Youth Group Devotionals

I like to remind myself as often as possible, that Christianity is a counter cultural movement. This is not an original idea of mine but one I learned that helps shape how I read scripture.The Beatitudes are the epitome of Jesus’s counter cultural message. While teaching in lands under control of the Roman empire, possibly the greatest empire up to that time, Jesus teaches His followers that strength, might, and power are not what the Kingdom of Heaven, His Kingdom, are about. His Kingdom is about gentleness, peace, righteousness, and mercy.Lastly, notice that these are traits that describe Him as well, so by practicing the Beatitudes we ourselves are becoming more Christ-like which is the essence of Christianity.

In Acts 8, Philip helps an Ethiopian official understand that Scripture points to Jesus. As they’re traveling they come to some water and the Ethiopian asks, “What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”That question matters because he doesn’t delay. He doesn’t wait until he knows everything or feels perfectly ready. He hears the good news about Jesus, believes, and wants to respond.Verse 37 says, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answers, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”That’s the center of following Jesus: not being perfect, but believing in Him and responding with your life.So maybe the question for us is what’s stopping me from taking my next step with Jesus? Is it fear, pride, what people might think, or feeling like you’re not good enough? Jesus doesn’t call us because we already have everything figured out. He calls us because He makes us new.What next step is Jesus asking you to take and what could be holding you back?

Focus on verses 30 to 35 today. This is the part where Philip shared the Gospel. After reading, share an observation or two in the text thread about how Philip shared the Gospel with this man.

We see in this passage that an angel tells Philip to take the road down toward Gaza. Now, I’m not saying an angel is probably going to show up and tell you where to go tomorrow. Probably. But also, you never know with God, right?But what we do see clearly is that the Spirit is leading Philip. The Spirit tells him to go over to the chariot, and Philip listens.Have you ever thought about what it might look like for you to notice the Spirit leading you? How would you know? What kinds of signs might God use?At Grace, we like to use the phrase “hearing in stereo.” It means you might sense the Spirit leading you in a certain direction, but then you start hearing that same thing from people you trust. That outside confirmation can help you realize, “Okay, maybe this really is something God is doing.”A personal example from me: a few years ago, I started to feel like God was putting some kind of church leadership role on my heart. I tried to stay open to whatever that might mean, vocational ministry (becoming a Nate or Kyle), seminary, serving in a new way, or just being ready for whatever opportunity God put in front of me.And honestly, that was not easy. I grew up as a pastor’s kid, and my experience with that was not always great. Because of that, I had pretty intentionally closed myself off to the idea of ministry or church leadership. But God broke down that wall and I finally said, "Ok, I'm willing". Then I found out that several people had nominated me to be an elder. For me, that felt like more than just a coincidence. It felt like a possible answer to prayer, and the fact that the answer came through other people made it feel even more confirming.As you move through high school and into whatever comes next, I think it is really important to stay tuned in to what the Lord might be saying to you through the Spirit. He may lead you through prayer, through Scripture, through circumstances, or through people you trust. The question is: are you paying attention?

Since we had three amazing baptisms yesterday I thought we would look at another baptism in Acts. This is a pretty long text so today I just want you to read the passage and if you see something interesting in the passage, feel free to post it to the group chat.