Student Leader Weekly 3.11

Brent Dongell and Christian Boulton | Jan 30, 2023

Teen Trends

More and more young Americans are becoming disillusioned with the thought of the "traditional college experience". It has become too expensive, stressful, and unrealistic for many recent high school graduates that don't want to graduate with a mountain of debt. This is why Arizona State Univ. (ASU) has partnered with John and Hank Green, known for their "Crash Courses" on every subject imaginable, to offer accredited college courses on YouTube for just a fraction of the price. You can find more of the details in the article here. While this certainly won't appeal to everyone, it's worth noting that ASU and the Green brothers noticed the trends (and therefore, the needs) of high school grads. It also continues the longstanding tradition of YouTube being the social media app that teens spend the most time on every single day, even more than Tik Tok and Instagram. 

 

Song of the Week

The title of this week's album might be kinda sketchy, but Housefires has released a new album titled "How to Start A Housefire". The group is known for its live worship recordings, similar to another new and trendy worship group - Maverick City. These types of recordings have such an element of authenticity and intimacy that radio versions of worship songs just don't have. Regarding the album itself, it's supposed to serve as a way to set our hearts on fire for Jesus. A lot of the songs have to do with surrendering our lives to Christ and lifting Him up in praise. Our heart is a home for Jesus, which is the thought behind the group and their newest album's name. 

 

Check out our running playlist of this season's songs on Spotify here.

 

Sermon Illustration

A common saying about revival is that it starts within us. If you want to see a revival in your family, community, workplace, school, or wherever else, it has to start in your heart. However, we can't make revival happen in our own efforts, but we can put ourselves in a place to receive the Lord's outpouring - through total surrender. We must surrender our shame, baggage, accomplishments, past wounds, and assumptions of God and acknowledge our need for Him. Even if what you have isn't much, let Him have it and watch what He does with it. 

Psalm 51:10 - My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. 

 

Encouraging Thought

Once revival does happen in our hearts, how do we sustain it? Or, do we have to watch as it slowly fades from our lives?

Here's a quote to chew on: "We can keep our flame burning through radical obedience." - Haley Bullard

What is God asking you to do? How badly do you want revival in your heart? Only you can truly answer these questions, but I will say, there's nothing like continually experiencing personal (and corporate/communal) revival. It's worth any risk that you may have to take. 

 

 

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The vision of the Student Leader Weekly is to empower high schoolers (alongside adult leadership) with practical ministry ideas.

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