Handling Media InfluencesSample

This week's key thought is, "Play has its place, but we want to win this race." Keep this point in mind as you read this week's verses, go through the discussion, watch the video, and as you reflect on your interaction with media this week. Talk through these key points throughout the week:

• Technology and media aren’t bad. We can choose to use it wisely or we’re letting it use us.
• We should approach every relationship with the intention of showing that person Jesus and sharing God’s love with them. Media can be a great tool to share Jesus.
• How we spend our time matters to God. God has given each of us exactly the same amount of time in a day. We should spend our time in a way that honors God.
• Media can be something we use to have conversations with others, to spend time with others, and to build healthy relationships. We will need to lead that to happen on purpose because it rarely happens on accident. We can make our time matter when we stay in control of it.
• The internet is a way of connecting people anonymously from all over the world. God can use that technology for His glory and our good. But like all other kinds of media, it can easily lead us away from living for Him. It can connect us to people and places we would never visit in real life and into danger.