Responsibility

Taking a cue from the whole Noah's ark/Evan Almighty story, we talked about responsibility on Friday, 7/6/07. More than once, the bible says that Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him. We looked at how that can apply to us today.


We went through a lot of lists of things for this lesson. First was statements about it. The youth had to reply yes, no, or maybe to the following (taken from a Group Publishing teen talk sheet):
1) Being responsible is boring.
2) Being responsible is part of growing up.
3) People my age don't need to be responsible.
4) People my age are less responsible than adults.
5) People my age don't get a chance to show they're responsibe.
6) I'll get more responsible as I get older.
7) Being responsible is a good thing.

Reasons for young people being irresponsible:
1) too young
2) not the one to blame
3) i forgot
4) i was mad
5) bad luck
6) i don't care

How responsible are you for:
1) personal hygeine
2) homework
3) getting along with parents
4) choosing good friends
5) staying away from alcohol/drugs
6) reading your Bible
7) keeping a secret for a friend
8) telling the truth

It's good for you to see where the youth think they are at with these things. I remember using the heck out of "I forgot" when I was growing up! It was good to see that the youth do have many opportunities to show they are responsible and that it is important to show that when it matters.

We went all over the Bible to see how some biblical characters displayed responsiblity:
1) Gen 3:12 (Adam blames Eve)
2) Ex 32:21-24 (golden calf)
3) Mt 25: 31-46 (the least of these)
4) Lk 10:30-36 (the parable of the Good Samaritan)
4) Lk 15:11-16 (first 1/2 of the parable of the Prodigal Son)
5) I Cor 10:33

And finally went over some more passages/verses to point out how responsiblity comes into play with certain characters or conditions:
1) I Cor 15:33- choosing good friends
2) Phil 1:27- being responsible inspite of circumstances
3) Rom 14:12- we all give an account to God and God alone
4) Mt 27:24- Pilate removed responsibility from his hands in condemning Jesus
5) Mt 25:14-30- parable of the Talents
6) Gen 1:28- God gives authority to Adam & Eve over the earth and its living things

I then had everyone break into small groups to discuss and pray for each other's weaknesses to close. If anyone tries this, let me know how it goes for your group.

blessings