It’s a new week!

Last night the middle schoolers ate some pasta, made lots of jokes, prayed, and talked about how the Holy Spirit can give us wisdom!

After some emergency computer surgery to fix a broken laptop, we gathered for some non-standard worship by asking students where they had seen God throughout the week. One of the practices we engaged in over winter weekend was being mindful of the ways that we see God throughout the day, so we continued that practice last night! After praying for the requests that were gathered, we settled into our large group teaching.

We talked about how the Holy Spirit was a part of God’s redemption plan all the way back when Ezekiel prophesied about its coming in chapter 36. We see that play out in the second chapter of Acts when the Holy Spirit comes and dwells inside of the disciples.

I’m always fascinated to ask students who they think the Holy Spirit is, and what do you think the holy spirit does for us? This is a question I have seen adults struggle with, so it was no surprise when students were able to articulate that the holy spirit lived inside them, but they weren't exactly sure what the holy spirit did.

We moved into the book of Colossians (1:9-10) to look at the way Paul was constantly praying for the people of God to be filled with wisdom that comes from the Spirit. At this point eyes started to glaze over a bit, so I told a few stories about times in my life that I felt like the Holy Spirit had helped me make difficult decisions by granting me wisdom. I also told a silly story about a time where I definitely could have made a better decision, but chose not to.

After that, we broke into debrief groups, and talked about the places we typically go to seek wisdom (mom, Google, etc.), and encouraged students that the Holy Spirit is inside them and willing to give wisdom if they ask!

Next week we are wrapping up our Holy Spirit series by talking about how the Holy Spirit helps us to love others well!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful week

Happy Monday!

Last night in youth group we ate some mac ‘n cheese, played super smash bros, and talked about the Holy Spirit!

After a few rounds of Super Smash Bros, we gathered for prayer and Kara began our series on the Holy Spirit by asking “who is the Holy Spirit?” We spent some time reading John 14 and Romans together to try and dig into what our students typically think of when they hear “the Holy Spirit.”

A few leaders took turns sharing some stories of how they have experienced the Holy Spirit in their lives, and ways that they try to listen more closely to the Spirit. We clarified that we aren’t encouraging students to listen for an audible or hallucinatory voice, but a deep and gentle inner prompting.

We broke into our debrief groups and tried to nail down some practical ways that students can listen more closely for the spirit, and somehow my group once again managed to relate the lesson to Fortnite!

Next week we’ll explore how the Holy Spirit helps reveal truth to us!

If you wanted to take a moment sometime this week to share a story about how you have experienced the Holy Spirit with your student, I’m sure they would be interested to hear from you!

Have a wonderful week!