/ December 9, 2018 Possibilities Focus: God makes the impossible possible. Bible Basis: Luke 1:36 45 By Levi Schofield Memory Verse: For no word from God will ever fail. Luke 1:37 Your teens will look at an incredible demonstration of physical and mental strength in order to consider what it takes to make the impossible possible. Materials: Internet access On the north side of Yosemite Valley stands a 3,000-foot vertical granite monolith known as El Capitan. Named for its undisputed dominion over the valley, the southwest face of the mountain has long been considered by the rock-climbing community to contain some of the most difficult routes on the planet. To put into perspective just how difficult some of the climbs are, the face wasn t summited until years after Mt. Everest, and despite being four times shorter, took climbers longer to complete. However, as time passed and technology improved, it became clear that any climb could be achieved with enough perseverance, ropes, and hole drilling. Many climbers have gone on to not only climb the southwestern face of El Cap but have sought out the most difficult way to do so, now with even the most inconceivable routes being conquered. Nevertheless, there is one achievement on El Capitan that was, until recently, widely regarded as beyond human capability: free soloing. Free soloing is a niche style of climbing in which the climber uses no ropes, no gear, nothing at all to catch them if they fall. Obviously, this is the most dangerous form of climbing in existence, and combined with the length, pitch, and surface of El Capitan make it a feat that many considered to be beyond the bounds of possibility. At least they did until 31-year-old Alex Honnold free-soloed all 3,000 feet in June of last year. The climb made big headlines everywhere when it happened, but since then, the climbing community has been anxiously awaiting the release of photographer Jimmy Chin s incredible 360 video footage, to experience the climb first hand. Play the following clip for your students. Be sure to note that this is a 360-degree video, use the arrows in the upper left corner to adjust the field of view in real time [6:48]. Free Solo 360 National Geographic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frgf77fbaem
The word impossible was thrown around a lot when Honnold completed the route. In response to Honnold s summit, one climber on Reddit wrote, Pictures cannot do justice to the immensity of El Cap. Standing there, it looks impossible. Not difficult. Impossible. I mean, it doesn't look merely vertical and smooth, its overhanging! This modest unassuming kid, he has done the impossible and made it look easy. Unbelievable. And while there is no doubt that this achievement ranks high among the most impressive physical and mental accomplishments in human history, Alex Honnold himself stated that he never once viewed it as impossible. He knew that with enough physical and mental preparation he could achieve it. During an interview after the climb, he said the following, After two seasons of working specifically toward a potential free solo of El Cap, I finally finished all my preparations. I knew every handhold and foothold on the whole route, and I knew exactly what to do... I felt confident as I looked up the wall. I felt even better as I started climbing. And then I reached the summit after three hours and 56 minutes of glorious climbing. It was the climb that I wanted, and it felt like mastery. How often do you let doubt stand in the way of achieving something? Why? (Allow this conversation to take its natural course, unpacking reasons your students identify and inserting some they may miss. Fear of failure, low self-esteem, inability to trust, not wanting to be in a position where you are not in control, etc. are a few things that may surface.) Often, doubt is the greatest hindrance to achieving our impossibles. God has said that He can do anything with faith like a mustard seed, but it s up to us to come to Him free of doubt and full of faith. Today, we ll learn how to eliminate our doubt in God s ability to achieve the impossible in our lives. Additional Resources Alex Honnold free solos a 5.12d route on El Capitan. WHAT. https://www.theoutbound.com/kylefrost/alex-honnold-free-solos-a-5-12d-route-on-el-capitanwhat (Continue on to Steps 2 and 3 in your teacher s guide; your Step 4 appears below.)
/ December 9, 2018 Possibilities Focus: God makes the impossible possible. Bible Basis: Luke 1:36 45 Memory Verse: For no word from God will ever fail. Luke 1:37 Materials: Internet access Five Steps worksheet printouts (1 per student; template found here) Pens/pencils Before class, print out a copy of the Five Steps worksheet for each of your students (template here). Through the Bible, we know that God has time and time again demonstrated that He can and does do the impossible. Whether it be raising the dead, parting the Red Sea, or creating the miraculous conception of a child, God does perform miracles. Nevertheless, we ve learned today that when we doubt that miracles can be performed in our own lives, we get in the way of God doing everything He s capable of. With that in mind, in the last step of today s lesson, we ll work on increasing our capacity for trust. At first glance, this can seem pretty daunting. How do we improve on something so abstract? Well today we re going to move through a practical framework for improving our capacity for trust each day. Instruct your students to break up into groups of five. Hand out a copy of the worksheet to each student along with writing utensils. Tell your teens that their goal is to move through the five steps listed on the worksheet as a group, with each member taking turns facilitating the conversation by reviewing the verses and corresponding statement and asking the discussion question. Encourage everyone in the small group to share how this verse relates to both the specific step and their individual lives. If you end up with a group less than five, have adult helpers join in or have group members facilitate more than one question. Once your students have completed this exercise, instruct them to reform into a single group. Challenge them to take their worksheet home and review it during the week by looking up the verses again and asking God what He wants them to do in response to each question personally. Close today s lesson by thanking God for making the impossible possible for every single one of us. Pray for God to begin working in you and your students, removing the doubt that keeps all of us from reaching new levels of trust.
(We are not affiliated with and do not endorse any website or any other media listed on these pages. At the time of writing, we carefully review the referenced material and non-referenced web page content. However, due to the nature of the Internet, non-cited content on the website [including pop-ups, links, and ads] changes frequently and is beyond our control. Please review carefully before showing links in the classroom.)
Five Steps to Increase Trust 1. Don t Depend on You - Proverbs 3:5; Romans 11:33 Most of us have faced disappointments, which have taught us that we can only depend upon ourselves. But living the life God has called us to means unlearning that lesson. Instead, we re meant to rest in God s understanding. So, each day we must consciously lay aside our own plans and expectations and surrender to His plans. What if we re not ready to trust Him like that? 2. Run from Evil - 1 John 2:16; 2 Timothy 2:22; Proverbs 3:7-8 Sometimes, the only way to live the life God wants us to live is by separating ourselves from the bad influences that keep dragging us down. That works the best when we start pursuing something else in their place. What sort of life-giving things can we pursue instead? 3. Put God First in Your Life - Proverbs 3:9-10 It s easiest to put ourselves first. When something good happens, we want to congratulate ourselves with a reward. When something bad happens, we want to console ourselves or find someone to blame. In other words, we often have a me-centric starting place. What are some practical ways in which we can put God first in our lives? 4. Listen to the Holy Spirit - John 14:26; 2 Timothy 1:14 When Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to the Church, He told His disciples that this Counselor would be their spiritual compass, guiding them through life s ups and downs. How can we make sure we re listening when the Holy Spirit is speaking to us? 5. Rest in God s Love - Proverbs 3:12; Matthew 16:24; and Matthew 28:20b Even in the midst of turmoil, God sticks with us and uses those challenges to shape us. When we understand that, our perspective completely flips. No longer do we see our setbacks as failures; we see them as moments when God, as our loving Father, works on us. How can we begin to see our setbacks as opportunities for God to take us to the next level? This worksheet was adapted from an article written by BibleStudyTools: https://www.biblestudytools.com/biblestudy/topical-studies/7-daily-steps-to-trust-in-the-lord-with-all-your-heart.html