Jesus Blog (Year 5 Leaders): August 2012

Session 3: The biggest one

Hi guys, today's lesson is being done by Gail and Zhan Feng. The lesson can be found on page 43 of your book.

Session Aims:

Understand the depth of Jesus’ love and sacrifice for us
Experience the power of the resurrection and how it can dramatically change our lives
Be transformed and find ways to share this truth with others

This lesson will be an overview of the redeeming aspect of the sacrifice, the empowerment it supplies us with, and the process of sanctification that we now go through as new, born again people in Christ.

Understand the depth of Jesus’ love and sacrifice for us

To understand this, we have to go into the significance of Christ dying on the cross for us; why Christ, why it was such a big matter (because the Trinity was broken) and what IS the Trinity?

Start with a quiz about the Trinity to assess what they know about it, so we would know what are the areas we can correct their understanding on.

What is the Trinity? (who?)

I. God the Son (Jesus) is fully, completely God. God the Father is fully, completely God. And God the Holy Spirit is fully, completely God. Yet there is only one God. In our world, with our limited human experience, it's tough to understand the Trinity. But from the beginning we see God this way in Scripture. Notice the plural pronouns "us" and "our" in Genesis 1:26 -- Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

II. Jesus said: "I and the Father are one." (John 10:30)

III. "He who has seen Me has seen the Father." (John 14:9)

IV. "He who has seen Me has seen the Father." (John 14:9)

V. "He who beholds Me beholds the One who sent Me." (John 12:45)

2. What do each of the aspects of God do?

The Father creates a plan, Jesus Christ implements the plan, and the Holy Spirit administers the plan.

God the Father: designed and organized how mankind would be redeemed (Galatians 4:4-5)
God the Son: a direct access for us to His Word, a manifestation of God’s Love, the interceder (John 6:37-38)
God the Spirit: Counsellor (John 14:26)

3. Who was there in the beginning?

All three aspects of God were present from the very beginning.
Jesus was the Word that was present in the beginning. (John 1:1)
The Holy Spirit was present before the Earth was formed. (Gen 1:1)

The above emphasize the sanctity, the wholeness of the Trinity. What is the significance of this to us, then?

This very perfect Trinity was broken for out sake, which shows God’s love for us.

Isaiah 53:10

2 Corinthians 5:21 à God cannot be in union with Christ if He became sin

Matthew 27:45-46

This is the redeeming quality of this gift.

Experience the power of the resurrection and how it can dramatically change our lives

This next part is on the empowering facet of the resurrection.

Ask: Is the resurrection important to them?

Read: Romans 8 à life after the resurrection; new power given to us

Experience the power of the resurrection and how it can dramatically change our lives

John 4:29-30, 39-42

Our response should be immediate, and joyful.

Knowledge of this truth should compel us to 2 things:

Sanctification
Evangelism

Lesson 2

Hi guys this lesson is done by cheryl alicia and noel!!!

Its a draft that they did, i havent edited some parts yet, going to get the book to do so. For now you can have a look at it first.

Tuner:

Balancing on one leg and doing 7-up!

- TELL YOUR KIDS THIS BEFORE YOU START: "You are doing this,to be in a closer relationship with God"

- Make them stand on one leg in a circle and go round playing 7-up.

*If they fall they are out of the game

- After everyone has fallen, explain why God obviously didn't give a rule in the bible that they need to stand on one leg.

The link is that, because the Jews tend to focus on the rules rather then their relationship with God.

Tell them the main lesson point:

Jesus values helping people more than following the expectations, traditions and religious rules of others.

Read Luke 6:1-11

Explain to them the contextual information about the rules:

1) In Luke 5, Jesus angered the Pharisees by claiming to forgive the paralytic's sins; as a result they began to follow Jesus around. Making sure that he does not break any more rules about doing work on the Sabbath.

2) Based on the Old Testament laws about the Sabbath:

- Genesis 2:2-3
It is linked to the roots of creation where God rested from all the work of creating that He had done.

- Exodus 20: 8-11
It is specifically mentioned in the 10 commandments.

3) Read Luke 6:1-2: It talks about the Pharisees accusing the disciples of breaking the Sabbath by threshing grain they had picked up.
In Deut 23:25 – it says if it is for a snack it is okay to pick up the grains, but the Pharisees interpreted it wrongly from Exodus 34:21 where it talks about rubbing grain between one’s hands was considered “work”.

4) In Luke 6:3-4, Jesus referred them to the biblical story in which David and his men were famished from running away from Saul, ate the holy bread, breaking the rule against desecrating the bread dedicated to the Lord (in 1 Sam 21:1-6). Jesus’ point was that sometimes, ceremonial rules must give way to more pressing needs such as hunger or healing.

Ask your kids to read Exodus 20:8-9, Ask them what was the purpose of Sabbath.

- To set aside time to worship God

Jesus wanted them to know that He was placing true needs over man-made rules about the Sabbath. (:

QUESTION TIME:

1) Did Jesus respect the rules in the Old Testament?

Yes, he obeyed them perfectly. He knew the original purpose of God's rules was not being honored.

2) Did He come to get rid of the rules in the Old Testament? (See Matt 5:17-18)

No, He came to fulfill every aspect of God's laws, to help us understand what the rules were really meant to do, to protect us and to help our relationships with God grow.

3) Why didn't Jesus just wait a day and avoid the whole Sabbath controversy?

Because He wanted to show that helping others was more important than following man-made rules; if He had waited, the rule would have seemed more important.

4) What did it cost Jesus to place the needs of other ahead of the man-made rules of the Sabbath?

Some of the Jews began to plot against Him, which eventually led to His crucifixion. It is ironic, or perhaps by design, that Jesus did good while the Pharisees were plotting evil against Jesus on this Sabbath day (See Luke 6:11 and Mark 3:6). So, basically, doing good cost Him His life - But He knew all along that saving us would cost Him His life.

APPLICATION TIME:
Take a few minutes to come up with as many unofficial rules or expectations as you can that govern the way you act and who you hang out with in school.
Break up into groups to discuss this further, have a mix of girls and guys.

(If they cannot come up with it)

1) Being a wet blanket, when your friends ask you to go hang out before an important exam the next day, or something.
2) Hanging out with people that are “social outcasts” and getting labeled as a “social outcast”.
3) Basically anything to deal with being Social conformities and Peer pressure.

Ask them:
- When would you break these rules?
- What would happen to you if you did?
- What would other people think of you?
- How do you treat those who might not know these rules or expectations or don’t follow them?
- When you think about Jesus, who put human needs over other’s expectations and riles, what do you think He would want you to do?

Do the worksheet given, and list their most popular item on the board. Make the highest voting thing your groups’ new goal. :D
To love God & to love others more!

The Miracles of Jesus

The Miracles of Jesus

John 11:1 - 44
Lazarus' Death

What did Martha's words in John 11:21-27 suggest about her beliefs?
- She thought that Jesus would be unable to raise her brother

What might the disciples have felt about Jesus actions?
- Jesus seemed to have taken his time to go to Lazarus - The disciples might have been puzzled or confused
- Jesus could have healed from a distance. But why didn't He? - Confused + Hurt

If a similar miracle was to be performed in today's time, how would you react?

In this passage, there are a few very confusing things in the way Jesus acted. Firstly, Jesus could have healed His dear friend right away from afar and thus saving his life. Also, Jesus chose to wait instead of going immediately to the aid of His friend.

Sometimes, God allows us to go through a certain amount of hardship so that when God reveals His glory, we can see His power at work clearly in our lives. Jesus waited four days even though He knew that the family would have to suffer during those 4 days mourning for Lazarus. But He purposefully did all those so that the power of the Father would be obvious when He raised Lazarus from the dead to demonstrate that Jesus is THE resurrection and the life.

God allows hardships to happen to us sometimes so that He can strengthen and build up our faith. Our spiritual muscles strengthen through resistance and difficulty.

Why didnt Jesus raise Lazarus on the first day?
- Might be to get rid of any doubts that Lazarus was actually dead.
- As Jesus' cruxifixion wasn't far off, it might be to demonstrate God's power over death
- A time for faith for us believers, as we learn to have faith in God

Then why did Jesus cry in John 11:35 if He knew that He was going to raise Lazarus?
- Perhaps Jesus loves you, and it hurts Him even when you go through those bad times
- Perhaps Jesus felt the disbelief in all the people present there.
- Perhaps He was upset at the realities of sin and death caused by Satan

Why then does God allow bad things to happen to us?
- All things happen for a purpose, sometimes we may not understand
- James 1:2-4. God is making us stronger in our faith

Sometimes, we may feel like we are the only ones going through tough situations. In fact, all of us struggle through life together. In times that we feel lonely and overburdened, it is comforting to know that Jesus is with us all the way, and even more comforting that He brings the gift of Salvation. Even among our Christian community, we can be assured that there are fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who can lend a ear or support us through (Thats why we have cell group too!)

Questions to ponder and reflect upon: (up to choice to share)

1. Do you turn to God for help? Why or why not?

2. Is there anything you can turn to God to right now?

4 Simple Points to keep in our hearts:
1. God loves you (and He also cares for you)
2. God can help you (He is able)
3. God is always there for you (Ever present)
4. God comforts you

Is there anyone, Christian or not, that can use some comforting from God? Sometimes God works through other people too. What is one way that you can reach out to them and show God's love?

God: How have you been insert name?

Hi guys!!!!

This is alex, yeah i made a mistake, i am sorry, this is why lesson is up so late.

We are starting on a new book, the main theme or topic or point of the book would be learning about jesus and his life.

When i prayed about what the lesson should be for tomorrow, there were a few things swimming in my head.

Things such as

1) How nice my get away trip with my cell was.... haha.

2) What the state of the ministry is right now, how the boys are doing that well.

3) How some leaders have dropped out

4) Zhan feng and i talking about how the youths are in a state of jadedness

4) Ariel talking about prayer.

5) Edmund and i talking about girls and their make up.

6) The combined ocean cell retreat

And then a question hit me. What was the one spiritual thing you needed the most when you were in sec3?

I asked a few leaders and continued to seek God.

Then it hit me, no matter what age, what point of life, what circumstances you are in. The one spiritual thing you need the most is Jesus.

That is why i have entitled the lesson as God speaking to us, How have you been?

Cause at the end of the day that is essentially the heart of life. To have a relationship with God. To be in commune with God. That is the one thing that we as leaders need to do. To tell them about God, how wonderful our shepherd is!!!! What he did, what he is like!!!

Not tell them what to do, how they should be talking their parents, when they should start dating. yes we have good intentions, yes it is christian like but if you really look back, all we have been doing is picking verses from the bible and telling them a set of rules to follow. Like what zhan feng pointed out to be last week. Even though we are called leaders, but we dont actually lead our youths in life cause sheep cant lead sheep.

What our kids need to know is our God, our shepherd and how awesome he is. Cause when one knows and acknowledges how awesome something is, he or she will naturally be drawn to it. I say again the crux of christianity is the relationship with God. Will your youth have a better relationship with God, once he acknowledges and knows more about God? DAM STRAIGHT HE WILL! cause you have as well. And who better to talk about than Jesus,the full embodiment of God's glory, his awesomeness.

Ok down to business,

Tuner: You need pieces of paper and a lighter. Im thinking to get them to write down all the deep dark secret sins on the piece of paper. Yeah you get it

Verse for today: John 3:16

There is a reason why every single christian can remember this verse. Im going to refer to desiringgod.org, yeah going to change certain things.

Some key things i picked out to expound on the verse

1. God

“For God so loved . . .” There is no reason to think that Jesus means any other God than the God of the Old Testament. He is the all-powerful Creator and Sustainer of the universe. He is personal and not a mere force, meaning he thinks and wills and feels. He loves, and he hates. And as personal, he is moral—that is, he deals with us in terms of right and wrong and good and bad. And as moral, he is unwaveringly righteous. He only does what is right. And the infinite worth of what he is defines what is right. To do right is to think and feel and act in a way that accords with (is in harmony with) God’s infinite worth.

All of us were made by this God, and our first and highest duty and reason for being is to honor him and give him thanks (Romans 1:21). Ask them to look at the words on their paper. We have all failed, and we are all under his righteous displeasure. This is what makes John 3:16 so needed and so precious. It describes the way God is acting to rescue us from this condition.

2. Gave

“For God so loved the world, that he gave. . .” Two things need to be said about this giving. One is that it is a giving from heaven. And the other is that it is a giving, not just to come to earth, but to die. Verse 17 replaces the word give with send. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” So the giving of verse 16 is God’s sending his Son into the world on a mission from heaven.

In John 10:17–18, we see what the climax of that mission from the Father is. Jesus says, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” That last sentence shows that the reason the Father sent the Son was so that the Son would lay down his life. “I lay it down of my own accord. . . . This charge I have received from my father.”

So when John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave . . .”, the giving is God sending his Son to earth on a mission to die. It’s just as amazing—only a million times more so—as if you should say to your son, “There is something I want you to do for me: I have some enemies that deserve to perish, and I want you to go and die in their place, so that they can have eternal life.” Whatever else you know about God, make sure you know he is like that

3. Believe

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes . . .” Four observations about this believing.

First, it means that not everybody will benefit from what Jesus came to do. But “whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” The rest will perish—and not have eternal life.

Second, if we are to believe this would mean to embrace something as true; and when it’s a person, it means to trust them to be what they are and do what they say.

Third, John 1:11–12 shows that another word John has in mind to explain believe is receive. “[Jesus] came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” So receiving Jesus and believing Jesus explain each other.

This means that we believe, we receive for we acknowledge God. That he cleansed us of ALL OUR SINS.

(go burn that piece of paper full of your sins cause in God's eyes it is cleansed.)

That we are made holy and righteous by his blood once and for all. And you can enter bodly into the presence of almighty without guilt, condemnation or expectation of punishment. Because of the cross, the price for sin has been paid. Sin no longer hinders you from entering his presence.

Believing in Jesus also means believing that Jesus has fulfilled completely the righteous requirements of the law. Everytime you fail, you should not feel condemned, cause God doesnt condemn you cause Jesus has already fulfilled that, he has already wiped that clean. God doesnt count it on you anymore. If God doesnt condemn you then why should you condemn yourself? You are perfect in Christ Jesus. I sined but i can pick myself up again because of Jesus, God has forgiven me and through Jesus's power has enabled me to be the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ.

This righteousness is the grace of God. Grace is a gift. In john 3:16, it has nothing in it that says we humans merited this gift of righteousness through our acts. And even now we cannot achieve it by our obedience of the law, that is self righteousness. This righteousness of Jesus christ that you have. In God's eyes you are righteous as Jesus himself cause of Jesus.

That is the beauty and reason why all Christians remember john 3:16

To put the icing on the cake, dont you think we should tell our fellow woolly creatures how awesome our shepherd is personally? How he has made you lied down on green pastures this week.

Yeah break up into groups and start telling each other how awesome God is your life.

store closed, gone to the toilet

If you are reading this. I am really sorry. The lesson isnt ready yet cause i made a mistake. Please come back at 1030 ok? Ill have the lesson up by then.

I feel like im some store owner now hahaha

Lesson Plan – 5 Aug 2012
How to live with your siblings without tearing your hair out!

Key verse
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves.
Romans 12:10

Aims

 Understand that problems between siblings are common in every family

 Realize that they can and should make the effort on their part to avoid problems / seek resolve

 Discover ways / solutions to deal with problems arising between siblings

Tuner

Think of experiences with their siblings and share the following with the group:

1. One petty / major squabble

2. One awkward / embarrassing moment (just for laughs)

3. One special /sweet moment / memory (to show appreciation)

Introduction

Read Genesis 4:1-12 (Story of Cain and Abel, please emphasize that the point of this is to show that fights and bad relationships between siblings have existed since sin entered the world and that the main point is NOT that they should get rid of your sibling to solve the problem!)

The bible records all these, not because God is happy with such actions / reactions, but to reveal the reality of possible friction and conflicts arising between family members.

It is a very normal thing for friction between siblings to arise especially so for Singaporean families where the rat-race pace of life demands of parents to juggle work and responsibilities of providing for the family while children strive to keep up with ever increasing workloads and expectations of them. In such circumstances, people tend to be driven towards instant gratification and more often than not, this leads to impatience, irritability, intolerance and bad temper.

At times, it might even feel as if they are frustrated and angry with their siblings more than they love them. However, one should always learn not to take for granted and to appreciate the privilege of having a sibling! Most importantly, they should recognize the fact that it takes two hands to clap and they too have a part to play and should put in every concise effort at improving relationships with their siblings because relationships have to be intentional and require effort to maintain!
Main content

Read Genesis 37: 1- 11 (Story about Jacob with his Father and brothers; hatred and jealousy)

1. Ask them to name the problems that they see happening between Joseph and his brothers.

2. Apart from these problems of jealousy and hatred, ask them to list out any other problems / issues (can be like favouritism, inferiority, selfishness, etc etc) they themselves faced or experienced (or from the earlier sharing that they listed out one experience)

Explain the following pointers:

1. There is no hard and fast rule to eradicate all problems or to put an end to all fights. However, they can make the effort to avoid it in the first place.

2. Understand that the relationship between them and their siblings have a direct implication with their relationship with their parents – the more they fight over ‘small things’ the more it makes their parents frustrated to have to deal with such discord.

Possible ways to avoid fights:

1. Learning to be sensitive – do not think only about themselves and their needs. For example, sometimes older siblings do not want younger ones to tag along when they hang out with their friends; or sometimes when their siblings have had a bad day at school, stay out of their way or be extra nice to them, etc.

2. Learning to give in – be willing to sacrifice a little and do not always insist on having their way.

3. Learning to share – be willing to share belongings even though it might ‘hurt’ them seeing the way their younger sibling especially, handle things.

4. Learning to pray for their siblings – pray that God will bless their siblings, guide them and show them any problems that they may have; also pray for their walk with God and that God will show both parties how to love each other.

5. Learning to stick up for their siblings – learn to stand up and protect their sibling if others are making fun of or bullying their loved ones.

6. Learning to respect their privacy and property – older siblings especially, are very particular and sensitive about their privacy and property. For example, knock before entering their room, ask before borrowing their items, etc.
7. Avoid name-calling – try to talk things out without calling each other names as it will only lead to further anger. It will result in forgetting the issue but remembering the long list of uncalled for and nasty names.

8. Avoid meaningless arguments – do not argue merely for pride as it will only result in anger and bitterness.

9. Avoid teasing – especially towards younger siblings. Learn to look after them instead of making fun of them. Exert self-control even though it might seem to be the ‘cool thing’ in front of their peers.

10. Avoid telling tales – this will build up a lot of mistrust and resentment. Talk things out between siblings before running to their parents without the full picture / story.

11. Avoid physical abuse – do not use physical force on their siblings, especially towards younger siblings. Talk to their parents and do not personally get physical.

Conclusion

What is perhaps the most important of all is prayer. God works in marvellous ways through prayer – He can cleanse all the hurts and anger in their heart as they go through tough times with their sibilngs and He can also fill their families and home with His love, peace and joy as they work on their part.

Close with sharing of how they think they can better manage conflicts with their siblings should they arise in the future or how they intend to curb such issues from rising in the first place. Pray for each other and commit their households to God, asking for the right attitudes, blessings and wisdom and guidance whenever such situation arises to be able to deal with these problems the way God would want them to, in love.