It’s week 3 of The Focused Track and the competition is starting to mount! Tonight we had a few neck and neck situations. Found out one of our students even went out of his way to research how to build the “fastest” character and Kart in the game. What made things interesting is that even though he had done that, two of our young ladies kept him on the ropes the entire time! It was a fun and wild time!

The Lesson

Last week, we discussed how the first thing we have to do in Mario Kart is to select our identity as the racer carefully. This week, we are looking at the next major screen, the Equipment Screen.

Looking at the equipment screen, you can choose certain key parts of your kart. Paragliders, Chassis, and Wheels. Each does a specific job, and choosing the right one helps you to win the race. If you have a heavy character, you may want to find the wheels that give you the most traction. At the same time, you may need to choose a chassis that gives you a speed boost. But then, while looking at it, you realize that you need to choose a paraglider that balances out your handling.

As Christians, we need to understand the equipment of our faith. The things that we utilize to help us with our walk with God.  So, what’s the proper equipment for those of us whose identity is in Christ?

Let’s look at the example of the early church in Acts 2:42

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

In this verse, we can group this down to 3 things.

1. The Bible (the Apostles’ teaching which was a combination of the Old Testament and their personal walk with Christ and application of his teachings, which we have canonized in the New Testament)
2. Community (This would be the fellowship and the breaking of bread portion of this verse)
3. Prayer

Prayer

Ask: What is prayer?

Let’s look at 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for  you.”

In these verses, we discover that our prayers are to be marked with rejoicing and thanksgiving, no matter what’s going on. We also see that we are called not to make prayer an occasional activity but a regular activity. Talking to God helps us to be closer to him. It helps build a relationship that keeps us from becoming people who simply, sometimes begrudgingly, obey rules they don’t understand.  It’s not about coming to God with a list of things you want him to do. But more about listening to His voice and learning what He sounds like.

Bible

Ask: What makes the Bible so special?

Let’s look at 2 Timothy 3:16-17

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

God is the author of all of our scritpures. Old and New Testaments of the Bible. He used various writers over hundreds of years to write it, but it is His word. The Bible is the way we learn about God’s righteousness and holiness. We see from scripture that it was written down to help us discover God’s nature and teach others about who He is and who we are meant to be in Him. When we read our Bibles and pray at the same time, we open up our minds and spirits to be able to learn about who God is and His character better than if we just did one or the other.

Community

Ask: What is Community?

We discussed this last week, but community is essential to help each other grow spiritually and emotionally.  It is a portion of God’s design for “The Church” that we can’t ignore. 

Let’s see what Proverbs 27:17 says:

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

This Proverb speaks to the importance of being part of a Biblical community. We need fellow Christians. To help us to grow. We need them to challenge us to seek God in prayer and read our Bibles more. We need each other to help us to live out what the Bible says. We also need to be willing to allow those we’ve built proper friendships with to help us see places where we aren’t doing so well in our walk with God and help us to get better in those places. 

A key place to develop those relationships and community is in small groups like this, Sunday mornings at church or other church events.  These relationships, however, should grow beyond the four walls of the church.

Prayer Time

Which of these 3 areas do you need help growing in?

• Do you need help being reminded to pray more often?
• Do you need help in understanding your Bible?
• Do you need help being part of a community?

We’re going to pray over these three areas and any other needs. But afterwards we want to talk with each of you about how we can help you grow in these specific areas individually.

Discussion Questions and topics for Parents

1. Take some time to share how you stay on track with your time in the scriptures and in the prayer.
2. If you personally do struggle with being in prayer and in scriptures, be honest about that. Invite your students to be part of your own journey of growth.
3. Ask your students about which of these 3 areas they think they are the the strongest in.
4. Ask your students which of the 3 areas they struggle the most in.