We've learned that God is a creator, that he saw all things he created as ''good", that he's all powerful-- that he spoke it and it was created. We've also learned that God wanted a beautiful space for humans, a job of tending to everything he created, rules to live by, and a free will to choose to live by those rules or not. God created us to be in relationship with him. And then we learned that mankind chose to not live by God's rules and therefore, sin entered the world. Unfortunately, Adam and Eve were not the only ones that didn't follow God's commands. Scripture is full of examples of people who disobeyed God. So what did God do? He sent a Savior-- Jesus. And what did Jesus do? He rescued us from sin by being our sin offering.
In Genesis we see our story starts in a Garden. Now let's read in Revelation 21: 1-5 and Revelation 22: 1-5. As we can see by the scripture, our story starts and ends in the same place-- in a garden and with people living in right relationship with God. The other similarity between Genesis and Revelation is that everything is NEW.
The really cool thing is that in between Genesis (the beginning) and Revelation (the end), God is working at making things new all the time. He doesn't wait until the end to make all things new. He's constantly making things and people new.
We have some really good examples of persons who became new when they encountered Jesus.
John 4: 1-42 tells us of the Samaritan woman at the well who became new and brought others to Jesus through her encounter with Jesus. Acts 9: 1-19 is the story of Saul who encounters Jesus on the road to Damascus and has a conversion. Later Saul becomes Paul and goes on to spread Christianity throughout the Roman empire and wrote many letters (the Epistles) that included in the New Testament. (Epistles-- Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1& 2 Thessolonians) In fact, Paul's letter to the Romans has made more of an impact on readers than all the volumes of all the great Roman writers put together.
In 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) - it says: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come." Another translation (NRSV) says this: "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see everything has become new." What is the difference between these two translations? NIV uses 'he' and NRSV uses 'there'.
Both are accurate translations from Greek. When someone has a relationship with Christ, he or she changes or is made new, becomes a different person. But this change is not limited to that one person. That person, through their actions and attitudes, affects those around him. You see this change-- newness-- starts with one but doesn't end with just one. It ends with many.
How does God use persons such as the woman at the well and Saul/Paul? The story of the Samaritan woman says that she went through the town telling about Jesus and many believed because of her testimony. Paul became an important leader of the church and wrote letters that have been touching people's lives for nearly 2000 years.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Church-- Built Together-- November 10, 2013
Today we are going to be doing some body building together. What does body building make you think of? Yes, working out, making your body stronger, making your body healthier. Making your body stronger and healthier is the reason to work out right? The same is true with our body known as the Church.
Read - 1 Corinthians 12: 12-27
Which part of the body are you right now? Like, if you like to talk about faith, you are the Mouth. And maybe you are an Ear if you are a great listener to Christian music and friends or Hands because you love to serve.
Though we are many parts, we are one body. As one body we cooperate or work together. When we form a circle and pass a ball around, it's easy to pass the ball because we are all working together to pass the ball from one to another around the circle. But if people start dropping out what happens? It gets harder and harder because we don't have each other working together to get that ball around the circle. In the same way, people dropping out of the church hampers the church and what it does. How many does it take for us to be KUMC? To do a worship service? To run S.O.S.S.?
We said that we are many members of one body. What's the glue that holds us together? Jesus. Ephesians 2: 19-22 says: Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. And Galatians 3: 26-28 says that we are all sons of God through our faith in Jesus and that there is no one better than the other but we all belong to Christ and are heirs according to His promise. Our differences are much less significant than our unity in Christ.
You are the church right now. Not after you grow up.....NOW!
Let's be the church and make a difference in this world.
Read - 1 Corinthians 12: 12-27
Which part of the body are you right now? Like, if you like to talk about faith, you are the Mouth. And maybe you are an Ear if you are a great listener to Christian music and friends or Hands because you love to serve.
Though we are many parts, we are one body. As one body we cooperate or work together. When we form a circle and pass a ball around, it's easy to pass the ball because we are all working together to pass the ball from one to another around the circle. But if people start dropping out what happens? It gets harder and harder because we don't have each other working together to get that ball around the circle. In the same way, people dropping out of the church hampers the church and what it does. How many does it take for us to be KUMC? To do a worship service? To run S.O.S.S.?
We said that we are many members of one body. What's the glue that holds us together? Jesus. Ephesians 2: 19-22 says: Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. And Galatians 3: 26-28 says that we are all sons of God through our faith in Jesus and that there is no one better than the other but we all belong to Christ and are heirs according to His promise. Our differences are much less significant than our unity in Christ.
You are the church right now. Not after you grow up.....NOW!
Let's be the church and make a difference in this world.
Church-- November 3, 2013
To open the discussion on "Church", Kayla asked the students some questions regarding their visit to the Synagogue. She asked: "What are some things they learned?", "What is the difference between what they believe and what we believe?" The short answer is Jesus. "Why was there a split in the Early church?" The original split was because Jesus did not meet the criteria that the Jewish people had for the Messiah.
In the beginning there was just one church. If you read the book of Acts, we see the church started and grew quickly. But believers are human and are not without sin. Therefore, people began to disagree on how the church should operate and on belief. In 1517 the Catholic Church in Germany was stuck on tradition and distorted the truth of Scripture. Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the church calling for reform. This was the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. In the year 1554 because King Henry VIII wanted a divorce and could not get one granted to him in the Roman Catholic Church, he split from the Catholic Church and started the Church of England. The Church of England is most closely related to what we know today as the Episcopal Church.
But out of the Church of England came a man by the name of John Wesley. He believed in God's grace for all, personal holiness and social responsibility. He believed in methodical study of the Word, worship, prayer and praise and formed a Christian group know as the Holy Club. This Holy Club was nicknamed the Methodists. After studying and entering the Anglican priesthood and having a disappointing experience as a missionary in the colony of Georgia, John Wesley went through a period of profound soul-searching which led to a heart -warming experience at a Christian gathering on Aldersgate Street in London. There he experienced Christ's love and forgiveness and a wider dimension of Christianity. Soon after, he began taking faith to the people, outside the confines of the church, and found multitudes of common people who were hungry for the Gospel. He formed small groups called "classes" who met regularly for Bible study, prayer, to help the poor, and to be accountable in their Christian walk. These people became known as the "Methodists". Before the Revolutionary War, many British Methodists immigrated to America, and re-formed their Methodist groups. After some dividing and reorganizing mostly centered around the topic of slavery, The United Methodist Church was formed in 1968.
In the beginning there was just one church. If you read the book of Acts, we see the church started and grew quickly. But believers are human and are not without sin. Therefore, people began to disagree on how the church should operate and on belief. In 1517 the Catholic Church in Germany was stuck on tradition and distorted the truth of Scripture. Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the church calling for reform. This was the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. In the year 1554 because King Henry VIII wanted a divorce and could not get one granted to him in the Roman Catholic Church, he split from the Catholic Church and started the Church of England. The Church of England is most closely related to what we know today as the Episcopal Church.
But out of the Church of England came a man by the name of John Wesley. He believed in God's grace for all, personal holiness and social responsibility. He believed in methodical study of the Word, worship, prayer and praise and formed a Christian group know as the Holy Club. This Holy Club was nicknamed the Methodists. After studying and entering the Anglican priesthood and having a disappointing experience as a missionary in the colony of Georgia, John Wesley went through a period of profound soul-searching which led to a heart -warming experience at a Christian gathering on Aldersgate Street in London. There he experienced Christ's love and forgiveness and a wider dimension of Christianity. Soon after, he began taking faith to the people, outside the confines of the church, and found multitudes of common people who were hungry for the Gospel. He formed small groups called "classes" who met regularly for Bible study, prayer, to help the poor, and to be accountable in their Christian walk. These people became known as the "Methodists". Before the Revolutionary War, many British Methodists immigrated to America, and re-formed their Methodist groups. After some dividing and reorganizing mostly centered around the topic of slavery, The United Methodist Church was formed in 1968.
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