rebel life: purity

We continued our Rebel Life series last night, after an unscheduled break last week. I started out talking about the expectation (spoken or unspoken) for the students to engage in sexual activity. The messages are out there everywhere, from TV to billboards to school. But just because there is a growing trend and expectation placed upon them, we know that God has something different to say.

For each week of the Rebel Life series, we will be looking at the story of one individual in the Bible who showed the ability to rebel against expectations, opportunity, and temptations. Last night, we talked about Joseph and read his story from Genesis 39:1-10. We saw how he had the chance to do what a lot of young men would have liked to have done, but as he said, he refused to sin against God that way. We talked about how God wants to see us rebelling against the world's expectations of us in this area, as well.

Then we looked at what God had to say about fornication. I even explained that word, although I suggested that they shouldn't try to work their new vocabulary word into conversation, because there aren't really a lot of good opportunities for that. We read Acts 15:28-29 and 1 Corinthians 6:18-20, to see what He had to say. Obviously, He's against all forms of sexual impurity.

We ended with a time of challenge. I made commitment cards for them to take if they would like. I asked them to consider signing a card making a statement of purity. I'm not naive enough to believe that everyone in the group has maintained purity to this point, so I addressed that, too, explaining that at this point, what's done is done. I let them know that if they have asked forgiveness, than God has forgiven. He isn't worried about your past; He wants to do something with your future. Below is a picture of the card that was printed. Each student got a sticker version for their Bible, and a card stock version that was turned back into me. That will be laminated and given back to them.

Attendance
Students: 32
Adult Leaders: 14

Game/Activity
Hug the pot holder. I can't tell you everything about it, because we had enough people on spring break that I want to use it again.