REACH Youth Ministries Pamphlet Draft

8/8/2019 REACH Youth Ministries Pamphlet Draft

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T h e W e l l C h u r c h

R e a c h Y o u t h

M i n i s t r i e s

Y o u n g A d u l t

L i f e a n d M i n i s t r y

B i b l e S t u d y G u i d e

A guide to equipping young adults for loving

service in life and ministry.

Continuing

the Journey


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REACH Youth Ministries: Reach Up. Reach Out.

As REACH, through relationship and instruction, we aim to disciple young

people so they may grow to understand who they are in Christ as well as

their place in His church. In order to do so we must first present them with

the Gospel in terms that are relevant to them. Paul himself states that he

became all things to all people, that he might save some (1 Cor. 9:19-23). We

understand that we must reach young people on their level in order to bring

them to a true understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that will transform

their lives. Furthermore, we strive to help them develop a real and personal

relationship with God. Our goal is to guide them along the path that leads to

them knowing God by experience, and not just by explanation. We desire

them to come to know that God speaks to them in prayer and through His

word, the Bible. Therefore, we emphasis the importance prayer and the

study of scripture has in ones life. We also make every effort to build Christ -

likeness in each individual, as well as in the group as a whole. Therefore, we

all work towards letting the Spirit teach us to be more humble and obedient

servants of our Lord, and to one another. Moreover, we aim to instill young

people with the knowledge and boldness to be able to live out and speak theGospel in their respective communities (i.e. schools, homes, sports teams,

etc.) in love. All and all, our goal is to guide our youth to becoming Christ-like

leaders, who in loving service, will live out the Gospel and impact the world

for Christ.


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Life and the Journey

Life is a journey of self-discovery, but it is not a journey we are meant to

make alone. As we enter into young adult life, this journey becomes more

hectic, stressful, inspiring, and in many ways fulfilling. To travel such a path

without a companion is very dangerous. Continuing the Journeywas written

for the very purpose of helping us along this path together. Our aim is to

move toward a better understanding of who we are in Christ. It is our hope

that coming together and applying a biblical perspective to the myriad of

issues that arise during this time in our lives will serve as a guiding light and

bring us all to better understanding of our call to ministry and our place in

the Church. The journey we are on is long and trying. But, as we walk

together under the guidance of the Holy Spirit we can find the direction,

hope, strength, love and community that is needed for us to see it through to

a fruitful completion.


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Sorting Through the Pieces

"Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle." - Lewis Carroll

The question, Who in the world am I? is a question that we seek everyday

to answer. Sometimes we like what we find, and sometimes we do not.

Whatever the case may be, it is a question needs to be addressed so we maybegin to discover who we are in Christ and our place in His kingdom.

However, the pieces to this puzzle are scattered and mixed with pieces that

do not fit. As people, we tend to define ourselves by many things; we tend to

look to our past, our achievements, our friendships, our culture, or our

church background to determine to ourselves who we are. In order to begin

to see an accurate picture of ourselves we need to sift through the pieces

and do away with the ones that do not belong.

Fill in the blank after each I am statement with something true that you

would use to define yourself.

1. I am _____________________________________________________2. I am_____________________________________________________3. I am_____________________________________________________4. I am_____________________________________________________5. I am_____________________________________________________


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6. I am_____________________________________________________7. I am_____________________________________________________8. I am_____________________________________________________9. I am_____________________________________________________10.I am_____________________________________________________

Take some time to look over your list. Read over each one carefully. Think,

and ask yourself why? Why have you listed these things? As you are

reflecting, consider this:

Now, using the same items from your first list, fill in the blanks below.

1. I am NOT_________________________________________________2. I am NOT_________________________________________________3. I am NOT_________________________________________________4. I am NOT_________________________________________________5. I am NOT_________________________________________________6. I am NOT_________________________________________________

I. I affirm that I am a finite physical

body.

My body is right here. It can't be

anywhere else. {I reflect on how my

body is feeling at the moment, e.g.,

tired, sore, full, hungry, or whatever.}My body is limited. It needs rest and

care. I can only do so many tasks at

once. I cannot meet everyone's

wishes. I cannot meet even my own

ambitions and desires. I am grateful

for the fact that I am not God. Only

God can meet all the needs that

surround me.

(Confess any idolatry.)


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7. I am NOT_________________________________________________8. I am NOT_________________________________________________9. I am NOT_________________________________________________10.I am NOT_________________________________________________

Read the list to yourself a few times. Is there anything in particular you have

a difficult time declaring you are not? Why is this?

We must come to the realization and acceptance that we are not our past hurts, ourfailures, or even our success. We are not our parents, our siblings, or our church

II. I affirm that I am a finite spirit.

A. Disregard all the potential idols ofyour soul.

I confess my idolatries and false

identities. I expose and invalidate all

the ways I have tried to find my

identity in the wrong way or have

tried to find my value in my roles and

functions and abilities. I affirm that I

am not defined by my abilities, myvirtues, or my vices. At my deepest

place, I am not my behaviors, my

feelings, my personality quirks, my

gifts and talents, my good or bad

choices. I am not defined by how I

perform or what other people think of

me.

At the core of my spirit, I am not a

father or a mother. I am not ahusband or a wife. I am not a

daughter or a son. I am not a friend. I

am not a student. I am not a kind

person. I am not an angry person. Im

not a.


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family. We are not who we say we are, and we are not who others say we are. We

are who Christ says we are. While this is liberating, it is also frightening.

Nevertheless, in Christ, we are new creatures, and therefore not defined by the

ways of old. Look at the pieces of your puzzle and sort through them some more.

As we continue on this journey, we will take some time to again sort through some

more pieces. Our aim is to grow in our understanding of God as well as ourselves,

so that we can be who He has destined us to be.

Affirm the reality of your souls true

identity.

I affirm the truth of my soul's true

identity. I am Gods beloved created

for union with Him. In my deepest

place, I am a naked spirit clothed in

the righteousness of Christ. I am

precious in God's eyes. From all

eternity, God calls me His beloved. He

holds me in an everlasting embrace.

III. Examine how you have been approaching God

Have I been praying to God as if He was a genie? Have I been praying to Godknow that He, too, has a will? Has my will alone been consulted? Have I been

using God as an idol to meet my needs? Have I been acknowledging him as if He

is the Good Shepherd of my life?

I have not been praying to you as if you were really here holding me in love all

day. I have not prayed to you as if you really love me as I am, your beloved. I

have not sought your will or relied on you; I have relied on myself again all

day.

Please forgive me for my idolatry. Help me to hide in your loving embrace and

seek your will and direction throughout the day. Help me become secure,

abiding in that loved place with you, that I may go out from here to love and

serve others without confusion about who I am or what you would have me do

Resolve to keep your heart and mind attentive to God. Align your will to His

will. Be receptive, silent, and still.


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In preparation for our next study please read Genesis chapter 3. Read the

narrative multiple times to get a feel for the story. Right down your

questions, thoughts, or reflections in the space below.

Consider this: What was Adam and Eves sin? What can this story tell you

about yourself?

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In the Mirror

The story of Adam and Eves fall in the Garden of Eden reveals more about humanity

that we realize. The traditional point of view taken with this story centers around

obedience and disobedience, and while this is important and should not be

overlooked, there is another issue needs to be examined. Instead of simply looking

at the story of Adam and Eve as two people who committed the first sin, we should

look at the account as our own personal failure to remain obedient to God.

Therefore, the focus should be more on the cause or motivation of the sin as

opposed to the action in and of itself.

The serpents appeal to Eve can serve to give us insight as to the reason behind her

consequential disobedience. Let us take a closer look at this.

Genesis 3:1-6 (taken from The Message): The serpent was

clever, more clever than any wild animal GOD had made.

He spoke to the Woman: "Do I understand that God told

you not to eat from any tree in the garden?" The Woman

said to the serpent, "Not at all. We can eat from the trees

in the garden. It's only about the tree in the middle of the

garden that God said, 'Don't eat from it; don't even touch

it or you'll die.'" The serpent told the Woman, "You won't

die. God knows that the moment you eat from that tree,

you'll see what's really going on. You'll be just like God,

knowing everything, ranging all the way from good toevil."When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good

eating and realized what she would get out of itshe'd

know everything!she took and ate the fruit and then

gave some to her husband, and he ate.


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After reading this passage over, what do you think was the cause for Adam and

Eves sin? Write your thoughts below. Be prepared to discuss.

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In his cunning, the serpent spoke in order to pervert her perspective. He

attempted first to get her to take her eyes off everything God had given her

and to focus on what she did not have. She understood that God had given

her more than she could use, she understood that his provision was eternally

sufficient; she knew she could eat of all the trees and plants of the garden

except for one. Consequently, he made his next appeal to Eve on the basis

that her disobedience would make her better that she would be just like

God. Seeing that he could not pervert her perspective of God, he worked to

pervert her perspective of herself.

The sad truth is that Adam and Eve were more like God than they could ever

be. After all, they were made in His image-likeness. However, once they took

their focus off who God had made them to be, and what He had blessed

them with and focused on what He did not give them they opened the door

for sin.

Ephesians 2:10 tells us that we are Gods masterpiece. The Greek word that

is translated is (po), from which we get our English word poem.Think about that for a second. You are Gods poem! Every stanza beautifully

constructed, every word carefully chosen. You are his masterpiece, his

wonderful work of art. Every color, shape, and image intimately designed,

and not a drop of paint wasted. God has created you, just as you are, and he

calls it beautiful. He has created you as to express his innermost passions and

desires to the world.

Unfortunately, we have a way of making what is beautiful into something

hideous. Our self-hated or arrogance ruin Gods masterpiece. We must strive

to submit ourselves to his will, and understand who we are before him so we

can have a proper perspective, otherwise, sin will be free to reign in our lives.

When we think of ourselves negatively, we are telling God that his work of

art is not pleasing to us. When we desire to be something that we are notbecause we are not happy with who we are, we subject ourselves to an


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existence of depression and self-loathing. We are not created for such an

existence. We are created to express Gods beauty, and that begins with

understanding that he has created us, and that we are beautiful.

Our passions, talents, and personalities are all gifts from God. In order to

begin to express his beauty we must acknowledge our giftedness for what it

is and embrace it.

In the space provided below, list your talents, passions, and personality

traits, then jot down a few ways you might be able to use them in ministry.

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Once you have finished filling in the space above, say a short prayer over it

asking God to help you see where you can use your gifts for his glory. When

we take an active approach to using our gifts to help the world in which we

live, we will find that we truly are beautiful.


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Walking Together

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being

rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lords holy

people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to

know this love that surpasses knowledgethat you may be filled to the measure of all

the fullness of God.-Ephesians 3:17-19

In lifes journey, it is crucial that we not walk alone. As a part of the body of

Christ, we are not, and never will be, lone rangers. Living like one is working

against what our Lord has set out to establish here on earth. It is easy,

especially as young adults, just coming in to our own, to live a life secure in

isolation. However, we must ask ourselves a simple question. Is that the

better choice? The easy road is not worth taking if we want to grow along the

way. Sure, we may reach the same destination: But will we be better for it?

Will we arrive knowing that we gave life our very best? Knowing that we

grew along the way? True growth comes when we tread the difficult path

together. We fight together (and at times, with one another), we crytogether, laugh together, and we grow together. In order to be what we have

the potential to become, we must allow ourselves to be challenged and loved

by one another.

Remember this: The strength of the Church is the Christian, and thestrength of the Christian is the Church.


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Migrating geese can teach us a lot about the value of community. Consider

this:

The next season, when you see the geese migrating, going to a warmer

place, to sort the winter...

Pay attention that they fly in a V formation. Maybe you will be interested

in knowing why they do it this way...

By flying in a V formation....

The whole flock increases the flight efficiency by 71%

Compared to just one bird flying alone

Lesson 1:

Sharing the same direction and working as a team, get us to the destination

quicker and easier. But not quickly, or easily. It still requires hard work!

However, when working together, the accomplishments are greater!

When a goose leaves the formation

He feels the resistance of the air and the difficulties of flying alone....

Then, he quickly comes back to the formation to take advantage of the

flocks power in front of him.

Lesson 2:

By staying in tune and united beside those who are going in the same

direction, the effort will be less. It will be easier and pleasing to reach the

goals, everyone will be inclined to accept and give help.


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When the leader goose gets tired of flying...

He goes to the end of the V formation, and another goose takes the lead.

Lesson 3:

To share the leadership,

There must be mutual respect between us all the time...

Sharing the hardest problems and tasks

Gathering our abilities and combining our faculties, talents and resources.

The geese flying on a V formation quack to encourage to the ones in the

front.

In that way, they keep the same speed.

Lesson 4:

When there is courage and encouragement, the progress is greater

A sincere and timely word of encouragement always motivates, helps, and

strengthens

It produces the best of benefits...

When a goose gets sick, is injured, or gets tired, and he must leave the

formation...

Other geese leave the formation too, and they fly with him to help him out

and protect him. They remain with him until he dies or he is able to fly again.

They reach their bevy or they just make another V formation.


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Lesson 5:

Lets stay beside each other no matter what the differences.

Especially in times of difficulty and great challenges

If we bond together and support each other

If we make true the spirit of teamwork

Regardless of our differences, we can rise to meet our challenges.

If we understand the real value of friendship

If we are aware of the feeling of sharing

Our load will be lighter

And the passing of years

More fulfilling

Only together can we rise above the clouds!

REACH Youth Ministries Pamphlet Draft

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