Winter 2008 Trek and Journey Review Lesson 1: Falling in Love with Jesus. Bible Verses ¾ John 14:21 ¾ John 15:13 ¾ Luke 9:23 This lesson began with us singing the song “Falling in Love with Jesus” (a musical heuristic). Afterward, I then asked the (verse 1) question: “What does it mean to Falling in love with Jesus fall in love?” I found that our Falling in love with Jesus class members had much to say Falling in love with Jesus on this issue. Among the things Was the best thing I ever, ever done mentioned was “having a crush (repeat) on someone,” or “feeling passionately about some one,” or (verse 2) “being totally absorbed with the In His arms I feel protected In His arms never disconnected (no no) other person so that you think your life is not complete without In HIs arms I feel protected them.” There were several other There's no place I'd rather rather be answers. In fact the class was bubbling over with answers. Honestly, some of your answers scared me a little (Don’t worry I won’t name anyone). Falling In Love with Jesus Kirk Whalum
The curiosity is that I have heard this song sung in church and I had not stopped to examine what it means to fall in love with Jesus. So, I looked at how the disciples of Jesus fell in love with him. In John 1 we saw that the disciples of Jesus had a rudimentary knowledge of Jesus. Andrew’s first reaction to finding someone who seemed to be the Christ was that he wanted to introduce his brother to the Messiah. Nathanael was so moved by the fact that Jesus seemed to have personal foreknowledge of him that he was convinced that he was the Christ. In each case they were willing to drop what they were doing and follow Jesus just like the woman at the well in John 4 dropped her water jar to run and tell the people of the town “29Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ[b]?" This was the falling in love part of the relationship. But we saw later on that life with Jesus became hard. He woke up early each morning not knowing where he would sleep that night and he trusted in God to
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Winter 2008 Trek and Journey Review provide for him all of his needs. Furthermore, he challenged is people to live not just by what the law said but its true meaning. When some people saw how much true faith demanded they wanted to turn away, but his true disciples did not (John 6:66-68). The faith of those who stayed with Jesus grew with time. In John 11 we see that the disciples where challenged in their devotion to Jesus when he wanted to go back to Judea where people wanted to kill him. Finally, “16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” The disciples had progressed from being in love with Jesus to desiring to follow him no matter what should happen including death. They had progressed from their initial falling in love reaction to Jesus, where they put down what they were doing to spend time with him, to being willing to follow him in obedience through good times and bad times, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, and until death should part them. They had progressed from falling in love with Jesus to loving him. That condition is the marriage vow and it describes the relationship Jesus wishes to have with us, and that is why he calls believers the bride of Christ. There is a great distance between falling in love with someone and loving someone. Love has a lot more requirements. True love of God requires obedience John 14:21, and personal sacrifice Luke 9:23. However, God offers us love in return. In return he is devoted to our well being, especially our salvation: He calls us friend and loves us so much that he is willing to lay down his life for us (John 15:13). Lesson 2: We are not Salmon: We do not swim up stream. Bible Verses ¾ Romans 12:1-2 ¾ Genesis 1:27 ¾ Romans 8:5
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This lesson began with us watching a short video showing the life cycle of salmon. The life cycle of salmon is curious. When they hatch the young fry are on their own. They live in the shallow waters of the stream until they reach a certain size and weight. Then responding to a physical cue they swim down stream to the ocean. Once they are in the ocean they swim around for two years living a predatory life style, eating and growing. Then after two years they decide it is time to swim back up stream. They are able to find the exact stream from which they came and they swim back up it. Swimming up stream they act with reckless disregard for their personal safety. Their goal is to get up stream and mate. They are driven by a physical drive that is so strong that it overwhelms all other impulses. The urge to mate is a physiological drive, just like the urge to eat when you are hungry or the urge go to the restroom when your bladder is full. Some of the salmon are picked off along the way by predators like bears. (If I am fortunate, I will be one of those predators who pick off a few salmon with my fishing pole as they swim up stream.) Those that survive the journey mate and die having fulfilled their life cycle. Salmon have a distinctive life cycle or pattern of existence. Salmon are born without parents, so how do they know what to do and when to do it? The answer is instinct. Instinct is a response to changes physiological changes at certain times of life. Some of you have noticed that your bodies are changing. Most people in this world have a distinctive existence, but unlike salmon we are not controlled by our physiological drives. You can be hungry and see someone eating their lunch, but you don’t lunge forth and take their food. You wait until you are served. You exercise self-control. Likewise sometimes you have to sit through class and wait to go to the rest room afterward. Unlike our animal counterparts we can control how and when we fulfill our physical urges. Unfortunately, some
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Winter 2008 Trek and Journey Review people chose not to exercise self control and this choice determines their life style. In our previous lesson we learned that falling in love is not really a matter of falling at all but a matter of choice. Just as Peter and Andrew chose to leave their fishing nets and follow Jesus, we can choose to follow Jesus. This means choosing not to be like the many people who choose not to exercise self-control. We learned in our previous lesson that part of love of God is obedience. One of the things that God asks us is to not live according to the pattern of this world but to conform to (mold ourselves to fit) a new pattern (Romans 12:1-2). Many people choose to live like Salmon and follow their physical urges with reckless abandon. We must remember as Christians we are called to uphold the image of God in our bodily form (Genesis 1:27). This means not being controlled by sinful desires but controlled by the spirit instead (Romans 8:5). To be specific God intends for us to be led by the spirit in the issue of mating. We are not supposed to be like salmon and swim up stream to mate just because the urge hits us. As we saw in our lesson about the house that got stranded when we do not follow the directions we are given there are consequences not just for us but for those around us. What is the endpoint of a Salmon swimming up stream and mating? What is the endpoint of being led by sinful desires? The end point is death (Romans 6:23). Death does not just mean physical death but also spiritual death. One of the worst things can be being physical alive but spiritual dead because of sin. Many people who choose to follow the pattern of this world and are led by physical desires experience death in a way that they did not expect. One death they experience is the death of the relationship. They have physical union (sex) with someone and it feels good for a while, but then because the relationship is based on falling in love and has NOT reached the point of commitment for better or worse the relationship dies as soon as there is a significant challenge. One challenge that leads to the death of a relationship is an unplanned pregnancy. The end result is children who are born like salmon, without parents to guide them because one of the parents has abandoned the relationship and or one is left unavailable as a parent because the experience has
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Winter 2008 Trek and Journey Review left them emotionally dead inside or preoccupied with the cares of this world. We are not salmon: mating is not our ultimate goal, and we are not meant to mate and die, but to exist in a healthy relationship to spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually guide our children (Genesis 2:24). Important note: You may presently not have one or both of your parents in your life because their relationship or they as individuals have experienced physical death. This does not mean that you have to grow up without a father. Remember that God has promised to adopt as his own children anyone who believes in him John 1:12-13. When God adopts you into his family he uses other adult believers in His church to meet the needs that should be met by your earthly parents. If you need a father and you need to be adopted by God speak to one of your AWANA leaders before or after club time.
Lesson 3: Give us faith so we’ll be safe. Bible Verses: ¾ Ephesians 6:12 ¾ Ephesians 6:16 ¾ I Peter 5:8 Coming back from Christmas break I asked a few of you to share the best thing you did over Christmas break. Some of you had a chance to travel with family. Also, I was pleased to travel with a member of my family, my daughter. We went to San Francisco to see my cousin Trey from the University of Maryland play in the Emerald Bowl. We also visited my cousin Joey and his daughters in Castro Valley, and Asha had the opportunity to get
The Prayer Song Donnie McCkurkin I pray you will be our eyes, and watch us where we go And help us be wise in times when we don’t know Let this be our prayer when we lose our way Lead us to a place, guide us with Your grace To a place where we will be safe I pray we will find Your light, and hold it in our hearts When stars go out each night, remind us where You are Let this be our prayer when shadows fill our day Lead us to a place, guide us with Your grace Give us faith so we’ll be safe A world where pain and sorrow will be ended And every heart that is broken will be mended And we’ll remember we are all God’s children Reaching out to touch You, reaching to the sky We ask that life be kind and watch us from above We hope each soul will find another soul to love Let this be our prayer, just like every child Needs to find a place, guide us with Your grace Give us faith so we’ll be safe Needs to find a place, guide us with Your grace Give us faith so we’ll be safe
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Winter 2008 Trek and Journey Review my personal tour of Fremont where I went to high school. However, part of the fun of a road trip is the journey itself, just cruising down the road talking and singing. Yes, singing. Driving down the road at 3:00 am Asha and I found ourselves singing along with Donnie McClurkin and Yolanda Adams’ performance of “The Prayer Song” on his CD Again. I had to admit that the first time I heard the song I did not like it because it sounded too much like an 80’s movie theme but repeatedly singing along with it with my daughter forced me to consider the lyrics. One thing I do when I hear putative Christian music is consider how the music glorifies God. In our lesson on Christmas Carols we learned to identify the doxology in the traditional Christmas hymns. (Remember that doxology means to ascribe glory). In many modern songs the doxology is not as obvious as “Glory to God -in the highest Glory!” However, the doxology in a song indicates whether the author is controlled by the spirit (I Corinthians 12:3). In The Prayer Song I questioned the line: “Give us faith so we’ll be safe.” Is this really why God gives us faith? We need to learn to use the Bible to answer our questions. Using the Bible I found out that faith does keep us safe. First we must understand that we are surrounded by a spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:12). Our chief adversary is the Satan the prince of this world who “walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8). In this world of spiritual struggle God does not intend for us to be defenseless but instructs us to take up the shield of faith so that we “will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one” (Ephesians 6:16). We examined I Peter 5:8 further to better understand how faith keeps us safe. First we had to understand what happens when a lion hunts. When a herd of zebra are hunted by a lion who is it that ends up getting eaten? It is the weak, the sick, and the young that get singled out and eaten first. We all have moments when we are spiritually weak or sick. For example when we are disappointed or angry over something that happens to us we are spiritually weak, because it is at those moments that we are vulnerable to the temptation to say angry words, or strike someone, or turn to the wrong things, like drugs, overeating, or improper physical relationships to help ease our pain.
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Winter 2008 Trek and Journey Review However, when we are weak is the time to remember the promises of God and respond in faith instead of despair or desperation. For example you may feel lonely because the person with whom you wanted to go to the dance chose someone else, or you may be disappointed because you tried out for a sports team and did not make the cut. However, that is a time to remember that you don’t have to be discouraged by the disappointments of today because God has promised you a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). You may be worried about something just like one of our teachers was worried because she dropped her bank card and she was afraid that someone might find it and use it. When you are worried, it is a good time to remember that God has told you that you don’t need to be worried because you can bring all of your problems to Him (Philippians 4:6-7). There will be times when you have unexpected losses like you fail a test, you have to move and change schools, or you loose something of value. However, instead of being in despair over the loss you can remember that God brings good out of all situations for those who love Him and have been called by Him (Romans 8:28). Lesson 4: The balancing Act Bible Verses: ¾ I John 2:15-16 ¾ Matthew 22:37-39 ¾ 2 Corinthians 6:14 I began this lesson by selecting a volunteer to stand on a balancing beam during the course of the presentation. While our volunteer busy balancing we discussed the balancing act that we must perform as Christians. It is the balance that we must achieve between the commands Jesus gave us to love people (Matthew 22:37-39) and the command not to love the world (I John 2:15-16.) The problem is that the very people that we are called to love are part of this world. The beam that we must stand on is the first command to love God with all of our heart, soul and mind. Now as long as we have our feet planted firmly on the love of God then we don’t have a problem confronting the people or things of this
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Winter 2008 Trek and Journey Review world. For example one of the things of this world is money. There is nothing wrong with money. For example I stood three feet from the beam and held out a dollar bill and our volunteer had no problem reaching out and taking that dollar bill without falling over. Likewise, our volunteer was able to reach over and touch my shoulder with no problem. We can have contact with the things and people of this world if we are standing firmly in the middle of our love for God. Then I had our volunteer turn perpendicular on the balance beam so that her heels were against the back edge and her toes were hanging over the front. Standing like this our volunteer had to work to keep from falling off the beam. I then held out another dollar. This time I moved away as the volunteer reached for the dollar and the volunteer easily fell. I had the volunteer get back on the beam with toes hanging over the edge. This time when the volunteer reached for me I moved away and the volunteer easily fell. As long as we stand firmly over the middle as far as our love for God we have no problem. However, when we get our toes over the edge we are in danger of falling. Another exercise we did was to have the volunteer lock wrists with me. The volunteer was easily pulled off the beam if I walked away, especially if the volunteer’s toes were over the edge. This is like another command that God gives us not to be unequally yoked or tied to an unbeliever (2 Corinthians 6:14.) This Bible verse is usually applied to not marrying an unbeliever. However, you can have just as much trouble being in any intimate relationship with an unbeliever. For example if you let yourself get locked into a relationship with a group of friends who have different values because you want to be popular then they can pull you to do things like try drugs, shoplift or commit vandalism. You know your toes are over the edge when the popularity of your friends means more to you than the love of God. We are tied to or yoked to someone whenever we depend on them for something such as approval.
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We need to remember that loving God means keeping his commandments. Standing in the middle of God’s love means not letting our desires for anything or anyone pull us from loving and obeying God first. Lesson 5: Supporting Each Other Bible Verses: ¾ James 5: 15-16 ¾ Hebrews 10:24-25 ¾ Ephesians 4:29-32
We began this lesson by attempting a common group bonding exercise, the group sit, with minimal success. The goal was to have every one sitting in a circle with each person sitting on the knee of the person behind him. (See picture to know that it can be done). The challenge was that it required human contact. Some clubbers felt awkward about this and were excused from participation. We did
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Winter 2008 Trek and Journey Review manage to briefly execute a modification of this with several people sitting in a line with the first person sitting on a chair. The lesson point of our heuristic is that God intends for Christians as a group to uphold each other. This requires spending time together such as attending church and it means actively encouraging each other (Hebrews 10:24-25). In discussion we discovered the two things are linked. If we don’t encourage each other then no one will want to come to church. Actually, the problem is that often instead of encouraging each other we actively discourage others by the things that we say (Ephesians 4:29). The apostle Paul gave a strong admonition against this for good reason. To understand why this is dangerous we must go back to our lesson about faith keeping us safe. Remember that Satan prowls about like a lion seeking whom he can devour (I Peter 5:8). We must further understand how lions hunt. Usually a group of lionesses will hunt as a pack. They will spread out around a herd of zebra. Part of a zebra’s defenses is that when they are in a herd the pattern of stripes blend into each other so that it is hard to focus on one. The hunting lions growl low to the ground. The herd gets nervous but because the sound is reverberating across the ground they cannot tell which way the lions are coming and don’t know which way to run. When the lions charge they scatter the herd. The goal is to split off one animal from the herd. It is the animal that is isolated from the herd that they focus on surrounding and bringing down. When we say inconsiderate or mean things to another clubber or church member we may be discouraging them from coming to club or church. They become isolated separated from the herd. This may result in weakening their faith and making them vulnerable to making wrong decisions. If they cannot turn to and rely on their Christian friends to give them encouragement and support they may turn to non-believers for encouragement, comfort and support. However, remember that it is wrong to be tied to non-believers to get our needs met because they may pull us away from being firmly balanced on our love for God. Also, be aware that you may not be actively saying mean things but you may be shutting someone out because of your unwillingness to forgive another person. Both James 5: 15-16 and Ephesians 4:29-32 speak to this issue; no one wants to be around your bitterness. You may feel vindicated by shutting someone out of your circle of friends because of something they did but you may be just cutting that person from the herd to be picked off by Satan.
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Finally, we discussed what to do when we see a Christian, clubber, church member or friend starting to hang over the edge of righteousness. To understand how to respond I asked everyone to visualize seeing a man struggling about to drown in deep water. What is the first thing you should do? The wrong thing to do is to jump in after him because he will most likely panic and pull you down trying to use you for support. The correct thing to do is throw him a flotation device (life saving ring) or throw him the end of a rope or hand him a tip of a pole so that you can pull him to shore. When we see someone spiritually drowning we need to throw him the spiritual life preserver, the power of the Holy Spirit. We do this first through prayer (James 5: 15-16), and then by speaking the word of truth. We can only help someone when we are firmly standing on the word of God.
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