Jesus Blog (Year 5 Leaders): October 2013

lesson for 27th oct

Hi all.. we will not be starting on TE tmr. Instead we will have a short intro to this whole evangelism series that the church is doing.

Firstly, maybe we can ask them to share a high and a low abt their week. Could be exams (prolly the most common sharing) so ask them to share something else besides this as well. Like how they experienced God the past week thru exams. Some will not be comfortable in opening up and sharing more than the basic sharings they share weekly.

Secondly, ask them what are several fears that makes them hesitate and not evangelise to their friends. Ask them also what do they not like about evangelism as well.

Finally, we can explain the theme verse of this series (1 corinthians 3:6). Evangelism is not a man-centred but a Christ-centred thing. Team evangelism is also different from solo-based evangelism. Maybe you can ask them what are the various differences. The main reasons why we want to cultivate team evangelism is to equip everyone in relational evangelism. 5 reasons why we wanna reach out as a small grp
1) small group is non threatening. Many pre believers feel intimidated by church buildings or large scale church events. Rather we can invite them to a small grp outing for pure enjoyment and company sake.
2) small grp provides intimacy. We are able to relate to them in a more personal level.
3) Support for grp members. Every member in the team will have different personalities(we will learn it in the weeks to come) and these different strengths we have can balance out our weaknesses.
4) small group is where pre believers can discover more. A small group environment can be a place where pre believers can experience more abt God's love and know more abt our christian faith.
5) Small group is the place to nurture new believers naturally. After the pre believer receives Christ, the small group will naturally become a support group for new believers in spiritual growth.

Thats abt it for now. There is alot to say but I shall take it slow. Sorry its a bit late. I really didnt lnow what to prepare so here is the best summmary I can give yall. Cya tmr!

God Bless,
Rayner

Start of TE

Hello Peeps,

We will be starting on a new series on Team Evangelism this week onward. All of you should have the book and the Leader's Manual (some photocopied booklet). If you all don't have it then you can approach me to get a copy of it.

I believe the material is sufficient for your weekly preparations for the lesson so i don't think its necessary to upload any lesson plan for now. Trust that you all will read it through at least the day before as there are some questions that require some reflection so in case the youths have nothing to say you have some points to spark their lazy brains. If there is anything you all wanna share to all the leaders you can put on the whatsapp group and I can put it on the blog.

For this Sunday, since the youths are in the midst of their O Levels, the lesson don't need to be too in depth and draggy. Set aside time for sharing and prayer for the new week of exams and also to thank God for the past week and to commit the results into His hands. Thats all. Bye

God Bless,
Rayner

Prayer and Sharing Session

Greetings,

Ignore the previous posting..i have never blogged in my life so I was just testing out how to use this.

Anyways, just to update for tmr's lesson, we will take a break from John for a while as the youths are facing their O Levels (N levels are over already). I suggest we dedicate tmr's session to prayer and sharing. I think for this time round, its up to the leaders to lead their individual small groups. But some suggestions to pray/share about would be 1) Time management 2) Exam stress 3) Sufficient Rest 4) Committing their fears and troubles to God 5) Distractions.

We all know that prayer is impt and the best way to communicate to God. So best is to ask the kids to be specific and precise in their sharings.

Some verses:

Encouragement: Psalm 55:22, Psalm 46:1-3, Matthew 11:28-29

Stress: Psalm 86:7, 2 Thessalonians 3:16

Mugging: 1 Corinthians 15:58, Colossians 3:23-24, Philippians 4:13

Worry: Philippians 4:6-7, Deuteronomy 31:8

Okay that is about it. Be a positive influence during this intensive period!

God Bless,
Rayner

test test

John Chapter 17

Passage: John 17:1-26

Theme: What do we do in difficult circumstances?

Passage breakdown:

v1-4: God's glorification

v5-8: About the disciples

v8-25: Protection, blessing, empowerment and unity of Christians

v26: Glory goes back to God

Lesson outline:

Its a week (or less) to the dreaded O level exams :( The lesson's main objective, is to remind us all, that God is ultimately in control, and therefore, we need not fear what lies ahead=) Exams, school, work, bosses, relationships, etc... That God has it all under His perfect timing and control=)

Give them the context of the passage =) It helps to understand the circumstances Jesus was praying this prayer: Judas had left to betray Jesus - Jesus was literally waiting to be caught and put to death (now how must that have felt?) and His prayer in the midst of the situation – was to glorify God, protect His disciples, and submit to God's will. How amazing is that?

Everyone has been in a difficult situation before: how do we respond when put into such situations?

1. What was the first thing Jesus did when He started to pray?

He gave glory to God (Refer to Matt 6:9-10 for similarities with the Lord's prayer) – The first thing Jesus did was to give glory to God. Now ask ourselves: how often do we do that in our daily lives, much less in times of trouble?

2. Why is this so important?

By starting with giving glory to God, Jesus was showing us, that we should keep our focus on God. Why? Because when we focus on God, and the immensity and power that He is, what problems/issues/etc... that we have, are nothing in comparison to Him. Jesus was going to be tortured and mocked(by His own people nonetheless), betrayed (by one of His own 12 for 20 pieces of silver (note that Joseph was sold for 20 as well...given inflation, the actual cost would have been higher)), and die a criminal's death (for not doing anything wrong). He had every right to feel unjustified, crappy and rebellious. But nope. All He did was surrender the entire situation into God's hands (v4). He knew who He was (v2), and what was at stake(v3), but it didn’t make it any less difficult than it already was.

Are any of our problems as big as what Jesus went through? Crushed by one of His closest friends, to be crushed again by society, and finally by the government and religious authorities: all of which He CREATED. Jesus took His cross, focused on God, and got the job done. By His grace, we can too=)

Ultimately, everything that has been done, that is being done, and will be done, is for God's eternal glory – and in this, we can trust that as long as we love God, and believe in Him, that He will do what's best for us =) (Note: What's best for us =/= what we think is best for us – Its very different)

Leaders, if you have experiences, please do share=)

3. After praying for himself (which was all of one verse), what did He pray for?

His disciples, and for all those who might believe in His name (i.e. Christians)

4. What did He pray for, and what's so important about them?

4.1 Protection:

Protection from what?

Why do we need protection? - Satan will fight to retain control, and is set against all who believe in Christ.

What is our mission in the world?

What are the standards of success in this mission?

To understand this better. What does it mean to be a Christian?:

1. One in which we die to ourselves – what we do is ultimately not for our own gain: we do it for the glory of God.

2. Which is unbelievably difficult: when do we ever do something that doesn't benefit us? Yet this is what we are called to do: Do anything to advance the kingdom and glory of God, while living as a testimony of His love to the world.

3. We might be taken advantage of, we might be put down in the pecking order, we might be used, but if and only if what we are doing is for His glory, we too will be glorified, in His time.

4. But ultimately, we trust that God has our welfare in mind – which isn’t the same as comfort (BE CAREFUL HERE)

5. We will be tested, we will go through pain, and we will fail: but its all part of God's refining fire to make us Holy – since when is fire painless?

6. But God is our shield: we can trust that whatever happens to us, is part of God's will.

7. Isn't that a great comfort? To know that even within our freedom of choice, we have a safety net through it all. (Just another measure of God's greatness – infinite dimensions, infinitely many more choices, and in God's plan, everything's tailor made to make us who He wants us to be)

So what's so important? - Without protection, we will always fail and fall to our sinful nature. As long as we remain in the world as Christians, we need protection because we are different – because we do not belong here, and will be attacked from all sides by sin, temptations, and any other devices Satan has to regain control over our souls.

4.2 Sanctification:

What is sanctity? - The state of Holiness (i.e. to be set apart exclusively)

Why is it so important?

God is Holy – He cannot stand sin : By sanctification, we have been made Holy just as He is, and therefore God can dwell with us. Without it, we cannot approach God without instant death.

Without it, all we do comes to naught, because God's hand isn't there :x

What does it mean to be sanctified by truth? - The word that is used here: ἀλήθεια

(alētheia), is the “candour of mind which is free from affection, pretence, simulation, falsehood, deceit” (Taken from Blueletterbible) Its the renewing of the mind and spirit! =)

4.3 Unity:

Why is unity so important?

We will never be alone: a different trinity is seen here: God in Jesus, Jesus in us, and therefore us in God and vice versa (covered by the sanctification by Jesus' blood)– that covers the internal wholeness. As for external wholeness, isnt there the community of believers?=) that's why the community of believers are so important – to ground, encourage, pull us back, support and fight with us each and every day.

By this, all men will know you are my disciples – Glory still goes back to God. Without unity, we will not have the support, protection, love, encouragement we need. I cannot stress how important unity is for our well-being as Christians=) Its a war, and no one should ever ever, be alone =)

5. And after all has been said, Jesus ends off with:”I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Submission to the will of the Father. He knew what was at stake, He knew the cost. Still, He did it anyway <3 (Note the length of His prayer for us (16 verses for us, 1 for Himself))

Conclusion: What do we do in difficult circumstances? - we focus on God =) Why? Because He is the only one who stands above all circumstances =) But when we do so, we will be attacked by Satan =( But we can stand against him, because we are assured of Christ's protection over all circumstances in our lives, because we are sanctified by His blood and therefore we have the power and authority of Christ, and finally because we are unified as one body in Him=) And all this is done, for the glory of His name=) So, even as we head out to face the weeks ahead, let us trust in Him =) after all, He is our All in All=)

*Leaders, I think we should pray for each individual youth for their exams =) What do ya think?=)

<3,

Joshua

John Chapter 16

Heyyy all!!!

It’s a super summary all the way until John 16: 5-15. J

Feel free to cut the lesson short to spend time praying with the youths (the lesson is quite long. I apologize). I can imagine their stress and worry levels to be TOO DARN HIGH right about now.

In fact, let them list down their goals and hopes on a piece of paper and pray with each of them for each and every individual subject if possible. We should support them with prayer, as I firmly believe that grades are really God’s grace (seriously). Teaching them to entrust everything to God and really let go is something I hope the youths will learn during this time.

Key point of today’s lesson (John 16:5-15) -
3 Ministries of the Spirit
(Conviction of the world, Enlightenment, Glorification of Jesus)
Lesson adapted and paraphrased from Dr Constable’s notes

John 15:18-26

Recap + Summary of John 15

Jesus had discussed the Father’s unity with the Son, the Son’s unity with His disciples, and the disciples unity with one another earlier.

In v18-26, He addresses the disciples’ relationship to the world. In sum-

1) He warns the disciples that they will be hated by the world. Why? Because the world is evil (John 7:7) and because they choose to follow Jesus, who is not of this world and whom the world rejects. The disciples have been called to live out God’s will and purpose and not live for themselves.

2) Jesus promises the Spirit of truth, which will bear witness that Jesus is the Son of God (which came on the day of Pentecost). This spirit empowers the disciples to testify their long association and intimate knowledge of Jesus. And we are called to do likewise.
John 16

v1-4

Understand that John 15, especially towards the end was kind of like a warning to prepare His disciples. Jesus then explains in v1-4 the reasons why He was telling the disciples these things.

1) To keep us strong in the Faith, that the events won’t take us by surprise (v1)
2) Rejection from the world, even among those who “love God” but never really knew God or Jesus (v2-3)
3) Though the disciples might not understand it now, but when the time comes, they will remember and take heart.

John 16: 5-15
Finally we move out of super summary and head to our focus =D It might help to read the whole thing through once, then read the chunks of verses again as we go through them.

V5-7

The disciples were sad that Jesus was leaving them. Jesus was actually telling them that they don’t know how “good” it would be that He leaves. Well you know the story after that. Plus His death (John 3:16) would also mean the indwelling presence of God’s Spirit (Jer 31:33-34)

V8-9

Here Jesus describes the conviction of the Holy Spirit of sin, God’s righteousness and judgement. Before Pentecost, this conviction comes from the OT and John the Baptist and Jesus and his disciples.

What does “convict” mean?
- Showing someone his or her sin with a view to securing repentance

The Spirit does not just accuse people of sin, but stresses the need for God upon them. This acknowledgement of our sinful nature and understanding of our need for God and Jesus is a prerequisite for salvation (John 3:16). This sin of unbelief is what separates the Christians from the Non-Christians, separates belief in Jesus and the unbelievers.

V10

Righteousness here refers to truly righteous conduct and standing before God, hence “God’s”. Once again, it is different from the inferior standard the world has. The Spirit would convict the world of its false “righteousness” and move them to instead seek out the true righteousness that Jesus provides- the standard for God’s acceptance.

V11

Satan had been judged at the Cross (John 12:31). Since the ruler of the world stands condemned, his children can expect the same treatment unless they believe in Jesus.

V12-13

Well, just understand that the Spirit of Truth is our guide. His words come from the Father, just like Jesus.

V14-15

Interestingly here the Spirit is revealed as the one who will “unpack” the significances of what Jesus had taught and done. Thus the Spirit is the one that reveals the secrets of Jesus’ word and the Bible to us. He convicts us of our sins, guides us on the paths we should walk and also teaches and works in our minds to perceive, understand and teach about the Savior. Think this way- the Spirit is like our tuition teacher, bringing us more indepth into the lessons that our teacher (Jesus) taught and going beyond the syllabus (what is plainly written) to help us understand the subject better. (what a painful analogy. Haha..) But also, the Spirit glorifies Jesus and points people to Jesus.

Therefore, in summary, the Spirit has 3 ministries-
1) Convict the world (v8-11), enlighten the disciples (and also us) (v12-13), and to glorify Jesus (v14-15).