CONNECT WEEK
CONNECTING STUDENTS TO THEIR LOCAL CHURCH AND THEIR COMMUNITY
WELCOME
Foundation Scripture
“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” ~Matthew 6:19-21
SAY: “Welcome to First Priority! It is so good to see you all this week. If you are new today, we are just finishing up our 8th month talking about Heaven. Today is the last week of this month and we will be talking about getting connected! before we begin, let’s start with prayer…”
OPENING PRAYER
DIG IN
SAY: “As we learn and develop our faith, it’s important that we get connected. That is why every month we talk about connecting to Christ, a community of believers and Club. We know from this month that Heaven is a place where believers go to be in God’s presence. If Heaven is where we want to be, why wouldn’t we start connecting to the people of God now? When we connect with other believers, we are strengthening our faith by surrounding ourselves with others who also love and serve God.”
SAY: “So are we only allowed to go to Heaven if we go to church? No, that’s not what the Bible says. The Bible says that it isn’t what we do that gets us into Heaven, but our belief in Christ.
Galatians 2:16 says “A person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.”
It is our faith in Christ that is our ticket into Heaven. And one of the best ways to strengthen and nurture our faith is by being connected to other believers!
To be saved and allowed to Heaven with God is a gift that only He could give us. Our salvation is a gift in which we can receive when we ask God to come into our lives.”
We understand that not every school will be able to get through the full 9 months of the EPIC guide. If this is your school’s last month, be sure to connect with the students and talk to them about joining again in the Fall. Try to promote next year’s club, recruit leadership and find ways to connect over the summer as you near the end!
TOOL TIME
SAY: “Let’s take a look at
Ephesians 2:8-9 it says “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Notice how it says it is by ‘grace you have been saved’. Grace basically means something that is unearned or a gift. You can find this word many times in the Bible. God gave us a gift of eternal life, through his grace. All we have to do is accept Him.”
As you approach discussion time, make sure club leadership spreads out through the groups if you decide to have small group discussion. We know how easy it is to gravitate towards the same group or same friends, especially this far into the year (although, connections are good!). Try to encourage leaders or even the students to find a new group to talk to for this discussion!
SAY: “When we accept Christ as our Savior and choose to follow God, we want to commit our lives fully to Him and have a relationship with Him. We can do this by praying, reading our Bible, sharing our faith, connecting with other believers and even coming to Club. It is important that we continue to nourish our faith so that we don’t fall away from Him.
Before we end today, let’s talk more about Heaven and why it is important to be connected to Christ, and other believers.
- Have you ever been given a gift that you were so excited about that you took extra special care of it? (Could be a toy when you were younger, or maybe an electronic device.)
- Just as we took extra care of our gift, we want to also take care of our faith!
- Imagine you are giving a special gift to someone. And then imagine they took that gift and then never spoke to you again. How would that make you feel?
- What are ways we can take care of our gift and thank God for being so gracious to us?”
Because these questions don’t directly start with talking about the topic of Heaven or God… be sure to keep everyone focused on the main point of the conversation. It may be easy to get distracted and discuss things that aren’t as important or related to the question.
Say: “That was some great discussion! If you have any questions about getting connected to a church or a community of believers, or maybe you are interested in being more connected to the Club, please come find any of the leaders and we would love to talk with you! We hope to see you all again next week! Let’s end today’s club in prayer…”
CLOSING PRAYER
As you are wrapping up the second to last month, be thinking of ways you can connect to students before the summer. During the summer, it is very easy to disconnect from our faith and we want to be sure we are encouraging students to stay grounded. Find ways to get students involved, find a home church, or think of ways to connect after school is out!
If May 2nd is soon, don’t forget to announce the National Day of Prayer. This is a great time to get students together outside of Club!
