First Pres Lake Wales Youth Ministry Podcast

In Genesis 12, God blesses Abraham so that he would be a blessing to all of the nations. God's plan from the beginning, then, has been that every nation, tribe, people, and language would be restored to Him and to each other, worshiping before His eternal throne. In this teaching, the Youth Ministry at FPCLW explores how these truths address the sin of racism. 

Mary Miller describes her experience as a mother. Parenting is difficult and involves sacrifice, but the task of raising and nurturing image bearers is also, by God's grace, worth it. 

Last time we discussed how God made people with value. This week, our teaching was upon the fact that God made men and women with a dignified purpose. 

One of the ways our culture attempts to find identity is through science. For instance, according to Charles Darwin human beings are the product, not of a loving God, but of time, chance, and the evolution and survival of the fittest. This would mean that there is no purpose or plan for us. We are not special. When it comes to sexuality, then, we believe that we can do whatever we want to with our bodies because they ultimately have no higher meaning or purpose. But should we really buy into this assessment of the value and worth of people?

Sometimes we can view the Bible as if it is just an old spiritual text book with useless information. The Bible, though, speaks of itself using very different language. Could it be that the Word of God is more than meets the eye? 

We might be tempted to think that Jesus was simply a good teacher who taught us good things about how to be a good teacher. But, in actuality, Jesus had a lot more to say about Himself than about morals. Is what He said true? 

Many compare our knowledge of God to a group of blind men feeling an elephant. Each of the blind men make a guess about what it is their feeling, but since they are unable to see the big picture, they can't know anything for sure about the elephant. But is this true? Are we really at such a loss when it comes to out knowledge about who God is and what He is like?

One of the identities that our culture gives to our young people is that of 'reflection'. We are a reflection upon our parents, upon our schools and teachers, and upon ourselves. While reflecting these people and things bring pressure and stress into our lives, they are nothing compared to our own God-given purpose: being a reflection upon the God the universe. 

Is God a fact? Is He real? Is there any evidence for God? If there is, what does that mean for the things that we base our lives upon such as our performance before others and our achievements? 

Beginning a new series called "God is ____, I am ____", we are looking at some fundamental truths about Who God is and what that means for who we are and how we live. We begin by asking "Who am I?" What is our identity? How do we come to know our authentic self? To answer these questions, it is helpful to look to our beginnings.