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Bible Session - 12-10-12 - Jonah's Response - God's Lesson

Jonah’s Response – God’s Lesson

Review last 3 weeks: 
            God told Jonah “Go to Nineveh.”
            Jonah runs in the opposite direction and gets on a ship.
            The ship almost sinks in a storm.
            The sailors cast lots; it’s Jonah’s fault.
            Jonah has the sailors throw him overboard.
            The sea becomes calm; the sailors are saved.
            Jonah is swallowed by a large fish where he stays for 3 days and 3 nights.
            Jonah turns back to God and the fish pukes him out onto dry land.
            Jonah goes to Nineveh, the entire city repents, and God saves Nineveh.

Read:  Jonah 4:1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.

God just saved over a hundred thousand people and Jonah is ticked off about it.  Why do you think Jonah was so strongly upset about God’s grace for these people?

Read:  Jonah 4:2-3 He prayed to the Lord, “O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home?  That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish.  I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.  Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Jonah is really ticked off at God!  He perfectly describes how awesome and loving God is. He’s supposed to the man of God on the street telling people how awesome God is and to live for God, and yet, he can’t seem to pull himself together.  His emotions are running low.  He’s spent.  He didn’t want to go to Nineveh.  He didn’t plan on spending three days in the reeking gut of a large fish.  He hates the people of Nineveh and all they stand for, and now God went and saved them.  He is irate!  He calls it quits.  It’s like he’s throwing in the towel and saying, “You’re an awesome God, but I can’t handle your grace for these people.”

Read: Jonah 4:4 But the Lord replied, “Have you any right to be angry?”

God sounds just like a Dad here.  It is not like it your decision who I save or don’t save.  I can almost hear Jonah whining at God, “But, but Daaaaaaaad.  Nineveh has never loved you. Nineveh is full of rotten people who hate, and kill and do all kinds of evil that you would never tolerate.  You shouldn’t save them!”  And then God says, “Sit down.  Calm down.  Take a chill pill my son.  I’m still in control here.”

Read: Jonah 4:5 Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city.  There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 

I wonder if at this point Jonah was thinking maybe God would change his mind and destroy the city after all.  I wonder if he looked at Nineveh’s repentance and thought, “That’s never going to last.  They’re going to fail and then God’s going to smite them!”

Why do you think he was waiting to see what would happen to the city?

Read: Jonah 4:6 Then the Lord God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine.

One thing I note here is that Jonah never thanked God for that vine.  I wonder if verse 7 and 8 would have been different if Jonah’s response had been different.

Read: Jonah 4:7-8 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered.  When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint.  He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”

The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.  God takes away the vine that he had provided for Jonah. 

Why?

Read: Jonah 4:9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?” “I do,” he said.  “I am angry enough to die.”

Jonah really is hard headed.  He really is not getting God’s object lesson here.   Read on…

Read: Jonah 4:10-11 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow.  It sprang up overnight and died overnight.  But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well.  Should I not be concerned about that great city?”

Jonah is so self-absorbed throughout this story that he can’t see the bigger picture.  There are one hundred and twenty thousand people who are going to die instantly and go straight to hell unless God extends his grace and mercy to them and allows them to repent, heal, and grow in their relationship with God. 

Think about the people in your life.  Is there someone specific God is sending you to?  Will you be hard hearted and hard headed like Jonah until the bitter end or will you see the bigger picture and reach out with God’s message of salvation? 

Christmas Party - Monday - December 17th

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Our Christmas party is next Monday, December 17th from 6pm - 8:30pm.  Dinner, dessert, drinks, presents, and fun will be provided.  We're looking forward to seeing you there! 
If you have any questions or still need to RSVP, please email me - brett@madskates.com

God bless!

$315 Needed

Insurance is due in one month, and we are $315 short in that column in our budget.  If you are able to help, please mail a check to MAD Skates & Rec Center, 21705 2nd Avenue SE, Bothell, WA 98021.

Thank you very much!

Bible Session - 12+ Group - 12-3-12

Jonah Goes To Nineveh

Review last 2 weeks: 
            God told Jonah “Go to Nineveh.”
            Jonah runs in the opposite direction and gets on a ship.
            The ship almost sinks in a storm.
            The sailors cast lots; it’s Jonah’s fault.
            Jonah has the sailors throw him overboard.
            The sea becomes calm; the sailors are saved.
            Jonah is swallowed by a large fish where he stays for 3 days and 3 nights.
            Jonah turns back to God and the fish pukes him out onto dry land.

Read:  Jonah 3:1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:
If God tells you once, listen and obey.
If God tells you twice, you better already be moving!

Read:  Jonah 3:2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
In Jonah 1:2 God says “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

In Jonah 3:2 God says “Go and proclaim the message that I give you.”

I find it interesting that God did not say the same thing both times.  He also did not say “proclaim the message I GAVE to you” which would be the message from Jonah 1:2.  Instead he says “the message I give you,” which implies there will be a new message or more to the message he previously gave.

Read: Jonah 3:3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh.  Now Nineveh was a very important city – a visit required three days.

Finally!  Jonah finally obeys and gets to where he was supposed to go.

Nineveh was a HUGE city for that time.  If the Bible writer takes the time to point out the size of the city, you know it is important.

Read: Jonah 3:4 On the first day, Jonah started into the city.  He proclaimed: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.”

Jonah wasted no time.  He went straight to the punch and delivered God’s message. Now we know what that message was that God was going to give to Jonah.  40 DAYS

Read: Jonah 3:5-6 The Ninevites believed God.  They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.  When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took of his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.

Why did Nineveh believe Jonah?  Why did they believe God’s word when they did not worship God?   Because Jonah smelled like rotting fish guts?  Because no prophets from Israel have ever prophesied to a foreign nation before?  What do you think?

Well, the Ninevites believed, fasted and put on sackcloth.  Three points to look at here.

1.      All of them.  It doesn’t say that some believed God.  It says that ALL OF THEM believed God.  To make this point, the Bible says from the greatest to the least.  To stress the point even further, the Bible goes into detail about the kings’ actions.

2.      How a leader acts greatly impacts those under him or her.  Believe me, your actions speak louder than your words, and if you’re thinking “This does not apply to me; I’m not a leader.” Look behind you, if anyone is following you, you’re a leader.

3.      Sackcloth – Usually made of coarse, black goat’s hair sackcloth was used for making bags, but also for wearing during times of mourning or deep repentance (being very sorry for things you’ve done and turning from them.)

Read: Jonah 3:7-9 Then he (the king) issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink.  But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth.  Let everyone call urgently on God.  Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.  Who know?  God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

A few key thoughts in this section.

1.      The leader sets the example – puts on sackcloth, removes himself from the throne, and sits in the dust.  Then he sends the proclamation.  A good example of leadership – He sets the example and then asks the same of his followers.

2.      In the king’s proclamation, he says no one (man or beast) can eat or drink.  I have 2 cats, a dog, and a rabbit.  I cannot imagine trying to put sackcloth on them and keep them from eating or drinking for even one day.  They were supposed to do this with all of their “beasts” or large animals.

3.      In the king’s proclamation, he tells everyone to “Call urgently on God.”  I feel like all too often as Christians we become complacent.  Just like the Ninevites, we need to call urgently on God.  We need to be passionate about our relationship with God.

4.      Give up your evil ways and violence.  Do any of you have a habit that you have tried to quit? Now imagine you were born into a family, a city, an entire culture where that is a habit for everyone.  You’re 15 years old now.  You’ve spent 15 years surrounded by this habit.  You’ve developed your own habit, your own behavior patterns, and now on the king’s command, you give it up.  Sound easy?

5.      Hope – The king is tough on his people?  Sackcloth – fasting – prayer – keep the animals form eating and drinking as well and cover them in sackcloth as well.  Why?  Despite the 40 day warning with no offer of forgiveness, the king holds onto the hope that perhaps God will spare his people. 

Read: Jonah 3:10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.

Can you imagine the celebration in Nineveh?  From sackcloth to celebration!  God spared Nineveh!

Next week: Jonah’s Response – God’s Lesson

Bible Session 11-26-12 - Strength - 12+ Age Group

Bible Session 11-26-12

Strength

by Jeremy Drew

Bible Drill

Psalm 29:11
The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.
Mark 12:30
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
1 Corinthians 1:25
For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Task

Stand holding your hands straight up over your head for as long as you can.  Winner takes the candy! J

Scripture for Discussion

Exodus 17
8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”
10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.”
15 Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. 16 He said, “Because hands were lifted up against[c] the throne of the Lord,[d] the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”

 

Christmas Party - Monday - December 17th

Please mark it on your calendars and plan on coming to our annual Christmas Party on Monday, December 17th.  This is the last event for 2012, so you won't want to miss it.  Dinner, games, presents, dessert, and a great time for all.

Please shoot me an email (brett@madskates.com) or text me at (206-423-0813) to RSVP for this event.  Please include the number of adults and ages of children coming.  Parents, grandparents and siblings are welcome!

Bible Session (12+ age group) 11-19-2012

Jonah’s In the Water; Now What?

Review last 2 weeks:  Jonah was told to go to Nineveh to give them an ultimatum.  “Turn to God or be destroyed.”  Jonah disobeyed God and ran in the opposite direction.  There was a violent storm, and the boat he was on was about to be destroyed along with everyone on it.  The sailors determine Jonah is the reason for the storm, and eventually they throw him overboard.

Read:  Jonah 1:17 But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.

Question: Why do you think God provided a fish to swallow Jonah?  If God was going to stop the storm when Jonah was thrown overboard, why not just give him a piece of wood to float on?  Why the fish?

Question: Why was Jonah in the fish for three days and three nights?  What took him so long to get to the point of praying?

Read:  Jonah 2:1-9 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.  He said:
"In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. 
From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.
You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me.
I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’
The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.
To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. 
But you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God.
When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.
Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.
But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
Salvation comes from the Lord.”

After three days and three nights, Jonah finally turns back to God. 

Question: Have you ever felt like Jonah did?  Like you were sinking deeper and deeper into a pit of despair, heartache, and pain.  Like only death would give you peace from the situation you were in? 

I know I have.  When we first moved back to America after living overseas, life was quite different here versus growing up in Africa.  Although I had suffered some serious abuse issues in Africa, it was my home from age 6 to almost age 12.  When we first moved back, I did not like America. I did not like the fact that we were poor. I struggled to make friends, and I suffered a ration of belittling comments at school.  I went to three different junior high schools in three years.  Even though I was a Christian, I had some serious thoughts about taking my own life.  Thankfully I never did.  Through God putting the right people in my life at the right time, I regained my focus and got redirected in the right direction.

Let’s look at someone else who was like Jonah and me, needed to be redirected.

Read: Matthew 14:22-31 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.  After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.  When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.  During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.  When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified.  “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.  But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”  “Lord, if it is you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”  “Come,” he said.  Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”  Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

We sink when we take our eyes off Christ or in Jonah’s case when he tried to do things his own way instead of obeying God.  The great thing about our God is that he always takes us back, helps us out, picks us up… IF we ask him to!

Read: Jonah 2:10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

How God rescues us isn’t always pretty, but it works.  I’m thinking Jonah probably smelled pretty ripe at this point.  Fish stink doesn’t come off very easily.  I’m guessing it was a pretty good reminder of what he’d done and where he’d been for the last three days.  It’s also a good reminder to us that although God rescues us, there are often consequences that still have to be met.  For Jonah, he had to smell horrific for a while, and he still had the Ninevites to deal with.

Next week: Nineveh

Bible Session 6-11 Year Old Class 11-19-12

Lesson: "What Thankfulness Is All About"

Memory Verse: Psalm 9:52 Let us come before His presence with Thanksgiving.

Bible Session from Last Week - 11-12-12

Jonah: A Crisis at Sea

Review last week:  Jonah was told to go to Nineveh to give them an ultimatum.  “Turn to God or be destroyed.”  Jonah disobeyed God and ran in the opposite direction.

Read:  Jonah 1:4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.

I read a verse like this and wonder how anyone can say that God does not send difficulty our way in order to cause a change.  I think sometimes we really do need a slap upside the head in order to get our heads screwed on straight and for us to start listening to and obeying God.  What do you guys think?

Read:  Jonah 1:5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god.  And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.
                              But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.

Hit the panic button!  In a time of crisis, we naturally call for help from whatever god or person we believe can save us.  The sailors also used their boating skills to try to save themselves – get the dead weight off the boat, raise the height of the ship, and hopefully we won’t sink.

There are a couple of ways to look at this.
                1 – They called out to their gods, but did not believe their gods would actually save them. So, they did the work themselves attempting to save their own lives.
                2 – They called out to their gods, but they also did what they could while they waited for help.

There are many perspectives on what we are to do in a crisis, but for me, far too often it looks like this.

Crisis strikes! 
I cry out “God – Help!”
I think to myself, “This is taking too long.”
I try to fix it myself.

Usually this results in a bad ending as I did not wait for God to do his work, and I mucked up the whole thing creating more work for everyone involved.

In stark contrast to the sailors, Jonah goes below deck and falls asleep.  Again, the Bible does not offer us much information as to why he went below deck and fell asleep or how he was able to fall asleep.  Besides the potential sea sickness that could come upon you in a storm such as this, how on earth did he fall asleep in such a moment of crisis?  The entire ship along with all of its cargo and men was about to be buried at sea.

Again there are many guesses as to how and why Jonah fell asleep.  My personal thought is that he was exhausted from running from God.  Have you ever been so tired that you literally collapsed into bed and fell asleep?  You slept through dinner.  You slept through your mom calling you to dinner?  You slept until morning came.  This is how I picture Jonah – weakened emotionally and spiritually, he faces a massive storm that he knows is his fault.  He calls it quits, throws in the towel, goes below deck where he doesn’t have to watch anything happening and collapses into bed – laying down to sleep or die or come what may.  At this point, I doubt he really cared.

Read: Jonah 1:6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep?  Get up and call on your god!  Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.”

I can picture the captain shouting “Wake up and lend a hand here.  You are the only one who has not cried out to your god.  We don’t want to die you idiot!  Wake up!”

Read: Jonah 1:7 Then the sailors said to each other “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.”  They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.

Casting lots is a lot like drawing straws except it held more power.  It was like saying whoever gets this short straw is responsible for what has happened here.  The short straw ends up in Jonah’s hands.

Read: Jonah 1:8 So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us?  What do you do?  Where do you come from?  What is your country?  From what people are you?”

They riddle him with questions.  Who are you?  What happened?  What’s your story?

Read: Jonah 1:9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”

Now he obviously told him more than just that, because in the next verse the Bible says he had already told them he was running away from the Lord. 

Read: Jonah 1:10 This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?”  (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)

They were very scared at this point.  Now I find this interesting.  Not one of them was a follower of God, but they were afraid when Jonah said he worshipped the God who made the earth and sea.  Why do you think that was?

Read: Jonah 1:11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher.  So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

In verse 10, they basically said “Why did you do this to us?  What have you brought down upon our heads?”  In verse 11, they are looking for answers.  “What are we to do with you to save our lives?”  How would you like to be Jonah right now?

Read: Jonah 1:12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm.  I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

How many of us would have taken that route?  How many of us might have tried an easier way out or tried to blame someone else or even God?  Were these the words of man committed to God and his plan or were these the words of a man who had given up?

Read: Jonah 1:13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land.  But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.

Again, they decide to rely on themselves and try to row to safety.  No luck!  Instead the storm gets worse!  Do you think God might be trying to make a point here?  Pretty often we end up in a situation where instead of just confessing it is our fault, like Jonah did, we try to shift the focus or blame elsewhere.  Then we try to “row” our way out of the problem when in fact, we should have just done what needed to be done in God’s eyes to correct the situation.

Why didn’t they just throw Jonah overboard?

Read: Jonah 1:14 Then they cried to the Lord, “O Lord, please do not let us die for taking this man’s life.  Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O Lord, have done as you pleased.”

Ah!  There’s the answer.  They were afraid of God.  They knew throwing Jonah overboard was going to kill him.  In the open sea during a storm, his chances of survival were zero.  They also knew that killing was wrong.  They were afraid of the consequences of killing God’s man.

Read: Jonah 1:15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.

One way to tell you’ve made the right decision in the middle of a crisis is peace.  They finally decide to throw him overboard, and instantly the sea is calm.

Read: Jonah 1:16 At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.

Seeing the sea become completely calm after nearly losing their lives changed their perspective on God forever.  I get the feeling that before throwing Jonah into the sea, they were simply afraid of God, because their lives were on the line.  At this point they are running scared of just about anything and everything in a state of panic trying to make sense of what is going on.  Jonah is thrown into the sea and the storm stops.  The Bible doesn’t say they cheered and hooped and hollered.  It says “The men greatly feared the Lord.”  Then they changed their lives.  They made sacrifices to the Lord and made vows to him.

In Jonah’s life and at his best behavior, he many never have reached the men on the boat.  When he is at his weakest moment, that’s when God uses him to change the lives of the sailors. 

If you are in the middle of a storm, struggling with your faith or walking through a difficult situation, try to remember that this particular circumstance, this moment in time may not be all about you.  God might be changing the life of someone near you or maybe an entire boatload of people around you.  Keep your eyes on the Lord and obeying his commands.

Next week: Jonah’s in the water: now what?

Bible Session 12+ Age Group - 11-5-12

Is America Your Nineveh?

I have been reading through the book of Jonah and reading several studies on the book as well.  As I have been reading the book of Jonah over and over again, I am struck with new insights into this book as well as in my own life.

Read:  Jonah 1:1-3

What is God’s command to Jonah?
                Go to Nineveh and preach against it.

Why did God command this?
                Nineveh was very far from God and had become very wicked.  God was going to destroy Nineveh if they did not turn to Him.

A little history:

·         Jonah lived in Gath-hepher.

·         Nineveh is the capital of Assyria, and is a very powerful and well-fortified city.

·         It is also a city plagued with a focus on idol-worship.

·         In fact, the Ninevites worshipped the fish goddess Nanshe and Dagon the half man/half fish god.

·         A prophet’s job is to deliver a message from God.

·         Jonah’s job is to tell Nineveh they are going to be destroyed.

·         This is the only time in the Bible when a prophet is told to go to a foreign nation to bring God’s message to a people.  This is the only time Israel is directed to pursue the Gentiles.   Prophets typically brought messages to those they lived in or around.

So God has commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh.  What was Jonah’s response?
                He ran away!  Not only did he run away from God, but he physically ran in the opposite direction!  (I showed a map.  Look it up.  It's pretty funny how far in the opposite direction he runs.)  He gets on a boat and heads toward Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

Note: Jonah is the only prophet in the Old Testament to refuse to follow God’s command.  He is the only one who disobeys a direct instruction from God. 

Can you run away from God?  Can you hide where He cannot find you?  NO!

Even though Jonah tried to escape God and God’s directive, he was never out of God’s sight.

Bible Drill: Psalm 139:7-8
                Where can I go from your Spirit?
                Where can I flee from your presence?
                If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
                If I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

I read in a Bible study that God had given Jonah the assignment of the ten tribes of northern Israel, but the focus of this book of the Bible is the prophecy he was to deliver to Nineveh which he does not deliver and downright disobeys God.  This book gives us a much bigger picture of how God works with imperfect people.  He gave Jonah a big job to do, but Jonah was the man in the field, the man assigned to the mission, the man God would go with wherever he needed to go. 

Jonah is God’s prophet but he runs.  Why?  Was he feeling insecurity?  Was he afraid that God would ultimately save the Ninevites and thereby discredit the prophecy he was about to deliver regarding the destruction of Nineveh?  Did he simply harbor hatred for such a despicable group of people that he did not want to deliver a message that could save them?  Was he sincerely afraid of these Ninevites and fear took hold of him? 

We do not know for sure, but what we do know is that for a moment, he took his eyes off of God and he ran!

Is there a command that has God given to you?
Are you obeying that command or are you running from it?
Is America your Ninevah?  Has God commanded you to stand up for Christ in the face of adversity?
Are you being like Jonah?  Are you running from God’s command for you in your life?

Bible Session 10-15-12

FAITH – HOPE - LOVE

Bible Drill: 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.

Introduction/Review:

• What was the topic of our first part of this three part series? Faith
• What was the topic from last week?  Hope
• Who can guess what our topic is tonight based on 1 Corinthians 13:13? Love

Love Defined by the Dictionary:  

• A profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person
• A feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child or friend

Love Exemplified:

• God set the example of true love.
• Bible Drill: John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
• Bible Drill: John 15:13 – Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Love Commanded:

• Bible Drill: Leviticus 19:18 Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.  I am the Lord.
• Bible Drill: Deuteronomy 6:5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
• In Mark 12:28-31, a teacher of the law questions Jesus.  He asks “Which commandment is the greatest?  Which is the most important?”  Jesus answers “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength.”  And second to that is “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
• Why would these 2 commands be most important?
• Think about it.  If you follow these 2 commands, everything else should fall into place.  If you love God, you are going to whatever you can to make him happy.  You’re going to try to please Him.  You aren’t going steal, lie, worship other gods, etc.  Likewise, if you love your neighbor, you’re not going to try to take his stuff, steal his wife, or kill him.   So I contend that these 2 commands are greater than all other commands on how to live like Christ, because by following these 2 rules, you will follow the other rules more consistently.

Love Taught:
John the disciple teaches why we should love and how we should love in I John 4:7-21.  (We read this passage to the group.)

Love Defined by God: I Corinthians 12:31b-13:13(We read this passage to the group.)

This is how we should live by faith, with hope and in love.

Ceiling Replacement - Help Needed!

Help is needed to replace the ceiling in the gym at Bethany Bible Church in Kenmore during the week of October 29th. This is the gym we rent each Monday for Skate & Rec Night. Please email me at brett@madskates.com if you even think you might possibly be able to help at all, and I'll put you in contact with the man in charge. THANK YOU!

Dinner Needs - Updated

October and December are filled, but we still need some help in November.

November 12 - Filled! PTL!
November 19 - Filled!  PTL!

NOTE: December 17th is our Christmas Party.  December 24th and 31st we will be closed.

Praise

Thanks to everyone who prayed for my back.  It is getting much better, and I am almost back to where I was before this most recent injury. 

I also wanted to say, God is so good.  Through this suffering, God has brought a new light into our midst as we are adding a new volunteer starting October 22nd.  Thanks be to God for bringing Isaac to us.

Praise the LORD!

Bible Session - 10-8-12

FAITH – HOPE - LOVE

Bible Drill: 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.

Message: The first part of our I Corinthians 13:13 study began last week with faith.  This week we are looking at Hope.

So what is hope?  As usual, I‘m going to Dictionary.com for my textbook answer.

1.       Noun - Hope is the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best

2.       Verb – Hope is to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence

What is something you are looking forward to?  What is something you have hoped for?

I’m focusing on these two definitions of hope (feeling like events will turn out for the best, looking forward to something believing it will happen) because it is so easy to look at the circumstances currently surrounding us in our lives and give up hope.  To quit trying.  To walk away from something important to us, because maybe right now it just seems too hard. To give up hope.

What is something you have “given up hope” on?

The Bible says, that we have been justified through faith and now have peace with God through Jesus Christ.  We not only rejoice in this, but we also rejoice in suffering, because suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. 

Bible Drill: Romans 5:5  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. 

None of us likes to suffer, to be injured, hurt, sad, and so on, but in our times of suffering, we can become stronger, and we can grow in our faith and in our hope.  Then right there in the middle of the pain, God meets us in that place of hope and fills our hearts with his love.

Bible Drill: Isaiah 49:23c  Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.

What is the key here?  Hope in the Lord!  If you are hoping that someone you know breaks their leg, so you can get their spot on the soccer team, that is not “Hoping in the Lord.”  That is obviously not something God would approve of, so you may likely be disappointed.  But if your hope is that a friend will be healed, or that he or she will decide to accept Jesus as his or her savior, then that is something God would approve of and you can hope in him!  Especially if he has told you it is going to happen!   It makes the waiting seem less long, when you know that God is not going to disappoint.

Bible Drill: Psalm 62:5 Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.

If you are feeling stressed out about something, you can find rest in God.  Your HOPE comes from him.  Trust in his faithfulness and his timing.  Put your faith in Jesus Christ and put your hope in him as well. 

MEMORY VERSE
Psalm 62:5 – Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him.

Bonus Verse
I Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.

Closure - October 29th

It is official.  We will be closed on October 29th.  The ceiling will be getting replaced that week, and all gym activities have been cancelled.  We will still be meeting on October 15th and finishing up our 3 part series "Faith, Hope, Love."  Please come on the 22nd to close October with pizza and a video.

Bible Session 10-1-12

FAITH – HOPE - LOVE

6-18 Year Old Lesson 10-01-2012

Introduction:  Over the next three weeks, we will be meeting together as one larger group.  We will be studying Faith, Hope and Love, three key elements found in I Corinthians 13:13.

Bible Drill: 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.

Message: This weekend I went to a funeral for a very old friend of mine.  During the funeral the Pastor spoke about faith.  He said our friend Betty did not get to go to heaven when she died because she was a good person.  She did not get to go to heaven because she read her Bible every morning or because she went to church every Sunday. Although those are all wonderful things, she went to heaven when she died, because she believed – because she had FAITH.  She had faith the Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that he paid the ultimate price for her sins, so she could be with God forever.

So what is faith?  Dictionary.com gives us several answers, and we’re going to look at three of those answers.

1.       Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing.

a.        Everyone grab a partner and go stand on these ramps.

b.       Blindfold one of partner so they cannot see.

c.        Now keep the blindfold on, and the other person is going to lead you safely around this space.

d.       Did that require Faith?

2.       Faith is belief that is not based on proof.

a.        I believe – or have FAITH – that I will wake up and get out of bed in the morning.  I have no proof that will happen until I actually wake up in the morning.  I have faith without proof.

3.       Faith is belief in God.

a.        Believing that God is who he says he is and that Jesus Christ died to save you forever.

There are many Bible verses that talk about faith.  So many that we could never get through them in an entire Skate & Rec Night.  These verses tell us that

1.       Faith can move mountains.  Matt 17:20 and 21:21

a.        I have never moved a mountain, but when I was on Mt. St. Helens my faith in God caused me to pray and ask that He make the wind stop.  It was a glorious day, but the wind had picked up. It was getting pretty nasty, and I prayed for the wind to stop.  Almost instantly God stopped the wind.  It isn’t that you are going to be moving mountains, but that your faith in God and in his power will be moving mountains.

2.       Faith can heal. Mark 5:34

a.        There are several stories in the Bible of someone’s faith allowing them to be healed.

b.       Not everyone who has faith will be healed.  Sometimes that just isn’t God’s plan.  Paul lived with a “thorn in the flesh” which was never taken away.

3.       Faith can save. Luke 7:50

a.        Faith in God, in Jesus Christ, will save you from hell and give you a life with God forever.

4.       Faith can justify (to make right). Romans 3:28 and 5:1

a.        We are justified or made right with God through our faith in Jesus Christ.

Those of you who grew up in the church have probably seen this before, but stay with me on this.  There are two sides, in our case, two ramps.  One is where mankind is standing.  The other is where God is standing.  Between the two is a gap too large to jump across.  The great gap between you and God is because you cannot do everything right in God’s eyes.  You will never be able to keep all the commandments and laws that God wrote.  BUT, God created a way to bridge that gap.  He sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross.   Jesus took our sins – the bad things we do – and he paid the penalty for those sins.  When you get in trouble at home, what happens?  There is a punishment right?  The punishment for not following God’s rules and doing what he says is right – the punishment is death and separation from God forever.  BUT Jesus Christ took your punishment!  If you have FAITH that Christ died for you and you accept him as your savior, then you can walk across this bridge and be with God.  Just like my friend who died and went to heaven, when you die you too will go to heaven because you have FAITH.  And while you are alive here on earth, you will get to live with that bridge in place between you and God, you get to live with God in your life.  He forgives you for the wrong things you have done and makes them right.

If you have already made a decision to accept Jesus as your Savior, please walk across the bridge of faith in Christ. (Pray a prayer of praise.)

(We never got to the point of addressing if they had not made this decision, because everyone there claimed salvation.)

Prayer Request

My back's been more jacked up then normal for the past three weeks. I've been doing what I need to, but it's not 100% yet. Felt convicted today to reach out and ask for prayer. Monday nights we run Skate & Rec Night and I am the main heavy lifter for loading the skate ramps in. We usually have a couple of teenagers to help with tear down. Anyway, just asking for prayer for complete healing and for God to show me any lesson He needs me to learn besides being humble and asking for prayer publicly, which is WAY outside my comfort zone.

Dinners Needed

Dinners are needed on the following dates:

October 15th - Rolls will be provided by Ricki Jones, but we still need a main course.
October 22nd
November 5th
November 12th
November 19th
December 3rd - Dinner provided by Isaac & Nicole Cormier.

Please remember you do not need to bring the entire meal!  If you just want to sign up for dessert, a side dish or the main entre, we will help coordinate the missing pieces.  Meals should feed approximately 15 teenagers.

Thank you for your consideration.  Please let me know if you would like to sign up for one of these upcoming meals.

Brett
206-423-0813
brett@madskates.com

Bible Sessions from Monday Night - 9-17-12

Soldiers in The Lord’s Army

6-11 Year Old Lesson 9-17-2012

SING
I may never march in the infantry (march)
Ride in the cavalry (pretend to ride a horse)
Shoot the artillery (clap hands together upwards as if shooting artillery)
I may never fly o’er the enemy (pretend to be an airplane)
But I’m in the Lord’s Army, yes Sir! (salute)
I’m in the Lord’s Army, yes Sir! (salute)
I’m in the Lord’s Army, yes Sir! (salute)
I may never march in the infantry (march)
Ride in the cavalry (pretend to ride a horse)
Shoot the artillery (clap hands together upwards as if shooting artillery)
I may never fly o’er the enemy (pretend to be an airplane)
But I’m in the Lord’s Army, yes Sir! (salute)

SOLDIERS
If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are all soldiers in God’s Army.  Being a soldier isn’t always about marching, riding, shooting or flying.  Sometimes being a soldier looks more like this… Showed soldier helping other soldiers and community people around the world photos on iPad.  Sometimes being a soldier means helping someone you don’t know who needs help. Sometimes it means praying with someone who is sad or scared. Sometimes it means just being with someone to show them you care and to comfort them.
Asked: Who can tell me what comfort means?

BIBLE DRILL
2 Corinthians 1:14 – God comforts us, so we know how to comfort others.
Galatians 6:2 – Help each other through troubles
John 15:12 – My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

PROJECT
Today we’re going to make a “Praying for You” poster card for Macy and Jaxson’s mom, Justine.  She has been fighting cancer for most of this year, and she is continuing to fight and go through treatment.  It is very tiring, and I would like each of you to remember to pray for Justine this week.  Also, draw pictures or write a message of encouragement on the poster card.

TAKE HOME
Memory Verse: John 15:12 – My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
Task: Pray for Justine (Macy & Jaxson's mom) once a day, every day this week.

Being a Servant

12+ Group Lesson 9-17-2012

Jeremy taught on being a servant and how Christ set an example of how to be a servant that we should follow. He discussed that in order to become a "great" person you must first have to be a servant. After I read the passage in John, I had the boys think and share ways they could be a servant to their peers.

Ephesians 5:1-2 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Luke 22:27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

John 13:1-20
1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;

4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.

5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”

11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not everyone was clean.
12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them.

13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.

14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.

15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.