I Shall Not Be In Want: 012313

I.                     Read Psalm 23

a.       Over the next few weeks we are going to work through this Psalm as a guide for us on how to survive and thrive in the middle.

b.      That is how to hold onto your faith in God and live in a way that changes you and your world for the better.

II.                 Game:  Go and Grab

a.       Student repeatedly goes back and grabs items and returns them, but never stops to enjoy them, they are never content with what they have, but always want more, because what they brought back only gives them temporary joy.

b.      One of the things that will cause you to fail in The Middle is “want”, that is never being content with what you have and seeking after more by yourself.

III.               How To Be Free Of Want

a.       Turn To The One Who Can Provide

                                                               i.      “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:19

                                                             ii.      If you are in need of something the best place to turn is to someone who:

1.      has the ability and power to give you what you need

2.      has the wisdom to know if what you want is good for your or not

3.      cares enough to give you what is best for you

                                                            iii.      Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want”

1.      First and foremost, you have to have Jesus as your shepherd, until he is you will always be in want

2.      Secondly, the verse means we will never have less than what is needed.  It means we shall not lack anything the Shepherd thinks is good for us.

3.      It is not talking about: I want this and this and this and because I am following Jesus he will give it to me, Jesus isn’t a magic credit card, he cares more about possessing you than what possessions you own.

b.      Learn To Be Content

                                                               i.      If you want to survive and thrive in the middle this verse tells us one of the keys is to learn to be content.

                                                             ii.      Allow God to define what you need in order to be content

1.      Philippians 4:11-13 – “¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

2.      What does it say you need?  God’s strength, you need God, nothing else, in order to be content

                                                            iii.      Everything else in this world promises contentment, but really only gives you momentary distraction.  If we have God we can have contentment even when everything else is bad.  But we have to make sure that good times don’t pull us away from God and thus make us loose our contentment

IV.              Application

a.       How many of you want to find contentment?  Let me pray with you.

011613: The Lord is My Shepherd

I.                    Read Psalm 23

a.       Over the next few weeks we are going to work through this Psalm as a guide for us on how to survive and thrive in the middle.

b.      That is how to hold onto your faith in God and live in a way that changes you and your world for the better.

c.       Today we are focusing on v. 1 “The Lord is my Shepherd.”

d.      This is the first action we can take to survive and thrive in the middle.

II.                 The Play

a.       Give a play to 6 people and have them act it out, no speaking except for their lines.

b.      In order for a play to be a success, each actor must know which role is theirs and actually do their part.

c.       In order for us to survive and thrive in the middle each of us as believers must know our role and actually do our part, otherwise it becomes a confusing mess and makes us want to no longer be in the play.

III.               Psalm 23:1

a.       v. 1 gives us our role and God’s role – He is the shepherd, we are the sheep

b.      The role of the shepherd is to lead and protect the sheep.

c.       The role of the sheep is to allow the shepherd to lead and protect them.

                                                              i.      If a sheep leads herself, she’ll get lost and may cause others to be led astray too

                                                            ii.      If a sheep protects himself, he’ll end up dead because he doesn’t have the strength to stand against his attackers.

IV.              Conclusion

a.       God is willing to lead and protect you, but are you willing to let Him?

b.      Letting Him lead and protect means:

                                                              i.      Staying close to Him

                                                            ii.      Trust (His way, not ours is best)

                                                          iii.      Submission, “yielding to his lead” (if he tells you to give up something or to start doing something, you obey even if it is difficult)

c.       Ask if anyone wants to say tonight, “Jesus be my shepherd, help protect and guide me, I give control over to you.”

The Middle #1: 010913

I.                    Themes

a.       Every year I pray and ask God for a theme for our youth group for the year. 

b.      Previous Themes: The complete life, No compromise, It matters, Under the surface, A single drop, Signs, Complicated, Clarity, Markers

c.       This year as I was praying I got the impression that the theme of the year should be, “The middle.”  I was surprised by this and I asked God if maybe he meant, “The center.”  Like we need to be focusing on the center, our relationship with God.  But I was told no, “The middle.”  As I pondered what this mean the first thought that went in my head was that of a baseball game, in which the pitcher would throw the ball down the middle to get a strike, but it was also the point at which the batter had the best chance of hitting the ball for a homerun.  There was risk, but also reward in “the middle.” 

II.                 The Beginning

a.       The beginning is when we get saved.  It is the start of something great.  The beginning is great, there is so much hope and optimism.  We think we can conquer the world.  Our sins are forgiven, our load is lightened, and we are ready to win.  But then we hit the middle.

III.               The Middle

a.       Life is difficult in the middle.  It is a place of danger, hurt, loneliness, grief, and pain.  We often get lost in the middle.  The middle is when we are challenged in our faith, when doubts creep in, when many give up and no longer follow God.  The middle is where bad things happen, where people lose hope.

b.      Yet in the middle, where the greatest risk is, where life may be the worst it can be, that is when the greatest reward is too.  It is in that time when you can grow the most, it is in that time when you can have more faith, it is during that time when you can find the most victory.  But only if we learn to trust, that is the only way we can survive our time in “the middle.”

IV.              Jairus in the Middle

a.       Mark 5: 21-24, 35-36 – “21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet 23 and pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.  A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 

b.      A woman approaches and touches Jesus at this time, which causes her to be healed, but this takes time with Jesus speaking to her.

V.                 Success in the Middle

a.       35 While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher any more?” 36 Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

b.      In the middle Jairus finds himself with no hope, his daughter is dead.  There is no reason to believe in Jesus any more, there is no reason to trust, there is only despair.  But what does Jesus ask him to do in this situation?  Don’t be afraid, just believe.  He asks for trust, even though there was no real reason to trust.  He asks them to push aside fear, even though that is what they feel.  He goes to the house and raises Jairus’ daughter from the dead.

c.       You see even in the darkness of “the middle” there is light because Jesus is there.  Are you living in “the middle?”  “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”