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.

lesson loop 10.16.14

Family Night - "Guilty Before God Part 2"
This past Tuesday we had a great time together as students, youth workers and families. Everyone jumped into what the Middle School students have been learning - a study on humanity called "Who Am I?"

Big Idea: Who am I? I am made in the image of God, born sinful, and guilty before God.

Since we focused on how the non-religious are guilty before God last MS lesson, this time we looked at how the "religious" are guilty before God as well.

The "religious" are guilty before God because...

1. All are sinful (2:1-5)

We have to guard against self-righteousness. We tend as people to point out people who struggle with "big sins", but in reality our hearts are all guilty of the same type of sins. We have no right to judge others and not recognize and admit our own sin.

The real question is: Have I ever truly repented?

1. God demands perfection (2:6-11)

The only way to gain righteousness through the Law is to be perfect, and only one man ever accomplished that - Jesus Christ. We can not measure up through our morality, we need Jesus and His righteousness!

1. "Hearing" isn't enough (2:12-24)

It is not enough to grow up in a home where you are surrounded by the Word of God, where you hear it taught constantly. It doesn't rub off on your heart like that. We must repent ourselves and believe in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation, following Him as His disciple.

1. Heart change is needed (2:25-29)

What is truly needed is for our heart to be transformed so we can walk with God and please Him. Only then can we live the life He wants us to, and this should give us a humility where we do not condemn others but rather cry out to God for His mercy.

It is true that God has to tear down the facade of our self-righteousness before He can build a strong foundation of the true righteousness of Christ.

lesson loop 10.1.14

Middle School - "Guilty before God"
We continued our study on humanity, and we built on the Big Idea we have been developing from Scripture.
Big Idea: Who am I? I am made in the image of God, born in sin, and guilty before God.

Last night we specifically focused on why "non-religious" people are guilty before God -

The non-religious are guilty because of…

1. God’s Creation (Rom. 1:18-25)
His invisible attributes - eternal power & divine nature

The students also listed on paper what they consider to be the greatest evidences that there is a God. You can find their list here: student evidences of God

How the non-religious rejects God… (the process)

• He suppresses the truth
• He dishonors God (is ungrateful to God)
• His thinking becomes futile
• His heart is darkened
• He exchanges the glory of God for idolatry (worship creature instead of Creator)

2. Man’s Conscience (Rom. 2:14-16)

God has given us an internal law (hearts) & conflicting thoughts (mind)

High School - Proverbs 4
Often in the book of Proverbs, we are presented with 2 ways - The Way of Wisdom (Righteousness) and The Way of Foolishness (Evil)

Last night we considered the Way of Wisdom.

Big Idea: Skillful, Christ-like living takes place on the Way of Wisdom.

2 characteristics of the Way of Wisdom…

1. Freedom (v. 11-12,19)

2. Brilliance (v. 18-19)

Ps. 19:8; Ps. 119:105,130; Prov. 6:23

Jesus is the Way, Truth and Life!! (John 14:6)

4 steps on the Way of Wisdom

1. Hear God’s word (v. 1-3,10,20) - repetition emphasizes importance

• Godly heritage? Praise God! (3 generations) - working out of Deut. 6
• No heritage? Look to Proverbs! Lean on the loving adults here at Ebenezer...

2. Get wisdom / insight (v. 5,7,13) - “buy”
3. Keep God’s commandments - (v. 4,13,21)
1. pure speech (v.24)
2. pure eyes; focus (v. 25)

3. pure actions (v. 26-27)

*Don’t give evil an inch!! (v. 15)

4. Guard your heart

Legalism vs. Love - It is important for us to understand that guarding our heart is about what we love, not about what we do or don't do. Having said that, what we do affects our heart; it is a cycle.
And so we must guard our heart with our life!!