Late July Youth News

Youth Led Worship and Family Devotional will be this Sunday night 5-7 PM.   We will eat supper together after the meeting.  Everyone bring a drink or chips and a dessert.  

Family Retreat!  Youth group members who want to go up to Broken Bow, OK early for the Family Retreat will leave the church at 1:00 PM on Thursday, July 30.  Families will join the retreat on Friday afternoon.  Sign up for this retreat (if your family has not already signed up) in class Wednesday night or Sunday morning.  We will be hiking, tubing, swimming, canoeing, horse back riding, train riding, worshipping and eating together.  Prepare yourself for an awesome weekend!  (housing and food is $100 not included in this is cost of canoeing ($20) and cost of train ride and horses (optional)).

High School Girls Bible Study- every Wednesday at 9 AM.  Meet at Emily’s house!

Middle School Girls Bible Study- every Thursday at 9 AM.  Meet at church!

Guys Bible Study will not meet this Thursday night, July 23^rd. 

Summer Youth Series – Next Monday, July 27^th we will be hosting the SYS here from 7-9 PM.  We need donations of brownies and milk and volunteers to serve the snack after our worship time. 

Sunday AM Class - There will be family devotional sheets available every week that build off of the Sunday lesson.  These lessons will be available in both paper format and on this blog (see below).  Take advantage of these family devotional times with your child(ren.)

This blog is intended to help communicate to you what the youth ministry at League Street Church of Christ in Sulphur Springs, TX has planned.  This blog will be updated weekly and will be advertised through email and our Facebook group.  You may come to this blog at any time to get information on upcoming events for the youth ministry

Living Loud::Philip: Anytime, Anywhere

Lesson Five Family Devotion

Cliques are exclusive groups of people that are characterized by what they have in common with each other and sometimes by the other people they purposely omit. No shocker there! Cliques are formed many different ways. Some cliques emerge out of popularity and wealth (the High Profile cliques), personal style (Preps and Goths), sports (Jocks and Cheerleaders), and even habits (the Stoners and Drinkers), just to name a few. Demographics of a middle school or high school population would reveal that Christians are embedded within these groups.

However, are the known Christians within various cliques willing to cross clique lines and boundaries to witness and minister to others? Philip did. Philip was part of a clique. He was chosen to be part of an exclusive group not based on his clothes, popularity, or his music choice. He was chosen because of his love for Christ and his desire to serve others. He was a member of the “Super Seven,” better known as the first deacons. These seven men loved Jesus, and they served others during the early days of the Church.

After Stephen was stoned, Philip boldly left the comfort of the group and went to Samaria to proclaim the gospel of Christ there. As a family, read Acts 8:26–40.

While in Samaria, Philip had crossed all social boundaries as far as Jews were concerned. But then an angel told Philip to leave Samaria and head south to the road between Jerusalem and Gaza. A wealthy government official from Ethiopia was sitting in his personal chariot, and he was reading a copy of the book of Isaiah. God instructed Philip to go to the Ethiopian’s chariot. Philip didn’t argue with God by saying, “But he’s not in my group! I’m not in his group! He’s an official of a queen, and I’m poor and sweaty from walking all day!” Instead, he ran up to the chariot! Philip explained the Scriptures and salvation, and the Ethiopian eunuch found the truth of Christ and expressed faith in it! He wanted to be baptized, and Philip accommodated him on the spot!

Can the Jocks befriend the Goths? Can boundaries among cliques be crossed for the greater good of bringing salvation to everyone? Absolutely! All it takes is a bold Christian willing to reach out, proclaim the Good News, and remain available to God.

Connection Questions

1. Philip found witnessing to be easy because of his availability to God, listening and watching for His movement. How does God work in your life, and how do you respond to Him when He does something?

2. Suppose that the person sitting behind you in class is part of the Stoner clique and you are a Prep. Are you willing to cross the social boundaries if given the opportunity to share your faith in Christ?

3. Think about your little group. Are you omitting others on purpose? How does remaining in your own group and your unwillingness to cross over keep you from opportunities to be a witness for Christ?

4. If God had told you to leave a productive work like Philip was doing in Samaria and head south to the desert, what might you have told Him? How do you seemingly do the same thing in your daily life when God’s instructions just don’t make sense to you?

5. What distractions need to be removed from your life so that you can see, know, hear, and become more attentive to the movement of God?