It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing. —Galatians 2:20-21

Introduction

We have a

crisis.

“We are living progressively sheltered, sterile, temperature-controlled, overfed, underchallenged, safety-netted lives.” – Michael Easter in The Comfort Crisis

The Problem: We lost the practice of initiating young people into the

lessons or hard truths of life.

Lesson 1: Life is hard, but we will find

for our souls if we follow Jesus in doing God’s will. (Matthew 11:28-29)

We need to teach our young people not to

from pain.

“If we do not transform our pain, we will transmit it in some form.” —Father Richard Rohr

Lesson 2: You are not that important, but your name is written in

by God almighty. (Luke 10:19-20)

“Your importance is given and bestowed in this universe, which is the unbreakable covenant between you and your Creator. You are declared important; you cannot declare yourself important.” —Richard Rohr

Our

is in our openness to being used by God; nothing we could claim or defend as our own.

Transformed people tend to

people.

My Additional Notes:

Today: “It’s not about

Reveal Answer

.” —Rick Warren, Opening Line of The Purpose Driven Life

Children care about themselves;

care for others.

“All truly great persons I have ever met are characterized by what I would call ‘radical humility.’ They are deeply convinced that they are drawing from another source; they are an instrument…they don’t worry too much about their failures, nor do they need to promote themselves. Their life is not their own, yet at some level they know that it has been given to them as a sacred trust.” —Richard Rohr

“We are a tiny little part of a very big story.” —Jon Tyson, The Intentional Father

Lesson 3: Your life is not about you, but your life is a part of something much bigger and

.

Because we are a part of this

reality in heaven, we are to live

Reveal Answer

here on earth. (Luke 14:12-14)

Jesus describes this larger life as a

open to everyone.

The metaphor is a warning for his followers not to get

with our own worries. (Luke 14:16-24)

“God chooses us into existence, and decides for us every minute, or we would fall into non-being. We are forever included, and Jesus’s metaphor for that realization is a wedding banquet to which nobody wants to come! God, poor God, has a very hard time giving away God.” —Richard Rohr

Until we lay down our self-importance, we remain

to the free banquet that surrounds us. (Galatians 2:19-20)

Paul’s union with Christ does not

his own personality, but sustains and molds him. (Colossians 3:1-4, 12-15)

“Your life is precisely about you, but now you know who you really are, and you can hold this fire without burning up and burning out.” —Richard Rohr

“The glory of God is a human being fully alive!” —St. Irenaeus

“The purpose of your life fits into a much larger, cosmic purpose that God has designed for eternity.” —Rick Warren

We are

for one another to love one another as God’s

Reveal Answer

to bless the world. (Romans 12:3-5)

“Connection determines direction. Whoever or whatever you are most connected to will determine the direction of your life.” —Jean Marie Jobs

My Additional Notes:

Action Step

Bless someone this holiday weekend in a tangible way who is not your

.

My Additional Notes: