Identity: The Office, Lady Gaga and Jesus

Thought I’d send out a quick note about our current Sunday night lesson series called “The Gospel According to The Office”.

We’ve covered a lot of ground and a ton of topics.  Basically, our format has been like this:

1. Last week’s theme was “conviction” and we asked the kids to be on the look out for incidents in the show that people either were convicted of the wrong that they had done, or tried to convict others.
2. We watched an episode called “The Chump” in which Michael realized that he was dating a married woman and did not care.  The people in the office spent the episode trying to get him to see that he was wrong using a variety of methods.
3. We talked about conviction as found in the Bible, using Genesis 3:1-12, Exodus 13:20 and Deuteronomy 17 and 1 Samuel 8 as examples of God’s conviction and leading.
4. We also read Romans 1 and talked about how God is evident but people ignore what He’s done because of their own wickedness.
5. We ended with a challenge to hear God’s conviction and in small groups we had some further discussion and prayer time.
   

I’m sending this to you because this week, we are talking about the theme of “Identity”.  We’ll be using the Office episode entitled “The Fire” as well as Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” and finally a video I made called “I am new”.  Each of these videos deals with the theme of “who we are” in a different way.  Our point is that “Who We Are” in Christ is our most important identity. Some may be hesitant for us to use Gaga’s video, and while I understand that, please know a few things about this song:

• the first week that this song was released, it was downloaded 1.2 million times on iTunes, the fastest ever
• if your student has an iPod, they most likely have Lady Gaga on it, probably, this song is there
• we are determined to help our students discern, understand and see culture in the light of the Gospel of Jesus
  

I’d encourage you to take a look at what other Christians have said about this song, video, and it’s importance in our ministries to students.

http://learningmylines.blogspot.com/2011/02/lady-gaga-born-this-way-voice-of.html
http://www.pluggedin.com/music/tracks/2011/ladygaga-bornthisway.aspx
http://networkedblogs.com/ejjta

And...we're off!

Our new semester has started and we're off with a bang.  Our middle school group is hearing the story of God, we're teaching the Bible from a different perspective, one story at a time, building on the previous week's story.  So far, we've covered Creation and the Fall of Man, next up if the story of the first murder, starring Cain and Abel.

In our high school group, we started our "Gospel According to the Office" series and this past Sunday we had a great discussion about judgment and self-righteousness.  Up next, we'll be taking about the role of denial, reality, and excuse-making in our relationship with God.  It's going to be great.

We've got more kids than ever and covet your prayers.

Also, forms for the Colorado trip (high school) are due Sunday, and CIY: Believe forms are due next Wednesday.  We've got a lot of things going on besides our normal youth group schedule, and we'd love for your kids to join us!  As always, contact us with questions!

Coming soon: The Gospel According to the Office

Starting in January, our Sr High group will begin material called "The Gospel According to The Office."

As I stated in my December 2010 church newsletter article, this show is extremely popular with our students.  So, we're going to use it to communicate the Gospel to them.

For part of the study time, we'll be using material from a group in New York City called "Mockingbird."  To see what the lessons look like, go here, and click on the first link.  We'll also be writing material for 5 or 6 lessons.  Since there may be concerns about what specifically we'll be watching, below you'll find an episode list.  And, since I cannot provide a copy of those episodes to everyone and their brother, I suggest that you visit NBC's website, find the "show clips" link, and watch a 2 minute overview of the episodes on question.  You can also visit Hulu and watch full episodes there.  As of right now (1:30pm on Wednesday, December 15) all of the seasons and episodes are there.

Here's the episode list that we'll be using:

Performance Review
Business School
Did I stutter?
The Surplus
The Coup
That's What She Said (this is NOT an episode, but a compilation video)
Christmas Party
The Chump
The Fire
Email Surveillance
Conflict Resolution

As funny as this show is, it is really, really, dumb.  It is also, really depressing and accurately portrays life without God.  To see some compilation videos that demonstrate the absurdity of it, go here and here.