This weekend we started a new series called Scarred.

Scarred is a shorter, condensed series based off Life Hurts, God Heals.

I can’t tell you how excited I am to be doing this series. Already after the first week you could sense that the message was hitting home with a lot students. In the midst of the message, we had a senior girl share her story and it was really powerful for students to hear from one of their peers. (We’ll have a student share each weekend as part of this series.)

The reason I am fan of this series so much is because students are hurting so much and in so many different ways. And I have found that it is super easy to forget to talk about the realities of pain in the lives of our students. We think a lot about traditional discipleship and evangelism…forgetting that for a student stuck in pain and hurt…those next steps are near impossible to take on in midst of life’s hurts. We need to rethink how pain impacts discipleship and evangelism.

Think about your students…how many are struggling with pain in their homes? How many are feeling like outsiders at their schools? Think about the statistics of abuse, about addiction…think about how many students in your community have attempted suicide in the last year. Pain and despair.

We can’t glaze over pain. We can’t offer simple cliche statements. We must be willing to walk into the mess and stay their as we help students find healing in Jesus and in community.

Scarred isn’t the answer…but it’s a good place to start.