Spring Break!

We didn't meet this week due to spring break, but posting this lesson now will get me caught up since the last lesson I posted was two weeks late. I think this past week was the largest crowd we've ever had. It was Taylor, Justin, Lindsey, Bruno, DJ, Madeline, Taneia, David, Diana, Luke, Daniel, Katie, Katelyn, Marjanna, and myself.

ICEBREAKER:

If you had a time machine, where would you go?


Our answers were pretty...diverse, to say the least. Jam with Bob Marley, go to the dinosaur age, fix errors in your life, disco age (get the groove on!), 1940's, Germany for hippotherapy origins, go back to being a toddler, 1990's (cause they were the best!), Beetle's concert, be alive when Martian Luther King, Jr. was, and going back to Monday so that you could attend the class you missed. As I said, pretty diverse :)


LESSON:


"Going Forward in Time" was the title of our lesson and our opening question was this: What sins in this day and time stop you from running with the perseverance that Jesus did?

Some of our answers were: laziness, not being able to back up what we say, anxiety, loosing something important to you, lack of zeal, consistence, and determination, lack of faith, fear of failure, pride, and selfishness.

Our scripture came from Hebrews 12:1-3 NIV:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lost heart.

We can't just throw off some of the things that hinder us, we need to throw it all off! Also, we don't need to compromise personal convictions.

What does it mean to run with perseverance?

It means to drive yourself for God. Keep trying even when you fail. We must abandon everything and be immersed in God. We must keep going, even when it gets hard.

Webster's definition of perseverance is this: the action or condition or an instance of persevering; steadfastness. We must run with perseverance and nothing else. The question is, do we?

The most common answer, and probably the most true, is sometimes. Sometimes we are just spiritual sprinters and get burned out after a very quick run. We must strive to be like Christ and just like all things in life, no matter how good we get at it, there will always be room to improve and get better.

Christ is the goal. We are not perfect so that is why we must persevere to be more like Christ. What does it mean to fix our eyes on Christ?

It's like tunnel vision...we must know what our goal is and go for it all we can. Jesus is the destination and example of how we should like on this earth. So, we know what happens when we focus on Jesus. But what happens when we don't go to Christ?

Quite simply, we give up. We feel like the entire world is on our shoulders. These things hinder us and we must throw them off.

Here is an encouraging scripture from Hebrews 10:35-36 NIV:

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

We need to persevere and when we do, the reward is great.

Hope you enjoyed the lesson and thanks for bearing with me on the late postings. I'll try not to let it happen again :)

It's So Late!

Hey, guys! Sorry for the extremely late posting, but life has been crazy! Hope you'll forgive me for not posting this lesson till now. This lesson is from two weeks ago. We had myself, Sam, Diana, Lindsey, David, Ronald, Bruno, Bethany, Lisa, Taylor, and Justin. It was a great crowd!

This week, our icebreaker question really fit with the lesson:

ICEBREAKER:


What are your desires?

We had a lot of desires. Someone wanted to be a better leader, be more filled with the Spirit, being best friends with God, and being perfect...even though that's unrealistic.

LESSON:


Are our desires what God wants for us?

Our scripture was Psalm 139:7 NIV:

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

Why would we flee from God? Sometimes we are afraid that our desires won't match up with God's and we don't want to hear what He has to say. This is where our selfish ambitions come in. But no matter what, God is there.

What are desires you put above God?

These are what we came up with: having people like you, being accepted, relying on one's own understanding, material possession, being the best, being the best by worldly standards, doing good and taking credit-not giving God the glory, and doing what the world expects.

We have to work for pleasing God. Psalm 37:3-4 NIV:

Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

The Lord should be our desire and delight, first and foremost. He gives us all. God knows what we really desire and what we need. The world says we need more worldly possessions, but those will all pass away.

When we let those things go, our desire for God grows and we grow closer to Him. If we ask, we will get God's desires and not our own. Satan is scared of our testimonies that we may use for God, but rest assured, he has lost, because the blood of Christ has beaten him.

Psalm 73:25-26 NIV:

Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Here's a piece of advice: write down all the desires of your heart and pray about them. Then ask God to reflect His desires.

Our desires are only bad when they conflict with God's plan. Good desires by the world's standards does not always mean good by God's standards. Our want list and God's want list are two different things. We should want what God wants. And when we do, that's when we get real passion and joy.

Hope you enjoyed this. Again, sorry it's so late.