives. 

2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God's way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.”

Every word of the Bible is God’s voice. It is His love letter to you and me. The only way to know God’s heart is to read His Word. The Bible is living and active and is not meant for the bookshelf!

Joshua 1:7-9: "Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. 9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

How do I build a T.A.G daily? 

1. Hit the PAUSE BUTTON on your life.

    What distractions are causing you to rush through life? What consumes your thoughts right NOW?

We are all busier than ever. As much as technology speeds up it tends to cause each of us to speed up. We live in a culture of multitasking. We have smartphones, game systems, TV, YouTube, friends to hang out with, relationships, sports, church and more. With all that is going on in our lives we can easily miss out on the most important relationship.

Romans 12:2: Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. 

2.  CONNECT to the Power Source. Connect daily. We know God’s Word by reading it. It is that simple. When you disconnect from the power source, you are living on your own power.

How to SOAP daily:

Scripture: Read the Bible until God speaks to you. Observe: Ask the questions about the background of the scripture. Apply: How do you live out what the verse(s) in your personal life? Pray: Write down specific prayer requests about your personal needs.

 3.  Live from God’s Power. God’s Word wasn’t meant for information but transformation.

Read the Bible and obey what you read. Apply it. Live it.

Express to God that you desire a closer relationship with Him. Ask Him what do I need to STOP doing so I can START having a T.A.G.?

Element of Fun: The middle school students played a game called, “Make it or Break it.” It is a video driven game that each grade competes each week for this series!

Music: Running, Our God, Give me Faith, Only to You.

Favorite Moment: Students deciding to commit to spending TAG with God each day to grow to imitate Christ.

What’s Next: We will continue the series, “Imitate” as we talk about the importance of giving.

To watch any of the series messages, check out the vimeo page. 

Source SM Recap: Volume #32

Current Series: Reckless Title: “Reckless Love” The Word: Mark 2:1-12, Colossians 3:23-24 Main Thought: God's love for the world is to be shown through Me. Now.

Message Explanation: Have you ever heard someone say, “I cannot wait to grow up!” “I want my license, or graduate!” It seems that there are never happy in any stage of life they are in. The normal response to life is to be selfish right? It is the opposite of LOVE. We can all be selfish can’t we? Tonight we are going to look at RECKLESS LOVE to others.

Reckless series verse: "Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity." 1 Timothy 4:12.

What would your life and my life look like if we had unshakable, unstoppable faith in God? We are going to look at a story of friends who truly had faith in God enough that they brought their friend to Jesus.

 Jesus was early in his ministry and was seeing many people want to follow His ministry. He was in a house, many think it was Peter’s house. Jesus was taking a special time to stay there. People were cramming into the house! When Jesus is PRESENT people will come out!

 Mark 2:1-3: “When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. 2 Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, 3 four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat.

The paralyzed man was more than likely a quadriplegic, a severe condition. In biblical times people didn’t know how to help them. Many times people viewed others with deformities as sinners. The friends were PASSIONATE about helping their friend get to Jesus.

Mark 2:4: They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus.

 Notice how Jesus responds to their faith:

Mark 2:5: “Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”

Jesus responds to their faith! Because of the evidence of their faith, He healed the friend. But some people were skeptical:

Mark 2:6-12: But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, 7 “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!” 8 Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? 9 Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? 10 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, 11 “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” 12 And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!”

How do we have reckless love?

  1. Get rid of excuses to love people (v. 3-4)

The four men cared about their friend. It is easy to come up with excuses for why something WON’T happen right? The paralytics friends had enough faith that they took drastic measures to get to Jesus. Notice what James says about our faith: "Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." James 2:17

2. Show Love by your actions (v. 5)

Jesus “saw their faith.” Faith is moving from knowing to doing. Knowledge VS. Understanding. It is the difference between FACTS and TRUST. It goes from impersonal to personal.

Hebrews 11:6: "Without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God"

4 Characters in this story: Who do you identify with in this story?

One of the friends The skeptics The Paralytic The Crowd

3. Give Love without expecting it in return (8-12)

Colossians 3:23-24 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” The four men refused to give up hope for their friend! Who in your life have you given up on today? It is never too late if they are still breathing.

We need to reach OUT to the world and not get so focused upon ourselves here at church. What you and I do with our life REVEALS our love.

Element of Fun: We played a middle school game with trivia from different movies and tv shows. It was a fun and interactive game! We also showed a video to create tension during the message called, "Mr. and Mrs. Selfish!"

Mr. and Mrs. Selfish from Source Student Ministries on Vimeo.

A video illustration of selfishness to help set up the message for reckless love and service to God in week 3 of the "Reckless" series!

Music: The Time has Come, Your Voice is Hope, Amazing Grace (My chains are gone), Set a Fire.

Favorite Moment: A high school student began a relationship with Christ! Also, it was great hearing about small groups growing closer to each other and spending time praying for their friends.

What’s Next: We finish the last week of our series, “Reckless!” as we talk about reckless faith!