LOVE GOD, LOVE LIFE, & LOVE OTHERS A SERIES ABOUT GROWING YOUR FAITH SERIES SUMMARY Have you ever wondered how to grow your faith? Well, the good news is, there isn t just one way! And you don t have to figure it out on your own Jesus gave us all an example of what it looks like to grow our faith in God. In this series, we ll take a look at a few things Jesus taught us that can help us grow a faith of our own. WEEK 1: Strong faith is about doing, not just knowing. WEEK 2: If you want a faith of your own, you can t build it alone. WEEK 3: There s a direct connection between growing and serving. WEEK 4: In tough times, God works in you so that He can work through you. WEEK 5: Dealing with doubt is part of growing your faith. REMEMBER THIS Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. JAMES 1:22 NIV 1
PRELUDE SETTING THE TONE FOR THE EXPERIENCE BACKGROUND PLAYLIST Because I Had You by Shawn Mendes (from Shawn Mendes) Growing Pains by Alessia Cara (from Growing Pains) Don t Hide by Mike Perry & Willemijn May (from Don t Hide) Glory by The Score (from Glory) Swing Swing by ayokay (from Swing Swing) Promises I Can t Keep by Mike Shinoda (from Post Traumatic) Safe by Nico Santos (from Safe) Barcelona by Max George (from Barcelona) Fight for Me by GAWVI & Lecrae (from Fight for Me) Love Alone by Mokita (from Love Alone) Ocean (feat. Khalid) by Martin Garrix (from Ocean (feat. Khalid)) Born to be Yours by Kygo & Imagine Dragons (from Born to be Tours) Our suggested background playlists for each series are also available on Spotify. Signup for a Spotify account, and follow xp3students to access the music preview for each series. SERIES PROMOTION Use the Social Media Plan and the Social Media Artwork for this series to promote what you ll be teaching to your students and parents. SET DESIGN Print the Poster file in your Graphics folder to hang in your environment. This series is all about helping students move faith from something that s theirs (i.e. their parents faith, their church s faith, etc.) to something that s mine. And the set design for this series will illustrate this idea. For this set design, purchase about 20 18 round balloons. White balloons might be your best option, since you ll be writing on these balloons with sharpies and need the text to pop (pun definitely intended). Then purchase four 40 letter balloons that spell MINE. Take the balloons to your local party supply store to be filled with helium and add strings. (Or purchase your own helium tank and string.) On the white balloons, use a thick sharpie to write some words and phrases that represent theirs. Here are some examples: parents, stepparents, grandparents, coaches, small group leader, youth pastor, older sibling, church, youth group, FCA, his, hers, theirs. Now, place the giant MINE balloons in the middle of your stage toward the back. Then place the white balloons with theirs words on them on both sides of the MINE balloons. PRO TIP: To easily move and adjust the display, tie all of the balloons to a long, black extension cord. The cord will keep the balloons anchored to the ground while also giving you the flexibility to move the cord and arrange the balloons to fit your stage. 2
PRO TIP #2: Consider purchasing a small helium tank from your local party supply store. (You can purchase one for less than $50 in most places.) That way, as balloons lose their helium throughout the series, you can easily blow up new ones as replacements. Look for a tank filled with as close to 100% helium as possible. Many tanks (and all the ones we found on Amazon) mix higher percentages of air with their helium, which don t work as well. Things you ll need: 20 18 round, white balloons 4 40 letter balloons that spell MINE 1 spool of string 1 thick sharpie Helium 1 long, black extension cord (optional) Click here to check out our Amazon shopping list for this set design. ENVIRONMENT Display the Title Slide image or Loop Video on your screen (found in your Graphics folder). The Font we used for this series is called Challenger Pro. SOCIAL PROVIDING TIME FOR FUN INTERACTION For this series, we recommend 5 games: Whose are Whose?, Flip Out, Picture of Lies, Rhyme on Time, and Have You Ever? Check out your Large Group folders for more details about each game, as well as a title slide to be displayed on the screen in your environment during the game. 3
SOCIAL PROVIDING TIME FOR FUN INTERACTION WORSHIP INVITING PEOPLE TO RESPOND TO GOD Whether your worship time is led by a kid on an acoustic guitar, a full band, or sing-along YouTube videos, here are few songs that will connect well with your high schoolers and complement the theme of this series. Don t forget to check out the Worship Leader Guide for things to try, think about, and use during worship. Sinking Deep - Live by Hillsong Young & Free (from Youth Revival) Build My Life - Live by Passion (from Worthy of Your Name (Live)) Do It Again by Elevation Worship (from There Is a Cloud) Love Goes On by Hillsong Young & Free (from We Are Young & Free) Get Your Hopes Up by Josh Baldwin (from The War Is Over) Oceans by Hillsong United (from Zion) We Will Not Be Shaken by Bethel Music (from We Will Not Be Shaken (Live)) 4
STORY COMMUNICATING GOD S TRUTH IN ENGAGING WAYS WEEK 1 Bottom Line: Strong faith is about doing, not just knowing. WEEK 2 Bottom Line: If you want a faith of your own, you can t build it alone. WEEK 3 Bottom Line: There s a direct connection between growing and serving. WEEK 4 Bottom Line: In tough times, God works in you so that He can work through you. WEEK 5 Bottom Line: Dealing with doubt is part of growing your faith. XP (EXPERIENCE PIECE) The XP for this series provides students with a take-home, interactive devotional that encourages them to identify pivotal circumstances and providential relationships that may impact their faith. 5
GROUPS CREATING A SAFE PLACE TO CONNECT Each week, email your Small Group Leaders with the SGL Guide and information from the SGL Email document. Don t forget to print copies of the SGL Guide for all of your Small Group Leaders. WEEK 1 Goal Of Small Group: To help students understand that beyond showing up at church and hearing information, they can move their faith forward by putting what they hear into practice. WEEK 2 Goal Of Small Group: To help students understand the role that other people play in their faith, and to encourage them to look for people who will help move their faith forward. WEEK 3 Goal Of Small Group: To help students understand how serving is connected to a growing faith, and to help them to overcome their excuses to serving. WEEK 4 Goal Of Small Group: To help students understand that difficult circumstances are opportunities to grow our faith, and to help them see that how they handle tough times can help others grow in their faith. WEEK 5 Goal Of Small Group: To help students understand that talking about their doubts can actually do more to grow their faith than weaken it. HOME PROMPTING ACTION BEYOND THE EXPERIENCE Use the Social Media Plan for this series to stay in touch with parents and students during the week. Send parents their Parent Cue after you complete Week 1 of the series. Post or text the Digital Devotionals for this series to help engage with God s Word throughout the week. Print the Daily Devotionals for this series and pass them out after each session to help engage with God s Word throughout the week. 6
TO-DO PREPARING FOR EACH WEEK SET DESIGN Buy 20 18 round, white balloons Buy 4 40 letter balloons that spell MINE Buy 1 spool of string Buy 1 thick sharpie Fill the balloons with helium at your local party supply store or buy a small helium tank Find 1 long, black extension cord (optional) Click here to check out our Amazon shopping list for this set design. WEEK 2 Find or borrow a handful of coins (one coin per student the coin value is up to you) Buy some paper cups (one cup per player to hold their coins) WEEK 1 Find a small basket or bin Find or by 4 small whiteboards and markers (Sheets of paper and pens would also work.) Print enough Week 2 Daily Devotionals for each of WEEK 3 Arrange 9 random images of your choice ranging from ordinary (a banana) to unbelievable (a pig flying a spaceship) into a slideshow. Find 2 chairs Print enough Week 1 Daily Devotionals for each of FOR PARENTS Email parents the Parent Cue email for the series Print enough Week 3 Daily Devotionals for each of 7
WEEK 4 WEEK 5 Print a list of words and phrases cut into individual strips and folded. (See game PDF for details.) Find a bowl to hold the strips of paper Find a beat track to play during the game FOR THE XP Print enough My Faith Journey XP PDFs for each of Print enough Week 4 Daily Devotionals for each of Print a list of Have You Ever? questions (see game PDF for details.) Find some tape Arrange your list of Have You Ever? questions into a slide show (optional). Print enough Week 5 Daily Devotionals for each of 8