Church Of Christ - Youth Group

A popular religious poem called footprints may be familiar to some of you. We are looking at forgiveness and Ezekiel 36:24-28. Ezekiel is in the Old Testament and is not a very popular book, but it has some good stuff. Take a look. This passage talks about God forgiving and restoring his people.

“For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God.”

A short story called “Footprints” caught my eye the other day. It was about a man who dreamed he was walking on the beach with the Lord. Most of the way he could see two sets of footprints, but during the tough parts of his life, there was only one set. The man was upset by this because he thought that the Lord had left him during those times. Then he realized that they were the Lord’s, who had carried him through those rough times.

The Lord does the same for us today. He will do anything to keep us steady in our faith. When we sin, He picks us up and forgives us. Ezekiel 36:25 says, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities…” This is a beautiful description of God’s grace, mercy, and love for us, His people. Just like the man in the story, we also, must realize that it is not by our own power or strength that we are forgiven. The Lord’s “footprints of forgiveness” carry us through our troubles and sins.

Points To Ponder: How has God carried you through a rough time? What has God’s “footprints of forgiveness” done for you in your life? How can someone fall away from the Lord and His forgiveness?

Prayer Possibilities: Pray for a friend going through a rough time. Thank the Lord for His forgiveness. Ask the Lord to keep you firm in your faith.

Today we are looking in the book of Job to see what kind of gifts are really the best. Read up on Job 19:23-27 as we start.

“Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll, that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock forever! I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”

Have you ever received a really great gift, maybe for Christmas or your birthday; one that you said you would love forever? I did once. It was a bike. My parents gave it to me for my birthday. They let me pick it out and everything. They wanted me to really love their gift to me.

I picked out a black TREK; one of the best bike makers in the world. It had 24″ wide body tires and even a speedometer. I thought I would love this bike forever, but as it turned out, about one month later I crashed it on a jump and bent the fork and pedal shank.

It made me realize that good things don’t last forever, or do they? God gave us the greatest gift of the world, not for our birthday or Christmas, but for free. Christ gave us the gift of life; a gift no one can take away from us.

In the verses it says that when our body decays, we will still be alive in Christ in heaven. Now that you know that your Redeemer lives, you can go out into the world and give the gift of life Jesus has won for us.

Points To Ponder: How long will God’s gift last? How much did God’s gift cost us? What should we do now that we have God’s gift of life?

Prayer Possibilities: Ask God to help you to be more obedient to your parents. Thank God for all the blessings He has given you. Ask God to make you more courageous in spreading the Gospel to others.

Let’s take a look at the big book of Psalms today as we look a bit at forgiveness. Pslam 51 to be exact. It’s a long one so I’ll only quote a few verses, but please click the link above and read the entire passage.

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.”

One day, Jessica was in gym class playing, when Angie hit her in the head. Jessica was very upset. She wouldn’t even talk to Angie when she apologized. Angie continued to ask for forgiveness, even if it was an accident. After gym, everyone went to religion class. They talked about forgiveness, and repenting of your sins. After their discussion, Jessica realized she was wrong about Angie. She apologized to her, and told her that she was forgiven for hitting her head with the ball. Jessica also asked Angie to forgive her for what she had done. Of course Angie forgave her.

Jessica did the right thing, but she should have forgiven Angie in the beginning. At least she realized her mistakes, and also asked to be forgiven. God forgives us for all of our sins, no matter what they are. Whenever we sin, we should ask God for forgiveness, just like in Psalm 51:2. It says, “Wash away all my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” We should always remember this, and apply it to our daily life.

Points To Ponder: How often should we repent of our sins? Are we forgiven of the sins that we don’t know we’re committing? Do you have friends you should forgive or ask for forgiveness?

Prayer Possibilities: Pray that you have the strength to repent of your sins. Pray that we can forgive those that sin against us.

It seems that no matter what we do, we are always faced with hardships. Whether it’s parents getting on our case, “friends” pressuring us to do crap, or whatever, things seem tough. We can trust Jesus no matter what though. Take a look at John 4:46-54 and see what’s up.

“Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus replied, “You may go. Your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.” Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and all his household believed. This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.”

At one point or another in our lives, we will all have to struggle with one or two hardships that might occur. Many times we think that we will never be able to get through them; but, with the help of Jesus, we can.

One of the hardships of my life right now is my housing situation. I feel, at times, that I don’t belong in this house or sometimes even at this job. What I do is pray almost every day, and I ask God to help me have patience and trust Him. I hope for things to change soon, but most of the time that doesn’t happen, and I will get upset. However, I don’t get angry with God, I get angry with myself.

For a long time I felt that I would be able to make changes and get moved to a better house, but I realized that I don’t have that power right now. God gives us all different gifts and talents. Some people already know what those gifts are, while others haven’t found them yet. There are also some people like me who are in the middle of finding out what those gifts are. God knows our future, and He will lead us in the right direction.

Like the man in the story, we often lose trust in God. We continue to worry about everything, and often forget that God is right next to us every step of the way. Through Him we can do anything. A Bible verse that shows this is Psalm 27:1 which says, “The Lord is my Light and Salvation, of whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” Never lose trust in God, because He loves and cares for you.

Points To Ponder: What are some of your strengths? What are some of your hardships? How many times in a day do you pray by yourself?

Prayer Possibilites: Thank God for all the gifts that He has given to you. Ask Him to help you with whatever hardship you have.

At Youth Group I say how awesome God is, and I really believe it to be true. He created the entire world, just by speaking. Wow. Take a look at Romans 11:33-36 this morning as we explore God a bit more.

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.”

The wisdom and knowledge of God is so deep, it is hard to know how far His riches go. They just go on and on. You try and look for the answers to His judgments, but you probably will not find them. His actions are known only to Him. No one knows what the Lord is thinking. We can not know everything about the Spirit of the Lord. All we know is that He is a forgiving God. We are all sinners in His eyes, yet He loves us so much that He redeemed us, forgiving us all our sins. He gives us all that we need. He keeps our body and soul from drowning in sin and everything we have we have to thank God for. He is the giver of all things. We should always thank and praise God.

Sometimes in our lives we don’t understand why God makes things happen, but later in our lives we understand why. For example, I know this man who was really good in sports. He won scholarships and everything, but then one day he tore some muscles in his leg and it put him out for the rest of the season. He then had to find something different to do with his life, so he considered going into the preaching ministry. He went to school to become a pastor and he still is a pastor to this day. During the rough time in his life he kept asking God, “Why me, God?” but he came to realize that God wanted him to become a pastor, not a sports player.

So, even though we may be wondering why God is doing all of these things in our life, God has a plan for everyone. Just trust God: “He works for the good of those who love him.”

Points To Ponder: What has God done in your life, that you didn’t know why He did it? Why do you think He did it? Why do you think God does that to people? What do you think God wants you to do or become in your life?

Prayer Possibilities: Ask God to direct our lives in the right way and to protect us and watch over us. Thank God for being there for us, and helping us to do the right things in our lives.