​Parents,
 
Last night was a third week of our Angels, Satan, and Demons series.  We took time last night to look at who Satan is, and his strategy against humanity.  I wanted to make it very clear to the students that we did not want to give any glory to Satan last night. Even though we were talking about Satan, our goal is to glorify God.  We started our service by singing three songs that all speak to goodness and power of God (Unstoppable God by Elevation Worship, God is Able by Hillsong, and Strong God by Vertical Church Band) to remind our students that God is more powerful and has already claimed victory over Satan.
 
So who is Satan? We pointed to five character traits that define who Satan is. 

1. Satan is the Anti-Christ. Satan opposes everything God does and he hates Jesus. He is directly opposite of Jesus.  (1 John 4:3)
2. Satan is the Deceiver. In Genesis 3:1-3 we see Satan deceive Eve into doubting the truth. Satan loves to deceive people with half-truths so that they won’t believe the whole truth about Jesus.
3. Satan is a Liar. Genesis 3:4-7 shows Satan lying to Eve about what God had said.  John 8:44 tells us that Satan is the Father of Lies. It is literally his favorite thing to do!
4. Satan is the Enemy. Lucifer’s name was changed to Satan which means “Adversary” or “Enemy.” Satan will only be our enemy in this life. 1 John 3:8 tells us that Jesus has come to destroy Satan and Revelation 19 and 20 shows us how Jesus will come again and bound Satan in Hell for all of eternity.  Satan is the defeated enemy!
5. Satan is the Murderer.  In Genesis 3:19 we see the results of the fall of man, one result…Death.  Satan wants to kill us and Sin is his chosen weapon.  John 8:44 calls him “a murderer from the beginning.”

 
We also looked at Satan’s strategy to take our worship off of God and give it to anything else which is sin. 
 
1 John 2:15-17 tells us that we are not to love the world or the things of the world.  This is not talking about people or even just stuff in the world.  (Some people read it that way and totally cut themselves and their families off from the world which is ultimately what Satan wants.  Remember this, Jesus told us to love our neighbors and also to follow his example of fellowshipping with sinners so that we can show them the love of Christ. If we cut ourselves off from the world, we cut ourselves off from obeying God’s call on our lives to minister to all people by sharing the gospel.)  This passage actually tells us what the world is and the things of the world.  Look at verse 16. Verse 16 tells us that the things of the world are:
 

1. The Desires of the Flesh.  The desires of the flesh are equal to “I want to FEEL that.” Think about Sexual immorality, illegal drug and alcohol use, self-harm, and gluttony. These are all things we want to FEEL.
2. The Desires of the Eyes. The desires of the eyes are equal to “I want to HAVE that.”  Think about materialism, clothing, technology, cars, and homes. These are things we want to HAVE.
3. The Pride of Life. The pride of life is equal to “I want to BE that.” Think about popularity, respect, liked, loved, worshiped, celebrity status, and G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time). These are things we want to BE.

There are two examples in Scripture where we see Satan use this.  Genesis 3:1-6 with the temptation of Eve. She saw that the fruit was good for food (I want to FEEL. Desire of the Flesh). She saw that the fruit was delight to the eyes (I want to HAVE. Desire of the Eyes.). She saw that the fruit would make one wise (I want to BE. The Pride of Life.).  Satan tempted and Eve fell into the temptation.
 
The other example is Matthew 4:1-11. Jesus was preparing for his three-year ministry by fasting in the wilderness for 40 days.  At the end of the 40 days Satan came to tempt Jesus. First Satan tries to get Jesus to turn stones into bread (I want to FEEL. Desire of the Flesh), but Jesus responds with the truth of God’s word. Satan then tries to tempt Jesus to jump off a building so that angels will come down and give Jesus angelic protection (I want to HAVE. Desire of the Eyes.), but again Jesus responds with truth of God’s word and says “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” Then Satan tries one more time to tempt Jesus. Satan takes Jesus to the top of a mountain to look down at all the kingdoms of the world and tells Jesus that he will give him all of the world if Jesus would just bow down and worship him (I want to BE. The Pride of Life.). Jesus again responds with the truth of God’s word and Satan leaves defeated. 
 
Matthew 4:1-11 shows us not only Satan’s strategy to get us to fall into temptation but it also shows us Jesus’s winning strategy to defeat Satan and resist temptation.  Jesus shows us that if we want to resist temptation we must read and know the Word of God.  Study God’s word so that when Satan tempts you, you can defend yourself with the Truth!
 
Parent please be an example to your student of someone who reads and studies the Bible. Encourage your students to be people who read and study the Bible. If it is important to you, it will be important to them!
 
Love you guys! Praying for you!
 
Trevor

​Parents,
 
Sorry I am just now getting back to updating you guys on what we are talking about with the Youth group!  Summer was crazy and fun but now we are about 6 weeks into the new school year and things are starting to get back in normal. 
 
We started last night on a new series about the Doctrine of Angels, Satan, and Demons.  Last night we looked at the origins of Angels, Satan and the Demons to help us make sense of who they are and what they do.  I told the students that if they didn’t hear anything else, they needed to know two things. The first is: “Don’t get to FASCINATED or FORGETFUL with angels, Satan, and demons. We need a healthy balance.” There are some people who spend too much time worrying about or just focusing on angels, Satan, and demons. Some people want to talk with angels and ask for their help. Some just constantly talk about Satan. Others want to blame demons for everything.  We cannot get over focused on these but at the same time we cannot forget about them.
 
First off, I believe that Angels were created right at the beginning of all creation when God created the Heavens.  We get this from Genesis 1:1-3 and Job 38:6-7.  Genesis tells us that God created the Heavens but then never does it talk about filling Heaven and then in Job 38:6-7 we see that during creation the Angels were celebrating and worshipping God as He created the world and everything in it.  We people are like angels in that we were created to Worship God and give him glory!
 
Secondly, Lucifer was a high ranking angel of God who fell and became Satan because of His pride. There are so many passages that speak to this event: Revelation 12:7-12, Genesis 3:1-6, Isaiah 14:12-15, and Ezekiel 28:12-19.  As God created everything for His glory, Satan became jealous of God and in his own pride wanted creation to glorify him instead of God.  This is why Satan and tempted Adam and Eve to sin against God.  Like Satan, we all want to live for our own glory rather than for Jesus.
 
Finally, one-third of the angels fell and became evil because they followed Satan, these fallen angels are the demons (Revelation 12:1-9 and Jude 1:6).   What made the demons follow Satan? I think it was when they saw Satan successfully tempt the pinnacle of God’s creation, humanity, into sin. Satan was successful in taking the image of God and making it to worship creation rather than the Creator.  Like the demons, we have followed after Satan rather than Jesus. 
 
Over the next three weeks we will dive deeper into who Angels, Satan and Demons are, and what they do.
 
Please pray that our students will understand the main goal of this entire series which is the second thing that I wanted the students to remember: “You are fighting a REAL war against a REAL enemy for a REAL King who has ALREADY WON the victory!”

Love you guys and Praying for you!
​Trevor