2022 Wk 40: Lesson 1

Intro

Welcome & Song Set 1

verse

Psalm 96:4 NLT

Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all gods.

song…

“Counting on God”

Marcie & Greetings

2 min. Break

WORSHIP & Song Set 2

Declaration

I choose to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

I put no confidence in my flesh, for the weapons I fight with are not physical but are divinely powerful for destroying strong holds.

I put on the full armor of God.

I resolve to stand firm in my faith and resist the devil.

(2Corinthians 10:4, Ephesians 6:10-20)

Song Set 2…

“Battle Belongs to the Lord”

“The Father’s House”“Amazing Grace”

“All Praise”

Generosity Moment

Mission Sunday

Beyond...

Peru...

God’s Work—Our Hands

“Growing a Spirit of Generosity”

Generosity is a powerful practice which unleashes many of God’s blessing

Generosity offers us the peace of mind.

God wants us to give humbly, without seeking credit.

Matthew 6:2 NLT

2 When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get.

Prayer

Updates

Open every Sunday 10am

Midweek- Luke 18

Candyland Oct 8

VIDEO CLIP- Parachute

THE MAIN POINT

Each person will one day have to take “the jump” from this life to the next.

If taking this jump were compared to skydiving, would you be ready to leap from the plane with the assurance that, when you landed, everything would be just fine?

God gives us the opportunity to make this jump with a parachute of salvation over our lives.

THE BIG PICTURE

Many view life through a filter that says,

“If something enhances my life immediately—brings me instant gratification and on-the-spot results—then count me in! If not,

then—even if it’s supposed to be ‘good for me’—maybe I’ll deal with it later. But right now, I don’t want to have to think about it too much.”

For teenagers especially, death and mortality are subjects only “old people” think about.

The end of life seems too far away in their season of adolescence. But whether you’re going through puberty or going through a midlife crisis, it’s only human nature to default to the perspective of “there’s always time to think about eternal things when I get older. Right now, I just want to be free and have fun.”

11:00AM — PHONE CALL SKIT!!!

with Dan

Hell-o Heaven

(Skits and topics for series Oct 2022)

M: Hey good morning.

This is Pastor Mickey at Cornerstone Foursquare.

I was calling for Dan?

D: Yes! I remember leaving a message on your cell phone.

Good morning to you.

M: Well Dan, I was thinking you had a question about heaven and hell? Is that correct?

D: Yes, that’s correct.

I am a little mixed up…about this Heaven and He’ll stuff.

I hear a lot of talk about people going to heaven and people going to hell, but it’s hard for me to understand why God would ever send anyone to hell?

Surly, hell isn’t a real place?

M: I hear what you are saying Dan.

[how do you explain how you came to exist?

[Grand design…]

[Sin separates us…]

I would say that NO father would ever want to punish their children and banish them from his presence forever and ever. Right?

D: yes. I’d say so.

M: The Bible says,

The payment of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life—this Life is born in us through the sacrifice Jesus Christ our Lord made for us who believe in him.

God desires all men to be saved, not thrown in Hell. Hell was only made for Satan. Plus, God desires all men to come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Savior.

Dan. This is a real relationship that breeds new life in us.

How about you Dan?

Have you come to a place to believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

D: Wow!

You have my head spinning pastor.

I was thinking that I just needed to know find out about Heaven and Hell but, I think I need to take care of the present before thinking about the future?

M: That’s good thinking Dan.

Let’s do this—let me invite you to our 10:30am service at Cornerstone for some coffee and a face to face about your future as we deal with this present life in that Jesus has a free gift for you? Would you please join over these next few weeks?

D: Yes, I think I would like to do that. Plus, coffee sounds good too!

M: Okay, thanks for taking my call this morning. I’ll be praying for you until I see you later one of these Sundays.

D: That’s great. Thank you.

_

LESSON CONTINUES

It’s interesting that so many people view God and the topic of salvation as an encroachment upon their freedom.

For some, the first thing that comes to mind whenever God is mentioned is “restriction on fun and enjoyment of life,” and it’s all because of the perceived list of rules and “thou shalt nots” that people just assume comes with the territory.

These rules are like that 30-pound harness and parachute pack (which Tommy talks about in the clip); and although the parachute eventually brings safety and eternal joy, it’s currently attached to what many people believe is a cumbersome weight of restrictions and inconvenience.

But Jesus tells us his burden is anything but cumbersome and awkward.

In fact, he says his burden is light. Matthew 11:30

Matthew 11:30 NLT

30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

No one knows the time and place of their last breath—no one except God. Although we may have ideas of living to the ripe old age of 100, the Bible says our lives are like a vapor or a mist—here for a moment and then gone James 4:14

James 4:14 NLT

14 How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.

What would happen if people stopped making decisions based on the moment, a immediate temporarily?

What if people began to view life in a broader context and with a longer runway in sight?

What if people pondered the grander purpose and perspective behind some of the decisions they face?

Would their focus shift from the here and now to eternity?

If so, then it could alter their approach to subjects such as sin and the need for a Savior.

And not “someday”—but right now.

Life is unpredictable and sometimes shorter than we expect.

The door to the plane could open at any moment, thus bringing us face to face with the critical jump from temporal to eternal—from this life to the afterlife. Those wearing a parachute live with peace of mind. They also possess an eternal perspective that puts a worldview based on life enhancement in its proper place—grounded—and helps them see life from God’s perspective.

THE BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE

The Bible has much to say concerning salvation.

According to the apostle Paul’s writings, this parachute-type gift is the only hope for humanity when it’s time to make the jump from this life to the life to come.

Not only does it prepare us for the jump at the end of our days on earth, but it also has the power to offer us a new perspective while we’re still living (see Ephesians 1:18-19).

Ephesians 1:18–19 NLT

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.* I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power

Through the sacrificial love that Jesus demonstrated on the cross, we have the opportunity to move from a life of sin and death into a new place under the grace and mercy of God.

Jesus completed his mission of atoning for the sins of the world.

Then he breathed his last and jumped into the arms of his heavenly Father.

Look at Jesus…

Luke 23:46 NLT

Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!”* And with those words he breathed his last.

Jesus was qualified to make the jump after dying on the cross because, among other reasons, he chose not to jump when the devil tempted him in the wilderness:

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Matthew 4:5-7

Matthew 4:5–7 NLT

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, 6 and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”

Here, Satan tempted Jesus to jump into early retirement and abandon his mission on earth.

Satan was promising Jesus a sort of “golden parachute” as a reward for putting God to the test. But bowing to Satan’s temptations would’ve disqualified Jesus from being the Redeemer of humanity.

Jesus would not have been sinless and therefore couldn’t have served as the substitutionary sacrifice for sin on the cross that Tommy speaks about in the video.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT

21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

Jesus’ jump into the arms of his heavenly Father, which resulted in his resurrection and ascension back to heaven, left humanity with a gift that enables people who are dead in their sin to become alive. Jesus gave the world a parachute of salvation.

Investigate / Application

Paul writes about this gift of salvation in his letter to the Ephesians, in chapter 2:

As for you, and like Dan in my phone call earlier…

you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.

Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. (Ephesians 2:1-3)

Because of the “transgressions and sins” in our lives, we’re alienated from God, which leaves us in the domain of death.

The original Greek case in this part of the text is “locative,” which indicates a place where something or someone exists.

Paul told those Ephesians who’d been saved that they hadn’t been dead because of the sins they committed.

Rather, they’d been dead because they were in sin, as a realm or a place of their being.

Since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), we’ve all been born into sin.

Thus, committing sinful acts doesn’t make us sinners. On the contrary, we commit sinful acts because we already are sinners.

Because of our sinful state at birth, we’ve inherited a genetic lineage of trespasses (paraptoma in the Greek) and sins (hamartia).

Sin is in our nature.

In fact, that first word, paraptoma, means we’re a people who slip, fall, stumble, deviate and go in the wrong direction from what God desires.

The second word, hamartia, means that as sinners, we miss the mark for what God wants from our lives.

But what follows in the Ephesians 2 passage brings us great hope:

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-7)

These verses demonstrate that God takes the initiative in doing something about our sin and death problem.

Not only does God love us, but God also gives us the capacity to “parachute” to eternal life with Christ in the heavenly realms when it’s our turn to take the jump.

Our salvation isn’t about life enhancement.

According to Paul, we were dead from the start, and dead people can’t enhance their lives!

That would be like dressing a corpse in new clothes and surrounding it with new things.

Rather, it’s not until someone is made alive by the power of Christ through salvation that there life truly begins.

And being alive in Christ means that in God’s eyes we’re no longer “deserving of wrath.”

Paul goes on in the next three verses of Ephesians 2:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (8-10)

Dead people cannot bring anything to the table but their death. In this passage Paul puts everything on God as it pertains to the salvation we receive and the grace we experience through faith. And even faith is given to us only by the mercy and kindness of God. It’s been said that faith is the act of breathing in the breath that God, in his marvelous grace, supplies for those who couldn’t do anything for themselves (and that’s everyone).

Once a person receives this gift of salvation (by grace through faith in Jesus), any good works that come from that person’s life are a by-a-product of salvation—and evidence that salvation has indeed occurred in that person’s life.

The good works don’t produce salvation—instead, they’re a fruit of God-given salvation.

Make it personal

THE QUESTIONS TO PROCESS

An important part of the learning system is to allow for everyone to process concepts and questions together. A healthy exchange of sharing and listening sparks new ideas and leads to more consequential growth.

These questions are designed to help process and own the material from this lesson. Practice being an active listening when others are speaking.

(As the leader of your group, be proactive in asking others for feedback, insights, or different perspectives.)

1. When someone says, “I’ve been saved,” what does that mean?

2. Are heaven and hell real places? Or are they places we’ve conjured up to make us feel better or worse about the location of our souls after death?

3. What does instant gratification look like in the world around us?

4. What “things” do we seem to want or need more than we need God?

5. Does our culture prevent us from being fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ? Explain.

6. In what area or areas of your faith do you need to take a “jump,” trusting God as you do so?

7. Is it hard for you to trust God? Is it hard for you to trust people?

8. If you don’t mind, share with someone this week about your “parachute moment”—when you realized you needed Jesus.

Closing

THE PRAYERS TO PRAY

Throughout the history of the church, followers of Jesus have recorded their prayers. The preserved prayers that follow can be echoed by those who pray to Jesus today. You can use these with your group as examples of how to pray authentically. The final prayer is intended as a prompt for you to finish the prayer in your own words.

“Jesus, receive my heart, and bring me to thy love. All my desire thou art. Kindle fire within me, that I may win to thy love, and see thy face in bliss which shall never cease, in heaven with never an ending.”—Richard Rolle, 1295–1394 (A religious writer, hermit, and Bible translator from Oxford)

“To thee, then O Jesus, do I turn my true and last end. Thou art the river of life which alone can satisfy my thirst. Without thee all else is barren and void. Without all else thou alone art enough for me. Thou are the Redeemer of those that are lost; the sweet Consoler of the sorrowful; the crown of glory for the victors; the recompense of the blessed. One day I hope to receive of thy fullness, and to sing the song of praise in my true home. Give me only on earth some few drops of consolation, and I will patiently wait thy coming that I may enter into the joy of my Lord.”—Bonaventure, 1221–1274 (A Catholic Franciscan vision)

“I know what must be done. Only now am I beginning to be a disciple. May nothing of powers visible or invisible prevent me, that I may attain unto Jesus Christ. Come fire and cross and grapplings with wild beasts, the rending of my bones and body, come all the torments of the wicked one upon me. Only let it be mine to attain unto Jesus Christ.”—Ignatius of Antioch , 35–107 (Ignatius means “set on fire).

“O God, what I really need to tell you today is…”

THE HOMEWORK

1. Take your group skydiving and drive the point home! (Well, parents probably wouldn’t like that too much, so perhaps instead…)

2. Give each member of your group a piece of rope measuring approximately one foot in length. Tell your students it’s their “ripcord,” and they can pull it whenever it’s time to make “the jump.” Ask them to write down what or whom they’re trusting to give them a safe landing on “the other side” whenever they pull their ripcords one day.

3. Encourage them to create “parachute” playlists in their mp3 players, consisting of songs that speak to their understanding of “taking the jump,” what the ride in the plane before the door opens will feel like, what it will feel like when it’s their turn to jump, and what will happen when they land.

4. Enjoy a “Ferris Bueller” moment. In Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Ferris and his friends take a day and enjoy the sights, sounds, culture, and fun of Chicago. One of the scenes shows Ferris and his compadres on the top floor of the Sears Tower with their foreheads on the glass looking down at the people below. For a few moments they remember their mortality and smallness from a higher vantage point. Go to the highest building or point in your area and simply “take a look down” (in a very safe manner) and have your group consider life from a different perspective. Ask, How big are you really when it comes to the vastness of God? What might God want to show you in regard to plans for your life and plans for all that you can see, as far as your eyes can see? What needs to happen in order to live today in light of eternity? Have them take journals and pens and write down their responses to these questions. Have a sharing time later.

Important Note: This message focuses on salvation. Since there are several different views on our responsibility when it comes to salvation, we’ve purposefully avoided dealing with specific details of what each individual needs to do. Please cover these important details with your group according to your own church’s views.

James 4:14 NLT

14 How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.

CLOSE!