Teaching Sunday School – Squad Goals

We started a new series in the High School Sunday School class… on our “Squads”.  Weston asked me to teach the first lesson in the series on having God in our Squad.  This lesson was something I am passionate about so I jumped at the opportunity to teach it.  I enjoyed taking time looking up verses about different ways that we can grow in our relationship with God. Since the weather has been nicer I have enjoyed the opportunity to do my quiet times out in my “Little House” which I think I am going to turn into my War Room (for those who have not read past posts I have been looking for a place I can set aside to get on my knees more often and pray).  

My War Room... 

I started off the message explaining that our “Squad” was our closest group of friends; the ones that we go to when we have a problem… the ones that we call first when something good happens… the ones that we love to spend time with.  God knew that we would need these intimate relationships which is why He created Eve from Adam… and it started out perfect but with the fall came conflict… we started hiding ourselves from one another and God… but Jesus provided a way for us to restore those broken relationships.

God doesn’t want to be just someone who is with you… watching over you and telling you when you are doing something wrong.  He wants to be part of your “Squad”.  He wants to be the run to during the good and bad.  I went on to share four ways in which we can grow in our relationship so that He is part of our squad. 

First, we need to spend time in His word.  Your relationships only grow if you get to know one another and we get to know God by reading His word.  Second, we need to believe that He has a plan for us and be willing to obey it.  Third, we need to spend time in prayer… unless we talk to God He is just a spectator in our life.  Finally, we need to have to go all in… and obey what He asks of us.  

Making sure God is in my Squad... 

The following week I got a phone call from Weston on Saturday evening saying that he needed me to teach the lesson on Sunday morning.  I said yes and went out to my “Little House” to prepare.  The message was on how our family is part of our squad.  As I prepared I had fun looking through some of my old family pictures and thinking about how much my family has supported me throughout the years.  Of course, I took the opportunity to embarrass Jimmy with one of the pictures that I chose… but I will spare him on my blog. 

I started off the message sharing that no family is perfect… not even Jesus had a perfect family (although He was perfect).  All throughout the Bible you see messed up families… families that are broken because they are made up of broken people; which is why every family is dysfunctional.  I didn’t realize how dysfunctional families could be until recently because although my family isn’t perfect it is pretty amazing and I was blessed to group up with the parents and siblings that I have. 

My next point was that parents are broken people too… we mess up… we make mistakes.  We try our best in raising our children but we have our own issues that we bring into the family.  I know this concept well as I have lots of regrets as a mother… lots of questions about what I could have done differently… what I could have done better… but I have come to realize that I am not perfect but I did my best.

I didn’t leave off with the fact that we are broken and dysfunctional but encouraged the youth to bring peace into their family.  There are four different ways to bring peace… first off we trust creates peace.  When our parents trust us it creates more peace.  That requires us to be honest and trustworthy. Second, listening creates peace… as we take time to listen to others it can bring peace into the house… who do you need to listen to today instead of thinking you know everything?  Third, generosity creates peace… we can be generous not only with our money but our time… generosity means that we are thinking about others instead of always thinking about ourselves.  Finally, kindness and forgiveness creates peace.  How can you show kindness to someone today… who can you forgive… who do you need to seek forgiveness from?

Preparing my message... 

We all have the choice…we can add to the conflict or bring peace.  This message wasn’t just for the youth… it was for me too… as I struggle with how I can bring peace into my immediate family.  I so wish Shane understood how much I love him… that I am sorry that I wasn’t the perfect mother… that I did the best I could in raising him… that I have chosen to forgive him for all the pain he caused us and desire for him to forgive me as well.  

My entire family... My husband and son Shane,
My Parents, siblings, and nieces and nephews..!

I know that as God calls me to teach others… He always teaches me lessons from the message first so I can apply it in my own life before expecting others to do the same.  I am not sure what I will be teaching on next but I do desire to continue to learn from Him firsthand.