Friendsgiving Devotional

Intro:

Titanic Illustration:

Early in the morning, on April 14, 1912 the luxury ocean liner called the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean. There were about 2200 people on board and over 1500 of them died. That is the biggest lost in a single transportation related accident in all of history. And even today, over 100 years later, people still know about and talk about this tragedy! That’s because it was a big deal and had a lot of details that make us think about it! It was the largest ship ever made at that time in history. It was on its very first trip ever at sea. It held some of the wealthiest and most famous people in the world at that time.

But at the end of the day there are only two details of this story that really matter. Not how big and fancy the boat was. And not has famous and rich the people were. But who survived and who died in the tragedy.

When it comes to stories like this, that end in loss of life, many details can be shared, but what matters more than all is the people who lived and who was lost.

Transition:

I realize that as teenagers and young adults, we don’t really think about the reality of dying one day. But we need to realize that day is coming. And just as importantly, we need to realize that the way we live each and every day now is either marked by life or death.

Like the story of the Titanic, it is easy and even enjoyable for a moment to think about the details of life like fame, success, money, entertainment, but as God’s Word teaches us What does is matter if we gain the entire world in this life but lose our soul?

Proverbs says there is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is death.

See, at the end of the day, no matter what the details of our life are, we are either walking in life or death. Light or darkness. Over the past few weeks we have been studying the book of 1 John here on Wednesday nights. And John, all throughout the book was talking about how to have REAL LIFE! Not the fake life of this world that feels good for a moment, sounds good on the surface, but leaves us empty, broken, and wanting more. We can spend this whole life searching for satisfaction, purpose, significance, love, and everything else to make our life feel worth it. But in the end all of the best that his world has to offer won’t be enough. It won’t be enough to satisfy us here and now, and when we die it will not matter at all!

In 1 John 5 John is clear that his whole purpose of writing his letter was to teach us how to have real life.

Look at the screen and read with me:

1 John 5:11–13 CSB

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. The one who has the Son has life. The one who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

The only way to have life now and for eternity is through Jesus Christ, God’s Son!

Jesus said He is the way, the truth, and the life! No one can come to God the Father, except through Jesus the son. No one can have LIFE and Life to the fullest apart from Jesus.

I don’t know each of your stories, but I know mine.

I grew up just trying to fit in, find my place in the world, figure out what I was good at and what I enjoyed and hoped that sports, girls, friends, or something that I could find would satisfy me, make me feel better about myself, feel like it was ENOUGH! But it wasn’t, I was always left looking for more. Popularity wasn’t enough, success wasn’t enough, short bursts of fun and pleasure were not enough! At the end of every moment was still a lost, lonely kid looking for more. ANd maybe you’re here tonight and you have been trying everything in the world around you to fill you up, hoping it would satisfy you, but you just keep chasing more, filling your life with other people and things to try to feel better about yourself and it just doesn’t work.

Listen, you can search this whole world and you will never be satisfied because you wren’t created for the things of this world.

The one real God created you for a personal relationship with Him! But we are born in sin, we rebel against God and we try to do life our own way instead of His way. This means we are separated from Him. We are spiritually dead and heading towards a physical death that will be eternal. We were lost in our sin and struggle with no way to be saved! We couldn’t pay for our sins, we couldn’t earn the eternal life of God. But God loved us, He love YOU, so much that he didn’t leave us hopelessly searching for life. He sent His one and only Son Jesus into this world to teach us how to find real life. He lived a perfectly life so that He could be the perfect sacrifice for us! The cost of sin is death! SO Jesus went to the cross and died in YOUR place, the death that we deserved, the perfect Son of God took it for us! Then, he rose from the grave 3 days later, he conquered sin and death forever! And he says that anyone who will turn from their life of sin and follow Him will be forgiven for their sin, given a personal relationship with God, and eternal life with Him!

This is the Gospel, the Good news that offers eternal life, real life, now and forever, to anyone and everyone who trusts in Jesus as Lord!

John says, the one who has the Son has life. Anyone who has Jesus has life, anyone who does not is lost in their sin and the only end is death! Death in our daily life and eternal death one day.

We, as christians can thank God and praise Him for giving us life in Jesus! Even if you think you have nothing else to be thankful for in this life right now, if you have Jesus- that is LIFE itself! You have more than you could ever deserve through Jesus!

Whoever has the son has life! Thank God for that!

Bow your heads with me and lets respond together.

Matt can come up!

Christians in here, John says he has written these things to you so you, who believe in the Name of the Son of God- the name of Jesus, will KNOW that you have eternal life! Knowing with confidence you ahve been saved and given new life is the way that daily you can boldly and faithfully walk in that life- free from sin and victorious over death! This thanksgiving season, and every day after- thank God for your salvation and the life you have in Jesus. Walk in the new life you have and share it with others.

If you are here tonight and you do not have this life, maybe you’ve never heard this news, or you have never turned to Jesus to be saved, or you’re just not sure. Listen, this message was FOR YOU! God is calling you out of death and into life tonight. Do not wait, we are not promised tomorrow. Nothing in this world will satisfy you or save you from your sin. You know you are searching for more- what you are searching for is JESUS because in him is LIFE itself! If you need to step out of the struggle and sin and shame of death and receive the life of Jesus- you can do that tonight, here and now. No one is looking around right now. This moment is between you and God, is there anyone here tonight that needs to be saved and begin a new life with Jesus tonight? I want to pray with you if thats you! Raise your hand for me. You’re saying, I don’t want to keep struggling in my brokenness, I don’t want to keep trying to do life on my own, I want the LIFE of God to save me and change me and I want my eternity to be with God forever! Raise Your hand so I can pray for you.

PRAY

In just a moment we will sing one song together, all about our life being in Jesus alone! I want us to worship and sing it out together, but if you made a decision to follow Jesus tonight, I will be in the back with some of our leaders and we would love to give you a gift, and talk to you for just a second. So as we sing please feel free to come and talk to us if you need!

Now Let’s sing and respond to God together!

Text in Response for EVERYONE!