4 weeks through Revelation 3 helping students stuck in a place of spiritual apathy get unstuck. In a world that’s grown increasingly complicated around us, it can be extraordinarily difficult for teenagers to decide where they stand and how to navigate. They want to be liked. They want to be kind. They want to be truthful. They maybe even want to honor God! And since it can be pretty tricky to figure out how to be all of those things simultaneously, maybe teenager just get stuck in neutral when it comes to living out their faith. But God wants more for us than lukewarm, passionless faith. And the gospel helps us discover those places of passion.
Video Messages Included
Intro: Indecision is a hard thing to be stuck in, and yet some of us operate pretty indecisively when it comes to living out our faith. We don’t really drive anything forward or push anything back because we don’t really stand for anything.
Truth: But when Jesus called out the Laodiceans for being lukewarm, He showed us a picture of what a believer’s stance should be on all matters of culture we have to navigate. The Laodiceans were about to be spit out by Jesus because a true believer is consumed by Jesus.
The Point: To be a believer is to be consumed by Jesus.
Intro: Being lukewarm leaves us with a pretty uninspiring version of Christianity—one where what we do or say changes, but not really who we are.
Truth: But when Jesus continued His rebuke to the Laodiceans, He shared how placing their passionate pursuit of Him first and foremost would change them, and not simply their circumstances or status. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying and pursuing the things life has to offer, but spiritual success takes us a lot farther than any other form of success will.
The Point: Who you are matters more than what you do or achieve.
Intro: Parents are great and all, but they can be a bit confrontational. That’s why having friends is so nice, and why it sometimes feels like it might be nice to have a non-confrontational belief system to follow—one that doesn’t challenge or push you to do better and be better.
Truth: But when Jesus continued His response to the Laodiceans, He was clear that His confrontation was out of love. And He not only demonstrated that the Laodiceans were loved like a parent, He also showed that they were loved like a friend in the context of the gospel. And that is plenty motivation to turn away from their complacency and pursue their faith with passion.
The Point: In the gospel, you experience both friend and Father in full.
Intro: Some of you haven’t experienced much of God on a personal level, and that’s made you hesitant to boldly live out your faith!
Truth: But Jesus showed us the path toward a more personal connection with God when He reminded the Laodiceans to listen to the voice of the Spirit! Every believer has the Spirit of God living inside of us, and when we get into the habit of listening for the Spirit’s voice as we go throughout our everyday lives, we’ll discover a much more personal and passionate faith!
The Point: The voice of the Spirit sparks passion when you hear it.