1. We own nothing. (Ps. 24:1, Job 41:11, 1 Cor. 6:19-20)
2. It is our responsibility to watch over what belongs to God (Gen. 2:15)

1. I don’t need to worry about stewardship until I’m older or have a ‘real job.’ (Lk. 16:10)
2. If I had more money/stuff, I’d be happier. (Lk. 12:15-21, Mat. 6:19-20)
3. Just because I don’t practice good stewardship doesn’t mean my heart isn’t in the right place. (Mt. 6:21, Ps. 37:21)

Parent Questions – You can find out a lot about a person by how they spend their money and their time. So the question becomes, how are you spending your money and time? Does it glorify God and help others? How are you modeling godly stewardship for your children?

1. Money often blinds us to what’s most important in life (Lk. 19:8-9)
2. We think money and things will make us happy (Ecc. 5:10-11)
3. Pursuing money and selfishness often go together
4. Money can easily control you

1. Choose to be different than our world when it comes to money
2. Love God not money (Mt. 6:24; Mk. 4:18-19)

Parent Questions – How has your journey with money been over the years?  Have you developed healthy money habits when it comes to tithing, spending, and saving?  Have you tried to teach your kids healthy money habits? (more…)

1. God wants you to cry out to him for help when you experience problems (Mt. 11:28; 1 Pt. 5:7)
2. God cares about you and everything you’re going through (Mt. 10:30-31; Ps. 139:13-18)
3. God cares about your body and doesn’t want you to hurt it (1 Cor. 6:13)
4. God wants to comfort you in the midst of your problems (2 Cor. 1:3)
5. God wants us to care for one another (2 Cor. 1:4; Gal. 6:2)

1. Run to God and stay by His side
2. Spend time in God’s Word
3. Seek wise advice (Prov. 15:22)
4. Find healthy ways to cope with your problems (I challenged the students to come up with their “10 Reasons to Smile” which was in the video)

Parent Questions – How do you cope with the pain in your life?  How do you try to help your child cope with the pain in their life?

We discovered that dealing with a culture of mean and judgmental religious people is nothing new by looking at a story in John 8 where Jesus is confronted with a woman caught in adultery by religious leaders. While the religious leaders wanted to kill the woman by stoning her, Jesus had a desire to show her compassion, grace, and love.

We continued on by discussing what if we as followers of Christ were to actually live our lives the way Christ commands us to: with Grace, Love, and Compassion. How would our lives and the lives of the people around us be different?

Finally, the students had to make a decision. How would they respond as they walked away from church that morning?

Option #1: They could think that they personally weren’t mean and judgmental and ignore the problem.

Option #2: Realize that we as Christians as a whole have hurt a lot of people. Our response should be Grace, Love, and Compassion.

Parent Questions

1. Have there been any situations in your life where you didn’t show the love, grace, and compassion that Christ has called us to show to others? Have you fed the stereotype that Christians are mean and judgmental?

2. Moving forward, what people in your life need to see Jesus in you? How can you show Grace, Love, and Compassion to those who don’t know Christ?

This past Sunday we started a new series called ” WHY“.  The question we dealt with was “Why do so many people think God hates homosexuals?”

I began our time together by sharing 4 Opening Thoughts:

1. There are some tough questions that come with homosexuality and I don’t have all of the answers.
2. I HATE the “hate” that is out there – frankly it makes me sick.
3. God doesn’t hate homosexuals (Jn. 3:16; 2 Pt 3:9)
4. Jesus loved those who were considered outcasts (Mt. 9:10-11)

After the opening thoughts we dug a little deeper in the topic of homosexuality by looking at a series of “I don’t believe…I believe” statements…

I don’t believe homosexual temptation is a sin…I believe homosexual activity is a sin (1 Cor. 10:13; James 1:13, 15; Heb. 2:18; Lev. 18:22; Rom. 1:26-27)

I don’t believe homosexual activity is God’s plan for our lives…I believe God designed sex to be between a man and a woman in marriage (Gen. 2:24)

I don’t believe homosexual activity is the worst of the worst when it comes to sin…I believe all sin separates us from God (Lev. 18:20-23)

I don’t believe that homosexual activity is unforgivable…I believe there will be people in heaven who committed homosexual acts in this life (1 Cor. 6:9-11)

Two Final Thoughts:

1. Don’t be a hater!
2. Love people who are homosexuals and be there for them whether they act on it or not.

Parent Questions – How would you react if one of your friends came up to you and said “I am gay”?  Would it change your friendship?  Is it easy or hard for you to love people who are different from you?