Dear Parents & Guardians,
 
Last year we introduced a study dealing with questions related to God and faith. The meaningful discussions over the course of 6 weeks our High School Ministry on Sunday Night, reached a new depth of understanding in our relationship with God and those around us. I’m excited to introduce another set of questions we will be studying on Sunday Nights!
 
We will be using a resource titled Can I Ask That? Vol. 2, a Sticky Faith curriculum from Fuller Youth Institute (fulleryouthinstitute.org), which is designed to lead teenagers in critical conversation about their faith. This study will invite students to look at topics like the existence of hell, why bad things happen to good people and sex outside of marriage. It raises hard questions that don’t have easy answers, and helps students think about them from a biblical perspective.
 
We have convictions that high youth should wrestle with challenging topics now, with adults who know them and care about their faith, rather than on their own later. Some research suggests that about 50 percent of youth group participants will leave their faith when they graduate from high school (see stickyfaith.org for more research and resources addressing this concern). We don’t want young people to leave faith in Christ because we haven’t had real conversations with them about topics that matter.
 
These studies are written to intentionally encourage students to consider many sides of these issues and help them begin to form their own opinions based on dialogue around scripture, different Christian and non-Christian perspectives, and the tradition of our church. If you are interested in a copy of the curriculum, please let me know. I always welcome your questions and input.
 
Along with encouraging your student to attend our weekly HSM Sunday Night meetings, you can also keep up with our HSM Blog for families. Each week we will post the highlights from the topic of the night. We will post links to other resources for your family to consider as well. We hope you will take this opportunity to explore your own understanding of the topics being discussed and have follow up conversations throughout the week.
 
We are excited about this series and hope you will encourage your high school youth to attend throughout the coming months. HSM Sunday Night is a time and place for youth to belong, question and connect.
 
Sincerely,
Michael Beckmann
Director of Teen Ministries
First Lutheran Church
michaelb@firstlutherancr.org

Share a high and low from the week. 

​Mark 11:1-11 (NLT)
Jesus’ Triumphant Entry
11 As Jesus and his disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. 2 “Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks, ‘What are you doing?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it and will return it soon.’”
4 The two disciples left and found the colt standing in the street, tied outside the front door. 5 As they were untying it, some bystanders demanded, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6 They said what Jesus had told them to say, and they were permitted to take it. 7 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it, and he sat on it.
8 Many in the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others spread leafy branches they had cut in the fields. 9 Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting,
“Praise God!
    Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
10 Blessings on the coming Kingdom of our ancestor David!
    Praise God in highest heaven!”
11 So Jesus came to Jerusalem and went into the Temple. After looking around carefully at everything, he left because it was late in the afternoon. Then he returned to Bethany with the twelve disciples.

​The people were waiting for a messiah to come and lead them out of the repressive   government. They had expectations of a king coming in like a warrior and destroying everything, taking back power. Is this how Jesus entered Jerusalem?
If you were one of the disciples, how would you have felt as Jesus approached Jerusalem?
How do you remember Holy Week from past years? Do you come to worship on Thursday, Friday and Sunday? What do you remember from those worships?  

​Use the Lord’s Prayer to end your time together.

Share a high and low from the week. 

Luke 9:22-24 (NLT)
 
22 “The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,” he said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.”
 
23 Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. 24 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

​​What does it mean to "pick up your cross"? Is it a daily thing? A onetime thing?
What does sacrificial living mean to you?

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​Use the Lord’s Prayer to end your time together.

Share a high and low from the week.

 Mark 4:1-20 (NLT)
Parable of the Farmer Scattering Seed
4 Once again Jesus began teaching by the lakeshore. A very large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat. Then he sat in the boat while all the people remained on the shore. 2 He taught them by telling many stories in the form of parables, such as this one:
3 “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. 4 As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. 5 Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died. 7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain. 8 Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”9 Then he said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
10 Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parables meant.
11 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secret of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables for everything I say to outsiders, 12 so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled:
‘When they see what I do,
    they will learn nothing.
When they hear what I say,
    they will not understand.
Otherwise, they will turn to me
    and be forgiven.’”
13 Then Jesus said to them, “If you can’t understand the meaning of this parable, how will you understand all the other parables? 14 The farmer plants seed by taking God’s word to others. 15 The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away. 16 The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. 17 But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. 18 The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced. 20 And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”

desire: to wish or long for; crave; want.
to express a wish to obtain.
What are your desires in life? Are some desires good and bad?
What does it mean to “embrace” the Word?
Which seed do you relate to the most? Why?

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​Use the Lord’s Prayer to end your time together.