We had an AMAZING celebration tonight to conclude year 1 of The Landing (Celebrate Recovery for jr and sr high students).

- One of our students made a year-in-review video
- We did a trivia game about facts from The Landing
- We gave away T-shirts as prizes and explained the importance of wearing them to help other hurting students become aware of The Landing. I encouraged the group to purchase them or the lanyards to help get the word out
- The band played an extended set
- We had 2 students read the 12 steps with their biblical comparisons (from Celebrate Recovery material) to review where we’ve been in the last 12 months
- We acknowledged all of the leaders and applauded them like crazy
- We handed out the long-awaited 1-year key tags – the highlight of the night!

We took a picture we took of everybody on stage behind a paper banner that read “The Landing Year One”. We burned the banner outside after small groups in the fire pits to symbolize leaving stuff behind (even old victories) and striving toward what’s next so we don’t stagnate or go backward. Before burning the signs we did a little open share time around the fire. People voluntarily shared what they were leaving behind and what they were striving toward. Then we all had s’mores.

FANTASTIC way to cap off a great year!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1. Ask, “Who wants a Starbucks card?”

2. Pick somebody to come get it. Keep that person with you in front of the group. Say, “This is your card. You didn’t do anything to deserve it, but it’s yours. How do you feel about that?”

3. Take the card away and give it to another person at random. Tell that person it’s now her card to keep.

4. Ask the first person, “How did that make you feel? I’m kind of a jerk, huh?”

5. Ask the second person, “How do you feel about getting her Starbucks card?” (mixed feelings)

6. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 to be joyful always. We will lose things in life, and it won’t be fair at times. However, lasting joy is not in what we have here on earth. It’s what God gives us that we can’t lose.

7. Pull out another Starbucks card to give to the original person so now both people have Starbucks cards. Some of us have lost “Starbucks cards” in life. Some of us aren’t ever going to get them back. Some of us will get something better, some of us will just learn to do without. Either way, no matter what, this isn’t our source of joy. We can have joy in good times and bad when God is the source of it, rather than earthly things.

I’ve used this illustration twice now. Both times I’ve seen lights go on in the minds of students. This illustration can be used by any teacher by changing the points of pain to reflect your own life.

1. I ask, “If this building burned to the ground and everything is going crazy, how is it designed to protect us?”
Answers from students might be:
- Exit signs
- Emergency lights
- Smoke detectors
- Sirens

2. People thought ahead of time to make sure we’re taken care of if something really bad happens in this building. We’ll be okay and get out safely.

3. Life gets crazy from time to time. Tragedy strikes, parents get divorced, friends move away, relationships break up…

4. I want you to be pre-wired for when life falls apart to know that God is good. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

5. Where is God when life goes crazy? Right where he’s always been. I’ve had tragedy in my life. It has happened or will happen to all of us.

6. My mom is my favorite person in the world. Unfortunately, she will pass away some day. I hope that day is a long way off. However, when it does, God will still be good. He will not have abandoned me. This will bring me comfort because I’ve pre-wired myself to trust him and know he never leaves me.

7. I want you to have the same assurance in your life so you don’t turn against God as your source of help when you need him most. People blame all kinds of things on God and get bitter against him. They go for years distant from him and miss out on the intimacy they could have with him.

8. My most intimate experience with God was my first time worshiping in church after his funeral. Singing praises to him while I was so empty and hurting inside was an act of faith on my part and brought on an act of embracing me with his presence on his part.

Tonight in my high school Bible study we were talking about worship and how sin can interfere with it. After all, the original sin is what separated us from God in the first place.

Our key verse was Romans 12:1: “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice — the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?”

As we were talking about Adam and Eve, I got to thinking that there are too many options to God in our world today tugging for our attention. I actually gave an illustration about this a few weeks ago in a sermon so it was still fresh in my mind.

Here’s where the lights came on in my students’ eyes:

Question 1: How many apple trees did Adam and Eve have to stay away from?
Answer: 1
Question 2: How many “apple trees” do we have to stay away from?
Answer: Oh, wow! I never thought of it that way!

It’s not anything in us that makes us holy, but God’s work in us makes us holy and pleasing to God. We’ve got to quit hanging around the apple trees and focus on the one who makes us holy.

This week I was counseling a student about some recurring issues in his life. He was pretty bummed about his lack of progress in spite of his deep desire to change.

This was a great opportunity for me to explain the difference between commitment and decisions. We make commitments all the time:

- I will meet you for coffee
- I will show up to help you move at 6:00 AM on Saturday
- I will read my Bible and spend an hour in prayer every day for the rest of my life
- I will meet you after work to go to the gym
- I will lose 35 pounds by Thanksgiving
- I will love, cherish and obey, and take you as my lawfully wedded wife
- I will respect my parents
- I will not look at pornography
- I will stay sexually pure until marriage

These are all commitments we make in various levels of severity, consequence and significance. None of them, however, can be done without without being backed by a decision to actually follow through.

Testing the decision decision behind the commitment will give you a pretty good idea of whether or not you will follow through.

If a commitment is made with the following thoughts or feelings, the commitment is not likely to become reality:

- How can I get out of this?
- Is there a previous commitment I might have forgotten about that can get me out of this?
- I’m not strong enough to do this
- I’m going to try my hardest for as long as I can

There’s one element that, when added to commitment and decision dramatically increases our chanceoffollow through. It’s called character. I have made several commitments (shorthand long term) that I’ve regretted. Some I’ve flaked out on, others I’ve kept even though I had desire at all to do what I committed to.

When we can commit, make the decision to follow through, and then have the character to back it up with action, some great things happen:

- Our character is strengthened which makes this whole commitment thing easier
- Friendships deepen
- Our regret of a commitment made turns into a great feeling of accomplishment and joy in the task because happiness comes from serving, not from being served

This week our small group lesson was about developing habits that would lead to spiritual growth. One of the biggest barriers to spiritual growth is our preoccupation with things that distract us from God.

The best way I could think of to help this sink into my students was to have our small group in a storage closet.

- I asked them what in the room was distracting – they came up with several items
- This was followed up by saying, “Here’s why we’re in this crowded room. We surround ourselves with so many distractions in life that we can’t connect with God”
- It was obvious they were getting it
- The next question was, “What are some ways you connect with God?”
- One way I connect with God is by turning on Pandora and typing in Chris Tomlin or another worship leader and listen to a few songs
- I played a song on Pandora for them
- After the song, I asked, “How did that song differ from the music you usually listen to?”
- No answers, just giggles – That point was made (Their music isn’t as pure as I wish it was)
- How can we connect with God when we never turn off the noise and worship God?
- Another way I connect with God is to go to bible.crosswalk.com and listen to the Bible – I played a chapter for them. I told them I can get through about 5 chapters in about 20 minutes an get a lot out of it
- Taking a 10-mile walk is a great way to clear my mind, work through issues and connect with God

We had a lot of discussion around these points. It was pretty cool. Near the end of he lesson, a staff member came into he storage room, climbed up the ladder and got a book he needed. I used it as an example of another distraction in our lives that could redirect our attntion away from having hang time with God.

27 years ago when I was, a couple of weeks before my 14th birthday, I started making these time capsules. I was always intrigued with the passage of time. Several times I would gaze at the time capsule in the small town where I grew up. I thought it would be cool to save some memories from my childhood and “send them ahead to the future” (Back To The Future was big around that time).

Tonight (2 years late), I opened my first 2 time capsules. It was kind of cool.

I convey this idea to my students because I want them to do the same. While they are in a place of being spiritually fed right now, I want them to bottle some of that up for later in life. During this spiritually fertile time in their lives, I want them to send some memories of God’s goodness in their lives ahead to a time hen they may not feel so close to God.

When my students graduate high school, their spiritual formation will require a lot more effort on their part. Distractions and other pursuits, possibly even tragedy, can take their focus off of the goodness of God and their dedication to him. Time capsules from better times can be a path back to being restored to God and finding healing in their lives.

I’m doing a video series about temptation called The Invisible War with my high school small group students. The series was created by Rick Warren. In the lessons, he talks about how Jesus quoted scripture in the face of temptation. I thought if that was what worked for Jesus, then we should follow his model.

I challenged my guys last week to come back this week with some verses that could help them deal with temptation. I’m proud of them for taking time to do this. I emailed all of the verses to them so they could read through them and hopefully memorize them. (All verses are from the NLT version)

Here’s what they came up with:

Chris’ verse:
Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” Matthew 19:26

Brandan’s verse:
Just as Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so human desire is never satisfied. Proverbs 20:26

Shane’s verse:
But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

Donny’s verse:
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. 1 John 1:9

Chip’s verse:
Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God’s right hand in the place of honor and power. 2 Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth. 3 For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your real life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. 5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires. Don’t be greedy for the good things of this life, for that is idolatry. 6 God’s terrible anger will come upon those who do such things. 7 You used to do them when your life was still part of this world. Colossians 3:1-7

Slater’s verse:
Be on guard. Stand true to what you believe. Be courageous. Be strong. 14 And everything you do must be done with love. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

So if your eye — even if it is your good eye — causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. Matthew 5:29

Dennis’ verse:
Obey God because you are his children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of doing evil; you didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God — who chose you to be his children — is holy. 16 For he himself has said, “You must be holy because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:14-16

Tonight at The Landing, we played a trivia game to illustrate the stress in our lives brought on by things we won’t admit to. It worked out pretty well.

Supplies needed:
- Random props of various sizes (we had about 50 – ranging from a straw to a huge stuffed animal to cinder blocks)
- Easily crushed small plastic cups
- Trivia questions related to stress (random stuff I found in a Google search for “stress trivia”)

How to play:
- Ask questions based on the trivia you collect
- Whichever teams have the correct answer get to stack things on the cup of an opposing team
- When a cup is crushed, that team is out of the game
- The last team without a crushed cup wins

The application:
All of the props we’re using to crush cups represents stress in our lives. We all have stuff in our lives that brings stress. When we try to hide that stuff, the stress of hiding it adds to the stress of our secrets. However, when we admit our problems and get help, we’re better off.

Key verse: James 5:16 “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so you may be healed…”