Bellevue Bright Lights: June 2014

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Honoring Your Parents

We had a great ending to our year, before summer break, this past Sunday...finishing up Set 5 materials with the topic of Honoring Your Parents. The weather was beautiful, so for a special treat, I handed out Popsicles and the girls and I walked around the neighborhood discussing our topic...fun! Have a safe and blessed summer break everyone and hope to see you all back again in September :)

Set 5 Meeting 6 – Honoring Your Parents

Stories:

Jesus going to the temple when He was 12 (Luke 2: 41-52)

Samson’s failure in this area and the results (Judges 14)

Personal testimonies of when you chose to honor your parents, even though you didn’t want to, and the ways you saw the Lord bless your decision

What does “To Honor” look like?

We should honor not only parents, but also grandparents and others in authority.

How do Gratefulness, Complaining and Murmuring, Gossip, Disrespect, Disputing and Arguing relate to honoring our parents?

Scripture:

Ex. 20:12

Deut. 5:16

Prov. 1: 8-9

Prov. 15:5

Prov. 15:20

Prov. 15:31-33

Jer. 35

Mal. 4:6

Matt. 15:3-9

Lk. 2:41-52

Rom. 13

Eph. 6:1-3

Col. 3:20

Main Concepts

We are commanded in both the OT and the NT to honor our parents…and it doesn’t say to honor them when they are right, when we agree with them, or when it is easy – it just says to honor them!

The commandment to honor our parents is so important to God that He has an exciting promise attached to it (Eph. 6:3 “That it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.”) Honoring our parents may be difficult, but the rewards far outweigh the struggles. There will be huge blessings for us, both now and for the rest of our lives, as we purpose to honor our parents in everything and respond to them in a godly way. Ultimately, we are not just honoring our parents – we are honoring the Lord!

Almost every parent desires to have a close relationship with their daughters. We should do everything we can to seek a close relationship with them in return. In fact, our relationship with our parents is to be a picture of our relationship with our Heavenly Father. (1 John 3:1)

What is a Bright Light?

It is a girl who has given her life to Jesus Christ, trusting in Him alone for salvation and for the grace to live each day according to His will. It is a girl who knows how to respond "just right" to people and circumstances, demonstrating godliness in her actions and attitudes. It is a girl who has Biblical convictions and commitments (holiness), and is able to go through her teenage years strong for the Lord without stumbling as many do. It is a girl who touches the lives of others by her servant’s spirit, her radiant countenance, and the message of eternal life through Jesus Christ (testimony). God wants bright lights! There is a great need for more of them in this generation of darkness.

What does a typical meeting look like?

What is a Typical Meeting Like? If you were to attend a Bright Lights meeting, what would it be like? At each meeting the leader shares a lesson covering important topics that are essential for girls in order for them to be strong for the Lord in their youth, such as:

Developing a Close Relationship with Parents
Gaining a Clear Conscience
Spending Time in God’s Word Everyday
Keeping Yourself Pure from Polluting Influences
Accepting the Way God Created You
Choosing Wise Friends
Contentment
Sensitivity
Humility
Self-control

The lesson is reinforced by testimonies from older girls in the group. At Bright Lights meetings, we also enjoy singing, fellowshipping with likeminded young ladies, listening to biographies of great Christians from history, preparing for future ministry opportunities, enjoying other activities together, and snacks (often with tea in china tea cups).

Each girl receives a Bright Lights binder that she brings with her to the meetings each week. After each lesson, she receives a new handout to add to her binder. The Bright Lights curriculum is organized into eight sets which you can view here.

Statement of Faith

1. Everyone has sinned and broken God’s laws. Because the penalty for sin is death, each of us deserve to spend eternity in hell in separation from God. We are totally incapable of achieving heaven on our own. There is no way we can be good enough to attain forgiveness from sin or achieve eternal life by our own works.
2. God so loved the world that He gave His only son, Jesus Christ, to rescue us from our sin. Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and rose again on the third day. He paid the penalty for our sin and took the punishment that we deserved.
3. Forgiveness and the free gift of eternal life is offered to anyone who will repent of their sin, and believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior. Redemption is wholly by the blood of Christ, and salvation is by grace, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4. The Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God, and the final authority for our lives. It is literal, historical, and infallible.
5. There is one God, eternally existent in three Persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
6. The Lord Jesus Christ is fully God, born of a virgin, sinlessly perfect. His sacrifice is substitutionary and representative. He rose bodily from the dead and ascended to His Father’s right hand, where He now ministers as our Great High Priest.
7. Jesus Christ is coming again to rapture His church, and subsequently to return and reign over the earth.
8. God created the universe ex nihilo (out of nothing) by His spoken word in six literal days as the Bible states.
9. There will be a resurrection of both the saved and the lost to either eternal life or eternal judgment.
10. A true child of God who is justified by the blood of Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit is safe and exempt from God’s judgment and thus secure for eternity.