Grades 9-12 | Who do YOU say Jesus is? Dear parents, While your teenager undoubtedly hears some negative or critical opinions about Jesus from the secular culture, they likely also hear opinions like this: “Jesus was a kind man who worked for peace” or “Jesus was a wise and good teacher.” These generally positive ideas about Jesus cloak a dangerous idea: Jesus was tame and innocuous. This type of stance toward Jesus fails to deal with the historical, biblical accounts detailing Jesus’ own claims about himself—and they were anything but tame! This week, as we continued exploring Jesus’ question “Who do you say I am?” (Matthew 16:15), our teenagers looked at the confrontational nature of Jesus’ identity claims and the response they demand from each of us. We must either accept Jesus at his word or reject him. There is no safe, tame, nice-guy option. Ask your teenager about our study, using questions like:
Grades 6-8 | Everybody's Good at Something
Dear parents, We’ve launched a new series for our group that helps teenagers explore their spiritual gifts—what they are, why God gives them, and how kids can discover and use their gifts. Every child is special—a truth that you already know. Our first lesson focused on Romans 12:3-8—we experienced the way God has gifted every follower of Jesus with unique spiritual gifts. A spiritual gift is something God gives us when we become followers of Jesus. Everyone has talents—skills we develop, or abilities that seem natural to us. We can call them “God-given talents” because God created us, and we can use those talents for both “spiritual” and “non-spiritual” things. But only Christ-followers have spiritual gifts, which are designed to help others and to bring glory to God. I encourage you to continue the conversation at home with your child this week. Here are some questions that can fuel your dialogue:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Why followups?Parents, the most important youth minister in your teen's life is YOU. This blog exists to keep you aware of what we're discussing in our classes and at events we attend. It also includes prompts for YOU to continue the conversations at home! No other factor influences the spiritual development of a teenager more than their parents. Archives
August 2018
|