Blog
Middle School
Spiritual Emphasis Week
Spiritual Emphasis Week Day # 1 Summary
Written by 8th graders: Zoey Van Dyke, Evy Post, and Grant Axelson
We are blessed to have Pastor Kyle Brown and worship leader Logan Johns with us this week from Berkley Hills Church. They did a great job today and we loved having them!
Kyle started chapel by sharing a story about how his wife was making spaghetti and they needed noodles. So he drove to the store, but when he got there he got very distracted with doritos, candy, and pop. He checked out and totally forgot about the noodles. When he got home, he remembered that his main goal was to get noodles, so he had to go back and get them. He told this story to show us how we exchange worldly things for God, especially when we are distracted. Kyle talked to us about the kinds of things we put on the throne instead of Jesus.
Sometimes we exchange things like sports, family, friends, food, and electronics and we put them as our focus instead of Jesus. In our lives sometimes we have Jesus on the throne 100%, but other times we only have Jesus on the throne 50 percent of the time. He also explained how we often add worldly things to the throne with Jesus. Kyle reminded us that Jesus is interested in being a full time king in our lives; he does not want to share the throne. Some people completely forget that Jesus is on the throne and they ignore that there even is a God. Kyle reminded us that God shows up all the time. When we look around outside, we can see God’s creation all around us.
The main thing to take away from chapel today is that Jesus wants to be the only thing on the throne. Kyle said that if we think about our middle school theme of being “unashamed” for Christ, then Jesus has to have 100% of us and be on the throne in our lives 100%. He ended by challenging us that if we want to live “unashamed” for Christ, then we should ask ourselves “Who are you Unashamed of and Who is in control of your life?”
Spiritual Emphasis Week Day #2 Summary
Written By 8th Graders: Malia McGraw, Rhys Scholten, Nick Maravalo, and Simeon Klaver
The meaning behind this story is that we should not conform to the ways of the world. Instead, we should be focused on Jesus and following him. You can’t blend in with the world while following Jesus. He told us that we may follow the world, and it may be fine at first, but something will break along the way. Instead Kyle shared that when we follow Jesus, things will not break. It might not always be easy, but it will always be fulfilling. Kyle unpacked the questions;
- How can we follow Jesus’ way?
- Who is leading us?
- Who we are walking with?
Kyle emphasized how even when we think we know what is best for our lives, that God is the only one who truly knows. We need to lean into God and ask him to direct our paths.
Kyle left us with three questions to think about and challenge us.
- Do I really know Jesus’ way?
- Am I walking alone?
- Am I walking with the right people?
Romans 12:1-2
Proverbs 12:26
Spiritual Emphasis Week Day #3 Summary:
Written by 8th Graders: David Wildey, Stephanie Pullen, Ilah DeVries, Oscar Meulenberg
Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 12: 1-2, 1 John 1:9, John 10:10
Today’s Focus Questions:
*How does Satan pull us away from Jesus? – Distractions and Deception
*Is there anything distracting us from Jesus?
*Are there any sins that keep us away from Jesus at the moment?
Today’s Challenge: If there is something that is distracting us from Jesus, set limits on it or if needed, quit it entirely or get rid of it.
Today, Pastor Kyle Brown started by sharing a story about a time his friend was driving and missed an important turn. He talked about how his friend kept driving in the wrong direction and would have continued if he hadn’t woken up and asked him where they were. Kyle used this story as a picture of the Christian life. He shared how we need to stay on the right road to Salvation. He reminded us that we need to stay on the course that Jesus marked out for us. He talked to us about using the map which the Lord gave us through the Bible.
However, we also talked about how Satan will try to distract and deceive us. Satan uses detours to distract us and make things really appealing to us. He does that through distractions: things like social media, sports, video games, or our friends. While these things are not bad, they can become an issue when we think of those things instead of Jesus. We can beat these distractions by either setting limits or quitting them altogether. Jesus is like the roadside signs that show that we need to turn or keep driving. Satan tries to make us stressed and anxious for his distraction to be bigger. But really, they are just a puddle on the side of the road. Another way Satan can pull us off course is by deception. When we sin, we need to confess and repent.
Kyle ended chapel by telling us that going down the wrong path will not lead us to Jesus. He talked about how if his friend hadn’t turned around once they were heading in the wrong direction, they would have never made it home. He shared how this is an important metaphor for our relationship with Jesus. There will be times in our lives we need to make a turn too. That might be when we confess our distractions to Jesus. He asked us to do that during chapel and challenged us to tell a family member or friend for accountability. Kyle reminded us that once Jesus is king of our life, we are not immune to Satan trying to deceive us. Ultimately, his mission is to steal, kill, and destroy. Sin happens even when we are on the path of the Lord, because Satan tries to pull us off that road. Are we going to admit that we are on the wrong road and make a turn or are we going to continue to head in the wrong direction?
Ending Questions:
*Is there any distraction making me fall from Jesus?
*Are there sins holding us back from following Jesus/God/Trinity?
Spiritual Emphasis Week Day #4 Summary:
Written by 8th graders: Owen Beeke, KJ Schenk, Spencer Scheffler and Chloe Wyma
How Can I Live an Unashamed Life?
Today’s chapel started out with Pastor Kyle Brown sharing a story how he was a big Michigan fan. He applied to the University of Michigan for college but his grades weren’t good enough. Instead he went to Michigan State. Kyle still remained a big Michigan fan while at Michigan State and he would wear his U of M hat everywhere he went. He knew that he would get made fun of and picked on for his hat. Kyle shared that his actions showed he was unashamed to show his love of Michigan, regardless of the consequences.
Kyle shared three main points today. The first one was how to love Jesus faithfully. He talked about how the little things matter in our walk with Christ. He challenged us to read our bibles 4 days a week for 10 minutes. He said that is an example of loving Jesus faithfully. God wants us to do the little things that make a difference. We need to persevere through hard things and no matter what stay faithful to loving Jesus. Even if it means that someone might think of us badly or laugh at us or not want to hang around with us. We need to live unashamed and always stay faithful to loving God. To make the analogy, he used the example of wearing his Michigan hat at Michigan State. Even though people made fun of him for wearing his hat and gave him a hard time, he faithfully wore it.
The second point Kyle talked about was living foolishly for God. He told us a story about how his wife wanted a hot tub but they couldn’t afford one. He began giving plasma for years and saved up the money until he could afford to buy a hot tub. He surprised his wife with a brand new hot tub and his wife was very grateful. He told us that we need to try that hard to get to Jesus. We need to get pumped up about Jesus and being willing to go the extra mile to live and love God foolishly.
The third point Kyle talked about was living fearlessly. Kyle explained that to live fearlessly, we shouldn’t care what people think when we are living for God. Kyle realized during his time at Michigan State, that he cared more about Michigan and showing people he loved Michigan than he did about showing people he loved Jesus. He shared that we need to swap out what is taking Jesus’ spot on the throne. It may mean to stop a relationship with a friend who is drawing you further away from Jesus. When we live unashamed we don’t care what people think or what they say. It becomes all about Jesus and living confidently for him. Kyle reminded us that if he went to a Michigan game today, no one would know his name. But, Jesus knows his name. Jesus knows all of us by name and how many hairs are on our heads. Jesus paid for our sins on the cross! There is no greater gift. No friendship, or sporting event, or Michigan game will ever be able to replace our relationship with Jesus.
