The Covenant Revealed 

High School Youth Group
For the week of March 29th, 2015

This Week's Topic
" Faith Revealed"

Theme Verse

"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." Hebrews 11:1-3

This week we conclude our "revealed" series as we see how God's main purpose of revealing himself is to draw us towards himself in faith and empower us to live our faith out in our day to day lives. I pray that as your family goes through this week's conversations that you will encounter God and be empowered to live your faith. 

Day 1 
Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-3

1. What was your high and low today?
2. Read the scripture passage together
3. What stands out to you about the definition of faith given here?
4. Why is faith important? 
5. How are faith and trust similar?
6. How might this passage impact your life? 
7. Pray for each other

Day 2
Scripture: Hebrews 11:4-12

1. What was your high and low today? 
2. Read the scripture passage together
3. What stands out to you about the faith of Enoch, Noah, and Abraham? 
4. What do their lives teach you about faith? 
5. How might this passage impact your life
6. Pray for each other 

Day 3 
Scripture: Hebrews 11:17-31

1. What was your high and low today? 
2. Read the scripture passage together.
3. What stands out to you about the faith of these people? 
4. What do their lives teach you about faith? 
5. How might this passage impact your life? 
6. Pray for each other  

Day 4

Scripture 11:13-16, 32-40

1. What was your high and low today? 
2. Read the scripture passage together. 
3. What do you think the author is referring when she writes "a better country"?
4. What stands out to you about the faith of the people talked about in Hebrews 11:32-38?
5. What do these verses teach you about faith and in what we are hoping for? 
6. How might this passage impact your life? 
7. Pray for each other

For questions or comments, email Steven Johnson at Steven@gslcirvine.org

The Covenant Revealed 

High School Youth Group
For the week of March 22nd, 2015

This Week's Topic
" The Covenant Revealed"

"This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people." - Hebrews 8:10

This week we focus on how God reveals himself through making promises, or covenants, with his people. The old covenant of the law could not redeem God's people, because it required humans to make sacrifices for their own sins and the sins of the people of God. Christ comes as the prefect high priest, who being prefect, was offered once for all sins. Through Christ's sacrifice and resurrection, God overcomes sin and death. God's action of redemption moves humanity from death into life. 
While we are still sinners, we have been redeemed. Christ's new covenant should move us from death towards life. This week, we will discuss how God's new covenant can be transformational. 

Day 1 
Scripture: Hebrews 7:20-28

1. What was your high and low today?
2. Read the scripture passage together
3. Why were the human high priest not able to redeem us? 
4. How was Jesus different from the other high priests? 
5. What does this passage teach you about God? 
6. How might this passage impact your life? 
7. Pray for each other

Day 2
Scripture: Hebrews 8:1-6

1. What was your high and low today? 
2. Read the scripture passage together
3. Moses built a tabernacle, or temple, that was used to offer sacrifices in by human priest. What does Hebrews 8:1-6 tell us about the tabernacle Jesus serves in?
4. What does this passage teach you about Christ?
5. What does this passage teach you about Christ's sacrifice? 
6. How might this passage impact your life
7. Pray for each other 

Day 3 
Scripture: Hebrews 8:7-13

1. What was your high and low today? 
2. Read the scripture passage together.
3. According to this passage, why did God make a new covenant with us? 
4. What are some characteristics of the new covenant? 
5. What does this passage teach you about God? 
6. How might passage impact your life? 
7. Pray for each other  

Day 4

1. What was your high and low today? 
2. Watch the following video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CbbNv8O-Ww
3. What does video reveal to you about God's grace? 
4. What does this video teach you about God? 
5. How might the message of this video impact your life? 
6. Pray for each other

For questions or comments, email Steven Johnson at Steven@gslcirvine.org

Rest Revealed

Rest Revealed

High School Youth Group
For the week of March 15th, 2015

This Week's Topic
" Rest Revealed"

" ⁹ There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰ for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. ¹¹ Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience."
Hebrews 4:9-11

Hebrews 4 seems to promise "rest" for those who trust in God, but I have struggled this week to try to discover how teens can find true rest within today's culture. The question we will deal with this week is how can teens find "rest" when their worth is largely determined by their performance?

Hebrews 4 shows us that "rest" can only come from trust in God's promises and intentional sabbath rest from work. I will encourage students to work within their gifting and calling, not out of other people's callings or expectations for their life.

"I will not let the awkward disappointment of others keep me from my best yes appointments with God” – Lysa Terkeurst.

This is a message that comes deeply from my heart after multiple conversations with kids and parents in the last week who have voiced to me the stress and pressure they feel. Studies like this one and this one show that teens and parents feel more pressure and stress than  previous generations. As I worked on this message, I became more and more sure that the best thing we can do for our teens is to not teach them to say, "yes" but how to say "no" - so that they might fulfill God's best yes for them.

If you are a parent that feels this emotional stress as well or has concerns around this topic, I would love to start or continue a conversation with you. My hope is to partner with you as you work with God and our community to raise your teen in the faith.

Through this weeks family devotions, I pray that God shows you more rest and he leads you to discover how rest can become a normal part of your daily practices of faith.

Day 1
Scripture: Hebrews 3:7-19

1. What was your high and low today?
2. Read the scripture passage together.
3. According to this passage, what is the result of hardening one's heart? 
4. The rest that the author of Hebrews is talking about is not only rest for Israel in the promise land, but also eternal rest in the Kingdom of God. What impact does disobedience have on our ability to find rest in this world and in eternity?
5. Why do you think the author commands us to encourage each other? What does encouragement have to do with rest? 
6. What did God teach you about himself today? 
7. How will this passage affect how you rest this week?
8. Pray for each other

Day 2
Scripture: Hebrews 4:1-5

1. What was your high and low today? 
2. Read the scripture passage together.
3. What is the "promise" that the author is talking about in this verse?
4. What role does trusting in God's promises play in us entering into God's rest? 
5. What does this passage tell us about the importance of rest? 
6. How will this passage affect how you rest this week? 
7. Pray for each other

Day 3
Scripture: Hebrews 4:6-13

1. What was your high and low today? 
2. Read the scripture passage together.
3. What role does "today" play in hearing God's voice of rest? 
4. What might it look like to have Sabbath-rest in today's fast paced, over stressed world? 
5. What do you think the author meant when he said, we have to work to rest? 
6. How will this passage affect how you rest this week? 
7. Pray for each other 

Day 4
Scripture: Hebrews 4:14-15

1. What was your high and low today?
2. Read the scripture passage together. 
3. What does this text tell us about the Son, our high priest? 
4. Do you think it was easy for Jesus to find rest? 
5. What does this text tell us about Jesus's temptation around rest? 
6. How will this passage affect how you rest this week?
7. Pray for each other

For questions or comments, email Steven Johnson at Steven@gslcirvine.org

The Son Revealed

High School Youth Group
For the week of March 8th, 2015

This Week's Topic
"The Son Revealed"

" The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word."
Hebrews 1:3

This week we turn our attention to how God reveals himself through his Son, Jesus. We will discover that the Son reveals the heart of God. From this point, we then will ask the question: if we are Christians, what is our role in revealing the Son?

Through this weeks family devotions, I pray that God shows you more about who the Son is and how he calls you to reveal his Son through your daily actions.

Day 1
Scripture: Hebrews 1:1-3

1. What was your high and low this week?
2. Read the scripture passage together.
3. How does God speak to us now? 
4. What does this text teach us about the Son of God? 
5. What is God teaching you through this text? 
6. How might this text be transformational for how you live your life?
7. Pray for each other

Day 2
Scripture: Hebrews 1:4-14

1. What was your high and low today? 
2. Read the scripture passage together.
3. What does this text teach you about angels? 
4. What does this text teach you about God's Son? 
5. Why does it matter that God's Son is superior to angels?
6. How might this text be transformational for how you live your life?
7. Pray for each other

Day 3
Scripture: Hebrews 2:1-4

1. What was your high and low today? 
2. Read the scripture passage together.
3. Why do you think the writer of Hebrews warns us to pay careful attention to what we hear and believe? 
4. How else does God testify to us? 
5. What does this passage tell us about why God might give us gifts? 
6. How might this text be transformational for how you live your life?
7. Pray for each other 

Day 4
Scripture: Hebrews 3:1-6

1. What was your high and low today?
2. Read the scripture passage together. 
3. What does this text teach us about how God worked through Moses? 
4. What does this text teach us about God's Son? 
5. How might this text be transformational for how you live your life?
6. Pray for each other

For questions or comments, email Steven Johnson at Steven@gslcirvine.org

High School Youth Group
For the week of March 1st, 2015

This Week's Topic
"God Revealed"

" For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. "
Titus 2:11

This week in group we will focus on who God is and how he reveals himself as creator, trinity, and love. 

Join us an look at the small, but powerful book of Titus as Paul encourages a leader to remind a community about our God of love and grace that came to redeem them and calls them to live in community in a way that honors and worships God.


Day 1
Scripture: Titus 1:5-9

1. What was your high and low this week?
2. Read the scripture passage together
3. Why did Paul leave Titus in Crete? 
4. Why are elders important to making sure faith is passed on to others?
5. What is God teaching you through this text? 
6. Pray for each other

Day 2
Scripture: Titus 2:11-15

1. What was your high and low today? 
2. Read the scripture passage together
3. What does salvation teach us? 
4. According to this passage, why did Jesus give himself for us? 
5. What did God teach you about salvation?
6. How might this learning impact your life this week?
7. Pray for each other

Day 3
Scripture: Titus 3:3-8

1. What was your high and low today? 
2. Read the scripture passage together
3. How does Paul explain life before faith? Do you agree with his explanation or not? Why, or why not?
4. Reread Titus 3:4-8 and try to summarize the gospel in your own words? 
5. What difference has the gospel made in your daily life? 
6. What did God teach you about himself today?  
7. Pray for each other 

Day 4
Scripture: Titus 3:9-11

1. What was your high and low today?
2. Read the scripture passage together
3. Why do you think Paul would want Christians to avoid these things? 
4. What does this passage teach you about God's vision for Christian community? 
5. What did God teach you about his community called the church? 
6. Pray for each other

For questions or comments, email Steven Johnson at Steven@gslcirvine.org

High School Youth Group
February 8th, 2015

This Week's Topic
"In Weakness We Find Strength "

" But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me."
2 Corinthians 12:9


For many, their weaknesses plague them, but scripture tells us that God can redeem our weaknesses and use it for his glory. Through conversations, this week we invite you to discover how God is redeeming and working in your weaknesses.



Day 1
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 11:30-31

1. What was your high and low this week?
2. Read the scripture passage together
3. Why might it seem weird that Paul is willing to boast in his weakness? 
4. What does this show us about our weakness? 
5. What is God teaching you through this text? 
6. Pray for each other

Day 2
Scripture 2 Corinthians 11:32-33

1. What was your high and low today? 
2. Read the scripture passage together
3. How do you think Paul felt when he was almost arrest for his faith? 
4. How did God protect Paul from being arrested? 
5. What does this tell you about how God works in the world?
6. Pray for each other

Day 3
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:1-5

1. What was your high and low today? 
2. Read the scripture passage together
3. God did many great things through Paul, yet he boasts about what God is doing in the lives of others. Why do you think Paul did this? 
4. How is Paul working to redefine how we think about our weaknesses? 
5. What is God showing you about your weakness? 
6. Pray for each other 

Day 4
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:6-10

1. What was your high and low today?
2. Read the scripture passage together
3. Why do you think God would allow Paul to have a "thorn in his flesh"? 
4. What did God show Paul about his grace in weakness? 
5. What is God showing you about your own weakness? 
6. Pray for each other

For questions or comments, email Steven Johnson at Steven@gslcirvine.org

High School Youth Group
February 13th - 16th

This Week's Topic
HSM Winter Camp

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Matthew 25:40

This week at camp, we will focus on what God did for us, how he shapes us in community, and then how he empowers and sends us out to serve his Kingdom.

Questions to help process camp with your teen:

1. Tell me about one of your camp highs? 
2. What is one thing that Megan talked about that stood out to you? 
3. What is one thing that Steven, or another morning speaker, said that stood out to you? 
4. How did God impact your life through your camp experience? 
5. How will your life now be different? 
6. How can I pray for you as you transition down the mountain?