Dear Galatians

Parent Cue

We are like to receive letters. These days they come primarily through email but in Biblical times, letters were handwritten. The apostle Paul wrote a lot of letters, many of which are included in the Bible. His letters were intended to help the early church sort out what it meant to really follow Jesus. But the Galatians may not have been too excited to get Paul's letter to them because Paul was mad. The Galatian church was a mess! People were saying that what Jesus did on the cross wasn't enough. They were looking around them and determining who was "in" with God, and who was "out." So Paul set out to bring some clarity to the situation in the passionate, sound way that only He could. And while this may seem like a great book back in history, we probably have more in common with the Galatians than we would care to admit.

Utilize these parent cue opportunties during each week of our "Dear Galatians" series. Each week has a summary of that night's topic as well as a question to help get the conversation going between parents and students throughout each week!

Week 1: Jesus + (May 22)
If Paul were around today, he would be emailing and tweeting all of the time- and for good reason, people needed his help! God had placed Paul in a strategic point during the early church to help bring some clarity to the chaos. And there was chaos...a lot of chaos! People were trying to add to the Gospel, saying that Jesus' death and ressurrection weren't enough. That it needed a few extra things to help someone "be a Christian" and be "in" with God. That got Paul fired up, and he set out to clear things up. And thousands of years later, Paul's words are a great reminder for us because it's easy to think and act as if what Jesus did wasn't enough...

Session 1 Parent Cue: What are some ways that you add to the Gospel- things you feel you have to do to make God love you more or accept you?

Week 2: The Checklist (June 5)
What does a Christian look like? Stop for a minute and really think about that, because aside from the basic belief that Jesus was the Son of God, that He died for our sins and rose from the dead, there are some things that most of us would add to that. Maybe our response would be someone who reads the Bible or helps people in need. Maybe it's someone who prays everyday and attends church regularly. Maybe it's someone who has memorized a bunch of Bible verses and knows alot about the Bible. But we probably have some responses that we wouldn't feel very comfortable saying out loud- things like the kind of music someone listens to, what someone wears, or what someone says. So what does a Christian look like? The answer is probably alot more simple than we make it out to be.

Session 2 Parent Cue: What does a Christian look like to you? Do you think you have overcomplicated the picture? Why or why not?

Week 3: With Love (June 12)
So with all of this talk about what it does and doesn't mean to be a follower of Jesus, does that mean that a Christian doesn't do anything? Not exactly. It's not always about what you do, but your reason for doing it. For example, are you reading your Bible because you want to love God and others more, or are you reading it to prove how spiritual you are to anyone who asks? We're talking about the "why" factor. So are you doing what you're doing because you're motivated by love- love for God and love for others- or by something else?

Session 3 Parent Cue: In your everyday actions as a follower of Christ, what is the motive behind what you do? Does it flow out of a gratitude of what God has done in your life or is it more of a "I have to do this" motivation?