Hey gang!
This is such a great unit. I think peer pressure is a very real issue in all of our lives. To have a chance to discuss it and to equip ourselves with a plan to deal with the issue of peer pressure in a way that pleases and honors God is time well spent. Our topic this time around was "Would Jesus fit in with my Friends?" The question kept coming up "what would your friends think if you told them you were bringing Jesus to your hanging out activity?" That question was met with answers ranging from "they'd be cool with it" to "they'd make fun of me". But the thing to remember is that if we have chosen to follow God and live truly as Christians, well then we are bringing Jesus with us wherever we go.
We talked about some scenarios where we would be hanging out with our friends (playing sports, at the mall, having a sleepover, surfing the web, watching movies, video games, texting) Does the way we interact with our friends show our desire to please God, or do we try to fit in and compromise our standards to be the same as the worlds. Think this through carefully and be honest with yourself. As Switchfoot sings - this is your life, are you who you want to be? If the answer is yes, then continue to grow in your relationship with God and stay strong against the attacks of the enemy. If your life doesn't demonstrate who you want to be, then this is the time to choose to make some changes.
We started our discussion time by looking at 2 Timothy 2.22 (Our primary memory verse for the week). This verse challenges us to pursue holiness and to hang out with others that are pursuing holiness too. Does this mean that we should only have Christian friends? Not necessarily. But we cannot compromise on God's standards, and if our friends are putting obstacles in the way of us developing a strong relationship with God, then we may have to make some changes in our friends.
Next, we read Psalm 1. In these verses, we read that God blesses those who delight in the teachings of the Lord. He is like a tree planted by a stream that produces fruit in season and does not wither. We talked last year in Club 56 about John 15 and being branches attached to the vine (Jesus). This relationship gives us strength and life, whereas away from God, we are fruitless and wither)
We continued by turning over to 1 Corinthians 15.33-34. Here, we read that bad company corrupts good morals. That means that we do need to be careful whose company we find ourselves in. We become more and more like the people we spend time with. That is why it is so important that we spend time every day with Jesus. This will help us be more like Him. We also thought about what characteristics we would look for in a good friend.
Finally, we read Ephesians 4.17-32. In this passage, we are encouraged to not live like the people of this world. If we have chosen to follow God, we have a different standard to live by and make choices by. The way everyone else does it just doesn't cut it. People who do not know Christ are on a path of destruction. We can help them find their way off that path by being different and being strong in our beliefs.
It was a great discussion time. And as promised, I will be adding a few extra memory verses for bonus points from the verses that we read. The competition is pretty close, so this could be the deciding factor. But even more importantly, the verses that we read on Sunday are great and important ones to put into our brains anyway. The bonus points are just meant as an encouragement.
I hope that you are being challenged to choose God's way over the worlds way, to resist temptation to give into peer pressure and to live a life ALIVE for God.
P.S. I hope the blue bonus star caught your attention. I am about to post the bonus verses.
Remember, each verse is worth 5 bonus points. This could be huge in determining the winner of the competition. Hope you are ready to memorize!
