Faith, Boats, and Recipes
I may be their youth pastor but these students challenge me to become the best version of myself.
This past week, we finished with a challenge of stepping out in faith and building a boat by using God's recipe.
Sounds strange or complicated?!?! Let me explain!
The week before school kicked off (I have said it each year) I told the students "this is your mission field for the next 36 weeks". So I challenged them to pray for 1 classmate each week. Not to hard to do, right?
For most of the students, this is very much outside of their comfort zones and a step of faith to pray for those who may have hurt them in the past. Just like Noah who had to step out in faith to build a boat that seemed to be the most absurd thing to do and the one thing Noah had to rely on was the instructions that God had given him. God asks us to step out of our comfort zones to do what seems crazy to those around us but He will always help us navigate those times. God gave us a recipe book - the Bible.
To try and illustrate this - I brought a variety of baking items: flour, butter, evaporated milk, baking soda, cinnamon, soda, eggs, etc. Everything was set out on a table for the kids and I asked the students what they would use to make a cake without looking at their phones for a cake recipe. The proceed to list of items that typically go into a cake: Flour, sugar, eggs, butter, baking soda, etc.
Then we had some fun. I had them gather around the table and begin to add the ingredients themselves in whatever quantity they deemed to be correct. As you can probably imagine - we had a little bit of everything, including 2 cups of baking soda. (Yes you read that correctly).
The laughter that was in the room was great. They truly enjoyed adding in whatever they wanted and however much they wanted. One student stirred all the ingredients together and I asked who wanted to have some of the cake they had just made. Let's just say no one really jumped at my offer.
In a different bowl, I asked 2 students to add a few ingredients with certain specifications and handed each student a cup. They each lined up and 2 of my leaders added 3 T of the mix with 2 T of water. Each student then stirred together the mixture and was told to go microwave it for a 1 minute. With this recipe they would have an edible cake.
We also had 1 student microwave a small part of the crazy random ingredient cake. Each student was curious to see what their creation would be like and by smell alone it was like breakfast in a cup. But once they had a taste of it - lets say Popsicles became a must to get the flavor out of their mouths.
So what was the point of this crazy illustration?
God asks us to step out in faith, out of our comfort zones, and at times to build a boat - something that seems so crazy to everyone around us and maybe to us as well. He (God) doesn't ask us to do something without giving us a recipe or instructions for it. The recipe book for life is the Bible. He has provided us with examples, wisdom, guidance, etc in the Bible. We just have to be willing to follow it and not leave out key ingredients or add our ingredients to it.
Just like the students had a great time adding in whatever ingredient they wanted to and however much they wanted, sin is fun for the moment. Sin can be fun while we are in midst of it but the end product I can guarantee will leave a bitter taste in your mouth. It (sin) will catch up with you at some point of your life.
Why do I share this - because I have been there. I have made the crazy ingredient cake before and the taste of it was horrible. There are still days that I try and add my own flare or flavor to the cake. Each time that I do, God's there with so much grace and patience to bring me back to the original recipe.
Take a moment and reflect - are you following the recipe completely or are ya adding some of your own flavor?
Step out in faith and build the boat while following God's Recipe
This past week, we finished with a challenge of stepping out in faith and building a boat by using God's recipe.
Sounds strange or complicated?!?! Let me explain!
The week before school kicked off (I have said it each year) I told the students "this is your mission field for the next 36 weeks". So I challenged them to pray for 1 classmate each week. Not to hard to do, right?
For most of the students, this is very much outside of their comfort zones and a step of faith to pray for those who may have hurt them in the past. Just like Noah who had to step out in faith to build a boat that seemed to be the most absurd thing to do and the one thing Noah had to rely on was the instructions that God had given him. God asks us to step out of our comfort zones to do what seems crazy to those around us but He will always help us navigate those times. God gave us a recipe book - the Bible.
To try and illustrate this - I brought a variety of baking items: flour, butter, evaporated milk, baking soda, cinnamon, soda, eggs, etc. Everything was set out on a table for the kids and I asked the students what they would use to make a cake without looking at their phones for a cake recipe. The proceed to list of items that typically go into a cake: Flour, sugar, eggs, butter, baking soda, etc.Then we had some fun. I had them gather around the table and begin to add the ingredients themselves in whatever quantity they deemed to be correct. As you can probably imagine - we had a little bit of everything, including 2 cups of baking soda. (Yes you read that correctly).
The laughter that was in the room was great. They truly enjoyed adding in whatever they wanted and however much they wanted. One student stirred all the ingredients together and I asked who wanted to have some of the cake they had just made. Let's just say no one really jumped at my offer.
In a different bowl, I asked 2 students to add a few ingredients with certain specifications and handed each student a cup. They each lined up and 2 of my leaders added 3 T of the mix with 2 T of water. Each student then stirred together the mixture and was told to go microwave it for a 1 minute. With this recipe they would have an edible cake.We also had 1 student microwave a small part of the crazy random ingredient cake. Each student was curious to see what their creation would be like and by smell alone it was like breakfast in a cup. But once they had a taste of it - lets say Popsicles became a must to get the flavor out of their mouths.
So what was the point of this crazy illustration?
God asks us to step out in faith, out of our comfort zones, and at times to build a boat - something that seems so crazy to everyone around us and maybe to us as well. He (God) doesn't ask us to do something without giving us a recipe or instructions for it. The recipe book for life is the Bible. He has provided us with examples, wisdom, guidance, etc in the Bible. We just have to be willing to follow it and not leave out key ingredients or add our ingredients to it.
Just like the students had a great time adding in whatever ingredient they wanted to and however much they wanted, sin is fun for the moment. Sin can be fun while we are in midst of it but the end product I can guarantee will leave a bitter taste in your mouth. It (sin) will catch up with you at some point of your life.
Why do I share this - because I have been there. I have made the crazy ingredient cake before and the taste of it was horrible. There are still days that I try and add my own flare or flavor to the cake. Each time that I do, God's there with so much grace and patience to bring me back to the original recipe.
Take a moment and reflect - are you following the recipe completely or are ya adding some of your own flavor?
Step out in faith and build the boat while following God's Recipe
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