Dear parents,

​We’ve finished the second lesson in our “So What?” series exploring some core passages in the New Testament. In this series we are simplifying discipleship by exploring the teachings of Jesus in the Great Commission, Great Commandment, and his promise to return again.

​In this second lesson we focused on the Great Commandment in Matthew 22 to love God with our heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We challenged our students to love God, not just at church but in every area of life. And we discussed what Jesus really meant by loving our neighbor as ourselves.

As you go throughout the week, continue the conversation with your teenager with these kinds of questions:

• What does it look like to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind?

• How does the idea of the Good Samaritan carry over into our own culture? How do we sometimes create distance from people who are different from us—and why might God not be pleased with that?

• Think of someone not like you that Jesus is calling you to love—how can you demonstrate true love for that person this week?

​I’m praying for you this week as you love God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and as you love your child through thick and thin.

Dear parents,

​Our group has started a three-lesson series called “So What?” which takes a look at some core passages in the New Testament. What do the truths of these passages mean for followers of Jesus Christ?

In the first lesson we looked at the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, and the mission Jesus calls all disciples to. We discussed the importance of making disciples, teaching people what it means to follow Christ, and relying on God’s strength as we go.

As you go throughout the week, take this lesson to the next level at home. Here are a few questions you might want to ask:

• When someone talks about being a disciple of Jesus, what does that mean to you?
• How can you make disciples during school, or while at practice, or while working, or while you’re hanging out with friends on the weekend? How might that happen?
• If you could teach just one thing to a new follower of Christ about what it means to be a Christian, what would you teach—and why?

If we can help support you and your family in any way, please let us know. Have a blessed week!

Dear parents,

This is the last week of our amazing four-lesson study on the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5–7. We’ve taken a deeper look into four issues that are common for humanity past, present, and future.
In this final lesson our students discussed the Lord’s Prayer. In this example of prayer, Jesus shows us how to pray and what we are to pray for. We challenged our teenagers to reflect on the themes of the Lord’s Prayer. We also encouraged them to reflect on their prayer habits and see what they can learn from Jesus about how to pray.

As you go throughout the week, help reinforce this teaching in your teenager’s life by asking these kinds of questions as you have the opportunity:

• Did you learn about prayer that’s different from what you thought before? If so, what?
• How has prayer strengthened your friendship with God? If it hasn’t, why do you think that’s the case?
• How does receiving God’s forgiveness allow us to forgive others?
• This was the last week of your Sermon on the Mount series. What ideas or themes stuck out to you the most from those four lessons, and why?

Have a blessed week!

Dear parents,

In this third lesson of our series on the Sermon on the Mount, we took a look at the topic of worry and focused our conversation around Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:25-34. It’s amazing how much the issues he addresses in this passage are still relevant to our lives nearly 2,000 years after Jesus spoke. Though it may be easy to think that our students don’t have much to worry about in their lives, many are actually plagued by worry and anxiety. This lesson is so important to remember God’s truth for our lives.

Through this lesson our students saw how worry may be inevitable, but Jesus gives us pathways to remove worry from our lives. We challenged our teenagers to hand over their worry to a trustworthy God and live more by faith.

As you go throughout the week, help reinforce this teaching in your child’s life by asking the following questions as you have the opportunity:

• Tell us about a specific time you chose faith over worry. What was that like?
• How does remembering God’s character help relieve your worry?
• What does it mean to seek God’s kingdom more than anything else?

Next week we will close the Sermon on the Mount series with a lesson on The Lord’s Prayer. We’re praying that these lessons are giving simple but solid life lessons for your teenager (and your family) on these important issues in life. Know we are praying for you as you lead your students closer to Jesus!