A New School Year
Timothy R Schmoyer
8/22/01

WEEK ONE - INTRODUCTION
It was a fog-shrouded morning, July 4, 1952, when a young woman named Florence Chadwick waded into the water off Catalina Island. She intended to swim the channel from the island to the California coast. Long-distance swimming was not new to her; she had been the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions.

The water was numbing cold that day. The fog was so thick she could hardly see the boats in her party. Several times sharks had to be driven away with rifle fire. She swam more than fifteen hours before she asked to be taken out of the water. Her trainer tried to encourage her to swim on since they were so close to land, but when Florence looked, all she saw was fog. So she quit . . . only one-half mile from her goal.

Later she said, “I’m not excusing myself, but if I could have seen the land, I might have made it.” It wasn’t the cold or fear or exhaustion that caused Florence Chadwick to fail – it was the fog.

Many times we too fail, not because we’re afraid or because of the peer pressure or because of anything other than the fact that we lose sight of the goal. Maybe that’s why Paul said, “I press on toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:14).

Two months after her failure, Florence Chadwick walked off the same beach into the same channel and swam the distance, setting a new speed record, because she could see the land, she kept her goal in sight.

SUMMARY
In order for us to be successful this school year, we need to have some goals set, too. Over the next couple of days we will be evaluating four aspects of our lives at school – social, mental, physical, and spiritual – and set goals for each one of them.

What kinds of things you will be involved with this year that could be categorized into one of these four areas?
Mention at least one thing for each aspect.

In Philippians 3:7-15 Paul has a very clear goal in mind and he mentions a couple ways he plans to attain it. • What is his goal and what are some of his ideas for meeting that goal? • How important was this goal to him? • Why was it so important? • How can you meet that same goal in your life as well?

WEEK TWO -- Social
There are a lot of cool things about going back to school. For instance, just think of all the great healthy cafeteria food your body loves you for! Or, for the gym shorts you have to wear even though they’re 3 sizes too big and look like the dress your grandmother wore to great-aunt’s cousin’s funeral. If that’s not enough excitement for you, remember all the wonderful people that you will get to see again! You know, the ones that announce the zipper you “intentionally” left open to control air circulation through your jeans. You knew it was down for good reasons, but apparently they all thought it was funny. They just don’t understand, do they? Some people are just wonderful.

But then other people really are wonderful. You can usually tell which people are cool and which are not based on the questions they ask. For example, if someone asks you, “Hey dweeb! What’s up with the zit on your forehead? Trying to grow another nose?” that’s probably someone you want to add to your “not too cool” list, especially if they try to pop it for you. Someone who asks a question like, “Hey, how are ya?” can kind of be a neutral person. I mean, it’s nice that they ask how you’re doing, but usually no one cares to get an honest answer to that question. However, someone who asks something like, “I see your hands are full with those books. Can I help you with some of them?” is probably someone worth your time and energy.

The friends you chose are very important to your spiritual survival. Ask for any examples.

This past summer a friend of mine went from being red-hot for the Lord to experimenting with ungodly things such as racking up $700 each month on phone-sex bills. It's not like he hung out with the wrong crowd at school or anything because he didn't. He's really a good kid! In his case, the problems were the youth group kids from church. He hung out with them and established some good friendships with students there. Over the course of a year, those friends pulled him down from the spiritual stature he had established. Two weeks ago he was forced to leave all of them behind anyway when his family moved a couple states away for financial reasons. Now he's stuck without any of his "friends." It would've been smarter to not give in to their negative influences (even if they were from church) than to have his baggage now. Just like my friend found out, friends will come and go, but the Lord will always be with you.

Do you think it’s smarter to stick with an eternal God or with your temporary earthly friends?

Hopefully your relationship with God is the primary thing in your life, the absolute first thing before anything else. Everything else is secondary, including your friends. If they are building you up in the Lord, awesome! If they're not, then maybe you need to evaluate your time with them and their influence on your life. You want to be a positive example in their lives in hopes to pull them up to your level, but if that's not happening, then you need to spend your time with them wisely. You're no good as a witness if they pull you into participating in the same things they do. But you're also no good as a witness if you do your best to keep away from them. That's a balance you're going to have to pray about and find with the Lord's help. If you can pull them up, awesome! But if not, your relationship with God comes first, so chose your friends wisely.

What goals are you going to set for this upcoming school year concerning your friends?
Maybe you have some current friendships that you need to reconsider and evaluate before the Lord. What guidelines will you follow as you meet new people and establish friendships?

If you don’t keep your eyes focused on a goal, you’re probably not going to hit one. If you shoot an arrow hoping to hit a target but have your focus elsewhere, you probably won’t come too close to accomplishing what you intended. If you don’t have your eyes set on an end product, you will never produce it. If your eyes aren’t set on the Lord and on growing in your relationship with Him, your spiritual life will show it, and so will your friends. So where’s your focus spiritually? Will you choose your friends wisely?

• Hebrews 12:1-3 – Who are the “cloud of witnesses”? Where should our focus be and what hinders us from reaching that goal? • Proverbs 2:12-15 and 12:26 – Which of the two kinds of people described here do you want to be? What do you have to do to be that kind of a person? • James 4:4 – You have to pick your friends. You can’t be on both sides. Who’s side do you want to be on?

Think about how you will chose your friends this school year. What are your goals for this year concerning your friends? Talk with your parents about this and ask for their input, as well.

Share with the rest of us your goals. Some others may be searching for goals without too much direction, so provide your goals and help give others something to focus on for their friendships, too.

DAY THREE – Mental

So what’s the point of going to school? – to learn something
What did you guys learn in school today?
So why are the teachers there? -- to teach you

Several times I sat in a public school classroom I wasn’t sure why the teacher was there. No one was paying attention or really cared about what the teachers had to say.

To think of all those wonderful tax dollars going to this form of tortured baby-sitting kind of seems to be a waste to me.

For some reason school has become a required thing for most of us.
Who would go to school if it wasn’t required?

I guess other people want us to grow up knowing a little bit so we can do something with our lives. Imagine that.

I’m not sure what the point of some of it is, though, like algebra. As if it isn’t enough that I learned to do math with numbers, now I have to learn how to do it with letters too? Last I can remember I never saw a burger a McDonalds that was priced with letters, so what’s the deal?

Oh, but I learned a lot of good stuff in Biology. Now when I’m out to eat with friends and I want to impress everyone, instead of asking my buddy to pass the salt, I’m just like, “Hey, anyone see any sodium chloride around here?” When they looked confused I pretend to lower myself to their inferior level of intelligence and say, “Oh, in your terms, has anyone seen the salt?”

So, I guess school is good for some things, huh?

Apparently Paul thought so. He was one of the most educated people of the Bible (Gal 1:14).
Acts 22:3 says he studied under a man named Gamaliel. (I love Bible names. Just goes to show God has a sense of humor!)

Acts 22:2-3, “Then Paul said: "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.”

Gamaliel showed great spiritual insight in Acts 5:34ff when he saved Peter and some of the other apostles from death for their preaching

READ: Acts 5:25-40

As Paul’s teacher, it seems that some of Gamaliel’s wisdom helped develop Paul’s spiritual understanding. Paul later turned out to be one of the biggest contributors of the New Testament.

However, one of the most important aspects of Paul’s education was not just the academics, but his study of God’s Word.

He grew up in a school for Pharisees and received his academic training there. He also learned the trade of his parents, tent-making, and often supported himself financially with this skill later in life. But both his formal academics and his tent-making skills were only temporary. He eventually graduated from school and, before long, mastered the skill of tent-making, too. The thing that lasted him the rest of his life was his study of scripture.

You will eventually graduate from academic institutions, and you may eventually master whatever skill the Lord has gifted you with, but the study of God’s Word is something you will never complete. The Bible is simple enough that little children can understand it, but it’s also complex enough that scholars can spend their entire lives studying just one individual book and never get to the end of it.

READ Psalms 1:2-3
READ Proverbs 2:3-5
READ John 14:26 • What do these verses have to say about studying God’s Word? • According to these verses, where does the importance of studying the Bible seem to fall in relation to the rest of the things in your life? • How will your goals help you keep it in that place?

Your teachers set goals for you academically. They even give you those tests you love so much to see if you’re meeting those goals, and if you fall short, you end up having to repeat it until you reach the expectations.

Where will your goals be in your study of God’s Word? What expectations and standards will you set for yourself? Reaching spiritual goals in your growth in the Lord is so much more important than anything else.

GET 1 GOAL FROM EACH PERSON AND WRITE DOWN TO REMIND THEM ON SUNDAY AND WEDNESDAY

This assignment will require you to think and evaluate your spiritual life before the Lord. Everyone is at different places spiritually so your goals will be different from someone else’s. • memorize a set amount of verses each week. • read through a certain part of the Bible each month • make it a point to meet one-on-one with someone to study God’s Word so many times a month

Whatever you decide is up to you, but since the Bible is much more important than anything else you will ever study in your life, don’t take it lightly. Record your goals in yours Spiritual Journal, but also write them somewhere else where you can remember them and keep your focus on accomplishing your goals.

PASS OUT CARDS FOR THEM TO WRITE THEIR GOALS ON AS REMINDERS

DAY FOUR – Physical
How is school physical? What are the physical aspects of school?

The way your body feels affects everything else you do. • Waking up in the morning with that sick feeling in your stomach from the anchovies you ate late last night before going to bed will probably affect your performance on the Biogenetical Engineering exam you have that morning. • If you break your leg rescuing your favorite paper airplane from a tree, chances are that your ability to lead the soccer team as the star player will be kind of difficult. • You also probably want to be careful of is accidentally insulting certain people. For instance, you probably want to be nice to the group of guys who couldn’t make the football team because the biggest set of shoulder pads were too small for them. Otherwise you might find yourself in a body-cast making it pretty difficult to take notes in class the next day.

What happens to your body and the things around you really does influence your life at school.

Some things can be helped, but some things are out of our control. • People can’t help it if your family is struggling financially. Maybe their dad is out of work so they have to wear clothes that are too small and wearing out. • There are people who just moved to this area and feel lonely without having friends around.

Maybe things like this are happening in our lives right now. The Lord often allows these things into our lives to give us the opportunity to trust Him in ways that would be difficult if our lives were perfect.

If we could handle everything on our own, there would be no need for God in our daily lives.

That’s why He is always there for us no matter what we’re going through. He always provides. One of the ways He sometimes does so is through other people, maybe through someone like you.

Maybe at this time in life you’re not the person struggling, but you can be the tool God wants to use to help someone else who is.

READ Matthew 25:34-40.

My guess is that each of you has daily contact with many who are hurting and struggling. Maybe they are “hungry,” “thirsty,” “a stranger,” “naked,” and “imprisoned,” but maybe they’re not and are suffering in another way. If we are serious about following Christ, we must reach out to these hurting people with love.

What kind of hurting people do you guys see and come into contact with at school?

Ask the Lord to show you someone at school who is hurting somehow. • What can you do to help this person? • What does this passage say you are really doing when you serve other people?

Some people are naturally gifted for helping and serving people. Others of us may struggle with our pride and feel uncomfortable with “lowering” ourselves to give our time and energy for someone other than ourselves.

SETTING GOALS

Setting your goals for helping people physically may be different for everyone depending on where the Lord has put you life. I would suggest a bare minimum goal, though, to be reaching out to at least one person each week. I am certain that your peers are struggling with many different things at school. If you won’t shine the love of Christ in their lives, who will?

Even if there’s no one at school, you have family at home that could use your help, even if it’s just being sensitive toward a family member about something. Maybe you’d rather set an ongoing goal, such as sticking with a certain someone with their issue until they are completely through it. Whatever goal the Lord lays on your heart as you discuss this with Him, write it down and don’t forget it.

Then write Matthew 25:40 on a card and stick it somewhere where you’ll see it and be reminded of your goals daily
DAY FIVE – Spiritual

DISCUSS past goals and how they played out for each of them/

Over the past several weeks we’ve discussed some things about this upcoming school year. We’ve set many great goals to hold ourselves to in order to finish successfully as Christians in our schools.

If we don’t have goals and something to shoot for then we’ll be lost in the sea of everyone else who are just wondering around blindly with no direction at all.

As Christians it’s our responsibility to lead others out of a purposeless life into a purposeful one for Christ, but how can we lead them if we have no direction ourselves first? So, put time and thought into the goals the Lord lays on your heart for you to strive for this year.

I hope you’re excited about serving the Lord on your campus this year, but let today’s lesson be warning for you:

When you’re on the Lord’s side and making an impact for Him, there is an enemy who will oppose you and try to snuff the light you shine for Christ.

National Geographic ran an article about the Alaskan Bull Moose. The males battle for dominance during the fall breeding season, literally going head-to-head with antlers crunching together as they collide. Often the antlers, their only weapon, are broken, which ensures defeat.

The heftiest moose, with the largest and strongest antlers, triumphs. Therefore, the battle fought in the fall is really won during the summer, when the moose eat continually. The one that consumes the best diet for growing antlers and gaining weight will be the heavyweight in the fight. Those that eat inadequately sport weaker antlers and less bulk.

There is a lesson here for us. Spiritual batters await you at school this year. The enemy will choose a season to attack.

Will you be victorious, or will you fall? Much depends on what you do now – before the wars begin.

Now is the time to develop your spiritual strength so when the time of testing comes you will stand victorious when it’s over.

I wrestled for most of my life. I started in peewee league when I was little and wrestled all the way through high school, ending my career quite successfully. It would be foolish for me as a wrestler to think that I’ll develop the strength I need to win a match when I’m out there facing my competition. A wrestler knows that in order to beat the opponents he must train before the match comes. So, I eat properly, practice for hours each day, work out, and lift weights to increase strength so when the big day comes and I am facing my opponent I am prepared and ready to walk off that mat victorious.

You can’t except to be victorious over the spiritual issues at your school unless you are training for them now. Maybe you haven’t touched your Bible or spent time alone with God all summer. • How do you expect to be able to stand against the things you know are wrong? • How can you choose your friends properly if you’re not close to your Best Friend? • How can you grow to know your Friend if you don’t look to see what He has to say to you through His Word? • How can you be sensitive to helping other people with their physical needs unless you develop a heart of godly compassion now?

As you begin this school year and live for Christ on your campus, you will face opposition, so train and prepare your spiritual life for them now. Remember the bull-moose principle: Enduring faith, strength, and wisdom for trials are best developed before they’re needed.

Read 1 Corinthians 9:19-27 • Paul had a mission field. Who was it? What did he do in order to show Christ to them? • Paul says the same thing with his running analogy that I did with my wrestling example. What does your “strict training” look like now? Will your training reward you a heavenly crown that lasts forever or is your training on par for earning a cardboard crown from Burger King? • In verse 26 and 27 Paul shows that he has a clear goal in mind and that he is driving himself toward it. He is someone with a direction in life seeking out those who are confused and lost and bringing them to know the same purpose that he has in life. Are you striving to qualify for the same prize?

I pray you all make an impact for the Lord this year on your campus as you attain your goals!

Set your goals for this semester: Social, Mental, Physical, Spiritual