Here were some of the questions we used on Sunday morning, and some we didn’t get to:

CHAPTER 5: THE FIRST SCARY STEP

• Who did something hard this week?
• Alex and Brett say that life is full of scary things. What would be the scariest thing you can imagine doing?
• Pg. 66: “Can you imagine something in your won life that at the time seemed entirely beyond you?”
• Pg. 69: “Fears are usually just well-concealed lies.” How are we believing lies when we don’t do hard things? Make four columns: What I fear. Lie I’m believing. Truth God gives me. Action.
• Pg. 71: What are some of the excuses you make for not doing hard things?
• Pg. 74: “It’s not about feeling strong: it’s about obeying God.” How do our feelings keep us from obeying God by doing hard things?

From the Official Do Hard Things Study Guide:

• Would you say that fear of failure or discomfort affects you (a) not at all, (b) a little, (c) often, or (d) all the time? Talk about your answer.
• Identify the areas in your life where you try hardest to stay in your “cozy little routines.” In each case, what negative outcome are you most afraid of? What very positive outcome might come about if you took that first scary step despite your fears?
• Most of us associate words like faith and courage with positive feelings. But Alex and Brett write that many who choose to act out of faith or courage actually experience intensely negative feelings, such as fear, un¬certainty, worry, and doubt. If you have ever made a courageous choice but felt terrible while you were making it, talk about it. What happened? What did you learn?
• Why might God be able to accomplish more through us when we act in spite of our weaknesses rather than out of our confidence or strength?

Categories: Discussion Questions, Summer Reading '08
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Sara sent me this great quote today:

“It may be that the Lord has more to do by me than  I ever dreamed of. If he has looked upon me, he has made me strong.  Let me by faith exercise the power with which He has entrusted me. He never bids me ‘idle away my time in this my might.’ Far from it. I must ‘go,’ because He strengthens me.”  Charles Spurgeon, Chequebook of the Bank of Faith, 6/28 entry.

If you run across any verses or quotes that help us think about doing hard things, send them to me!

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DON’T FORGET: five15 Picnic at Nottoway Park on Sunday afternoon.

Right after church, bring your lunch over to Nottoway Park in Vienna for all the fun the park has to offer. We have a picnic area reserved, and there are volleyball, tennis, and basketball courts plus huge fields for soccer, ultimate frisbee, capture the flag, etc. (Bring whatever equipment you need!)

Check out the park map above to locate the picnic area we’ve reserved. Of course your parents and younger siblings are welcome to attend as well.

Nottoway Park is easy to find: just down 123 in Vienna. Here are directions if you need them:

Unfortunately, I can’t be there, because we are leaving Sunday afternoon for vacation. So sad! Tony Rossell is in charge, so if you have questions call or email him.

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A thought provoking statement from J. I. Packer:

“…God is good to all in some ways and to some in all ways.” J. I. Packer, Knowing God, 162.

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Recently I’ve been reading The Perfect Mile by Neal Bascomb. This book is a page-turner about the quests by three men to be the first man to run the mile in less than four minutes. In the early 1950s, Brit Roger Bannister, Australian John Landy, and American Wes Santee were all in the hunt to beat the “four-minute barrier.”

If you know your running history, you know that Roger Bannister ran a 3:59.4 on May 6, 1954 to become the first man to run a sub-four minute mile. Six weeks later, Landy would beat that time by nearly a second and a half. Santee missed the “magic mile” by a half-second, logging a personal best of 4:00.5. But this passage about one of Wes Santee’s races stood out to me (Easton is Santee’s coach):

“Right before the gun sounded, Santee drew in a breath and held it. The gun fired, and he burst forward. Bogerud started slightly quicker, but by the end of the first turn Santee took the lead. Bogerud tried to catch up, but there was nothing he could do—and he know it. By the start of the second lap Santee was only a half-second off pace. Easton was calling out his times, and despite the cacophony from the stands, Santee heard him. No matter how noisy it was, he always heard his coach. His ear was tuned in to Easton’s voice.” The Perfect Mile, 166.

The point of this section is this: for a world-class runner to log a record time, he needs constant updates from his coach about his pace. If he goes out to fast, he won’t have the stamina to finish strong, but if he runs too slow, he won’t have the speed to make up the time late in the race. His ear must be tuned in to his coach’s voice.

I think the Christian life is kind of like this. Scripture occasionally uses the metaphor of a race to describe the Christian life, but we need help to complete this race successfully. Like Wes Santee, our ears need to be tuned in to a certain voice. But fortunately for us, God isn’t just yelling at us from the sidelines. He is leading us daily through His Word, by His Spirit.

It’s for this reason I want to encourage you to faithfulness in the habit of meeting with God every day this summer. For most of us, it is harder to meet with God in summer than other times. None of us drift into regular Bible reading, and without the consistent schedule of the school year, it can be hard to get up and into the Word. So here are a few ideas to help you stay consistent:

• Start with a plan. Decide ahead of time what you are going to read for each day. I recommend a daily reading plan like For the Love of God or our church’s daily reading plan (aka “The Mull”).
• Choose a regular time and place. Set your alarm clock and get up. Get your coffee/tea/orange juice/Mountain Dew and head to your favorite chair/couch/beanbag/porch swing. Having your quiet time in bed is not recommended. It will be a quiet time indeed.
• Get someone else involved. Tell your parents or siblings or close friends what your plan is and tell them you will give them updates on how it is going. (Don’t make the accountability mistake of asking them to ask you about it. Keep the responsibility on yourself to do it and to tell them how it is going!) Talk to them about what you are learning and how God is meeting you.
• Track your progress. Get a calendar and mark off each day that you meet with God. Avoid legalism here: don’t think that God is impressed with your consistency. God is only impressed with the obedience of His Son. But do this so you can make a realistic assessment of your faithfulness. If you find that you regularly meet with God 4 days a week, make your goal 6. I would be surprised if, after three months, you don’t find that you are growing in your consistency.

Wes Santee won that race, by the way.

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Here are some of the questions we discussed on Sunday morning, and some we didn’t get to:

• Who did something hard this week?
• On page 47, a guy named Raymond says, “I don’t want the future to get here too quick. I want to be able to live life and still have fun.” Does doing hard things mean you never have fun, but instead only do hard and unpleasant things?
• Alex and Brett say (p. 49), “what each of will become later in life largely depends on what we become now.” Do you think that is true? What is wrong with the “I’ll get to that later” idea? (1 Tim 4:7)
• What is a kidult? Without naming names, do you know a kidult? What are they like?
• How do you keep from becoming a kidult?
• What do you know about William Wilberforce? Have you seen Amazing Grace?
• Read the paragraph in the middle of page 56. Write down: what do you hope to become in the future? What can you do right now to equip yourself for that future?
• Read the five kinds of hard on pp. 57-58. List a couple of hard things that fit under each category.

From the Official Do Hard Things Study Guide:

• Do you know a “kidult” like Ray? Describe his or her life. Do you think there’s anything that anyone could say to this “Ray” that would motivate him or her to change direction? If so, what? If not, why not?
• The authors write, “What each of us will become later in life largely depends on what we become now.” Do you agree or disagree? What might a mature adult who knows you well say you are becoming?
• The “strict training” Alex and Brett talk about doesn’t sound appeal¬ing at first. But what might be some payoffs from that kind of discipline in your life now, and your dreams for your future?
• Which of the five hard things that the authors list motivates you the most? Why?
• What are some of the hard things you’ve already done in your life? What were the results? What would you say you learned through these experiences?

ASSIGNMENT FOR NEXT TIME:

• Memorize 1 Timothy 4:12.
• Discuss with your parents: “What is God calling you to become in the future? What do you want to become in the future? What are simple, realistic steps you can take now to prepare for that?
• Read chapter 5.

Categories: Discussion Questions, Summer Reading '08
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Here’s an interesting verse I ran across in Proverbs today:

Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;
he breaks out against all sound judgment.
Proverbs 18:1

How do you think this verse shapes how we think about the five15 Challenge?

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Mark your calendars:

April 18-25, 2009.

Categories: Mx09
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In case you missed them, here are the announcements from the BIG MEETING Saturday night:

SUMMER SCHEDULE

• NOTE: the 6/29 Picnic has been moved FROM Burke Lake Park TO Nottoway Park in Vienna!  Directions here.
• Mark your calendar: we are planning to play Laser Tag on Sunday, August 3.  Watch the blog for details.
• Interested in the 7/1 Drama Camp?  It’s not too late to sign up.

LADIES CLOTHES SWAP

• We need some servants to volunteer, since we only have a handful of people currently signed up to serve next Saturday (June 21), but could use a lot more. Here are the 2 opportunities:
• LADIES – HOSPITALITY TEAM – Those 16& older (moms, your help would be great!) are needed to help be a part of the hospitality team on Saturday. There are 2 shifts; each one is only a couple hours long. This is a really fun job where you can greet guests and chat with them as you refold clothes. I’m sure you’ll be asked “why is this free”, which could lead to a gospel conversation – so exciting!
• FOR MEN – we need some volunteers to arrive at 12noon to help the ladies with takedown of the tables and chairs, taking out the trash, etc.  The whole job will take less than an hour.
• If you’re interested in either, call the church office.

Categories: Announcements
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Here were some of the questions we used on Sunday morning, and some we didn’t get to:

CHAPTER 3: THE MYTH OF ADOLESCENCE

• Alex and Brett begin this chapter by talking about pets they had (and didn’t have) growing up. What is the strangest pet you’ve ever owned?
• What did Alex and Brett mean when they suggest that today’s teenagers might be like elephants?
• Were you surprised to learn that teenager is a fairly new word in the English language? Why did that surprise you?
• What are some of the ways our “modern understanding of adolescence allows, encourages, and even trains young people to remain childish for much longer than necessary”?
• Alex and Brett explain: “Once we have satisfied the minimum requirements, we tend to stop pushing ourselves.” What are the minimum requirements in your life?
• What are some was that young men do hard things differently than young women do hard things?

From the Official Do Hard Things Study Guide:

• Have you ever visited a zoo, seen beautiful and powerful animals caged by glass or bars, and felt that something was terribly wrong? If so, talk about it. Why do you think some teens might identify with a wild but caged bird or animal?
• Do you think that harmless-sounding lies about the teen years could be holding back both you and other teens you know? Talk about it.
• What was your reaction to the stories of George, David, and Clara (pages 31-32)? Have you ever thought you could accomplish a lot more than you are now?
• What do your parents expect you to do at home in an average week? Do you deliver? Be honest. How much time and effort does it take to do what’s asked of you? Do you think your parents require too much or too little?
• Have you ever found yourself behaving very differently—and accomplishing a lot more—simply because someone expected you to? Describe the experience.

Categories: Discussion Questions, Summer Reading '08
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