CELEBRATION  |  April 13-18

This week we've been looking at the spiritual practice of celebration. But, honestly...what is there to celebrate right now? People are losing their jobs, getting sick, and dying. Our world is suffering. Nothing is normal. We don’t know when this will end. ...One thing about God...He is still God, still good, and still working things out for the good in spite of the brokenness of this world, regardless of our circumstances. He is hope, and THAT is worth celebrating.  

Celebration  |  Engaging in actions that direct our attention toward God with gratitude, worship, and praise. We delight in God, Who He is and what He’s done.   

***Important note: celebrating doesn’t mean hiding, ignoring, or pretending bad things aren’t happening or aren’t having an effect on you. We still need to face those, own those, and work through them on our own, with others, and with God. Celebration, though, can be accessed during hardships and certainly once we’ve been allowed to process and even grieve.  

TEXT YOUR STUDENTS

Each week, we challenge you (within your capacity) to text each one of your small group students at least 1x throughout the week. Whether it’s a quick, “Hey. Was thinking about you. I hope you’re well,” or something that invites a little more conversation, “Hey. Was thinking about you. How can I pray for you and your family today?”  

DISCUSS

Here's 3 possible conversation starters if you have a little more time and space to engage with one or a few of your students this week, individually or together over zoom: 

• Google “Weirdest Holidays in the World”. Which one do you think is the weirdest?  
• What Easter traditions does your family have? Did you guys get to do that this year, or did you start a new tradition? 
• What does Easter mean to you? Why do you think Christians find it important to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus? What is it do you think we’re celebrating exactly? (just chat...you don’t need a theology degree here...big picture: everything in the Old Testament pointed forward to the resurrection and everything in the New Testament pointed back to the resurrection). 

Engage outside the box

Throw a virtual small group party! Have everyone get their favorite snack food or order pizza delivery and get on Zoom together. While you’re together, you could play games like pictionary using the annotate feature, or “guess where I am?” using the virtual backgrounds, or you could write your own mad libs, get on Netflix Party, etc. We know that you’re full of ideas! Just spend some time together celebrating the little things that are going on in your lives.