lesson loop 12.19.15

Middle School - "Walk Humbly"

Big Idea: True worship includes walking humbly with God.

We revisited Micah 6:8 for the third and final time, reminding ourselves what true worship involves - Doing Justice, Loving Kindness, and Walking Humbly.

Philippians 2:1-11

True humility comes from...

Being united with Christ (v. 1)

• How does being in Christ encourage us?
• He has removed our sins and given us His righteousness!!
• Because He lives we have eternal life!

Being changed by His love (v. 1)

• His love comforts us!!
• What do you run to for comfort??
• The simple truth: Christ’s love changes us and because we have received His love we actually have the affection and sympathy (v. 1) we need to get along with others and be humble.

Christ’s humility…

Had it all but emptied Himself (v. 7)

• in control
• not emptied of divinity, but certain rites and powers

Lived like a Servant (v. 7)

• not just born like a servant, but lived like one - homeless, no paycheck
• demanded none of His rights as King.

Died a criminal’s death for me (v. 8)

• “even death on a cross” - was as looked down on as “electric chair” “lethal injection”
• you and I deserve a criminal’s death

High School - Ecclesiastes 5:8-6:12 (Enjoying God's Provision)

Big Idea: Joy comes through accepting things from God’s hand

There is again a contrast -

life “under the sun” vs. [ life lived with God in the picture - 5:18-20 ]

Joy does not come through wealth (5:8-17)

• wealth doesn’t satisfy (simply consuming something doesn’t bring you joy); we talked about how your new cell phone becomes obsolete...
• wealth can be harmful (5:8-9, 13-17)
• harmful to others - injustice (8-9)
• harmful to self - (13-17); idolatry creates a "sick heart"
• we looked at some definitions of idolatry
• idolatry has always been a serious danger for God’s people (OT, NT)

Joy comes through accepting things from God’s hand (contentment) (5:18-6:12)

We need to understand our role and God's role

• our role: work hard and be content with what He has given us (5:18-20)
• God’s role: distribute wealth as He sees fit and grant contentment (5:18-6:2)
• God determined what economic situation you would be born in!!
• When God grants us contentment (the “power to enjoy” our possessions), we are free to be generous in what we are given, and we are free to give!!)
• Stewardship - It is all God’s!
• Tithe (first fruits)
• Giving to the poor

We ended by looking at Hebrews 13:5

lesson loop 12.8.15

Middle School - "Love Kindness"

Big Idea: Our life should be defined by faithful love

Faithful love is of God (v. 1-2)

• “Be imitators of God” (5:1)— Jesus came to earth to show how God acts.
• We listed things we can imitate about God
• 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 defines real love - we talked about how we can have this kind of love in our families

Faithful love is pure and thankful (v. 3-14)

• “sexual immorality (πορνεία), impurity, covetousness must not even be named among you…” - we talked about how the world ties love and improper physical relationships together
• “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking” (5:4)
• Immorality (out of place) vs. Thankfulness (appropriate)

purity = light

impurity = darkness

• There should be a real difference between those of us who follow Christ and those who do not (if we are living a life of love…)

Faithful love is wise (v. 15-18)

• “look carefully” - being sober-minded
• “making the best use of time” (redeeming the time - “buying as a good businessman”) - we talked a little bit about how we spend our time. This is a big struggle for teenagers since we live in such a busy society.
• v. 18) side note - alcohol is an issue of wisdom

Faithful love is practiced in community (v. 19-21)

• God has given us a body of believers so that we may grow in love…
  “submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ…”  
• This is how you can love someone even when you don’t like them or you are upset with them. This is how you can submit to an authority figure when you disagree or are angry...

High School - Ecclesiastes 4:1-5:7 ("Meaningful Relationships")

We began by listing as many social networks as we could think of. Then we took a poll - most kids had at least 4,5 or 6 of these social networks right now. Yet, I made the point that despite all these ways of connecting, it is possible to become more and more lonely.

Big Idea: God designed relationships to bring meaning to life.

Relationships...

Provide comfort (Read 4:1-3)

• sometimes life just seems to oppress you…
• High School can seem oppressive at times… - we talked about how family and friends helps us through these difficult times.

Bring more joy than work or success (Read 4:4-8)

• A lot of people work so hard to outdo their neighbor or impress others…
• “Overachiever” - envy (4:4) vs. “Underachiever” (4:5) vs. Balanced (4:6)
• The man who chooses money over people.
• Relationships are better than $$
• Isaiah 30:15 - quietness and rest requires trusting God… you will not have good relationships if you do not make time to rest...

Provide accountability and protection (Read 4:9-12)

• seems that these 3 scenarios are all related to traveling during this time period
• fall
• warmth
• bandits
• How should we apply this? As we travel through this Christian journey, we need others for...
• accountability - fall into sin, who is there to help us? (more in a second…)
• spiritual warmth and fervor (“iron sharpens iron”)
• protection - Satan wants to pick us off like a sniper

Guard us from foolishness (Read 4:13-16)

• We begin life with a bent towards foolishness, but according to these verses we can even grow foolish as we go through life
• We need people who can give us advice, confront us on areas… - we talked about how we need to push our Christian friendships deeper so that we are talking about our sin struggles and lovingly confronting each other. I challenged the students to go after students who have fallen away.

Relationship with God brings ultimate meaning (earthly relationships are not enough) (5:1-7)

How does one relate to God?

• Soberly (obediently)
• Attentively (goes along with listening)
• Sincerely

Bottom line -  We must fear God!!

lesson loop 11.29.15

Combined - "How should I think about money?"
I figured while the parents were hearing about how to pay for college, the best way I could prepare students along these lines was to teach them how to think Biblically about money. We looked at 8 principles on money from the book of Proverbs.

Big Idea: God cares how we think about money.

8 Biblical Principles about Money (from Proverbs)

Money comes from hard work (6:10-11, 10:4, 12:27; 14:23)

• 10:4) hard work and diligence will lead to success - usually true in academics, job, sports...
• 12:27) the lazy person doesn’t follow through
• 14:23) you can’t just talk about what you are going to do; you need to get to work
• 6:10-11) Laziness is deceptive (something you have to fight...)

Money is a blessing from God (poverty can be judgment) (10:22; 13:18; 22:4; 28:20)

• 10:22) God makes rich. We do not make ourselves rich
• 13:18) Poverty can also be part of God’s judgment or consequences for our foolishness.
• 22:4) General principle (wisdom literature) - just like 10:4 - “hand of the diligent makes rich…”

Money should be saved (when possible) (6:6-8; 13:22; 21:20)

• 6:6-8; 13:22; 21:20)
• Beware of “spending money” before you have it…

Money should be gained honestly (11:1,18)

• 11:1,18) Justice and honesty are dear to the heart of God - He “delights in it”, and  He calls dishonesty an abomination.  
• Cheating is trivialized (victimless crime). But is it? What if we are the victim? What if we sacrifice our integrity for money??
• There is no point in accumulating wealth dishonestly, because God is ultimately in control - and He can take it away in a moment, or give it to the needy (v. 22)

Money brings physical security (10:15; 19:14; 22:7)

• 10:15) There is value in having money - It can protect you in times of trouble.
• 19:14) Wealth can even be passed down to your children and grandchildren. There is value in this.
• 22:7) Right or wrong, this is a fact of life.

Money is not as valuable as favor (or wisdom) (8:11; 22:1; 28:6,11)

• 8:11) jewels are considered precious. But wisdom is better still. In fact, nothing material that you could ever desire is as precious as wisdom.
• 22:1) “name” - reputation, character. (favor with God and people)
• There are quite a few rich people who are hated, who are jerks.
• 28:6,11  - your integrity is more valuable than money (thief cannot steal it…).
• wisdom (understanding) is more valuable than money

Money has no eternal profit (10:2,16; 11:4,7,28)

• 10:2,16 Treasures (no matter how you get them) can profit someone physically, but not spiritually.
• 11:4) When we stand before God, it isn’t going to matter how much is in our savings account, or how many cars we had, or what clothes we wore. God isn’t impressed.
• 11:7) Wealth does bring hope, but only for this life.
• 11:28) Those who worship riches will eventually fall - if not in this life, in eternity.

Money is simply a tool (3:9; 19:17;  30:8-9)

A tool to glorify God

• 3:9) Our goal is to “honor the Lord with our $$” (“Whether therefore you eat or drink…”)
• Tithe (first-fruits)
• (Tithing is a way to honor God, and to accomplish the work of the kingdom)
• Another way to use the tool of money is by being generous.

A tool to bless others

• 19:17) Generosity towards those in need is a ministry to and for the Lord.
• Money is simply a tool that we can glorify God with and bless others with. It is not meant as an indulgence for ourselves.

There is a man in the Bible named Agur who understood this, and he wrote about it in…

30:8-9)

Money Tensions (Kevin DeYoung)

• You’ll probably acquire more money if you work hard and are full of wisdom. But if all you care about is getting more money, you are the biggest fool.
• Money is a blessing from God, but you’ll be more blessed if you give it away.
• God gives you money because he is generous, but he is generous with you so that you can be generous with others. And if you are generous with your money, God will likely be more generous with you.
• It is wise to save money, but don’t ever think money gives you real security.
• Wealth is more desirable than poverty, but wealth is not as good as righteousness, humility, wisdom, good relationships, and the fear of the Lord.

“We are only poor for this reason, that we do not know our riches in Christ.”
— Richard Sibbes
The Bruised Reed

lesson loop 11.19.15

Middle School - Do Justice
We picked up where we left off last week - what it means to be a "living sacrifice". One text that is key in understanding this is Micah 6:6-8. We will spend the next several weeks teaching through what this means. This first week we focused on what it means to "do justice".

“do justice” =  keeping the rules (context of integrity)

Some people confuse Christianity with simply living a moral life;  simply “keeping the rules”.

There is a huge problem with this:

• For those who have a lot of trouble keeping the rules - despair and hopelessness
• For those who seem to be good at keeping the rules - pride and self-reliance.

Big Idea: Being a living sacrifice means living justly.

Living justly towards God ( Turn to Psalm 37:27-28)

Turn away from evil
Do good
This is the concept of "putting off" and "putting on" in Scripture (It is not enough to just stop sinning)
Eph. 4:28-29
The Lord loves justice!! (anytime Scripture tells us something that God loves, we should pay attention!)
Living justly towards others (turn to Isaiah 1:16-17)

• Helping the weak and oppressed (“correct oppression”)
• Stopping the oppressor (only way to permanently help the oppressed)
• Caring for believers in need - 1 Jn. 3:14-18

Really, it is a matter of integrity!!

High School - Ecclesiastes 2:24-3:22

We saw that there is a big difference between the perspective of a believer and the perspective of an unbeliever - and it comes down to worldview.

Big Idea: For those with a God-centered worldview, there is incredible meaning and beauty to life

“Coram Deo” - before the face of God

For those with a God-centered worldview…

Life has incredible meaning (2:24-26)

• Life is full of God’s blessings! (these are gifts from God)
• God’s natural blessings - 2:24-25 (food, work, relationship)
• God’s supernatural blessings - 2:26 (wisdom, knowledge, joy)
• Life is about pleasing God! (not ourselves)
• 1 Cor. 10:31

Life has incredible beauty (3:1-22)

• deep beauty
• complex beauty
• eternal beauty
• We have a very limited vantage point (perspective)
• God does all things well! (v. 14); nothing He does is in vain.

Our proper response to all this: 

• Fear Him!! (v. 14)
• Seize the day!! (“nothing better” - 2:24; 3:12, 22)