Teens Experience God

Teens Experience God

“1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1-2,14

Intro: Hannah really likes sunflowers so she planted several of them at the beginning of spring. Two of her sunflowers grew were very tall and gangly and looked like they would fall over. She put a stake next to them, but that did not seem to help. As she watched over them the next few weeks she could see that they began to grow together to support each other, and they grew very thick stems (thicker than the bamboo stake she used to support them).

Hannah thought that this is what it is like in our Christian walks, we will go through tough times, but if we cling to Jesus and we cling to each other we find strength to stand tall.

Another one of Hannah’s sunflowers had been planted next to a tree, but sadly had fallen over, you would have thought that it would have wilted and died, but it didn't! It started to grow roots out of the stalk along where the stem had fallen over and touched the ground.

Hannah thought this was a another good example of how we shouldn't give up, even if we feel as if we have 'fallen', we should still keep going.

Let me ask you…, Where Have You Experienced God?

Today we are going to talk about "Teens Experience God."

(In the Second Service) We have a wonderful group of teens who will make a confirmation of their faith.

Have you ever been handed a stack of forms and told to read and sign them at the bottom?

Did you understand all of the words?

Did you feel helpless?

Maybe a little stupid because you were agreeing to something,

when in reality you did not know exactly what you were signing?

We have all felt that way.

In Church we use terminology like: Liturgy, Hermeneutics, Eschatology, Even words like Justification, Sanctification, Prevenient Grace, Faith, Sin.

The word Confirmation seems confusing. By the time you understand what it means you are ready to be confirmed.

We need to boost our vocabulary in church. Even words like baptism, communion and confirmation need to be discussed and talked about so that these powerful words stay fresh and meaningful.

So first we are going to talk about what Confirmation means. Confirmation is a continuation…, of what God started

the first time…, that you became aware…, that you had an experience with God.

Teens confirm the vows of baptism that we made by their parents/guardians or God parents that were made on their behalf as in infant or early baptism.

The church also renews the vows it made and reaffirms to love, teach, and encourage the teen in the communal setting of the church.

The teen publicly professes personal faith and make the commitment to be faithful stewards of their time, talents, gifts and service in the body of Christ and out into the world.

Most things in our faith are not a one and done deal. Our spiritual life is a process is a continuation of our growing. Faith can not stay the same throughout the rest of your life.

We are either growing closer to God or we are moving farther away from God. There is very little room for standing still or sitting on the fence.

When Dominik was eight years old his mother became a Christian and joined the church. From that time forward he went to Youth Group and church had lots of fellowship with other Christians. As Dominik grew into a teen he read the Bible and sought God more and more. With this faith and strength Dominik thought that he had won the battle over Satan and sin. However, he soon realized that the battle had only just begun. Now Satan really had a reason to attack Dominik.

Suddenly worldly things became appealing. Listening to non-Christian music, hanging out with non-Christian friends was just the beginning. At age 14 Dominik fell in love with a sophomore girl in high school. Soon he preferred being with her more than being with his Christian friends.

He stopped going to the church on Sunday Morning because he stayed out too late Saturday nights. Then he stopped going to youth group all together.

From then on he started drinking, got drunk and smoked marijuana. A short time later he lost his virginity to his more experienced girlfriend. After that it seemed like everything went awry. His girlfriend dumped him for an older guy with a car.