Session 6: Telling it like it is
The big idea: Telling
the story of all God has done in your own life can have a tremendous impact on
others.
Intro: Ok guys and girls and everything in
between (Kenn and Alex), today’s lesson is about how the most simplistic of our
life stories can be used as a testimony. This is a good preparation lesson for
our mission trip (most likely next year). Furthermore this is a good chance for
us to challenge the youths to recall when they first accepted Christ and how it
has changed their lives.
Tuner: The Price Is Right!
Charades
(salesman version)
Ok so the group splits into 2 groups like a
normal charades game.
One representative will come up to collect
the “product” that they will be promoting to their group. The objective is to
describe their personal experience with the product and to make the group guess
what the item is. They will not be able
to speak a few words describing the product.
They will have 1 minute to describe the item.
The team that gets the most correct items
wins.
We have asked Pet to bring down some Taboo
cards with items as the words. But as a contingency plan here are some products
we could ask the youths.
Products:
Dettol Soap
Shirt from Cotton On
Running shoes from Nike
Koi bubble tea
Iphone
Wii
Beatz Headphones
Microwave Oven
Washing Machine
Panadol Extra
Ikea Sofa
Sun Block
Shirt from Cotton On
Running shoes from Nike
Koi bubble tea
Iphone
Wii
Beatz Headphones
Microwave Oven
Washing Machine
Panadol Extra
Ikea Sofa
Sun Block
Learning Point:
When we share our personal experience with the products, we are able to
communicate better with the other party we are trying to share with. Personal
experiences are real and thus much more impactful, furthermore it gives another
perspective of the story we are trying to tell.
Passage of the day: John 9:13-34
This is the passage of the Pharisees
investigating the healing of the blind man.
11)
Can
sin pass down from generation to generation?
·
Read Deu 28:15, 21-22. Yes
according to the old testament a sin committed by the parents can actually be
passed down to the generations below. Was that the reason why the man was born
blind?
·
John
9:3 Jesus did not deny the Old Testament
scriptures but instead explained that the blindness was part of God’s plan.
·
John
9:34 The Pharisees however believed that the man
was born blind due to the sins of his ancestors and therefore believed
themselves to be superior to the blind man.
·
In conclusion the Pharisees
were extremely unhappy that Jesus healed the man that was deemed sinful and was
of a lower social class than them. However what they did not realise was that
healing of the man was going to bring God’s glory through the man’s testimony
and sharing of his account.
God places each one of us in different circumstances
and different paths to make an impact on the different people we meet. Our
lives may be challenging and demanding at times, however we must always hold
firm to God’s promise in 2Cor 12:9.
The blind man lived a rather miserable life
before he met Jesus. It was by God’s grace that the man was healed from
blindness and thus God’s power and glory was shown through the blind man’s
weakness.
The blind man then went on to testify that it
was Jesus who healed him. (John 9:9-12)
God used the man who was blind from birth to testify the healing of his sight.
Like the blind man we all have a weakness or
an area which we might need God’s healing in. (remember last week lesson about
healing??) Let us lay down these weaknesses at the foot of the cross and allow
God to heal them and strengthen us so that we can use whatever we have for the
glory of God.
22)
Our
own testimonies
So now that we have seen how God can use the
past of a blind man to testify God’s love, let us look at ourselves and discuss
how God’s has made an impact on our lives.
Below is a list of questions from the leaders
book that we can ask the youths to think about and maybe you could print or
photocopy the questions and get them to write it down. (HG: or maybe not)
13) Where
were you when you asked Jesus to take over your life and be your saviour?
24) Who
were you with?
35) What
do you remember about it?
46) Why
did you do it?
57) When
and How has it made a difference in your life?
Additional questions
68) Have
you encountered the presence of God?
79) What
happened during the encounter? Was your life affected after the encounter?
810) Have
you clearly heard God speaking to you? And what was it about?
Note:
It would be good if you leaders could share
your own testimony with the youths as an example of how they could share
theirs.
You could also go one round and share about
how they encountered Christ and affirm their sharing.
33)
Sharing
our Testimonies
Finally, after confirming our experience with
God and how he has changed our lives, we have to share it with
others!!!!!!!!!! (HG: because ! R Cool)
Heb13:15-16
The Bible tells us that we should share the
good news with others and one way to do that is to share our very own personal
journey with God.
Scenario 1: Imagine you are trying to convince
your friend to buy go for a holiday at a country you have visited before. You
would convince you friend to visit the place by telling your friend about the
experience you have there.
- In
the same way we should be sharing with other our own personal experience with
God as it comes directly from how we feel and what we have experienced and is
therefore very real to us.
Remember we wrote down the names of some
friends that we would like to share the good news with? Let us pray that we can share our testimonies
with them one day.
Done by: Alden & Heng Guang
Saturday, September 29, 2012 | | 0 Comments
The Big
Idea
You must
truly desire help and healing before you can receive them.
1.
Acknowledging the need/hurts
2. Desire
for help
3.
Receiving this help and how they can also ask for help for others
I believe
all of us have our daily needs but beyond that on a deeper level I sense that
many of them are hurting now or know of people who desperately need help so I
pray that we will truly let the Spirit guide us through this lesson and let it
not be our words but his because only he can help us recognize this need and
desire to heal or seek help.
Father
Lord, we acknowledge that you alone are King of our lives and that we are
nothing at all without you but often as we live in this world Father we become fooled
into thinking we got to do things on our own, we have to stand up for ourselves
because no one else will. So Father God we try to hide our needs and bury our
pains but Lord you see into the depths of our hearts so please reveal to us the
areas in our own lives that we require help and healing. I pray for the desire
to relinquish control especially in those areas so that Lord you can do your
good work. Father grant us this boldness and faith to receive in your son’s
most precious name amen!
Helping
the Helpless
Tuning
questions:
1. Are
there people in your lives that need help? Do you need help? (try to get them
to reflect and think deeper, 5mins)
2. Do you
think the people who smoke/ think they need help?
Okays this
isn’t a compelling story or anything but it is to illustrate this point.
So I
recently met up with my mum’s friend and her daughter(my friend too J). Her daughter is currently studying
in UK and the next time she returns she is going to be staying in an apartment
on her own so it means she would have to do her own cooking and all. Her mum
being a typical Singaporean mother (haha but really Thank God for them!) told
my mum that she was going to buy all sorts of pots and pans like HAPPYCALL J and instruments like the apple
dicer for her so that it would be easier for her. Immediately when she heard
that she shot back and said I don’t need all of that! I am not going to use l
it! I will eat the apple as it is and just cook my meals with whatever I have
there. I know my friend all too well haha she is what the Canto peeps call tee
kee the more she does not see the need for something the more she would refuse
its use.
I believe
in that it is like this for most of us, especially because we are all vying to
prove ourselves as being independent. We do not want people to identify our needs
much less offer help and solutions to our supposed needs.
The saying
goes (in a Hong Kong accent): “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t
make him drink” So even before we look into anything else we must focus on the
pertinent need to acknowledge and desire for help.
(This is
alex butting in)
Or…. We
could use the tuner in the book. The one where by its like a combination of tug
of war and dog and bone. We could have a few rounds of it on the acjc field. Just
thinking it would be nice to get out of the classrooms once in a while.
Ill bring
down all the necessary materials for the games tmr.
The
questions would be from the book.
1)
How
did they feel knowing that there was someone to help them when they need it the
most?
Let us read
John 5:1-15
The book
suggests reading these verses in a popcorn style seems pretty funn you can try
it out J So
basically choose someone to begin reading the first verse and then after the
person finishes reading he or she must immediately call someone else to
continue and so on. You can impose the rule that whoever is slow in calling or
continuing in terms of reading the verses would need to (do a forfeit later or
something)
Into the
Word:
Healing at
the pool
To
understand why people gathered at the pool to be healed you can read John 5:4
it is not in one of the verses that you just read refer to the footnotes below
and you will find it there.
John
5:4 Some manuscripts include here,
wholly or in part, paralyzed—and
they waited for the moving of the waters. 4 From time to time an angel of the Lord would
come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such
disturbance would be cured of whatever disease they had.
Note
that it is not completely certain whether it was a belief of the people at that
time or that God really sent down angels to stir the waters.
But besides that point, let us look to the story of
this man.
Do you think
the man wanted to get well?
Many
of them including us at first glance it seemed as though yeah definitely he
wanted to be well lah I mean he has already been invalid for 38 years and he is
there at the pool (probably quite often) because he wants to be healed right?
But
then when we think about it again if so… then why when Jesus asked him if he
wanted to be healed why didn’t he reach out for help to be carried into the
pool but he just continued to wallow in the fact that he has been lying on the
side lines not being able to do anything about his problem.
The question then is whether it is the case of he
couldn’t get in or didn’t want to get in?
How would you
describe the man’s attitude before Jesus healed him?
We
see that in his reply in v7 shows his is pessimistic attitude, the “I cannot
because of my circumstances attitude”
If so why do
you think he was like that? What was he focused on?
He was probably focused on his own
limitations and thoughts that no one wanted or could help him.
So was he healed because of his faith?
If Jesus did not come along to heal him,
perhaps he would still be wallowing in self pity. So no unlike so many others whom Jesus healed,
was not healed through his faith. Here is the evidence: First, the man was not
seeking Jesus, rather, Jesus found him. Second, Jesus said nothing to him about
his faith healing him as He often did with others when he healed them. (Matt
9:2,29, 15:28, Mark 1:40-42, 2:5,10:52 .. many others) And third, the lame man had no idea who Jesus
was, even after he'd been healed. When he first conversed with Jesus, he wasn't
looking to Him as someone who could heal him. In his mind, Jesus was no
different than any other person present.
Besides the fact that he was lame do you think that
there are other areas in his life that he also required healing?
Yes, probably
also why Jesus came back in v14-15 and told him to “stop sinning or something
worse may happen to you”. So the man definitely had a problem on a deeper level
besides his physical handicap his soul was also handicapped.
Often in the
study of psychology they do not take physiological symptoms lightly because
often these presenting symptoms are just a way in which the body alerts a
person that there is a deeper problem. So in the same way the reason why this
man may be invalid could have been because he was sinning in some way or
another and Jesus knew that he also required spiritual healing for that. (He
came to meet him a second time!) Also what is worse than being invalid is being
separated from God for all of eternity!
( ALEX BUTTING
IN WITH HIS BIG BUTT again…..)
Another thing
is also what struck me in cell today, about ken saying how God is more
concerned about our growth rather than things of this earth like whether we get
that good job we always wanted or the girl of our dreams. I mean he is
concerned about all those things as well, and definitely he wants us to be
happy. His main focus is our inner man, to be more changed each day to look
like Christ. (Romans 8:29). Must reemphasize
to our youths what God is primarily concerned about.
What are you
waiting for?
Let’s say if you knew a good friend who could help
you fix a problem you had what would you do?
Try to fix it yourself? Google for a
remedy? Ignore it? Ask your friend to help you?
It seems so easy to just ask your friend for help because you trust
him/her and you know that he/ she would definitely try to help you.
Luke 5:12-16
(The Man with leprosy)
God wants to
help us but are we willing to admit to needing help? Can we trust in this friend our savior to
help us with whatever we need?
Just knock on
the door
How would you
get your friend’s attention when you are at his/her doorstep?
Stand outside
and just wait? Try all keys that you have to unlock the door? Make super
annoying noises? Or just ring the bell?
(knock)
Matt 7:7-11
Split up into
groups (as small as possible to facilitate deep sharing)
Are there areas in your life that you feel you have
been trying to cover up hurts/needs with physical excuses or any other type of
excuses? (For eg. Telling people and yourself that you are
just tired but in fact your soul is the one that is actually numbed)
Do you have friends that you know of that are in
need of physical/ spiritual healing?
If you are not able to draw them into a deeper
level at least get them to think about what God has blessed them with when they
needed help and how in turn we should help others too.
John 4:14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed,
the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling
up to eternal life.”
-note that this water: is the spirit that we have in us John
7:37-39 and it is enough to satisfy us beyond that it is supposed to well up
and in other versions it describes it to be like a fountain so we too must let
it overflow into the lives of others! Perhaps it is a perfect gateway to sharing
this gift of living water too:D
Pray for one another.
Saturday, September 22, 2012 | | 0 Comments
The Life of Jesus: Session 4 The big idea
The Life of
Jesus: Session 4
The big idea
Your faith is
often part of the healing process.
Key passage
Mark 5:25-34
The woman had
been bleeding for twelve years, no doubt an affliction that was painful and
caused her to be weak. She had spent all that she had, but no physician could
cure her. According to Leviticus 12:1-8 and 15:19-30, she was ceremonially
unclean due to her bleeding and for as long as she was bleeding. This meant
that no one could touch her, or they would be unclean as well. Everything she
touched would become unclean. Like a leper, she was like an outcast in her
community. What is extraordinary about this passage is the faith of the woman.
v28 “For she
said, ‘If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.’”
So she went up
behind Jesus, probably hoping to go unnoticed in the crowd, and “touched His
garment.” (v27)
v29 “Immediately
the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was
healed of the affliction.”
The result was
healing, and immediate healing at that. She was healed even before the rest of
the story, when Jesus, knowing that “the power had gone out of Him” (v30),
looked around to ask who had touched Him and called the woman “daughter” after
she presented herself to Him. (v34)
What exactly are
we talking about here? That’s right! Faith.
What is faith?
Hebrews 11:1
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen.”
“Evidence”?
v3 “By faith we
understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things
which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”
Romans 1:20 “For
since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and
Godhead, so that they are without excuse,”
We were not
there to see the act of creation, and even if we were, we would not have
physically seen creation by the Word of God, which is not visible. So, then,
faith is the spiritual perceiving, seeing, understanding of God’s works in
creation. By faith, you clearly see His invisible attributes in what is
visible. Though not all see God in creation, it does not discount the fact that
you see it when you do. This then is evidence. Your believing does not bring
anything in existence, as some might believe faith to be. You do not see
because you believe, but you believe because you see. This is a matter of wishful
thinking versus faith based on truth. This is important to note.
“Substance”?
Whilst this
could and probably does mean that faith is confidence in God’s fulfilment of
His promises, “things hoped for”, I think it also refers to something deeper,
especially if you look at the woman in Mark 5, to whom no explicit promise of
healing was made. In fact, Hebrews 11 goes on to describe men and women, who
“all died in faith, not having
received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced
them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” (v13,
emphasis mine)
If these people
of faith had faith while they had not
received the promises of God, it begs the question: what is the object of their
faith? What is the object of our
faith?
The object of
our faith is Jesus Christ, and Christ alone. Our faith is in Him, fully God,
fully man, having died, been dead, and is risen, in Him who is fully righteous
and fulfilling the law for us. In the words of Charles Haddon Spurgeon:
Mark that your faith has nothing to do with anything
within yourself. The object of your faith is nothing within you, but something
outside of you. Then believe on Him who, on that tree, with nailed hands and
feet, poured out His life for sinners. There is the object of your faith for
justification: not in yourself, nor in anything that the Holy Spirit has done
in you, or anything He has promised to do for you. You are to look to Christ
and to Christ alone.(Charles Spurgeon’s Faith, p11)
“But Jesus had
not yet died and risen while this woman was healed, while those people lived,”
you say.
Bear with me.
The people died
without receiving the promises, but while they lived they nevertheless had
every assurance that the promises would be fulfilled. In order to answer the
question, “What is the object of their faith?”, let us look at...
2 Corinthians
1:20 “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory
of God through us.”
In who? In
Christ!
Astonishingly,
the object of their faith was also Christ. Yes, they did not see Him (though
neither have we), but we must remember who Jesus is. He is the Incarnate, Son
of God.
John 1:1-3 “In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He
was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without
Him nothing was made that was made.”
Colossians
1:15-17 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or
powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all
things, and in Him all things consist.”
Hebrews 1:1-4
“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the
fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom
He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who
being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding
all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins,
sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better
than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than
they.”
John 8:56-58
“’Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.’ Then
the Jews said to Him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen
Abraham?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham
was, I AM.’”
Indeed, the
people of old believed the promises of God, that Christ the Messiah would come.
But more than that, I think, is their faith in Christ Himself.
Perhaps this
commentary by Matthew Henry on Romans 4:13-22 might help:
The
promise was made to Abraham long before the law. It points at Christ, and it
refers to the promise, Genesis 12:3. “In Thee shall all families of the
earth be blessed.” The law worketh wrath, by showing that every transgressor is
exposed to the Divine displeasure. As God intended to give men a title to the
promised blessings, so he appointed it to be by faith, that it might be wholly
of grace, to make it sure to all who were of the like precious faith with
Abraham, whether Jews or Gentiles, in all ages. The justification and salvation
of sinners, the taking to himself the Gentiles who had not been a people, were
a gracious calling of things which are not, as though they were; and this
giving a being to things that were not, proves the almighty power of God. The
nature and power of Abraham's faith are shown. He believed God's testimony, and
looked for the performance of his promise, firmly hoping when the case seemed
hopeless. It is weakness of faith, that makes a man lie poring on the
difficulties in the way of a promise. Abraham took it not for a point that
would admit of argument or debate. Unbelief is at the bottom of all our
staggerings at God's promises. The strength of faith appeared in its victory
over fears. God honours faith; and great faith honours God. It was imputed to
him for righteousness. Faith is a grace that of all others gives glory to God.
Faith clearly is the instrument by which we receive the righteousness of God,
the redemption which is by Christ; and that which is the instrument whereby we
take or receive it, cannot be the thing itself, nor can it be the gift thereby
taken and received. Abraham's faith did not justify him by its own merit or
value, but as giving him a part in Christ
Hebrews 11:27
“By faith he (Moses) forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he
endured as seeing Him who is invisible.”
(emphasis mine)
This, is what I
believe “faith is the substance of things hoped for” means. Faith, being seeing
and believing, not only in God’s fulfilment of God’s promises, but in Christ
Himself, His character, everlasting, never changing. The focus is therefore not
on the promise, but on the Promiser.
What exactly did
the woman have faith in? Not a promise, but in Jesus the Healer.
Why is faith important?
Matthew 13:58
“Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”
Hebrews 11:6
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must
believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek
Him.”
Certainly, it
does not honour our Lord if we do not believe in Him, and surely, He has not a
reason to do mighty works in our lives if we are unbelieving.
Often, we have some faith, but not as much as we’d
like. What can we do?
Mark 9:14-29
Pray the prayer
of the father of the child, as in v24. “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
Luke 22:32 “But
I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have
returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
Hebrews 12:2
describes Jesus as “the author and finisher of our faith”. Indeed, we can rely
on Him for everything, including the strengthening and refining of our faith.
What happens when a promise is, at best, partially
fulfilled?
For example, you
might have a loved one who is sick, perhaps a terminal illness. You, and many
others, pray and pray and believe that God can heal her. (There is an example
in the book, page 65.) Maybe, she gets better. Maybe, she lives longer than the
doctors said she would. Then, maybe, she dies.
Did Jesus not
promise to answer our prayers? Is God not the Healer?
Yes, and yes.
Remember what we have discussed. Faith is not seeing because you believe, but
believing because you see. In other words, you are not the healer. God is. Your
faith is not (or should not be) in your faith, but in Christ. Remember that not
our will, but His be done. He answers prayer, but is not our genie.
1 John 5:14-15
“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And
if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the
petitions that we have asked of Him.” (emphasis mine)
Remember also
that our God is a generational God. What He promises to Abraham, He fulfills in
Isaac; what He promises in Moses, He fulfills in Joshua. Remember the men and
women of faith in Hebrews 11, who died not
having received the promises, but nevertheless believed the Promiser:
“but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” (v13)
Questions
How trustworthy
do we believe God to be?
How much do we
actually trust God? (Faith without works is dead. See James 2:20-22)
What are the
areas in our lives that we are not surrendering to Him? Why? (This indicates a
lack of trust, lack of faith, irrational fears, irrational because God said do
not fear, etc) What are we going to do about it?
Thank God for
His Word through John Piper (http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/what-faith-knows-and-hopes-for),
Charles Spurgeon, Matthew Henry (http://www.christnotes.org/commentary.php?b=45&c=4&com=mhc)
and Judah Smith that helped me with this lesson plan. Praise God for such men
of faith!
May our Lord
Jesus strengthen all of our faiths in Him. Amen.
Saturday, September 15, 2012 | | 0 Comments
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