Who are we? Where do we belong? What difference do we make? These are the questions that we’re all hoping to find answers to. Sadly, the answers the world offers don’t truly satisfy the longings of our soul. It is only through the Gospel of Jesus and commitment to His kingdom that we are really able to find answers that are good and true. That’s why we are kicking off the fall semester of Switch by immersing ourselves into Jesus’ most famous teaching on the kingdom of God: The Sermon on the Mount. It’s three straight chapters of spiritual punch after spiritual punch intended to knock us off balance, confront our assumptions, challenge our commitment, and reshape our understanding of what it means to be human so that we can live more faithfully as disciples of Jesus. Together, with the words of Jesus as our guide, we will discover what it means to be Kingdom People.
Week 1: We Are Kingdom People
Week 2: A Kingdom of Blessing
Week 3: Salt and Light
Week 4: Beneath the Surface
Week 5: Putting on a Show
Week 6: Trust or Fear
Week 7: Is It Wrong to Judge?
Week 8: Wisdom and Foolishness
In week one, we are kicking off the fall semester of Switch IRL by looking at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, as recorded in Matthew 4, to help us rethink who we want to be as a Switch movement, and how we want to live as Kingdom People.
Week two is launching into the Sermon on the Mount by immersing ourselves in the series of blessings that Jesus uses to introduce His teachings on the kingdom of God. Through our exploration of the Beatitudes, we will see how radically different the values of God’s kingdom are compared to the values of our culture.
During week three, youth pastors will do a live speak based on Jesus’ declaration of His followers being “the salt of the earth and the light of the world.” The goal is to help our students understand what defines the life of a disciple.
In week four, we’re going to wrestle with what Jesus meant when He said He “didn’t come to abolish the law, but to fulfill the law,” and how understanding this part of the sermon is the key to understanding everything else. When we put these words in their proper context, we start to discover what the Law was intended to do all along.
Next, in week five, we are looking inward to examine why we do what we do and whether or not our actions in the name of Jesus are being done to make ourselves look good, or as an expression of love for God and our neighbors.
Week six will confront us with this question: How do we see the world? Through the lens of trust, or fear? How does that difference shape our ability to faithfully live as Kingdom People?
In week seven, we’re talking about judging others. Is it wrong? Is it right? How do we know? Is God the only one who can judge, or is there a time and a place for disciples of Jesus to judge? If so, when? And also, how?
Finally, in week eight, we are closing out this series by taking Jesus’s conclusion to His sermon seriously. Because if Jesus really thinks the difference between wisdom and foolishness and is determined by our willingness to do what He says, then why do so many Christians seem so content to repeat what Jesus says without ever doing what He says?
