It's ELECTION Day!
Municipal Elections are WAY less exciting than Presidential elections, or even Midterm elections. Thanks to smaller campaign budgets and minimal press-coverage, local candidates are generally more obscure for the average voter and campaign platforms are much harder to identify. Obtaining a sample ballot takes intentional effort and discerning who deserves your vote often comes down to finding someone who knows the candidates personally.
Politicians often bring grandiose plans and ideas for ways to make our world better. Anymore, people are looking for answers to the serious issues in our societies, and looking for someone who can bring order and meaning to what’s happening around us.
This month, LHCStudents will tackle the third and final question in our “Big Three Questions”; we’ll ask, "What Difference Can I Make?"
If you’re not sure what I mean, we’ve been tracking with research from Fuller Youth Institute which asserted that “every teenager is a walking bundle of questions, three of which rise above the rest: Who Am I, Where Do I Fit In, and What Difference Can I Make?” According to the recent book from Kara Powell and Brad Griffin entitled, “Three Big Questions that Change Every Teenager,” young people struggle to find satisfying and life giving answers to these questions, and that all of their daily, internal conflicts can be traced to one of those three inquiries.
Our question this month boils down to a sense of purpose and meaning in life—that we find significance in our own existence “because we are a part of the ongoing plot of what God has done, is doing, and will do in our world.” In simpler terms, our sense of purpose “comes from knowing we’re invited into God’s greater STORY.” Our contribution to the world is contingent on whose story we make central to our lives.
We’ll base our series this month (entitled STORY) on 1 Corinthians 3:5-9; check it out from the New Living Translation.
“What is Apollos, really? Or what is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, and each of us in the ministry the Lord gave us. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused it to grow. 7 So neither the one who plants counts for anything, nor the one who waters, but God who causes the growth. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work as one, but each will receive his reward according to his work. 9 We are coworkers belonging to God. You are God’s field, God’s building.”
In this passage, we get a front-row seat to a conflict within the Corinthian church about which leader the church should esteem more—whether Paul, Apollos, Stephanas, or others. Factions had even developed between families and believers who perceived there was some conflict, or posturing happening for one of those leaders to emerge as the most authoritative apostle.
In his response, we see Paul diminish the roles, responsibilities and contributions of those people in light of the grander purpose and vision of the Father—that as servants of the Most High, we’re invited to participate in HIS plan, and we simply play a minor role in a much larger plot.
This month, we’ll demonstrate to students that God is the One who sets the narrative for the universe, and that our best personal narratives come from embedding our stories in His.
We’ll prompt our students to consider Whose STORY to make the center of their lives, and how we find meaning, purpose and significance in HIS-STORY.
(See what I did there?)
We’ll reach into the Bible to observe stories from both the Old and New Testaments about people who found themselves in unique, difficult situations and discovered how they fit into the grand plot of God’s great STORY.
For now, you might ask your students questions like—
And if you’ve stuck with me this long, here’s a link where North Carolina voters can find the precinct and ballot information for the elections today. Get out and vote! :)
https://www.ncsbe.gov/
Politicians often bring grandiose plans and ideas for ways to make our world better. Anymore, people are looking for answers to the serious issues in our societies, and looking for someone who can bring order and meaning to what’s happening around us.
This month, LHCStudents will tackle the third and final question in our “Big Three Questions”; we’ll ask, "What Difference Can I Make?"
If you’re not sure what I mean, we’ve been tracking with research from Fuller Youth Institute which asserted that “every teenager is a walking bundle of questions, three of which rise above the rest: Who Am I, Where Do I Fit In, and What Difference Can I Make?” According to the recent book from Kara Powell and Brad Griffin entitled, “Three Big Questions that Change Every Teenager,” young people struggle to find satisfying and life giving answers to these questions, and that all of their daily, internal conflicts can be traced to one of those three inquiries.
Our question this month boils down to a sense of purpose and meaning in life—that we find significance in our own existence “because we are a part of the ongoing plot of what God has done, is doing, and will do in our world.” In simpler terms, our sense of purpose “comes from knowing we’re invited into God’s greater STORY.” Our contribution to the world is contingent on whose story we make central to our lives.
We’ll base our series this month (entitled STORY) on 1 Corinthians 3:5-9; check it out from the New Living Translation.
“What is Apollos, really? Or what is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, and each of us in the ministry the Lord gave us. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused it to grow. 7 So neither the one who plants counts for anything, nor the one who waters, but God who causes the growth. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work as one, but each will receive his reward according to his work. 9 We are coworkers belonging to God. You are God’s field, God’s building.”
In this passage, we get a front-row seat to a conflict within the Corinthian church about which leader the church should esteem more—whether Paul, Apollos, Stephanas, or others. Factions had even developed between families and believers who perceived there was some conflict, or posturing happening for one of those leaders to emerge as the most authoritative apostle.
In his response, we see Paul diminish the roles, responsibilities and contributions of those people in light of the grander purpose and vision of the Father—that as servants of the Most High, we’re invited to participate in HIS plan, and we simply play a minor role in a much larger plot.
This month, we’ll demonstrate to students that God is the One who sets the narrative for the universe, and that our best personal narratives come from embedding our stories in His.
We’ll prompt our students to consider Whose STORY to make the center of their lives, and how we find meaning, purpose and significance in HIS-STORY.
(See what I did there?)
We’ll reach into the Bible to observe stories from both the Old and New Testaments about people who found themselves in unique, difficult situations and discovered how they fit into the grand plot of God’s great STORY.
For now, you might ask your students questions like—
- Do you think about the future very much? What do you think an adult version of you will be like? What kind of job do you think you’ll have? Will you have a family?
- Do you ever feel worried about the future? What makes you anxious about the future? What concerns you the most?
- Have you ever heard someone say, “God has a plan for your life?” What do you think they mean when they say that? What do you feel when you hear that statement?
And if you’ve stuck with me this long, here’s a link where North Carolina voters can find the precinct and ballot information for the elections today. Get out and vote! :)
https://www.ncsbe.gov/