Search the siteAn Heroic MinistryIntroducing Pastor Steven from Rwanda:
Pastor Steven Turikunkiko has set up a community in Rwanda for victims of the genocide. 160 widows & teenagers & 80 younger children live with him; farming, sharing their lives and caring for those dying from AIDS. The community subsists on less than $1 per person per day. At enormous personal sacrifice, Pastor Steven and his wife have also adopted 20 orphans - who live with them and their 2 other children. For more information on Steven and this incredible community of hope, click here
Online BibleVerse of the dayYWI - working with...YWI is pleased to work in association with
CCP, UK
Fuller Youth Institute, US
Sophia Network, UK
ApCsel29, Hungary
Ungdomsarbeid, Norway
ParaLideres.org
|
New Beginnings
The objective is to help the young people see that whether the new beginning excites them or fills them with fear, they need to take God with them into it, however big or small they think it is, to let Him be the thing that fills and consumes their thinking. For Leaders: The session will work on many levels and is designed not to be time or season sensitive – though if it’s used as spring is kicking off, it will have added impact. You will need: - Pens and paper - Enough sponges for one per person. - Two buckets – one filled with fresh clean water, the second filled with green water. You can create this effect by using green food dye (it doesn’t stain). Have the sponges piled up in the centre, and play some music as background. You may wish to put the buckets on plastic sheets to protect carpets. If the group is bigger than eight, have two sets of buckets at different locations in the room. This worship experience is intentionally designed for less direct leader involvement. Simply read thoroughly through the handout below, distribute it among your group, then allow them to get on with it. For Young People What’s new in your life? Spend a few minutes writing down any new starts in your life. They might relate to a new friend or partner you’ve met, a new band or style of music you’ve discovered, a new place you’ve been, a new era in your relationship with God, a new school, college or job you’ve started, a new idea or understanding about God, a new book or game – anything really, as long as discovering this new thing has seemed like a new beginning in that area for you. Look at your list. Do any of the new starts particularly stand out? Pick one, then think about these questions:
Read the following extracts from the Bible: For God, Thanking God‘Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him’ (Colossians 2:17) Happy and Excited‘Be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth’ (Ecclesiastes 11:9) Anxious and Worried‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God’ (Philippians 4:6) Which of these verses most relates to your new start? Do you feel thankful to God, happy and excited, or worried and anxious when you consider this new start? Take a sponge from the pile in front of you. Hold it in your hands. How does it feel – rough or soft? This sponge is like you. It has the ability to absorb. It’s designed to be filled in the same way that you are designed to be filled. The question is what you fill yourself with. In front of you are two buckets. One has fresh, clean water. The other has coloured, unclean water. Imagine you are the sponge and that the bucket of clean water is the Holy Spirit. Think about this as you dip the sponge into the clean water. Let it soak up the water then squeeze it out. How much water did it absorb? How do you feel when you know God has given you His inner presence? Now dip the sponge in the dirty, coloured water. This water represents the things in your life, other than Jesus, which sometimes fill or consume you and push Jesus out. How do you feel when these things fill you and push Jesus out? These things may be good things in themselves but when they start to take central place, to fill you and give you your energy, then you dry out. As you participate in the new beginning you identified, you need to let Jesus be what fills you. You need to rest in his presence each day, like the sponge being placed in water, to soak up some of who He is. Think: As you face new things, do you take time to rest in Jesus, to let his Spirit fill you? Or does the new thing in your life consume all your thinking and activity? Spend some time resting in God’s presence and soaking up Him. Refer to the verse you picked, above, and ask Him to empower you to go through the new start with Him – however it makes you feel. Remember: Only Jesus can give you what you need for the new start.
Steve Adams is a freelance writer. |
.jpg)
.jpg)
MEETING AIM: This worship experience will get young people thinking about new beginnings in their lives. This might be a new school, a new boy/girl relationships or a new start in their walk with God. Or it might be something new happening around them - a new season in nature or the start of a new year.
17 Comments Posted Leave a comment