Fuel Sunday Journey Series Part 1

Fuel Sunday Journey Series Part 1 (Autumn 2017) 10 September Where was God before creation?... 2 17 September Genesis 1 The Big Bang & Evolution... 2 24 September Genesis 1:26-31 God s own image... 3 1 October Genesis 3 The Fall and Us... 4 8 October Genesis 7 The Flood (It rains a lot in the UK)... 5 15 October Genesis 12:1-7 Abraham s Promise and Calling... 5 22 October Genesis 16 Islam and God... 6 29 October Genesis 22:1-14 Giving God Your All... 7 5 November Exodus 3:1-12 Life s Burning Bushes... 7 12 November Exodus 7-12 Waiting For A Miracle... 8 19 November Exodus 15 The Song of Moses Worship Night... 9 26 November Exodus 32 Golden Calves and Things We Can t Let Go... 9 3 December Leviticus 14:1-20 Rules Aren t Made To Be Broken?... 10 10 December Joshua 2:1-4, 6:1-6 Jericho, and the Journey So Far... 11

10 September Where was God before creation? Some common questions I hear from young people are Where did God begin? and Where was God before the universe was created? These questions make perfect sense to humans because it is hard for us to think about anything existing before we marked time and existence. However, the idea that God was before anything else came to be is part of what makes God, God. We are going to start our journey series by looking at where every journey really begins: the start. The very beginning of Genesis calls the earth formless and talks about God s spirit hovering over the water. John 1, 17:24, Titus 1:2, Ephesians 1:4-5; 2 Timothy 1:9 look at the idea of the Trinity and how they interacted together. Finally, we will look at what the idea of Alpha and Omega means. (Additional reading Job 38:4-7, John 1:1-5) 1. Where do you think God was before creation? 2. Does it help you to think about the difference between physical creation and the heavenly realms? 3. Do you believe that God has always existed? If yes why? If no why not? 4. How would you describe the relationship of the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) 5. What do you think it means that Jesus and the Holy Spirit were involved in the creation process? 17 September Genesis 1 The Big Bang & Evolution One of the hardest things for young people to cope with is the idea that the Bible tells them one thing (Young Earth Creationism) and that science and school tell them another (Big Bang Theory and Evolution) We are going to look at how either theory could be possible and still fit the creation account in Genesis 1. We will look at the history of and evidence for both the young and 2

old earth theories. We will also dig into how the story of Genesis 1 is what is important because it shows a creator God who loves us from the start. Reflection: Have the group vote about their beliefs at the beginning of the session then pray through it to see how it helps them with their understanding of God. 1. Does anyone want to share what they think about the creation story? Which view do you think it lines up with? 2. How do you think science can help support the creation story? 3. What do you think is important about the Genesis 1 account? 4. Where do you see God s love in this story? 5. Have your views about creation changed at all after hearing about the other side and praying over it? Saturday 23 September Reboot Youth Apologetics Conference 24 September Genesis 1:26-31 God s own image We know the idea of Imago Dei (The Image of God) is important, but perhaps we don t fully understand what it means. Some think it is our physical appearance, some our ability to create or be artistic, some think it is our higher learning skills, and others still think it is the idea of our soul. What we do know is that God created on purpose and saw that it was very good! We will talk about what an image is, and develop our understanding of who God is (i.e. what are his attributes?). These attributes can impact our understanding of who we are. Reflection: Place mirrors around the room then go ask the youth to pray in front of them, thinking about what it means for them to be made in God s image 3

1. What do you think the image of God means? 2. How do we separate out physical traits from the Image of God (What are we like exactly?) 3. What attributes of God do you most identify with? Why? 4. How will thinking of others in Gods image affect how you view/treat them? 1 October Genesis 3 The Fall and Us We will explore the idea of original sin. No matter if you hold a literal or poetic view of the account the important part of the story is that sin exists, there is nothing we can do about it, but God already had a plan for what to do to bring us back to him. We will look at who the key characters are, the way humanity sinned, the consequences, and God s provision. At the beginning of the night, give each young person a sweet but tell them not to eat it. At the end, everyone who kept their piece will have it taken away and be given a bigger one in return. Pray as a group, and think about what we lost when we sinned and what God has offered us in return. (Additional Verses Romans 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:9-10 5:1) 1. What were the key parts of the story to you? Why? 2. Do you think the story of Adam, Eve and the forbidden fruit actually happened? Does it matter if the story is literal or figurative? 3. As best as you can describe what the original sin was and why it is on all of humanity. 4. What was/is God s provision to deal with sin? 5. How does this story make you feel? How does it affect your relationship with God? Are you ashamed? Grateful? Something Else? 4

Tuesday 3 October Parenting Teenagers Course starts Saturday 7 October The Hub Launch Party 8 October Genesis 7 The Flood (It rains a lot in the UK) This is the story that most people in the UK have heard before. But instead of just telling the story we are going to be looking at bigger issues like God s mercy, justice, promises and punishments. We will look at what the world was like during the flood times and explain why God needed to destroy all of humanity - was it really that bad? Sometimes God pulls himself away from the natural order. For example, the flood was God allowing natural things to happen. How does that relate to our understanding of natural disasters today? Reflection: Show images of natural disasters from around the globe. Youth will take a scene and use it as an opportunity to pray about God s love, mercy, or justice. 1. Why do you think God called the flood? 2. Do you think the people back then were worse than people are now? 3. Why do you think God spared Noah? 4. Where do you see God s love in this story? 5. How do we understand natural disasters today? Are they God s judgement? Or is God saddened by them? Do we have any responsibility our natural disasters? 15 October Genesis 12:1-7 Abraham s Promise and Calling We will look at Abrahams calling and the promises God gives when he calls us to do something. The important thing to note is that God doesn t call us to do things without support. He is there with us and he calls us to do things that are ultimately for the best because they are for his good, and there are better things to come. The second thing we will look at is Abrahams obedience and 5

what it means to be obedient to God s calling. The great thing is that God walks through our calling with us! (Additional Verses Matthew 28:18-20) 1. How do you know if God is calling you? What are some sure signs that it is him doing it? 2. Why does God call people to do anything? Is there a difference between being called and just trying to be a good person? 3. Does God only call Christians to things? What do you think? 4. Does God still support us even if he has called us to difficult things? Friday 20 October Community Event 22 October Genesis 16 Islam and God Abram s wife had not been able to bear children, so she told him to sleep with her servant Hagar. Sarai treated Hagar so badly that she ran away, but God blessed Hagar and listened to her. She gave birth to Ishmael, who was promised to become a great nation. Ismael is known in Islam as a prophet and ancestor of Muhammed. God has a plan for all people including Muslims, but God s only way of salvation is those who place their trust in Jesus. Reflection: Show pictures of the Muslim world and pray for our Muslim friends worldwide. 6

1. Why do you think God called Hagar back to live with Abraham? 2. Do you think God has plans for all people? Including people of other faiths? 3. How do you think we can best build relationships with people of other faiths in our community? 4. How do you think God shows his love for Muslim people today? 5. How can we share Jesus with our Muslim friends? 29 October Genesis 22:1-14 Giving God Your All We will wrap up our story of Abraham by looking at his offering up of Isaac on the altar. Isaac was the son of Abraham who would complete God s covenant. We will talk about what it means to be obedient to God and what faith really looks like. Faith usually grows by what we have seen God do. So what next? God doesn t take away what we offer up. He uses it for his purpose along with us. Reflection: Write down something hold on to. Then have them pray over it and ask God what sort of things he is asking for them to give up. 1. What things do you value most? 2. What sort of things do you think God has given you? 3. What would you be willing to give God? After all he has done for you what would you do if he asked for something back? 4. What would you do if has asked you to offer up the things you held most important. 5. How does God take the things we offer him and make them even better? 7

5 November Exodus 3:1-12 Life s Burning Bushes God can communicate with us in many ways. Moses saw the burning bush, was intrigued, and decided to investigate. We should do the same when we think something might be from God, and we should try to discern what God might be calling us to do. Moses also thought he wouldn t be good enough to be a part of God s plan, but God would go with him, and the same applies to us. Reflection: Pause for a moment and try to focus on God. Write or draw the first thing that comes into your head. If it s for you, keep it, or if you feel like you should give it to someone else go for it! 1. How do your parents tell you what to you? 2. How obvious is it when other people need help? 3. How could God communicate with you? What burning bushes should we be looking out for? 4. Think hard can you think of moments in your life that could ve been God trying to communicate with you? 5. Do you think God has ever asked or nudged you to do something? 6. Do you feel called to something, either because of positive or negative feeling? Friday 10 Sunday 12 November - National Youth Ministry Weekend, Birmingham (Training Opportunity for Volunteers, we d love you to join myself and Denny.) 12 November Exodus 7-12 Waiting For A Miracle Moses went to Egypt to save the people of Israel, God s chosen people, but Pharaoh would not let them go. God had made a promise to Moses, but the miracle of freedom seemed so out of reach. It took ten tough plagues for the 8

king to cave in, and all this time Israel would ve still been suffering under slavery, while also enduring the effects of the first three plagues. Reflection: Ask if anyone wants to be prayed for if they re waiting for a miracle. Get the rest of the room to pray for these people by laying on hands. 1. How would it have felt for the Israelites waiting for freedom? What about for the Egyptians would they have suffered too? 2. What s the toughest thing you ve been through? 3. Are you waiting for a miracle? 4. Has God helped you through a situation you could never have survived on your own? How did that experience make you feel about God? Friday 17 Sunday 19 November Younger Weekend Away (Book Online) 19 November Exodus 15 The Song of Moses Worship Night This evening will be based around worship and prayer, encouraging everyone to participate in the streams that we will make available: The greatness of God, and how wonderful He is. God s power to fight and win our battles against sin and Satan, and the freedom we gain as a result. The fact that nothing in our culture can come anywhere close to God, and how our identity is only in Him. God works miracles. God guides us. 9

26 November Exodus 32 Golden Calves and Things We Can t Let Go The Israelites knew that they shouldn t have built an idol, but they did anyway! They offered themselves to this statue, sacrificing things for something that was worth nothing. We do the same in our lives we give up the things that are important to God for the same of approval, popularity, comfort, and temporary happiness. All of this came about for the Israelites because they were impatient with God and didn t know or understand His plan. We need to be at peace with that ourselves, and build on our relationship with God. 1. What would you make a statue of, and what would you build it out of? 2. Out of all the elements of our lives that are important to God, what is normally the first to be given up? 3. What do you think is the biggest idol for your friendship group? Why do people make it an idol? 4. How do Golden Calfs become the norm, and not viewed as something this is bad? 5. How can we be more joyful about God and all he provides for us? 3 December Leviticus 14:1-20 Rules Aren t Made To Be Broken? The Old Testament is full of some pretty strange rules and regulations, from bodily functions to moldy fabrics, as well as bizarre ways to make amends when the rules are broken. After hundreds of years of slavery, God s people needed these to help remind them how to be human, and animal sacrifice was a costly way of apologizing. Jesus died 1500 years later as a once-and-for-all super sacrifice, allowing man and God to be together. This doesn t however mean that we can disregard the rules some were meant for Israel, and some are for all of us. The apostle James wrote For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God s laws. (James 2:10). And how does this fit in with the greatest commandments of Jesus? 10

Reflection: Think about idols and rules from the past two Sundays. What do you struggle with? Take a moment to draw a depiction of this on the roll of paper. Then draw a positive aspect of God that can help you with this! 1. What are the rules that govern your life? Where do they come from? 2. Are there some rules that you dislike, or sometimes break? 3. Do you see Christianity as a faith full of rules? 4. In the passage, which parts are common sense, and which parts deal with sin? 5. Why do you think it was important that the Leviticus rules were given to God s people then? 6. Do you think these verses still have something to say to us today? 10 December Joshua 2:1-4, 6:1-6 Jericho, and the Journey So Far We ve skipped forward a little bit now. After Leviticus, Numbers told the story of God s people wandering in the desert after disobeying God. Deuteronomy is a revision session led by Moses about how to live a life that is pleasing to God. Moses died before reaching the promised land, and Joshua is now in charge. They cross the Jordan to Jericho, where instead of needing to fight over its walls, all they did was worship! Reflection: Think about your personal Jericho what is the impossible thing that you / a friend / a family member need a miracle to achieve right now? How would an average person advise you to approach that situation? What do you think God s response to that situation might be? Take a moment to ask God for help with this Jericho. 1. How could you use your gifts to make a difference to God? 2. How is worship more than just singing words or playing notes? 11

3. Why do you think God chose to defeat Jericho this way? 4. What does this story suggest about God s power? Does God do the same today? 17 December 10am - The Christmas Angel (Free Show) 17 December 6:30pm - Alternative Carols 24 December Christmas Eve Service 31 December New Year s Eve 10am (Sean speaking) 1 January New Year s Praise (TBC) 12