We are continuing our enhanced Youth Bible Study, adding facilitators and taking a deep dive into the gospel in an effort to build Disciples! Come prepared with questions and open hearts. Contact Keith Overton-Hadnot if you have any questions at keith.overtonhadnot@gmail.com
Session Schedule:
- December 2: God
- December 9: Adam and Eve
- December 16: Noah and the Ark
- December 23: Abraham
- December 30: Sarah and Hagar
- January 6: Judah and Tamar
- January 13: Ruth and Boaz
- January 20: Joseph and Mary
- January 27: Recap and Further Exploration
Recap from Previous Series: Youth Bible Study Kicks Off With God Plan
As part of our Discipleship model, the iAM Youth Ministry kicked off our enhanced Bible Study with a series entitled God’s Plan. It was based on Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer Drake’s song “God’s Plan.” Yes, we even listened to the secular song during Bible Study. Youth discussed the song’s themesuccess is divine will- and expressed their opinions about it. Ultimately, we went to the Bible to figure out
what God’s Plan really is. We explored the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:3740) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) where we outlined our five spiritual purposes- worship, ministry, evangelism, fellowship, and discipleship. This is God’s Plan for our lives as Christians. As a cross reference to the Great Commandment and Great Commission, we studied various passages of scripture:
Worship – The greatest expression of worship was demonstrated for us by Jesus (see Luke 22:41-43). Jesus says, “not my will, but yours be done.”
Ministry – Jesus washed the Disciple’s feet. So not to (ceremonialize) this act, Sister Parker demonstrated the washing of the feet during this session. Thanks to Noah for being a gracious participant. Ministry is serving others and leading an otherscentered life. Basically, don’t be selfish and follow the servanthood of Jesus.
Evangelism – This can be a scary word because Christians often do not know how to practically live out this responsibility. Acts 1:8 gave us a roadmap for witnessing. Today, there are so many things to try to cause Christians to be fearful but, if we are to go in to all nations, the Holy Spirit gives us the power to be fearless. Noah volunteered to facilitate this session and did an awesome job.
Fellowship – We focused on relationships, our roles in relating to God’s people, and how God can use our fellowship for the sake of ministry. Our scripture reference was Acts 2:42-47.
Discipleship – “Who do you say iAM?” – Who we say God is dictates our response to Him. Our scripture reference was Luke 9:18-36 and we studied what it means to be a Disciple.
In one of our last sessions for the series, we evaluated ourselves on each of the five spiritual purposes. Some of us gave “churchy” ratings, but when we pulled back a few layers, we realized our ratings changed a bit. This rating was not to point fingers or to judge one another. Rather, the ratings helped us be honest with ourselves and see where were stood against God’s Plan.
Finally, we issued three life books to each youth. Shout out to Rev. Emerson for reaching out to the Youth ministry and providing the books. Each youth wrote their name in one book in an effort to read the book on their own. For the other two books, the youth were encouraged to write the names of their friends-believers or non-believers- in an effort to give the book and share the gospel. A small step in evangelizing.
God’s Plan is not solely about what He gives to us. We learned that we were uniquely blessed and His plan is not cookie-cutter. Interestingly enough, we discerned that God’s Plan requires metanoia, me to go, and me to make disciples.
