lesson loop 6.12.14

Middle School - "Basics of Bible Study"
We continued our study on the Bible with a night on "How to study the Bible"
We began by considering the purposes for Scripture from these passages:

2 Timothy 3:16-17

• teaches us
• reproves us (rebuke)
• corrects us
• trains us
• equips us

Hebrews 4:12

• pierces us
• discerns us

Psalm 119:105

• guides us
• protects us (saw that last week)

Then we went through a basic guide of how to navigate through Scripture (book, chapter, verse)
Lastly we focused on these 3 Steps of Bible Study:

1. Observation

1. Read thoughtfully
2. Read repeatedly
3. Read patiently
4. Read selectively - who, what, when, why, wherefore?
5. Read prayerfully
6. Read imaginatively
7. Read meditatively
8. Read purposefully (there is a purpose for every word)
9. Read acquisitively (so we can get something from it)
10. Read telescopically (context! - forest, not just the trees)
11. Work with a paragraph (not so much verse or chapter)

Look for things that are:

• emphasized
• repeated
• related
• alike & unlike
• true to life

2. Interpretation

Barriers:

• language
• culture
• literary style

5 Keys to Interpretation:

1. Content
2. Context
3. Comparison (Sola Scriptura!)
4. Culture (of text)
5. Consultation - secondary resources: study Bible, concordances, Bible dictionary, commentaries, atlas

3. Application

1. Know (the text and yourself)
2. Relate (to your life where you are)
3. Meditate
4. Practice

High School: James 5:1-6

Big Idea: A faith that works flees destructive greed.
We should flee greed because...

1. Greed Backfires in the End (vs. 1-3)

• These rich individuals are condemned not for being rich, but for being rich & wicked. Their sin was connected to their riches, because their sin was greed.
• Those who are greedy have a huge misunderstanding - they believe that riches will save them, but in reality their riches pile up condemnation against them.
• Worshiping riches on earth is not merely futile, it can actually ruin your soul.

2. Greed Hurts Others (vs. 4-6)

• Self-indulgence at others' expense.
• At its heart greed is selfishness.
• We as Americans are in danger.
• We as Christians are in danger.

3. Greed Angers the Lord (vs. 4-5)

• God takes greed seriously - He uses His battle name ("Lord of Hosts")

We ended with Proverbs 30:8-9 -

"Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God."

lesson loop 6.5.14

Middle School & High School - "Family Night"
This was another great family night. These are my favorites. I love students, but I also love youth parents and little siblings of students. To see everyone together worshiping and learning is fabulous.
And we ended it with root beer floats. Can't go wrong with that.

The lesson was our first in a series on the Bible that we will be studying with the Middle School. Everyone had the opportunity to sit in on the 1st lesson which focused on wisdom.

We began with an overview of the purpose of Ebenezer's student ministry, which ties in pretty well with the lesson about growing in wisdom (discipleship). It is a passage that highlights a parent seeking to teach their child the wisdom of God.

Big Idea: Discipleship happens when we embrace the wisdom of God

We first looked at some of the benefits of wisdom from Proverbs 2-3:

1. The Knowledge of God

• the fear of the Lord
• sound wisdom
• righteousness and justice

2. The Protection of God

• a shield
• guarding our paths
• watching over our way
• discretion will watch over us
• understanding will guard us
• delivering us from evil (men and women)

3. The Promises of God

• better gain and more precious than financial wealth!!
• long life
• riches
• honor
• pleasantness
• peace

Then we considered how these benefits are gained. Our passage showed us a process of growing in wisdom:

1. Receive Wisdom (mostly passive in the beginning, happens mostly as a child or first few years of spiritual growth)
2. Learn Wisdom (the stage most teenagers are in, determining what they think about the Scriptures and the Lord)
3. Desire Wisdom (a more mature individual who truly desires the Word more than almost anything else)

We ended by encouraging parents that while we can never make our children desire the Lord, we can pray like crazy and keep giving them the Word of God. We also encouraged the students to treasure up wisdom and beg God for the desire for Him and His Word.

lesson loop 5.29.14

Middle School - "God Your Provider"
Big Idea: Because God created us, we can trust Him to provide for us.
We talked about how there are 2 different ways to look at our blessings - 

1. We brought about everything we have. This is the way the worldly person looks at their life. They are "self-made", and this builds pride in our heart.
2. God has given us everything we have. This is what Scripture teaches us, and we must remember that we would have nothing if it were not for God's grace.

We then looked at God's provision for His people - first for Israel, and then for us.

God's Provision for Israel - Psalm 111

This was physical and spiritual!

• miraculous care in the desert
• inheritance of land
• precepts (the Scriptures)
• redemption from Egypt

God's Provision for Us - Matthew 6:25-34; Romans 8:28-32

Also physical and spiritual!

• He values us (more than animals and plants)
• He saved us
• He is purifying us
• He will glorify us

High School - James 4:13-17

Big Idea: A faith that works teaches us to plan humbly.

We should plan humbly because...

1. Our knowledge is so very limited (vs. 14a)
2. Our life is so very short (vs. 14b)
3. Our will is subject to God's will (vs. 15)

Teenagers think they have their whole life ahead of them. But none of us knows just how long we have on this earth. Life is fragile, and it is in God's hand. So each day we must depend on God and thirst for His grace. We must be gospel saturated.

We were challenged to make all our plans - small and big with the Lord and His will in mind.

Here were a couple helps we shared to determine if our plans are in concert with God's -

• Are my plans sinful or self-focused?
• Are my plans consistent with God’s heartbeat?
• Are my plans made with an eternal perspective?
• Are my plans humble?

lesson loop 5.21.14

Middle School & High School: "You are a Masterpiece"

We had a guest teacher this past Tuesday. Tom Carlstrom shared with us about how we are each created by our God, and we are a masterpiece.
We considered:

• God as Creator (Psalm 102:25)
• God's Strength (Psalm 147:5)
• God's Faithfulness (Numbers 23:19)

Tom challenged us to see ourselves as God designed us - masterpieces that God intentionally created the way He did.

You can listen to the lesson by clicking the player to the right.

lesson loop 5.15.14

MS Lesson: "Creation: For What Purpose?"
After a few students had a chance to make something out of clay with a purpose in mind, we started by mentioning that God formed us for a very specific purpose.
Big Idea: Everything is Created for God's Glory.
We saw this in 3 passages:

1. God's People are Created for His Glory ( Isaiah 43:1,6-7 )
2. God's Enemies are Created for His Glory ( Romans 9:15-17 )
3. God's Universe is Created for His Glory ( Romans 11:36 )

While this is a very truth - that God created us to glorify Him, we talked about how many Christians get this wrong. Somehow we become so self-centered that we feel as though God exists for us - to make our life better and prosper us. This is backwards. We are here to bring God glory, through the good and the bad - no matter what. If we will glorify Him, we will find this is the best thing in the world for us.

HS Lesson: James 4:1-12

We continue to work our way through the book of James. We began with a summary of what we have seen so far in our study. A "faith that works":

• endures temptation
• submits to Scripture
• fights prejudice
• keeps God’s law
• is accompanied by works
• tames the tongue
• lives a wise life

This past Tuesday the Big Idea was: Having a faith that works means pursuing friendship with God

The question we all asked ourselves was "Am I a friend of God or a friend of the World?

Friendship with the World Looks Like:

1. Brokenness in the Church (vs. 1-3, 11-12)
2. Unfaithfulness to God (vs. 4-5)

Friendship with God Looks Like:

1. Submission to God (vs. 7,10)
2. Resistance to Sin (vs. 7-8) *Doing Battle *Flight sometimes *Purification *Repentance
3. Intimacy with God (vs. 8) It really is worth it to submit to God and resist sin!!

The Difference is Grace!! (vs. 6)

lesson loop 5.2.17

Middle and High School Lesson:
We had the neat privilege of hearing from a student this past week at youth group. Preston Young taught from James 3:13-18, and his big idea was: Our actions should reflect godly wisdom.
The lesson can be listened to by clicking on the player on the right.

lesson loop 4.16.14

Middle School: "You're Guided by the Holy Spirit"
We finished our series on the Holy Spirit last night by focusing on how the Holy Spirit guides us. Without the leading of the Holy Spirit, we would be completely lost. But praise God He has given His children the Holy Spirit who leads and guides us each step of the way.
We first considered a few examples from Scripture of where we see the Holy Spirit's leading:

• Matthew 4:1 (we can be led into a time of testing)
• Acts 16:6-10 (directs us and prevents us from certain things)
• Mark 13:9-11 (the right words to say - Stephen, Peter, Paul)

Then we dug into Galatians 5:16-25, and learned 3 ways the Holy Spirit leads us:

1. Prevents us from sin. (by warring against our fleshly desires) v. 16-17, 24

2. Produces fruit in our life. - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. v. 22-23

3. Succeeds where rules cannot. v. 18

High School: James 2:14-26

We continue our journey through the book of James, and this week we looked at the relationship between faith and works.

Our big idea: Genuine faith is accompanied by works.

We explored this with 2 main points, the first negative and the second positive.

1. Faith without works is counterfeit. a. It can't save. b. It's dead. c. It's all in the head. d. It's useless.
2. Faith with works is genuine. (Here we looked at 4 key words from the passage): a. Evidence - Works are the only evidence of faith that there is. b. Synergy - Works and Faith work together. c. Maturity - Works are the completion of faith, the sign of a genuine mature faith. d. Relationship - Abraham was called a "friend of God". So it is with everyone who has genuine faith in Jesus Christ.

We ended by considering the illustration of a Locomotive, and this quote:

"It is faith alone that saves. But the faith that saves is never alone."

Just like the locomotive (faith) is the active agent, it always is accompanied by train cars (works). There is no power in the train cars, but they follow the locomotive.