SQLD Bible Camp

I spent last weekend on the Gold Coast with some of the Adventist Youth from the SQLD conference. What a great bunch of young adults. We explored a few new ways to study the Bible and had a lot of fun together.
I was really impressed with the level of involvement that the youth have in church leadership. Over half of the kids at the camp had preached a sermon at their church. Many of them were in leadership possitions. Richie, one of the youth directors, told me that the youth department runs a 10 week preaching seminar each year for the youth and books them into churches during the training so they get a shot at preaching while they are learning. He said that they keep preaching after the training is finished and the conference office hears about their sermons from time to time as church members report. Excellent stuff!
One of the exercises that we did twice was the :!?... bible study format. The youth found this really useful and enjoyed the discussions that it created. Some of them came up to me after meetings and said they were keen to get back and use :!?... in their pathfinder and sabbath school classes. Here are some of the :!?... details from various verses that the youth camp up with.

: 1 John 4:7-12
! Since God loves us, we should love Him AND others
? Why should we love others just because God loves us?
. If we don't love people we aren't loving God
. We're made in God's image. If we're not loving people we're not reflecting who God is
. If we want a relationship with God we need to love others


: 1 John 4:7-12 (different group)
! Love should be automatic
? How do we program love so that it is a default?
. Love people around you
. We must know who God is to know how to love
. Take your fear to God and allow the Holy Spirit to work on you

: Cololsians 3:1-17
! Life is truely lived when we love
? What is the love that give us true life?
. FROM - gratitude and peace of God
. THROUGH - our words and deeds, gifts of the spirit
. TO - people (vs 8,9)