Alliance

This past Sunday was awesome! There were 27 kids at Bible Study! The reason for the massive crowd was the Advent Concert. All of the adult choirs and all of the children's choirs sang for the Advent Concert. For this special event there were kids from 5th grade all the way up to 10th grade.

Bible Study began by introducing a new leader Mr. Stern. Mr. Stern will be helping out from time to time. This Sunday we broke off from our Bible Study series Solid Truth and did a special Bible Study. The basis for this Bible Study can be found here. Thank you Joel!

Bible Study began by playing a game called "Everybody's It". The name of the game explains the entire game. Everyone is it and trying to tag everyone else. We played about three games. Many different strategies emerged during the course of these games. We had students who cowered in the corner. One boy decided he was going to be a spinning helicopter, needless to say he was tagged very quickly. A few people darted and dashed and played there way into the final 5 every game!

Once a student was eliminated, they were asked to go and sit on the bleachers and observe the game. Afterwards we sat and talked about what they observed. One strategy was not seen but was present beneath the surface! ALLIANCES! Some students made alliances during the game!

We used the game to study our alliance with our Lord. We looked at Joshua 2:1-14 and we saw an alliance that was formed. Rahab made an alliance with the Israelites based on the reputation of their God. She risked her life and her family to help the Israelites.

The Israelites assure Rahab of their alliance with these words, "Our lives for your lives!" Jesus Christ lived his life to the tune of a similar mantra "My life for your lives" Jesus Christ gave up his life for all people. In doing this , he gave us insight into his divine will. Jesus Christ desires all people to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Jesus Christ, all powerful God, wants to have an alliance with us!

Advertisement

There are many things that are associated with Thanksgiving such as turkey, pilgrims, stuffing, football, family, and gravy,however,  the most recent word that goes hand in hand with Thanksgiving is ...shopping.

The Thanksgiving newspaper weighs about 15 pounds. The majority of that weight comes from the advertisements that have been placed into the newspaper. The ads on Thanksgiving are certainly enticing. They offer huge discounts! Many times there are only a few people that get to experience the unbelievable savings because each store only has 3 of the huge flat screen TV.

Advertisements are often guilty of being misleading. Picture the commercial on television for a slip'n slide. The kids on the commercial seem to slide for 100 feet. When you get to the store the slip'n slide that looked like so much fun is actually only 6 feet long.

Imagine if advertisements were completely truthful.

The students created completely truthful ads at the beginning of class.

The key question in Bible Study was: Are Christians guilty of false advertising when it comes to the resurrection of the body? We examined 1 Corinthians 15:12-22.

Paul takes us back to Christ's resurrection. He points out step by step what it would mean if Christ had not been raised. Paul uses if/then logic to show the absolute reality of Christ's resurrection.

The fact that Christ has risen is the ultimate truth in advertising. What we see in Christ's resurrection is what we get. We to will have our own resurrection on the Last Day.

The Way, the Truth, and the Life

Student expresses simple truth,

Bible Study began with a group poll. Mickey Mouse has three fingers on each hand. Stand on the right side if you think this statement is true, stand on the left side if you think that it is false. (false, Mickey has four) This activity led into a discussion about truth.

How important is it to know the truth? When does it matter most?

Is truth relative? Are some things true at some times but not at others?

We discussed these questions for awhile, throwing different scenarios, and stories. As we discussed these questions we kept coming back to God.

What a blessing Christians have! What a blessings Christian teenagers have! Because of Jesus we are able to operate in black and white a midst a world which is muddled in grey.

John 14:6, Jesus answered, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." 


Jesus life, death, and resurrection provide truth. Faith in Christ means, "we can go to heaven."

Application

On Sunday, we looked at a job application. Many of the students had never looked at a job application before. The job application that we looked at included all of the typical sections such as background information, education, experience, references, and requirements.

Position: Savior of the World

 The particular job application that we looked at was the position for Savior of the World. The requirements seemed illogical. The Savior of the World needed to be human in order to act in our place under the Law and fulfill it for us. At the same time the Savior of the World needed to overcome death and the devil, and his sacrifice needed to count for something.  We focused on how Jesus needed to be 100% human , and 100% divine.

Thankfully, our God works beyond our understanding and is greater then our minds. Jesus Christ is our Savior, he understands our suffering's and is able to help us as we are tempted.

     

                                                      

Ugly Wood

Today, we studied Romans 7:14-25. Here the Apostle Paul expresses the ongoing war which is being waged inside of his heart. "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." Paul goes on to say, " As it is it is no longer I myself who do it. but it is sin living in me."

To emphasize this point, the teens were given beat up pieces of wood. Along with the wood the teens were given a bag full of buttons, ribbon, letters, flowers, and makeup. They were told to "beautify" the wood. 

The beautified pieces of wood accompanied by the perfect piece of wood

How are these pieces of wood like sin? One teen answered, "No matter what we do, we can't fix it." It was true the wooden pieces had huge gashes, ugly paint, and nails. Despite the students best efforts, the wood remained ugly.

The discussion turned to our lives. We agreed that our lives are just like these pieces of wood, no matter how hard we try we can do nothing to save ourselves. We make a lot of attempts to cover up our sins with lies, and comparisons. All of those efforts are useless.

"What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Paul points to the sole source of our salvation, Jesus Christ. 100% true man and 100% true God born of the virgin Mary. He lived a perfect life, and then gave up his life for the sins of the whole world. After three days in the grave, he rose victorious. Due to the sacrifice of this unblemished piece of wood, we have an inheritance awaiting us. Heaven is ours. 

All of the teens holding their pieces of wood, and feeding them. 

Solid Truth

Welcome to the Grace Lutheran Teen Bible Study Blog. We began a new Bible study on October 16th. The name of our Bible study series is Solid Truth. This Bible study is based on the Apostles Creed and focuses on the basic truths of the Christian faith. The Bible study series will last for a total of 12 weeks.

Teen room at Grace Lutheran

This blog will focus on highlights from each week. Our hope is to use this blog as an informational resource for friends and family.