Teen Trends
There were two big music releases within the past week - Adele's new album and Taylor's Swift's new/rereleased album. Adele's new album, titled 30, has been coming for a while. Fans have waited five years since her last album. Some of the bigger songs from the album include Easy on Me and To be Loved. Taylor's Swift's new album, Red (Taylor's Version) continues her streak of releasing some of her old music for business reasons, but the runaway favorite from the album is her 10-minute version of All Too Well.
Song of the Week
This past week, indie pop/worship band RIDERS in collaboration with Circuit Riders and Eileen Walker released their new single Forever and Ever. The song is aimed at listeners saved and unsaved, featuring strong lyrics about giving God full control over our hearts and where He is in our walk. With upbeat instrumentals and encouraging vocals, Forever and Ever is a great reminder of how Christ wants all of us and is active in our lives.
To learn more about the upcoming band, check them out on Spotify or here on New Release Today.
Game of the Week
Flinch is an easy, low prep game that can be played with small and medium-sized groups. It is relatively simple and only needs a dodgeball to be played. To set up the game, choose one person to be it while everyone else lines up against a wall with their arms crossed. "It" will either throw the ball at someone or try and fake them out. If the person "flinches" by trying to catch a fake out or doesn't catch a thrown ball, they get a letter similar to when playing HORSE. The first person to lose by spelling out FLINCH becomes it.
A quicker version of this game can be done by bypassing spelling out flinch and instead of making a player immediately become "it" or be eliminated until only one person is left.
Sermon Illustration
There are so many connections between babies, parenting, and God. These insights often go unsaid to teens since they may not directly connect without being parents, but here's one. As babies and kids, we can often have all these nice toys, books, and things lying around our rooms put there by our parents, while the kids have little appreciation or interest in them most of the time. I wonder if this is how God views the world we live in as we move around this place he created for us as His children. I wonder if we need to look around a little bit more and see the things around this world as things God placed around us as children to appreciate and enjoy life. Maybe we can get too used to our room and be a little too spoiled or unaware of how many things we have placed around us each day and night.
Encouraging Thought
With Thanksgiving around the corner, take some time to think about what you're thankful for. Go a little bit deeper than the super cliche stuff, though, like a house, family, or clothes. Think about specific times when God provided for you or came through when you needed a miracle. Use those moments to propel you into the business and chaos of the holiday season.
Ps. 9:1 - I will give thanks to you, Lord with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
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The vision of the Student Leader Weekly is to empower high schoolers (alongside adult leadership) with practical ministry ideas.