Teen Trends
An interesting survey for the upcoming year shows the different hobbies or skills that Gen Z hopes to learn in 2022. You can read more about it here. At the top of Gen Z's list is coding/computer science. The more that technology is normalized into our society, the more tech savvy people that society is going to need. It's sure to be a job that is in demand in the future. Some of the other notable subjects are psychology, fitness, money management, and foreign languages. All of these different subjects show that Gen Z wants to better themselves in multiple ways - their career possibilities, their physical health, and their mental health. Be open to talking to those a little farther along in their journey about those sorts of things. Also, if you're in a position to help someone learn those types of skills, be willing to take someone under your wing and mentor them.
Song of the Week
Philippians is a newly released album by the folk band Psallos. The album is a part of the group's biggest project; to put the epistles into musical form for everyone to be able to worship through. This goal is based on the band's mission to spread Gospel truth through deeply theological music. The new album is an hour-long, going through the entire book. Each song reflects the tone of their respective passages, helping audiences to connect with the Scripture in a new, fresh way. Philippians seeks to represent every verse authentically through a variety of musical forms, from military marches to a children's choir. These albums may be a helpful tool for biblical literacy or even used alongside Bible studies.
Game of the Week
The Stand Sit Game is a great option for a quick game where you might not have a ton of space to play or when it's getting too cold outside to run around. All you need is a computer and TV screen for your students to watch. Students will have to stand or sit depending on which noise they think is playing. An example from the first video shows a picture of sizzling bacon along with a picture of a shower. Audio plays that sounds like it could be either, students have to give their best guess and sit or stand for the indicated picture they are voting on. After a few seconds, the video reveals the correct answer. If you wanted to get your students more active, you can even have them run from one side of the room to another to "vote" on which noise is playing. If you want to make it more competitive, students that guess incorrectly are eliminated. Discovery Camp on Youtube has a series of videos that play these kinds of random noises. A lot of youth camps use these types of games, which might make a great motivator for students interested in the summer!
Sermon Illustration
Christmas and Summer breaks give college students a chance to catch up with their friends and family back home that they may not have seen or talked to in a while. This opportunity to catch up with people is important in maintaining the relationship despite not being able to see each other very often. While "catching up" may be beneficial in our earthly relationships, "catching up" with God isn't something that we should have to be doing. First of all, God already knows everything that has happened in our lives - we don't need to update Him on the latest events. However, the need to fill God in on what's happening in our lives implies that we haven't been regularly communicating with Him. We should try to avoid playing catch up in our relationship with God. He genuinely wants to be a part of our everyday lives from our conversations with friends to when we engaged in our favorite hobbies.
Psalms 145:18-19 - The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.
Encouraging Thought
Challenge yourself to try to find ways to incorporate God into your daily lives, and if you're already doing that, find a couple more ways you can invite him into your daily routine. For example, pray for a friend every time that you brush your teeth. You could also listen to the Bible or a biblical podcast (i.e. Bible Project) on the car ride to school or work one day out of the week instead of jamming out to music. Those are just a couple of ideas to get your mind started on what you can do. If it has been a while since you've talked with God, some "catching up" may be just what you need. He's perfectly willing to do that as well. I can promise that He's listening.
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The vision of the Student Leader Weekly is to empower high schoolers (alongside adult leadership) with practical ministry ideas.