On March 20, 2015, the teacher sponsors for Springville Middle School’s First Priority club gave students the opportunity to ask them and their campus coaches any question they have. They made a game out of it. Students were given a piece of paper and pencil when they walked in to write down their question. They were told to wad up their piece of paper. The teacher sponsors and campus coaches sat at the front of the room, and they counted to three and the students threw their paper at them! This was just a fun game to break the ice before answering students’ toughest questions.
Question #1:
How do you know God is real?
Answers:
- Faith – trust and believe; when you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.
- One of the teacher sponsors mentioned Doubting Thomas. “Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’ John 20:29.
- Faith in God is like the wind – We can’t see it but we can feel it and we know it’s there.
Question #2:
What is the shortest verse in the Bible?
Answer:
- “Jesus wept.” John 11:35
Question #3:
Do babies and children go to Heaven?
Answer:
- One of the campus coaches talked about the “Age of Accountability.” He believes that under the “age of accountability,” children are protected until they reach a certain age of knowing right from wrong. Pastor John MacArthur said the following during a Q&A session at Grace Church: There is no specific “age of accountability” identified in scripture. Some believe it is around the age 12 since this is when Jesus was taken by His parents to Jerusalem for the Passover and the Feast, and there He was in the temple questioning the doctors. You have a good illustration there, and Jesus was asking profound questions at that point. This then seems to be the age when those kinds of questions begin to be personal in the heart of a child. This may be the age when childhood transitions to adulthood. But, no specific age is identified in the Bible.
Question #4:
How do you feel about other denominations?
Answer:
- As long as we all believe the Gospel, that’s all that matters. First Priority is a Christian campus club. There are only a few minor differences between Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc. but we’re all Christians.
Question #5:
Have you ever struggled with peer pressure?
Answers:
- Yes, you will deal with it for the rest of your lives. Students were encouraged to grow in their faith and build strength while they’re young because their beliefs will be challenged as they get older. “You will be debated one day about your faith.”
- Sin is progressive; it will get worse. There will be a time you want to get out and you can’t. One of the teacher sponsors talked about a couple of ladies who had turned their lives around but one day turned back to drugs, overdosed on Heroin and died.
These are the types of questions our students have. Do you know the answers to their toughest questions? Many more questions were asked but there was only enough time to answer these five questions. Take time with your students. Find out what questions they have. Encourage them and walk alongside them. They need mentors, examples and people in their lives they can count on.