nurture the 3-day passion into a year-long god pursuit · parousia: the second coming of christ...

Nurture the 3-day passion Into a year-long God pursuit

Copyright © 2014 by International Department of

Youth and DiscipleshipChurch of God Offices

Gary Lewis Editor Dr. R. Hollis Gause Copyeditor Teresa Henderson Copyeditor Mark Shuler Cover Design and Inside Layout

All rights reserved. The contents may not be reproduced in any other form without written permission.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the New International Version, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked as ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible®. Copyright © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org).

contentsAcknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Teacher’s Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Belief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

second coming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Our Soon Future—Part 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Our Soon Future—Part 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Our Soon Future—Part 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Why the trinity? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25The Mystery of the Trinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26The Origins of Doctrine Trinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Misconceptions About the Trinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33The Mission of the Trinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Word of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39The Word Incarnate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40The Word Untamed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43The Word Guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47The Word Equips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

DisciPLeshiP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Fear oF the LorD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57It Begins With Fear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Seeing God’s Holiness Leads to Fear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60Fear and the End of Sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Called to Holiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Getting a handle on Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Handling Life’s Load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71What’s Handling You? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Getting Your Edge Back . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75He Came to Me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

sin nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79The Nature of Sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80The World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Satan (The Devil) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

the new Way of Living . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90The Old Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91The New Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97The Old Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103The New Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

serVanthooD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

usinG your GiFts For GoD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113The Best Gifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114God Gives Good Gifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118The Gift of Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122The Gift of LIfe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

What’s your Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128Facts About Your Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129Finding Your Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132Following God’s Leading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134Who Is Speaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

transForMation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

eradicating sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141The Showdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142Cleaning House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146Performance vs . Posture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150The Power of a Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

obedience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156The Importance of Spiritual Disciplines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Obedience Is Listening to God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159Obedience Is the Oppossite of Disobedience . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161Free to Obey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

the ParaBLe oF the acroBat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166Disorientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170Reorientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Be sanctiFieD to christ in your WiLL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182Foundational Beginnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183Lifestyle Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188Becoming Consistent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192Godly Conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Winterfest Discipleship 102

5

acKnoWLeDGMentsDeVeLoPMent teaM

Gary LewisInternational Youth and

Discipleship DirectorDavid Blair

International Youth and Discipleship Assistant Director

Craig Mosgrove, Project Coordinator

contriButinG WritersCraig Mosgrove, Sarah Goff, Barrie Bliss,

Jared Waldrip, Chad Harris, Jason Daughdrill, Gary Lewis, Dustin Lee, Jimmy Harper,

Brian Downing, Phillip Walker

special thanksDr . R . Hollis Gause

Lori LewisCindy Hall

Teresa Henderson


7

ForeWorDDear Youth Leader,

It is with great excitement we give you the second volume of the series Discipleship 102 . This resource was developed with you in mind . We have endeavored to provide an effective and easy to use tool to disciple your students . This has been a product of pas-sion and prayer . The writers are youth leaders, just like you, with a desire to see your students grow in their journey with Christ . The lessons have been designed to guide your students through the discipleship journey .

The Bible studies focus on four areas of a student’s spiritual journey: belief, discipleship, servanthood and transformation . The lessons are presented as a series of four parts, with each study building on the previous . Each series begins with an explanation of the goal or purpose of that particular series of lessons, equipping you to disciple with direction and purpose .

Icons highlight key lesson ideas and provide interactive discus-sion questions to help engage your students in the Scripture . You are able to tailor the discussion to meet the needs of your group . The icons divide the lesson in the following segments:

THINK ABOUT IT – Scripture verse the lesson is built on .

LAUNCH IT – Opening discussion questions .

EXPLORE IT – Read and discuss the lesson .

SHARE IT – Questions to expand the lesson .

APPLY IT – Practical application of the lesson .

PRAY ABOUT IT – Wrap it up prayer .

Thank you for ministering to our youth! You are vital in teaching what we believe . It’s important to pass along our Pentecostal heri-tage to our youth, for without that, we lose our identity . You make a difference! God bless the journey of discipleship you are about to take with your students .

Together reaching this generation,Gary Lewis

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8LeaDer’s GuiDe

Tailor the following discussion to meet the needs of your group . As you go through the discussion, note the depiction of the follow-ing icons (Not all icons will be used in each lesson):

eXPLore

share

aPPLy

Pray

Continue with LAUNCH IT questions

Read and Discuss the EXPLORE IT material

Choose one or two of the SHARE IT questions

Challenge each other to APPLY IT

End with the PRAY ABOUT IT prayer points . (Please note that this is not to replace your regular time of prayer in your group – simply an addition to it.)

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Belief

Parousia:the seconD coMinG oF christ

This series is designed to provide students

answers to the questions surrounding the

return of Jesus to earth . It also shows how

those answers are relevant to the age in

which we are living . We will discover that the

greatest hope Christians have for the future

is the return of the Lord Jesus Christ . You can

face the future with peace of mind in the

midst of a deteriorating world .

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12our soon Future:

Part oneActs 1:10-11 / 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NIV *

1 . We are going to spend the next few weeks taking a peek through the mists of eternity in the timelessness of eternity . What have you heard about the return of Jesus Christ to earth?

2 . Should the message of Jesus Christ’s return to earth motivate us?

3 . What are some of the craziest things you have heard concerning the return of Jesus Christ?

The Bible clearly teaches that there is a return of Jesus Christ back from heaven to earth; in the Old Testament it was predicted many times . We not only have reference of Jesus alluding to His own return, but just think for a second how many times Scripture confirms it . Refer to Acts 1:10-11 .

The apostle Paul referred to it as “the blessed hope” and “glorious appearing” of Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13) . It was Peter who said we should live in such a way that our faith would be a benefit to God; our faith will be like gold when Jesus Christ appears because Jesus Christ loves to see faith in our hearts . It was John who said we will not be ashamed at His coming .

There are two primary views among Christians about the return of Jesus Christ . When you look at the New Testament, there seems to be two future comings described . The first reference is the church being called up to meet Jesus in the air . The second reference is the great revelation of Jesus Christ when His feet actually stand on the Mount of Olives and His kingdom is established on earth . Some do not divide these two comings . I want to explain some terminology for you and then we will plunge into the Scriptures .

The first view I want to discuss is Pre-Tribulationism which says Jesus will come before the seven years of Tribulation to take up His church into heaven . After this there will be a period of time where the anti-Christ will reign and the wrath of God will be revealed . Finally, there is a glorious appearing of Jesus Christ, as Matthew 24 mentions .

The other view is referred to as Post-Tribulationism . Post-Tribulationists believe the rapture of the church and the glorious

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* Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations in this lesson are taken from the New International Version, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society . Used by permission of Zondervan . All rights reserved .


13return of Jesus is one event that will happen after the Tribulation . Jesus Christ comes both to receive saints and with His saints simultaneously to set up His kingdom and establish His rule .

In this study, I have decided not to draw a line in the sand between two views . Though the official Church of God stance is Pre-Tribulationism, we would probably find both views in the church . This study will be from the Pre-Tribulation point of view .

In the church, there are several different words used for the second coming . Some of these words are not actually found in the Bible, but are terms scholars have assigned to the concepts described . The most common terms are listed below .

Parousia - This is the Greek word for the appearing of a digni-tary . Jesus is to appear like a dignitary . He has been gone, but His presence will finally be among us again . This word is used both for the rapture and the second coming .

Epiphany – This term refers to the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ .

Rapture – This term comes from a Latin word that means “to be caught up .” The word itself is not found in the Bible, but the idea is there if you turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 . It is so critical to look at this text . 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

The concept for the word rapture comes from verse 17 . Now let me give you some exposition of 1 Thessalonians 4, which is the rap-ture of the church .

First, some background concerning this stretch of text . When Paul planted a church, he always taught the people to look for the appearing of Jesus Christ . Paul didn’t know when the time of Jesus’ return would be, but right at the beginning of church planting, it was on his mind . At the writing of this letter to the Thessalonians, time had elapsed and some the saints had died . Now people had ques-tions . “Will those who have already died be at a disadvantage when Jesus comes? Will they miss out on something?” So Paul writes to clarify these matters . In verse 13, we see that the word sleep is used for death . It does not mean the soul sleeps; it does mean the body sleeps . I think this imagery is so beautiful . It is a picture of a mother who lulls her baby to sleep . The baby has been fed, talked to, and now has drifted off to sleep . When you go to the funeral of a Christian and you see their bodies laying there lifeless, never forget, they have been lulled to sleep by Jesus . Their soul has gone to heaven but their bodies are sleeping until the day of resurrection . Sleep is not fearful, is it? We do not fear to fall asleep and neither should the Christian fear death . In Biblical times the pagan world, much like today, had no hope . Their hopelessness was evident when the plagues came from 200-285 AD . Cyprian, a church leader of that time, said the plagues

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14actually advanced Christianity because the pagans noticed that Christians died differently than the unconverted . The pagans said, “They carry their dead as if in triumph! How can they die with so much hope?” We do not grieve hopelessly .

In verse 14, when Jesus returns He will be bringing with Him all the souls of those who have died with Him . The people today who die in Christ do not yet have their permanent bodies . Currently, their soul takes on the characteristics of their body so they can see and communicate and recognize one another, but they do not have permanent bodies . God is going to bring them with Him . In verse 15, we see that we will not precede those who have fallen asleep . Paul says that those that are still living will instantly be translated and have glorified bodies . Let me put it in sequence . When Jesus comes He will bring with Him the souls of those who have died . Their bod-ies will be raised and joined to their spirits first . Then we who are living will be transformed and follow them . Don’t think your loved one who has died will miss anything .

So here are the five steps involved in the rapture:

steP one: the LorD DescenDs With a shout .Verse 16 says there is a cry of command . The command is the

dead in Christ will be raised! We used to say as kids, “They are making so much noise that they will raise the dead .” I need to tell you no mat-ter how much noise is made, the dead remain dead . Jesus Himself said that when He comes with a shout of command, all who are in the grave shall hear His voice and some will be raised to the resurrec-tion of the just and others to the resurrection of damnation . Read John 5:28-29 . When Jesus speaks, the dead are raised!

The best example of this is Lazarus in John chapter 11 . In verse 43, Jesus was at Lazarus’ tomb and cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” He who was dead came forth . It is so good that He named Lazarus in because if He hadn’t named him, all the dead in Bethany would have been raised! When Jesus speaks, the dead are raised!

So He comes with a shout and with the voice of an archangel, Gabriel . So Gabriel is shouting as well . No doubt the whole host of angels will be there because anything Jesus ever does He is accom-panied with angels . This is why we have so many angels at the birth of Jesus . He also says we will hear the trumpet . Trumpets were used to get Israel to march forward . When the trumpet sounds, the dead will know it’s time to move on . They have been dead long enough; their bodies have disintegrated, but now it’s time for God to recreate them!

stePs tWo throuGh FiVe WiLL Be in Lesson tWo oF this series .


151 . What questions do you have concerning the

rapture of the church?2 . Will you be able to be one who can look for-

ward to the rapture because you know your security and life are found in Jesus Christ?

3 . How have you responded to the loss of a loved one who was saved? Did you see that person as being lulled to sleep by Jesus?

Challenge your group to commit to reading these passages again and again in the next week:• 1Thessalonians4:13-18• 1Corinthians15:51-52• Revelation22:4-5• John14:1-3• 2Peter3:10-11• 1John3:2-3

Pray for one another to become passionate about the return of Jesus Christ to capture His church and then return for 1,000 years to set up His earthly kingdom . Pray for students to purify them-selves as we have this hope that when He returns we shall be like Him .

share

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16our soon Future:

Part tWoActs 1:10-11 / 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 NIV*

1 . What other questions do you have concerning the return of Jesus Christ since we met last time?

2 . What does it mean to die “in Christ?”3 . Do you look forward to being eternally with the

Lord? Can you say truly with the apostle Paul, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain?”

steP one Was coVereD in the PreVious Lesson .

steP tWo: the DeaD in christ are raiseD .That phrase “in Christ” is a technical term

that refers to the church . Nowhere in the Old Testament (OT) did people die “in Christ .” This was a church term . The rapture is Jesus Christ com-ing for His church . The OT saints will rise but that

will be at the second part of the return of Jesus Christ when He comes in glory and the dead of the OT will rise so they can go into the kingdom .

The dead in Christ, upon being raised, will receive their resur-rected bodies . There will be a joining of the soul and the permanent body and what a wonderful body it will be! No more cancer, no more weaknesses, no more sleep, no more hassle . Our bodies will be like the resurrected body of Jesus . We shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is! I personally think this miracle will be more incredible than Creation itself . The dead in Christ will rise first!

steP three: We, Who are LiVinG, are then transLateD .Read 1 Thessalonians 4:17 . Paul tells us there will be a whole genera-

tion of Christians who will not experience death . Read 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 .

A whole generation will be translated in the twinkling of an eye . Not a blinking of an eye, the twinkling of an eye . I want to give you an idea of how fast that is . The twinkling of an eye is light entering the eye . In other words, it is the time it takes light to reach the retina

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17after it hits the surface of the eye . That tiny distance is a twinkling of an eye . A beam of light travels at 186,000 miles per second . The distance between the moon and the earth is 240,000 miles . The light reflecting from the moon reaches earth in 1 .29 seconds . The dis-tance from the surface of the eye to the retina is 2 .4 centimeters meaning light reaches the retina in fractions of a second . Want to know how fast you are going to be changed? Really fast!

The Bible says Jesus will come on the clouds . This is true of His first coming and His second coming . It could well be that the clouds so engulf the earth that when Jesus comes to take out all of those in Christ, the world would have a naturalistic explanation for the disappearance . Either way, we will be translated and taken away with Jesus!

steP Four: We Meet the LorD in the air .The word “meet” is a technical term used also in Acts where the

delegation came home to “meet” Paul . Think about this . All of the dead in Christ are now raised and have glorified bodies; now the liv-ing are translated and get bodies so both groups, now fully in their eternal bodies, are in effect a delegation to meet Jesus . Oh King Jesus, thank You so much!

He saved us and He will raise us . What an exciting prospect - to meet the Lord in the air! Together we meet Him . There is no evi-dence that Jesus comes all the way to the earth at this time . He certainly will in the second phase of His return .

steP FiVe: We are eternaLLy With the LorD .In verse 17, we will be with the Lord in the Great Tribulation . We

will be with the Lord when He returns with His saints to establish His kingdom . We will reign with Him in His kingdom and when the kingdom is swallowed up in eternity, what does the Bible say?

Read Revelation 22:4-5 .We will be with the Lord forever! Rather than just talking about it, let

us contemplate it today . Visualize the rapture taking place . Visualize us with Him where we actually meet King Jesus . It will happen!

There is such danger of our being so occupied with things that are to come more than Who is to come! No wonder the apostle Paul concludes in an understated way in verse 18 . I hope you have been encouraged today .

Let me simply conclude by saying first that the message of the return of Jesus Christ is a message that should motivate us . It is always presented that way in the Bible . The return is never pre-sented to show that we should satisfy our curiosity . Sometimes I think people who are into prophecy are into such detail because they simply want to know exactly how it will all happen . The return of Jesus Christ is to motivate us to holiness .

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18Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not

yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” —1 John 3:2-3

“And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.” —1 John 2:28

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disap-pear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives.” - 2 Peter 3:10-11

That car you have your eye on, that new game you want so badly, all of these things will actually one day be destroyed . And that which is eternal will last . What is eternal? Demons and Satan will last forever in hell, people will last forever in heaven or hell, angels will last forever, and God will last forever . So the coming of Jesus Christ should be our motivation for holy living . It should be our motivation to witness to people . The coming of Jesus should be a message of hope . A funeral is not the end of life . We will be together again . When we are with the Lord, we can say goodbye to saying goodbye . The Scripture tells us to comfort one another with these words .

I read a story not long ago about a dog that lived on a prairie and was very loyal to his master . When the master died they put him in a coffin and took him to the train station in town . The train took the man to another town for burial . Every single day for the rest of his life, the dog went to the train station and waited, hoping his mas-ter would return . My question for you today is this: do you love the appearing of Jesus Christ? When you see the signs of Christ’s return that you’ve read about in the Bible, is there something in your heart that says, “maybe the train is coming, not with a dead master, but with our living Jesus?” When you read about in the end times does your heart long to see Him? As you learn about these things, is there anticipation and hope that Jesus will come back soon? If you love His appearing, you will receive a crown of righteousness .

1 . What does it mean that that those who are liv-ing at the time of the rapture will one day be translated?

2 . Do you have any loved ones that have died in Christ that will be raised first? What hope does this provide for you?

3 . How will you take what you learned the last two weeks and share this message of hope with those around you? What are some great conversation “starters” with the lost around you concerning the second coming of Christ?

share


19Read with your group John 14:1-3 again and talk as

a group about the following:• AreyoureallyreadytomeetJesus?• What have you learned the last two weeks

that has been absolutely new to you?• Howwill you now live differently because of

what you have learned?

Pray for those you serve to be impassioned with the desire to see Jesus Christ call His church home to be with Him forever . Pray that each of us are ready and expectant to see Jesus make His return . Pray that we would live our lives reflect-ing our deep anticipation of a future world where Christ will fully rule and reign .

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20our soon Future:

Part threeRevelation 19:11-21 / Revelation 19:10

Ecclesiastes 8:11 NKJV *

1 . Why is it that Christ must return to the earth?

2 . What is Armageddon? Have you ever heard friends talking about it?

It is interesting that Christians have always known that Jesus is coming back but we’ve sel-dom stopped to look in depth at His coming . Today, we are going to do just that .

We’ve already discussed that Jesus will come back and rapture all Christians . After that comes the Great Tribulation, a time of great trouble and

suffering on the earth . The Tribulation runs its course and climaxes at Armageddon where Jesus returns to earth again to punish those who have rejected Him . Revelation 19:11-21 describes this battle .

When you read verses like these, you want to pause and sit and let the wonder sink in . It is a scene that is frightening . It will occur only once and reveals a part of the Lord that is rarely even mentioned - His wrath . He must hold accountable those who live their entire lives rejecting Him . Americans have never been much on public pomp . What I mean is that when royalty is on parade, we don’t emphasize the crown too much . Even in England, you will see Americans standing back with shopping bags in their hands when the queen comes by . Brits, on the other hand, are very honoring .

What you are determines what you see, and what you see determines what you do . We are usually not that impressed with royalty, but one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess Jesus is Lord! What a great day! Well, maybe . It just depends on what you are .

If you are John the writer, in verse 10, he bows and worships when even an angel comes on the scene like that . The angel even corrects him . John had seen Him who is high and lifted up and there was no time to remain on his feet taking pictures . It was a

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* Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations in this lesson are taken from the New King James

Version . Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc . Used by permission . All rights reserved .


21moment to bow and worship because deep inside was the heart of a devoted disciple who walked with this One for three and one-half years, who watched Him die and saw Him after He was raised, and now lives his life anticipating when he will see Him coming back in glory as He had promised at His ascension .

Verse 19 shows another kind of person . These people have not come to worship but rather make war against Christ . Should you choose to live the rest of your life without Christ, this is you . You won’t be honoring Jesus . Instead you will be with the ones in the text assembling with false leaders to make war against the Lord . You will be on the losing side, defeated by Jesus . He will win the Battle of Armageddon without firing a shot . Jesus will speak one word and the enemy will be finished .

Four reasons Why christ Must return to earth:1) To fulfill numerous promises in the Bible . The Old and New Testaments speak of His parousia (pres-

ence, arrival, official visit) . If He doesn’t come back, those are false promises .

2) He must come back to judge the nations . You don’t sin against the Living God without being held

accountable . Don’t think that in this era of grace because you can get by with it for a little while, you can sail off into the sunset . Just because there is not an instant judgment, people get the idea that God doesn’t care and there will never be a day of accountability .

3) There must be a removal of Satan from this culture and his throne that he has usurped from Christ .

Paul calls Satan in 2 Corinthians 4, the god of this age . For this period of time, Satan and demons seem to be on the win-ning side . All of that will stop after the Battle of Armageddon . Jesus will bind Satan for 1,000 years .

4) Jesus must set up His earthly kingdom to establish Himself as King of the Earth .

While Satan is imprisoned, righteousness shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Isiah 11:1-10) . It will be a time of enor-mous blessing and peace . The lion will lay down with the lamb . Men will beat their swords into plow shares and turn their spears into pruning hooks .

Now let’s look at His arrival . The whole book of Revelation is a record of John’s visions of end time events . God allowed John to see that would happen centuries ahead of time . John had two visions of heaven opening . The first is found in Revelation 4:1 . John saw heaven open and was invited in to see events that would take place . The next time is found in Revelation 19:11 . John saw heaven open to show He had

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22ascended to heaven . The first thing he sees is a white horse! If you think there are no animals in heaven, you will have to do some seman-tic footwork with the horse because we too return on horses . How does that happen since animals have no souls? I don’t know!

Please observe His title in verse 11 . Faithful and True! He is faith-ful to His promises . He won’t break even one of them . He is true to His word . He will never relinquish truth . No one has ever been more faithful and true than Jesus Christ . If your education of God has only taken you to goodness, grace, and mercy, your educa-tion is lacking because the God of the Scriptures is also a God of judgment, anger, wrath, and justice . If He were not, He would not be wholly God .

At this time Jesus will come for the specific purpose of judg-ment . When He first came to earth in Bethlehem, there was not a hint of judgment . He came as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world . But when He comes again, there will be no mercy and compassion; there will be judgment .

When He came the first time, wicked men judged Him . When He comes again He, being righteous, will judge the wicked .

We are then told of His anatomical description . On His head are many crowns . In verse 12, He has a name that no one knows . How intriguing! This name is shrouded in mystery . We do know He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood . It is time for judgment and the blood will splatter on Him . His name here is the Word of God . John loves that word . He has called Him the Word of Life, the Word of God, the Word . The person of Jesus is the Living Word of God .

We come into the scene in verse 14 . We are a part of the armies of heaven and we are clothed in fine linen, white and clean . We are following Him on white horses, but we are not armed . All we do is watch and witness it . We read about how he fights . It will be with His word, and perhaps only one . Our generation and previous gen-erations have cheapened the authority of the Almighty . He isn’t our “buddy upstairs .” He is our awesome Almighty Holy God whom Jews to this day won’t even call Him by name for the name is holy .

In verse 18, John turns his attention to an angel standing in the sun, perhaps to stop time, perhaps so no one on earth will miss . He has a proclamation but doesn’t speak to humanity . He speaks to the vultures and birds of prey and instructs them to feast on those who will be slain . This will be one of the largest blood baths in all of history . The birds will flock to all of these dead when the battle is over!

In verse 19, the Holy Spirit puts the fine-tuning lens on and focuses on two individuals – the most blasphemous people on earth . These are Satan-possessed, evil people who have led the world against God and are now specified by name . “The beast is seized and with him the false prophet” and judgment rolls down .


23This is a tough section of Scripture that we don’t like to think

about . But without Christ, you are there . This is the final global catastrophe . One-third of the people remaining on earth after the rapture will be killed by plague prior to this . At this battle the other two-thirds will be killed . This is the Day of the Lord .

“Then suddenly it will all be over . In fact, there will be no war at all, in the sense that we think of war . There will be just a word spoken… . Once He spoke a word to a fig tree and it withered away . Once He spoke a word to howling winds and heaving waves and…the waves fell still . Once He spoke to a legion of demons…and instantly they fled . Now He speaks a word and the war is over .” (John Phillips, Exploring Revelation, 236 )

Then what? There will be true peace as He will reign over the earth .

the Lessons to Be LearneD:1) His presence will set the final stage . John never describes earth and what it will look like . He just

mentions the One whose presence sits and fills the stage . It will all be about Jesus .

2) His name will be the final authority . There will be no other name above His .3) His word will win the final battle .

I don’t believe there will be a shot fired . Shots can’t affect Omnipotence . The battle ends as He returns .

Have you bowed to the authority of Jesus?

1 . When I study Scriptures like this, it makes me want to bow and get quiet . Have you person-ally bowed to the authority of Jesus Christ?

2 . What remaining questions do you have con-cerning the Day of the Lord?

3 . How will you take what you learned this week and share with others during this period and age of grace and mercy?

Read with your group this entire passage again and talk as a group about the following:

• AreyoureallyreadytomeetJesus?• Whathaveyoulearnedthatyoudidnotprevi-

ously know about the return of Jesus Christ to earth?

• Howwill you now live differently because ofwhat you have learned?

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24Pray for those you serve to cultivate a sensi-

tive heart to the Lord and His purposes for their lives . Pray that He would stamp eternity upon their hearts and that they would begin to live beyond the temporal . Pray that they see the eternal and begin to respond to what they don’t see rather than react to what they do see .Pray

Why thetrinity?

This series is designed to introduce the

Doctrine of the Trinity to students . As

a denomination we believe in one God

eternally existing in three persons;

namely, the Father, Son, and Holy

Ghost . This series is meant to bring

understanding to this belief .

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26the Mystery oF

the trinityProverbs 3:5 NASB *

1 . The Bible tells us to trust in the Lord and not lean on our understanding . What do you think this means?

2 . Do you think it is possible to understand God?3 . Can you trust in a God you cannot

understand?

Have you ever been to the beach? Close your eyes and imagine yourself there now . Can you hear the waves crashing on the shore and feel the breeze coming off the water? As far as your eyes can see there is nothing but a vast ocean in front of you . But this is just a surface level observation . There is so much more to the ocean than what

you can see on the surface . If you were to look below, your eyes would be opened to a whole new world . There are whales, dolphins, many types of fish, sea urchins, sponges, seaweed, and many other types of sea creatures . There is a myriad of beautiful col-ors – various shades of greens, blues, yellows, oranges and more . The deepest part of the sea is found in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean . It is approximately 36,200 feet deep – that is roughly seven miles deep! To put it in perspective, that is more than a mile deeper than Mount Everest is tall! Though you can see the surface of the ocean, there is much you cannot see or know . It is beyond your comprehension . This image of the ocean reminds us that we often skim the surface of faith without appreciating the depths .a The doctrine of the Trinity invites us to think deeply about our faith, rather than just having a surface level belief in God .

Chances are, if you have been to church or around other Christians very long, you have heard a lot of talk about God . What you probably have not heard is a message on the Trinity . You have probably never had a conversation with another fellow believer on the Trinity . And there is even a chance you have never heard the word Trinity . First things first, What is the Trinity? We believe in one God eternally existing in three persons; namely, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost . Maybe you’ve never had much thought on the

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* Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations in this lesson are taken from the New American Standard Bible® . Copyright © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 . Used by permission . (www.Lockman.org) .


27word Trinity, but you have thought about Jesus, the Son of God, or the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, or God the creator of the uni-verse and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ . So how is it that the Bible speaks of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and yet Christianity claims to believe in only one God? Perhaps you now know why Christians never talk about it! It doesn’t add up in our minds . It doesn’t make sense mathematically, and it is hard to visualize . Before we can enter in to the depth that is the Trinity, we must come with the right mind-set .

The Apostle Paul often calls the things of God a “mystery” as in Colossians 1:26-27 . The New Testament’s understanding of the word mystery is how we should approach the Trinity . We must realize and admit that we can not fully grasp the immensity of the living God, who is One and eternally exists in the three Persons . To speak of God as a mystery does not mean He is some vague being that is unknowable . Rather, it simply means there is a limit to our human reasoning and capacity to fully comprehend the living God . At this point you may be thinking, “Why should I serve a God, I can-not fully understand?” If we are not careful, we may try to diminish God to what we can figure out . We may try to bring God down to our level, rather than allowing Him to bring us up to His .b It is absurd to think that we can fully grasp the magnitude of the Almighty . Remember the ocean? Just as you can not fully know all there is in the ocean, so you can not fully know all the mystery of the Trinity . Do you feel overwhelmed? Good! You are in good company, because every person in the Bible who came into contact with this living God was at first overwhelmed . Let’s look at an example of this from Isaiah 6:1-8 (NASB version recommended) .

1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple . 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew . 3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory .” 4And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke . 5 Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts .” 6 Then one of the ser-aphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs . 7 He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin

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28is forgiven .” 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I .”

Isaiah’s encounter with the God left him devastated . He was completely overtaken and overwhelmed with the glory of God . Although he was in awe and even fearful of the Lord, his fear quickly turned to faith . He volunteered to work for this mighty God! This is why we shouldn’t be discouraged that we serve a God who is beyond our comprehension . At first, we will be baffled by his Glory, but then this glory will energize us!c It will cause you to say, “Here am I . Send me .”

In conclusion, it is interesting that this text in Isaiah is one of the four instances in the Old Testament where God refers to Himself in the plural . He asked, “Who will go for us?” St . Augustine argued that Scriptures such as this one hint of a Trinitarian way of thinking .d Though it may be hinted at in the Old Testament, it is clearly evident in the New Testament that there is one God, yet He exists in three distinct persons – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit . Do not let this great mystery discourage you, but let it drive and inspire you to experience God more than ever before .

1 . Have you ever had a conversation with another believer on the topic of the Trinity? Why or Why not?

2 . Do you think we should explore the Doctrine of the Trinity or should we try to keep our under-standing of God simple?

3 . Have you ever been overwhelmed in an expe-rience with God? Do you want to serve a God you can figure out, or would you rather serve a God that is beyond your ability to fully comprehend?

Challenge your group to approach God with a holy awe and reverence .

• MakeacommitmenttostudyGod’sWordtohave a better understanding of the “myster-ies” of God .

• MakeacommitmenttoseekGod’spresence,to encounter Him in a way similar to the way Isaiah did .

• Makeacommitmenttostartseekingadeeperunderstanding of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit .

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29

Pray

Pray for one another that you will not be tempted to bring God down to our level, but we will allow Him to open our minds and hearts to His level .

Endnotes a Alister McGrath, A Christian Vision of God, Minneapolis, MN:

Forstress Press, 2009, 79 .b Ibid, 52-53 .c Ibid, 53 .d Ibid, 57 .

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30the oriGins oF the Doctrine trinity

Philippians 2:6-11 NASB *

1 . Do you know why we have the Doctrine of the Trinity?

2 . Where in the Bible is the word ‘Trinity’ found?3 . Do you think it is important to study the his-

tory of our faith?

In John 4:38 Jesus told his disciples: “I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor .” Have you ever seriously thought about this? You receive the benefits from other people’s work in the Kingdom of God . Christianity isn’t a new religion . It has been around for centuries, and we profit today

from the labors of our ancestors in the faith . One area in which this is true is in the confession of the doctrine of the Trinity . No one man can claim the revelation of this mystery, yet many over hundreds of years forged it . Many take for granted this doctrine which has been the study of past theologians’ lives . This lesson seeks to give a (very) brief explanation to the origins of the doctrine of the Trinity .

The first question we have to ask is, “Why do we have the doc-trine of the Trinity?” If you were to search the Bible for the word Trinity you would not find it . It is not in there! In fact, the actual idea of the doctrine of the Trinity didn’t exist until close to 300 years after Jesus walked the earth! Why should we believe in something that is not in the Bible? Although the word Trinity is not in the Bible, it is clear that the New Testament speaks of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost . For example, in Matthew 28:19 Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit .” Isn’t it interesting that Jesus did not say “baptizing them in the names”? He said “name .” It was singular, not plural . That’s because God is one God eternally existing in three persons; namely, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost . Even though the word Trinity is not explicitly in the New Testament, it is implicitly referred to .

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31As believers, we should not take for granted the doctrine of

the Trinity, but we should look into why it exists . The answer lies within Incarnation, the coming of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, to the earth . The closing of the New Testament writ-ings (100 CE) to the Council of Chalcedon (451 CE) is considered the Patristic Period in Christian history .a During this period one of the biggest issues that faced the Church was their belief that Jesus was in fact God . The early Church was up against different her-esies concerning Jesus . Some taught that Jesus was God, but not really a man . Others said He was a man but not God . One of the Christian writers who defended Jesus as God was Saint Athanasius . In his work On the Incarnation Athanasius said, “Such and so many are the Savior’s achievements that follow from His incarnation, that to try to number them is like gazing at the open sea and trying to count the waves .” The achievements of the Incarnation, as Athanasius points out, were many, but so were the questions it created . One of the biggest being monotheism . Christianity always believed itself to be a monotheistic religion, meaning that it believed only in one God . Even though it consid-ered itself monotheistic, at the Council of Nicea (325 CE) it was declared that Jesus was “of the same substance as God” not just “like God .”b Therefore, if Jesus was God, there were new ques-tions that demanded answers . Could Christianity still be consid-ered monotheistic? Are there now two Gods? Christianity main-tained its confession in the one and only God, but the early church was forced to define the relationship between Jesus the Son of God, God the Father, and eventually, the Spirit of God . This is how Trinitarian Theology got its start, and this is why it is impossible to speak of Trinitarian Theology without first making mention of the role the Incarnation played in it .

In conclusion, God has always been one eternally existing in three persons . God has revealed Himself throughout history to man . We first knew him as Creator in the Old Testament . Then we knew Him as the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us . Now we know the Him as the Holy Spirit who dwells within and empowers us! We will spend all eternity discovering the mysteries of our God .

1 . Why do you think it is important to know where the doctrine of the Trinity originated?

2 . What is the Incarnation?3 . Do you think it is important to study American

history in school? Why or why not? If it is impor-tant to study American history, shouldn’t it be important to study our Christian history?

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32Challenge your group to appreciate the history of Christianity .• Makeacommitmenttomakeyourselfknowl-

edgeable in the history of the church .• MakeacommitmenttoloveGodnotonlywith

your heart and soul, but also with your mind .

Pray for one another that you will be serious about your faith . Pray it would become a passion to become well-informed about our Christian past in order that we can be better prepared for the future .

Endnotes a Alister McGrath, Historical Theology: An Introductotion to the History of

Christian Thought, (Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013), 17 .b Ibid, 34

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33MisconcePtions

aBout the trinityPhilippians 2:6-11 NASB *

1 . Do you believe that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit exist at the same time?

2 . Have you ever wondered if the Son of God and the Holy Spirit are somewhat less than God the Father?

3 . How is it that we do not refer to God as plural yet we speak of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost?

There have been many speculations about the Trinity over the centuries . In an attempt to make the Triune God understandable well-meaning peo-ple came to inaccurate conclusions . Let us look at some easy pitfalls in our thinking about the Trinity .

One wrong way to think about the Trinity is called modalism . In the second and third centuries there

was a movement in the Christian faith to defend the unity of God . Christian writers were afraid that some might think Christianity believed in tritheism instead of monotheism . Thus they explained God as one person who appears to us in three different forms or modes at different times . First, God is revealed as creator and law-giver . This is God the Father . Then that same God became Savior in the person of Jesus Christ . This is the Son . Lastly, the same God is revealed as the one who sanctifies, indwells, empowers, and gives eternal life . This is the Holy Spirit . In modalism, there is one God who takes on different forms at different times throughout history .a While these writers had good intentions, they were wrong .

Modalism cannot explain the experience of Jesus’ baptism in Matthew 3:16-17: “After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, 17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased .” Here in this Scripture we see God the Father speaking, the Holy Spirit is descending, and Jesus is being baptized and recognized as the Son of God . Thus modalism fails

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34us because all three persons of the Trinity are existing and acting simultaneously, not at different points in history .

Another hazardous way of thinking about the Trinity is subordi-nationism . Subordinationism is the belief that the Son and the Holy Spirit are subordinate or less than the Father in nature and being . At first glance it would seem Jesus himself claims this! In John 14:28 Jesus says, “You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you .’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I .” Many took state-ments such as these in the New Testament to claim their subordi-nate views . In his book and life’s work On the Trinity, Saint Augustine of Hippo came against subordinationist views . He used Philippians 2:6-7 to prove the equality of the Trinity, specifically the Son and the Father . The Scripture says of Jesus: “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men .” He argues, that here it is explained how Jesus is less than the Father . He is less than God in likeness not in nature . Jesus willingly took on the likeness of a man . He became like us in image by taking on flesh, yet in His nature He is still God . Therefore, He is equal with God but was able to say “He is greater than I .”

Lastly, one other misconception in Trinitarian thought is trithe-ism . Tritheism believes that there is not one God, but there are three Gods . That is to say, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost are all separate and independent beings . But this is not what Jesus claimed . He said in John 10:30, “I and the Father are one .” Also in John 14:10 He said, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works .” Jesus clearly says that they are one! Tertullian (160 CE – 225 CE) is the one who gave the doctrine of the Trinity its distinguishing vocabulary . He argues that substance is what makes the Godhead one; person is what distinguishes them . The three persons of the Trinity are dis-tinct, yet not divided, different yet not separate or independent of each other . The complexity of the human experience of redemption is thus the result of the three persons of the Godhead acting in dis-tinct yet coordinated manners in human history, without any loss of total unity of the Godhead .b In arguing for the unity of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Tertullian was building of the work of Irenaeus of Lyons (130 CE – 200 CE) . Irenaeus was an early pioneer in Trinitarian Theology . He argued the case that Christ and the Holy Spirit were present and active in creation . When God said, “Let us make man in our image,” (Genesis 1, emphasis added) it seems clear that the Son and the Spirit were present and active in creation, not just God the Father . He believed that salvation process from beginning to end


35was the work of the Father, Son, and the Spirit . He referred to it as the “economy of salvation .” Thus, Irenaeus argued that from the first moment of creation to the last moment of history, it is the same God at work .

These misconceptions about the Trinity are easy to make . Modalism, subordinationism, and Tritheism were all attempts by well meaning people to make sense of the God who is one in three . It is hard for finite human minds to grasp the infinite God, and when we try to use reason and logic to explain or make sense of God it can lead to wrong conclusions . Let us approach this amazing and living God with the utmost reverence and awe . Our God is an awesome God!

1 . Should we attempt to understand how one God eternally exists in three persons, or should we just accept it as a mystery and not explore it?

2 . If we explore this mystery how can we avoid falling into heresies such as modalism, trithe-ism, or subordinationism?

3 . Do you think the people who came up with modal-ism, tritheism, or subordinationism were bad people? How do we benefit from their error?

Challenge your group to understand the reason-ing behind the attempts of these three pitfalls to explain God .• Make a commitment to find Scriptures that

speak of the three being one .• LookforScripturesintheOldTestamentthat

speak of the Spirit and even allude to the com-ing of the Son who already existed but had not taken on flesh yet .

Pray for one another that you will not fall into wrong ideologies about the Triune God . Pray that He will mesmerize each of us . Pray that you will spend the rest of your life seeking out the mys-teries of this awesome God!

Endnotes a Alister McGrath, Historical Theology : an Introduction to the History

of Christian Thought. E-Book (Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013), 56 .

b Ibid, 54.

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36the Mission oF

the trinityMatthew 28:19 NASB *

1 . How is it that man knows God? How do we know His nature?

2 . What is our mission as followers of Christ? 3 . Where does this mission originate from?

In Matthew 28:19, Jesus sends His disciples out into the world to make disciples . As mentioned in an earlier lesson, He instructs them to baptize believ-ers in the name of the Trinity, that is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit . Jesus sends His disciples out as missionaries, but they were not the first mission-aries . The first missionary was God Himself! The

following lesson is designed to show how the Trinity is missional in nature, and we as followers of Christ are to join in this mission . It is largely based on the work of Richard Waldrop from his article “The Triune God in Salvation History: Pentecostal Perspectives on Holistic Church Mission Today” . Waldrop sees the missional nature of God in creation, the covenant and establishment of Israel, the Incarnation, Pentecost, and in the future summing up of all things in Christ Jesus .

Let us first look at God’s missionary nature in creation . The Triune God was the first and only “self-sent” missionary . No one told Him to create the universe . No one told Him to create the earth . No one told Him to create human beings . He did this all on His own initia-tive . He took the risk, knowing beforehand that His creation would rebel against Him . He created the earth and all that lives in it, then He drew near, revealed Himself to man, and entered into a rela-tionship with him . He sought out the welfare and salvation of His creation .a In creation it is also clear that triune God works in com-munity! In Genesis 1:26, God said, “Let us make man in our image… .” The Bible tells us that Spirit was hovering over the face of the earth, the Father spoke, and (according to Colossians 1:15-20) Jesus is active and present in the creation! All three of persons of the Trinity are

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37active throughout all of both creation and salvation history, and they work together as one!

We know the story of creation . It was perfect and good, but then man sinned against God . This sin disconnected God from His creation, but God was not satisfied with this . What did He do? He revealed Himself again to a specific people, Israel . In Genesis 12:1-9, God tells Abraham all the families of the earth will be blessed through this people! God raised Israel up and made a covenant with them for salvation’s sake . They were to live as a model of holiness before the other nations of the world . Their way of life was to attract other nations of the earth and point them to God .b

The children of Israel were unfaithful with the mission they were given, and when the “fullness of time” had come He did the most radical act of love and mission . The “Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14) . Again God comes to man to establish a cov-enant – the New Covenant . This is a covenant wrought by the blood and body of Christ . What a story of mission! The divine becomes man so that man could become divine! Jesus accomplishes this work upon a bloody cross . He stepped out of eternity, gave up glory, and stepped into our mess and chaos to save us from it .

Jesus finished His work, but He did not leave us here without another helper . We now live in the missionary age of the Church . He left the Church in charge of His mission, and we’ve been given the Spirit of God to empower us for this mission! The Holy Spirit indwells us and empowers us to go and make disciples! The Holy Spirit came to man . In Acts chapter 2, a group of believers waited . They waited until the Holy Spirit came . He came as their helper and our helper in this mission of making disciples .

Thus, we enter into and work with the Trinity on His mission . The church has been anointed by the power of the Spirit to liberate cre-ation with the message of the Gospel . In every instance of salva-tion history, God came to man . Never once has man gone to God . He is the initiator in every instance . Now just as He sent Himself to us, he now sends us out to the world . He sends us as missionaries to every culture and race of people until the return of Christ . Then the redemptive mission of the Triune God will be complete!

1 . Do you think God the Father was the one who created the earth, or do you think every per-son of the Trinity was involved in this?

2 . Can you explain this Biblically?3 . What does it say about the nature of God in

that He always reveals Himself to man? Never once has man initiated a relationship with God . Can you explain this in your own life?

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38Challenge your group to join in the mission of the

Trinity• AllowtheHolySpirittoleadyoutogotoother

people who need the Gospel .• JesusputHimselfinourshoes.Hecamedown

to our level to save us . Involve yourself in the lives of others in order to see them saved .

Pray for one another that God would open your eyes to see how much God loves you . You did not pursue Him, but He pursued you . Pray that you will join in with the mission of the Trinity to reach a lost world .

Endnotes a 17 . Richard E . Waldrop, “The Triune God in Salvation History:

Pentecostal Perspectives on Holistic Church Mission Today .” Journal of Pentecostal Theology Supplement Series 35, (2010): 327-337 .

b Ibid

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the Wordof God

This series is designed to cultivate a

passion and curiosity for the Word of

God . We believe encountering the living

Word is essential to transformation

and mission . It is our prayer that

leaders and students alike will fall in

love with the Word of God .

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40the WorD incarnate

John 1:1-14 NKJV *

1 . The Word of God includes the Bible, but is not limited to it . What do you think of when you hear the term “Word of God”?

2 . The Word is mentioned as being with God in the beginning . What does this revelation tell us about the Word?

3 . The “Word became flesh and dwelt among us” according to John 1:14 . What or who is this talk-ing about?

truths aBout the incarnate WorD1 . The Word is God . This truth changes many of our presuppositions about the Word of God . It shows that the Word includes the Bible, but is not limited to the Bible . The Word is God .2 . All things were made through Him . Drawing from the Genesis narrative of the beginning, John con-

nected the Word of God with creation . This is another foun-dational stone being laid to show the divinity of the Word . The Word creates!

3 . He housed the life/light of men . John begins to make the transition from the foundational statements of the Word as God to the missional statements of the Word as the hope for humanity .

4 . The world/darkness did not comprehend Him (Light) . Here the reality of much of humanity’s failure to recognize the Word is highlighted . The Word did not make sense to them . The world could not understand what they were seeing .

5 . He was rejected by His own . This points to the Word being rejected by His own people .

6 . Those that receive Him become children of God . This is salva-tion! Humanity’s hope is realized through faith in the Word of God! Hebrews 11:1 in the NKJV declares “Now faith is the sub-stance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen .”

7 . The Word (Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us . The Word is Jesus! The Word became flesh when the Son of God wrapped Himself in humanity! The reality of our salvation is

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* Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations in this lesson are taken from are taken from the New King James Version . Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc . Used by permission . All rights reserved .


41only made possible by the response of heaven to our great-est need . The Word made flesh in Jesus offers both our aton-ing sacrifice and victorious example .

We do not know the Word by memorizing Scripture alone, but by encountering the revelation of Jesus Christ . This affects how we interpret Scripture . Christ is the lens by which we understand the written Word .

the WorD caLLs us to incarnationaL LiVinG .1 . We live in response to Heaven, not just reacting to the world .

John later documents a statement from Jesus in his gos-pel: “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner” (John 5:19) .

2 . We are not isolated from suffering, but are immersed in it. Jesus was about His Father’s business and He hears the news of His friend being sick . John records the story in the eleventh chapter of his gospel . Jesus, upon hearing of the grave sickness of His friend, declares that “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it” (John 11:4) . Jesus knew the death of Lazarus was not the end result . However, another interesting passage is given in this same chapter . In verse 35 the text states that “Jesus wept” while standing outside the tomb of Lazarus . Why would Jesus weep if He knew that He was going to raise Lazarus? Jesus does not stand out-side our pain, but immerses Himself into it . Jesus does not seem to just be concerned with the end result (Lazarus being raised) but cared about the current state of His friends . Lazarus died in first century Israel . He did not have the cur-rent medical technology that we have to ease pain or give comfort . Jesus cares about people’s pain and so should we .

3 . We carry the redemptive power of God into broken situ-ations. The common theme throughout the life of Jesus was redemption . God came down! The Incarnation changed everything and is the embodiment of the love of God . He loved us enough to come into our brokenness and we are called to this same love that He embodies! The love of God in us should drive us to enter into the brokenness of those around us! Whether it was the woman with the issue of blood, the woman at the well, or a repentant tax collector, Jesus entered into their worlds and brought the good news of God’s love, wholeness, and forgiveness .

conclusion:We must not be myopic in our view of the Word . The Word is

Jesus and Jesus is the revelation of who we are called to be . He

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42modeled a life of incarnational living and calls to us today to be incarnational in our world! We must enter the brokenness of oth-ers with the response of heaven and the redemptive power of the Holy Spirit!

1 . How has this lesson changed your view of the Word? Does this change how you view Scripture? How so?

2 . What does incarnational living look like? How do you plan on living differently than before?

3 . How can you carry the redemptive power of Jesus into everyday life situations that you face? What are some examples?

Challenge your group to encounter the Word and become incarnational .

• Approach Scripture prayerfully and examinethe life of Jesus closely .

• Makeacommitmenttoenterintothebroken-ness of others .

• Make a commitment to see the redemptivepotential in every situation and ask the Holy Spirit what role you can play .

Pray for one another to become passionate for the Word and to be intentional in being incar-national . Ask that God would give you a burden for the lost and dying world . Ask the Holy Spirit to help you respond to heaven in everything that you do .

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43the WorD untaMeD

Hebrews 4:12-13 NKJV *

1 . We all bring preconceived ideas to Scripture? How do you think this is dangerous?

2 . Is the Word of God to be understood just like any other book? Is it literature or living? Can it be both?

3 . Is there more to studying the Word than just seeking understanding? What else happens?

intro: Approaching the Word of God as revealed in

Scripture is an essential spiritual discipline . With that said, how we approach the Scripture is of the utmost importance! There are those that claim our approach must be purely scientific . This view leads us to try and dissect the text in order

to examine the worlds within (literary style) and behind (historical context) the text . While both of these are important they are not the only dimensions to be explored .

There is also the existential approach to the Scripture that sees the text as something to be engaged . The goal is to encounter a reality beyond the text .

In this approach the text acts as a bridge between two worlds . Author --> Text <-- ReaderNow we understand that examining the text is vitally impor-

tant! However, we also understand that the Scripture is not a text to be mastered, but a Person to be encountered .

Transition: What are some important elements we need to remember as we encounter the Living Word?

i . We aLL BrinG a Lens to the teXt . No one is totally objective! We all have our life experiences,

personal preferences, and conditioned thinking that we bring to the Word .

ii . My theoLoGicaL PreFerences Must not ensLaVe the teXt . The Word is alive and untamed! This means that while theology

is always present while engaging the text, I must not allow my doc-trinal leanings to blind me from the truth of the Word . People are

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44born into various religions, denominations, and belief structures . If we approach Scripture only to validate what we already believe then we are missing the point entirely . The Word is untamed! The Word is not enslaved to the creeds of man, but is illuminated by the Holy Spirit .

iii . the WorD is reaDinG Me . In Hebrews 4:12b-13 Scripture declares that the Word is “a dis-

cerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart . And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account .” This means that even though I may be reading Scripture, the Word is reading me!

Transition: Knowing these realities, what are some things that we should do as we approach Scripture?

1. Approach Scripture Humbly: Approaching the Word accu-rately requires a great deal of humility . When we begin to feel that we have mastered the text, we have failed! The riches of the Word are greater than we can ever exhaust . Approach the Word from a posture of humility with under-standing that you are dependent on the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you into all truth! There is also the strong prob-ability that some of your current views, interpretations, and theology are wrong . Don’t fight for your view, but receive the truth of the Word .

2. Approach Scripture Prayerfully: The Scripture is not just a literary book to be explained, but a spiritual proclamation to be obeyed . It is the voice of God . We must approach the Word prayerfully so that we may understand the intent of the author (Holy Spirit) . Asking God to correct our errors and establish His truth is key to coming to a correct understand-ing . This is what it means to be teachable .

3. Study the Context: What kind of literature is it? Is it a psalm, an epistle, a gospel, a prophetic writing, or apocalyp-tic literature? Who is writing? When is he writing? To whom is he writing? What is the context surrounding the verse? What just happened? How is this connected with the rest of the book? All of these questions are important and there are other questions that need to be answered to establish the context . The context matters because it gives a more three dimensional view of the statements which allows us to understand the text more accurately .

4. Know the History: This is more than just knowing the his-tory behind the text . It also includes the understanding of the particular verse or verses throughout the history of the Church . We are a part of the Church of Jesus Christ and do not exist on an island . We are immersed in the narrative of


45God’s redemptive story and do not stand alone in our under-standing of the Word . Begin to research how the Church throughout history has understood a text . The historical writers will not always agree with your conclusion but it invites them into the conversation .

5. Listen to the Holy Spirit: John records the words of Jesus in John16:13: “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come .” The Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth! Did you get that? We have a guide for this jour-ney! Don’t try and do it on your own . It is not your respon-sibility to try and understand things apart from the Holy Spirit . Actually, you can’t understand truth without Him! So learn to rely on the Spirit of God and allow Him to lead and guide you into His truth!

6. Immerse Yourself in the Faith Community: Dangerous things happen when people isolate themselves from Christian community . One such thing is the formation of per-sonal doctrines outside of the truth of God’s Word . As we mentioned before, we all come to the Scripture with a lens through which we interpret . We all have theological leanings that we read into the text . A safeguard against this is the community of God’s people . 2 Peter 1:20 states “knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation.”

cLose: So, let us approach the text humbly, prayerfully, and accurately!

Knowing that God will lead us into all truth . Knowing that we must not enslave the text, but allow it to liberate us!

The Word is living, active, piercing, discerning, and liberating! The Word is untamed!

1 . Have you been guilty of reading meaning into the text instead of allowing the Scripture to speak for itself?

2 . Have you ever felt like the Word is reading you while you were reading it? What was this like for you? Did it change your life?

3 . What is the role of the Holy Spirit in reading and studying Scripture? How do you include Him?

4 . Are you willing to humble yourself in light of today’s lesson? Will you approach the Word differently? How so?

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46Challenge your group to encounter the untamed

Word!• ApproachScripturehumblyandprayerfully.• Makeacommitmenttoteachthemtostudy

the Word .• Makeitaprioritytolearntolistentothevoice

of the Holy Spirit .

Pray for God the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth! Pray that each of you would gain a heart that burns for understanding of God’s Word . Ask the Lord to give you the humility to approach the Scripture in awe and openness to be corrected . Repent of any mishandling of the Word .

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47the WorD Guides

Psalm 119:105 NKJV*

1 . Do you see the Bible as a history book? Why or why not?

2 . Does the Word offer instruction about how we live our lives? Do you think it can be practi-cally applied? Why or why not?

3 . What if the Word is calling you to more than you realize? Are you willing to go further?

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path .” – Psalm 119:105

intro: The Word of God is at the heart of transform-

ing a person’s life . It is the Word that produces faith (Romans 10:17) . However, the Word does not just transform us by exposing us to the saving grace of Jesus Christ, but also by informing us of a new way to be human .

Jesus is the paradigm for all humanity! He is the second Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45) that has come to show us what we are supposed to look like . The way of Jesus is not just a principle to be learned but a path to be followed . The Word of God calls us into this new way of living, this new Kingdom!

This is why the Word records the words of Jesus in Luke 9:23: “Then He said to them all, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me .’”

Transition: The Word of God plays a central role in our transfor-mation to this new Kingdom . In a way the Scripture is a Kingdom Manifesto declaring our new way to be human, or how for us to be truly human again!

i . it reMinDs us oF our PastA . It is the Word that shows the history of man’s creation

and fall .B . It is the Word that showed the evil intents of our hearts

and that we could not live up to the requirements of the law .

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48C . It is the Word that prophesied about the coming Messiah

that would liberate us from our bondage .D . It is the Word that showed that the blood of goats and

bulls was not enough .E . The Word vividly reminds us of our past, and we see that

we are not good enough alone . However, the Word also reminds us of God’s past actions and shows His nature and character . The Word shows a past in which God birthed a nation out of barrenness and later liberated it from Egyptian bondage; killed giants and raised the dead; sent fire from heaven and longed for His people’s devotion!

ii . it reVeaLs our conDitionA . “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the

world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—(For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law . Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come .” – Romans 5:12-14

B . If it was not for the Word we would not understand our lost condition without Christ!

C . The Word also reveals the condition of the believer in that we are redeemed and set apart by the shed blood of Christ! Our sins are forgiven and we are made righteous by His atoning work and the power of the Holy Spirit .

D . Whatever your relationship with Christ, your condition is revealed: either lost apart from Him, or redeemed and safely in His arms .

iii . it inVites us to LiVe FroM a neW ParaDiGMA . The way of Jesus is not just a principle to be learned but

a path to be followed . That statement is key for us to understand our new lives in Jesus .

B . The Word of God shows us a new way of life . Some call it the paradox of the Kingdom:1) I love my enemies . (Matthew 5:44)2) I pray for those that persecute me . (Matthew 5:44)3) I lost my life to find it . (Matthew 10:39)4) If I humble myself, I will be exalted . (Matthew 23:12)5) The first will be last and the last will be first . (Mark 9:35) These don’t seem to make common sense, but

Kingdom sense doesn’t always make common sense!C . The Word of God shows us what this life looks like in the


49revelation of Jesus Christ (John 14:12), the continuation of Spirit-empowered witness in the early Church (Acts 1:8), and the call from apostolic leaders to not be conformed to this world but to be transformed (Romans 12:1-2) .

D . This means that belief without action is of no affect (James 2:26)! The Word calls to us and establishes a heav-enly expectation for our lives .

E . Our witness is not open to interpretation . There is a stan-dard of holiness established by the Word of God .

God’s Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path! In the darkness of our day we have a sure direction that is revealed to us and a light that will guide us into a life that pleases the Father . We live as people of the Kingdom and are guided by His Word .

cLose: The Word does not just point us in a direction, but also equips us

for the journey . God will not guide where He does not provide . This means that every good gift from heaven is given to equip you to live out the Kingdom in a world that may not understand it . We are called to be people of the Kingdom and through the Word we come to understand what that means .

1 . What does the Word of God declare about humanity’s past? What about our future?

2 . How are the Word and faith connected accord-ing to Romans 10:17?

3 . Are you willing to realign your life according to the Word of God? Even the areas that don’t make sense to you? What are some examples of this?

Challenge your group to encounter the Guiding Word!

• TheWordshowsweall were lost in our sins .• Challenge students to grow their faith by

growing in the Word .• IssueacalltolivetheKingdomlifeasrevealed

in God’s Word .

Gather in the altar to pray for the Word to be a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path . Allow time for everyone to lay the areas of their lives that don’t line up with God’s Word in the altar . Pray the Word of God over them .

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50the WorD equiPs

2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV*

1 . Do we base our lives on the Bible? Why is it so important?

2 . Doctrine can be vastly undervalued in today’s culture, but why is it so important? How does it affect you?

3 . How do you use the Word of God in everyday life? How can you become a better steward of the Word of God?

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,

for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work .” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17

i . insPirationA . First of all, we must understand that the Word of God is inspired (God breathed) . B . While we understand that numerous men over thousands of years penned the Bible, it only has one author—the Holy Spirit! “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private

interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21 NKJV) . Did you get that? It never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke/wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit is the source of Scripture and this means that the authority of the Word is established in God .

C . While the Holy Spirit used the conceptual well that these men had and allowed them to write with their own distinct styles, the Holy Spirit is the One that guided the message of God’s Word .

D . You can trust the Word, because the Word originated in God and He watches over His Word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12) .

God has given us His Word for our salvation, but it is also

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51essential for the Christian life . The passage in 2 Timothy mentions some of the benefits of the Word to His people and how it can be applied .

ii . ProFitaBLeA. Doctrine

1) The word used in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 for doctrine can also be translated as teaching . The word is profitable for our teaching, or the formation of our doctrine .

2) Doctrine is our belief system or set of beliefs . This is important because what we believe forms who we are . Many people have wrong practices because they have wrong doctrines . At the heart of human action is a belief system .

3) Nothing is more important than your doctrine of God as it shapes your approach to God and life . 1 Timothy 4:16 (NKJV) tells us to “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine . Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.”

4) Our doctrine affects more than just us! If we have sound doctrine then we can share sound doctrine, but if our doctrine is wrong then we will spread doctrine that leads people astray .

5) Sincerity does not assure sound doctrine . You can be sincerely wrong!

A. Reproof (Rebuke)1) This word lends itself to the reproof of one’s actions . It

is a rebuke of one’s actions based on the Word of God . This is especially important for leaders in the Church when it comes to how discipline is handled in matters of sin within the faith community . The Word has abso-lute authority to rebuke a believer for any actions that are contrary to how Scripture commands us to live . Paul did this many times when dealing with the various churches under his leadership .

2) Embrace the rebuke of the Word as it will save your soul! James 5:19-20 says, “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the The WORD equips us for the mission and ministry of Jesus extended through His Church!

cLose:• TheWordisinspiredorGodbreathed!• TheWordisusedintheChurchtoteach,rebuke,correct,

and instruct in righteousness .• TheWordmakesuswhole/complete!• TheWordequipsusfortheworkGodhascalledusto.truth,

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52and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.”

A. Correction1) This primarily has to do with the belief system beneath

our actions .2) One of the primary functions of the Apostles was that

of correcting erroneous doctrines and teaching the true gospel .

3) The Word stands as our source for truth and our understanding of the revelation of Jesus Christ .

4) While some things God speaks to you may not be found word for word in the Bible, the underlying principle will always be Biblical .

5) The Word stands to correct false doctrines, wrong belief systems, and judge prophetic words .

B. Instruction in righteousness 1) Not only does the Word stand to correct the errone-

ous, but it also instructs us in how to live a righteous life .

2) We must guard against using the Word to only tear down the false without also building people up unto holiness .

3) The Word not only declares the expectation of heaven for our lives, but also provides the means for us to accomplish it .

4) Knowing the Word will help us avoid sin . “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:11 NKJV) .

iii . resuLtsA. Complete

1) Complete or whole means nothing is lacking . The Word will make you whole! In Luke 8, there is a powerful story about a woman with an issue of blood . This woman, named by her issue, touched the Word when she touched Jesus . Once she touched the Word she was healed . Jesus looked at her and changed her title from “a woman with an issue” to “daughter .” He also declared that she was whole!

2) Encountering the Word calls us to wholeness in Jesus Christ .

3) At the heart of encountering the Word is my transformation!

B. Equipped for Every Good Work


531) The Word not only makes me whole for my own per-

sonal gain, but also equips me for every good work!2) It is seen as a weapon in Ephesians 6:17 (sword of the

Spirit = Word of God) . 3) It is the content of our preaching and transforms lives

(2 Timothy 4:2) .4) It is used to sanctify and cleanse the Church (Ephesians

5:26) . 5) It is that by which we overcome temptation (Matthew

4:1-11) . 6) It is sent to heal diseases (Psalm 107:20) .

1 . How has your view of the Bible changed since this lesson?

2 . How do you react when someone uses the Word to rebuke or correct you? How should you react?

3 . What are some practical ways the Word is equipping you to fulfill the Great Commission?

Challenge your group to encounter the Equipping Word!

• ApproachScriptureastheverywordsofGod.• Don’tbeafraidtousetheWordtorebukeor

correct in love .• Be intentional to develop the gifts God has

placed within you and use them for God’s glory .

Prayer humbly for the Holy Spirit to reveal where you are lacking or in error . Then begin to pray the Word over your life and ask the Father to make you whole, correct your belief and practice, and equip you for the life He has called you to .

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caLLeD to hoLiness

This series is designed to move

believers to a reverential fear of God

to walking in true holiness with Him . Its

purpose is to answer the questions of

what, why and how we are to fear God

and walk in the holiness we are called

to as children of God .

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58it BeGins With Fear

Deuteronomy 10:12-13 ESV *

1 . Fear is a word with many meanings . Do we know how to fear the Lord?

2 . Do you realize the importance of fearing God? If so what is that importance?

Often we come to a place in our relationship with the Lord where we wonder if we are doing it right . We want steps to follow and to make sure we are following them correctly . New believers especially are asking the “what now” question after salva-tion . But instead of imposing regulations on our lives that God doesn’t require of us because the

law was fulfilled through Christ, let’s look at what Scripture says . The good news is that God gave us direction in His Word .

Our main passage is Deuteronomy 10:12-13 .“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you,

but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good?”

We read that the Lord requires us to fear Him, and out of the fear we walk in His ways, love Him, serve Him and keep His commands . Just as in school or any relationship where you have a superior, the more respect you have for your leader the more willing you are to obey . Once we reach the place of having a healthy fear of God we can serve Him, love Him, and know Him .

What is healthy fear? I love how the Amplified version pres-ents Proverbs 1:7, “The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning and the principal and choice part of knowledge [its starting point and its essence]; but fools despise skillful and godly Wisdom, instruction, and discipline .” Here we have a definition of the fear we should have toward the Lord, a reverential and wor-shipful fear .

We know God is requiring us to fear Him in a reverential and wor-shipful way and from there our love for Him grows and it also is

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* Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations in this lesson are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers . Used by permission . All rights reserved .


59the starting point of growing in knowledge . When we were first introduced to Christ our first desire was to know more – more about Him, more about this new life, more about a new mindset . Psalm 111:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding . His praise endures forever!”

Fearing God is acknowledging that He is Lord and King, honoring Him with your life, seeing Him as He is . We will learn more about this in the next lesson .

Our first step in growing in knowledge and wisdom is to fear the Lord .

1 . Now that we know what having fear of God means, do you have a right fear of God? Explain why you feel you do or don’t .

2 . Do you have a desire to grow deeper in the Word and knowledge of God? Could it be that we don’t revere the Lord like we should?

3 . Have you felt like walking with the Lord is harder than it should be? Is it time to remind yourself of the basics: fearing the Lord, walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep His commandments and statutes?

A few personal challenges to fearing the Lord:• Talk to the Lord about how you see Him. If

you need to repent and come to a place of reverence then do so . Maybe you just need to reflect on His majesty and might .

• Lookatyourlife;doesitreflectafearofGod?• ReaddifferentpassagesofScripturetolearn

more of the character of God . You will grow in reverence and therefore grow in wisdom of who God is .

Pray that you see God for who He really is: lov-ing, merciful and powerful . Ask God to show you areas of your life you may have forgotten to show Him honor and receive His forgiveness through Christ . Pray that you would find people of like mind to walk with and encourage each other in the fear of the Lord and living a God glorifying life .

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60seeinG GoD’s hoLiness

LeaDs to FearIsaiah 6:1-5 ESV *

1 . Have you had a personal encounter or experi-ence with God? If so, explain how that was for you . What did you learn about God through that experience?

2 . Do you have a desire to be used and sent by God?

3 . Talk about the characteristics you know about God . How do you think about God’s holiness?

We are commanded to fear the Lord, to show Him honor and reverential fear . We can be obedi-ent to that but it may not take true root in our hearts until we witness God’s holiness and power . In Psalm 9 David recounts all the great things the Lord did for him and has done in the past . In verse 20, he asks God to put fear in the nations so they

will see they are only men . When we see we are but men and God is God our hearts are awed by Him .

In Isaiah 6:1-8, Isaiah has a vision of the Lord . In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a

throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple . 2 Above him stood the seraphim . Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew . 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke . 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar . 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for .” 8 And I heard the

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61voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me .”

Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, he saw his holiness on dis-play and he cried “Woe is me!” Being filled with woe is feeling deep distress or misery, as from grief; wretchedness . Like we said in the pre-vious lesson we know fear ha s many definitions . One of those is something that causes feelings of dread or apprehension http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fear?s=t .

As we see in this passage, after Isaiah saw the Lord he was filled will dread because he saw his sin in light of God’s holiness . Isaiah was filled with a form of fear . But God doesn’t leave Isaiah in a state of dread over his sin . God cleanses his lips and Isaiah is compelled by God’s mercy to be used by Him . His fear of God and his view of God’s grace led to Isaiah’s service .

In Luke 7:15-16 Jesus healed a dead man and the man sat up and began to speak . Scripture says in verse 16, “fear seized them all, and they glorified God . . . ” The people who were witnesses of God’s power were seized with fear because the great work shocked them . It led to God being glorified and the people recognized that God had visited his people!

Acts 2 is a powerful illustration of how when God moves and His holiness and power are seen people are compelled to fear (awe) fol-lowed by service in God’s kingdom! The apostles and other disciples were gathered in the upper room on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit fell and empowered the believers . Peter gave a sermon of few words and they were cut to the heart and about 3,000 souls were added to the Kingdom that day . They were moved so deeply by God’s work, they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers . In Acts 2:43, it says “And awe came upon every soul, and many won-ders and signs were being done through the apostles .” I believe they were in awe because when God’s people get together and we walk according to His Word he shows up! God moves upon His people, and when He moves His holiness and glory are on display . Accompanying their awe and fear were wonders and signs . Not because in their minds they were being obedient and feared God, but in their souls they believed and saw God’s true holiness .

1 . After reading Isaiah’s vision of the Lord, do you feel you have truly seen the Lord seated on His throne?

2 . Have you feared the Lord because you knew it was what you were “supposed to do” or because you have awe in your soul towards God?

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62Challenge your group:• ToseekGodintheirpersonalquitetime,tohave

an encounter with God that changes them .• ToseeGod indifferentwaysthentheyhave

seen before, to learn the full character of God .

• TojointogetherliketheActs2disciplessothatthey can see God working among their broth-ers and sisters .

Pray that the Lord would reveal himself fully to you and to your group . Pray that people will feel the pull of the Holy Spirit on their heart, that after they see God they will ask say, “Here I am, Lord, send me!”

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63Fear anD

the enD oF sin1 Peter 1:13-19 ESV *

1 . What do you think should motivate us to stop sinning?

2 . Do you find it hard to stop habitual sin, what makes it difficult?

3 . What does the Bible say you should do to stop sinning?

4 . When you sin do you feel as though you have let God down?

Fear of the Lord causes us to stop sinning, not because we are scared of God, but because we see God’s holiness and grace through the cross .

Therefore, preparing your minds for action,

and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ . 14 As obedient children, do not be

conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy .” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot . —1 Peter 1:13-19

In Peter’s letter to the church his main purpose is to encourage them during a time of persecution because of their faith . In this passage he is giving them specific points of instruction beginning with preparing their minds for action and being sober (clear minded and serious) . Also setting their hope fully on the grace that they will see come to pass at the revelation of Jesus Christ . Because at this time you can imagine with persecution following them their hope is growing thin . Not only does Peter tell them to be focused and hopeful, but to stay rooted in holiness also . Why? Not because it’s what qualifies them for salvation or grace, but because the one

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64who called them is holy . He references Leviticus 11:44: “For I am the LORD your God . Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy .”

Sometimes we walk our journey with the Lord knowing we should walk in holiness but not knowing why . We also turn holiness into self-righteousness, where we think we achieve holiness by not doing _______(you name it) . But if we dissect this passage more we will see it’s because of God’s holiness and the ransom that was paid for our sin . Let’s look again at 1 Peter 3:17-19 .

17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially accord-ing to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perish-able things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot .

We’ve established being holy as God is holy, which is being set apart, belonging to God and pure . Now we see in verse 17 that we need to conduct ourselves with fear throughout “the time of your exile .” Peter is referring that we are not of this world, but exiles in a foreign land (Hebrews 11:13 “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth .”) We conduct ourselves with fear, because we know and are being reminded that we were ransomed by the blood of Jesus Christ . We know that the things of this world did not save us, but only Jesus Christ and his work on the cross .

We walk in fear and holiness in the power of Christ’s ransom for us, not on our own strength . Also because it pleases God, Psalm 147:11 “but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love .”

1 . Have you ever felt like you just didn’t belong? Like you were meant for another place?

2 . Have you ever seen God’s sacrifice of Jesus Christ as your strength to abstain from sin?

3 . Do you understand better now why we are to walk in holiness?

Challenge your group:• ToencourageeachotherwiththeGospel, to

help them abstain from sin .• Topraythattheirfriendswouldknowthepower

of Christ to keep them from sin and regret .• Torememberwhytheylivethewaytheydo,

because God is good and gives them strength . aPPLy

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65Not because they are trying to reach a standard .

• To remember there is no condemnation forthose in Christ Jesus .

Pray with your students that they would walk in a way pleasing to the Lord . That they would see God is pleased with them through the righteous-ness of Christ . Pray they would know to be holy as God is holy not because it makes them “good” or better Christians . Pray

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66caLLeD to hoLinessColossians 3:1-17 NIV / Proverbs 14:16 NKJV

1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 ESV / 2 Corinthians 7:1 ESV1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 ESV *

1 . Have you found it a struggle to replace sinful habits with godly habits?

2 . Do you feel weak in your own power to walk according to God’s word?

3 . Do you think becoming holy is a passive act that God does to your heart? Or do you think you have to do things to achieve holiness?

1 Thessolians 4:7-8: “For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness . 8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you .”

We have been called to holiness by God . Thankfully, we are not asked to walk this out in our own strength but through grace and strength in Christ . However,

that does not mean that it does not take action on our part . We begin in Colossians 3:1-4 NIV . We are raised in Christ .

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God . 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things . 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God . 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory .

We are to be set apart because we have died and now live a new life . We no longer live but our lives are hidden in Christ . Therefore, Christ is really living through us and we have died to our desires . Part of living a holy and pure life is seeking after the things of God, setting your hearts and minds on things above . Look at verses 5-11 .

5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry . 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming .7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived . 8 But now you must also

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67rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips . 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator . 11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all .

Paul gives us concrete examples of what we are to let go of from our previous life – sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed . Proverbs 14:16 says, “A wise man fears and departs from evil, But a fool rages and is self-confident” (emphasis added) . We make it our effort to honor God and depart from evil .

We know there are more things that come up in life that we have to put to death, so it is important to not just limit ourselves to those listed only in this passage . It is not about the specific things we did but the “way” we walked . It was a condition of our heart that caused us to walk in sin . Even after being redeemed and saved we still have the temptation to sin in these ways and more . Paul is telling us to take action, but thankfully through the grace of our Lord we are not doing this on our own . Let’s go back to Colossians 3:12-17 .

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience . 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against another . Forgive as the Lord forgave you . 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity .

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace . And be thankful . 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God . 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him .

After we put to death the actions and mindsets that are not honoring God, we replace them with the actions and mindsets that represent Christ: compassion, kindness, humility, gentle-ness and patience (Philippians 4:8) . We can move forward from only trying to rid ourselves of the fleshly ways and focus on building our spirit man by reading God’s word and applying these things to our lives .

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68Another important action to complete walking in holiness is to

walk in love toward one another . What good does it do if we no lon-ger walk in darkness yet we don’t love our brother?

11 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, 12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 so that he may estab-lish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints . —1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 ESV

I want to reiterate that it is God who completes the work of holiness in our hearts . He is the one that establishes our hearts blameless . It is not by our own actions and deeds . We have prom-ises in 2 Corinthians 6:18 that God will be our Father and we will be His sons and daughters . We’re told in chapter 2 Corinthians 7:1 (ESV) that “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse our-selves from every defilement of body and spirit bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God .”

It is because of God’s holiness, grace, promises, faithfulness, and unchanging character that we fear Him reverentially . We com-bine our fear with walking in holiness because we are called of God to be holy as He is holy .

1 . Do you understand the dual role that fear of the Lord and called to holiness play in your life?

2 . What godly habits can you add to your life as of now? What habits can you work on putting to death?

3 . Did you know that loving our brothers and sis-ters could form holiness in our lives? How can we do a better job at this?

Challenge your group:• To see that we don’t have to spend all our

energy fighting sin but can also focus on build-ing our spirit man .

• Toaddhumility,patience,goodness,kindness,love and mercy to their live in replacement of the desire of the flesh .

• TorestinChrist,buttotakeactionagainstsinthat fights to rule our lives .

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69Pray that we would live lives of holiness that

honor God . Pray that we would seek to glorify God in all that we do . Pray that by loving our brother people will see the love of God in us and there-fore see the love God has toward them . Pray that we would realize the way of our lives have been changed since we have been raised with Christ

and that the power of Christ would dwell in us to become more like Him . Pray that we would rest in the fact that God will establish our hearts blameless, not our own works .

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GettinG a hanDLe on LiFe?

This series is designed to spur believers

to commit themselves to both the

experience of God’s presence and the

long participatory process of spiritual

formation . We believe discipleship is the

central challenge for our movement as

we navigate through the uncertainties of

our time . We want to commit ourselves to

authentic missional discipleship, not mere

discipleship programs .


71hanDLinG LiFe’s LoaD

Psalm 88:1-18 KJV*

O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee: 2 Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry; 3 For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave . 4 I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength: 5 Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they

are cut off from thy hand . 6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps . 7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves . Selah . 8 Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth . 9 Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee . 10 Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah . 11 Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction? 12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? 13 But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee . 14 LORD, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me? 15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted . 16 Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off . 17 They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together . 18 Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness .

There are several things the Psalmist believes about himself .

He believes that he has no future (verses 3-4) “For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave . 4 I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength .” To be without hope is devastating .

He believes that he has no friends (verse 8) . Loneliness is a killer, but the Christian is never truly alone! Read Hebrews 13:5, Matthew 28:20 and John 14:18 .

He believes that he has no foundation (verses 9-12) . He feels that he has no hope, and nothing to hold on to . He feels that even all his reaching out to the Lord for help has been in vain!

He believes that he has no faith (verse 13-18) . He feels no expecta-tion in prayer and no explanation for his problems (verses 13-14) . His life has been this way for many years and he sees no end to the misery in * Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations in this lesson are taken from the King James Version of the Bible .

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72sight . He feels that he is condemned to struggle under this heavy load until he finally dies . Have you ever been here? Maybe you are there right now, or perhaps you are aware of someone who has fallen into the depths of despair . If so, I believe the answers to this man’s prob-lems and those you might have today can be found in this Psalm .

Don’t stop praying (verses 1, 2, 9, 13) . Even with all his problems, this man kept on calling on the Lord!

Don’t stop persevering . God does not speak in this Psalm! That doesn’t mean that He didn’t care for this man . It simply means that God chose not to answer here . The Psalmist questions God’s silence in verse 14 . But, who can blame him? It’s hard to carry on when it seems that the heavens have turned to brass! But the Psalmist never gives up! God is not afraid of our “whys” . Our ques-tions don’t scare Him, they don’t threaten Him . But when we can’t trace Him, He wants us to just trust Him!

Don’t stop praising (verse 1). There’s a statement of glory in this otherwise gloomy Psalm . No matter how dark the valley, how deep the trial, or how difficult the way, you have a license to praise the Lord (Luke 10:20)! Praise may not do away with your pain, but it will bring you into the Lord’s presence, (Psalm 22:3)! You may not feel like rejoicing when you start, but you will before you finish!

When we are at rock bottom, God has been working all the time, but often it is at this point we begin to realize it . God knocks all our props down until we have no place to go except to Him . • Is theresomeheavyburdenyou’d like to lay

down?• Istheresomeneedyouwouldliketogivethe

Lord Jesus?• HaveyoueverfeltlikeGodcouldn’thearyou?• HaveyoueverfeltlikethePsalmist?

1 . I will not let the circumstances of life get me down this week .

2 . I will commit to praise God this week through every difficulty .

3 . I will persevere through my difficulties .4 . I will not give in to my problems this week .

God, you are bigger than my problems! I will trust you to guide my steps and direct my life .

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73What’s hanDLinG you?

Matthew 11:28; Luke 10:38-42 KJV*

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest .” —Matthew 11:28

“Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house . 39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word .

40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me . 41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: 42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her .” —Luke 10:38-42

Transfer your burdens to the right person. There is One who cares about your situations 1 Peter 5:7 says cast “all your care upon him; for he careth for you .” Jesus has walked through loneli-ness, need, difficulty and death . He’s been hated, loved, accepted and rejected . He knows what you are going through and He cares about you . “For we

have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15) . Don’t think for a minute that He won’t understand! He does! He knows what you need more than you know it yourself!

There is one who can do something about your situation. Not only does He know what we face, He can change what we face and how we face it! His power is beyond imagination: “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Ephesians 3:20) .

1 . What’s handling you tonight? 2 . Why don’t you just bring it to Him? 3 . He knows how to handle what’s handling you!

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* Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations in this lesson are taken from the King James Version of the Bible .

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74• Find Scriptures that teach you how to deal

with worry .• Purpose to stand on the Word of God this

week .• Findsomeonewhoisdealingwithstressand

worry and speak peace into his/her life .

I pray “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him bet-ter . I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe” (Ephesians 1:17-19 NIV) .

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75GettinG your

eDGe BacK2 Kings 6:1-7 KJV*

1 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.2 Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.3 And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I

will go. 4 So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. 5 But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was bor-rowed. 6 And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. 7 Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.

You must be concerned (verse 5) . As soon as

this man feels the axe head fly off, he cries out in despair . He can’t continue until he recovers the axe head . The first step is coming to the place where we know we do not have it .

It involves confession (verse 5) . When this man noticed that the axe head was gone, he

immediately told Elisha what had happened . He confessed the fact that he had lost the cutting edge . He was admitting the fact that it had become loose and he had not bothered to tighten it . When we’re lacking something, we must admit that lack to the Lord and to one another .This is necessary to recovering the cutting edge . One of the hardest things for any of us to do is to admit lack .

It involves comprehension (verse 5) . The reason this man was so upset was that tools made of iron were scarce and in short supply . Since it was borrowed he couldn’t replace it . Tools of such value were a sign that the owner trusted the young prophet .

It involves coming back (verse 6) . As soon as Elisha heard about the problem, he called the prophet back to the place where the axe head was lost . Before it could be recovered, they had to go to the place where it ad been lost .

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761 . Do you feel like you have lost your edge? 2 . Do you remember where or how it was lost? 3 . Do you want to get your cutting edge back?

• SpendtimeinGod’sWordthisweek.• Inwhatwayscanyousharpenyouredge?• Make a commitment to stay sharp in your

relationship with God through prayer and His Word .

God, I pray you would help me to be sharp for You; to reach those around me who are lost; and to make a difference in the world .

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77he came to Me

Luke 7:11-17 KJV *

11 And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people . 12 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her . 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto

her, Weep not . 14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still . And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise .15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak . And he delivered him to his mother .

And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people . 12 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her . 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not . 14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still . And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise . 15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak . And he delivered him to his mother . 16 And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people . 17 And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judaea, and throughout all the region round about .

When He came, it was a time of death (verse 12) . Nain means beauty . But when Jesus arrived at Nain the scene was one of grief . He encountered mourners on their way through the city gates to a little cemetery . They were going to bury the only son of a widow there .

When He came it was a time of desperation (verse 12) . Notice the wording: “there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow .” This woman had already felt the icy hand of death when it took her husband from her . The one thing remaining from her marriage was her son . Now he’s been taken away by death also . She has no one left to care for her in her old age . She’s all alone, helpless and caught in despera-tion . She has nowhere to go, nowhere to turn . She’s trapped in a helpless condition .

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78It was a time of deliverance (verse 13-17) . This story doesn’t

end with a dead son and a desperate mother . As the mourners were making their way out of town to the cemetery, they met another group making their way into town . One group was led by a sobbing mother; the other group was led by a Sovereign Master . When they met at the gates of Nain, a time of death and despera-tion became a time of deliverance .

1 . Do you feel lost or desperate? 2 . Share a testimony of God’s work in your life . 3 . Is it ever too desperate for God to intervene?

• Hecancometoyoutoday.• Hecanchangeyourlifeaswell.• Hecanraiseyouup;setyouonanewpath,

give you hope .• Hehascometowhereyouare.

I cast all my cares upon you for you care for me .

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sin natureThis series is designed to cement in the

heart, mind and soul of youth pastors to

strive toward spiritual formation in the

lives of their students with the story of

Jesus Christ . The series intends to be both

informative and educational with the hope

to inspire youth pastors to become better

prepared to spiritually feed their flock .

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80the nature oF sin

1 John 1:8-10 / Romans 5:12-14 Jeremiah 17:9

1 . Do we really understand the concept of sin and its meaning?

2 . What does it mean to have a nature that is sinful?

3 . Do Christians have a sinful nature?

What is sin?The word sin, as we see it in our Bible, is actually

translated from a few different words in the orig-inal texts, though all of their meanings are similar and point to the same concept . The original trans-lation of the word is to miss the mark, meaning that the target of the action, or in some cases lack of

action, was not what it should be . The degree in which we miss the target is not necessarily important; the point is that we missed it . In some cases the degree that we miss the target can be ever so slightly off . So sin can be simply described as any transgression, or an offense, against God, the Law, or His intended purpose for His creation of mankind . By understanding the last part of that definition we can better understand how God is equally offended by sin . We too often think of sin as the breaking of a list of rules that keep us from fun or doing the things we want to do, but we must recognize that God, as our Creator, knows us best and these rules are meant to keep us from the painful consequences of our possible sinful actions .

What Does a sinFuL nature iMPLy?When speaking about sinful nature, the term flesh will always

make its way into that conversation . This is because we are con-stantly associating our sinful nature with the desires of the flesh . We must take note of the history of the church . During the early establishment of the church, they constantly found themselves battling the ideologies of the Gnostics, especially within the con-text of the Gospel of John . I would like to highlight one aspect of the Gnostic beliefs that we must be cautious of, that the author of the Gospel of John found himself combating . The Gnostics believed

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81that the flesh was always associated with sin . They viewed the purpose of life as working their way up a ladder that reached spir-ituality and drove them further away from the flesh . According to this ideology Christ would have been considered sinful simply because he was human . So in order to accommodate this issue while maintaining that Christ was sinless they taught that Christ only appeared to be in the flesh, but he was solely a spiritual being . The problem with this teaching is that it denies the overall purpose of Jesus’ sacrifice . God humbled Himself and became man, walked amongst us blamelessly, then took the burden of the sin and was persecuted because of it . He not only died the painful death of a man but during His life on earth He resisted the sinful desires of the flesh . So being human doesn’t automatically make you sin-ful, but the flesh does come with a desire to sin – a desire which everyone, except Christ, has given in to .

What Does it Mean to Be a christian anD not Be eXeMPt FroM a sinFuL nature?

Being a Christian does not mean that we are exempt from our sinful nature . Being a Christian by no means implies that we can do anything, by our own strength, to exclude us from the desires of the flesh . Instead it means that we are completely reliant on the sacri-fice of Christ . As Paul states it in Colossians 3:3, we are now “hidden” in Christ Jesus as believers so instead of God seeing our sin He sees His Son . We must realize that if we could live without sin then we would not need the atonement of Christ . This is impossible for obvi-ous reasons . As believers, we can present our struggles to the Lord and He can help us with them . Sometimes in His sovereignty He may take them from us . In other instances, our struggles may serve a purpose in helping others who are struggling with the same thing or there is a larger lesson to be learned . Regardless of the outcome, we must take a perspective that will edify us and bring us closer to God . So our attitude must be that we now have the Spirit of the Lord in us, as new beings, and we now seek to glorify God in our lives . We may fall, but being a Christian is a lifestyle of constant repentance . So, as the saying goes, get up and dust yourself off . The difference between the world and believers is that we have accepted the pay-ment for sin that Christ offered .

1 . Do you recognize the differences between the definition of sin and what we may have per-ceived sin to be?

2 . Do you recognize your own sinful desires?3 . Have you given the struggles of your sinful

nature to God? Are you open to receive God’s response?share

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82Seek to teach your students the Biblical truths of

a sinful nature .• MakeacommitmenttotakeonaBiblicalview

of sin and sinful desire .• Makeastrongemphasisontheatonementof

Christ .• Encouragethosearoundyoutogivethebur-

dens of their sinful nature to the Lord .

Pray asking God to give you wisdom to speak in a loving way when talking about sin and our sinful nature . Ask God to remove any discouragement or bias in our hearts that disables us from loving those who need it .

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83the World

1 John 2:15-16 / Psalm 24:1 / 1 Timothy 4:4 NIV *

1 . What is the world? What does the Bible mean when it says the world?

2 . How do we distinguish between what belongs to the world and what belongs to God?

3 . “I do not ask that you take them out of the world . . . ” (John 17:15) . How do we respond to Jesus asking the Father not to take us out of the world?

What is the WorLD?What do we think of when the Bible says the

world? Do we think of concrete ideas like physical earth, the physical universe, and humanity, or do we think of the system of sin in the world under the influence of Satan? Unfortunately, many believers do not have a clear understanding of

what the world is which has an impact on our discipleship and evan-gelism . We really cannot attribute one definition to the term the world because it is used in many different contexts . Jesus tells all His believers that we are to be “the light of the world” (Matt 5:14) . He commands us to “go into all the world” (Mark 16:15) and says the rea-son why He came was because “God so loved the world” (John 3:16) . Jesus also asked how it profited a man to “gain the whole world” and lose himself .” James advises us to keep ourselves “unstained by the world” (James 1:27) . But the most notable verse is found in 1 John 2:15 where the apostle pleads with believers: “Do not love the world or the things of the world .” So we see a few different ways of which the world is being used in the Bible, but it still doesn’t answer our question, what is the world?

To grasp a better understanding and to differentiate between the definitions of the world, let’s take a closer look at 1 John 2:15-16: “Do not love the world nor the things in the world . If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him . For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world .” Some people think that the world or worldliness is external behavior . We assume it to imply the impious people we associate with, the places we go, or the activities we enjoy . However the world or worldliness is far more

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84complex than what we realize because it is an issue which originates in the heart . The world then, (or worldliness as written by John) is characterized by three attitudes: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life . In other words, the world and the things of the world are not places or things rather are attitudes and actions towards places or things . Examples are the preoccupa-tion with gratifying desires, craving or accumulating things, bowing to the god of materialism or other false gods, and obsession with one’s status or importance . When John says “do not love the world,” he is not saying to separate from the world or stop loving it as a whole . Instead he is saying do not love the values of the world like worldly pleasures, worldly attitudes, or as we stated above, worldly things . Jesus says God loves the world (John 3:16), so why would we not love the world? It is possible, like Jesus did, to love sinners and spend time with them all the while maintaining a commitment to the values of the kingdom of God . So, can we differentiate between what is God’s and what belongs to the world? Yes!

What BeLonGs to the WorLD anD What BeLonGs to GoD?David writes, “The earth is the LORD’s and the fulness thereof, the

world and those who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1 RSV) . With that being said, there is nothing that does not belong to God . As we mentioned earlier, the world is not a place or thing, but an attitude or action that goes against the institution of God (that is what we would call worldliness) . Therefore, the world cannot claim anything for itself because everything was created by and for God . What then can the world lay claim to? Surely there has to be evil things in this world; not everything is good right? Do some things belong to the world, to Satan? If this were true can one assume that Satan also created things? Does Satan also possess the ability to create, making him equal to God? Clearly he does not . Satan is not the equal opposing power to God . Everything God created was deemed as good . Satan is not able to create evil things . In fact, he, himself was created as a good work by God . 1 Timothy 4:4 (NAS) says, “For everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with grati-tude .” There is nothing that the world can claim as its own . We can then conclude that things of this world become evil because there is evil in the hearts of men . The truth of the matter is that all created things are good, but the world (evil people) can abuse and distort God’s good creation . Music is not evil nor does it belong to the world, but it can become ungodly if used to promote and exalt anyone or anything else that is not God . Sex is not evil nor does it belong to the world, but lustful thoughts and actions tarnish its purpose making it sinful . Galatians 5:19-21 gives us a clear picture of what things have been adopted by the world: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idola-try, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing . Notice how


85most of these things are not actions but attitudes that distort and abuse a God-given gift . The following verses (22 and 23) reveal the things of God: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith-fulness, gentleness, self-control . Therefore, nothing belongs to the world . The world can only distort and abuse the good things God has created for humanity .

the WorLD—not oF it But For it!We have all heard that we are “not of the world” (John 15:19), but

the reality is that we live in this world . What if I told you that even though we do not belong to this world we must be for this world? Matthew 5:14 describes us as “the light of the world” and as such we must be for the world . Why? Because through us the world will know Jesus . In John 13:35 (ESV) Jesus says, “By this all people will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another .” We are called to live in the world and yet live apart from the world to spread the love of Jesus . We must influence the world with God’s love . The world must not influence our hearts and mind . That is why Jesus prayed for all His believers to be one as He and the Father are one (John 17:11) . But that does not exclude us from this world . “I do not ask You take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15 NASB) . Jesus prays to the Father asking that He pro-tects us from the evil one . Jesus didn’t ask God to take believers out of the world but rather to use them in the world . Jesus sends us into the world not to escape it nor to avoid the lost in it, but to intercede for it hoping they too will disassociate themselves from this world and pledge alliance to the kingdom of heaven .

1 . What were your views concerning the world and the things of the world? Has your view changed?

2 . Are you able to distinguish between the things of God and the things of this world (lust, envy, possessions, titles, pleasures, etc .)?

3 . Describe a moment in your life where the world seemed more attractive .

4 . Does your surrounding influence the manner in which you view the world?

Seek to teach your students about the world – the good, the bad and the attractions it may bring .• Commit to teach your youth how to be the

salt and light of this world .• Motivateyouryouthtobecomethevoiceof

truth at school and work . • Beintentional;provokespiritualformationand

discussion .

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86Pray asking God to give you the understanding

and knowledge to teach your students how to live holy in a world that does not pertain to them . Pray that your students can mature and begin to live apart from this world and yet possess passion to save it with a lifestyle that reflects and glorifies Jesus Christ .Pray


87satan (the DeViL)

Revelation 12:9 NKJV *

1 . What does the Bible teach us about Satan; The Devil?

2 . Why is it that most believers in Christ today fail to study the doctrine of Satan within our Christian lives? We cannot hope to understand mankind’s sinful nature without considering the Biblical doctrine of Satan; The Devil .

3 . From the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation, many references in the Bible are made of Satan . So what does the Bible teach us about Satan?

Satan has various names and titles given to him in Scriptures. Here is a short list.

Lucifer – means light-bearer. This is the name he went by before his fall from heaven .

Satan – means AdversaryDevil – means Slanderer. He is the one who slan-

ders us .Belial – means worthless or wickedBeelzebub – means Prince of the DevilsApollyon – means The Angel of the Bottomless PitPrince of this WorldGod of this WorldPrince of the power of the air – This is the spirit that

now works within people of disobedience .

He is referred to as a serpent and a dragon, and compared to a lion seeking someone to devour.

He is referred to as Tempter, Sinner, Murderer and Deceiver . Jesus called him the Father of Lies .

Lastly, and likely the most significant name of all, he is The Evil One.

In many Bible versions today, you may find that often in the New Testament the word evil is used . What is really meant by this is not the literal word evil, but instead it is a shortened version for one of Satan’s well known names which is The Evil One . It is just as when we pray, many of us pray to God and say, “Deliver us from

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88evil” when what we really mean to say to God is “deliver us from The Evil One .” The word wicked is sometimes used the same way in the Bible . It can be a shortened version for the name The Wicked One .

satan is a Person The Bible teaches us that Satan is a person: not in human form

like man, but yes indeed he is a person . The Bible teaches us that in the beginning, he came and tempted Eve and he led her to fall . An-other example is the same term as with the Holy Spirit who indeed is a person of the Holy Trinity; the exact opposite suggested with Satan .

Satan, The Evil One or The Evil Spirit, is a person who tries to coun-terfeit entirely all that God does . We must realize that there is a person that opposes God the Father, Jesus the Son, the Holy Spirit and all that belong to God’s Kingdom . Many believers fail to acknowl-edge Satan as a person . These Christians believe in the power of evil or in an evil influence, but they have a hard time believing that there is a personal Devil . This is satan’s ultimate deception .

It was Satan in person that tempted Christ and Christ in person that addressed Satan back with Holy Scriptures . It was Satan in person that spoke to Christ and Christ in person that spoke back to Satan in Luke 4:1-13 . It was not an evil influence, but the Evil One, Satan himself in person . We can see the same thing in the case of Job where Satan appears as a person and addresses God and God addresses Satan back .

Many times people make this same mistake with God, where people try to describe God as some force, some energy or some great mind behind the universe . Many people deny God’s personal-ity when God is truly personal .

satan is a createD BeinG The Bible teaches us that Satan was created perfectly . He, just

like the angels, has not existed from all eternity . Satan is not an eter-nal being in the sense that God is; we must remember that he also is created being . Many people tend to think that Satan is also eternal, as if there are two Gods; a Good God and an Evil God . This is false! God created Satan with great power and ability . Full of wisdom and per-fect in beauty, Satan seemed to sum up the word perfection . Satan was the anointed cherub, undoubtedly the highest form of created being . He was the brightest of all the angelic beings . He was given a position of superiority as the head of the entire created universe in representing worship and adoration to God .

God in His eternal wisdom has allowed Satan to maintain a certain amount of power until the end . Yet all of Satan’s power is ultimately under the control of God . Again, we can see this in the


89case of Job . God allowed Satan to go so far, but did not allow him to touch Job’s soul . From the beginning, Jesus called Satan a murderer and said because there is no truth in him . When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar . He is the father of lies, he is a deceiver, one who hates God and is full of pride . In Adam and Eve’s case, because they listened to him and brought sin into the world, the Devil became an informent in the power of death, but the issue of life and death remain under the sovereignty of God .

Read John 8:44-47 . Satan has control over all unbelievers; he con-trols their lives and activities . He has blinded their minds to the truth and does not allow them to see that he is hiding the truth from them . Jesus Christ has defeated Satan in his Life, in his Death and in his Resurrection! Therefore, as believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, we are able to resist the Devil and he will flee . Always remember that there is always the Adversary . As powerful as he is, we must not fear him because 1 John 4:4 tells us “greater is He [Christ] that is in you than he [Satan] that is in this world .”

1 . Do you really understand that Satan is your adversary?

2 . Are you truly aware that Satan will do any-thing and everything to make you deny Jesus Christ?

3 . Are you able to trust in the Word of God and use it to combat the Evil One?

• Make it your priority to be more like Christ,who was able to recognize Satan when he approached him with temptation .

• Committohavinggoodknowledgeandcom-prehension of what the Bible teaches us about who Satan, the Devil, is .

• Do not fear the Devil; instead stand firm inChrist who dwells within you . Christ gives you full authority to resist and overcome all oppo-sition that Satan may bring up against you!

Pray to God that He may give you more wis-dom and discernment of the Devil . Ask God to help you grow closer to Him daily . Ask God to help you understand that you are part of His flock and tha-tHhe is the Good Shepherd, the protector of His sheep! Pray the Lord will bless you and empower you, not only to know the adversary, but also to defeat him in the name of Jesus!

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the new Way of Livingspirit of God

This series is designed to show the relationship between

the Old Covenant and New Covenant ways of drawing

near to God . It’s designed to open up the believer’s mind

to the holiness of God displayed in the Old Covenant and

see how the New Covenant’s glory far surpasses that

of the Old . In Old Testament times God spoke through

the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken

to us through His Son (Hebrews 1:1) . I hope this series

encourages and enlightens the believer to understand

more fully how the New and Living way that was

accomplished through Jesus Christ calls and enables

believers to grab hold of a new way of living .


91the old Way

Hebrews 9:1-10 / Exodus 25:22a NASB*

1 . Can you believe that the only place that God’s manifest presence dwelt was in a tent and only a priest could enter in? Can you imagine not being able to enter the presence of God unless you were an Israelite from the tribe of Levi and even then the closest you could get was the Holy Place? Do you desire the pres-ence of God?

2 . Why do you think God commanded Moses to make a tab-ernacle where He met man? Was it because He wanted to make it hard for them to get to Him? Or do you think that His holiness made it impossible for communion with sinful man unless this earthly tabernacle was built?

3 . Think about all the sins you have committed today in thought, word, or deed . Did you do them in ignorance or in conscious decision to disobey God? Do you view sin as sep-aration from the presence of God or do you think of sin as a light thing (such as gossip, jealousy, “white lies,” hypocrisy, hatred etc .)?

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92“ Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may

dwell among them.” — Exodus 25:8Priesthood: There were twelve tribes of Israel

and the Lord chose the Tribe of Levi to be the priests . No one could enter into the Holy Place except the priests and no one could enter into the Holy of Holies were the Ark of the Covenant was except

the high priest only once a year to atone for the sins of the nation the day was called “Yom Kippur” which was the Day of Atonement . Both Moses and Aaron were members of the tribe of Levi .

High Priest: there was only one high priest at a time . The first High priest was Aaron, Moses’ brother . He ALONE could go into the direct presence of God ONCE a year to put blood of an animal, typi-cally a lamb without blemish (Exodus 12:5) upon the Mercy Seat .

The Old Testament Tabernacle consisted of three parts. 1. Outer Court Entrance- (Exodus 26:36-37) an outer court enclosed by cur-

tains, supported on pillars; its entrance was on the east side .

2. The Court A . Brazen Altar- Right when you entered into the court there

was a bronze altar that was made of acacia wood cov-ered with bronze . Apart from a priest sacrificing an ani-mal upon this alter there was no way to approach God . The Covenant Israel had with God was a blood covenant and without blood poured from the bronze altar there was no approach to God . The innocent animal represented the sinner and took his place on the altar . The priest would then catch the blood from the sacrificed animal in a basin and pour it out at the foot of the altar and make a sacri-fice . The sinner would then be forgiven until the next time they sinned .

Leviticus 17:11 - ‘For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’

B . Bronze Laver- After the priest made a sacrifice upon the bronze altar he would have to wash himself before he could enter into the sanctuary . HE would wash only his hands and feet at this Bronze Laver that was made for washing . Before and after he entered into the Holy Place they had to wash in this basin .

Exodus 30:17-19 - “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base of bronze, for wash-ing; and You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet from it.”

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93 In the outer court everything was bronze . Inside the Holy

Place everything was gold .

3. The Sanctuary A . Holy Place- after the priest made a sacrifice at the Bronze

Altar and washed his hands and feet at the Bronze Laver they would enter into the Holy Place which had three pieces of furniture: the table for Bread of Presence, the Golden Lampstand, and the Altar of Incense .

B . Table for the Bread of Presence (Leviticus 24:5-6) -The table’s purpose was to show the bread . Upon the table there were twelve loaves representing the twelve tribes of Israel . Every seventh (Sabbath) day, fresh hot loaves were provided by Aaron .

Though there was bread and a table, there was no place for a priest to ever sit down . They were continually offering sacrifices and doing their duties . As Priests, their work never finished, they never sat down .

C . Golden Lampstand – (Exodus 25:31-40) The Lampstand was made out of pure gold . It had seven branches made of gold coming out of it . A flax or linen wick would be placed in the lamp and the fire was never to go out (Leviticus 24:2) . Twice every day, morning and evening, a priest attended to the wick and replenished olive oil for the lamps (Exodus 30:7) . However, it was the High Priest alone who trimmed and dressed the lamp . He alone was responsible for the light shining .

Leviticus 24:3 “Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall keep it in order from evening to morn-ing before the LORD continually; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations.

D . Altar of Incense – (Exodus 30:1-10) This was the third piece of furniture in the Holy Place . It was made of pure acacia wood and then covered with gold . There were four horns one on each one of the altar’s corners . Only once a year, on the Day of Atonement, Aaron was to put blood upon the horns of the altar during the sin offering . Only the specific incense or holy spices that God instructed could be burned on the altar . This burning of the incense was a sweet aroma to the nostril of God because it was an offering of a sinner who had been forgiven to express love and worship, and it was to be continually burning . Numbers 16:41-50, informs us that this place before the Veil was also a place of intercession . Aaron interceded for the sins of Israelites with the incense from this altar .

Leviticus 16:12 - “He [Aaron] shall take a firepan full of coals of

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94fire from the altar before the LORD with two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil.”

E . Holy of Holies – Once a year after the High Priest had per-formed all of these tasks, he would enter into this most holy place . During the Israelites’ wanderings in the wilder-ness, God appeared as a pillar of cloud or fire in and above the Holy of Holies . Leviticus 16:2 - “The LORD said to Moses: ‘Tell your brother Aaron

that he shall not to enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the Ark, or he will die; for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.’”

Hebrews 9:7 - “But into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.”

F . Veil – This veil separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies essentially the veil separated sinful man from a holy God . The word veil means to separate . The veil was made of white, purple, blue, and scarlet linens . The veil could never be touched except by the High Priest, and then only once a year to sprinkle blood on the Mercy Seat on the Day of Atonement . The picture of the veil is that God’s holiness causes sinful man to not be able to draw near or come near to His awesome and holy presence . God’s eyes are too pure to look upon evil as Habakkuk 1:3 speaks about . The veil was a barrier to make sure that man could not carelessly and irreverently enter into God’s awesome presence .

So the presence of the Majestic God remained shielded from man behind a thick curtain during the history of Israel .G . Ark of the Covenant or Testimony (Exodus 25:10-22) The Ark

was made out of gold and it was to house the testimony of God’s faithfulness to the Israelites . Within the Ark there were the two unbroken stone tablets of commandments that God gave to Moses, the manna (bread) God provided for the Israelites while they were wandering in the wilder-ness, and Aaron’s rod .

H . Golden jar holding the manna: There was manna (bread) placed within the Ark because this is what God fed the Israelites with while they were wandering in the desert . It was to remind the Israelites about the provision from heaven that was given to them from God

I . Aaron’s rod which budded: Aaron’s rod bore ripe almonds in a single night, authenticating God’s choice of Aaron for the priesthood (Numbers 17:7-8). It was just a rod and out of this dead rod came life in a single night .


95J . The Tablets: the commandments that were given to Moses

on Mount Sinai on stone tablets where placed within the Ark of the Covenant .

K . Mercy Seat: (Exodus 25:17-22) The Mercy Seat was the lid or cover of solid gold on the Ark . This is where justice met mercy and mercy prevailed . The Mercy Seat was made for the top of the Ark of the Covenant as a covering . Do not think of the Mercy Seat as an actual seat, but as a place where God met man and sin was forgiven because of the blood that was put upon the mercy seat once a year . You can think of the Mercy Seat as the place of forgiveness for sins, the place of atonement . The two ends of the Mercy Seat were formed into gold cherubim facing one another . Their outstretched wings overshadowed the gold lid and their faces constantly looked down upon it . They were symbols of the presence and holiness of the Lord .

Exodus 25:22a – “There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the Ark of testimony, I will speak to you. . . . ”

1 . Did you know before this lesson all the regu-lations and procedures that had to take place for one man to enter into the awesome pres-ence of God?

2 . Have you seen God as this holy and set apart or have you addressed Him more as your “bro” or your “homie”?

3 . Do you see your sin in a different light after learning about how holy and set apart God really is?

Challenge your group to take time to think about the way they view sin towards three groups of people .• Towardthemselves: Sins such as self-hatred

of any kind (eating disorders, cutting, suicidal thoughts), drinking, sexual immorality, smok-ing, etc . These are sins done against one’s own self .

• Towardothers: disrespecting your parents, gossip, lust, lying . etc . These are sins done against another .

• TowardGod: “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me . Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight . . . “ (words of David in Psalm 51:3-

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964, emphasis added) . Ultimately every sin we commit is against God for He is the one that created us and the standard we are to live by . When we sin we fall short of that standard .

Pray together that God would open up your eyes to see Him high and lifted up as Isaiah did when he pro-claimed “woe, is me for I am a man of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6) . Ask that your eyes would be opened up to the scriptures . Pray that in the light of God’s holiness you would feel the weight of your sinfulness in order to ask for repentance . Grab hold of the forgiveness God has provided for you through His Son .

Pray


97the new Way

Hebrews 9:11-14 NASB*

1 . Do you enjoy praying to God or do you feel like it is a duty? Do you feel guilty or condemned when you try to talk with God?

2 . Do you really believe that you can actually feel the manifested presence of the almighty and holy, God not just at church but throughout daily life?

3 . Do you long to be in the presence of God like David said, “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside” (Psalm 84:10)?

In the previous lesson we learned about the old way to enter into the presence of God . We learned about the priesthood, and the tabernacle . We learned that the tabernacle was separated into three parts – the Outer Court, the Court, and the Sanctuary . There were various pieces of furniture in each that were used by the priests when seek-

ing forgiveness for Israel’s sins . The Sanctuary was divided into the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies which were separated by a veil . Inside the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant containing the tablets, Aaron’s rod and a jar of manna . On top of the Ark was the Mercy Seat where God’s presence rested and He communed with man .

In this lesson we are going to learn about how all these things were just shadows of the real tabernacle in heaven (Hebrews 8:5) . We will also learn how Jesus Christ has now fulfilled the Old Way in order to bring a New and Living Way to enter into the very presence of the Majesty on High .

“Not all the blood of beasts On Jewish altars slain, Could give the guilty conscience peace, Or wash away the stain: But Christ, the heavenly Lamb Takes all our sins away; A sacrifice of nobler name And richer blood than they .” – Lutheran Hymn

Jesus as hiGh Priest As we learned in the previous lesson the priests had to be from

the tribe of Levi or they could not minister in the temple . So logically the question arises, if Jesus Christ was from the tribe of Judah, how could He be a High Priest? Some people would say, “He is God

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98He can do whatever He wants,” however, this is not the way God works . Yes, He could do whatever He wants, but God is a God of order . He is also a God that holds to what He has spoken in past times . So God does answer the question of How Jesus became our great High Priest .

Back in Genesis, before God chose the tribe of Levi to be the priests in the Tabernacle, there was a man named Melchizedek who served as a priest and as a king . He was the king of a city named Salem which means peace (Genesis 14) . His given name, Melchizedek, meant King of Righteousness (Hebrews 7:1-2) . He was a priest, for just as the Israelites had to give ten percent of their goods to the priests for their service, so also Abraham gave ten percent of all he had to Melchizedek . This priest was “without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpet-ually” (Hebrews 7:3) . According to Psalm 110:4, “The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek .’” Because Jesus Christ is eternal having no beginning and no end He has become our priest, not because He was in the order of Levi, but because He was in the greater order of priesthood which is an eternal priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek . God chose Jesus from the order of Melchizedek to be our High Priest forever .

Jesus is King of Righteousness . He is King of Peace . He is High Priest .

the neW testaMent taBernacLe “Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three

days I will raise it up.’” —John 2:191. Outer Court: A . Brazen Altar: Jesus as Sacrifice

“The next day [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming to him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” —John 1:29

The Brazen Altar, as we learned in the last lesson, was made of wood . The sacrifice had to be made on the altar before the High Priest could go into the Sanctuary and into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement .

Jesus died upon the cross on the Day of Atonement and became the Brazen Altar sacrifice, the sin offering for the sins of all people . Jesus died on the altar of the wooden cross . It says, in Hebrews that He put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Hebrews 9:26) .

B . Bronze Laver: Jesus as Cleansing Water In the New Testament it is clear that Jesus cleanses the

sinner by His Word and His Spirit for He is the Living Water . “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who


99believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke of the Spirit.” —John 7:37b-39

“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” —John 17:17

2. Holy Place:

A . Golden Lampstand: Jesus as Lampstand Jesus is the Light of the World .

“Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.’” —John 8:12

Table of the Bread of Presence: Jesus as the Bread of Presence

Before He died upon the Cross of Calvary, Jesus announced to His disciples that His body was the very body that was going to be broken before God for them . “And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He

broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’” —Luke 22:19

B . Altar of Incense: Jesus as Altar of Incense The golden altar of incense is like the ministry of

Jesus as our intercessor. Just as in the previous lesson we learned that Aaron, the high priest, made intercession on behalf of the Israelites, Jesus intercedes for us . Just as the perpetual incense ascended from the altar, Jesus’ prayers never stop ascending to God on our behalf . “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who

come to God through Him, since He always lives to make inter-cession for them.” —Hebrews 7:25

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” —1 John 2:1

3. Holy of Holies: The Holy of Holies is a representation of heaven itself, God’s dwelling place, to which we now have access through Christ .A . Veil: Jesus as Veil

“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.” —Matthew 27:50-51

When Jesus’ flesh was torn the Veil that separated sinful man from the presence of God was torn in two . The torn veil illustrated Jesus’ body broken for us, opening the way for us to come to God . As Jesus cried out “It is finished!” on the wooden altar of the cross, it was indeed finished .

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The age of animal sacrifices was indeed done for all time, for the perfect sacrifice had come . The Lamb of God that came to take away the sins of the world had done what He had come to do . “By a new and living way which He inaugurated for us, through

the veil, that is, His flesh.” —Hebrews 10:20B . Ark of the Covenant: Jesus as Ark of the Covenant The Ark of the Covenant was where God met man, Jesus

was and is indeed, Immanuel, “God with us” (Matthew 1:23) .1 . Manna: Jesus as Manna The manna was in the Ark of the Covenant to remind

Israel of the bread that came from heaven to feed them in the wilderness . The bread in the New Tabernacle is Jesus, the bread of life that has come down from Heaven . “And Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of lif;. He who

comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live for-ever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.” —John 6:35, 51 and 58 (emphasis added)

2 . Tablets of Stone: Jesus as Commandments Jesus fulfilled all the law . He lived up to the perfect

standard of God . No sin was found in Him . He was above reproach and blameless . He fulfilled all righteousness . “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets;

I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.” —Matthew 5:17 3 . Rod of Aaron: Jesus as the Rod of Aaron The rod of Aaron as we learned in the last lesson

signified who God has chosen to be High Priest, so also God chose Jesus to be priest forever. The way they knew who God chose was by the blooming of the dead stick into almond blossoms overnight, so also they knew that Jesus was chosen because out of his death God brought life .

Mercy seat: Jesus as the Mercy seat?In the original Greek, the word for “mercy-seat” in Hebrews 9:5

is hilasterion which means that which makes expiation, or propitiation It carries the idea of the removal of sin .” The same word is used by Paul in Romans 3:25 saying God chose Jesus to be the, “propitia-tion” for our sins .


101Jesus is our New and Living way into the sanctuary – not one

built with human hands, but made by God Himself. Jesus was indeed the temple that the presence of God dwelt in, that was destroyed, but raised again to live in three days. Jesus was more than just the Sacrifice. His flesh was more than just the Veil and His body was more than just the Bread. He was more than just the Light that has come into the world. He was more than just the Living Water and He was more than just the High Priest. He was God Himself coming down to meet lowly man. He was the Mercy Seat because He is where God will forever meet man. The way into the Holy of Holies is now open to all who repent from their sins and trust that Jesus is the Lamb whose blood cleanses them from all unrighteous. He is the High Priest who makes intercession to His Father on behalf of all who believe. He sits as God, Priest, and Sacrifice.

“Thee did nails grave upon My hands, thy name Did thorns for frontlets stamp between Mine eyes: I, Holy One, put on thy guilt and shame; I, God, Priest, Sacrifice .” —Christina Rossetti

“Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” —Hebrews 10:22

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’” —John 14:6

“We who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest for-ever according to the order of Melchizedek.” —Hebrews 6:18b-20

1 . Was there a time in your life that you felt the presence of God? If so when was it and what where the circumstances surrounding it? For example was it when you first were saved or when you were crying out to Jesus in prayer?

2 . Do you feel like you have the faith to enter into the throne room of God and pray because Jesus is there on your behalf or do you doubt that Jesus is really in the Holy of Holies praying for you?

3 . By examining your life do you think that Jesus is really is the anchor of your soul through every season?

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Challenge your group to really search their hearts about the following three things .

• IftheyhavefeltthepresenceoftheLordandifthey feel it continually .

• If they have a deep assurance of their sinsbeing forgiven and their consciences cleansed from their past sins and mistakes .

• IftheybelievedeepintheirheartsthatJesusissufficient to save them, not any good deeds .

Pray that all the students would continually draw near to the throne of grace because of the way Jesus made for them . Pray that they would have repentance of sins and a cleansing of con-scious knowing that God is for them . Pray that they would run the race of faith and not of dead works .

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103the old ManEphesians 2:1-3; 11-12 NASB*

1 . Do you remember what it was like before the Spirit of Christ came to live in you? Did you feel like you were just existing and not really living?

2 . Do you have a testimony about how God liter-ally made you into a complete new person?

3 . Do you think that there are different degrees of sinners – really bad ones drug addicts and “kind of” bad ones that just gossip and disre-spect their parents?

“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins.” —Ephesians 2:1

You were born into this world dead. That is dead to patience, kindness, gentleness, self-con-trol, selflessness, true life, true peace, true joy, true love, and, most of all, communion with God . The reason is that apart from Him there is no such

thing as to true life, true peace, true joy, or true love . Those things are an extension of who He is for all things come from Him . As C . S Lewis puts it, “God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there . There is no such thing .”

“in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.” —Ephesians 2:2

You also were born alive. That is alive to malice, hatred, jeal-ously, selfishness, death, confusion, depression, sorrow, hate, and, most of all, communion with Satan . Because apart from fel-lowship with God, there is only death and confusion . Satan is ruling the course of the world and he is molding the world into an image of himself which is prideful, slanderous, and idolatrous – opposite of all that God is .

“Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulg-ing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature chil-dren of wrath, even as the rest.” —Ephesians 2:3

Everyone was born into sin. No one was born good, no one was born selfless, and no one was born a Christian . Absolutely no one,

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* Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible® . Copyright © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 . Used by permission . (www.Lockman.org) .

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no matter how good they may look from the outside or that they have never done “bad” things . No one is a Christian until he/she repents and accepts Jesus as Savior . Everyone has evil thoughts, words, and deeds without even meaning to have them .

Everyone was born as a child of wrath. God is a just God and, therefore, where there is sin there must be a punishment of that sin . Because there is no one that was born sinless, everyone is an object of God’s wrath . As we learned in the last lesson about the Mercy Seat there must be blood or there is no forgiveness of sin .

“Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” - Ephesians 2:12

You were born unable to inherit the promises of God. Spiritually, you were a Gentile, and, therefore, you were unable by birth to inherit the promises given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob .

You were born without Christ. You once lived without life inside of you . You were born estranged form God’s goodness and presence . You were born without the experiential knowledge of Christ’s love .

You were born excluded from the wealth of the Israel. The nation of Israel has a commonwealth in which those under Israel’s rule could also be included in this commonwealth . An example would be Ruth . Though Ruth was a Moabite, she had allegiance to Israel’s God and married an Israelite . Therefore, Ruth was included in the commonwealth of Israel . You were not included in this .

You were born a stranger to the Covenant Of Promises. The covenants God made with Abraham, David, and all the prophets of having a hope and future etc . was not ours and it is not the world’s . The Promises in the Bible were not yours when you were born into the world .

You were born without hope. You might have been born with wishful thinking, but that is not hope . Hope, in the New Testament sense, is an expectation; it’s waiting for a reality that is not yet manifested . For instance, I know I will die . All men die . We do not know when it will happen, but we can expect it to happen . Marriage on the other hand is more like wishful thinking – we may desire it to happen, but have no guarantee it will .

As Christians we have hope, good as done hope . Just as sure I know I will die, I also know I will be raised up again from the dead . Why? Because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and is within the veil making intercession for us . Our hope is within the veil like we learned in lesson two of the series . Jesus Christ is our Hope (1 Timothy 1:1) .

You were born without God. All that God is you were born with-out . Martin Luther described God as, “an abyss of eternal love,” you were born without this Love, this eternal, never-ending, extraordi-nary love .


105This is the state we were all born into . If we stopped here it

would be one depressing ending . However, we must remember our destination in order to appreciate the rerouting of it . We must remember where God has taken us from in order for the joy of coming out of that place to be realized .

We are not entitled to eternity and as long as we think we are we can never truly be grateful for Jesus and what He did for us . As long as we don’t fully grasp our previous state we cannot truly grasp a hold of our salvation as we should .

Remember, no one is entitled to eternity or entitled to God’s presence . As we learned in the previous lessons about how Jesus made a way for us to get into the presence of God, we need to remember that we had no way before the Way came .

1 . Do you find yourself with a grateful heart giv-ing thanks to God for all He has done for you in His Son or do you complain more than you are grateful?

2 . Can you think of some friends or family mem-bers that do not have Christ, that do not have hope? How does that make you feel?

3 . When we were teaching the lesson did you find yourself thinking that you are still hope-less and without God even though you have grown up in church your whole life? Do you still feel dead inside and that you haven’t experi-enced the true life we are talking about?

Challenge your group to do the following 3 things:• Tosearchtheirheartsand lookat their lives

to see if they have experienced being raised from the dead life of sin into the newness of life belonging to Christ .

• Iftheyhavenot,letthemprayandaskJesusto save them and breathe life into them by His Spirit . If they have felt and seen that change, challenge them to pray for family members and friends that are currently dead in their sins that they would repent and believe .

• TofortifywhatGodhasdoneforthem. “Forwith the heart man believeth unto righteous-ness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation .” (Romans 10:10 KJV)

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Pray Ephesians 1:17-19 .“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the

Father of glory may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him . I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance

in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe . These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might .”

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107the new Man

Galatians 2:22-25 / John 7:38-39 NASB*

1 . Do you find yourself longing to do the right thing and then finding yourself not able to do it? If so do you have an example in your own life you want to share?

2 . Have you ever wondered why, now that you know Jesus has died, resurrected, and ascended, your life is now different? Do you really think you can live the life the New Testament commands us to?

3 . What do you think it means that Christ is in us and is our hope and glory?

We learned in lesson one about the Old Way of coming into the presence of God; we learned in lesson two about the New Way Jesus has opened for us to come into the presence of God . In les-son three, we learned about the Old Man before we came to know Christ . Now we will learn how all these things connect together enabling us to

understand how, because of all these things we have become new creations and can live in a new way .

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” —John 7:38-39

Now that Jesus has made a way for us to get into the very pres-ence of God, how does that affect the way we live daily and what does His glorification have to do with our sanctification? Let’s dive into the scriptures and see .

We learned in lesson two that Jesus sanctifies us by His Spirit, but His Spirit could not come to us until He was glorified . That means not until Jesus sat down at the right hand of God could those who believe in Him receive His Spirit .

The “right hand” means the right hand of power, meaning that Jesus was given authority by God when He sat down at His right hand . It is similar to the term we use, “your my right hand man .” Jesus is God’s right hand Man . God has given Christ all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:19) . Therefore, it is not just deity

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at the right hand of God, but also humanity . There is a Man sitting at the right hand of God, therefore, He has the power to send down His Spirit to all humans who believe in Him (Acts 2:33) .

Apart from the Spirit of Christ, as we learned in lesson three, we are dead to all that is good and all that is God . Therefore, we cannot live the life God calls us to live until we have something inside of us that is greater than we – the Spirit of the Risen Christ dwelling in us . Apart from Him we can only be forgiven from our sins, but we could never be cleansed from all our unrighteousness .

the hoLy sPirit is the eMBoDiMent oF the FinisheD WorK oF christ . When I yield to Christ’s Spirit—He manifests every spiritual bless-

ing of Christ’s finished work to me:1 . The death—meaning old man dying2 . The resurrection—meaning new man living3. The ascension—meaning Christ’s Spirit to empower the new

and living man . “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, good-

ness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” —Galatians 5:22-25

It is the fruit of the Spirit, singular, not the fruits of the Spirit, plu-ral . If Christ’s Spirit is living in you then He will live His life through you . Galatians 5:22-25 is the fruit of your life if the Spirit is living in you and through you .

Therefore, we see that He does not just give us peace, He is our peace . He does not just give us love, He is our love . He does not just give us joy . He is our joy, He does not just give us life, He is our life . He does not just save us, He actually becomes our salvation .

The most staggering and beautiful thing in the entire world is that the God of the universe the One that breathed out the starry hosts, gave us Himself; not just at the virgin birth or at Calva-ry’s cross, but He now lives in us . We have Christ in us . We have true peace, love, joy, life and salvation within us . Oh what a glorious thing! This is the gospel, that no matter what trials or sorrows or pains or disappointments we have, the source of everything we need is within us . We do not have to reach outside, but look within to see Christ in us, Christ with us, “the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27) .

We see throughout the scriptures men and women who aban-doned themselves to someone greater than they . They did not abandon themselves to something greater, but Someone greater . Do not long to give your life to missions or studying theology, but what you should long to do is give yourself fully to Someone—Jesus Christ the Everlasting by yielding to His Spirit given to you when He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High .


1091 . Do you ever pray for patience or kindness

instead of praying for more of Christ’s Spirit manifesting through your life?

2 . Do you really believe that within you is deity the Spirit of Jesus Christ? How do you think that reality would change your day to day living?

3 . Think about how much you live in your flesh . Does it feel freeing to know you do not have to give into your old man but you can depend on Christ’s Spirit in you to not give in to sin?

Challenge your students to:• ThankGodmoreforwhatHehasgiventhem

– The Spirit of the Risen Lord .• Asknotformorepatiencebuttobemorefilled

with the Spirit of Christ .• Praythattheywouldliveintherealityofthe

Spirit filled life .

Here is a prayer by Andrew Murray (revised), “Blessed Lord Jesus! We do believe, help our unbelief . Would You, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, perfect the work of faith in us? Teach us, we pray to You, with a faith that enters the unseen, to real-ize what Your glory is, and what our share in it is even now, according to Your word: The glory which

You gave me, I have given them .’ Teach us that the Holy Ghost and His power is the glory which You give us, and that You would have us show forth Your glory in rejoicing in His holy presence on earth and His indwelling in us . Teach us above all, our blessed Lord to take and hold these blessed truths in the mind, but with our spirits that are in our inmost parts, to wait on You to be filled with Your Spirit .”

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servanthood

usinG your GiFts For GoD

This series is designed to encourage students

to serve God and others through using their

gifts . God gave His best gift to us through His

Son, Jesus . Christ lived a life of service, always

giving of Himself in an effort to impact the

world in a positive way . As we follow Christ,

we too, must give of ourselves so that we can

impact the world around us . The gifts that God

placed within us are to be given, unselfishly, in

an effort to win others to Christ .

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the Best GiFtsMark 14:3-9 / Luke 21:1-4 / Matthew 2:11, NIV *

1 . What are my most important resources?2 . How do I figure out what gifts I have?3 . How can I use my gifts and resources for the

glory of God?

There was a pig and a chicken that loved to hang around together in the barnyard . It was very hard to separate these great friends . One day as they were walking around the farm being friends they encountered some trouble . By not paying atten-tion, they had wandered into the path of a big heavy tractor . They came within inches of being

flattened by the big machine . Fortunately, the farmer saw their plight and saved them from sure destruction . This day was a very happy day for the pig and chicken . Certainly, they would have died if the accident had taken place . Thanks to the quick action of the farmer, however, the pig and the chicken would live many more days on the farm . The pig and the chicken would owe their very existence to the heroic farmer .

Realizing how much the farmer had done for them, the pig and the chicken started thinking of how they might repay him for his courageous deed . They talked for several days trying to decide what might be appropriate to repay the farmer . They had many ideas, but could not decide what to do . Finally, the chicken told the pig that they should feed him because he needed food to live . They could use food to continue the life of the farmer as he had used his quick reactions to save their lives . This was a great idea . It had symbolism and signifi-cance for the farmer and the animals . It was a perfect way to repay the farmer for his good deeds . But what would the animals feed the farmer? That would be a difficult decision .

Well, the animals decided to go away and work out a menu that would show the farmer their love and thanks for his saving deed . The pig and the chicken went their separate ways until they worked out an appropriate menu . Then, they came back together to discuss their ideas . The pig decided that they should pick flow-ers from the pasture to put on the table, feed the farmer lots of


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115vegetables from the gardens on the farm and offer him juice to drink from the fruit trees . To add to the ambiance of the meal, the pig thought it would be nice to ask the sheep to donate wool to knit a nice soft blanket for the farmer to sit on out in the pasture . They could put it by the pond so the farmer could see the fish jump and play in the water . Then all the animals could come to the shore of the pond, drink water and spend some good quality time with the farmer . The pig thought that would be a wonderful experience to say thanks to the farmer for his life-saving deed .

The chicken listened intently as the pig mentioned her idea . Now it was time for the chicken to tell her plan . The chicken had been thinking about ways the farmer would realize the depth of the thanks they wanted to give . The chicken thought they should feed a breakfast meal to the farmer . The breakfast meal is the first meal of the day and the farmer should have that meal with the pig and the chicken in mind . The chicken thought they should feed the farmer eggs, which the chicken would gladly donate . To add to the eggs, the farmer should have bacon and sausage . With the meat the pig would give and eggs the chicken would give, the farmer would start his day with a full stomach and plenty of energy for the work of the day .

After listening to the the chicken’s idea, the pig dropped her head and slowly walked away from the conversation . The chicken followed the pig and tried to talk to her, but she continued to walk away . Finally, the chicken stopped the pig and made her talk about her disappointment with the breakfast idea . Shaking her head, the pig told the chicken that her idea was a good one, but one that was very difficult to consider . If the breakfast meal was to take place, it would indeed be a huge gift of commitment for the chicken, but it would demand a total sacrifice from the pig . There is a big differ-ence between a huge commitment and a total sacrifice .

God has given us many gifts and blessings . We can show Him our love and gratitude by giving back . Here are some examples from the Bible .

1 . MarK 14:3-9, a BoX oF costLy ointMentThis particular time frame was a very important time in the life

of Jesus . His life and ministry on earth were drawing to a close . But he was being prepared to be offered as a sacrifice for all mankind . We know from John 12:2 that the woman who brought the Alabaster Box was Mary . She broke the box and poured it over Jesus as a sign of her love for Him and as a means of worshipping Him . Many of the people in Simon’s house were upset that she “wasted” such a valuable ointment . They complained that she didn’t sell it and give money to the poor . But Jesus told the crowd to leave her alone . He said she had done a good thing . This was a way that Mary could worship Him and

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anoint His body for burial . As if that wasn’t important enough, Jesus then told the crowd that what Mary had done would be remembered throughout history as a memorial to her . Jesus recognized the fact that Mary had given her very best to Him .

2 . LuKe 21:1-4, a WiDoW’s Last Pieces oF Money As Jesus was teaching in the temple, a crowd gathered to hear

him preach . Among the group, there were chief priests, scribes and Sadducees, as well as those who had come to bring their offerings . Many of the religious leaders had tried to trick Jesus’ questions as He preached . But He knew their hearts and confounded them with His words . At one point He saw people giving their offerings . He saw several rich folks giving and then He saw a poor widow giving her last two pieces of money . He told the crowd that many had given out of their abundance or surplus but the widow had given all that she had to live on out of her poverty and lack . Jesus knew that the widow had given her best to Him .

3 . MattheW 2:11, GiFts For the christ-chiLDKing Herod found out that there was a baby born who would

become “King of the Jews .” This alarmed him so he sent the Wise Men to find the baby and bring back a report to him . When the Wise Men found Jesus they worshipped Him and gave Him expen-sive gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh . The Wise Men knew the importance of the role Jesus would play on earth, so they kept His location secret . The Wise men gave their best gifts they could to Jesus because they recognized that He was the very best gift God could give to His people .

1 . What has God given to me that I can use for His purposes?

2 . What can I do to discover and cultivate my gifts, talents, abilities and resources to be used for God?

3 . How can I use resources to develop myself or my group as givers?

4 . How can we encourage each other to offer our gifts and resources to God and support each other in using them for Him?

Challenge your group to discover what their gifts and resources might be, both individually and corporately .• Makeacommitmentto lookatthepastand

see how God has been developing you into the person you need to be .

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117• Makeacommitmenttoassessyourgifts,tal-

ents and resources .• Makeacommitmenttobeinvolvedinserving

and giving to others .• Makeacommitmenttoinvolveyourselfinmin-

istry using your God-given gifts and resources .

“Give, and it will be given to you . A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap . For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you .” —Luke 6:38

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GoD GiVes GooD GiFtsMatthew 7:7-12 NIV *

1 . What makes me happy when I receive gifts?2 . What kinds of things do I consider to be good

gifts?3 . What kinds of special gifts have I received

from God?

When I was a child, I always looked forward to Christmas and birthdays . It was on those days that I was able to open presents from family and friends . I could barely contain my excitement as the time drew near when I would be able to tear open the gifts and reveal the new toys, clothing and collectibles I was about to receive . The sur-

prise of receiving gifts was almost as much fun as seeing what I was receiving . I didn’t always get what I wanted, but I was always thankful for the gifts I received . Those gifts were an expression of the people who gave them to me; I knew they spent lots of time and effort trying to give me a good gift .

My excitement for gifts in childhood transferred to adult-hood, only this time I was giving instead of receiving . As a dad, I was always excited about Christmas and birthdays . This was my opportunity to get some great gifts for my children . Buying them gifts helped me show them how much I loved them . Providing presents gave them an understanding as to how much love and support I wanted to show them . As they opened up the gifts, I was always thrilled to see their response . I always had as much anticipation as they did because I wanted them to be happy and to enjoy their gifts . I tried to listen to them leading up to gift-giv-ing days . I wanted to purchase the special gift that would per-fectly satisfy them .

Let’s face the facts, everyone loves to receive gifts . All kinds of emotions flood over us when we have someone give us a gift . We are, among other things, happy, joyful, fulfilled, satisfied, excited and thrilled . There’s just something wonderful about having some-one give us something . Whether it is a birthday, a special anniver-sary, Christmas, Valentine’s Day or any other day, receiving a gift creates extraordinary times and great memories for each one of us . There’s just something special about receiving gifts .

* Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations in this lesson are from the New International

Version, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society . Used by permission of Zondervan . All rights reserved .

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119In Matthew 7, during Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, he shares

thoughts about giving and receiving . He talks about protecting what is good and holy . Then, He turns to a discussion of what it means to give good gifts . Jesus invited the crowd to ask, seek and knock . It seems as though Jesus is trying to let the people know that He wants to give good gifts . Then, He even promises an answer or response for those who ask, seek and knock . But the focus of the next few verses seems to provide a little more depth about the kind of treatment we should offer to others, as well as, the kind of treatment we should expect from God .

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?” - Matthew 7:9-10

There’s no feeling quite like being a parent . When couples get married, many of them immediately look forward to bringing children into the world . To understand that a little child was put together, formed and brought to life because of the love God established between a mother and a father, is a unique part of God’s Creation . Parents who genuinely love their children can’t help but want the very best for their offspring . So when we think about giving gifts to our children, we can’t fathom giving them anything but the best gifts .

As parents, we have the responsibility to give our children the best we have to offer . If our children ask for anything, we should always give them the best we have . Our love for our offspring should prompt us to give them the best, even if we, as parents, can’t have the best . We are to provide the necessities of life for our children . If they are hungry we need to give them bread and meat—whatever food and sustenance we can to help them grow into healthy and productive adults . It’s up to us, as parents, to pro-vide a strong foundation on which our children can mature . That foundation should never include bad, negative or harmful gifts . We are to nurture and care for our children the same way God wants to nurture and care for each of us .

“If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” —Matthew 7:11

Unfortunately, this world is an evil place . We are born into this evil world and we have to learn to deal with the evil that is all around us . Before we enter into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, we live out our lives in a sinful, evil way . Once we enter into a relationship with Christ, we begin to understand the difference between good and evil and we work diligently to live good lives .

However, even in our evil times, we still want to give the best to our children . There is nothing like the feeling of knowing that our children are happy and have what they need and want . Even if we don’t live a life that is built on God and His goodness, we still want to

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give our children good gifts . And God always wants to give us, His Children, the very best! God has adopted us as His very own chil-dren . He has even given us the opportunity to call Him Abba Father . He has made us heirs and co-heirs with Christ in His Kingdom (Romans 8:15-17) . God wants the best for His children .

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” —Matthew 7:12

If God wants the best for us, as His Children, we should always want the best for others . God’s treatment of us should be our example for relating to others . So He puts the Golden Rule here at the end of this passage . He expects His goodness to have a trickle down effect . In other words, He will treat us right and He expects us to treat everyone we come into contact with the same way He treats us .

Reality is, good treatment of all people means we show them the love that God shows us; we take care of people the way God takes care of us; we love everyone like God loves us . God is only capable of giving good gifts so we must follow His example . If we can learn to treat others well through the grace and mercy of God, we will help them to want to know the God we serve . In many ways, we simply serve as the carrier of God’s goodness . He gives good gifts to us so that we can pass those gifts on to others . God wants to give us good gifts—and God expects us to share the good gifts He provides with those around us!

1 . What are some examples of evil people who are able to give bad gifts to others?

2 . What can I do to be sure I am being helpful to others with good gifts on behalf of God?

3 . What are some examples of good gifts I might receive from God?

4 . How does giving to others allow me to follow the Golden Rule?

Challenge your group to give good gifts to those around them, both individually and corporately .• Make a commitment to see themany good

gifts God has given you .• Makeacommitmenttoassesstheneedsof

others around you .• Makeacommitmenttobeinvolvedinserving

and giving to others .• Makeacommitment to treatothersasyou

want to be treated .

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121“If you, then, though you are evil, know how to

give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets .” —Matthew 7:11-12Pray

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the GiFt oF PrayerActs 10:4 / Psalm 91 NIV *

1 . Why is it important to pray?2 . What does prayer have to do with my helping

others?3 . How can I use prayer to more effectively min-

ister to those in need?

In Acts 10, Cornelius is described as a devout man of God who was consistent in giving of gifts and who was consistent in his prayer life . The tenth chapter of Acts is the only place we ever see the man Cornelius listed in scripture . But we know a lot about him from these few verses and we know that he had a huge impact on the Apostle Peter

and the early church . God used Cornelius in a mighty way because he was a man who was consistent in his communication with God and consistent in his dedication to God’s plan for his life .

Cornelius was a soldier who was very disciplined in many areas of his life . He was very respected as a leader in the Roman military . He was a centurion, which lets us know that he had charge of 100 men known as the Itatlian Cohort . This group of soldiers had distin-guished themselves through bravery in battle . Cornelius was well-respected by the Jews and somewhere in his journey had become acquainted with God . He was described as one who hungered after God through prayer and one who was sensitive to the needs of others and regularly gave offerings to help many in need .

In the passage of Acts 10, we see a connection between prayer and giving to others that is very strong . Cornelius seems to be able to see the needs of his community in a blaring way as he connects with God through prayer . Not only does he see the needs of individ-uals who are poor and have need of much assistance, but prayer also leads him to see the needs of the body of believers known as the early church .

Unlike any other place in Scripture, prayer and giving are con-nected here in Acts chapter 10 in a significant way . Cornelius con-nects with God regularly and consistently by spending time with Him

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123in prayer . And during his prayer time, Cornelius seems to connect with what God is wanting to do in the world around him . The soldier is disciplined in his work as a centurion and he is just as meticulous in his work for God . Through his gift of prayer, this devout man of God, understands and sees God’s plan for individuals, but he also yearns to understand God’s plan for His Church . Cornelius, as encouraged by God, calls on Peter and invites him to his house . Peter tells the Good News to the entire household, and all that were there began to speak with other tongues as they gave themselves in worship to Almighty God . Cornelius would never have connected to God in the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit had he not connected to God through prayer and the giving of gifts to those in need .

To really understand what prayer is, we need to look at Psalm 91 . When I look at that passage, two words really catch my attention and give me insight into what my relationship with God through prayer needs to look like . Those two words are secret and shadow .

I believe that for the child of God, there is a place that God wants us to go that most of us have rarely ever been . If we have been to that place, then more than likely we can count the number of times we have connected with God and we can tell of the times and places that we really experienced a move of Almighty God as we spent quality time in prayer .

The place Psalm 91 describes is a secret place . This means our prayer time . . .

• is kept from others, it’s done without the knowledge ofothers .

• isanexperiencebeyondanormalspiritualunderstanding.• isalittlemysterious.• issomethingthatishiddenorconcealedfromsight.• isaprocessthattakesGod’speople toadifferent level in

their relationship with God .Psalm 91 also tells us that it is done in the shadow .• What is done in the shadow is done in close proximity to

God . • It’s accomplishedonlywhenwe followclosely toGod – so

close that we allow nothing to come between us, to sepa-rate us from His presence, His power or His anointing .

• It’satimewhenweallowGodtosanctifyus,orsetusapartand purify us for His service and His work .

• It’sa timethatwespendwithGodthatcausesus toseewhat He sees, say what He says, do what He does, be what He wants us to be .

When we draw close to God in prayer, we will know what it means to abide, rest, or lodge in His presence . For that reason, to enter His Presence through prayer is not something that we should do every once in a while . We should be consistent in spending time with God .

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We must understand that it is our responsibility to get up living in His presence, to go through our day walking in His presence, and to go to bed at the end of each day ready to rest in His presence throughout the night .

If we’re going to do that, then we’ve got to set aside some quality time with God that will allow us to change who we are and become more like Him . We’ve got to know Him and let Him know us as we learn to draw close to Him through prayer . If we can consistently set aside time to spend in prayer with God, we will begin to see that God will guide us and instruct us in seeing the needs of others and in helping fill those needs . Prayer will become an important key in helping us be givers and constantly give good gifts to those around us . Through the gift of prayer, we can connect to God so that He can show us how to work on behalf of His Kingdom .

1 . What can we do to assure that we spend time in prayer with God?

2 . What can I do to more effectively see the needs of those around me?

3 . How can I use my gifts to develop myself or my group as leaders?

4 . How can we encourage each other to offer our gifts to God and support each other in using our gifts for Him?

Challenge your group to earnestly pray about how they might give to others, both individually and corporately .

• Makeacommitmenttobuildyourrelationshipwith God through consistent prayer .

• Make a commitment to let your connectionwith God through prayer guide your ministry in reaching out to others .

• Make a commitment to involve yourself inministry, helping those around you who are in need .

“Cornelius stared at him in fear . ‘What is it, Lord?’ he asked . The angel answered, ‘Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God .’” —Acts 10:4

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125the GiFt oF LiFe

John 3:16-17 / Matthew 1:21-23 NIV *

1 . What is the greatest gift you have ever given or received?

2 . How does the gift of salvation rank among your best gifts?

3 . How can I help others receive the gift God has given me?

PLoW WorK Dr . Roy L . Laurin tells of a Christian business-

man who was traveling in Korea . In a field by the side of the road was a young man pulling a crude plow while an old man held the handles . The busi-nessman was amused and took a snapshot of the scene . “That is curious! I suppose these people

are very poor,” he said to the missionary who was interpreter and guide to the party .

“Yes,” was the quiet reply, “these two men happen to be Christians . When their church was being built, they were so eager to give something toward it, but they had no money . So they decided to sell their one and only ox and give the proceeds to the church . This spring they are pulling the plow themselves .”

The businessman was silent for some moments . Then he said, “That must have been a real sacrifice .”

“They did not call it that,” said the missionary . “They thought themselves fortunate that they had an ox to sell!”

When the businessman reached home, he took the picture to his pastor and told him about it . Then he added, “I want to double my giving to the church and do some plow work . Up until now I have never given God anything that involved real sacrifice .”

[From 1001 Great Stories and Quotes by R . Kent Hughes (Tyndale House Publishers) p . 177]

Often, the reality is, we don’t think about giving ourselves to God and don’t have time to develop a relationship with Him because we live in what is often described as a “high-tech/low touch” society . Often, individuals think more about descriptions of technological trends than about relationships . We are so busy we do not concern

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ourselves with the condition of the home, traditional love, affection and emotional support from the family unit . Many families allow technology such as video games, movies and the internet to take the primary role in family entertainment, education and rearing of the children . Traditional relationship values for family together-ness have been replaced with artificiality . This high dependence on technology and mechanisms hampers the ability of individuals to develop deep, loving, influential relationships in the home .

It also presents problems for the church . Never before has the church struggled through the maze of so many influences to com-pete for the minds of the people . When looking beyond the borders of the church, it is difficult to fight against technology, virtual real-ity, reality TV, music, and the media . It seems there is so much out there to engage an individual that people struggle to find meaning in a relationship with Christ or His Church . So, with all of the bad influences, how can we move to a place where we can focus on the importance of a real, deep, fruitful relationship with Jesus Christ?

John 3:16a says, “For God so loved the world… .” God created you to be the person you are . But He also created you for relation-ship . In the Garden of Eden in Genesis, God saw that Adam needed a helper; so he created Eve . God knew that Adam and Eve could not make it on their own, especially after they gave in to the tempta-tion of the serpent . He created the man and the woman so that He could walk with them and talk with them . Adam and Eve made the mistake that many of us make today—we don’t realize how much we need a relationship with Jesus .

So God put up with the world and worked with us until the situ-ation became unworkable . God knew that humankind was in need of a reconnection with our Heavenly Father . So when nothing else would work, God sent the best that heaven had to offer in His Son, Jesus Christ . God loved the world so much that He sent His only Son so that the world, through Jesus, might be saved and might once again find a relationship with Almighty God .

John 3:16b tells us “that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life .” God created us and He wants to reconnect with us in a relationship . But he gives us some responsibility in the process . He gave his Son Jesus to die for us . But we have to believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and that He is the only true pathway to the Father in heaven .

God has no desire for us to perish . In fact, He initiated a plan for our salvation when He sent Jesus to the earth . Peter tells us, “ The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slow-ness . Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9) . Salvation is a gift from God and He wants all of humankind to accept His gift, enter into a relationship with Him and spend eternity with Him in heaven .


127Finally, John 3:17 says, “For God did not send his Son into the world

to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved .” The gift that God has provided for us through salvation is free and available to all of us that live on the face of the earth . God did not send Jesus to make problems or to condemn us for being bad; rather, He sent Jesus to die for our transgressions so that we might live through Him .

Today, we can believe on Jesus and we will be saved! There is no formula; there is simply forgiveness through Jesus that allows to connect with a Savior who loves us and gave Himself for us . Through a relationship with Jesus, we can live forever in heaven with Him .

1 . Can I truly have a relationship with Jesus that will change my life?

2 . What can I do to keep the distractions from hurting my relationship with Jesus?

3 . What can I do to continue developing my belief in Jesus?

4 . How can I help others know about this life-changing relationship that I have with Jesus Christ?

Challenge your group to discover the depth and richness of a relationship with Jesus Christ .• Makeacommitmenttodevelopyourrelation-

ship with Jesus .• Makeacommitmenttogrowdailyinyourrela-

tionship with Jesus through discipleship .• Makeacommitmenttobeinvolvedinserving

and giving to others .• Makeacommitmenttoinvolveyourselfinthe

ministry of evangelism, sharing the love of Jesus in your community .

“‘She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins .’ 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ which means ‘God with us .’” —Matthew 1:21-23

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What is your Future?This series is designed to help students gain

a basic understanding of what the future

is, what it means to them, and how to get

there successfully . It will teach students

how to hear and follow the Holy Spirit’s

direction for their lives . This series will help

students understand the benefits of living

a life led by the Holy Spirit and help students

gain practical insight into identifying the

genuine leading of the Holy Spirit .


129Facts aBout your Future1 John 4:1 / Proverbs 13:20

1 Corinthians 15: 33 NIV *

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world .” —1 John 4:1

“He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm .” — Proverbs 13:20

“Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character .” — 1 Corinthians 15: 33

1 . Whom are you going to put in control of your life?

2 . What friends do you need to keep or lose?3 . Are you making good decisions today that you

can live with tomorrow?4 . Do you blame others for issues and situations

in your life or do you take responsibility for your actions?

introDuction:We see people pursuing their future through

horoscopes, Ouiji boards, tarot cards, and crys-tal balls . There is even a television show featur-ing a medium who lives on Long Island . Our world is desperate to know the future . Over the next few weeks we are going to help you understand

“What’s Your Future .” Tonight’s topic is “Facts About Your Future .”

your Destiny is DeterMineD By WhoM or What you Let con-troL you .

Who or what will be the guiding force in your life? Depending on your guiding force, you will either be led down a path of success or failure . Joshua 24:15 says, “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . ”

your FrienDs WiLL inFLuence your Future . If bad company corrupts good character, then it’s also true that

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good company corrupts bad character . You are what your friends are . The seed of their lifestyle is planted into your life . Have you ever taken white dandelions and blown on them? What happened? The seeds went all over the yard, where they planted themselves and took root . This is why it is so important whom you hang out with .

your choices toDay aFFect toMorroW . The person you are dating right now is most likely someone else’s

future husband or wife . How will you feel when you come back to your high school reunion with your spouse and see old girlfriends/boy-friends? Your spouse may ask you, “Who’s she?” or “How far did you go with him?” The grades you make today will have a direct influence on your college or career options . Your study habits today will influence how well you do in college, which will determine what kind of job offers you get, which determines how much money you will make, which will determine what kind of car you drive and what kind of house you live in . The choice to follow Jesus holds eternal consequence . Choose this day whom you will serve!

1 . Have you ever been curious watching the com-mercials that promise to tell your future?

2 . How can we make sure that we keep Jesus in the driver’s seat of our lives?

3 . Who are the people you consider your best friends? Which ones are positive influences and which ones are negative influences?

4 . If you knew a video of your teenage years was being made so that your future children could see how you lived, how would it affect your life right now?

5 . If you knew the world was coming to an end at some time within the next twelve months, how would it affect the way you live? How do you know that it won’t happen?

Challenge your group to commit themselves to a Christ-like future .

• MakeacommitmenttohonorHimwithyourchoices .

• Make a commitment to evaluate the influ-ences in your life and remove those that pull you away from Him .

• Makeacommitment to trustGodwithyourpresent and future .

• Makeacommitmenttomakingchoicestodaywith tomorrow in mind .

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131God, help me to walk upright before You and

others . Let my life be a reflection of You .

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FinDinG your FutureJohn 16:13 / Romans 8:14 / Matthew 7:7 NIV*

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth . He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come .” — John 16:13

“Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God .” — Romans 8:14

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you .” — Matthew 7:7

1 . What does it take to hear God speak?2 . How does He speak to us?3 . How can I tell if I’m listening to God, the devil, or

me?4 . Can I talk with God on a daily basis? We are going to answer these questions and

others as we continue our series on “What’s Your Future .”

introDuction:We need to understand that we hear natural

things with our physical ears, not spiritual things . A common hang-up people have is they want God, who is a spiritual being, to communicate on the physical level . Our spirits on the inside are our

“spiritual receivers .” 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ .” You are a three-part being . You are a spiritual being, that has a soul/mind, and you live in a body .

The Power to Hear: If you are not staying plugged into the power of God, it is going to be difficult to hear Him speak into your life . His word, His life, and His power need to be a daily part of your life . Jude 20 says, “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit .”

The Desire to Hear: Many people don’t want to hear God speak . They are afraid of what they may hear (or not hear) Him say to them .

Listen to what God wants to say to you. James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you . . . . ” You will


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133become familiar with His voice the closer you draw to Him . Many people can hear, but few are good listeners . It has been said that President Franklin D . Roosevelt got tired of smiling and saying the usual things at all the White House receptions . He wanted to see if anyone was really paying attention . Sometimes, as he was min-gling with the various guests and dignitaries he would flash a big smile, extend his hand, and say, “I murdered my grandmother this morning!” People would respond and say, “How lovely, continue your great work .” Obviously people were not listening! Except, that is, for one foreign diplomat . When FDR smiled and said, “I murdered my grandmother this morning,” the diplomat responded softly, “I’m sure she had it coming to her .” Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God .” Psalm 4:4 (NKJV ) says, “Meditate within your heart on your bed and be still . . . . ” Psalm 85:8 says, “I will hear what God the Lord will speak, for He will speak peace . . . . ” God speaks; we have to listen .

Obey what God sa you. James 1:22 says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves . Do what it says .”

1 . Who wants to hear God speak to them tonight? Who is ready?

2 . For the next few minutes I don’t want anyone to talk or move .

3 . I want you to ask God two questions and then just be still and listen within your heart . Write down what you hear .

4 . The two questions are:a . “God, do you love me?”b . “Why do you love me?”

1 . How does God talk to you?2 . How do you know it’s Him?3 . What can you do to help the communication

process between you and God?4 . When you want to spend time with God, where

and how do you tune in to Him?5 . What frustrations do you have about hearing

God speak to you?

Lord, I want to hear Your voice . Help me to be sensitive to Your Spirit speaking in my life .

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134 * Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations in this lesson are taken from the New International


FoLLoWinG GoD’s LeaDinG

Proverbs 3:5-8 / Psalm 32:8 NIV*

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight . Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil . This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones .” — Proverbs 3:5-8

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you .” — Psalm 32:8

Everyone asks the same questions:1 . What college should I attend?2 . What should I major in?3 . What kind of career should I pursue?4 . Whom should I marry?5 . What kind of car should I buy?

Many times we miss the supernatural direc-tion of God because we are looking for the spec-tacular . We have a difficult choice to make, and we want God to form the clouds into a “yes” or “no .” We want someone to come up and prophesy to us, or we want God to write with His finger on our bedroom wall .

Most of the time, however, making decisions is about simply recognizing what we already know in our hearts . Learning how to follow the direction of the Holy Spirit is important to a believer if you are going to learn God’s direction for your life .

The Holy Spirit will give us direction and insight. Jesus said in John 16:26 that the Holy Spirit will be our Counselor (helper) . He is there to assist us through life .

The Holy Spirit will keep us from harm, danger and sin. Jesus said the Spirit of Truth will guide you into all truth, and he will tell you what is yet to come (John 16:13) .

The Holy Spirit will lead us into God’s perfect plan for our lives. Who knows our purpose better? The Creator or the cre-ation? The Holy Spirit knows exactly what occupation and career you will be the most satisfied and fulfilled at doing .

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135Follow the peace of the Holy Spirit. Psalm 85:8 (NKJV) says, “I

will hear what God the Lord will speak, For He will speak peace To His people and to His saints; but let them not turn back to folly .” John 14:27 says, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you .” If you don’t have peace in your heart about a situation, circumstance, or decision stop immediately .

1 . Have any of you ever experienced your “head” wanting to go one way, and your “heart” being drawn in another direction? How did you decide? Any regrets?

2 . Why is it sometimes so hard for us to trust God in decisions? Do we really believe He has our best interest in mind?

Have students pray for a greater sensitiv-ity to the Lord and obedience to His directions in life .

Keep your heart pure and free of sin. Sin tends to cloud the picture . Just as it is difficult to see on a foggy morning, sin makes it difficult to see God’s direction in your life .

Stay in constant communication with Him. Some people only want to talk to God when there is a crisis, but then they can’t recognize His voice . Familiarity with the voice of the Holy Spirit is essential to our communication with Him .

I will trust You with my future . I will not lean on my own understanding . I will acknowledge You in every aspect of my life .

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Who is speaking1 John 4:1 NIV *

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world .” — 1 John 4:1

toP 10 thinGs the DeViL Won’t teLL you!10 . “I love you . I care about you .” 9 . “Go witness to that person .”8 . “Spend more time with God .”7 . “Read your Bible .”6 . “Don’t worry, it will all work out .”5 . “You’re forgiven . Forget about it .”4 . “Fast and pray .”3 . “You should tithe .”2 . “No, that is confidential . Don’t tell anyone else .” 1 . “Obey your mom and dad .”

recoGniZinG the Voices that sPeaK to you:Me: It promotes self . This voice wants what is

best for me, myself, and I! It usually says what sounds good, feels good, and looks good . It whines and pouts when it doesn’t get its way .

The Devil’s: It promotes sin, selfishness and rebellion . It tries to distract you in your walk with

God . It is condemning, hard, pushy, tempting, and nagging . “What are you going to do? How are you going to get out of this? Don’t you think you should be worried about this?” “You have committed the unpardonable sin! You blew it this time! You’re going to hell and there is nothing anyone can do about it!”

God’s: It promotes the Word and all of its attributes . It gives specific direction based upon the general direction of the Word . It is gentle, loving, caring, and soft, but firm (James 3:17, Philippians 4:8) .

1 . Share some of the stupid things the devil has told you .

2 . Who is someone you go to for counsel or advice when making a decision? Why?

3 . What are the pros and cons of seeking advice from friends your own age?


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1374 . How many of you have ever been in your quiet

time and sensed in your heart caring, loving and appreciative words? Did you wonder if it was just you making it up?

1 . Learning the voice and direction of the Holy Spirit takes time, patience, and practice .

2 . When you sense God leading you in a certain direction, check it through His Word .

Dear God, keep me sensitive to Your leading . Your sheep know your voice and follow it . I only want to follow Your voice .

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transForMation

BreaKinG the sin cycLeThis series is designed to help

students confront and deal with

sin . It is designed to help students

live proactively instead of reactively

when it comes to living a Godly life .

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the showdown1 Kings 18:20-40 NKJV *

1 . What movies can you think of that have an epic showdown between good and evil?

2 . Why do you think we are so drawn to movies with those kinds of moments?

3 . The text paints an incredible scene for a show-down . . . the mountain, the lone prophet stand-ing for God, the fire from the sky . What part of it captures your imagination the most?

1 . stuMBLinG arounDHere is the scene: Israel has been faltering back

and forth between idol worship and serving the Lord . There was a drought in the land . Not just a physical lack of rain, but a spiritual drought . The devotion to false gods was destroying the spiritual life of the people . God moves on Elijah to call everyone together

for a showdown . It was time to settle the matter - were they going to serve idols or the Lord? Elijah gathers a mass of people together at Mt . Carmel, including hundreds of false prophets . With the odds heav-ily stacked against him, Elijah opens up the showdown with a question to the people: “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him” (verse 21) .

Here are two question for you: When it comes to living your life for God, have you been faltering back and forth? Are you experi-encing a spiritual drought in your life? A lifestyle of sin will separate you from God and will cause a drought in your spiritual life . We are not meant to stumble back and forth in our devotion . We are not meant to serve God when it’s convenient and when we feel like it, and then serve the idols of this world the rest of the time . Sin isn’t meant to be managed, negotiated with, controlled, or kept in check – it’s meant to be put to death .

Maybe, like the people of Israel, you feel like you’re caught in a cycle you can’t break out of . Maybe you feel like Elijah - the odds are stacked against you and it doesn’t seem like anything you do will make a difference . Maybe trying to get your life under control seems like a daunting task . Realize this: Elijah was able to stand boldly, against the odds because he knew the emptiness of idol worship and the power of the one, true God .

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1432 . your Way Vs . GoD’s Way

The Mt . Carmel showdown sent a message to Israel that day: their way wasn’t working . Throughout the passage, you see the false prophets do everything they can to make something happen, to get the attention of their false god .

There was no voice, no one answered, no one paid attention . In today’s society, it’s popular to go your own way, to do your own

thing . It’s easy to see people exhausting themselves doing things that are wrecking their lives, trying to get a response from others, buying the things they think will bring fulfillment . . . but there’s no answer there . A life of stumbling around is all that awaits . The fact that no one was paying attention shows that people were used to that kind of behavior . They were numb to it . Don’t allow sin to make you go numb . God has a better way for you to live .

Stop for a moment and ask yourself if your way is really work-ing . Check out this Scripture in Proverbs 14:12 and ask yourself if trying to do things your way is really worth it: “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death .”

In verses 26-39 of 1 Kings 18, it’s easy to see that the pursuit of Baal proved to be an empty one and the pursuit of God proved to be a powerful one .

The pursuit of Baal:• Thepursuitwasexhaustingandcostlyphysicallytothose

involved . • Itwastimeconsuming.• Therewassilencefromthe“deity”anddisinterestfromthe

people .The pursuit of God:• Aninvitationwasgiventoallwhogathered.• The altar that had previously been broken down was

repaired .• Therewasaprayeroffaith.• Godshowedupinabig way and the people responded with

confessing that He is God .

3 . Get to the root oF the issue One of the most important things to take note of is that the

work of God went beyond the showdown moment . Sure there was an incredible moment where God proved Himself, and the people came back to the realization that a life void of God was empty, but it didn’t stop there . God used Elijah to get to the root of the issue . The people continually went astray due to the leading of all of the false prophets . Elijah had them seized and put to death .

Elijah wasn’t willing to have the big moment on the mountain and leave it there . He knew that what was leading the people astray had to be dealt with or the cycle would continue .

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Don’t just settle for a moment of realization and a moment of emotional response . Get to the root of the things that continually trip you up in your spiritual life . Don’t just be moved by a spiritually intense moment, take action by making a true change in the way you live your life .

Ask yourself these questions to get you thinking about your life and what needs to be different .

• Whatactionsneedtobechanged?• What relationships and habits need to be changed and/or

removed?• Whatattitudesneedtobeincheck?• Whatmotivesneedtobeincheck?• Whatemotionsneedrepairandhealing?

4 . struGGLe May Be the reaLity, But FreeDoM is the DeePer reaLity Every believer knows that there is a very real, very constant

struggle with sin . It’s our flesh versus our spirits and they are con-stantly at war . Paul spoke to the struggle we have with sin in Romans 7:15: “For what I am doing, I do not understand . For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do .”

True, there is a real struggle with sin . But the deeper reality is that there is a freedom that we can live in . When you flip over to Romans 8, you see a chapter loaded with the freedom that comes from being in relationship with the One who had the ultimate show-down with sin – and WON!

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but accord-ing to the Spirit . For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2) .

Maybe you’ve been faltering for awhile . Maybe you feel like the odds are stacked against you when it comes to getting it right . Maybe you’ve realized that you’ve been exhausting your physical and spiritual life pursuing things that are empty . . . and you’re tired of the spiritual drought .

God’s not scared of the situation you’re in right now . He invites you to come close, have a showdown (your way versus His way) and lead you into a life of freedom .

1 . In what ways do you see people faltering in life today?

2 . In what ways do you see Christian teens “fal-tering” back and forth in their faith?

3 . What was the root of the issue in the pas-sage? Why was it so important that Elijah got to the root of the issue?

4 . What should you do when you find yourself in a spiritual drought?

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145Challenge your group to examine the areas of their lives where they may need to allow God to have a showdown with sin . You may want to pre-pare paper for them to write some things down . • Encourage them to take time to reflect on

their way versus God’s way and to identify areas of struggle .

• Encouragethemtolookdeeper,gettingtotheroot of the issue . Why are those areas of their lives such a struggle? What is the main cause of the struggle?

Encourage the students to engage in a show-down prayer . Split the group up into age and gen-der specific prayer groups . Have leaders in place to talk with and pray for students .

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cleaning housePsalm 51 NKJV *

1 . What is the dirtiest your room has ever been?

How did it get that way? 2 . What would happen if you went an entire year

without cleaning house at all? What kind of shape would your living area be in? Would that be the kind of place you would want to live? Why or why not?

3 . What steps need to be taken to keep your liv-ing areas clean in the future?

4 . In Psalm 51, you find David at a time when life got really messy . He was in the middle of the clean up . In what ways can life get messy for a teenager?

1 . cLeaninG houseHouse cleaning . Imagine if you just quit clean-

ing house . It wouldn’t take long for the place you live to get pretty dirty – the clutter, the grime on the floors, the piled up dishes . We all have to clean house . We all have to clean house spiritually as

well . Left unattended, our hearts can tend to get cluttered and dirtied up .

One of the best places in Scripture to soak your heart for a good cleanse is in Psalm 51 . David made a mistake…a pretty rough one . The entire chapter is about his heart crying out to God – his confes-sion, acknowledgment of his sin, and request for restoration .

It’s important to know that we can call out for mercy because of His loving kindness and tender mercies . Because of His love for us we can have our transgressions removed and we can be made clean . If you’ve been telling yourself lately that God can’t forgive you and restore you, read the beginning of Psalm 51 .

It’s important to acknowledge our sin before God . We need to see it for what it is . We need to realize that it is sin against God and know that we need His grace .

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147It’s important to ask God to help us recover . David asks specifi-

cally to have his heart re-created and a steadfast spirit renewed . God referred to David as “man after My own heart” (Acts 13:22) .

At times, David’s life was a mess . I don’t know about you, but that’s pretty comforting . My life gets messy at times, and like David, I need to come before the Lord and repent .

David wasn’t the man after God’s own heart because he was perfect . He was far from it . He just refused to let anything stand between Him and God . When it became obvious that there was something in the way of His relationship with God, he did some-thing about it – he repented .

Living a lifestyle of repentance is living a lifestyle of allowing God to regularly disrupt your daily routine.

We are prone to get into ruts, become calloused, become com-placent . Sometimes we can become immune to the mess and the clutter that we live in . Repentance is a constant invitation given to God and requesting Him to come and clean house .

Repentance shouldn’t be a one time thing. It should be a lifestyle.

2 . the startinG Point—rePentanceRepentance is simply turning to God – asking God to forgive

you and purify your life, and accepting the gift of salvation given through Jesus’ sacrifice . It’s a turning of your heart to God .

Some people shy away from repenting saying, “isn’t there a limit to God’s forgiveness? I’ve been pretty bad .” No matter how sinful or disobedient we have been, we can receive God’s forgive-ness by turning to Him in repentance .

Check out these reassuring scriptures out from the New Kings James Version of the Bible .

Isaiah 1:18-20 Joel 2:31a Psalms 86:5, 103:3-4Ezekiel 18:22 Ephesians 1:7-8 Colossians 1:14

When we repent, God is so ready and willing to forgive us . He has so much mercy for us, no matter how awful we’ve been . Christ’s blood that was shed covers our sin so we can be made pure and live in close relationship with God .

3 . recoMMittinG our Way Repentance gets the junk out, cleans house . Now let’s recom-

mit to keeping it clean . Take a look at some other words that David wrote in Psalm 24:3-5 .

Three areas to recommit your way:a. Recommitment to clean hands – This is everything on the

outside . Are your actions in line with God’s Word? Does what you are involved in line up with God’s Word?

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b. Recommitment to a pure heart – This is everything on the inside . Are the meditations of your heart acceptable before the Lord? Are you living in love or harboring hatred? Is your thought life pure or full of immorality? Are your motives destructive and self serving, or are you motivated by the Spirit of God in you?

c. Recommitment to a pure spirit – This means your spirit is devoted to God, not lifted up to idols (Psalm 24:4) . Is God num-ber one or is He sharing your devotion with an idol in your life? An idol is anything that bumps God out of that number one spot in your life .

These commitments are fueled by repentance . We won’t be perfect in these areas, but we can commit to do our best . When we do slip up, we can fall on God’s grace, learn from the mistake, then continue to move forward .

• Whenyouslipupanddosomethingyoushouldn’t,yourepent,then re-commit to moving forward with clean hands .

• WhenyouslipupandfindyourheartimpurebeforetheLord,you repent, then re-commit to moving forward in purity of heart .

• Whenyouslipupandrealizethatyou’vebumpedGodoutofthe number one spot, you repent, then re-commit to moving forward in purity of spirit .

4 . reKinDLinG the FLaMeWhen you rekindle a flame, you add more fuel to the fire . Living

a lifestyle of repentance will help continually rekindle the fire inside . That fire that God has lit inside us by His love is fueled by the Holy Spirit . The Holy Spirit refuels us when we just open up and let Him in .

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten . Therefore be zealous and repent . 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock . If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me . —Revelation 3:19-20

Ever heard the saying, “cleanliness is next to godliness?” There may be something to it . Whatever the case, choose to clean house regularly – live a repentant lifestyle .

1 . What part of David’s pouring out of his heart to God in Psalm 51 stood out to you the most?

2 . How does it make you feel to know that one of the greatest figures in the Bible, known as the “man after God’s own heart,” needed to come to God in heart-wrenching repentance? How is that encouraging?

3 . What does a recommitted life of a Christian teenager look like today? How can you make sure the “fire inside” is continually rekindled?

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149Prepare a note sheet or card with a list of the key scriptures in this message and challenge your students to read the scriptures every day throughout the upcoming week .

Have a public reading of Psalm 51 and encour-age students to search their hearts . Have a prayer time for students who may need to repent and provide trained leaders to minister to them .

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PerForMance Vs . Posture

Romans 7:15, 24-25 / Romans 8:1-39 NKJV *

1 . In Romans 7, Paul describes the tug of war in his soul . Have you ever felt that way? Explain .

2 . Do you ever feel like the Christian life is just too hard?

3 . Do you ever see believers that seem to be down and out all the time? Why do you think that is?

Colossians 3:5-6 and Galatians 5:19-21 make it pretty plain what we should NOT do . The trouble is, many times, we find ourselves battling those things, becoming discouraged as believers who know Jesus . We can identify with Paul’s frustra-tion in Romans 7:15 when he says, “For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do .”

We further identify with what he says in verse 24, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

Let’s Be cLear, sin is a reaL issue .Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of

God .”Isaiah 64:6: “But we are all like an unclean thing . And all our righ-

teousnesses [sic] are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away .”

that sin neeDs to Be conFesseD .Proverbs 28:13: “He who covers his sins will not prosper, But

whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy .”

We haVe a GoD that ForGiVes us oF our sin .1 John 1:7-9: “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have

fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin . 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us . 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness .”

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151We haVe Victory oVer sin throuGh Jesus .

1 Corinthians 15:57: “But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ” (NLT) .

That’s incredible news! However, one of the major ploys of the enemy is to get us to buy into the lie that we are trapped . He wants to keep us in the place of crying out “O wretched man that I am,” instead of moving forward to where we have full permission to cry out, “Abba, Father!”

It’s easy to live in the tension of Romans chapter 7 and miss the freedom of chapter 8 .

Good “performance” will never help you live a sin-overcoming life . It’s not about being good or keeping a checklist of do’s and don’ts – it’s about being in relationship with Jesus .

it’s not aBout PerForMance, it’s aBout Posture . Posture by definition refers to position, attitude . It’s the way

you carry yourself; your relative placement; your stance in regard to something .

our attituDe shouLD Be that oF christ .The way we carry ourselves should be with confidence in

Christ .Our relative placement is as children of God, co-heirs with

Christ .Our stance should be Romans 8:1 . “There is therefore now no

condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit .”

Many believers live with their head down, feeling beat up because of their poor Christian performance . Instead they should get their chin up and carry a kingdom confidence . In our Christian life, pos-ture trumps performance, and we should rejoice in that!

The way to live a sin-overcoming life is to grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ . Our main job is to cooperate with the Holy Spirit who is committed to conforming us to the image of Jesus . Living life by the power of the Holy Spirit will lead us into a victorious life .

Four MaJor truths that neeD to Be recoGniZeD in roMans 8: 1. We are free from the grip of sin (Romans 8:1-11). Focus on

verses 1-2, 5-6, and 11 .2. We can live as true children of God (Romans 8:12–17). Focus

on verses 14-17 .3. The Holy Spirit helps us in this life (Romans 8:18–30). Focus

on verses 26-30 .4. The love of God is limitless (Romans 8:31-39). Focus on

entire section .

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1 . When you hear Romans 8:1-2 read aloud, how does it make you feel?

2 . Why do you think many believers get trapped in a downcast mindset, believing that they will never live a victorious Christian life?

3 . Why is our posture more important than performance?

4 . Which of the four truths stood out to you the most? Why?

Encourage students to look up scriptures on freedom .

Worship together, celebrate freedom, and read aloud freedom scriptures along with portions of Romans 8 .

Pray for students that feel like they have been stuck in performance mode .

Pray that students will be filled with a Kingdom confidence — knowing that they can walk in freedom .

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153the Power of a Plan

Romans 7:15 / Romans 8:26-29 NKJV *

1 . What does it mean to be reactive?2 . What does it mean to be proactive? 3 . Do you think teens today live more reactive or

proactive lives when it comes to the choices they make? Why?

4 . What are the pros and cons of living in the moment versus being prepared? What could some spiritual implications be?

Many believers are entering the battle against sin hoping to win . Don’t just hope to win the fight, plan to win the fight . A good number of believ-ers deal with their sin issues in a reactive man-ner when they should be preparing in a proactive manner .

Reactive believers love God and are doing their best to live for Him, but are continually getting their tails kicked by the same sins . This is mainly because they wait to make good decisions until they are in the middle of a tempting situation and have to decide in the heat of the moment . No matter how good a Christian you are, we know from Romans chapter 7 that our wills cannot take a continual beating from temptation without caving . Just like someone on a diet hanging out at a donut shop, a believer who just reacts in the moment, is asking for trouble .

insteaD oF BeinG reactiVe With our sPirituaL LiVes, We neeD to Be ProactiVe .

Proactive believers love God and are doing their best to live for Him to the point that they are planning ahead to not fail . Instead of reacting in the moment, they are being proactive by planning for the moment ahead of time . They plan ways to avoid a tempting situation altogether or have a plan of action in place to ensure that they will handle it correctly .

Romans 8:26 tells us about how the Holy Spirit will help us in our weaknesses . That help isn’t just for a 911 distress call in whatever situation we happen to find ourselves in . His help involves tapping into His wisdom before the situation comes about .

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here are Four Keys to LiVinG a ProactiVe christian LiFe .1. Get in the Word of God . The more you fill your heart with

truth, the less room there is for deception . “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against

You .” —Psalm 119:11“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any

two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart . —Hebrews 4:12 (emphasis added)

Know that you have help . Utilize these scriptures on standing strong .

1 Corinthians 10:12-13 Psalm 46:1 Psalm 73:26 Psalm 28:7 Psalm 121:1, 2

2. Identify the areas that you are weak. Be gut-wrenchingly honest with yourself, don’t sugar coat it . In what areas are you weak? What are the areas that you continually stumble in? Be very specific in identifying your trouble spots . The more specific you are, the more proactive you can be .

Here are a few example questions to ask yourself .• Whataremyweakareas?• WhatsituationsdoIneedtolookoutfor?• WhatpeopledoIneedtobecarefularound?• WhattimeofdayamImostsusceptible?• Howdoesmyphysicalconditionaffectmysusceptibility?• WhenamImoresusceptible–duringanemotionalhighorlow?Here is something you definitely want to do – involve God in the

evaluation . In Psalm 139, we see David make a request for God to turn on the spotlight and search his heart: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties: And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting” (verses 23-24, emphasis added) .

When you involve God in the identifying, He will take you up on the offer . He wants you to succeed more than you do!

3. Get mentored . Timothy needed Paul . Just like Timothy, we all need a “Paul” in our lives – a Godly person who has wisdom and expe-rience, with the ability to speak into our lives, correct us, encourage us, equip us, and pray for us . Just like the heartfelt words that Paul shared with Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:3-7, we need someone who has fought battles and is skilled in warfare against sin to mentor us .

4. Rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to help you . He is the greatest help that we have – teaching, leading, strengthening, encouraging, comforting, helping in our weakness . . . . Choosing to walk with Him in faithful, humble, obedience is the greatest proac-tive plan that we can ever have .


155Read Romans 8:26-29 .1 . He helps us in our weaknesses (the things you identified) .2 . He knows our hearts and the mind of the Father . He is the

ultimate mentor .3 . He is committed to making us more like Jesus . He is the

power to be relied on .

1 . What major contrasts do you see in Romans 7:15 and Romans 8:26-29?

2 . What are the dangers of living a reactive spiri-tual life?

3 . How can a teenager today live a proactive spiri-tual life?

4 . How does it make you feel to know that you have such an awesome friend in the Holy Spirit? In what ways can you seek to deepen your walk with Him?

Build time into your session for students to reflect . Prepare planning cards ahead of time for them to be able to write down scripture verses, and identify their weak areas .

• Spendtime inprayer ingenderandagespe-cific groups .

• Encourage one another with the strengthscriptures .

• PrayfortheleadingandguidanceoftheHolySpirit in your lives .

• Commit to pray for each other throughoutthe week .

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obedienceWill you follow Jesus even if it costs you

everything? What if you felt like you were

walking into a situation and all you had was

what God said? Would you trust Him even

though you didn’t know all the answers

ahead of time? This study will look at the

answer of what biblical obedience looks like .


157obedience is

ListeninG to GoDJohn 10:27 NIV *

1 . Have you ever promised God you would trust/obey Him no matter the situation?

2 . What if God actually asked you to do what you promised? Would you actually obey?

3 . Are you really willing to trust/obey Him no matter how it looks?

I am reminded of the movie, Karate Kid (the one from the 1980s and the newer one) . The student in both films gets frustrated doing these seem-ingly pointless tasks: wax on, wax off; put the jacket on, take the jacket off . These mundane tasks assigned by his teacher became frustrating because the student could not see he was actu-

ally learning martial arts movements . He didn’t understand that these movements would become second nature to him the more he practiced these mundane tasks . Sometimes we get frustrated with the way things are going because we can’t see that our cur-rent circumstances are preparing us for something bigger . It’s so neat when we finally can see how all the pieces work together . All those long nights and exhausting days seem worth it when you get to the next step in your journey .

Sometimes we make promises to God about our commitment to Him . Thankfully He is not interested in our empty promises because they sound good . He wants a deep relationship with us based on intimacy . Intimacy only comes through time spent with each other . Spend time with the Lord . Trust is easy to say and dif-ficult to live out, but here are some tips to help you do that .

• ReadHisWord. My advice would be to attempt to read your Bible in the morning before you start your day .

• Praydaily . Make a prayer list and keep a journal so that you can see what God is doing in your life .

• ObeywhatHesays. When God tells you to do something, do it . Simply trust that He actually knows what He is talking about and that He has good plans for you!

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1 . Do you have a daily Bible reading plan?2 . What does your prayer time look like? Are you

journaling regularly?3 . What are your biggest challenges to obeying

what God says?

Is the Lord asking you to do something that you think is impossible or just doesn’t make sense? I challenge you to trust that God sees the bigger picture and to simply obey Him .

Pray that God would help you to trust Him even when it seems like your whole world is falling apart . Ask God to help you get your mind off your own problems and on to Him .

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159oBeDience is

ListeninG to GoDJohn 10:27 NIV *

1 . Do you feel like you hear from the Lord on a regular basis?

2 . What is the biggest distraction in your life, cur-rently, that keeps you from hearing the voice of God?

3 . Once you have heard God speak to you, how do you react when it’s hard to believe what He said?

Picture yourself blindfolded and standing in front of your best friend . You know his/her voice and trust that he/she will lead you safely . The chal-lenge is that while you are trying to hear the voice of your friend there are fifteen other voices that are screaming in your ear “follow me, follow me .” That is how it seems to be in my relationship with

the Lord sometimes . We know the Good Shepherd’s voice, but it’s so hard to hear it in the midst of all the other voices in our world .

Most people have participated in those “trust-fall” exercises at one time or another . If you are not familiar with a trust-fall, basi-cally you stand with arms crossed and fall backward into the arms of a friend who stands behind you . You cannot see your friend . You can only hear his/her voice . You have to trust that your friend will do what he/she says which is catch you . Isn’t that just how our lives are sometimes? We feel confident that we have heard the voice of the Lord, but there is still the very real decision to obey what He said .

My belief is that most people will obey the Lord if they are sure and confident that they heard from the Lord . We usually want two or three confirmations to the words along with throwing out a fleece like Gideon; and we love it if we can get a prophetic word because then we know for sure it must be God . Instead of doubt-ing what you heard, simply obey what you heard . “But what if it’s wrong? How do I know it’s from God?”

First rule of thumb is to check the Word! God honors His word

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from the Bible . He is not a contradiction . If it lines up with the Word and you feel like you heard from the Lord, then be like Nike and just do it!

1 . Do you have mentors in your life that help you

discern the voice of God?2 . Identify two or three people in your life that

hold you accountable .

I challenge you to get away from all the other voices and find a secret place so that you can hear the still, small voice of the Lord . No phone, no wi-fi, just you and Him .

Pray that God would help you to hear His voice more clearly and to obey what He said more quickly! Ask the Lord to help you to distinguish His voice in the midst of all the other voices in your life .

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161oBeDience is

the oPPosite oF DisoBeDience

James 1:14-15 NIV *

1 . Are there places in your life you are knowingly disobeying God?

2 . When you don’t obey what God says, do you usually get depressed because of your mis-takes or are you able to you accept His for-giveness quickly?

3 . How do you personally deal with temptation in your life?

Try to picture the story of the prodigal son . He arrogantly desires to take his inheritance early and leave his father’s house . After spending his inheritance on what the Bible calls “wild living,” he finds himself in a pig pen . In my head, that is a pretty pitiful sight . A young man who comes from a household that has everything he needs is now

in a place where he cannot even provide the most basic of human needs . His last resort is to go back to his father’s house and try to work as a hired servant . But while he is a long way off, His father sees him and runs to embrace him . Isn’t that a beautiful picture of God’s love toward us? He is waiting on you and me . He is not mad at you and wanting to strike you with a lightning bolt of judgment . He desires to embrace you and reassure you of His love for you

Think about this: we all deal with disobedience and rebellion at some time in our life . It’s a part of growing up and maturing as a man/woman of God . The truth is that our situations are not God’s fault at all . Like the scripture in James says, “we are tempted and then led astray .” We want what we want when we want it! I can picture a small child stomping, crying, and yelling because he didn’t get his way . That is how it is sometimes when things don’t work out the way we thought they would .

The Word tells us that in this world we will have trouble, but we


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can take heart because Jesus has overcome the world (see John 16:33) . Hear the Word of the Lord today! It is awesome that God will use the same horrible circumstances that we got ourselves into and turn them for our good! Just because you don’t feel like God is near, doesn’t mean He isn’t . Choose today to obey God and His Word . He is near, even when you miss it and disobey .

1 . Have you ever made a bad decision and had to apologize later?

2 . Will you allow the Lord to welcome you home even though you made a mistake?

I challenge you to “Submit yourselves, then, to God . Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7) . Allow God to show you any places in your life that you need to resist the devil and sub-mit to God .

Pray that God would get rid of any rebellion in your heart . Ask the Lord to help you choose to obey Him even when you don’t feel worthy .

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163Free to oBey

Galatians 5:1 NIV *

1 . Do you think it’s easy to obey God?2 . In your relationship with God, do you feel like

you are controlled like a robot?3 . Are you walking in the freedom of true obedi-

ence to Christ?

Let’s pretend that you have two choices: either go to jail or don’t go to jail . Be in chains, or be free . Which would you choose? For most of us it’s a no brainer! We want freedom! Who in their right mind would want jail? Even though it seems obvious, we don’t always accept the freedom that God offers to us all . The Bible says it is for freedom that He

set us free (Galatians 5:1) . No strings attached! He desires that we be free! Are you willing to accept His free offer today? Think about this: Christians are free to obey . We are not slaves to sin! That statement is an awesome reminder of our free will . I am reminded of a famous line from movie The Godfather that says, “ Let me make you an offer you can’t refuse .” It seems like the gift of freedom that God offers to every believer is so compelling that no one in his or her right mind should be able to refuse it! Then why are so many people willing to refuse this free gift? Our free will choice is truly the benchmark in our salvation journey . Will we use our free-dom to fulfill our own selfish desires? Or will our freedom lead us to choose this precious gift of salvation and true freedom?

Every time I read the story about the disciples being chosen, I’m amazed at their immediate obedience . They dropped everything they were doing to follow this guy! Think about that for a moment . Let it really sink in . They were at their jobs fishing, collecting taxes, etc ., when this man walks by and says, “follow me,” and they actu-ally starting following . This is one of the most beautiful examples of free will in the Bible . The disciples were not forced or held at gun point to follow Jesus . Each one of them made a decision, a choice to obey what they knew in their hearts .

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1 . Do you remember when you made the deci-sion to follow Jesus?

2 . What changed in your life after you made that decision?

What is God speaking to you about today that you need to immediately obey? Remember, “‘every-thing is permitted’ – but not everything is bene-ficial” (1 Corinthians 10:23) . I challenge you to ask the Lord to help you to remove the non-beneficial things in your life today!

Pray that God will give you the power to expe-rience true freedom in Him . Ask Him to show you any places in your life that are not beneficial and could potentially be a roadblock in your life of obe-dience to Him .

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the ParaBLe oF the acroBat

Students are notoriously emotional .

They often struggle with deep issues

of identity and purpose . This series,

told through the lens of a four-part

parable, is designed to help them

understand their identity in Christ and

purpose in His Kingdom, thus finding

some emotional healing and stability .

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orientationPsalm 1 NLT *

Who are you? How would you describe your-self to a brand new person? (Allow a few students to share .)

If I had been asked that question at your age, I probably would have told you . . . (Share some per-sonal information, i .e . the schools you attended, sports you played, hobbies, etc .)

But is that who you are or is that what you do? Is there a dif-ference? What if you had to describe yourself without any of that surface-level stuff? I’m talking deep down—who are you?

That’s a tough question, isn’t it? We’re so used to talking about ourselves in these shallow ways, it can be hard to get deep . Perhaps that’s why we have such a shallow, superficial culture . Perhaps that’s why it’s so difficult to truly know ourselves .

Tonight we’re going to start a new series that gets deep . We’re going to go against the flow . We’re going to be counter-cultural . We’re not going to be satisfied with the shallow and superficial . We want to truly understand who God created us to be .

We’re going to wrap this entire series around a story . Jesus told lots of stories . But they were more than just stories, weren’t they? We call them parables . They are stories, plus—they have a deeper meaning and purpose . The hearer is meant to find himself/herself in the parable . That’s true with this parable too .

First, I want to tell you the underlying point of this series, this story, this parable . It’s two-fold .

1 . To change what you focus on .2 . To change the way you focus on it .See, what you focus on organizes everything else in your life . So,

right off the bat, I’m going to share a secret with you . We want you to focus on God . Your youth pastor and youth leaders want you to be solely focused on God . Jesus says it like this in Matthew 6:33: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need .”

It’s all too easy to get wrapped up in our bad circumstances, isn’t it? Stress, addiction, etc . – those are merely symptoms of a deeper issue . Instead of desperately trying to get relief from the pain we feel, let’s allow the pain to redirect our focus to the kingdom .

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* Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations in this lesson are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright © 1996 . Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc . Wheaton, Illinois 60189 . All rights reserved .


167Second, it’s not necessarily what you think about, but how you

think about it . In Proverbs 23:7, Solomon makes a really strange statement . He says “as [a man] thinks within himself, so he is” (NASB) . Not “what”, but “as” . The way you perceive and interpret life, is your reality .

We want you to know who you are, deep down . We want you to (re)discover your identity in Christ . We want you to experience real, lasting freedom . But, to a very large degree, that means un-learn-ing and/or re-learning some things . A small example is our simple definition of freedom . True freedom is not the absence of some-thing (bars on a jail cell, bad habits, thoughts, temptation, etc .), but the presence of Someone . As 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (NIV) . The Truth is not simply a set of facts or principles, but a Person . And the Truth, Jesus, will set us free (John 8:32) .

We want to help you change what you focus on and change how you focus on it .

As we begin The Parable of the Acrobat, I invite you to picture yourself in the story . Like any good parable, it begins like this: the Kingdom of heaven is like an acrobat who fell off a wagon . (The basic story is outlined below . Rich, descriptive details are what make any story good, so add them as you see fit .)

• Thereoncewasatroopoftravelingacrobats,knownasthegreatest physical athletes alive .

• Theynotonlyunderwentintensetrainingandhadyearsofexperience, but they also had a seemingly supernatural gift .

• Theirleaderwasthegreatestmanofthemall,marriedtothegreatest woman of them all, and together they conceived a child .

• Thisunbornchildcapturedtheimaginationandhopeoftheparents, the rest of troop and everyone who heard the story . What will this child be capable of?!

• Onenight,lateintheevening,bythelightofthemoon,ababyboy is born . Everyone knows he has purpose . He has a des-tiny . He will change things forever .

Can you see yourself in the story? Have you ever felt this way? Even if you can’t remember it, you have . Perhaps you were so young you can’t recall it, but there was a time that you felt your purpose and destiny . You had a magnificent identity once . It was a thing of beauty and power . Deep down we all know this is the way life is supposed to be .

The Bible has a lot to say about this kind of “orientation .” I want to read a passage tonight, and each night following, from the Book of

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Psalms because it is often referred to as “The Little Bible .” Taken as a whole, these 150 passages comprise the whole of our lives . They are humanity’s expression of our vast experience . So tonight, at the start of our parable, let’s check out the start of this Book of Psalms . (Read Psalm 1, all 6 verses, in whichever translation you like .)

Psalm 1 is a Psalm of orientation . This is how life is supposed to be . Those who love and follow God are blessed and solid, like beau-tiful trees planted by a lovely stream . But those who ignore God and follow their own, wicked ways are like chaff blown away by the slightest breeze . The good guys wear white and win . The bad guys wear black and lose . Right?

About one-third of the Psalms, and one-third of the Bible, is like this . These passages orient us to what life is supposed to be like, and deep down in our hearts, we all know it .

Let’s get practical . What’s your decision? This passage (and so much of Scripture) demands a choice . Have you determined to follow Christ? Or are you following your own, wicked ways? What do you believe about life, God, etc .? How has your life been oriented?

This orientation is right, correct and true . If the Bible says something one time, it’s important . But if it says it over and over and over and over and over . . . .

But, of course, things don’t always go the way we expect, do they? Sometimes our dreams are dashed . Horrible things do hap-pen from time to time . But let’s not get ahead of ourselves . That’s Part Two of our parable . For now, tonight, let’s make sure we grasp and follow Part One .

What if your dreams are tiny in comparison to God’s dreams for you? What if, truly, you are a child of purose and destiny? What if, at the time of your birth, people knew you were special, differ-ent, unique? What if, on that day in some hospital room in some city, God Himself peered down from heaven, so excited that you were finally born?

As we wrap up tonight, let me assure you that is, indeed, the case . If you don’t buy it - if you cannot believe you are special and unique, a child of purpose and destiny - God loves you anyway . He is your loving, heavenly Father . He wants only the very best for you . Deep down, in your heart, you can feel His love and embrace . You know your life is meant for more than empty pleasure . You were created for a purpose . His purpose .

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169Tonight, as we pray together, I’m going to ask

you to be very honest . I’m going to challenge you to seriously consider your life orientation . What are you focused on? Is it God and His ways or is it you and your ways? If you’ve never made the decision to follow Christ, this is your night . Your life can literally change forever, starting right now . (Altar call)

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DisorientationPsalm 22 NIV *

Last week we started a new series (briefly describe “Orientation”) .

Tonight we’re going to talk about Disorientation .Have you ever been disoriented? Ever had that

feeling of complete bewilderment and confusion?I can vividly remember where I was on Tuesday,

September 11, 2001 (share your personal experience) .Almost anyone you talk to will share a similar story with similar

emotions . It was not only a day of disorientation, but a season of it . In fact, in some ways, we’re still feeling it, aren’t we? 9/11 rocked our world .

See, this is a very human emotion . We all deal with it . Whether you remember 9/11 this way or not, you have probably felt a similar disorientation . If you haven’t, I don’t mean to scare you, but you will . It’s going to happen . You will experience things that seem to go against the very nature of life as you know it’s supposed to be .

Some of you are facing a situation, right now, that is rocking your world . Maybe it’s a divorce, a death or just an overwhelming feeling of stress . It really doesn’t matter what’s causing the pain . You just want it to stop . All you want to know, when you’re facing this kind of disorientation, is “how can I get relief from the pain?”

But maybe that’s not the best response . Maybe there’s some-thing else, something better, we can do, other than desperately seeking relief that always seems just out of reach . Maybe this book, the Bible, holds the solution to that oh-so-human problem .

As we begin the second part of The Parable of the Acrobat, I once again invite you to picture yourself in the story .

The Kingdom of heaven is like an acrobat who fell off a wagon . . . . (The basic story is outlined below . It includes a very brief summary of Part One . Rich, descriptive details are what make any

story good, so add them as you see fit .)• Theworld’sgreatestmaleandfemaleacrobatsmeet,fallin

love, and have a son (Part One) .• Onenight,astheytravelabumpyroad,thechilddisappears.

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171• Alocalfarmerandhiswifefindthechildalongthesideofthe

road .• Thiscouplehadbeenmarriedalongtimeandhadneverbeen

able to conceive on their own .• Thehusbandis,consequently,verycoldandangry,whilethe

wife is very over-protective and anxious .• Asthetoddlergrows,hisenergyisdirectedup,towardthe

heights (i .e . climbing on top of the kitchen table) .• Hisverynaturetriggersthemother’sanxiety,whichthen

triggers the father’s anger .• Ataveryearlyage,theboylearnsthathemustonlyenter-

tain these personal desires in secret .• Hisparents’energies,afterall, aredirecteddown, toward

the earth (i .e . plowing the fields) .• Whenheperformsashisparentsdesire,theboyrecognizes

that he gets praise and encouragement .• Therestofthekidsintownfindhimquiteodd(whichhefeels

as well), causing him to become isolated and even, at times, violent .

Can you see yourself in the story? Have you ever felt this kind of disorientation?

The Bible has a lot to say about these feelings . Like last week, I’m going to read a Psalm tonight . Taken as a whole, the Book of Psalms is often referred to as “The Little Bible” because it touches on all of the Scriptures and, of course, all of life . So turn with me to Psalm 22 . (Read Psalm 22:1-8, in whichever translation you like .)

This is a Psalm of disorientation . You don’t hear these kinds of things quoted in church very often . It’s not a super-uplifting pas-sage . In fact, some people are shocked there’s anything like this in the Bible at all . Yet there is . A lot . In fact, if this sounds familiar to you, it’s probably because Jesus quoted it as he hung dying on the cross . If the Son of God can identify with this kind of suffering, maybe it’s ok for us too .

Like the Psalms of orientation from last week, these Psalms of disorientation comprise about one-third of the book . Roughly one-third of the Bible is this way as well . Think of the stories of people like Job, Naomi and Ruth, and of course, Jesus Himself . They are full of disorientation! There’s even an entire book called Lamentations, which is all about crying out to God in pain .

This is not how life is supposed to be . If we love and follow God, like David, the author of this Psalm, things are supposed to go pretty well for us . If we’re doing His work, like Jesus was, why does that path lead through such disorientation? If we’re good church kids who attend youth group and own five Bibles and go on mission trips, things aren’t supposed to be so hard . But they are . So the question is, what should we do about it?

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This is where we shift gears and get practical . As we do, allow me to remind you of our two-fold purpose in this series . We want you to:

1 . chanGe What you Focus on .

2 . chanGe the Way you Focus on it .Tonight is all about the first of those two pur-

poses . We want you to change what you focus on . If you’re in the middle of a season of disorientation, like I said earlier, you probably just want the pain to stop . That’s normal . It’s the typical human response . But typical doesn’t mean best . We’re going to chal-lenge you to “lean not on your own understanding” but to “trust in the Lord with all your heart” and “in all your ways submit to him” (Proverbs 3:5-6) .

If we’re honest, most of us in this room tonight are not focused on God . We’re focused on ourselves, especially if we’re in pain . Again, that’s normal, but it isn’t best . So, what is? What should we do? Change . Change what you focus on . Instead of focusing on your pain, or yourself at all, focus on God .

Most of these Psalms of disorientation, including Psalm 22, do just that . Verse 24 says this: “For [the Lord] has not ignored or belittled the suffering of the needy . He has not turned his back on them, but has listened to their cries for help” (NLT) . David knew a secret that most of us desperately need to know . It’s not normal, but it’s best . It’s not a common human response, but it’s super-naturally inspired . Here it is:

1 . seeK GoD’s Face, not GoD’s hanD .This life is not about you . You serve God; God doesn’t serve you .

We’re not Christians because God is good to us . God is good to us simply because He is good and we’re His children . When our loving heavenly Father allows a season of disorientation, for whatever reason, we can still trust Him . When things don’t turn out the way we want or expect, He knows best .

2 . seeK GoD’s Face, not GoD’s hanD .I know it hurts . I know it’s hard to not focus on the hurt, but God

is here to help you . God knows you’re a weak, flawed, sinful human being . That’s why Jesus came, because we all need a Savior . You cannot do this on your own . So, change your focus .

3 . seeK GoD’s Face; not GoD’s hanD .When you choose to shift the focus off yourself and your pain,

onto Jesus, guess what happens – the pain mysteriously begins to subside . It probably won’t happen overnight . You may not even notice it at first . But the disorientation will slowly fade and give way

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173to a new season . But that’s getting into Part Three of our parable, which we’ll save for next week . For now, before I dismiss you, ask yourself this question . “Am I truly focused on God?” If you’re not, let’s ask Him to help .

Just dream with me for a minute . What if you did change your focus? Think about how much dif-ferent and better your life would be?! What if you weren’t so fixated on the pain? What if you chose to trust in and even praise God in the midst of the disorientation? What if you weren’t focused on God fixing it (you weren’t seeking His hand), but

you focused on loving Him right now, in the middle of the storm? Think about the new level of peace and strength you would find! Consider how much healing and freedom that would bring!

As we pray together, let’s ask God to help us trust Him . Let’s honestly tell God that we want to want Him . We want to change our focus to Him and Him alone, but we don’t know how . Then, let’s allow Him to help us . Tonight, as we pray, the Holy Spirit wants to literally guide your thoughts and words . Let Him do that . (Closing Prayer)

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reorientationPsalm 23 NIV*

We’re half-way through a series called “The Parable of the Acrobat” (briefly describe “Orientation” and “Disorientation”) .

Tonight we’re going to talk about Reorientation .Have you ever fought against something, lost,

and then found yourself having to live with what you fought against? Has life ever handed you lem-

ons and challenged you to make lemonade?This is really going to date me, but I remember when cell phones

were invented (share your personal experience) .I hated the idea of always being accessible, anywhere I was . I

still don’t like it, but I’ve had to get used to it . Even though you’re way too young to identify with that particular experience, I’ll bet you’ve felt something similar . Maybe it’s getting used to a new family member or the loss of a family member . Maybe it’s a class you can’t stand, but need to graduate . Maybe you hate coming to church, but your parents force you to . Whatever it is, I’m confident you’ve experienced something similar .

How do we handle this? How can we make the best of a bad situation? How do we pick up the broken pieces of our lives and move on? Once again, God graciously helps us understand how to live in this broken, messed up world . He helps us discover how to leave our disorientation and enter a whole new reorientation .

As we begin the third part of The Parable of the Acrobat, I invite you again to picture yourself in the story .

The Kingdom of heaven is like an acrobat who fell off a wagon . . . . (The basic story is outlined below . It includes a very brief summary of Parts One and Two . Rich, descriptive details are what

make any story good, so add them as you see fit .)• Theworld’sgreatestmaleandfemaleacrobatsmeet,fallin

love, and have a son (Part One) .• Thisboy,withtheDNAofaworld-classathlete,israisedasa

farmer (Part Two) .


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175• Oneday,attheageofabout17,theyoungmanandhisfather

go into town, where he sees a poster for the coming acrobat troop .

• Thedesireshe’sfoughtdownhisentirelifeeruptfrominside,as he campaigns to see the show .

• Whentheperformanceends,theyoungmanisimmediatelydown front exploring, while the farmer and his wife watch .

• Anothercouple,olderacrobats,inquireabouttheboy.• As the farmers share their story, the acrobats begin to

weep and share their story of losing a child, during the night, in this very town .

• The young man, eventually drawn into the conversationbetween his adoptive parents and his birth parents, is com-pletely stunned .

• Ashisdreamsfinallybegintomakesense,theyoungmantearfully tells his adopted parents he must explore this deep, inner soul-craving .

• Ayearintohisnewlife,he’saterribleacrobat—evenwonder-ing if he’s made a mistake .

• Theotheracrobatchildrenarecruel,wantingtoseethisleg-end fail .

• Onedaytheyoungman,tryingtoescapehispainandembar-rassment, accidently discovers the recorded history of his troop .

• Thestoriesareawonderfulreliefforhim,untilthedayherecognizes himself in the pages .

• Hisfatherisinsistentlygraciousandfaith-filledinhistrain-ing, knowing his son’s DNA .

• His mother is painfully supportive in his physical therapy,helping him overcome farming injuries and a lack of proper fitness .

• Slowly his limp disappears, thanks to his mother’s ther-apy, and he begins to dream again, thanks to his father’s encouragement .

• Soon after, during practice, the young man falls, tryingsomething new . The other children are especially hurtful, so he runs and hides under his parents’ wagon .

• Heoverhearsthemexpressingtheirjoyoverhisreturn,andhe erupts in anger and confusion .

• Hisfatherexplainsthathe’spushingnotforhimself,butforthe sake of his son—to rediscover who he is .

• Heagainrunsaway,wanderingaroundthecompound,andeventually finds himself at the practice tent, where he’s done so much work .

• Thistimethough,withnoonearound,hebeginstoplaynotwork – and he’s good . It’s fun .

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Can you see yourself in the story? Have you ever felt this kind of reorientation? Do you long to rediscover who you were always meant to be?

The Bible has a lot to say about this kind of experience . We’ve been reading a Psalm each week because, as a collection, they exemplify all of the Scriptures and all of life . Last week we read Psalm 22, which contains a lot of pain . Almost as if the writer couldn’t leave us hanging at the end, the very next Psalm brings hope . Turn with me to the beautiful and classic Psalm 23 . (Read Psalm 23, in whichever translation you like . Pause to emphasize the peace in the midst of the pain in verse 5a .)

Psalm 23 is a Psalm of reorientation . About one-third of the book (and one-third of the Bible) is this way . It’s a recognition that, while things are not as they should be, God is still with us . Though we live in a messed up, broken world, God is still in control and the Holy Spirit still guides our lives .

This is the glory of the Gospel . It’s the story of how God comes to us, insistently and even painfully, because He loves us that much . It’s that delicate balance of the truth that God loves us exactly where we are, but won’t let us stay that way . He knows our DNA . He knows what we need better than we know what we need . He’s okay with our anger, our frustration and our pain because He knows it leads to the deep healing and freedom we desperately need and want .

If we’re honest, most of us aren’t here yet, but we want to be . We want to rediscover life . We want to live in this kind of freedom and healing . We’re still in the disorientation, but we long for the reorientation . How can we move on? How can we give God the bro-ken pieces of our lives and enter into this new life?

This is where we get personal and practical . Allow me to remind you of our two-fold purpose in this series . We want you to:


2 . chanGe the Way you Focus on it .Last week was pretty well focused on number one

– you have to take the focus off of you and put it on God . Tonight is all about number two – what is your perception of God and life?

Here’s the reality: sometimes life stinks . There’s really no get-ting around it . It rains on both the righteous and the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45) . Sometimes it seems like evil people win and godly people lose . Sometimes you get flat tires, your house gets broken into, or the people you love most in life die . That’s the reality . But . . . even though we “walk through the valley of the shadow of death” even though we live in a crappy, broken world, we can “fear no evil”

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177(Psalm 23:4) . Why? He is with us . His rod and staff, tools of disci-pline, will actually bring comfort . He will prepare a table before us in the very presence of our enemies . That is life in Christ . That is what it means to walk in the Spirit . That is reorientation .

Here’s your application for the night . Here’s what you can do about your situation, right now .

Admit the negative, but focus on the positive .I’m not going to pretend everything is rosy when it isn’t, but I

am going to have faith . I’m not going to gloss over the fact that I’m having a rough time, but I am going to trust God regardless . I’m going to look around me and recognize that I’m in a dark, sinful place, then remind myself that the presence of God is even here . I am still His beloved and He is still guiding my steps .

That’s a little teaser for next week, as we wrap up the series . But for tonight, before we dismiss, I dare you to trust God . I chal-lenge you to believe Him when He says “I am about to do something new . See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?” (Isa . 43:19 NLT) . I dare you to actually practice Philippians 4:8, to see the bad, but choose to dwell on the good, true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admi-rable . Don’t simply change your focus to God, but change the way you focus on God .

Admit the negative, but focus on the positive .

Think about how different your life would be if you did . What if you didn’t dread every new day, but longed for it? What if you felt a sense of pur-pose and destiny again, in spite of your broken-ness? What if you weren’t defined by your pain and your suffering, but by the God who “causes all things to work together for good to those who

love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom . 8:28 NASB, emphasis added to “all”)?

Tonight I’m going to challenge you to repeat a dangerous prayer, as I lead it . You may not mean it right now, but I want you to pray it anyway, as an act of faith . (Lead a faith-filled prayer such the one below .)

Jesus, I want to trust You, but I’m not sure how. I want to change the way I focus on You, but I’m still in a lot of pain. Tonight, I’m asking for Your help. I’m giving You the broken pieces of my life and I’m asking You to recreate me. Reform me, Lord, in Your image. Recreate me with new passions and desires. Reorient me to a new way of living and help me rediscover my purpose

and destiny in You. This life is not about me. I know that now. It’s all about You, so help me to live that way. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

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eVaLuation Psalm 139

We’re wrapping up a series called The Parable of the Acrobat (briefly describe “Orientation,” “Disorientation” and “Reorientation .”) .

Tonight we’re going to talk about Evaluation .Have you ever been tested and then had to

wait for the results?When I was in high school I took both the ACT and

the SAT . Without a doubt, the hardest part was waiting all those weeks to see how I did (share your personal experience) .

We live in an instant gratification society . It’s hard for us to wait for anything . We want to know, right now, how we did, what the results are and what we should do next . But that may not be a godly virtue . It’s certainly American, but it may not be biblical .

The more I follow Jesus, the more I think He just wants me to rest in Him . Like Martha, I’m running around doing tasks while He just wants me to sit at His feet like Mary . I take pride in checking things off my to-do list, but He is simply looking for my heart .

What does God really think of us? After all we’ve done; after a life full of both good and bad, victories and defeats; orientation, disori-entation and reorientation, what’s His evaluation? If life is really just a series of tests, what’s our grade? How does God evaluate us?

As we conclude The Parable of the Acrobat, for the last time I invite you to picture yourself in the story .

The Kingdom of heaven is like an acrobat who fell off a wagon . . . (The basic story is outlined below . It includes a very brief summary of the first three parts . Rich, descriptive details are

what make any story good, so add them as you see fit .)• Theworld’sgreatestmaleandfemaleacrobatsmeet,fallin


farmer (Part Two)• After 17 years he reconnects with his parents/troop and

begins traveling with them, but struggles to acclimate (Part Three) .

• Fiveyears later, the troopagain travels to this little town,where the young man was raised as a farmer .

• Hundredsofpeople,practicallythewholetown,clammertosee the show and the boy they all know so well .

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179• Astheperformancebegins,alonefigureappearsatthevery

top of the tent, dropping faster than anyone has ever seen .• Theyoungmanhasrediscoveredhisdestinyandisnowthe

star of the show, doing things no one has ever seen or even heard of .

• Hisperformance(but,evenmore,hisstory)causesevery-one watching to come alive again as they remember their deep, inner dreams .

• Somegohometoswingonropesoftheirown,sometakeupanew hobby and some just have long-overdue conversations .

• The young man is an inspiration not because he becamesomeone else, but because he discovered who he actually was . In so doing, helped many others to do the same .

Now, whether you can see yourself in this story or not, it’s yours . It’s your story . This is how God sees you, as His beloved chil-dren . Here’s the best news of all: He is the one making the evalu-ation . He is the one giving the grade . He is the loving Father who started and will finish the show . He simply wants you to live as He knows you were created .

One more time we’re going to go to the Psalms, as they exem-plify our entire existence . And tonight, rather than have your turn in your Bible with me, I simply want you to listen . I want you to try to soak in and believe the evaluation you’re about to hear . I want you to truly know, deep in your heart, that this is your connection to the God of the universe . I want you to close your eyes and truly hear to the words of Psalm 139 . (Read this passage, in its entirety, in whichever translation you like . It’s rather long, but crucial to our sense of identity and purpose .)

Isn’t that beautiful? It’s almost too good to be true, isn’t it? Yet, it is . You don’t have to believe something in order for it to be true . Something is true simply because it’s true . This is true . This is how God sees you . This is your evaluation .

So what does that mean for us? How does that affect us? In what ways does that truth flesh itself out?

This is probably the most important application of the whole series . As we make it, one last time let’s remind ourselves of the two-fold purpose . We want you to:


2 . chanGe the Way you Focus on it .Hopefully, by this point, you’ve changed your focus from your-

self (and/or your pain) to God . Lord willing, you’ve also changed the way you focus on Him; you’ve admitted the negative, but chosen

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to focus on the positive . Tonight we want to seal that . Tonight we want to confess the word of God over our lives .

This might feel weird to some of you . You may not be used to verbally speaking out in church . Unfortunately, our Church of God tradition has steered away from corporate confessions of faith, but they’re very biblical and historically rich .

Tonight, as a community of faith, all together, we’re going to confess the truth over our lives . By faith, we’re going to declare God’s Word, whether we believe it or not . I want to you repeat after me, to confess these truths and then watch them become true in your heart and life . (Lead your students in declaring the fol-lowing . It might even be good to have them printed, to hand out as students leave .)

1 . I am a child of God and heir to the Kingdom of heaven .2 . I can do whatever God says I can do and be whoever God says

I can be .3 . I will seek God’s Kingdom first, above all others, and He will

provide everything else I need .4 . I will follow Jesus wherever He may lead and, in so doing, find

true freedom and healing .5 . I will seek God’s face and not His hand .6 . I am not defined by my past pain and suffering . I am fully

forgiven and free from all shame and condemnation .7 . I will trust in the Lord with all my heart, submit to Him fully,

and not lean on my own understanding .8 . I will cry out to the Lord in dark times and trust Him to hear

and respond to my needs .9 . I will admit the negatives in my life, but focus/dwell on the

positives .10 . I believe that God is doing a new, miraculous thing in my life

and my future in Him is glorious .11 . I am called of God and He works everything out for my ulti-

mate good .12 . I walk in the Spirit every day, everywhere I go, in everything I

do .

How does that feel? What if you truly believed that? What if you walked in those truths every single day? What if you were defined not by how you feel or by what the world says about you, but by those truths? What if God’s Word is right and you are exactly and only who He says? What if you were to repeat those faith confessions every

day, until they worked themselves into your spirit and you saw them become true in your own life?

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181That’s my closing challenge to you . As we finish

this series, allow me to repeat this one, final time: we want you to experience freedom and healing . We want you to discover your identity and pur-pose . Those things are only found in Christ . I know life has a way of beating you down and then kick-ing you while you are down, but that’s only a part

of your story . Even if you’re in the midst of a season of disorien-tation, hope is still alive and well . God is still on His throne . He has not lost control . The best is yet to come . Trust Him . Lean hard into Him . Repeat all twelve of those faith confessions, for as long as you need to, until you truly believe them . Let God’s truth become your truth . Let Him define who you are and what your life means . Let’s pray together, in closing, by faith . (Closing Prayer)

Pray

Be sanctiFieD to christ in your WiLL

To be sanctified means to be set apart

for Christ . This series is designed to help

students set their lives apart through

their will/decisions . With so many voices

encouraging selfish behaviors, this series

will encourage students to live a life

pursuing God . The result will be a life set

apart for Christ’s service .


183Foundational

BeginningsMark 7:24-30 ESV *

24 And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon . And he entered a house and did not want any-one to know, yet he could not be hidden . 25 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth . And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter . 27 And he said to her, “Let the chil-dren be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs .” 28 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs .” 29 And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter .” 30 And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone . (emphasis added)

1 . There are many voices all around us . Our peers, media, music and culture are constantly try-ing to tell us what to do, how we should live or what we should buy . What voices are most appealing to you? Why?

2 . Does listening to these voices have a positive influence in your life?

3 . Do these voices keep you from setting your life apart for serving Christ?

We Must . . . 1 . Listen for the voice of God (verse 25 . . . She

heard of Him) .a) We need to be open to God . Life offers many

borders . Some borders offer hope, promise, success and a better life . However, other borders offer pain, trouble, disappoint-ment, discipline, failure and a tough life . The truth is, many of us live onthe fringe . We’re one decision away from something good or bad .

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This is especially true when it comes to our sinful nature . The Greek scholar and theologian, Origen said “Each of us when he sins is on the borders of Tyre or Sidon or of Pharaoh and Egypt, or some of those which are out-side the allotted inheritance of God; but when he changes from wickedness to virtue he goes out of the borders of evil, and comes to the borders of the portion of God . . . . ” In other words, sin keeps us from God’s inheritance .

What’s unique about Tyre and Sidon? Both cities were in the region that Joshua allotted to the tribe of Asher (Joshua 19:29), but the Asherites did not fully drive the Canaanite tribes out of the region (Judges 1:32) . It was supposed to be a land for God’s children, but instead was a land of sin because the Asherites were not obedient . God’s very promises can become nothing to us unless we move beyond the fringe!

Personal Story: (Add a story of your own that con-nects someone’s instructions being helpful to you .)

b) We need to listen for a better way . Listening to God’s voice is the key to our safety . God’s voice will not only res-cue us from trouble but it will also steer us away from potential dangerous situations . However, we have to be open to listening for His voice with the understanding that God’s ways are better than our ways .

This story shows us that there was a woman who was open to the voice of God and ran to His voice . She knew that this voice was different than others . She knew that this voice could change everything in her life! The story continues though .

We Must . . . 2 . Respond to His presence (verse 25 . . . “and came”—her

response)a . We need to ignore cultural traditions . While there are

some very good traditions we follow, there are also some traditions that hold us back from experiencing something great . Let me give you an example .

Blockbuster video said on national television that Redbox and Netflix would never survive . The problem is, Redbox and Netflix ignored the cultural norm to create something amazing .

Changing traditions isn’t always as easy as it sounds . In fact, in some cultures, ignoring a tradition could lead to time in prison or even death . However, history tells us time


185and again of men and women who ignored their cultural traditions for the benefit of creating something greater .

In the book of Mark we see a women who left her tradi-tion/culture in order to pursue Jesus . This doesn’t seem like that big of a deal except, in Jesus’ day it was not law-ful for a Jew, which Jesus was, to connect with Gentiles, especially Gentile women . However, this woman ignored traditions because there was the possibility of something greater than what she had ever known . Her decision to go to Jesus was unheard of in that culture . It was in many ways, shameful and socially unacceptable!

b . Her decision was an act of faith . Her decision was more than just a rebellious attempt to free other women . Her response was an act of faith in a God she believed could save her and her daughter . There is something exciting when we leave our traditions and culture in order to pur-sue God .

(Personal Story: Add your own story of how God responded to your faith .) Our story continues .

We Must . . . 3 . Offer our best worship (verse 25 . . . “fell down at His feet”) .

a) We must have humble worship . Have you ever started on a task and forget what you were trying to do? The temp-tation we have during this journey is to remain around the fringe . We become so excited with the first steps that we never move forward in our faith!

Once this woman arrived at the house where Jesus was staying, she fell at His feet and worshipped Him . Running to Jesus is a great start, but we can’t forget the goal once we start our journey . Our goal is a relationship with Him! Our goal is living our life to please Him .

b) We need to pursue God with everything . The only way we can become all that Christ wants us to be is to move beyond the fringe . I mentioned at the beginning of this message that we all live on the fringe of a good or bad decision .

One of the biggest distractions from moving off of the fringe is our traditions and culture . We allow what others think about us to determine how we will respond to Christ .

Yet as we read this story we see this woman broke beyond her culture and worshipped Christ freely! She fell at His feet in humble worship, pursuing Him at all costs . I wonder what life would be like if we would do the same thing . What could God do through us if we just gave Him our all? What if God didn’t have to compete with our friends, video games, Facebook or TV?

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1 . Why do you need to take time to listen to God? How does God speak to you? Why does listen-ing to God seem difficult at times? What do you need to eliminate so you can hear God clearly?

2 . Why does responding to God feel so uncom-fortable sometimes? How can your culture intimidate you from obeying God?

3 . Is your worship more about music styles or gratitude to and communion with God? Do we come to God humbly or carelessly? What does it mean to worship God with our very best?

Challenge your group to practice the following spiritual habits .• MaketimetolistentoGodeachday.• RespondtoGodthroughimmediateobedience.• Take worship seriously by thinking about

the many blessings God’s given you despite your worst sins . Focus on all of His amazing attributes,

Prayer: Lord, if we’re going to allow You to sanctify our lives, it has to start with our choices . Our desires must submit to Your desire for us . By listening to You, responding to Your presence and offering our best worship, we know that our lives are on the right track to being sanctified to You .

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stuDent outLineMark 7:24-30 ESV

We Must…1 . _____________________________________ .

(verse 25 . . . a woman heard about Him)

a) We need to be_____________________________ .

NOTES:

b) We need to ______________________________ .

NOTES:

We Must…2 _________________________________________ .

(verse 25 . . . came)

a) We need to _______________________________ .

NOTES:

b) Her decision ______________________________ .

NOTES:

We Must…3 . _________________________________________ .

(verse 25 . . . and fell at His feet)

a) We must ________________________________ .

NOTES:

b) We need to _______________________________ .

NOTES:

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LiFestyLe chanGesJames 1:13-15, NIV*

24 And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon . And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden . 25 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29 And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 30 And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone .

1 . There are many voices all around us . Many of those voices are telling us to value ourselves above others, but Jesus taught us differently . How did Jesus tell us to treat others? Why?

2 . How does our conduct prove to others that we’re set apart to serve God?

3 . What ways do you treat people that would make others think that you don’t serve God?

We Must . . . Become humble (verse 25 . . . “she fell at his feet”)a) Humble in our culture - Today’s culture tells us

that we should raise ourselves above others . We are constantly in competition because of this .

Guys compete in sports to become the best, dress to impress the women, try to make others laugh for accep-tance and make fun of others just to make themselves look good .

Girls dress certain ways for acceptance, gossip about each other, emotionally overreact for attention and make fun of others just to make themselves look good .

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189In order to move away from the fringe of selfishness

you must first become humble within your culture . By becoming humble in your culture you are taking on the attitude of Christ to those who don’t know Him .

The woman we read about in Mark chapter 7 broke cul-tural customs to come see Jesus . However, the way she approached breaking this culture was important . Had she broke this cultural tradition in a rude or disrespectful manner, Christ would not have been moved to listen to her request . However, she broke the culture in such a loving way that even those with Jesus had to respect her!

Have you ever thought about how we might raise our-selves above others in church too? Just think about all the ways we wished church would change for our own preferences .

b) Humble in our worship - Feet stink . Feet carry germs . Shoes weren’t invented yet and so everyone wore san-dals . Dirt, germs, sweat, and fungus thrive on sandals . What made bowing down to Jesus’ stinky feet an act of worship? It symbolized that she was worse than Jesus’ dirty feet and wasn’t worthy to even be next to Jesus . This is what humble worship looks like . Humble wor-ship is acknowledging that we aren’t worthy to be near Jesus . Her humble act was paving the way to overcome the fringe both spiritually and culturally forever . Worship can’t be genuine if we aren’t living humbly both inside and outside the church .

Our story continues .

We Must . . . 2 . Value others as ourselves (verse 26 . . . “for her daughter”)

a) She left the edge for someone else’s need . Have you ever had someone give you something that you would be to afraid to ask for?

(Personal Story: Tell a story about a time that you received a gift from someone who went to great lengths to get it for you .)

The Bible tells us that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves . Moving beyond the fringe of selfishness requires that we begin helping others and their needs . However, we can’t help others if we’re not willing to leave the fringe of selfishness!

b) She begged for her daughter . Have you ever seen some-one so desperate that they were willing to do just about anything for help?

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The act of giving to others is at the very heart of God . After all, this was why God sent His only begotten Son . When the mother in our story went to Jesus and begged for her daughter, Jesus took notice .

You and I have to understand that selfishness is not a part of God’s plan for our life . When we can’t love others as ourselves we can’t truly embrace God’s promises for our lives! Only when we value others as ourselves do we understand the heart of God . Only when we value others as ourselves do we move beyond the fringe of selfishness and move towards a genuine relationship with Christ .

We Must …3 . Become persistent (verses 27-29 . . . “good answer, He said”)

a) She wasn’t discouraged . Have you ever had a moment where you felt sorry for yourself? Maybe you had high hopes for something and it didn’t happen the way you hoped it would . The woman in our story could have walked away depressed and discouraged, but she didn’t . She became persistent in her faith and kept trying .

When difficult situations in life happen we must learn not to become discouraged . Rather, we must learn to become persistent in seeking after Christ .

b) She humbly responded with faith . On the flip side, we must also be careful that we are being humbly persis-tent . Some people become demanding, but this is not the proper way to respond in faith! “The Lord’s compassion was awakened by the tenacity of the woman’s prayers” (John Chrysostom, an Archbishop of Constantinople) .

(Personal Story: Tell a story of how God answered a prayer that you had consistently prayed for .)

1 . What does humility look like? Is a humble per-son usually viewed as weak or strong? Why? How does humility set us apart to serve God better?

2 . Why do people go to great lengths to support each other? How does serving others set us apart to serve God better?

3 . Have you ever had a prayer that God delayed in answering? What does persistence teach us about God? How can being persistent in our prayers set us apart to serve God better?

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191Challenge your group to practice the following

spiritual habits .• Humbleyourselftothosewhohaveauthority

over you . • Go to bat for someone. Don’t lie to protect

someone, but find someone who is in need of help and then go help them .

• Set a consistent schedule of time for prayer.This helps us become persistent in our prayers .

Pray for each other’s needs! for whatever rea-son, we can still trust Him . When things don’t turn out the way we want or expect, He knows best .

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192BecoMinG consistent

Mark 7:24-30 ESV*

24 And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon . And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden . 25 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet . 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs .” 28 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29 And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter .” 30 And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. (emphasis added)

1 . There are many voices all around us . Everyone wants to tell us how to live our lives . If some-one can keep us from living consistently then they have a greater chance to tell us how to live . Why is consistency a good thing in life?

2 . Does consistency ever hurt you? How so? 3 . How can consistency help us in our walk with

God?

We Must . . . 1 . Be desperate (verse . 26… and she begged Him)

a) In our faith - Trusting in something unfamil-iar can be a scary thing . Think back to the first roller coaster you ever rode . Or, think back to the first time you flew in a plane . Trusting in something unfamiliar is tough . Have you ever had a situation where you became desperate for help?

(Ask the students for an example .)(Personal Story: Share a time when you were despa-

rate for help .)When tough times rise up within your life there are

two choices . You can either look to God or you can try


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193to handle the situation by yourself . The woman we read about decided to put her trust and hope in Christ . She became so desperate for His help that she left her com-fort zone in order to pursue faith .

b) With our actions- One of the most annoying and frustrat-ing feelings is when you buy something and it doesn’t do what it is supposed to do .

(Personal Story: Share a short story of a time when you bought something and it didn’t do what it was sup-posed to do .)

When businesses claim to be something they are not, they end up looking bad . Those who claim they are Christ followers but don’t live a godly life end up looking bad too! Too many of us live on the borders of life . We continue to hold on to our old habits after accepting a new lifestyle that calls us to no longer sin . However, without an external and an internal change we live on the outskirts of faith and belief . In other words, our faith and our works have to be working together . There can’t be one without the other!

We Must . . . 2 . Grow in faith (verse 28 . . . “and she answered Him”)

a) Despite our past - There are times in our life that our past can creep back up and hurt us . Have you ever had this hap-pen before?

(Personal Story: Share about a time something embar-rassing happened to you and how this part of your past can still embarrass you .)

Our past actions can help us and they can hurt us . In this story, the woman is a part of a nation well known for their sin . Her past is a simple sign for Jesus to test her on . However, despite her past she demonstrates that she has already moved beyond the fringe of her past with her sim-ple response . Her faith is no longer in her past, but now her faith is in Christ .

One of our biggest problems is that we feel like Christ could never use us or embrace us because of our pasts . We allow our pasts to keep us from success . In fact, many times our pasts keep us on the fringe of failure . The only way to overcome this is by . . .

b) Believing for the future - From the moment we are born until the moment we die we all have thoughts about our future . Think back to when you didn’t know how to ride a bicycle . You dreamed of the day that you would be able to ride that bike with your friends . Growth and maturity

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are required traits for one to move forward in their future . Without growth or maturity one may never experience their dreams and hope .

The woman in Mark 7:24-30 had developed her faith . When Jesus reminds her of the rightful order of blessing, her faith didn’t shrink . The future healing of her daughter that she believed for was directly related to the growth she developed through her faith in Christ . When we grow in faith it doesn’t matter what situations we face . In fact, those who are growing in their faith will put their hope in Christ even more when the impossible presents itself! (Refer back to the text .)

We Must . . . 3 . Move forward (verse 30 . . . “when she arrived home”)

a) She left the moment- We all love to be in the excitement of life . However, what happens after that incredible expe-rience passes is just as important as that moment itself .

We all love hanging in the moment of God’s presence . But if we never take that experience and apply it to our daily routines then we’ve missed the point of what God was doing . What if the lady who asked Jesus to heal her daughter never went home to see if Jesus healed her . As God reveals himself to us we have to be purposeful to move forward and not get caught in the moment! We live on the fringe of failure every time we refuse to move forward from those past moments we experienced with Christ!

b) She received her request - After moving forward we real-ize that life will not be the same as it has been .

(Personal Story: Share a time when you experienced a major life change such as a new job, getting married, hav-ing a child, etc .)

Moving forward is a requirement if we’re going to move from the shadows of failure . Consistently moving forward helps us to break through old habits . When the woman came home and saw that her daughter was no longer possessed by a demon she knew that life would be different . Her relationship to her daughter, to her family, to her neighbors and to Jesus would never be the same!

Those of you who have never experienced this life changing experience are missing out . Living an inconsis-tent life will always keep you from receiving the very best for your life . When we become desperate for Christ, grow in our faith and move forward beyond all the excitement we can build consistency that helps us set our lives apart to serve Christ in greater ways!


1951 . How can our understanding of our desperate

spiritual condition encourage us to set our lives apart for God? How can we consistently remain desperate for God in our lives?

2 . What spiritual habits do you need to consis-tently practice in order to grow in your faith?

3 . How can moving forward after a good or bad experience help us to set our lives apart for God? How can consistent spiritual habits help us move forward through life’s experiences?

Challenge your group to practice the following spiritual habits .• Take time to thank God for themany times

He was faithful to you in circumstances you didn’t know how to handle .

• Pick1newspiritualhabitandpracticeiteveryday this week .

• Findacircumstanceorsituationthatyoucanmove forward in and do so by faith .

Pray for each other’s needs!

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stuDent outLineMark 7:24-30

We must …1 . _______________________ .

(verse 26)

a) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .

NOTES:

b) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .

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We must …2 . _______________________ .

(verse 28)

a) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .

NOTES:

b) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .

NOTES:

We must …3 . ________________________ .

(verse 30)

a) ______________________ .

NOTES:

b) ______________________ .

NOTES:

who “causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom . 8:28 NASB, emphasis added to “all”)?

Tonight I’m going to chal-lenge you to repeat a dangerous prayer, as I lead it . You may not mean it right now, but I want you to pray it anyway, as an act of faith . (Lead a faith-filled prayer such the one below .)

Jesus, I want to trust You, but I’m not sure how. I want to change the way I focus on You, but I’m still in a lot of pain. Tonight, I’m asking for Your help. I’m giving You the broken pieces of my life and I’m asking You to recreate me. Reform me, Lord, in Your image. Recreate me with new pas-sions and desires. Reorient me to a new way of living and help me rediscover my purpose and destiny in You. This life is not about me. I know that now. It’s all about You, so help me to live that way. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.


197eVaLuation

Psalm 139*

We’re wrapping up a series called The Parable of the Acrobat (briefly describe “Orientation,” “Disorientation” and “Reorientation .”) .

Tonight we’re going to talk about Evaluation .Have you ever been tested and then had to

wait for the results?When I was in high school I took both the ACT and

the SAT . Without a doubt, the hardest part was waiting all those weeks to see how I did (share your personal experience) .

We live in an instant gratification society . It’s hard for us to wait for anything . We want to know, right now, how we did, what the results are and what we should do next . But that may not be a godly virtue . It’s certainly American, but it may not be biblical .

The more I follow Jesus, the more I think He just wants me to rest in Him . Like Martha, I’m running around doing tasks while He just wants me to sit at His feet like Mary . I take pride in checking things off my to-do list, but He is simply looking for my heart .

What does God really think of us? After all we’ve done; after a life full of both good and bad, victories and defeats; orientation, disori-entation and reorientation, what’s His evaluation? If life is really just a series of tests, what’s our grade? How does God evaluate us?

As we conclude The Parable of the Acrobat, for the last time I invite you to picture yourself in the story .

The Kingdom of heaven is like an acrobat who fell off a wagon . . . (The basic story is outlined below . It includes a very brief summary of the first three parts . Rich, descriptive details are

what make any story good, so add them as you see fit .)• Theworld’sgreatestmaleandfemaleacrobatsmeet,fallin


farmer (Part Two)• After 17 years he reconnects with his parents/troop and

begins traveling with them, but struggles to acclimate (Part Three) .

• Fiveyears later, the troopagain travels to this little town,where the young man was raised as a farmer .

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• Hundredsofpeople,practicallythewholetown,clammertosee the show and the boy they all know so well .

• Astheperformancebegins,alonefigureappearsattheverytop of the tent, dropping faster than anyone has ever seen .

• Theyoungmanhasrediscoveredhisdestinyandisnowthestar of the show, doing things no one has ever seen or even heard of .

• Hisperformance(but,evenmore,hisstory)causesevery-one watching to come alive again as they remember their deep, inner dreams .

• Somegohometoswingonropesoftheirown,sometakeupanew hobby and some just have long-overdue conversations .

• The young man is an inspiration not because he becamesomeone else, but because he discovered who he actually was . In so doing, helped many others to do the same .

Now, whether you can see yourself in this story or not, it’s yours . It’s your story . This is how God sees you, as His beloved chil-dren . Here’s the best news of all: He is the one making the evalu-ation . He is the one giving the grade . He is the loving Father who started and will finish the show . He simply wants you to live as He knows you were created .

One more time we’re going to go to the Psalms, as they exem-plify our entire existence . And tonight, rather than have your turn in your Bible with me, I simply want you to listen . I want you to try to soak in and believe the evaluation you’re about to hear . I want you to truly know, deep in your heart, that this is your connection to the God of the universe . I want you to close your eyes and truly hear to the words of Psalm 139 . (Read this passage, in its entirety, in whichever translation you like . It’s rather long, but crucial to our sense of identity and purpose .)

Isn’t that beautiful? It’s almost too good to be true, isn’t it? Yet, it is . You don’t have to believe something in order for it to be true . Something is true simply because it’s true . This is true . This is how God sees you . This is your evaluation .

So what does that mean for us? How does that affect us? In what ways does that truth flesh itself out?

This is probably the most important application of the whole series . As we make it, one last time let’s remind ourselves of the two-fold purpose . We want you to:


2 . chanGe the Way you Focus on it .Hopefully, by this point, you’ve changed your focus from yourself

(and/or your pain) to God . Lord willing, you’ve also changed the

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199way you focus on Him; you’ve admitted the negative, but chosen to focus on the positive . Tonight we want to seal that . Tonight we want to confess the word of God over our lives .

This might feel weird to some of you . You may not be used to verbally speaking out in church . Unfortunately, our Church of God tradition has steered away from corporate confessions of faith, but they’re very biblical and historically rich .

Tonight, as a community of faith, all together, we’re going to confess the truth over our lives . By faith, we’re going to declare God’s Word, whether we believe it or not . I want to you repeat after me, to confess these truths and then watch them become true in your heart and life . (Lead your students in declaring the following . It might even be good to have them printed, to hand out as students leave .)1 . I am a child of God and heir to the Kingdom of heaven .2 . I can do whatever God says I can do and be whoever God says

I can be .3 . I will seek God’s Kingdom first, above all others, and He will

provide everything else I need .4 . I will follow Jesus wherever He may lead and, in so doing, find

true freedom and healing .5 . I will seek God’s face and not His hand .6 . I am not defined by my past pain and suffering . I am fully

forgiven and free from all shame and condemnation .7 . I will trust in the Lord with all my heart, submit to Him fully,

and not lean on my own understanding .8 . I will cry out to the Lord in dark times and trust Him to hear

and respond to my needs .9 . I will admit the negatives in my life, but focus/dwell on the

positives .10 . I believe that God is doing a new, miraculous thing in my life

and my future in Him is glorious .11 . I am called of God and He works everything out for my ulti-

mate good .12 . I walk in the Spirit every day, everywhere I go, in everything I do .

How does that feel? What if you truly believed that? What if you walked in those truths every single day? What if you were defined not by how you feel or by what the world says about you, but by those truths? What if God’s Word is right and you are exactly and only who He says? What if you were to repeat those faith confessions every

day, until they worked themselves into your spirit and you saw them become true in your own life?

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That’s my closing challenge to you . As we finish this series, allow me to repeat this one, final time: we want you to experience freedom and healing . We want you to discover your identity and pur-pose . Those things are only found in Christ . I know life has a way of beating you down and then kick-ing you while you are down, but that’s only a part

of your story . Even if you’re in the midst of a season of disorien-tation, hope is still alive and well . God is still on His throne . He has not lost control . The best is yet to come . Trust Him . Lean hard into Him . Repeat all twelve of those faith confessions, for as long as you need to, until you truly believe them . Let God’s truth become your truth . Let Him define who you are and what your life means . Let’s pray together, in closing, by faith . (Closing Prayer)

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