3/19/17 Follow Up

Good morning! 

Yesterday was great. In sunday school, we finally managed to conclude our discussion about whether or not God discriminates against women. We all decided that He doesn't, and that culture could take a lesson or two from Jesus. I was not actually able to be present to hear the end of that discussion, as I was teaching the 5th and 6th graders our "In God's Image" curriculum. From what I heard though, things wrapped up nicely and we were able to start our next question! So in the following weeks we will be discussing whether or not Jesus is the only way to heaven. 

IMPACT last night went as well as I could have hoped. It's very hard to judge how well these "sex" talks go in the moment, but there was a healthy balance of very deep discussion and some nice comedic relief. We followed that outline that was sent out via email exactly. Our discussion started with the lies that the world tells us about sex, and we spoke briefly about how music plays a large part in that. After addressing all of those lies, and breaking down why they aren't true, we moved on to some of the lies the Church as a whole has taught teens and broke those down as well.

We tried to present a biblical and wholistic view of sex as something that affects the mind, the body, and the spirit of a person. When any one of those things isn't taken into account, or is misused, it affects the other two things as well. The biblical picture of marriage accounts for all three of these things in a monogamous relationship. It also mirrors the relationship that God has within Himself, as the two become one flesh in a way that reflects the trinity. We encouraged to take these things into account NOW as they are dating and starting to learn what characteristics they are attracted to in other people.

Finally we talked about dating and what all of this has to do with relationships outside of marriage. I encouraged your students to think of the people they are dating as someone who belongs to God first, and is potentially someone else's future spouse. I encouraged them to set boundaries with one another out of respect, and to involve you guys (their parents) in a similar discussion. 

Next week we will keep plugging away at "Can I Ask That" and will be celebrating the official end to IMPACT programming in the evening with a party. If you'd like to know more details about last night or anything else for that matter, feel free to shoot me an email! Thanks for being a part of what were doing at First!