Welcome to what is our 22nd weekly online youth lesson for Port Ann Wesleyan Church. This started as a way to stay connected each Wednesday when we were unable to meet in person on Wednesdays.
While we are now meeting again on Wednesdays from 7-8:15 p.m., it is nice having an online version for those unable to make it for whatever reason, and as a reminder/support for the lesson for those who were in attendance. To check out the list of previous sessions, click here.
We will start this week off with a song we have used quite a bit, but continues to pack a punch as we navigate such an uncertain time …
Prayer needs continue for so many big situations. Trina Eia is facing a big decision concerning her cancer’s regrowth. Surgery is now on the table, but she is not sure she wants to take that route.
Sally Sheets is getting her newest regimen of cancer treatments today, and her routine has included additional treatments at home and usually a period of physical struggle by the late weekend. Please continue to pray for her, Pastor Paul, Sherilyn and the entire family.
Pat Mitchell is facing a biopsy on Sept. 10. Dave Dillman (Holly’s dad) got through his surgery on Friday, but the recovery looks like it will be more than expected. Tim Walls (Austin’s dad) is looking for a new job. The ongoing COVID pandemic continues to leave more questions than answers, especially with school starting soon.
There are so many other requests. If you have specific ones you’d like to share with the group, send an email to zaktansky@gmail.com
Growing up, a game I used to like to play involved getting around our farmhouse living room without touching the floor. I’d jump from couch to recliner, shimmy across our large window sills, hop across one of our ancient radiator vents and do anything else necessary to keep from touching the floor. I’d pause and enjoy the safety provided by each element before moving on to the next piece.
The game didn’t have a name to me, but many others have done a similar activity and called it some variation of “Floor is Lava.” Netflix recently took the idea to extreme measures in a goofy “reality” competition called “Floor is Lava.” The trailer for the show:
That game comes to mind especially during this pandemic. Doesn’t COVID feel like we are all trying to navigate through some sort of lava-filled obstacle course, where we desperately hold onto the security of what we knew before, debate whether or not to leap forward and endure quite a bit of anxiety in the process?
For many in our group, public school is starting Monday. For others, the inevitable isn’t far behind. Each day, it seems, changes are happening as far as what to expect when we go back — the most recent is that masks will be required pretty much most of the day.
The only certainty is uncertainty, which breeds anxiety. Thankfully, God provides concrete truth on which we can stand in uncertain times. He is the answer to the madness, and as believers, we carry Him with us via the Holy Spirit. In the midst of a storm, He provides the tools you need to pull through.
Just this week while driving and mentally trying to debate how to handle a work-related issue connected to the COVID situation, a song came on the radio that I had not heard before. It’s called “Into the Sea,” performed by contemporary Christian newcomer Tasha Layton, and it was the immediate reminder I needed that everything was going to be OK. Over the past couple days, it has become one of my new favorite songs. Here is a version with the singer’s personal testimony behind the song:
For those who’d like the lyrics, here is a version that offers them:
The song offered a reminder to me that no matter what happens, it truly is going to be OK. We may not understand what we are going through, but it fits into God’s bigger puzzle of His plans. It provided an important landing spot in the mental game of “Floor is Lava” I was playing at that moment. I pray it does the same for you.
In fact, God provides numerous “safe” zones for us to stand firm on when all else feels like it is falling away. He provides His Word, full of truths we can carry with us. In fact, h
ere are a number of verses you can cling close to as you walk into the uncertainty of the coming school year:
Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Matthew 6:25-32 NIV
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you-you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
Philippians 4:13-14 NIV
I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.
Hebrews 13:6-7 NIV
So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.
Joshua 1:9 NIV
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
1 Peter 5:10 NIV
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
John 14:27-28 NIV
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
2 Timothy 1:7-8 NIV
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.
Psalm 55:22 NIV
Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.
Matthew 6:34 NIV
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
John 14:1-4 NIV
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Psalm 34:14-15 NIV
Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry.
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
We gave out small notebooks to each person at the in-person youth group tonight, encouraging the youth to take the time to write each of these verses on a different page, taking time to think about what the verse means to them and how it can be helpful when things feel out of control. This can be done one verse a day, sort of like a devotional, or all at once, but taking the time to hand-write the verse helps us better analyze and memorize it. Then, these notebooks can be taken to school as a reminder of God’s truths. Youth are encouraged to journal their experiences as they return in these notebooks.
Next Wednesday, we will give the Midd-West students a chance to share what the first few days were like for them, share a time of prayer, and then have a fun game/snack night. We are asking all youth to bring a snack to share, a favorite board game and a friend (not necessarily in that order) as we create a safe place to decompress and offer fellowship together.
Final song for today is another by Tasha Layton, which touches more on today’s topic:
