Daily Themes & Talking Points

Parental Resource

Daily Themes & Talking Points

As a parent, your support for the youth and adult leaders attending the 2013 LCMS National Youth Gathering is vital. This resource is designed to familiarize you with the Live Love(d) theme, daily subthemes, and the general structure of the Gathering. We hope that you will be able to use this resource to familiarize yourself with what your teen(s) will be experiencing and create opportunity for faith conversations following their time at the Gathering.

Please also see the Live Love(d) Scriptural and Thematic Study that is available on the Gathering website: www.lcmsgathering.com/communitylife.

Main Program Elements

Off-Site Servant Events On Tuesday and Wednesday morning and Thursday afternoon, thousands of Gathering participants will be shuttled into the city of San Antonio to live love in the lives of others. Participants will grow in their understanding of the gifts and talents God has given to them and meet new people whom God deeply loves. Participants will see the impact that the community of believers can have on other individuals, neighborhoods, and communities.

Interest Center Workshops

Interest Centers take place throughout the days of July 2-4 (Tuesday-Thursday) at the Convention Center and nearby hotels. These workshops provide opportunities to listen to experts in the field on a variety of topics and provide the platform to discuss issues in a safe, Christian environment. Some sessions also provide opportunities to be in community around bands and performers. The Interest Center schedule also provides workshops especially tailored for adults. Check out the Interest Center topics online in June.

Off-site Interest Centers

Participants will also have opportunities to attend Off-Site Interest Center(s). Four different experiences will be offered that provide participants opportunities to learn more about Texan culture and the Live Love(d) theme.

Bible Study Academy

Gathering Bible Study Academy offers in-depth workshops for both youth and adults. Each Academy topic focuses on a specific issue or book of the Bible over two or three days of the Gathering. They are delivered in segments that last about an hour (one segment per day) and run parallel with other Interest Center workshops.

Dome Events

All Gathering participants will come together six times in the Alamodome for Mass Events and Worship that celebrate our faith in Jesus and the community of believers in which He has placed us.

Mass Events

Mass Events will unwrap the “Live Love(d)” theme through Bible study, speakers, song, and community building components. The goals of Mass Events are to strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ and confidence in His love for us. These events will provide encouragement in our daily Christian walk and God’s call to serve others as a reflection of how Jesus first loved us. These events will scripturally and thematically tie together other elements of the Gathering program.

Worship

On the morning of the Fourth of July, we will gather for Divine Service during which we will remember our baptismal identity and receive God’s gifts for us in Word and Sacrament. We will be reminded of how Jesus’ love shown at the cross opened God’s Kingdom to all those called by the Holy Spirit into faith. LCMS Synodical President, Rev. Matthew Harrison, will serve as the preacher.

Night Life

Night Life events will be focused on bringing the community together for fun group activities, to hear selected speakers, and to also bring the evening to a close in prayer and praise.

Community Life Time

Community Life time is built into the Gathering program schedule to provide opportunities for further conversations about life and faith to God’s glory. Some of these conversations are going to take place over a meal, while walking to the facilities, or while waiting to get into an Interest Center. Dedicated time is provided in the late evenings following each Mass Event and morning before the Convention Center opens.

Thematic Elements

Subtheme: beLOVED

Question: “What is Love?” (Will be presented at the end of Monday’s Mass Event) Key Scripture: 1 John 4:9; 1 John 3:1; Acts 2:1-6

Subtheme Talking Points

• Each participant is a beloved child of God for which Christ died • As a child of God, we are part of a community of believers • Celebrate the community that is ours in our baptism

Program Highlights

• On Monday night, the participants will be challenged to define what love looks like in their lives. They will hear of the awesome love God gives as He calls us His “beloved.” The night will end as the participants both remember the biblical narrative of Pentecost and celebrate being together as the community of believers. It is our goal that, like the early Christians on Pentecost, the participants will be encouraged by the spirit of God as they meet together all in one place.

Back Home Follow Up Questions

• How were you able to experience love with the other youth on your trip to San Antonio? • How can we share Christ’s love as a family that is a part of the Body of Christ?

Subtheme: deLOVED

Question: What love am I pursuing? Key Scripture: Genesis 3 and 1 John 2:15

Subtheme Talking Points

• “DeLoved” has us look at our lives and understand how sin separates us (de-) from the love of God. Our understanding of love is twisted and distorted by the world, the devil, and our sinful desires and cravings.

• Does false love always look ugly and disgusting, or can it look extremely attractive and seductive?

• What loves have I pursued? • How have these loves left me empty and no better off than before? • What should I pursue? • How far did Christ pursue me? • How can I pursue Christ's love and be satisfied in Him?

Program Highlights

• This night’s theme is “heavy” in the sense of looking at the Law, specifically the First Commandment. We will grapple with Adam and Eve’s decision to not listen to their loving Heavenly Father and how that decision affected the history of humankind (Romans 5:12-21, I Corinthians 15:22). Participants will be confronted with how we chase false loves and how that separates us from God’s perfect love and plan for us. These false loves lead us to break many of God’s commands (I John 2:15-17).

• However, we have a loving Heavenly Father who has always loved His creation. He never forgets humans in their need. He promised a Savior in the Garden of Eden and did not forget this promise. (This story will be told in full on Wednesday and Thursday.)

Back Home Follow Up Questions

• What did you learn about your need for love and the false places that we try and find that love? • How can we as a family be supportive of nurturing a life lived in the love of Christ?

Subtheme: LOVE Lived

Question: How is Jesus real love? Key Scripture: 1 John 4:7-10, 1 John 1:1-3

Subtheme Talking Points

• Jesus is the embodiment of God’s love. He is the love of God with flesh and blood. • His life, death, and resurrection matters in my life today. • His words of forgiveness have power. • On the cross we see God’s love fully displayed for us.

Program Highlights

• On Wednesday night, we focus on the life of Jesus. Jesus is the embodiment of love. From His birth to His ministry to His death and resurrection, Jesus shows us God’s love in real tangible ways. On this night, participants will experience the life and love of Christ for them.

LOVE Lived: Worship

LOVE Lived is introduced on Wednesday Night and then continues into Worship on Thursday morning. The service will continue the celebration of LOVE Lived for us in Jesus Christ. On the morning of the Fourth of July, we will gather for Divine Service and remember our baptismal identity and receive God’s gifts for us in Word and Sacrament. We will be reminded of how Jesus’ love shown at the cross opened God’s Kingdom to all those called by the Holy Spirit into faith.

Subtheme Talking Points for Worship

• Identity is the key term for this subtheme. • We look in the mirror every day. How often do we judge our identity based on what we see? • Baptism is a key element in forming our Christian identity.

(For those participants who believe, but aren’t baptized, identity is formed as the Spirit is present in the Word.)

• Our value is found in relationship and identity as beloved children of God. Not in what we do. Not in how we look. Not in how others see us. Not in what we need to become. Identity is in whose we are, now: Beloved, called children of God, this is what we are.

Worship Highlights

• Participants will explore different labels and vocations that form their identity. Ultimately our identity is secured by Jesus and formed in baptism. As baptized believers, the youth will celebrate that they are God’s beloved children and experience freedom in identity as children of God and citizens of a nation. Our identity comes not from what we do (Friday: Live Love), but in whose we are (child of God).

Back Home Follow Up Questions

• What does it mean that “you are forgiven”? What does this mean for us as a family and as fellow followers of Christ?

• What freedom do we have as forgiven children of God? How can we live out that freedom in our family?

Subtheme: Live LOVE

Question: How do I Live LOVE? Key Scriptures: I John 3:16, 18; I John 4:4

Subtheme Talking Points

• We live for Jesus, empowered by His Spirit. • Jesus has a purpose for us to believe in Him and live out acts of service He has prepared for us. • God’s perfect love drives out our fear. • All things are possible with Christ – nothing that youth think is an obstacle (family relationships, friendships, personal issues, past sins and mistakes, social or economic standing, etc.) is really an obstacle to living life in response to God’s amazing grace to us. Program Highlights

Gathering participants will begin to reflect upon the following:

• We have had five days of learning, serving, and fun, and now it’s time to go home. What do we take with us? In our baptism, we are Jesus’ own. This was the case before we came; this was the case this week. Now Jesus goes with us back home and promises to be with us the rest of our lives.

• We return to opportunities to serve others back home. Some of these situations and people might not be new, but Jesus may put new opportunities into our lives. How am I prepared to live confidently in who I am and to love and serve those around me?

• I am not alone in any challenge in my life. Jesus is with me, I have new friends I can rely on, and I have a better understanding of the community of believers in to which God has called me.

Back Home Follow Up Questions • What is your biggest take away from your time in San Antonio? • What does it mean to you to live love as you worship God and serve others now that you have

experienced the 2013 LCMS National Youth Gathering?