The fact that I am a SciFi Fan should not come as a shock or surprise to anyone who has met me, seen me or even heard of me from friends. The fact that I spent most of my late nights in college watching The X-Files in syndincation with my roommate should also not cause any heads to be scratched. So the fact that our youth group messages for Term I are based on a SciFi movie should not cause any real alarm, but might, instead, trigger a sigh and a shake of the head in response.
The movie The 5th Element (starring Bruce Willis) is a SciFi movie about aliens, the end of the world and good versus evil. (what else would you expect?) In order to fight the "ultimate evil," Bruce Willis must gather the 4 elements (Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water) and place them around a perfect, supreme being (the 5th element). [Yes, the spiritual overtones ARE subtle and hard to decipher.] In Youth Group each Friday, we have spent two weeks talking about each of these 4 elements and places where they show up in the Bible.
Wind:
1. Jesus walks on water and Peter did, too, until he was distracted by the "wind noise." What is the wind noise in our lives that distracts us from keeping our eyes on Jesus?
2. Based on the song "Mind's Eye" by DC Talk. It has a quote from Billy Graham... "Can you see God? I can't see the wind, but I can see the effects of the wind." What happens when the wind slows? Does that mean there is no more air? No. Take a breath in a still room. The air is still there. What happens when you can't see the "effects" of God? (i.e. No blessings in your life.) Does that mean God isn't there? No. Take a breath and remember that God is ALWAYS there.
Water:
3. Fear versus Afraid. If you aren't afraid of the water, do you treat it too casually, forgetting it can kill you? (I asked a kid to let me hold her head in a bucket full of water... then challenged her that she said she wasn't afraid of it.) If you're not AFRAID of God, do you still FEAR Him?
4. Amos 5:24 (in context)[Thanks, Bret for the idea!] God wants justice and righteousness in our lives. He saved us to make us Holy so that He can be in relationship with us. The youth were challenged to "be Holy as I am Holy." I asked what does God want? And they all said, for us to love each other, to be forgiving, to be in relationship with Him. No one said for us to be Holy. So we talked about how sometimes it is easy to sin because we know we are forgiven. Here, God says be just. Be righteousness. (Be holy!) It was an interesting night. (We also discussed burnt offerings and sacrifices and what it meant to the Israelites when God said I will no longer accept these... v. 22/23. The Precepts Study I am doing on Leviticus came in handy that night.)
Earth:
5. Gil used the illustration of rocks, pebbles and sand in a jar. Everything fits only if you put the BIG rocks in first... which represents our relationship with God and making Him a priority. The students had trouble descerning what was a Big Rock and what was sand. (Xbox is NOT a big rock by the way...)
6. Gen 2:7, Ps. 103:13-14. We are dirt. God made us that way. God is compassionate because He remembers that we are dirt. When you forget to be Holy, when you sin, go back to God. He knows you're dirt. When other people sin against you, remember they are dirt... just like you. So treat people like dirt! (it works on a teenage level... trust me.)
We have two weeks left before our Christmas party (that's the 5th Element part) and we get to talk about Fire. I may even break out my Bunsen Burner for these!
(Yes, my choice of topics and my excitement for them did inspire the first Nifty Nerd Night. Someday these guys will realize how cool the Kingdom of Nerds really is!) (Did I just end that sentence with a preposition? :)
