For the month of January in our student ministry, we did a series called "HELP! (I'm in a family)". This series was a direct response to the hurt and pain that our students/parents are feeling in their home lives. I am amazed at the success the enemy is having in destroying families and ruining lives! And we felt led by God to step up and take action.From time to time our Student Ministry team from both campuses links up and go through the same series in both our large group and small group settings. I love doing this for a lot of reasons There is incredible unity as we all work together in putting together messages, small group materials, media elements, etc. The students are encouraged by the unity and feel the strength in numbers as we all work towards healing in the same area of our lives. I look forward to doing this more often than we do right now, because there is immense value in this.
The series kicked off with a Parent/Teen worship service at our Franklin campus. We worshipped together, asked God for wisdom and guidance together, and had radio host and youth communicator Dawson McAllister come and share some thoughts on family relationships. It was an incredible night! Here are some other highlights from the series:
During week 1 we talked specifically about parent relationships. We talked about the family being created by God as an incredible model for trust, love, and protection. We told students that unfortunately there are NO perfect parents. All parents make mistakes and inadvertently cause hurt and pain to their kids. They often do things that students don't agree with. But God's desire for students is to walk in obedience to their parents.
We played Family Feud and gave students a series of questions about relationships with parents and struggles. Groups of students competed against each other to get the most points, Family Feud style.
A group of students did a fun skit demonstrating a typical dinner conversation in a healthy family situation and then an unhealthy family situation. It was a bit dramatic, but probably not too far off base for some families.
Week 2 we discussed sibling relationships. For me, this was a bigger issue growing up than my relationships with my parents. I always seemed to go to blows with my older sister and younger brother over things big and small. I even had a home video from when we were younger that captured my sister and I bickering. Now, my siblings and I are close and have a deep love and respect for each other. We looked at the story of Joseph as a guide and discussed 4 reasons we have poor relationships with our siblings:
- We're angry that mom/dad treat them differently;
- We're annoyed by their behavior;
- We're jealous that they have something we don't;
- We're hurt by their actions.
We then gave 4 things that God expects in our relationships with siblings:
- Show mercy, don't seek revenge;
- Act out of love not anger;
- Look to protect not attack;
- Respond with patience not impulsiveness.
During week 3 we talked about broken homes. This was a powerful week in Fusion. Even as the night was getting started, you could tell there was a lot of pain in the room from students of broken homes and that God's Spirit was at work. We tackled 4 questions that are common to teens of broken homes:
- My parents have made so many mistakes, why should I listen to them?
- I'm angry at my parents for what they did, how can I ever respect them again?
- It was my fault that they split up, so what do I do with all this guilt?
- It seems that every relationship in my family fails; am I doomed to follow in their footsteps?
We encouraged students not to put blame on themselves for their parents' breakup. We also told them that God's heart is to take things that are broken and fix them. That doesn't mean their parents will get back together, but it does mean that God can heal the hurt and pain and bring restoration back to their family. It was incredible to see students respond and ask God to heal their families. They were willing to look at themselves in the mirror and ask God to change them first instead of pointing the finger at others.
The highlight for me was having one of our students come up to me at the end of the series and tell me that she has forgiven her dad. She has experienced incredible pain and hurt because of decisions made by her father and has struggled with that for years. But God showed her the importance and power of forgiveness!
By no means was this series the magic pill that cures all family issues. But it definitely pointed students in the right direction and provided some encouragement towards reconciliation in their families!

