Elevate—the junior high ministry of Willow Creek Community Church—launches a three-week series, I’ve Got a Feeling On February 6/7. Elevate director Scott Rubin and his team walk boldly where the faint-of-heart fear to tread: talking to junior highers about sex. Geared toward the hot-button issues of sexuality, dating, friendships with the opposite sex, and the differences between guys and girls, I’ve Got a Feeling presents what the Bible has to say about these sensitive topics.

This year’s topics include:

§ February 6/7: God’s Original Recipe A realistic look at world’s view of sexuality vs. God’s view, with surprising statistics about the prevalence of exaggeration about sexual involvement, and its effects on peer pressure.

§ February 13/14: Traps and Pitfalls 8^th graders learn what pressures they can expect in high school, how to set and stick to their own personal standards, and how to address issues of modesty (girls) and pornography (guys). 6^th and7^th graders are challenged with age-appropriate corollaries to these lessons.

§ February 20/21: Man or Boy/Woman or Girl? This is the only Elevate program each year where guys and girls are separated by gender. Girls tackle issues of true beauty vs. our culture’s message of beauty. Guys address true manhood vs. our culture’s image of manhood.

After each large group program, students have the opportunity to discuss the day’s topic in the safe environment of their small group, led by trained volunteers, and comprised of friends from their grade, gender, and school.

Every year, Elevate tackles these tough issues with their junior high students, and according to Rubin, the series is always well-attended.

In addition to providing students with solid, biblical teaching and community, Elevate is committed to supporting parents of middle school students by providing insights and parenting resources, especially around the complex issues of sexuality as it relates to young teens. This year, after each weekend service, Rubin invites parents for a 30-minute meeting at Willow Creek’s South Barrington campus, where he will offer each family concrete information, time-tested tips, and parenting resources, including a free copy of I Want to Talk With My Teen About Love, Sex, & Dating, by Dr. Karl and Shannon Wendt.

 “I’ll give parents a brief overview of what we’ll be talking about at Elevate during this series,” Rubin says, “but primarily I’ll talk about how parents can best help their son or daughter as they’re figuring these things out.”