God's Story: The Church

God’s Story: The Church

1: We spent the whole year looking at God’s Story.

2: It began with a perfect creation

3: humans living in perfect love with God

4: Then sin entered into the world and changed everything

5: God did not give up though

3: He found a way

1: He began by calling out Abraham to follow him

2: From Abraham came the nation of Israel and the Law given to Moses

4: But sin always had a way to keep people separate from God

1-5: UNTIL

3: The Son of God came to do what all of us were unable to do

2: Live a perfect life

4: And give himself as a sacrifice once and for all for our sins

1: Jesus died, but then rose again, defeating death

5: He empowered his followers to continue the work that he began.

1: He told them,

2: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

3: Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,

4: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

5: and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

1: And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

5: At another moment with his followers he spoke to them saying

4: You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;

3: and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,

2: and in all Judea and Samaria, 

1: and to the ends of the earth.”

3: Wait one minute! Why doesn’t he just stay here and do this?!?!

4: I would think that people would be more inclined to follow him rather than ME!

2: Then before all his followers Jesus ascends into heaven promising to return one day.

1: Now WHAT?!?!

5: Well, Jesus did tell us to wait in Jerusalem for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

2: Pentecost came and so did the Holy Spirit.

3: Miracles happened.

4: People spoke in different languages spreading the message of Christ rapidly

1: Peter gave his first sermon to the crowd.

5: Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

3: Over 3,000 people accepted Peter’s message.

2: Believers began meeting together.

4: Through these communities they were able to devote themselves to

1: teaching

2: praying

3: eating together

4: helping each other out if anyone had need

5: praising God and enjoying the favor of all people. 

3: But eventually persecution broke out.

4: Steven was murdered for his beliefs

2: Saul began hunting down Christians and putting them in jail

1: But then Jesus confronted Saul on the road to Damascus

5: Saul converted

4: He changed his name to Paul

3: Everyone heard about this but were afraid

2: This is just a trick to get Christians to come out from hiding!

1: Don’t trust him!  It’s a trap!

4: But one person showed him grace.  His name was Barnabus

3: His very name means “Son of encouragement”

2: Paul and Barnabus worked together on mission trips to start faith communities

1: What started in Jerusalem spread all the way to Rome

5: People’s lives being transformed by the Spirit of God

2: For 20 centuries so many people have come before us to continue the work of    Christ.

4: Christianity spread throughout the Middle East

3: Christianity made its way through England and Africa

1: And eventually the message of Christ made it to America

2: Many people have given their lives to spread the message of God’s love

3: Many sacrifices were made to see this truth get into the hearts and minds of all   people

4: Christians have been persecuted

5: Some have been executed

3: Some have been marginalized as ignorant, stupid and dangerous.

1: But now this precious message has been handed down to you!

2: The message and mission of Christ has been carefully handed down from generation to generation

3: And now it is given to you!

4: What does this mean? 

5: How does this affect who you are?

3: Consider what the Bible teaches us about our identity in Christ!

1: In Christ you are…

2: Godʼs beloved child (John 1:12; Ephesians 1:5)

3: Christʼs dear friend (John 15:5)

4: Declared perfectly righteous (“justified”) (Romans 5:1)

5: Free from condemnation (Romans 8:1; Colossians 2:14-16)

4: United with Christ, “one spirit” with Christ (I Corinthians 6:17; Ephesians 5:31)

3: A member of Christʼs body (I Corinthians 6:15, 12:27)

2: The Temple of God (I Corinthians 6:19)

1: Filled with the “fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19)

2: A “holy one” [saint] (Ephesians 1:1)

3: Blessed with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3)

4: Holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4)

5: Bought with an infinite price and forgiven (I Cor. 6:20; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14)

4: Bathed with wisdom and understanding (Ephesians 1:8)

3: The recipient of an eternal, infinitely rich, inheritance (Ephesians 1:11, 18)

2: Possessed with the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2:16)

1: Inseparable from Godʼs love (Romans 8:35-39)

2: One who will NEVER be abandoned (Matthew 28:20)

3: The beautiful bride of Christ who “ravishes” the heart of God (S. of S., 4:1, 6:4)

4: One over whom the Lord rejoices, sings and claps his hands (Zephaniah 3:17)

5: One for whom the Lord throws a party (Zephaniah 3:17; Luke 15:7-10)

4: A recipient of Godʼs own peace (John 14:27)

3: Filled with the peace and joy of God (Romans 14:17)

2: One in whom Christʼs joy is fulfilled (John 15:11)

1: Given direct access to the Father by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:18)

2: Seated with Christ in heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6)

3: The writer of Hebrews reminds us of all those throughout history who have come before us

1: Those who continued the work and mission of God to bring it to this point and time

5: And then the writer tells us

2: Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,

4: All of those believers who have come before us,

3: let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.

5: Don’t get tangled up by sin but have the discipline to say no to those things which will hurt me.

1: And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 

3: the spiritual life is a marathon, not a sprint.  We must pace ourselves for all of life.

2: fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

4: So many things try to divert our attention. We must stay focused on Christ

5: For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, 

1: and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

4: What appeared to be the defeat of Christ at the cross,

2: God was able to bring victory through his resurrection.

3: And now all authority has been given to him.

5: Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

4: The Christ-filled life is not always easy.

3: Our loyalty to Him will be challenged

2: People will often let you down

1: Life can just be really hard sometimes

3: But God has not left us alone

5: We have the same power within us that Jesus had throughout his lifetime

1: The Holy Spirit can transform us to be more and more like Christ

2: The Holy Spirit can use us in ways we could never have even imagined

3: The Holy Spirit can forgive us when make mistakes

4: The Holy Spirit can give us gifts that can be a blessing to so many people

5: The future of the church rests on our shoulders

3: The mission of Christ has been entrusted to you!

1: You have been invited to be a main character in the continuing saga of God’s Story!

2: What will the newest chapter look like? How will you make a difference?

4: Let’s Pray

PASTOR: Dear Lord.  We thank you for writing such a beautiful story, a story filled with your love reaching out to us.  We thank you for making a way for us to be invited into your story in such an amazing way.  I pray that we would fully give ourselves to your love.  I pray that we would see ourselves as you see us – as the full expression of Christ to this generation.  Help us all to fully live into our faith.  May we be given the same power that you had to change the world.  I pray that you would raise up from this youth group pastors, teachers, musicians, missionaries; a community of people full of God’s love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control.  May our actions and the way we live our lives attract people to you!  Give us a global vision for how we can change our world beginning with right here, right now. Amen

God's Story: The Death and Resurrection of Christ

God’s Story: The Death and Resurrection of Christ

1: INTRODUCTION

2: God’s story began with Creation

3: Humans living in perfect relationship with God

4: Then sin entered into the world infecting everything

5: God established a people through Abraham

3: He rescued them from Egypt through Moses

1: He gave them his law and provided land for the people of Israel

4: But the issue of sin always had a way to turn people away from God until . . .

2: The Son of God was born in a manger

5: Jesus grew

1: He called out 12 disciples saying to them

3: FOLLOW ME

4: The final week of Jesus’ life begins

1: SCENE 1

2: Jesus warned his disciples many times

3: His mission on earth would not be what they expected!

5: The Son of Man must die.

4: Jesus, this is crazy talk. You need to stop this.

5: Peter, get thee behind me Satan!

1: SCENE 2

3: It is time to enter into Jerusalem. 

5: Look, Jesus comes riding on a donkey.

2: It is not quite the big giant entrance like a king or pharaoh

4: The poor, the children, throwing down palms on Jesus’ path

1: The religious leaders stand by indignant

2: Jesus surveys the crowd and begins to weep

3: People who are yelling

1-5: “Hosanna!”

3: will soon be used to scream out

1-5: “Crucify him!”

1: SCENE 3

2: Jesus meets with his disciples for what he knows is his final supper with them.

3: While they were eating, Jesus took bread,

4: and when he had given thanks,

1: he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying,

5:  “Take and eat; this is my body.”

2: Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, 

5: “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

PASTOR: Let’s pray (Communion)

3: After the supper Jesus announces that one of the disciples will betray him

2: They all look astounded and shocked

1: They were all quick to swear loyalty

4: Jesus looked at Judas and said

5: “What you are about to do, go and do it quickly”

1: At that moment Satan entered into Judas

2: 11 disciples reclining at a table eating food

3: Unaware that the very presence of God and Satan are physically in the room with them, Judas left to carry out his plans

1: SCENE 4

3: The Garden of Gethsemane

4: Jesus takes his disciples so that they can pray together

5: “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch            with me.”

2: Jesus prays with overwhelming stress and anxiety

1: He wrestles with his options

3: He finally prays

5: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you           will.”

4: The betrayer comes with the mob

3: He greets Jesus with a kiss

2: The mob attacks

1: The disciples scatter

3: Jesus is taken to court

2: Accusations fly

5: Jesus remains silent

4: The judge feels pressure from the crowd

1: He caves to their demands

5: Jesus is flogged then lead away to be crucified

4: and the disciple who swore to stay with him denied he ever knew him

3: not once,

2: not twice,

1: but three times; just as Jesus said he would

1: SCENE 5

3: In his crucifixion there are two responses that resemble all of humanity

2: One who was on a cross beside Jesus, mocked him and made fun of him

4: The other recognized his sin and the scandal of being executed alongside Jesus

3: “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 

4: Jesus answered him, 

5: “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

1: How do we see Jesus?

2: Do we look at Jesus’ powerlessness as an example of God’s impotence?

3: Or as proof of God’s love?

4: One sacrifice given up for all of our sins

5: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us

1: Satan was defeated at the cross

3: A new era of God’s kingdom was about to begin!

5: Isaiah sums up all these events in a prophecy many years prior

2: He paints the picture of Christ’s suffering in stating that

4: Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering,

1: yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.

5: But he was pierced for our transgressions,

2: he was crushed for our iniquities;

4: the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

3: and by his wounds we are healed.

1: We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

2: each of us has turned to our own way;

3: and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

4: One sacrifice, once and for all. Taking upon himself

5: our sin

4: our shame

3: our punishment

2: our suffering

1: our pain.

1: SCENE 6

5: But the story does not end with the cross!

3: Three days later some of the women go down to the grave to care for the body

2: They were shocked to see an empty tomb

4: Even more shocking, an angel announcing to them that Jesus is not here. He has risen!

3: They went back to the room where the men were hiding

2: Jesus is gone!

1: All of a sudden Jesus appears among them!

5: Peace be with you!

3: After all the disciples have experienced in the past three day, peace was the last thing they were experiencing.

2: But Jesus stands before them . . . alive.

4: Death was not the final chapter.

1: In fact, he defeated death and now lives again.

2: Oh wait, didn’t Jesus try and tell us he would rise again on the third day?

1-5: Ohhhhhhhhhhh

3: But even then some of the disciples wrestled with their thoughts

4: Thomas heard about Jesus but had serious doubts

5: Jesus came directly to Thomas and showed him the evidence that he was definitely alive

1: Peter felt embarrassment and shame

5: He didn’t know what to think

2: He decided to go back to the old business of fishing for fish

4: On a boat he could just distance himself from the whole Jesus thing

3: But after a bad night of fishing someone on the shore encourages them to try one more time before they come in

5: All of a sudden the nets could barely hold the catch of fish

4: The boat almost started sinking due to the amount of fish

3: Peter figured it out

2: That is Jesus on the shore

1: Why did he bother to come and find me?

5: Jesus invited them to eat food that he prepared on the beach

3: When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Peter, 

5: “Do you love me more than these?”

4: “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

5: “Feed my lambs.”

2: Again Jesus said, 

5: “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

4: “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

5: “Then take care of my sheep.”

1: The third time Jesus said to him, 

5: “Peter, do you love me?”

3: Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, 

4: “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

2: Jesus said, 

5: “Feed my sheep.”

3: Three times Peter denied Jesus

1: Three times Jesus affirms Peter

2: Jesus did not disown Peter

4: He did not punish Peter

1: Instead Jesus pursued Peter when Peter was trying to avoid Jesus

3: Jesus affirmed Peter

5: Jesus gifted Peter

2: And Jesus helped to remind Peter of who God called him to be

4: Just like the disciples who had doubt, fear, insecurity and guilt

1: Jesus pursued them,

2: loved them

3: affirmed them

4: and launched them out into ministry

5: Just as he does with each and every one of us.