MONDAY LUNCH DEVOTIONAL CHOOSE TO BE KIND

Transcription

1 MONDAY LUNCH DEVOTIONAL CHOOSE TO BE KIND Scripture Reading: Galatians 5:22 25 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Lesson: This week we will explore choosing be Christ like with a focus on the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit are attributes of Christ. Today we will look at the fruit of Kindness. Everyone here is in an unfamiliar setting which can be both exciting and uncomfortable. Kindness includes being reliable, trustworthy, and loyal to yourself, God, and others. Kindness is an important part of relationships. In a mission trip setting, it is important for a work team to learn to trust each other and know they can rely on the other people in the group. Today we are going to grow our work team relationships by learning a little about each other and learning to trust each other. Get To Know You Questions: If there is a fire in your house, what three things would you grab if your family were already out safely? You are spending the night at your friend s house and they are having a family dinner. Everyone is eating but you think the food is the worst you have ever tasted. Would you say something? Would you eat it? How would you handle the situation? Your parents just offered for you to pick out a new pet. What would you pick? Trust Activity (Pick the one that will work best in your group): 1) Yurt Circle: Form a circle with the rope in the middle. Hold the rope with both hands the team must sit down at the same time. If someone falls or sits first you must start over. Once the team is sitting down they must stand back up never letting go of the rope. 2) Silent Line up: The object of the game is to line up according to the challenge without talking or discussing the answers. Before the game starts, brainstorm ways the group can communicate with one another without using their voices. The team will need to figure out a way to communicate without sound. Possible challenges: Line up according to birthday month and day (not year), home zip code, height, etc. Share Time: Is this your first mission trip? If not, share your favorite memory from a previous trip. Prayer: Have a youth or adult leader start the prayer and then go around and ask each person to share one hope or goal for the week. 1

2 TUESDAY LUNCH DEVOTIONAL CHOOSE TO BE PEACEFUL AND PATIENT SCRIPTURE EPESHIANS 4:1 6 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. Discussion: We often think of peace as a feeling of calm or tranquility. In Galatians when Paul talks about peace being a fruit he is referring to harmony with oneself, others, and the world around us. This is what the Hebrew word Shalom means. Peace as fruit is about relationships. Patience is a key virtue needed in developing relationships. Patience is gentleness in the face of others faults slow to take offence. God has patience with us and wants us to be patient and forgiving with others. Healthy relationships take work from both parties. In order to grow in the fruit of peace we need to be willing to put effort into our relationships. What does a peaceful relationship look like between a youth and their parent/caregiver? Give examples of things you can do to strengthen your relationship with your parents/caregiver. What does a peaceful relationship with God look like? Give examples of things you can do to strengthen your relationship with God. What does a peaceful relationship look like with peers at school or work? Give examples of things you can do to strengthen your relationship with peers. What does a peaceful relationship with your community look like? Give examples of things you can do to strengthen your relationship with your community. Over the course of the week, we will become increasingly exhausted and our patience will be tested. Differences in personalities will become increasingly apparent. What are things we can do to keep our work team peaceful? What can help us to have extra patience as we get exhausted over the week? Gather in a circle and hold hands. Turn to the person on your right and tell them Shalom. Prayer: Reflect on the devotion and pray from your heart. 2

3 WEDNESDAY LUNCH DEVOTIONAL Choose to be Self controlled Icebreaker: Raise a hand if your answer is yes: Have you ever tried to say something nice or give encouragement to someone else? (It could be a family member, friend, acquaintance, stranger) Do you always do your homework? Do you usually follow the rules at school/work? Have you ever eaten a cookie or sweet when you weren t supposed to? Do you brush your teeth everyday? Have you ever hit snooze on an alarm instead of getting out of bed? Have you ever told a lie? DISCUSSION: All of us have made wrong choices and positive choices when it comes to self control. Every single one of us has to make self control decisions on a daily basis. Every single one of us has room to grow in the exercise of selfcontrol. As we grow in this fruit, we begin to evaluate our choices based on how the option lines up with what God would have us do. Scripture: 2nd Peter 1:3 8 His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature. 5 For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self control, and self control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. 8 For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Self control is not just about rules and constraints. Our actions affect our relationships and the people around us. Self control is utilizing the potential God has put in us to do amazing things. In order for a plant to bloom its absolute fullest potential; it needs the perfect balance of soil, nutrients, water, and light. Disciplined behavior helps us grow. Having self control to complete schoolwork, chores, work in the community not only helps you, but also helps others. Gossip is rampant in today s society and hurts people and relationships. Think of an example of hurtful gossip you heard about someone at school and share how it affected them. How would it have been different if the source of the gossip had exercised self control and kept quiet? What are some other examples of how a lack of self control in an individual caused problems for themselves or others? (Possible examples: lying, cheating, etc) Have you ever been hurt, or has a relationship been hurt because someone else did not exercise self control? Share if willing. What are other examples of how self control can benefit yourself and others.? Prayer: Reflect on the devotion and pray from your heart. 3

4 THURSDAY LUNCH DEVOTIONAL CHOOSE TO BE JOYFUL Icebreaker Read the questions one at a time and give time for everyone to answer. 1) How do you feel when someone notices your new shoes or clothes or hair cut? 2) How do you feel when someone stops and give you a hand when you are struggling? 3) Did you know that God calls us to build the Kingdom of God here on Earth? 4) Do you feel like a Kingdom builder when you are on the worksite? Scripture: John 15: 9 10 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father s commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. This morning we said that the joy Paul is talking about as a fruit is not a fleeting emotion. The fruit of joy is not about being happy. Joy comes from walking daily with Jesus. There are rough times in our lives when we want to turn away, but those are times we need to seek God even more so we can experience joy here. Discussion: You are a Kingdom builder as you help others. We feel joy when others help us but it feels good to help others. Why do you think we feel joy when we help others AND when we get help? God is in our midst and working on both sides of helping. When God is actively working through us as we offer help or through others when we receive help, joy abounds. Take some time to think about the joy you feel at your worksite, when you are in worship, as you play games, and as you get to know other youth from our conference. What if you could choose to be one that spreads that joy to more people? What do you need to choose to be different at home? Talk you your work team adults, your youth director, your parents, and your pastor about how you choose to be one who bears the fruit of joy. Prayer Youth Leader: Reflect on the devotion and pray from your heart. Celebrate how you choose to share joy with others. 4

5 FRIDAY LUNCH DEVOTIONAL CHOOSE TO BE Scripture Reading: Galatians 5:22 25 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. This week has been filled with hard work and new friends. There have been moments of fun and moments of exhaustion. There could have been moments where someone annoyed you. Being in relationships is not always easy but it is necessary. In our spiritual journeys, God will nurture our personal fruit of the Spirit through others. We grow and learn from each other. You have spent the week working closely with the people sitting around you. Go around your group and give examples of fruit you have seen your group members demonstrate. Prayer Youth Leader: Reflect on the devotion and pray from your heart 5