Born Again

Last week, we had a "Happy Birthlife!" party. We were celebrating our newfound lives in Christ. Before our cake, we discussed what it really meant to be "born again." In today's day and age the term "born again" has been used to simply refer to Christians. But... what if it's more?

Being born again is more than the rituals of Baptism and publicly professing your faith. It's about living. In Romans 12:2, Paul urges us to turn away from the ways of the world and be transformed. That transformation is more than just turning away from your old life. Think about what a transformation is -- a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly, for example. It's a complete change from what -- who -- you once were.

That is what being born again means.

If you've ever dealt with babies, you know that as a new life, they are learning everything -- how to talk, how to walk, how to feed themselves, how to dress themselves. There are brand new brains in those heads, absorbing everything around them, incredibly impressionable. And as those children grow older, they make mistakes, and hopefully learn from those mistakes to continue on.

As children of God, I can assuredly tell you that you will make mistakes. Especially if you don't turn to Him for advice and leadership. Just as you runt o your parents for help, you have to learn how to run to Him.

Below is a song by Third Day called "Born Again." In the second verse, they sing that this life is only the beginning. And it is! Don't forget about the riches that God has in store for us when we finally make it home to Him!!

Our Curriculum

The curriculum we'll be using this year is See, Believe, Live: an Inductive Study of the Book of John by Barry Shafer.

Published by Zondervan, it is part of a series called "Digging Deeper." We hope to use the other books in the series as well. It is a twelve-session study diving deep into the book of John, helping students to "see the real Jesus, understand and believe his truths, and live the life he calls them to."

From the publisher:
"In this 12-session study on the gospel of John, you can help students see the real Jesus, understand and believe his truths, and live the life he calls them to. You’ll find everything you need in twelve sessions for middle school, younger high school, older high school, and college, along with guides for a coffee house setting, a talk, and a guided personal study for your own preparation.

Description:
The Digging Deeper series is designed to meet the needs of students today who are looking for spiritual depth. Created with the needs of busy youth workers in mind, each session comes with guides for just about every age and setting—middle school, younger high school, older high school, college, a coffee house setting, and a talk, as well as a guided personal study for the leader. As each study digs into a book of the Bible, your students will spend time deep in God’s Word on their own and will share eye-opening revelations with each other during the interactive discussions. Your students will walk away from each study with a greater sense of what it means to follow Christ in their everyday lives, and a greater appreciation for God’s Word."

From time to time, we'll post updates and information about what our lessons in this study are teaching us and the discussions we've had. Keep checking back here, under the "curriculum" tab at the top of the page to see everything we've discussed.