Teen Trends
By this time, pornography is running rampant throughout our society. Some might call it a "porndemic." Walt Mueller wrote a fascinating article about how he was first exposed when he was 11 with a group of friends and his feelings at that moment. This is an example of how accessible and unchecked it is. Mueller offers plenty of encouragement as well as 5 key factors that helped him in his healing process from pornography. Check it out for yourself and see if you can incorporate any of them into your life.
Song of the Week
Leeland and Vanessa Hill teamed up to write a new song titled "Ark." As you might have guessed, they use the imagery of a flood to represent drowning in the busyness of life. We can get so wrapped up in all of the various activities and responsibilities that we're juggling whether it is school, work, sports, music, clubs, or hanging out with friends. The chorus is a beautiful message of encouragement though - that God is holding us in His arms and that He'll heal our broken hearts.
Check out our running playlist on Spotify here.
Sermon Illustration
Have you ever watched someone that's just an incredible juggler? Maybe they're juggling 8 different kinds of objects, and someone else is just throwing more objects at the juggler. They take the new items on without a flinch. They may never do it live, but everyone has a limit to how much they can juggle. When they reach that limit, it's a disaster as everything starts crashing to the ground. Our schedules work like this as well. Maybe you're someone that manages your time well and can fill many different roles. We're involved in so many things. Eventually, though, we can reach a point where we can't juggle anymore. Then, once we drop the ball for the first time, everything starts to crash and burn as we spin into uncontrollable burnout. Just like professional jugglers, I encourage you to find the most that you can juggle and learn when to say "no" when someone tries to throw something else at you.
Encouraging Thought
One verse that I get a lot of encouragement from is Matthew 11:28. God doesn't ask us to get our act together before we come to Him. He's not asking us to rest before we come to Him. He wants us to come as we are. Whether you're in the best season of your life or in your darkest moment, He wants you. He wants to give you His rest - a rest that will sustain you.
Matthew 11:28 - Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
The vision of the Student Leader Weekly is to empower high schoolers (alongside adult leadership) with practical ministry ideas.