Students will understand the importance of authenticity, and realize that Jesus is more than just a person to call on in times of trouble. He is God in the flesh.

 

Divide your group into either two or four even teams. Have the members of each team stand in a line across one side of the playing field. Teams should stand directly across the playing field from one another, facing their own goals. Each team chooses a Goalie to catch balls with a trashcan. The Goalies need to stay within the designated end zone area but can move the target to catch the balls thrown by their team. Goalies cannot touch balls with their hands at any time. If a ball lands within a goalie’s zone, the Goalie puts it back into play by kicking it onto the playing field.

 

Give each team a ball and signal the start of the game. Players can move anywhere they want to (except end zones), block shots, grab balls away from their opponents, pass balls to their teammates, and shoot balls into their goals for points. The only thing they cannot do is move while they’re holding a ball. Instead, they must freeze where they are and try to pass the ball to a teammate. Players who run with the ball or enter any end zone must finish that round on their knees.

 

When a ball lands in a trashcan, it stays there until all the other balls are also out of play. Teams score five points per in their trashcan. Whoever has the most points wins the round. The teams return to their starting places along the perimeter of the playing field. The balls are retrieved, and each team gets one for the next round. The team who wins the most rounds wins the game. 

 

Play Chris Renzema’s “Not Finished Yet.”

 

Explain that “Not Finished Yet” highlights the process of transformation that God wants to do in and through us – to discover our true identity in Christ. Our identity is composed of many different aspects, one of which is our false self, rooted in the messages that the world gives us. So how about you? Do you know who you really are? Who is God calling you to be? What has He begun in you that is not finished yet?

 

Have you ever been placed in a situation that is beyond your control? In Matthew 6:24-30, Jesus calls us to a life of simplicity, to be free in Him. All He asks us to do is follow Him. Following Christ should be a life of simplicity and freedom, but we have made it so complicated. Pray that God will help you to focus on the day at hand as you follow Christ and not miss Him amid the busyness and details. He says that if we have the right relationship with Him, we will be truly free. If we walk in the truth and light, we will “be free indeed.” (John 8:36)

 

Read Matthew 4:19. When we hear the call to follow Christ, it is more than just a physical or mental decision to follow him. Jesus’ call was to follow a Rabbi. In Jewish culture, young men would study the law and the prophets. Then periodically have interviews with Rabbis to see if they had what it took to be Disciples. There were several stages that a young man would go through to see if he had “the right stuff.” If he passed the test, he would follow the Rabbi and take on his “yoke” or teaching. If he did not pass the test, he would be encouraged to take on the trade of his father. The fishermen that Jesus called on that shore in Galilee had failed the test. They were working in the trade of their fathers. So, when the Rabbi came by and said, “Follow me,” they left all to follow. They realized that He saw “the right stuff” within them.

 

In John 20:22, we see the resurrected Jesus talking with His disciples and giving them a blessed gift. He breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” This event was a down payment of what was going to happen at Pentecost. They were sealed and filled with the Holy Spirit at that moment, just as we are the moment we commit our lives to Christ. We have been liberated from the power and bondage of sin. Our relationship has been restored.

 

In John 21:19, Jesus again commands Peter by saying, “Follow me.” Apart from the Holy Spirit, we cannot follow Christ. We must inwardly be broken and surrender daily to the Spirit to fully follow Christ. We must allow the Holy Spirit to invade us. May Christ invade all that you endeavor in the coming year. Let the invasion begin and follow the one and true savior Jesus Christ.

 

God accepts us just as we are, but He is not content to leave us as He found us. He restores a relationship with us that was once closed by sin. He took the first step to reconcile us to Himself, and for the first time, through Christ, we can finally live a life that He created us to live. Remember, no matter what God is bringing you through, He is not finished with you yet!