High School / Calvary Church

This week we will be studying Ephesians 2:1-10, where we will see who we were, what God did and who he is making us to be. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are God’s workmanship, that God has created each one of us in a special way to serve others. We were not created to conform, compromise or compete, we were created to contribute to the work that God is dong in our world.

So many times in our lives, we think that so much is just random, a lucky or unlucky string of circumstances. This week as we dig into Esther 5-8, we will see that while God is never mentioned, there is no doubt that God is working behind the scenes, even when we think it is just coincidence. We believe that this is not only true in Esther, but in our lives as well. While it may be hard to see or understand at times, God is in control and working all things out for our good and his glory.

This week we reach the decisive moment in the book of Esther! The Jewish people are set to be destroyed as a result of Haman’s evil plan and with the Jews in mourning, Mordecai turns to their only hope, the new queen, Esther. Esther is anxious, she still hiding her Jewish identity and has fallen out of favor with the king, she would be risking her life by approaching the king on behalf of God’s people. Even though it didn’t make sense at the time, perhaps God has put Esther in just the right place at just the right time, to save her people. Esther is scared, she feels inadequate, but we will see that God is still working, even when we feel that we aren’t enough.

God is still working even when all hope seems lost

In our lives we often have times when we can’t see God, don’t feel him, don’t know if he really cares or is in control of our lives. Life can feel like a collection of random circumstances and coincidences that lead us to ask, is God really there? The book of Esther in the Old Testament is a true story that addresses those moments in life. Esther is the only book in the entire bible that doesn’t mention God’s name, but there is no doubt that God is working behind the scenes to bring about his purposes and save his people.

In Philippians 2, Paul tells us that we should “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” This goes against our sinful nature, but we should look to Jesus as our example of serving others. We want to challenge students to find practical ways that they can serve others in humility and love.

Feet are not usually known as being beautiful, but in Romans 10, Paul tells us “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” We are all called to go out into the world to preach the good news of Jesus, so people can hear, believe and call out to God.

Session 4: Sunday Morning

Session 2: Saturday Morning

Session 3: Saturday Evening

Session 1: Friday Evening

God’s glory is the sum total of his attributes on display, it is who God is. God created us for his glory, to show who he is to others. That is why when we seek glory for ourselves, through the approval of others, we are always left feeling empty and unsatisfied. Revelation gives us a glimpse of what will happen when God’s glory is fully restored and we will see it and experience it in heaven. This week we will see that we are all created for God’s glory and that we are most satisfied when God is most glorified.

Getting Ready for the Return of Jesus

Hope in Revelation

This week as we look at the The Incarnation we want to turn the focus from God sending Jesus to us, to Jesus sending us into the world. Jesus was God with us, sent to our world to show us who God was and restore our relationship with God. When Jesus left the earth, he gave his followers that same mission, to go into the world and be a part of God’s reconciliation work in creation. 1 John tells us that Jesus came to us full of grace and truth and 2 Corinthians 5 tells us that we have now been entrusted with the ministry and message of the Gospel. We are all ambassadors of Jesus, pointing others to Jesus in grace and truth.

At Christmas time we celebrate the coming of Jesus, God who came down as a human and lived with us. In John 1, he describes it as God become flesh, the latin word for this is The Incarnation. This week we will discover the significance of God with us and see that the Christian gospel is that we are so broken, that Jesus had to come to earth to die for us, yet we are so loved that he was glad to do it. The Incarnation is both humbling and comforting, that God so loved us that he sent his son.

This week is the end of our study through 1 Corinthians and as we look to summarize our series on making Wise Choices, we will focus on love. Love is central to what it means to be human, but it is not always easy to define in our world today. The Bible tells us that love isn’t just a concept to be defined, but it is an action that must be demonstrated. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul tells us that love must be the motivation for every choice we make. No matter what great things we achieve in life, without love they are meaningless. Loving others doesn’t come naturally to us, that is why we need Jesus as our example and source of love so that we can love others as he has loved us.

This week we get to hear from Dwight Shelly as we continue to study 1 Corinthians in our Wise Choices series. Dwight has recently returned to the states from working at Hillcrest School in Nigeria and we are so excited to have him come share with us from 1 Corinthians 9:19-27. We know that everyone is living for something and it can be so easy for us to think that the whole world revolves around us. Paul challenges the Corinthians with his own life, that we should not be living for ourselves. Instead, we should be willing to give up what we want, to build relationships and preach the gospel, so that we could save some.

This week in our Wise Choices series, we dive into 1 Corinthians 8. The church in Corinth was wrestling with a food issue, whether or not they should be eating food sacrificed to idols. While that might not be a problem in our church today, there are many moral areas where Christians disagree on what is right and what is wrong. How do we make decisions when the answer isn’t always black and white? In chapter 8 Paul gives us a framework for how we can Choose Intentionally when it comes to these difficult decisions, and how as mature Christians, we are free to give up our freedoms to help others. As we make choices we want to fall back on Jesus’ command to love God and love others in all that we think, do and say.

This week we are looking at 1 Corinthians 3:1-23 as we continue in our series learning how to make Wise Choices. It is not hard to see that we live in a divisive world! Politics, nationality, race, even what sports team you support, these are all issues that deeply divide us. It can be so easy for divisions to creep into the church as well and Paul warns us against this. We want students to Choose Unity in Christ so we can show God’s love to others in a divided world.