Front Porch to Back Seat Week #3

This past weekend we held some Bible studies to introduce True Love Waits (www.truelovewaits.com). Over 30 students signed a statement that they are committing their lives to sexual purity, which includes sexual abstinence until marriage. What a blessing! Remember these students as they face each day, that they will honor their covenant and seek to live a sexually pure life out of love and devotion to God.

Our series, From the Front Porch to the Back Seat, continues this week with the lesson "Single Ambition." This is a lesson that is focused on the person that is not called to the gift of singleness, but is still single, waiting on Mr. or Mrs. Right. We will be discussing four principles and looking at how to build character while waiting on the person God intends for you to marry.

The four principles are as follows:

1. Purity - live life like a Christian should.
2. Pray - show hope in God.
3. Patience - trust in God's plan and timing.
4. Purpose - have goals in life and honor God with them.

There are a number of things to do that can help build character, which will carry over into adulthood. Even as adults, married or not, these are some good tips to make sure that you are doing everything you can to honor God with every aspect of your life. Some ideas...

1. Do something you don't like.
2. Focus on a specific goal and achieve it.
3. Think about the "why's" in life.
4. Examine your speech.
5. Look at your motives behind actions.
6. Ask someone your respect what they think of you, and/or to list some of your weaknesses.

Another way to build character is to serve others. Our students will have the opportunity to give a day of their spring break to serve those in need through Matthew 25 Ministries. More details will follow soon, but circle April 13!!!

Front Porch to Back Seat, Week #2

If you are the parent of a teen, I am sure the topic of "I want a girlfriend" or "I want a boyfriend" has come up often! This week are looking at how both marriage and singleness are gifts, but also what differentiates the two from each other.

Our starting point this week begins in Genesis 2, with the creation of Eve. We will discern from here that God is in control over marriage, the timing of it, and our marriage partner. We will also discuss the fact that marriage is not the ultimate union a person can have. Rather, it our relationship and union with Christ, when we accept Him and become sealed by His blood, that is the ultimate union we can have. Everything else falls under this.

We will also be discussing the fact that Jesus was single. Being a mature man or woman in Christ is not defined by marriage, but by our relationship (read:union) with Christ. We all know plenty of immature married people, right? Lastly, we will be discussing how singleness is a gift from God, for the explicit purpose of serving God in total devotion. Check out 1 Corinthians 7:25-35. Try reading it aloud with your teen, and see what happens!

Our actions steps are to pray about how to handle life with or without a "significant other." The reality for Christians is that regardless, God is our focus! This begins by repenting for having the wrong attitude. We then pray to understand God's will for us regarding our future relationships. We then connect with the church, which is the bride of Christ.

My prayer, and the only reason I take time to write everything above, is for you to interact with your teen about this material. Even if only for a few minutes, your conversation can have a profound influence within the life of you child. I can still remember pretending not to listen or care about conversations like this with my parents. Guess what? I still remember them! And they have helped shape who I am as an adult, husband, and parent.

Blessings,

Chris

New Wednesday Night Series

We are beginning a new series tomorrow night! I will be updating this website each week in order to keep you informed of what we will be learning about. My prayer is that this will serve as talking points between you and your teen(s). I also wanted to fill you in on the reasoning behind teaching this series.

Our teens are bombarded constantly by the world, in everything from media to peers. Not all of this is bad. Some of it is. Typically, topics such as sex, dating, marriage, gender, divorce, and modesty are presented the wrong way. We will study these topics from a biblical perspective, because the only alternative is the non-biblical perspective, which our youth already receive daily. Not to worry, this will not be crass or inappropriate! This series will lay down a basic framework of what the Bible teaches, providing a way for our youth to answer the culture of our day as a Christian.

Our first week, as you can see above, is intended to discuss and develop a Christian worldview of human sexuality. The definition that we will work with is this: A worldview is a comprehensive view of life though which we think, understand, and judge, and which determines our approach to life and meaning. In examining the church at Corinth, we will conclude that human sexuality should be 3 things:

1. Committed - your soul and body are one, and what you do with one includes the other.

2. Complementary - two souls become one, as God designed it, within marriage.

3. Consecrated - we must always realize that our body belongs to God, and God alone.

I hope and pray that as we journey together through this series, a clear view of what the Bible teaches will influence the lives and behavior of our youth.

As always, if you have any questions, please let me know. cflora@hebronbaptist.org or 859.391.9103.

Chris