Hearing and doing the Word. Youth Group Lesson 5.22.11

Here is my lesson from youth group tonight. Feedback appreciated! Feel free to be critical, and hope this helps you in any capacity it can.

Youth Group Lesson May 22nd 2011 Be Doers Of The Word

Over the summer, we will be going through the book of James. In the book, James, a brother of Jesus, challenges his readers, the Christians of the time, to not just be people that hear the word, but people that live according to what it tells them to do.

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

1.       How God commands us to live…what it really looks like

James challenges us to look at the perfect law of God. To hear this word, and then act on it.

What does this passage tell us? First off, this isn’t a list of suggestions, but rather a list of commands.

This passage commands us to :

·       Be quick to here

·       Be slow to speak

·       Be slow to anger

Ø  Put away all filthiness

Ø  Put away all rampant wickedness

·       Receive the implanted word

·       Be doers of the word

What does it mean to be quick to listen?

Listening to your boss or parents , instead of cutting them to talk about your own agenda.

What does it mean to slow to speak?

Being careful what you say, and how you say it. This rules out things like making fun of someone to make yourself look better.

What does it mean to be slow to anger?

Instead of flipping out when your sibling lies to or about you. being graceful and humble with them.

What does it mean to put away filthiness?

To desire to be more like Christ, and to through prayer and accountability, killing sinful habits and addictions you have, whether it be lying, laziness, lust, ect

Receive the implanted word? 

KNOW the bible, and live according to it. This starts with spending personal time daily, in the word.  This, like all of these, is hard work, but Christ works in us, sanctifying us, to make these more of a habit when we ask for his helps.

2.       What this doesn’t mean – earn salvation by works 

While this passage tells us to be doers of the word, it cannot be confused as a list of does and don’ts where you can say

 ‘Ok, now I’m slow to anger’, so I’ve filled that obligation.

This is not a list of things to do that if you do make you ‘good’ and ‘right with God’, but it’s about a heart condition. Even when we look good on the outside, we may be doing things out worldly, and still be sinful in our heart.

In the New Testament, Jesus confronts the Pharisees for this many times. They did what the law said, but were not doing it for the right reason, because of their love for God and desire to obey him.

THEY were  very concerned about making sure people saw them when they did good things, because they wanted the praise for it, instead of having a righteous heart and giving all the praise to God.         

So what does this passage tell us about our heart condition?

Later in James, in Chapter 17, he tells us exactly how gross our heart looks:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? James 17:9

Our heart is so deceitful, that we can’t even understand it, and certainly, on our own can not improve in these areas.

SO how do we fix it?

Well- the truth is we can’t. But the good news is, that work is already being done.

The spirit works in our hearts to sanctify us- making us more like Christ every day.

The Lord promises that he will do this in his people.

And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. Deuteronomy 30:6

So maybe you’re thinking  well yeah, I’d love to be a doer of the word, but I don’t have the power to do so. While, within yourself you have nothing, through Christ, we have already b

How does what Christ has done on the cross motivate us to be doers of the word?

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, (Ephesians 1:3)

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

What does this mean… in Him we have

o   Redemption and forgiveness- the grace of God to forgive us and save us, even as we constantly mess up.

o   Every Spiritual Blessing- We can’t escape our sinful flesh on our own, no matter how hard we try, but if we trust in Jesus, we belong to him, and he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing of a believer.

o   No temptation has seized you except what is common to man- We may be stuck in a sin struggle that we thing is so bad that will never escape, but He IS faithful, and provides a way of escape from our sin,

So the idea of this passage is once again, look at the perfect law of God. To hear this word, and then listen to what is says.

And what happens when we do this?

The Lord will bless us.

But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. 

BREAK OUT GROUPS

Leaders: Re-read the passage for them.

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

The passage says put away all filthiness, and rampant wickedness. This implies that things we do are filthy and wicked.

Why do we do these things?

Why do we follow our sinful desires?

What does this tell us about trusting Christ?

What motivates you to overcome your sinful behaviors?

If we acted on the word of God, how would our lives be different?

What would it mean for you (personal , specific) to be a doer of the word instead of just hearing it?

How does what Christ has done motivate you to continue the work required in this area?

Close with prayer, however you want to do it.

2 years ago  /  0 notes

tumblrbot asked: WHAT IS YOUR EARLIEST HUMAN MEMORY?

Um seeing my grandfather as a kid.

2 years ago  /  0 notes

Why We Can’t Forgive?

Why can’t Christians forgive!!? We expect forgiveness from God, but don’t want to forgive others. We live thankful for that grace, but we hold other people to this religious bar that, when they don’t meet it, we look down on them. Forgive someone you’ve been withholding forgiveness from today!

I heard this on the radio today. I was  it was worth passing on, and a good reminder to me to forgive people I’ve been unwilling too!

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

Jesus forgave, even as people were killing him!

Luke 23:34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

If he can forgive THAT, I’m sure I can forgive the minuscule things done against me! It’s time to give the same forgiveness we’ve been preaching.

2 years ago  /  0 notes

Where Sex has gone.

If nothing else, this post got you reading.

That’s a start.

Now, onto the point.

I don’t blog a lot. Truth is I just don’t have time. But this has been wearing on my heart like  50 pound weight, and it came to a climax last night. I was up at 5 this AM typing most of this out.

I’ll set the scene.

I’ve worked at the same Supportive Concepts house with the staff I’m with for the past 4 nights.

Out of the blue last night„ the one staff says ’ So Supportive concepts rumor is you are a virgin saving yourself for marriage’. My initial reaction was sadly the normal one, of either not answering, or this time around laughing and saying ‘where did that come from’?

I then walked away and starting cleaning,pretending to ignore the question. Then, suddenly I felt  hit in the head with reality and I said to myself inside ”What the HELL is wrong with you? YOU TALK about this Jesus. YOU go to school to learn about this Jesus. YOU say you want to preach the gospel. But YOU can’t stand up for truth,righteousness, and purity when pushed into a ‘corner’ about saving yourself for marriage???!”

It seriously was the biggest reality check I’ve ever had.

One of my favorite bands has a song called ‘infiltrate’ and some of the lyrics in it have touched my heart. It says:

I cannot be bought, compromised,
detoured, lured away,
turned back, deluded, or delayed.
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice,
hesitate in the presence of my adversaries,
negotiate at the table of my enemy,
or ponder at the pool of popularity.

I won’t give up, shut up, let up,
until I’ve stayed up, stored up, prayed up,
preached up for the cause of Christ.

I am a disciple of Jesus.

So what’s it mean to be a DISCIPLE OF JESUS? I certainly don’t think it means laughing off a moment to share your faith!

I think the working in my heart has been wonderful to see, but it’s obviously not there yet.

Over my life I’ve seen tons of sexual brokenness. We all have it. Over the last couple months I’ve met more and more of people in all different degrees of physical brokenness. Going past the point of no return sexually,whether willingly or forced, and then having a hard time recovering emotionally and spiritually.

I would be a liar if I were to say I don’t have tons of my own. I am a virgin saving himself for marriage, but I certainly have gone way to far in past relationships, and it makes me get it: I should use my sexual brokenness and my recovery and grace I’ve found in Jesus through those struggles as a testimony of WHY I’m saving myself for marriage.

Let’s go back to the conversation with the other staff. I came back and sat down after cleaning and said ‘So, that stuff you heard. It’s true.’ That was the end of the discussion, but most times it won’t be.

I think the scary thing is that it came so easy to me to miss a chance. If I’ve learned anything over the past couple months, it’s that sex before marraige is rampant, and it makes me sad. It makes me sad that Christians no longer hold to a basic standard. It scares me how fast stuff happens, so I get why it’s such an issue in relationships. It makes me sad to see CHRISTIAN guys in relationships pushing girls to be physical, because that’s usually how it starts.

As I desire to see myself redeemed and sanctified, I desire to see sex sanctified in a way that we aren’t ashamed, because the physical relationships we have are made in the sanctity of marriage, kept where they belong. This seems like such a stretch to even imagine, but I trust that God has redeemed the person I’ve been, can redeem the the people around me and their brokenness, and can, and WILL redeem the youth of this generation to believe in saving themselves and to stand for it. I pray that I will stand up for it in my day to day living. I want to believe AND live a life where I’m not ashamed and I will not compromise .

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Romans 1:16

2 years ago  /  0 notes

Another college paper.

Here’s the assignment:

1. What was the political and religious situation in Judea when Jesus appeared?
2. How the life and ministry of Jesus continue the story of the Old Testament
3. From the book of Mark, what are your impressions of Jesus?
4. In what ways are we like Jesus’ disciples in Mark?

ANDDDD Here’s the paper:

Let me know if you have any input!

John Schuchman Box 433

Dr. Dick Emmons

INTRO TO BIBLE

Writing Assignment #4

When Jesus came, the political and religious situation in Judea both seemed to be in turmoil. During the time, the Jews were under the oppression of the Roman Empire. Led by the zealots, many people thought that the answer to the oppression was to be violent and rebellious the rid themselves of the Roman oppression. For this reason, many Jews were expecting a ‘King of the Jews’ that would be a military leader. They expected this leader to start a revolution and overthrow the Roman government, thus freeing them from oppression. Knowing this helps us better understand why people were confused, and many even offended when Jesus told them he came as a servant. For instance, even Jesus’ close followers were confused when he washed their feet in John 13. Religiously, Judea looked good, but it was certainly not good. Jesus hit the religious leaders right where it hurt. He attacked them not for their outwards actions and appearances, which they thought were important, but he focused on the heart. This made the leaders very mad, and was one of the main reasons they developed the plot to have him killed.

Through the ministry of Jesus, we see him continue the story that we see in the Old Testament in a few different ways. In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve walked and talked with God. After they sinned, they didn’t have a relationship like that with him anymore. The people of Israel in the Old Testament had a relationship with God that the New Testament people did not have, but even they did not have the relationship like Adam and Eve did. As the bible story continues, we God less and less interactive with his people. When Jesus comes, that all changes. Suddenly God, in the form of the son Jesus, is on earth again. God is finally walking and talking again with his people, only this time, most of the people didn’t know it was him, or didn’t believe it. But he was still there. In fact, I would argue that when Jesus comes, we have God in the most relational form he had ever been in. He is walking on the earth in the flesh, a son of man. He not only walked and talked with the people, but he came to ultimately be there savior as well because he had so much love for them. That’s about as relational as you can become for another person, to die in their place.

In Mark’s gospel we see who Jesus is and what he came to do. Mark’s book is different than the other three gospels in that it presents Jesus as a disciple and servant of God, as well as powerful and divine. Even though Mark was not actually one who was with Jesus, he tried his best to accurately write now things that Peter said. Mark presents Jesus as both powerful and divine in a few different ways. He tells us of many miracles that Jesus did, including healing a paralytic, casting out demons, calming a storm, feeding five thousand, and walking on water. In telling of things such as The Transfiguration and of Christ raising from the dead, we see that Jesus is also very much divine.

We are like Jesus’ disciples as presented in Mark in a few ways, some of which are good and some of which are bad. For starters we are followers of his, which is exactly what the disciples were.

We are also normal people with normal occupations as they did. I have a photography business. Some people are teachers. Others are salespeople. The disciples had their own secondary callings as well. Most were fisherman, and at least one was a tax collector. Jesus called these men not because of what they did in their secondary calling, but because he wanted them as his followers. He does the same thing with us today. As like the disciples, sometimes we just don’t get who Jesus is. The disciples were constantly questioning who Jesus was, and we tend to do the same thing. We know him and what he did, but sometimes we don’t believe it like we should. Another way we are like the disciples is we sometimes get caught up in things that are not important, like how special we are or how important people think we are. We want to think we are the best! We see the disciples arguing over the same thing in Mark 9:33-36. They were arguing about who was the greatest amongst them! Later we see James and John request to be on his left and right side in heaven in Mark 10:35-45. Jesus is quick to put them in their place, and he is also quick to put us in ours. When we begin focusing on ourselves and how good we look, or how important or special we feel, the Lord is quick to remind us where we belong. After all, the Lord came to serve and we are supposed to be an example of that very same service on our walk.

2 years ago  /  0 notes

College Paper #2, the one that feels like a bible study

Unedited- would appreciate feedback if you have any. :)

It’s due tomorrow at 2.

Here was the assignment :

Assignment # 1 - Genesis

(a) Please read the book of Genesis in the NASB Study Bible (you can refer to the notes if you wish).

(b) Answer the following questions in a paragraph each: (1) What is Genesis about? (2) What are the main themes of Genesis? (3) Trace the story line of Genesis. Why is this story important for the people of Israel to know? (4) What did you learn about God from reading Genesis? How does this affect your relationship with him?

John Schuchman Schuchman 1

BIB 100-00

Dr. Dick Emmons

01/04/11

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” ( Zondervan NASB Study Bible). Many of us know this is the first verse of the bible. Many of us probably have it memorized, but this is more than just something to memorize. It opens us up to the word of God, and its first book, Genesis. Genesis is the beginning of God’s story. It begins with the creation of everything, including mankind. There we see Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, placed in the garden of Eden, a perfect place where they could eat of any tree but one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There we see Adam and Eve commit the first sin, by eaten of that tree. They were cast out of the garden because of their sin, but not without the promise for redemption.

Redemption becomes a major theme of Genesis. When Adam and Eve are cast out, God promises a son that will bring salvation for them and crush the serpents head. (Genesis 3:15). Though Adam and Eve though there child Cain was that redemption, God had a plan from the beginning to one day send Jesus to save his people from their sin. Another theme of Genesis that we see is man’s constant rebellion against what God commands.

The story line which starts with Adam and Eve continues through the entire book, as do the themes. Cain kills his brother out of jealousy, but God redeemed him by not allowing him to be killed. Later we see that man is so evil that God destroys everything and starts over, so the Lord wiped out everyone except for Noah (who was righteous before the Lord), and his family. We see the story continue, from Babel, to Abram, to Jacob, and onto his son Joseph. We see how Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. It even looks like a bad situation turns worse when Joseph is wrongfully accused of sleeping with his master’s wife and thrown in prison. It seems that God has forgotten all about him, but that is obviously not true. God eventually exalts Joseph to a position of second in authority in Egypt next to Pharaoh himself. Through the book of Genesis we see the theme of man being sinful, and God continuing to be gracious and redeeming his people. We see that God never forgets his people, even when they forget about him, and turn to other gods.

This story line shows what a loving God we serve, and how he gracious he is. This was an important thing for the people of Israel, and it seems like they had a hard time believing this. Nevertheless, this story was important for them to remember, is it is important for us to remember, because it shows the story of God making everything, and it shows us why he did it, for his glory. Forgetting your creator or his promises would be like forgetting your parents and what they promise you.

Through reading Genesis I believe I have a better grasp on the details. I also feel like I better understand how the entire book connects together as a story of God and his redemption for his people. When reading a book of the bible, especially in the Old Testament, it’s very easy to ignore it. It’s easy to say ‘this was written over 3500 years ago, it doesn’t apply to me. I’ve discovered in focusing on this, that I shouldn’t think like that. I believe reflecting on Genesis as a whole has helped me realize how this should show help me reflect on my life, and how God, from Creation, has had a plan for me. That plan includes sending Jesus for me, and continuing to redeem me and my circumstances even though I constantly turn my back on him. It’s a great reminder to live life constantly reflecting on who I am in light of God’s plan and what Jesus has done for me, and to “conduct (myself) in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” Philippians 1:27a

2 years ago  /  0 notes

The PBU Story

In the past 72 hours, I’ve realized why they say don’t count your chickens before they hatch. It’s led to a lot of hurt,questions, and wondering what the future holds.

It was all set up. All perfect, maybe a bit too perfect:

I was set up to go to Philadelphia Biblical University. All Set

Accepted ✔

Deposit ✔

Classes selected ✔

Deposit Made ✔

Roommate Selection ✔

Make plans to be there January 24th for orienation ✔

FAFSA filled out ✔

That’s kinda where the checks end. It’s a long story but when I filled out my FAFSA last week I heard back later that I wasn’t eligible for aid for a couple different reasons.

ANYWAY, that kind of put a quick hault on plans for going to (and living at) PBU full time this semester so let me explain how things have changed a bit and what my schedule will look like:

I basically hustled like heck to make things work for PBU, and when I saw they weren’t, I tried to make plans for school work some other way. Seeing that full time wasn’t happening, I tried to search other options.

My schedule at PBU was supposed to be the following classes this semester:

Introduction to The Bible

The Pentateuch

Speech

General Psychology

I decided to try and go to PBU part time and commute so I could at least get a few classes in. I was able to do that and decided to take the 2 bible courses (Intro to Bible+ The Pentateuch). I then tried to find some local community college options to take anything that would transfer in, and I was able (THANK YOU LORD), to find classes at RACC that will transfer right in.

So I will be taking

Speech

Genereal Psychology

and also Introduction to Philosophy

I will be taking the 2 PBU courses Monday,Wednesday,Friday 1-1:50 PM (Intro to Bible) , and 2-2:50PM (The Pentateuch)

I will be taking the 3 RACC courses Tuesday and Thursday 9:30-10:45 AM (Speech), 11-12:15 AM (Psychology), and TUESDAY ONLY 6-8:45 PM (Philosophy)

So, while it’s not the best situation, or even the one I was hoping for, God has worked things out that not only will I take all the classes I was going to have this semester, but in fact I get one more class out of the way as well.

SO there you have it, please pray for me:

✔That I would accept his plan as GOOD and what he (obviously) has as the BEST for me NOW.

✔That I would be able to manage the long drive to PBU every Monday,Wednesday, and Friday (75 miles each way, so a round trip of 150 miles each day YAWN!!!!)

✔That I would be able to manage classes well at both schools this semester

✔That I would be able to manage my time well and find time to suceed in school while also trying to work.

Anyway people, that’s all, thanks for reading, and I’ll share more info soon about how things will go this semester and in the future as I look towards the summer and the fall.

2 years ago  /  0 notes