Thread#1
The Character of God
The Character of God
Thread 1 answers this question.
Who is God?
Quote this verse from Romans that speaks of our sinfulness.
What is Romans 3:23 'for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God'.
Thread 3 reveals this ultimate question
How is Jesus unique? or What has Jesus done?
Answering this question is the point of Thread #4
Everyone's eternal destiny hinges on this.
What is, 'their response to Jesus'. (This answers the question of why it is so urgent for us to weave the threads of the gospel into our conversations with unbelievers.) Its either turn from Jesus, or trust in Jesus!
The logical starting point of the Gospel
What is God.
Thread #2 answers this question
Who am I? or What's wrong with the world?
How a holy God saves rebellious sinners who are due his judgment
What is 'Through Jesus, or The sufficiency of Christ.'
(Bible clearly shares that Jesus alone is able to remove our sin and restore us to God)
Thread #4 Summary Statement
What is, "We can be restored to God only through faith in Jesus."
Hell is only associated with the "God of the Old Testament"? True of False
What is 'False' Jesus talked about hell a lot, recorded for us in the New Testament! We spent an entire lesson on what he said about it. Tim Keller notes, "If Jesus, the Lord of Love and Author of Grace spoke about hell more often, and in a more vivid, blood curdling manner than anyone else, it must be a crucial truth."
God reveals Himself this way in Isaiah 43:15
What is, "I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King."
The Paradox: We are each created by God but _____ by sin.
What is 'Corrupted'
Jesus is both human and ______.
What is 'Divine (divinity), or God, or part of the Trinity.' (Jesus drew attention to his deity, and also making extravagant claims about himself.)
The goal of faith is...
The goal is God. (Being restored to him is why we come to Christ in the first place.) The goal of believing the gospel isn't happiness, or joy or peace or satisfaction,
Name one point we can draw from Jesus teaching on hell.
It's a dreadful reality, and/or its a real place.
The starting Pillar of Gods Character
What is His Holiness.
Name one aspect of sins corruption in our lives...
1. We have rebelled against God.
2. We are separated from God.
3. We are dead without God.
Who Jesus is: name three of the seven 'I am' statements of Jesus and what book of the NT they are found in.
I am the Good Shepherd, the Door of the sheep, the True vine, the Resurrection & the life, the Bread of Life, the Light of the world, the Way the truth and the life. Book of John
A clarifying question when talking about faith...
What is, "Faith in what?"
One of the most sobering aspects of being separated from God at death is this...(Matthew 25:46)
What is 'it's permanence, or that Hell is 'eternal,' or that it's 'final'.
God is the holy, just, and gracious ______ of all things
What is 'Creator'
Apostle Paul states this in Romans 3:12 about our sinfulness.
"All have turned aside: together they have become worthless: no one does good, not even one."
What is 'No one does good.'
C.S. Lewis reminds us of only 3 options when it comes to Jesus divinity. Name one.
Liar: He knew his claims were false and lied. Lunatic: claims were false but he thought they were true. Lord of all: His claims are true and He is Lord.
He is the basis for our salvation...
Who is 'Jesus'. We will completely miss the gospel if we do not see that Jesus is the basis of our salvation. The only way anyone can be declared righteous before God is through someone else's righteousness, namely, Christ's.
Provide one chapter in the gospels where Jesus mentioned hell.
Mark 9:43-48, or Matthew 5:22, 29-30; 8:12; 16:18, 18:9, 23:15,33 or Luke 12:5 (not an exhaustive list)
An abomination to the Lord (Proverbs 17:14-16)
"He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous".
The essence of sin
What is 'Turning from God to self'.
(Sin reverses the order of God's good design)
Jesus is unique because of who He is but also because of what he has _____.
What is 'Done', or 'what He has done'.
What verse in Ephesians 2 shows us that Faith is the means by which the salvation of Christ is applied to our lives.
What is Ephesians 2:8 By grace, through FAITH. (Faith acknowledges there is nothing you can do to make yourself right with God: you must trust in what God has done for you in Christ.)
Apart from Christ this is the natural outcome of our rebellion against God and our separation from Him.
What is 'Hell'.
What it means for God to be holy
What is...He is utterly unique, or completely separate, or absolutely pure.
We learn that all sin enslaves us in this verse from John chapter 8.
What is 'verse 34' of John chapter 8.
1 John 3:5 tells us this about Jesus.
What is "He appeared in order to, take away sins, and in him there is no sin." (Jesus is sinless, and came to take away sins.) Hebrews 4:15 - The great high priest, 'yet without sin'.
Ephesians also says these are evidence of salvation.
What is 'good works'. (James calls the kind of faith that doesn't produce works "dead" v. 17) One is justified or declared righteous before God based solely on Christ's work; your works are the fruit, or the evidence, of faith.
Please explain the gospel in a nutshell or summary. (hint: one can use the gospel threads as a framework)
The good news of the gospel is that although we deserve God's punishment for our sin, he has taken that punishment on himself in the person of his Son Jesus Christ. Christ's perfect life, death on the cross, and his victory over death in the resurrection gives those that trust in Him eternal hope. Being reconciled to God (forgiven) is a reality for those who trust in Jesus finished work for us. Heaven is a reality for that person!
What is 'the Gospel.'
(Apart from Christ) We are slaves to these according to Rom. 6:19
What is 'impurity and lawlessness'
Name one of the three key aspect of Christ's saving work:
What is 'His life, His death, and/or His resurrection.' (He lived the life we couldn't live, died the death we deserve to die, and conquered the enemy we cannot conquer.)
There is no faith without this... Jesus cannot be your Savior if you refuse him as your Lord and King.
What is 'Repentance'. Believing in Jesus cannot be separated from repenting of sin. When we place our faith in Christ to restore us to God, we are, simultaneously, turning from sin and self. It's impossible to claim to have faith if we refuse to repent.
This place is known as a place of full reconciliation... Bonus for what book of the Bible shares about this place.
What is 'Heaven'. Revelation 21:3 the consummation of the biblical story says this: "The dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people."
God is a just ______.
What is 'Judge.'
Sin leads to any one of these feelings...
What is 'Shame', 'Guilt', or 'Fear'
What is one implication (or logical conclusion) of Jesus claiming to be the Good Shepherd who went to seek sheep.
1. The World was/is lost, 2. that He wasn't and 3. That he could seek & save it.
Jesus's first words in the Gospel of Mark show us a close relationship between these two words.
As if full reconciliation wasn't enough, the Bible tells us heaven is a place of complete _______. (both spiritual, and physical in nature)
What is 'restoration'. We will be completely free from sin, no longer touched by temptation, and utterly free to obey.
God justifies the ______, and condemns the _____.
What is 'innocent', and 'guilty'.
Name one way being preoccupied with ourselves manifests itself...
What is self-indulgence and/or our self-righteousness.
Jesus is uniquely qualified to be our substitute because he is fully human yet fully _____.
What is 'Divine' Jesus died the death we deserve to die.
Define biblical repentance...
What is, 'turning from sin & self, and/or a 'change of mind.' (It involves confession of sin, and acknowledgement of our rebellion to God. Its putting God at the center of our lives. Biblical repentance requires that we trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord (Rom. 10:9) Repentance and Faith happen at the same time. As we turn from sin and self, we turn to Jesus.
Paul says in Phillipians 3:20, that "our citizenship is in heaven." This speaks to heaven being a place of ultimate _______. (Hint: Heaven is more than simply your reward as an isolated individual.)
What is 'Reunion'. The corporate aspect of heaven is captures by the author of Hebrews in chapter 12 where it states, "You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and the innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect."
This sets Christianity apart...
What is 'grace', or 'God's grace.' (For God to be gracious means He grants free and unmerited favor to the guilty. He not only spares them the punishment they deserve but also gives them that which they could never earn) What an awesome God!
The consequence of our sinful rebellion against a holy God.
What is 'separation from Him'.
(We are separated from God because of our rebellion to Him.)
The event in history that God used to announce to the world that Christ's sinless life & sin-bearing death were acceptable to Him.
What is 'the Resurrection'. The resurrection was God's public validation of Christ's Life and death. Christ is living proof that God is satisfied with his payment for our sins and forgiveness can be granted upon faith in Jesus work for us.
While Jesus is called "Savior" only twice in the book of Acts, he is referred to as this 92 times in the book.
What is "Lord" (Without question, the dominant title used for Jesus in the New Testament is "Lord".
A critical response: Eternal life and death hang in the balance on how this question is answered... Hint: Great question to ask someone after sharing the good news of Jesus with them. It seeks to show them there are only two options in their response.
What is, 'Will you turn from Jesus or will you trust in Jesus?'
"(God) saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy" is found where in Titus chapter 3.
What is 'Verse 5', or 'Titus 3:5'
"You were _____ in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked" (think Ephesians)
What is 'Dead'
Jesus resurrection means he is Lord over this/these.
What is 'Life and death', or Sin and Satan Hebrews 2:14 - 15 & 1 Corinthians 15:55-57, or He is Lord over you and me. Romans 10:9,10 He is a sufficient Savior!
The idea of Christ ruling as the Lord of our lives is captured beautifully by Paul where in Galatians 2?
An initial faith in time leads to inevitable growth in faith over time. Paul says he lives by faith in Christ.
If a person chooses to live without Him now, then they will live without Him forever. Who is this person?
Who is 'Jesus Christ' or 'Jesus'. But thankfully that is not our only option!
What is... (one of the below)
1.Acknowledge the glory of God in Creation
2. Acknowledge God's presence in your life.
3. Talk about the holiness of God. (Isaiah 43:15)
4. Talk about the Justice of God. (Proverbs 17:15)
5. Talk about the Grace of God (Titus 2:11)
Name two examples of weaving thread 2 into our daily lives...
1.Talk about rebellion, separation, and our deadness.
2. Acknowledge your own sinfulness and speak honestly about it.
3. In conversation about Guilt talk about forgiveness in Christ.
4. Constantly point to our dependence on God, and our desperation for God.
5. Speak respectfully about all humans as people created in the image of God.
6. Talk about sin in all of its forms.
7. Share memorized scripture about sin with others.
Name two ways you can weave 'The Sufficiency of Christ' into your everyday life with others.
1. Intentionally talk about Jesus w/ others 2. Talk about Jesus Life - His example, His work, his humanness. 3. Talk about Jesus Death - the gravity of sin, your gratitude for Him. 4. Talk about His Resurrection - the hope it provides us, the joy it brings even in death.
Name two ways you can weave the necessity of faith into your everyday conversations...
1 - Take advantage of every opportunity to tell your story of salvation in Christ. 2 - Talk about Restoration and forgiveness through Christ. 3 - Talk about turning from self and turning to Christ. (idea of repentance) 4 - Talk with Children about faith. 5 - Encourage a posture of turning and trusting. 6 - Define what faith must be in. (Jesus) and emphasize the togetherness of repentance and belief. 7 - Explain what repentance is all about.
We can choose to live and die with Christ in this life, and then live with Him forever. We need to wake up to the reality of eternity! Name two ways we can weave The urgency of eternity into our conversation every day?
1 - Minimize your conversations about temporal things, or things that don't matter eternally. 2 - Maximize your conversations about eternal things. 3 - Talk about hell - Jesus did... and so should we. 4 - Talk about Heaven, this world is not our hope. 5 - Live like this world is not your home. 6 - Talk about dying being gain for believers in Jesus.