SENIOR HIGH YOUTHQUEST

Tonight we started part 1 of a 6 part study entitled: Following After God - What difference does God make?
Session 1 - How Does Believing in God affect my everyday life?
THE ORACLE - MATTHEW 4:18-22 & LUKE 9:57-62
Challenge:
Every one of us lives with something at the center of our lives - it is how we are wired to function as human beings. What inhabits the center can vary greatly: It can be a boyfriend or girlfriend, a job or a car. It can be a hidden motivation like the desire for money, power, significance or security. It can be even a substance addiction. But all of us live with something at the center of our lives.
When matrix moments come, we realize that there is probably more to life than having a significant other, a nice car or a cushy job. We realize that there could be a God, and that it is possible this reality should somehow affect our everyday lives. It is in these moments that we choose between the blue pill and the red pill. Do we ignore these spiritual promptings and go back to life as it always was? Or do we risk everything and open ourselves to the reality of who God claims to be? If God reveals himself to you, are you ready to drop your familiar nets and follow him?
What do you choose?
Self-Reflection
When you have some time to be alone and reflect, pull out a piece of paper and draw a big circle on it. Ask yourself this honest question: "What is truly at the centre of my life?" If you have trouble answering, there are a couple of tools that you can use for help. First, pull out your Day-Timer or PalmPilot and look over the last few weeks of your life. What do you spend most of your time doing? Next, pull out your bank statement and look at what you spend most of your money on. If you still are not clear, ask a couple of your close friends what they would say is at the center of your life. This can be a scary exercise to do, but it can also provide you with very valuable information.
Once you come up with an answer to this question, you are faced with a matrix moment. This type of self-awareness provides you with the opportunity to take the blue pill or the red pill. The red pill question is the same that Jesus gave each of the people in the stories you read earlier.
What would it take for you to drop your familiar nets (whatever is inside the circle) and follow God?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOATbVxHVr8 = Matrix - When Morpheus Meets Neo - Blue Pill or Red Pill