Finding Bethlehem in the Midst of Bedlam - Youth Study: An Advent Study for Youth

Christmas or confusion, Bethlehem or bedlam . . . Which will you choose this year? The truth is, we don’t have to choose, because Christmas always happens right in the midst of our confusion. God breaks into our confusion and is made known as a human infant. Christmas and confusion--weren’t they intimately related at the first Christmas when Jesus was born? Sometimes we forget that. But, that’s what this study is about--how Christ breaks into our chaos and confusion and brings Christmas--how Bethlehem always happens in the midst of bedlam.

The Youth Study is five sessions that help teens experience the hope of Christ amid the commotion, confusion, and challenges of their day-to-day lives. Leaders and participants work from the same book, which includes readings for reflection, a host of age appropriate teaching-and-learning activities that groups can choose to fit their needs and setting, and a short devotional reading for each day of the Advent season.

James W. Moore is a best-selling author of more than 40 books and an acclaimed pastor and ordained elder in The United Methodist Church. He has led congregations in Jackson, Tennessee; Shreveport, Louisiana; and Houston, Texas. In 2006, after 50 years of active ministry, he retired from full-time ministry and moved to the Dallas area, where he currently serves as Minister-in-Residence at Highland Park United Methodist Church. He and his wife, June, live at Heritage Ranch in Fairview, Texas.

Mike Poteet is a freelance writer and Teaching Elder (ordained minister) in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). He regularly contributes to Christian education resources for youth and adults, and has authored several literature study guides. In his free time, Mike blogs about intersections of faith and pop culture for The Sci-Fi Christian (www.thescifichristian.com). He is an active Sunday school teacher in a congregation near Philadelphia, PA. Follow him on Twitter (@WriterMPoteet).