INTRO &

CLOSEThe PartyWeek 1: Samantha

The PointYou don’t have to be defined by your mistakes.

IntroTell a funny story about a time you were at a party. This could be a birthday party, family party, etc. If it’s a story of a crazy college kegger party you went to, make sure not to glorify the party scene. This should just be a fun way to set up to premise of the series.

Well, unfortunately things at this party get a little more serious for Samantha than what I experienced. Let’s check it out in the first week of The Party.

Play this week’s video message.

CloseSo how do you identify with this? Think to yourself for a quick second about what all this has to do with your life. Where do you feel like you’ve messed up?

Maybe it’s not what Samantha experienced—or maybe it is. Maybe you’ve made a mistake in a relationship that you regret. Or maybe you did something you were embarrassed that others found out about.

YP NOTE: Very quickly, talk about a time you made a mistake and were defined by it. It could be you were having a bad day, yelled at a friend, and everyone thought you were mean. Or you did something ditzy and everyone said you were stupid. Those are just examples to get you thinking.

Whatever mistake you’ve been defined by, you need to know you don’t have to be any more. You can move on from it.

There is this story in the Bible:

Paraphrase the passage if you feel it’s too long.

John 8:3-11 CEV The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses brought in a woman who had been caught in bed with a man who wasn't her husband. They made her stand in the middle of the crowd. 4Then they said, "Teacher, this woman was caught sleeping with a man who isn't her husband. 5The Law of Moses teaches that a woman like this should be stoned to death! What do you say?"6They asked Jesus this question, because they wanted to test him and bring some charge against him. But Jesus simply bent over and started writing on the ground with his finger.7They kept on asking Jesus about the woman. Finally, he stood up and said, "If any of you have never sinned, then go ahead and throw the first stone at her!" 8Once again he bent over and began writing on the ground. 9The people left one by one, beginning with the oldest. Finally, Jesus and the woman were there alone.10Jesus stood up and asked her, "Where is everyone? Isn't there anyone left to accuse you?"11"No sir," the woman answered. Then Jesus told her, "I am not going to accuse you either. You may go now, but don't sin anymore."

You don’t need to be defined by your mistakes or what people think of you.

I love one of the lines at the end of the video. Samantha says, “It was a mistake—not a death sentence.” You don’t need to hang onto it forever. You can let go of it. You can be freed from it. Some of you need to know that God has forgiven you of your mistakes. Tonight, it’s time to forgive yourselves for the mistakes you’ve made.

(Eyes closed/heads bowed. Elaborate on these points below. These are just the general flow.)

INTRO &

CLOSE

Maybe you’ve been holding onto something, and it’s determined the way you live. You’ve made a mistake, and you regret it. But some of you still haven’t forgiven yourself. You need to know that God’s forgiven you, and now it’s time for you to forgive yourself. If that’s you, and you’ve made a mistake you know you need to forgive yourself for, then I want you to raise your hand right now and let me pray for you. (Have them raise their hand and pray for them.)

If you thought your mistakes were so big you didn’t think God would even forgive you, you need to know that God forgives all our mistakes. You don’t have to be perfect in order for God to love you. You don’t have to get things right for God to accept you. He loves you so much, and He wants to forgive you—you just need to let Him. If you want God’s forgiveness from your mistakes, and from your sin, and you want to accept that Jesus died for you so that you can have life, if you want that for the first time, raise your hand and repeat this prayer after me. (Have them raise their hand and repeat prayer after you.)