Summer Service Project - Day 3

You all know the story of David & Goliath. I could put you in front of a group of kids right now and you could tell them the story. But there are so many details we often overlook.

In the Ladies Bible Study, we’ve been watching a video series by Louie Giglio called Goliath Must Fall. It’s a pretty interesting study. This morning we looked at overcoming the giant of rejection. Read this section of the story from 1 Samuel 17 so you can see it: 28 But when David’s oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. “What are you doing around here anyway?” he demanded. “What about those few sheep you’re supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and deceit. You just want to see the battle!” 29 “What have I done now?” David replied. “I was only asking a question!” 30 He walked over to some others and asked them the same thing and received the same answer. 31 Then David’s question was reported to King Saul, and the king sent for him. 32 “Don’t worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!” 33 “Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth.” 34 But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, 35 I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. 36 I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! 37 The LORD who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!” Saul finally consented. “All right, go ahead,” he said. “And may the LORD be with you!” 41 Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, 42 sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. 43 “Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods. 44 “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled. 45 David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 Today the LORD will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! 47 And everyone assembled here will know that the LORD rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the LORD ’s battle, and he will give you to us!”

That was rather long, but hopefully you made it the whole way through... David faces rejection three times in the passage. First, his brother rejects him by questioning why he’s even there and tells him to go home. Second, King Saul rejects him when David offers to step up and fight the giant. And last, Goliath rejects him when he mocks him as an opponent. If I were David, I think I may have given up after being rejected more than once. However, David didn’t give up. Each time David responds with confidence to the other men. He is confident because he trusts God.

We are commanded throughout the Bible to serve others. In order to do that, we need to trust what God says about us over the comments of anyone else. When we are afraid people are going to reject us or our ability, we limit God’s ability to work through us. The enemy is looking for ways to destroy us so that we are ineffective (1 Pet. 5:8). Don’t let him make you feel rejected or unloved or forgotten or lonely. God says you are loved, chosen, valuable. The more your confidence is in God, the less the enemy can use others to get you feeling down about your life.

Reflection:

1. We have all felt rejection from family or friends, intentionally or unintentionally. How do you deal with those emotions?

2. Do you feel rejected or unloved or forgotten or lonely? Find a verse that will remind you of God’s truth when you are feeling that way.

This week: Find a friend who is feeling rejected or unloved or forgotten or lonely and then find a way to serve them.

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This summer the youth group plans to do weekly service projects in lieu of a week-long missions trip. This is a devotional the teens were given after arriving to serve one day.

Summer Service Project - Day 2

When thinking about people in the Bible who serve, Joseph is one that comes to mind - ya know, the one with the coat of many colors, the Prince of Egypt? Before Moses was ever given the Law to write, and before Jesus ever took and boiled the Law down to ‘love God and love your neighbor,‘Joseph did just that.

In case you don’t know… Joseph is the youngest of 12 brothers, but his dad favors him. He has dreams about how one day his brothers and even his parents will bow down to him. One day his brothers get angry and throw him in a pit and sell him into slavery. Joseph ends up in Potiphar’s house, where he does really well and becomes a trusted slave. Until one day when Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce him and then accuses him of attacking her and had him thrown him in jail. While in jail, he interprets dreams for the baker and the cupbearer. This eventually leads to Joseph being brought before Pharaoh, where he interprets a dream for him. As a a result, Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of setting things up and keeping them running smoothly for the famine that was coming.  Eventually Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt in search of food and again, through a series of events, Joseph reveals his identity to them. He is able to serve his brothers by providing them with food even after all they had done to him. Regardless of the circumstances Joseph finds himself in, he loves God and finds ways to love people. As we mentioned last week, loving people often is done by serving them.

Summer Service Project - Day 1

The other day I was flipping through an old journal from college and was reminded of a time when I really struggled with what it means to follow Christ. Like many of you, I grew up in a Christian home. I don’t really remember what it’s like to not be saved. I remember sitting in Olympians doing what I was supposed to to earn greenbacks to get some candy at the end of the night. In Olympians, we had to recite some pledges, a verse and a song to get a devotional book. You could earn medals if you completed certain tasks like church attendance, christian service, and bringing your Bible, to name a few. Being spiritual was very much tied to the things I did.

When I got to youth group, things changed some. We didn’t get immediate rewards for all of our good behavior, but we were encouraged to read our Bibles and pray daily, to be pure, to reach out to others through serving.

When I got to Bible college, I was met with a new set of expectations and requirements for being spiritual. Going to chapel so many times a week, attending church regularly, being involved in ministry, all while attending Bible classes throughout the week.

At some point, I got overwhelmed with it all. I can’t live up to those expectations. As much as I try, I fail at reading my Bible daily. Sometimes I’m selfish and don’t always want to love and serve others. I watch tv shows that I probably shouldn’t. Even though I know God loves me, some days I feel unlovable. I drive too fast (almost) all the time. I can’t live up to the expectations that others have placed on me or that I have put on myself.

READY - Die to Yourself

What’s the first thing you think about when you wake up?
I generally think, “I’m tired and wish my alarm wasn’t going off at the moment.” Then I start thinking about what I need to do to get ready for the day. It’s easy to go through the day just focused on yourself and what you need.

It is very easy to let everything in your life be about you. We pay attention to how many likes did our latest post got or how many people watched our Snapchat story. We wonder if our friends hang out without us or talk behind our back. We hesitate to sign up for ITM events because we think something more fun might come up. When we take group pictures we look for ourselves first before look at anyone else. We spend most of our day focused on ourselves!

This week our focus is on “Die to Self Daily.” What does that even mean?

If someone is really overweight and decides they want to lose weight, what do they need to do?
The most simple answer would be “eat healthy and exercise.” In order to do that, the person needs to give up their desires for eating Big Macs and laying on the beach all day. They would need to give up some foods that they enjoy and eat things they may not like or do some activities they don’t want to. Even though Big Macs and candy bars taste good, they are not healthy and won’t help the person lose weight. Even though exercising may be difficult, it is a necessary part of losing weight.

In the same way, if you want to live for Christ, we can give you simple suggestions like “Read your Bible and pray.” But it takes more than that, we need to give up sinful ways.

Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God–this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.

To die to self, you must offer yourself as a living sacrifice.

You need to give up certain things. What that is may look different for each of us. That’s part of examining yourself and seeing what God reveals to you. If it is sinful, you definitely need to give it up! Galatians 5:24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. When the Bible talks about the flesh, it means our sinful nature, that part of us that doesn’t want to do what’s right.

Sometimes we also need to give up things that aren’t necessarily sinful. Going on Instagram or Snapchat isn’t wrong, but there may be better ways you can use your time. 1 Corinthians 10:23 "All things are lawful," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful," but not all things build up. Think about the things you spend your time doing, are they helpful? Do they build others up? If the answer is no, maybe you should consider spending less time doing them or giving them up altogether.

This isn’t easy! The verses in Romans talk about how we need our minds to be transformed. We naturally think about ourselves. It takes our minds being transformed for us to begin to do what is right. Paul talks about this struggle in Romans 5-7, how we want to do what’s right, but we just end up doing what’s wrong anyway.

If we try to focus just on what we can’t do, we will fail. If we make a list of rules that we must do to live for Christ, we will fail. We need to also think about what we should do instead. A person who is trying to lose weight shouldn’t just stop eating, they need to change from Big Macs to salads. They need to replace the bad with the good.

Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
As we deny ourselves what we want, we instead should be focusing on loving God and loving others.

What does all this look like in real life?

In Daniel 3, King Nebuchadnezzar makes a golden statue of himself and then makes a law saying that you must bow down and worship it every time the music is played or be thrown into a fiery furnace. There are a bunch of Israelites who are living in Babylon, they worship God, not idols and statues of kings.
When the music plays, everyone in the country bows down and worships the statue, except for three Israelites, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They choose to die to their sinful nature (which was probably saying “it’s no big deal, just bow down and pretend to worship the statue and live to see another day. Because if you obey God and don’t bow down, you’re going to die!).
They remain standing when everyone else (including other Israelites) bow down and worship the statue.
Of course King Nebuchadnezzar finds out what happens. Daniel 3:13-18 Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego’s reply is pretty intense. “We know God can save us, but even if he doesn’t, we still choose to obey him.” That’s what our lives should look like. Choosing to obey God and do what he commands regardless of what it may cost us.

You and I aren’t in situations where we have to worry about being killed for what we believe. However, it may still cost us to truly die to ourselves and live for Christ. We may lose some IG followers if we start posting Bible verses. We may have some friends who stop hanging out with us. We may have people who even make fun of us. Regardless of what it may cost, it is worth it in the end.
Matthew 16:24-26 says Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

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This is the fourth lesson of a 5-part series I was asked to write for the middle school ministry at my Hawaiian Church, New Hope Leeward. The series is on the acronym READY.