Is it Black & White?
“And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob. Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Genesis 32:24-28
I always sort of chuckle at the abruptness of this encounter Jacob has with God. He’s busy sorting out his life, afraid of the future, and for his life, and without skipping a beat, he’s wrestling a stranger. Jacob is touched on the hip and injured, and immediately knew that he was wrestling someone with great power – his God. But, he doesn’t let up. He keeps wrestling and won’t let go until God blesses him.
When I think about the journey a young person takes in their faith, there is a time where they blindly follow the faith of their parents, because that is what they know to be true. But then when the worries and challenges of life begin to raise up, they question, and often have a “crisis of faith” where they wrestle with God. For many, it happens as teenagers, for others when they are Young Adults or older. For many, it is when they start to see the world is much larger and holds many more ‘truths’ than what they have been taught. They begin to question and doubt, and start wrestling in their own way with God. When they encounter His Power, they either walk away and quit, or hold on, desperate for God’s blessing.
It’s an important part of developing a Christ centered worldview and a faith that depends on God, rather than just what someone has currently convinced them of.
For our Young Adults I want to wrestle with some of these things together. There are some really really intelligent people out there with really in depth thoughts about some of these topics, and interestingly, many of these smart people disagree with each other. So how would we know who to believe?
Young Adult Sessions: We have been really thinking about who our young adults are and how we can best encourage them. These Sessions will be just us having some conversations about challenging topics. Share ideas, test thoughts, and see what God's Word might say about these. The idea is to push our own beliefs a bit. Without that struggle, there is no growth. I want the group to wrestle with some challenging conversations, and to grow together, knowing that they belong and have a place to wrestle through tough questions together.
Our sessions will start with some discussion and debate, then we will look at what God’s Word says about it, and then figure out how we might be able to take action on anything we have learned. The sessions are:
TRUTH ~ What is truth?
MORALITY & ETHICS ~ What makes something ethical or moral?
SCIENCE & FAITH ~ How do we process science that seems to go against scripture?
RELATIONSHIPS ~ Friends, Dating, Marriage, & Sex
WORLDVIEW ~ Abortion? LGBTQ+? How should we change as the world changes?
THE CHURCH ~ If the Church is the people of God, why do we “go to church”?
If you are between ages 17-35, married or single, with or without kids, you are invited to join us Thursday evenings from 7-9:00 pm. Call the church (780.458.3777) for location.