Over the span of the last 8 years with a few little breaks here and there we have had a bunch of teens that would meet to eat, and play, and pray and learn about Jesus.
The group was called PB&J and it stood for
People
Barns
&
Jesus.
It was based on:
Acts 2:42 (ESV)
The Fellowship of the Believers
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
I believe teens are the hungriest people on earth. Not just hungry for food, which they are...but hungry for knowing the TRUTH, for knowing Jesus and for relationship with Him and with others that know Him.
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
I believe teens are hungry and their hearts are wild.
When we feed their wild hearts the bread of life, their lives take off in the direction that will keep them growing for eternity.
They develop a taste for the TRUTH and if they taste and experience it, and do it alongside people that are eating the same healthy food, they will always know and they will always grow and they will all be together for eternity no matter where life takes them.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
We did PB&J with a few other parents and friends that enjoyed feeding hungry teens.
We used our time together to learn from each other and grow in the Lord right alongside the kids.
Mike (who did most of the teaching at PB&J 1.0) used to come in and ask me what God was saying to me???
I would get all nervous and awkward (my usual state of being) and he would keep pressing in.
I learned over time to just say what was on my heart, I would even think about it before the conversation happened.
I knew it was worth getting past the nervous awkward part, to enjoy the sweet and rich conversations that involved talking about what the Lord was saying and doing in my life and in the lives of the people I loved.
I have learned to trust the Lord and His ability to communicate with me.
He is the God who is the Word became flesh to dwell among us....He must be pretty serious about being able to communicate in a way we can understand Him and experience Him.
These are a few of the pictures from the first round of teens, PB&J 1.0.
A few years ago....we realized we were in the same place AGAIN...we had a house full of hungry teens ( 3 of our own) and we wanted to invite other teens in to share some life giving food with.
We decided to do a PB&J 2.0 and let our second round of teens invite friends over and learn more about Jesus and play and pray and eat together.
We had our last PB&J 2.0 gathering the other night. It was a sweet time with these hungry teens. We spent our last meeting together by encouraging the kids to talk with each other often about what God is doing in their lives. We encouraged them to go beyond conversations about school and sports and weather and talk about what God is saying to them; share what God is doing in their lives. We practiced this, we went around and asked the kids what God was doing in each of their lives, currently. They all had an answer, they all had something to say and we learned from each other.
We reminded the kids to stay in His Word, so that they can recognize His voice when He speaks to them. We taught them that God will never contradict His Word, so if they hear something and they aren't sure if it's truth, they can always go to His written Word.
In typical teen fashion, they were hungry and wild, they ate up all that was shared, and they shared with courage and energy. We ended the night with brave and bold prayers.
1 comment:
Just beautiful 1.0 and 2.0!! Such life-giving time for those who were teens "then" and are teens now :)
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