Thank you!

It has been a wonderful time maintaining this blog and presenting lessons to our youth. However, things change, therefore so must we. I am finding that more and more of our young people are following the C.O.M.E. blog and messages. Therefore, I am discontinuing the writing of this blog. I hope that you will join us on the C.O.M.E. blog. God bless and thank you.

Teaching Notes

                                          

SECOND QUARTER ~ Salvation

What is it and Why do I Need it

Lesson  – How Do I Get Saved?

Scripture: ³⁰ He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. ³¹ They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” ³² Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. ³³ At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. - Acts 16:30-33

I WANT TO DO WHAT’S RIGHT!

Tommy felt bad about getting in trouble all the time.  He didn’t mean to, it just seemed that trouble was always showing up where ever he was. Tommy decided that he was going to do the right thing. He smiled to himself confidently that he would get everything right from now on.

The next day Tommy started on his way to school. He had only gotten two blocks away from his house and all his resolve to do right was forgotten. Tommy saw a small dog and began picking on it. The owner saw Tommy and yelled at him, “Hey kid, get away from there, don’t you know that’s not right?”

The words spoken by the stranger reminded Tommy about his promise. He felt really bad, he hadn’t even made it to school and he was already doing wrong. “What’s wrong with me?” Tommy thought. Tommy was a little gloomy for the rest of the day.

Tommy’s dad saw the look on his face when he returned from school. “What’s wrong son?” Tommy’s dad asked.

“Ah dad, I decided yesterday that I was going to do what’s right, but before I got to school, I was messing with a neighbor’s dog and got yelled at.” Tommy looked defeated, “What’s wrong with me?”

“Son, there’s nothing wrong with you, your just like everybody else. People are always trying to do the right thing, but often mess us with they are depending on their own power.”

“Who’s power should I be trusting in to do right?” Tommy asked.

Tommy’s father called him over to him. “Son, remember when Pastor Smith was preaching about being saved? He talked about how we can’t do the right things without God’s help. If you want to do what is right Tommy, you have to first ask God to help you. The only way you can get that help is to accept his gift of salvation.”

“What is God’s gift?” Tommy asked.

“Remember we talked about how Jesus is the gift that God gave the world so that we could be saved if we believed. If we believe in Jesus, we can be saved and then God will give us His Spirit to help us do what is right.”

Tommy thought about it for a few moments. “Dad,” he said, “I want to do right, but I need God’s help, will he help me?”

“Yes son, he will.”

~Examine the Word~

The jailer that was responsible for Paul and Silas experienced the earthquake that shook the jail and set Paul and Silas free. The jailer was concerned that they had gotten away. When he found out they had not, he asked them a question. He wanted to know how he could be saved. Maybe it was seeing God’s presence with Paul and Silas that made the jailer realized he needed to be saved. Whatever it was, he came to the place where he wanted to know, what do I do need to do to be saved.

~Discovering the Truth~

There are some things that happened to the jailer that is important to for us to understand. When he asked the question of what must I do to be saved, he had a “spiritual awakening.” What this means is in a sense he was “asleep” spiritually. He did not understand the things of God, and he would never understand them until God’s Spirit helped him to see. God’s Spirit placed him under conviction. This was awareness that he was guilty before God, just as Tommy in the story realized he was always doing wrong regarding the things his father told him.

Once the jailer was convicted and realized he was guilty before God (which we call a sinner), he was now faced with a decision. The decision called for him to ask, how do I get saved?  The process of salvation moves the sinner from realizing they need to be saved to making some choices.

Process of Salvation:

·         The sinner must be sorry for their sins. – The sinner must make the choice that they will no longer follow after sin or those things that God hates. (“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regrets, but worldly sorrow brings death” - 2 Corinthians 7:10).

·         The sinner must ask God to forgive them (repent) of their sins. – When the sinner is sorry for their sins, they will ask for forgiveness for what they have done wrong. Repent literally means to change your mind or to turnaround. In other words, repentance could be spelled with a four letter word: Q – U – I – T. (“Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” - Acts 16:31).

·         The sinner must confess his sins and his acceptance of God. – If a sinner wants to be saved, they can’t try to hide their sins. When they do, God promises to help. (“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” - 1 John 1:9).

·         The sinner must pray and believe by faith that they are saved. – Once a sinner has confessed their sins and is ready to ask God for salvation, they must believe by faith that God has done it. There may not be some outward feeling or emotion that takes you over, but you must believe it has been done. (“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” - Romans 10:13)

~Conclusion~

We have been studying about how important we are to God. We have learned that God loved us so much, he sent His Son to take the punishment that should have been for us.  Jesus died in the place of all sinful men and women so that we could be re-connected to God (our bridge fixed).

The jailer asked the question about being saved. He wanted to have a right relationship with God. Paul told him that he simply had to believe on Jesus and he would be saved. Tommy in our story also came to realize he was not able to do what was right by himself. He wanted to, but he couldn’t do it alone. Tommy’s dad told him that God would help him through the gift of his Son. It is that simply! And it is fantastically unbelievable, all at the same time.

~Additional Scriptures~

§  Christ told Nicodemus, “You must be born again.” - John 3:7

§  Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. - Acts 4:12

§  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. - John 3:18

Are You on the Right Track?

True or False Questions

1. _______ A Holy God must judge and punish sin.

2. _______  Jesus freely laid down His life on the cross.

3. _______  It was absolutely necessary for Christ to die so that we could be saved.

4. _______ The wages of sin is a free trip to heaven.

5. _____ The first thing an unsaved person needs to do is to give up all his bad habits and sinful practices.

6. _____ A man is not saved by good works.

7. _____ Once a person is saved it doesn’t really matter how he lives.

8. _____ As saved people, we should be fruitful unto every good work.

9. _____ The believer is able to do good works because it is God who works in him.

10. ______ Jesus the Righteous One died for unrighteous me.

11. ______ Jesus died so that I might live!

12. ______ God showed His great love towards us by forgetting about our sin.

13. ______ God showed His great love towards us by sending His Son to die for our sin.

14. ______ Jesus died as my Substitute which means that He died in my place.

15. ______ I believe with all my heart that the Lord Jesus Christ paid the death penalty for my sin and I’ll always be thankful for what He did for me on the cross.

MAKE THE BEST CHOICE FOR YOUR LIFE!                              

Prayer: Lord, today I want to be saved. I acknowledge that I am a sinner, which means I have not been obedient to your ways. I know that even if I try, I can’t do it by myself. I also know that I cannot erase my bad deeds from before. So I ask that you forgive me of all my sins and accept me as your child. I receive Jesus by faith. Amen. (Personal pray, instead of group one because of the message).

Salvation: What is it and why do I need it?

~ SECOND QUARTER ~

 Salvation: What is it and Why do I Need It

Lesson 1 – What does it mean to be saved?

Scripture: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly…But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life.” - Romans 5:6-10

RIGHT ON TIME! 

Tommy was always getting in trouble. His family would often say “trouble is Tommy’s middle name.” Tommy’s father would often tell Tommy to stay out of trouble or else he might find himself in a situation he could not handle. Tommy heard what his father said, but he often shrugged it off as “old people” simply worried too much.

One day, as Tommy was on his way home from the store, he saw some construction work going on and it drew his attention to the men working. Tommy went over to the site and asked the men what they were doing. They told him to move back. Tommy didn’t listen. He kept moving forward to peek into the hole in the ground.

As Tommy was leaning forward, he lost his footing and began to slip. But before his words could even leave his mouth, he felt a large hand reaching out and grabbing him. The large hand pulled him back up. He then heard a familiar voice.

“Tommy, I told you to stay out of trouble.”

It was his dad! “But how did you know…”

Tommy’s dad looked at his son and simply said, “Son, I’m always watching out for you. I saw you coming this way instead of coming to the house. Something inside told me I should check up on you, and I’m glad I did.”

“Yeah, you were right on time!”

~Examine the Word~

This bridge represents the relationship with God before sin

The scripture verses tell us that at the right time, Christ came to save us from sin. What is sin? Sin is doing something we shouldn't do.  That includes bad thoughts, bad actions, being jealous of others, using language badly, and overall behaving in a way or manner that is against God (and all have sinned)!  The trouble is that God can't stand sin because He is perfect!  Ever since Adam and Eve ate from the tree in the garden, God couldn't have the same relationship with us. Before, there wasn’t anything that separated God and men. It’s like the bridge above. People on the bridge above can connect with the other people on the other side freely because the bridge connects to the other side. Man could connect with God freely before sin.

This bridge represents the relationship with God after sin. 

Broken!               Separated!           Torn Apart!

When Adam and Eve sinned, they damaged the connection (the bridge) between man and God. Now man had no way of getting to the other side, to God.  So we needed a way to be able to have fellowship or friendship with God.

In the Old Testament part of the Bible, we are told that the people had to give offerings for their sins. The priest would take the animals that were without spot or blemish and sacrifice their blood on the altar for the people’s sins. But this had to be done again and again. Some of the people of the Bible thought they could do “things” that would help them reach God. But as the picture above shows, they still could not do anything to reach God because man’s righteousness is not good enough (Isaiah 64:6; Titus 3:5).

Jesus’ came and offered himself as the perfect sacrifice, the perfect lamb without any blemishes or marks (because he was without sin). Jesus’ sacrifice would now do what the other sacrifices could not; it would wash away sin forever. God sent his Son at the right time to save us from falling into a pit that we could not get out of. That pit represents sin. We could not stop sinning because we wanted to. We needed God to help us and to forgive us for the sins we committed.

 ⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  – John 14:6

 To Be Saved Means:

·         I have been saved from all the wrong things I do (acting, thinking, etc.) against God.

·         I am no longer disconnected from God because of the “bridge” being gone.

·         Jesus became the bridge for me so that I could reach God.

·         I am no longer separated from God or his provisions.

·         I accepted Jesus as MY SAVIOR, the perfect sacrifice for my sins.

·         I want to obey God and His purpose for my life.

 ~Discovering the Truth~

We learned, in the first quarter, that God loves us unconditionally. That means that He loves us not because we do things right, but simply because He created us. Our sin separates us from having a friendship/relationship with God. So we needed something to help us bridge that gap. Jesus is the one that keeps us from slipping into the danger of sin and suffering the consequences for it. Tommy’s father watched over him and saw that his son might need him, and he did. His father’s strength was able to pull his son from trouble. God is able to pull us from the trouble we would find ourselves in because of our disobedient to His commands, through Jesus Christ.

  Before a person can accept the gift of salvation, they first have to understand that they are in need of salvation or saving (as we explained in the illustration of bridge). This lesson today helps  us understand that even though we are children of God by creation, we have to make a choice to accept God’s gift of being his child by redemption (salvation). After we understand what salvation is, our next step is accepting OUR NEED to be Saved. We hope that today you have gained that understanding that you need to be saved (if you are not). In our next lesson, we will study “how do you get saved,” what is required.

~Additional Scripture~

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. – Ephesians 2:8-9

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. – Acts 4:12

…but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a Lamb without defeat or blemish -1 Peter 1:18-19

Prayer: Lord, help us today to understand our need to be saved. It seems like such a large step.  However, you said you would do the work in us because of Jesus. Help us make that step to understanding our need for salvation. Amen.

Who Does God Say that I Am?

FIRST QUARTER ~ Who Am I

Lesson 3 – Who Does God Say That I Am?

Scripture: ¹You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. ² You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. ³ You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. ⁴ Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely… ¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:1-4, 14

I KNOW YOU!

Denise could not shake the dream she had a few days ago. She wondered why it had upset her so much. Denise decided to talk to her mother about her dream. That’s what she did as soon as she arrived home from school. She told her mother the dream. Her mother sat quietly listening. When Denise finished telling her about the dream, her mother nodded her head and sat quietly for a few moments.

When she spoke she asked, “Denise, why do you think this dream bothers you so much?”

“I don’t know mom, but it does,” Denise answered.

Denise’s mother smiled. “I think you do know, deep down. You have been hanging out with kids that have you acting in a way that is not who you are suppose to be. You have gotten so worried about being liked, that you’re starting not liking yourself.”

Her mother continued, “I think the dream was trying to tell you something. You are letting people put labels on you that God does not intend for you to be. You didn’t like the labels in the dream did you?”

“No,” Denise said as she shook her head.

“Well, Denise. You are trying to be someone that God didn’t make. He knows you and He knows this isn’t the person he wants you to be. You have to decide if you are going to keep trying to please these friends who really don’t know who you were meant to be, or are you going to be the person God knows. What are you going to do?”

Denise thought about what her mother said. Yes, she needed to make a decision. She needed the person that knew her, to help her make the right one.

~Examine the Word~

The psalmist, David is writing about how much God knows him. He says that God knows his heart and everything about him. God knows his thoughts, when he’s coming and going. God not only knows everything about David, but He is the one that created him. David says that he was made fearfully and wonderfully by God. In other words, God took time to make David unique and not like anyone else. No two people are completely the same, even Identical twins! David said he would praise God for making him. We should do the same.

~Discovering the Truth~

 Since God is the one that knows us, then we should go back to him to find out what we should be doing and who we should be. So when we ask the question of who does God say that we are, this is His answer:

Romans 5:8 - “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”.

Ø  God loves me regardless of how I feel about myself or how I perform.

Ø  My identity is changed from what I was to what I am and what I am becoming.

Ø  God’s love is unconditional.

The truth is that God loves us right now, even if we are not doing everything right! He desires, however, to help us be who he has called for us to be and that is a child of God, his child by redemption (being saved). We are His by creation, because he created us. However, if we want to be with him in heaven we must be saved.

We answered the three questions:

1.     Who do you say that you are?

2.    Who do people say that you are?

3.    Who does God say that you are?

What are some answers that could be given for these questions?
What did we say was the one response that we should always go by?

Yes, we always want to know ourselves through what God says. This will help us as we move to the second quarter and talk about salvation. What is it and why do we need it?

Please remember that when people want to talk about you because you don’t go along with their mean or wicked plans, or use the language they use, or do the things they do, make the following statement in your mind, your heart, and out loud if necessary.

~Additional Scripture~

 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. – Philippians 4:8

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. – Jeremiah 29:11

Prayer: Lord, you are the one that made me and you know everything about me, my thoughts, my emotions, everything. Help me to look to you for the answers in life. I want to know what you want me to do with my life Amen.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Who Am I? - Who Do People Say That I am?

Lesson 2 – Who Do People Say that I Am?

Scripture: 41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied. 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, 44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” 45If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions. – Matthew 22:41-45

THE NAME TAGS

Denise had worried about meeting friends, but she had managed to make a few friends. There was a problem, however. Some of Denise’s friends wanted her to do things she was not comfortable with doing. At first, it was only silly stuff. They picked on some of the quiet kids and played pranks on them. But now, the things they wanted her to do were getting beyond what Denise thought was right. In fact, she had felt awful about the pranks they had already been doing, but she went along with them anyway because she didn’t want them to think bad about her.

One evening as Denise was sitting in her room, she began to drift off to sleep. She began to dream. In her dream, she heard people talking about her. They were saying really awful things about her. She kept trying to yell and tell them that those things weren’t true. She wasn’t stupid or mean or any of the other things they were saying. What happened next was all the terrible things that were being said about her were being placed on her like name tags. When she looked at the tags, she began to feel really bad. Denise woke from her dream and began to wonder, “am I all those horrible things?”

~Examine the Word~

Jesus asked the Pharisees a question. He wanted to know what they thought about the Messiah. The specific question he asked was whose Son is he? They said He was the son of David. Jesus further asked if He is merely David’s son, why does David, speaking by the moving of the Holy Spirit call him Lord? They could not or better yet, would not answer Jesus.

The Pharisees were a group of religious individuals that were seeking to kill Jesus. They did not like Jesus’ teaching or the things He was saying. They did not want to accept the truth about Jesus.

Did you know that is true today? People do not want to believe the truth about Jesus. They do not believe that He came to save the world. They say He was only a good man, but not the Son of God. Yet, even though those wrong things were said about Jesus, did that stop Him from being the Messiah? No!

Did you know that people today will not believe the truth about you sometimes? Some people will not give the right answer when asked the question of who are you? Now, sometimes people do know some things about you, but do people know everything about you? Let’s take a little quiz to find out how much someone knows about you.

~Discovering the Truth~

The Pharisees did not know who Jesus was. Because of this, they missed receiving him as the Son of God sent to save them from their sins. However, this did not stop Jesus’ purpose or His understanding of why He came. He knew who He was based on His Father. God said that Jesus was His Son, and He was pleased with Him (Matthew 3:17, 17:5; 2 Peter 1:17). This helped Jesus to be able to go all the way to the cross because He knew who He was.



As we learned today, people will not always be right about who we are. Therefore, we can’t determine what God’s purpose for us is, based on what people think about us. Denise in our story had a dream where people were putting name tags (or labels) on her. She began to think that maybe those things were true. We have to be careful not to take labels on about ourselves, even good ones. If we are going to know who we really are, we can’t use others labels of us. What should we use then? Great question!

~Conclusion~

So what’s the answer to that great question? It is God that we have to ask to find out what He says about us. We learned that we can’t always trust ourselves to have the right answers about who we are to God. We also learned that sometimes we can’t depend on others either to tell us who we are to God. We need to always go to God about learning how to be the person he designed us to be.

~Additional Scriptures~

The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends. – Proverbs 14:20

With their mouths the godless destroy their neighbors, - Proverbs 11:9a

Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the LORD. – Leviticus 19:16

Prayer: Lord, we cannot look to ourselves or to others to truly help us find out who YOU say that we are. Help us to see ourselves from YOUR eyes. Help us so that we can know like Jesus did, that we are YOURS and YOU love us, Amen.

Teaching Notes

I recently began doing a study I wrote for my home church. I decided to feature the first lesson we did. Read it and enjoy!

FIRST QUARTER ~ Who Am I

Lesson 1 – Who Do I Say That I Am?

Scripture: once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.” Luke 9:18-20 NIV

THE LOOKING GLASS

Denise sat glaring in the mirror. She had been sitting there for a long time; in fact, she wasn’t even aware of how much time had passed. Her mind kept going to the thought of who would be her friends in this new school. “What will people think about me?” Denise had been popular in her former school; but, now she wasn’t sure with moving to a new city and meeting new friends if she would still be popular.

Denise wondered if people would accept her values or would they make fun of her. That hadn’t mattered in the previous school because people wanted to be like her; so, no one made fun of what she believed. But what would they expect in this new place? Denise looked at her somber reflection again in the mirror and sighed. “I wonder when people meet me what they will say about me,” Denise said out loud as she gathered her things to go for her first day at her new school.

~Examine the Word~

Denise wanted to know what people would say about her. We all often wonder what people think about us. Will they like us? Will they think we are strange? This is a natural tendency. Even Jesus asked the question of what others thought about him. The difference however was it did not affect Jesus the way it affects us.

Jesus asks the question of his disciples to see if they knew the right answer. They answered that some thought he was one of the prophets that had been before and had come back. Some thought he was John the Baptist that had been beheaded. Finally, he asks, who do you think I am? Peter gave the right response; he said Jesus was the Messiah. There are some important points we can learn about ourselves from this scripture.

Jesus asked the question about what others thought about him. The first two responses were wrong. The final response was correct, He is the Messiah. This leads us to the fact that when we ask this question about ourselves, the first two responses are most likely wrong, the third one is correct. What are those three responses to the question of who am I that we give:

We often take the answer from three perspectives:

1. Who do I say that I am?

2. Who do people say that I am?

3. Who does God say that I am?

~Discovering the Truth~

Jesus knew the truth about who he was, and he wanted his disciples to also know the truth about who He was. Jesus also wants us to know the correct response about who He is. However, God knows that sometimes we can’t understand the truth about God until He helps us understand the truth about ourselves. The way that people respond to God often has to do with how they answer the three questions we listed above.

~Conclusion~

We often have many thoughts about ourselves. However, what we think about ourselves is not always in line with what God thinks about us. We can think things about ourselves because of how people mistreat us. If we have mean friends, we might even think God can be mean because he lets those things happen to us. We found out today that we sometimes can’t use our thoughts about ourselves to help us learn who we are from God’s perspective. In our next lesson, we will look at what others think about us to see if this is a good way to determine what God thinks about us.

Some areas that keep people from seeing themselves as God does are:

• Being abandoned by family/parents

• Loss of family or other loved ones

• Having been hurt or abused

• Feeling dumb, ugly, fat, or different

• Feeling like they can never be loved because others did not show them love

What other reasons can you think of?

~Additional Scriptures~

A person may think their own ways are right, but the LORD weighs the heart. – Proverbs 21:2

If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. – Galatians 6:3

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: - Proverbs 23:7a

Prayer: Lord, we do not always have the right thoughts about ourselves. Help us to have better thoughts about ourselves and who we are based on what you say that we are, in Jesus name, Amen.