lesson loop 12.18.14

Middle and High School - Proverbs (Our Speech)

The middle school students joined us as we continue our study in Proverbs. Having made it through the first 9 chapters, we will be spending about 6 weeks looking at specific topics that come up in Proverbs - topics that are heavily emphasized in the book. So on Tuesday we started by looking at our speech. We focused on chapter 10 but we also jumped around to a whole bunch of verses in Proverbs that address speech.

Big Idea: Skillful, Christ-like speech is guarded and intentional. 

We need to guard against...

1. Deceit
   
   • conceal violence and hatred - v. 6,11,18
   • perverse - v. 31,32 (word means dishonest, deceit, fraud, crookedness)
   • 14:25 - breathing out lies
   • 16:28 - “whisperer”
   • 26:28 - lying produces victims and ruin
   • 27:6 - “kisses”
2. Babble
   
   • many words = sin - v. 8,10, 19;  (“babble” - bank of a river)
   • 13:3 - “opens wide”
   • 15:2,28 - “pours out” evil things
   • 18:13 - answering before listening
   • 27:14 - loud, annoying speech
   • 29:20 - “hasty in words” The average young person uses 16,000 words a day. That is 16,000 opportunities for sin or 16,000 opportunities to glorify God.
3. Malice
   
   • hatred and slander - v. 18
   • 11:12 - belittling
   • 15:1 - harsh word stirs up anger
   • 30:11 - curse fathers and mothers 30:14 - “devour”
   
   Word Pictures that illustrate harmful speech:
   

   • 12:18 - sword thrusts (rash words)
   • 16:27 - scorching fire
   • 18:4 - deep waters
   • 25:14 - boasting about a gift you did not give - clouds and wind with no rain
   • 29:5 - flattery spreads a net for someone’s feet

   
   

We need to be intentional about...

1. When not to speak
   
   • 11:12 - remaining silent (we don’t have to fill the silence)
   • 17:28 (appearance of wisdom)
   • 27:2 - refrain from praising yourself (no one likes this)
   • 11:13, 17:9 - keeps things covered
2. When to speak
   
   • 15:23 - a word in season    (swimming at beach)
   • 16:23 - judicious and persuasive
   • 27:6 - wounding a friend
   • 28:23 - rebuke
3. How to speak
   
   • full of understanding and wisdom, knowledge - v. 13,31,32
   • 12:17 - speak truth
   • 14:25 - truth saves lives
   • 15:1 - soft answer diffuses anger
   • 25:15 - soft answer can break a bone
   
   Word Pictures that illustrate good speech:
   

   • fountain of life - v. 11
   • choice silver - v. 20 (apples of gold in setting of silver - Prov. 25)
   • food that feeds many - v. 21
   • 15:4 - tree of life
   • 18:4 - bubbling brook
   • 24:26 - honest answer is like a kiss on the lips (I don’t really need to elaborate on this right?) 
   • 25:13 - refreshing snow

   
   

We closed by thinking of Christ and the speech that He used. He is Wisdom, and there were times He did not speak when He could have, and He always spoke without sin and just what was needed at the right time.

lesson loop 12.11.14

Middle School - "Relationships with our enemies"
One of the most difficult relationships to navigate is our relationship with an enemy. We talked about how God calls us as Christians to do what seems to be impossible - love our enemies. This requires the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit.

Big Idea: Don't be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

We are commanded not to:

1. Repay evil for evil
2. Avenge ourselves

Result: If we do these things, we will be overcome by evil!

We are commanded to:

1. Give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all
2. Live peaceably with all (so far as it depends on us)
3. Leave vengeance to God
4. Love our enemies in practical ways

Result: If we do these things, we will overcome evil with good!

God is passionate about us loving our enemies, because He loved us when we were His enemies. That is the heart of the gospel!

High School - Proverbs 9

The "Tale of 2 feasts"

Big Idea: The skillful, Christ-like individual will choose the nourishment of wisdom instead of the initial burst of sin.

The Nourishment of Wisdom v. 1-6

Rich - meat and wine

*spiritual enjoyment stands head and shoulders above the physical enjoyment of sin

Psalm 16:11

Authentic - God built and designed wisdom, Lady folly simply stole her food.

Difficult --> Enjoyment

*Living a wise life requires difficult sacrifice, but the future holds enjoyment. 

Wisdom Interlude vs. 7-12

*Effects of wisdom

*Heart of wisdom - fear and knowledge of the Lord

The Initial Burst of Sin v. 13-18

Chintzy - sinful folly is cheap imitation, yet Satan masquerades it as sumptuous fare

Tantalizing - It is undeniable that sin is attractive, just like fast food ads. But the food in those pictures is actually fake and inedible. Sin is likewise rotten, yet appears attractive.

Fraudulent - Sinful pleasure is hijacked happiness, it is a robbery of something good God created.

Enjoyable --> Difficult

Sin is enjoyable at first, but not only leads to difficulty but death. This is the exact opposite of wisdom.

We must follow v. 10 -

Fear God!

Know God!

lesson loop 11.26.14

Middle School - "Our relationship with Christians"
We began by mentioning that our relationship with God (which is what we focused on last week) directly affects our relationship with other Christians. We who have received such mercy from God through Christ, and who have laid down our lives as living sacrifices should treat each other different from the rest of the world.

Passage: Romans 12:3-16

Big Idea: Relationships among Christians should look different from relationships in the world.
(we are not to be conformed to the world but transformed)

4 ways that our relationships should be different:

1. Humility - v. 3
   * Pride is a big problem for all of us
   * Our biggest problem is not self-esteem but self-love
   * We as Christians should be the most humble people - because we realize our sinfulness and God's grace.
   * Philippians 2:3-8
2. Unity - v. 4-5
   * We are all unique, and our diversity should make us stronger. Unfortunately, sometimes diversity brings division.
   * We talked about cliques and how we must fight against them.
   * The church should be a safe place you can come and belong. 
3. Interdependence - v. 5b-8
   * This goes back to our diversity. We all have unique gifts and abilities that God can use to help others. We are one body, and we need each other!
4. Love
   a. hospitality - contains the word "hospital". Youth group should be a place where we are looking to meet the needs of those who are broken or injured spiritually. There is something about caring for others that helps take our eyes off our own problems.
   b. camaraderie - When people are sad, we should come alongside of them and be sad. When they are happy and rejoicing, we should rejoice with them! This is what it means to be the body of Christ. We are there for one another!

High School - Proverbs 8

We began by talking about the extravagant claims that some products make - things like axe spray deodorant.
In Proverbs 8, Lady Wisdom makes some pretty extravagant claims. The question is, will be have faith in the claims of wisdom? Do we realize that God is the one making these claims?

Big Idea: Skillful, Christ-like living requires faith in the extravagant claims of wisdom.

6 Extravagant claims of wisdom:

1. Wisdom is good (in every sense of the word!) - vs. 6-9, 12-14,18,21
   * We have a warped sense of good. We need it to be redefined by Scripture. Wisdom is good. It is: noble, right, true, righteous, straight, prudent, full of knowledge, full of discretion, full of counsel, insightful, strong, rich and honorable.
   *Wisdom (the fear of the Lord) hates evil. 
2. Wisdom is best! - vs. 10-11,19
   * Wisdom is better than gold, silver and precious jewels.
   * Wisdom is better than anything we could ever dream or imagine!
3. Wisdom enables men to rule - vs. 15-16
   * Every great leader has only been great because of his natural wisdom deposited in him by God. Even evil rulers owe their abilities to God. He is the only dispenser of wisdom!
4. Wisdom will be found by the diligent - vs. 17
   * This is only true because God allows Himself to be found. If it were not for His grace, we would have no hope of finding wisdom.
   * Wisdom will only be found by those that love God - and this change of heart can only come through change brought about by the Holy Spirit.
5. Wisdom is God's and by it He created all things - vs. 22-30
   * Part of why wisdom is superior is because it has been around before the universe was created! God offers this amazing wisdom to us. Why do we not access it more??
6. Wisdom pleases God - vs. 30
   * We should really pay attention when God tells us something that brings Him pleasure. We should want to please God, so if living wisely brings Him pleasure (and it does), we should strive for this with all our heart.

lesson loop 11.21.14

Middle School - "Our relationship with God"
We began by listing the various kinds of relationships we have - family, friends, neighbors, classmates, etc...
We then talked about what makes a relationship work. What is it that separates good relationships from bad relationships.

Then we turned the corner and talked about our relationship with God from Romans 12:1-2

Big Idea: A relationship with God is based on sacrifice.

1. Our relationship with God begins with Christ's sacrifice
   "Therefore" - we love God and serve Him because He first loved us and gave His only Son for us. We considered the context of the book of Romans - our desperate need for a Savior, Christ's sacrifice on the cross, and the salvation acquired by all who believe. This is where a relationship with God begins.
   *Every good relationship has give and take.
   
   Romans 5:8
   “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
   1 John 4:19
   “We love Him because He first loved us…” Every attempt at a relationship with God apart from Christ is futile and pointless. We need to believe in Jesus as so much more than an example for us. He is a sacrifice that takes our sin upon Himself and gives us purity. This is a great exchange.
2. Our relationship with God is expressed through our sacrifice to God The way in which we show our love for God is by being a living sacrifice. We can't just tell God we love Him with our lips. This is the same for every relationship we are involved with. We looked a little bit at the Biblical idea of sacrifice in the OT, and considered what it is like for us to be living sacrifices each day of our life as a teenager. We cannot be conformed to the world, but transformed into what God wants us to be!

High School - Proverbs 7

We first reviews 5 reasons to flee sexual sin (from a couple weeks ago):

1. What you see is NOT What you get.
2. Sexual sin is bankrupt
3. Covenant sex is fulfilling
4. We live “Coram Deo”

This past Tuesday we focused on more of the "how" than the "why".

Big Idea: Intimacy with God and intentional living will keep us from sexual sin.

1. Intimacy with God will keep us from sexual sin (v. 1-5) There is a direct connection between keeping God's commandments and knowing God, having a relationship with Him. We thought about how we develop intimacy in any relationship - communication, spending time, sharing experiences, trust, etc... This of course applies to our relationship with God as well, and a big part of this is the communication that God makes with us through His Word. This is central to our relationship with Him. vs. 1,2 - "keep" - 3x. If we keep the Scriptures, it will keep us from sin. "This book will keep us from sin, or sin will keep us from this book." - John Bunyan We should treasure and protect the Word of God. Students were challenged to make sure they are having a regular Bible reading. We have devotional Bibles available for all students who need something.
2. Intentional living will keep us from sexual sin (v. 6-27) In Proverbs 7 the Father is very instructive to his son, challenging him to be intentional so that sin does not catch him off guard. He uses the illustration of a simply young man who is destroyed by an immoral woman. "Holiness will not happen by accident." We should be intentional about: where we go, what time we do things, and the direction of our heart. The truth is, we are simply not strong enough to avoid certain temptations, so we must stay far away. We also saw that sexual sin is: attractive, it presents itself as harmless, it makes you feel special (in a dangerously twisted way), and it is an extremely dressed-up death trap! I also cited 2 books which I have ordered and I plan to have available to students who want to borrow them: "Overcoming Sin and Tempation" by John Owen "The Expulsive Power of a New Affection" by Thomas Chalmers.

 

lesson loop 11.13.14

Middle School - "Relationship before Religion"

We began a brand new series on "Relationship" this past Tuesday, entitled "Love God. Love Others"
This first lesson we focused on the relationship we can have with God.

Big Idea:  Being a Christian is about a relationship with God, not about following a religion.

The students first looked at the beginning of relationships in the book of Genesis. The girls looked at Genesis 2 and the boys looked at Genesis 3. After reading the passage they determined which relationships existed and what the rules were for these relationships.

Genesis 2

Relationships: God and man, husband and wife

Rules (God and man): man is to work the garden, enjoy everything except the tree of knowledge of good and evil

Rules (husband and wife): they are to leave their family and form a new family, they are to have intimacy, and the wife is to be a helper to her husband

Genesis 3

Relationships: God and man, husband and wife

Rules (God and man): man is to work the garden, enjoy everything except the tree of knowledge of good and evil; after the Fall banned from the Garden.

Rules (husband and wife): the husband is to lead his wife

All relationships must have rules in order to be healthy.

We then considered a few things about relationships...

1.     God is a God of relationship

Before the universe was created, God existed in relationship - Father, Son, Spirit
Man is created in the image of God, and part of being made in
God’s image is having relationships.

2.    Relationships are part of what it means to be human

 God created people male and female, and this makes reproduction and relationships possible!!
The family is the center of this plan to fill the earth and subdue it.
We are designed to be with other people

3.    Sin has broken our relationships

Adam and eve hide from God
Adam and eve turn on each other

4.    Jesus made a relationship between Perfect God and sinful man possible.

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High School - Proverbs 6:20-35

Big idea: Skillful, Christ-like living involves using Scripture to expose the lies of sin.

The Scripture is a lamp that shines on the darkness of adultery and reveals its true nature.

Jesus reveals what is at the core of adultery in Mt. 5:27-29

Whenever you lust after someone who is not your spouse, you and I are guilty of committing adultery in our heart.

4 Lies about Adultery that Scripture exposes:

1. Adultery is beautiful (v. 24-25) Their is a legitimate beauty that attracts us to sin. But it is very, very deceptive. It is not a sin that someone else is beautiful. It is not even a sin that we notice their beauty. It becomes sin when we "desire their beauty". We need to make a conscious commitment to God that we are not going to lust after others in our heart (like Job did). This is where adultery begins.
2. Adultery is cheap (v. 26) Dishonoring the covenant of marriage which pictures Christ and the church is not taken lightly by God. It will cost us.
3. Adultery is painless (v. 27-29) The Scripture uses the illustration of "playing with fire". There is no way we can do this and not get burned. Even if we get good at "playing with fire". Eventually, it will scorch us. There is no such thing as "casual sex", or sex "with no strings attached".
4. Adultery is sensible (v. 30-35) All those who commit adultery are doing what makes sense at the time. Maybe they feel they are in love or that it will make them happy. But the Word of God says that it will destroy us, and we lack sense. It doesn't matter how much the world normalizes this sin, God's Word is the light that shines on it and exposes it for what it is.

Quote to remember...

“Sin will always take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you far more than you ever want to pay.”

lesson loop 10.31.14

Middle School and High School - Proverbs 6:1-19

Big idea: If we are going to live in a skillful, Christ-like way we must beware of foolishness and sinfulness!

1. Beware of foolishness!
   

Why?  Foolishness can bring slavery (v. 1-5)

Debt enslaves - it becomes a trap.

In trying to help somebody else, they hurt themselves.

How could debt keep you from serving God in a particular way?

• less money to give
• lack of freedom to go where God wants you to
• less time to serve (work dominates your life
• Ultimately you are serving creditors rather than God

Foolishness can also bring robbery (v. 6-11)

Laziness robs us of much.

In trying to help themselves, they hurt themselves.

The wisdom writer tells the lazy person to study ants.

The difference between foolishness and wisdom here is found in the small things...

Both of the examples of foolishness (in Prov. 6) are similar because they both lack the ability to look ahead…

Financial foolishness - no idea what is coming down the pike

Laziness - you need to work as hard as you can now because you have no idea what is coming down the pike.

2. Beware of sinfulness!
   

Why? Sin brings brokenness (v. 12-15)

perversion, dishonesty and divisiveness will destroy you.

In trying to hurt somebody else, they hurt themselves.

This person is manipulative, using his or her body for sin rather than God’s glory.

• Our speech (v. 12) should be used to praise God and encourage others (crooked)
• Our eyes (v. 13) should be used to see the needs around us and see God’s glory in the universe, driving us to praise Him (winks)
• Our feet should be used to go where God wants us to go. (“How beautiful are the feet of those who share the gospel - Rom. 10) - (signals)
• Our hands should be used to do God’s will (points)

Theme of Crookedness - v. 12 (speech), v. 14 (perverted heart)

A person’s crooked behavior stems from their crooked heart.

God hates sin! (v. 16-19)

• haughty eyes
• lying tongue
• hands that shed innocent blood
• wicked heart
• evil actions
• disunity

Sin is completely incompatible with God! He cannot stand sin.

God hates sin more than I or any other human ever could. That should cause us concern.

Yet at the very same time He loves us more than any human ever could.

Christ is our only hope!! Romans 8:1 - “There is therefore now…”

This should cause those of us who are children of God to be grateful and motivated towards holy living.

lesson loop 10.23.14

Middle School - "Called to Belong to Christ"
This was the conclusion of our series on humanity called "Who am I?". Up to this point we have answered this question with...
Who am I? I am made in the image of God, born sinful, and guilty before God.
Tuesday we finished with - "called to belong to Christ". While the 1st 3 describe every human's identity, this final one can be a new identity for all who will follow Jesus!

We began the lesson time with the students sharing their "nickname" or a "nickname" they wish they had. Then we talked about some of the titles or "nicknames" that the apostle Paul had. Paul called himself -

Acts 9:15 - “chosen instrument”

Galatians 1:10 - “servant of Christ”

Ephesians 3:1, 7 - “prisoner for Christ Jesus”, “minister”

Colossians 1:23-25 - “minister”

Titus 1:1 - “servant of God”, “apostle of Jesus Christ”

Romans 1:1 - “servant of Christ Jesus”, “apostle (sent one)”

We noticed that all of these nicknames were focused on Christ. Paul was consumed with Jesus, because his identity was wrapped up in Jesus!

We then turned to Romans 1 where we focused our time looking at vs. 1-17. We saw that...

Belonging to Christ means...

1. Serving Christ
   Belonging means Serving. We are Jesus’s obedient servant, and He is our Lord -
   vs. 1) “servant”
   vs. 4) “our Lord”
   vs. 5) “obedience”
   vs. 7) “Lord”
2. Sharing Christ vs. 16-17 is the them of Paul's ministry. He is obsessed with the gospel, and he is not ashamed, because it is the power unto salvation! If we really believe that all humans are beautifully made in God's image, but born sinful and guilty before God, we must share the gospel of Jesus with them! We cannot be ashamed as difficult as it is to share our faith. We finished by reading Psalm 98, which is a celebration of salvation. This should be the song we share with the world.

High School - Proverbs 5

Proverbs 5 is all about sexual purity. It is a candid yet wisdom-centered approach to sexuality.

Big Idea: Skillful, Christ-like living means we flee sexual sin.

We began with the illustration of how scared we are of a disease like Ebola, and yet we take so lightly the disease of sin - particularly sexual sin.

Then, we saw 4 reasons we must flee sexual sin: 

1. What you see is not what you get (vs. 1-6, 22-23)
2. Sexual sin is bankrupt (vs. 7-14)
   Sexual sin will rob you of honor, reputation, time, strength, and accomplishments.
3. Covenant sex is fulfilling (vs. 15-20)
   Marital sex is the opposite of bankrupt. It carries the idea of: exclusivity, mutual ownership, commitment, enjoyment, fulfillment.
4. We live "Coram Deo"(before the face of God) - vs. 21

Parents - I encourage you to hit this link (http://goo.gl/TQgXxk) and read the whole transcript of the lesson so you know exactly what was said, or listen to it by clicking the player to the right of this page. This will allow you to continue the important conversation with your child about sexual purity.