Church Of Christ - Youth Group

Isaiah 42:3 is a little verse that we are taking a look at in the spirit of rugby season. (Go Regina & Mike!!!)

“A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice.”

Tommy came through the front door screaming his head off. His mother ran to him to see what was wrong. It seemed that Tommy had fallen off his bike and his arm was swollen. So, just like a mother will, she took him to the doctor to have his arm x-rayed. When the doctor came back, he was smiling and said, “Tommy, I think you’re going to live. It seems you bruised it very badly, but give it a couple of days and it will feel better.”

Tommy looked at him in unbelief because he thought the pain would never end. The next day, however, Tommy realized the pain wasn’t that bad and would live and do normal things again.

The same thing happens to us in our spiritual life. Some things happen and we feel like the pain, sorrow and suffering will never end. How soon we forget the pain the Lord Jesus had as He hung on the cross. Just imagine having thorns driven into your head, being beaten and then hung on the cross. The one thing I’m not trying to do is make you angry, because in life there are many things which hurt. We have to remember, however, that even though everything seems to go wrong, we must not forget God, because He never forgets us.

Isaiah’s passage, “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he won’t snuff out,” is saying that God will not forget you, but will rebend your reed and rekindle your fire so that you will be strong to continue the work in front of you.

Points To Ponder: What does God do for us? What can we do for God?

Prayer Possibilities: Ask for strength to fight temptation. Ask for comfort for yourself or a friend.

Read Genesis 15:1-6 this morning as we take a look at waiting.

“After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” But Abram said, “O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”

I once knew a girl who was very ill. She went to the doctor only to find out that she had an incurable disease, cancer. She prayed every night for God to take her life now so that she wouldn’t have to suffer. God brought her into contact with other young cancer patients. She spread her faith to the children, and told them to put all their trust in God.

When God promised a Savior to His people through the prophets Isaiah and Micah, the promise was not fulfilled for another 600 to 700 years. By this we learn that God’s timetable is not always the same as our timetable. We have to accept His promises with faith and patience.

In our Bible verses, God had made a promise to Abraham many years before that the he would have many descendents. Abraham was now an old man, but he still did not have any children. He was becoming impatient. Through a vision, God again stated that his wife would bear him a child, and that his descendents would be numerous as the stars. Abraham believed and God credited it to him as righteousness.

God makes many promises to us in the Bible such as Jesus’ second coming and that we will be with Him in heaven when we die. No matter how long it takes, we need to be patient.

Points To Ponder: Can you think of something that you had to wait patiently for? What do you think God’s reason is when we have to wait? Why do you think that God doesn’t seem to answer our prayers sometimes, even when we are patient?

Prayer Possibilities: Pray for those who are impatient. Pray for the non-Christians to come to faith.

Has your faith ever been tested? What do you normally put your faith in? Your looks, brains, or friends? Take a look at Matthew 15:21-28 this morning as we look at a test of faith.

“Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” “Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.”

Tony nervously tapped his pencil on the desktop as he waited for the exams to be handed out. He read the first couple of questions and let out a moan of anguish. “This test is impossible!” Gradually, though, Tony began to piece together the things he had learned during the semester and write them down. He had been afraid of failing before, but now he was confident of his passing grade.

Just like Tony, we also face tests every day of our lives. These tests however, make us search in our souls for the answer. God gives us spiritual exams all the time, like the one He gave to the Canaanite woman. Even though Jesus said in Matthew 15:24, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel,” the persistent woman would not give up hope. She knew that her Lord would be the Savior for ALL people and would help her. His whole purpose behind this was to strengthen the woman’s faith and get her to apply God’s Word to her life.

We must humbly trust what is revealed to us in the Bible. We will never have to be afraid of failing because our faith will pass God’s tests.

Points To Ponder: What made the Canaanite woman’s faith great? Why did Jesus grant her requests? How can we use what we hear from God’s Word in our everyday lives?

Prayer Possibilities: Ask your Savior for a better understanding of His Word. Give thanks for God’s faith-building tests. Pray for friends to receive the messages found in God’s Word.

God gives us all the tools we need to battle in this world. Sometimes it seems as though everyone is against us, but we have hope. Read Ephesians 6:10-17 this morning and see if you are using the armor that God has given you.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

I remember seeing a movie a long time ago about a man who had an arrow shot at his heart. He fell backwards, but got up almost immediately. When he looked where the arrow had gone, he saw the only thing that had saved him was a paperback book in his pocket covering his heart. This story may seem farfetched, but it does apply to our lives in a spiritual way.

Satan shoots arrows at our hearts, he shoots arrows of greed, money, lust and evil desires. He tries to get us to sway from God’s truth, but God gives us His “shield of faith” to protect us. This shield is like the paperback book. It’s the only thing that can save us from Satan’s evil arrows. “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” It clearly states here that we should use God’s armor of faith so Satan’s arrows bounce off of our hearts. We have to use God’s armor and can’t let our shields get rusty. When this happens, Satan’s arrows can puncture our hearts and souls because we aren’t taking care of the armor we’ve been given.

So, let’s help God out by using this precious gift to fight Satan off. We can be assured of great rewards if we use the tools God has given us. Be strong in faith and put on “the full armor of God” so that you can stand up and say “I won.”

Points To Ponder: Are you using God’s armor? Is your armor rusty? How can you make your armor new again?

Prayer Possibilities: Ask God to help strengthen your faith. Pray to resist Satan’s arrows. Thank God for His shield of faith.

Today we look at the “Golden Rule” and take time to think about what we’re doing here. Read Luke 16:19-31 as we start. I’ve only quoted 19-24, but there is more!!

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’”

Two ladies were cleaning out their attics. They both filled many boxes with their unwanted items: clothes, toys, blankets, etc. One lady immediately donated her items to charity. The other woman packed everything up and placed it in the attic again.

What do you do with your unneeded stuff? We all know that we should help out the unfortunate, however, too many people think only of themselves, just like the rich man and poor Lazarus. We all know how the parable ended; Lazarus lived eternally with Jesus while the rich man suffered the eternal torments of hell. Luke 16:24 says, “And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.” However, just as He showed no mercy to Lazarus, no mercy was shown him.

A lesson to learn from this is “to do unto others as you wish to be done to you.” We never know when we might be the less fortunate. Therefore, we should do as God would want us to do and help others. Jesus came down to help us, shouldn’t we try to do the same for others?

Points To Ponder: What can we do to help the less fortunate? Why should we give others our unneeded items? Where can we give the items to?

Prayer Possibilities: Ask God to help us be more generous and sharing with our belongings. Give thanks to God for the blessings He gave us. Pray for the poverty stricken and less fortunate families.