To be completely honest, I had no idea what to expect last night. It's always tough to figure out what to do when Spring Break rolls around and Seminole and Orange county choose different weeks. Why do they do that?!?! Can't the schools keep youth ministry in mind?!?! Anyways, sorry for the rant, but if you choose to have a group gathering on those weeks you risk having a very low attendance, which can be more harm than good. I have learned that over the summer last year. The other option, is not to meet, which is what we did. However, that is a huge blow to your momentum. So, I expected a low attendance night and I was pleasantly surprised.
As of this moment I have not counted the attendance, but the energy was there! I've never been much into numbers when it comes to youth ministry...it's all about energy! The REVERB band sounded great as always. Then, we played a game last night that I was very excited to play and held the attention of the onlookers. I had 3 students come up front to eat as many Fluff-A-Nutter sandwiches as they could in the amount of time it takes to play through "Eye of the Tiger." The contestants were struggling as I made sure we loaded those bad boys up with peanut butter! The catch was the video that I secretly had played behind them while they were eating. Since the contestants were facing the audience, not the screens, they could not see what was going on behind them. I played the video below...
The goal was to make the contestants think that I had actually made, at least one of, their sandwiches with my feet. The theme for the night were perceptions and that our perceptions actually dictate our actions. And, that video worked! I had our female eater actually begin to gag. The other two guy competitors tried to play like they were cool but then in their macho voices questioned if I really made their sandwiches with my feet. It was so cool...
Then we got into the message. The message was entitled "Microscopic" and is the first of our new series called "GodView." Here are the main points from last night's message...
1. Our perceptions determine our reality.
2. The way we perceive things determine how we will act.
3. Wrong perceptions lead to wrong responses.
4. Our perceptions about God are the most important thing about us and determine how we will live.
5. "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." - AW Tozer
6. As we grow and mature, so must our view of God.
Here is the audio...
I feel like the message was well received. Believe or not, the room was quiet and I felt like the students were engaged and connected to what was going on.
We then ended the night with our announcements...
1. Invisible Children is visiting REVERB next week!
2. We are now taking deposits for the high school summer trip to Student Life at Orange Beach.
3. We are now taking deposits for the middle school summer trip to BigStuf in Daytona Beach.
4. REVERB is not taking place on the 20th. Instead we encourage families to be part of Journey to the Cross.
5. Lion Country Safari has been cancelled to due to there not being enough interest.
6. Star Wars Weekend at Disney's Hollywood Studios is still open.
For more info on any of these trips please visit REVERB's facebook site or our website at REVERByouth.com.
PARENT CUE
Both of you grab a piece of paper, and take three minutes to write down all the things that come to mind when you hear the word "God." Both of you be honest, and don't just write the words that you think you should. There's no grade for this.
Discussion Questions
1. What did you think of the talk this week? What did you hear the speaker say?
2. Have you ever had a wrong perception that turned into a wrong action? What happened?
3. How can wrong perceptions be dangerous or lead to “drama”?
4. You heard the speaker say, “The most important thing about a person is what they think about when they think about
God.” Why is that? (Our Godview determines how we will respond to the world around us)
5. Take a look at some of the following Godviews and think about how they might cause a person to respond to the world
around them.
• God is a judge waiting to punish people when they step out of line.
• God blesses good people with lots of money.
• God is so in love with me that He will always answer my prayers the way I want Him to.
• God is really mysterious and does not understand human emotion.
• God has a specific plan for me that includes where I spend every minute of every day.
• God is preoccupied with running the world and really doesn’t care what I do with my time.
6. Does one of the above Godviews describe the way you typically think about God? Which one?
7. How did Peter’s Godview impact the way he responded to circumstances?
8. How did Peter’s response change when his Godview changed?
9. Have you ever thought about the way you think about God? Have you ever spent time thinking about your Godview?
10. Think about someone in your life whom you have known for a very long time. It might be your mom or dad. It might be
a sibling or a best friend. (Hand out the “relationship map” sheet, and instruct students to write a description of their
relationship with that person over time. How did you view that person when you were three, five, seven, and twelve?
How do you view them today? Depending on the group, you might have them share how these things have changed.)
11. When you spend time with someone, the way you view him or her changes over time. How is your Godview changing?
No comments:
Post a Comment