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!!