We had a great turnout for small groups last night – I had wondered if our upcoming MAD Man Unplugged weekend would impact attendance, but it didn’t seem to at all.  If you’re wondering, I try to do these weekly updates as part informational, and part resource for parents – if you are a parent of one of the students participating, you can follow my blog to know what all we’re studying as well as some follow up questions you can use to continue the conversation at home!  Mostly it’s a way for me to debrief the night, as well as give everyone out there an idea of what we’re doing!

The middle school students covered the ‘Board Game’ lesson from SYM’s Active Bible Studies.  It was a BLAST!  Basically, we took posterboards (see the picture above; that’s a giant dice, not a tiny board game), split up into our groups and used various craft supplies to create unique board games based on Bible passages we choose.  This took most of the night, and at the end we gathered the middle school groups back up to explain their games to the rest of the groups.  This was a GREAT activity for a few reasons; it made the Bible FUN, gave energy to the scriptures, kids had to read through the passage to find elements to include in the game, and we got really familiar with our passages!  If you’re a parent of a middle schooler, this is a great family activity!  Pick out a passage, read it together and create a game.  It’s amazing what your kids will come up with!  And then make sure you play it together!

The high school small groups were in the second week of a four week study entitled ‘The Law and the Prophets,’ from the Live Curriculum (a great four year high school small group resource), a small group series focused on the Old Testament Law and the Prophets.  This week we learned the Ten Commandments were given as a standard to expose our sin. While God exposed our sin with the Law, God provided a way to give us right standing through Jesus’ sacrifice. Because this is a free gift, we no longer have to play the comparison game; there is no need to compare who is best at keeping the Law.  Each week, we encourage you to spend time with your son/daughter talking about what was discussed in small group. Here are some suggested questions that could help guide your conversation:

• What are the benefits of having rules?
• Does God see some sins as worse than others? Why or why not?
• What are some of the best ways we can talk about Jesus’ sacrifice with others?

As always, thanks for your ongoing investment in your teenager’s life. It makes a difference! Have a great week!