lesson loop 7.31.14

Middle School - "God as Savior"
After our series on Creation and the Bible, we began a new series on Salvation.
We started by using an illustration of creating a paper airplane which is intended to fly. Then I took the students' airplanes and tore them to shreds and asked them to fly them again. Obviously, they didn't fly too well. This is an illustration of how our lives are torn apart from sin, and we do not accomplish what we are created to do - bring glory to God.

We then considered the reason why we need God - because this sin is ingrained in us, and we cannot earn our way to heaven. We looked at the following verses:

Romans 5:12
Because of Adam's sin, we are all born sinners, and because of our sin we all experience death - separation of body and soul, and separation from God.

Romans 6:23
We discussed the idea of a "wage", and how we can never earn our way to heaven. In fact, the wage that we deserve (because of our sin) is separation from God for all eternity.

Romans 4:4-5
Getting to heaven does not require a wage that we pay, but rather it is a wage that Jesus paid, and posts on our account as a free gift. Where would we be without a Savior??

We then talked about how Jesus blots out our sins with His own blood, and we considered Isaiah 43:25. We illustrated this by using white-out on the word sin written on 3x5 cards.


High School - "facing opposition (while sharing your faith)"
We continued the conversation from Kickback, where we went over how to share your faith, particularly with those who disagree with you. We looked at 1 Timothy 3:13-17, and considered that we should have a:

1. Bold Defense
   * No one can harm us unless God allows it.
   * We will be blessed even if we are persecuted.
   * We are commanded to have no fear.
   * We are told to make a defense and get ready for when people ask us about our faith - this is why we are studying the various world-views.
2. Gentle Approach
   * We are told to share Christ with gentleness.
   *We are told to have respect for those who disagree with us.

Then we watched a Dare 2 Share video on how to share your faith with those from other faiths. You can find that video here: http://youtu.be/E7RkC9C3H7U

This can be summed up with 3 words:

1. Ask - ask questions, let someone talk about themselves. Transition from the "un-spiritual" to the "spiritual".
2. Admire - There is always something we can admire about people, no matter what their faith viewpoint is.
3. Admit - We must admit that the reason we are a Christian is because we are sinners desperately in need of a Savior. We should share the gospel very clearly (use the G.O.S.P.E.L. acronym if you want to).

We then broke up into pairs and picked one of the worldviews to study  - students accessed these on their Dare 2 Share app they downloaded or on the paper handout I had. That app can be downloaded for android, iOS or iPad here: is.gd/Eqh74O

If you prefer to have the packet of the 13 worldviews, you can find that here: http://goo.gl/MMPE2y

I believe this is important for our students to begin to learn about other faith systems and prepare to share their faith. Lord willing this will lead to awesome conversations that lead students to Christ!