Our Inheritance

Announcements

Rally Night // Friday, August 31 @ 6:30 - 9

Rally Night is going to be Friday August 31 from 6:30 to 9 pm. There will be food, drinks, games, contests, and just good hangout time. This is a great opportunity to invite your friends that may not be able to come on Wednesday or aren’t interested in “youth group”

Mission:SRQ // Friday, August 31

Our first Mission:SRQ event will be Friday morning. We will be assisting the Douglas’ in their move a couple hours north. Eileen and Gordon started the youth group here at FOB and we have the honor of building on their foundation and the honor of helping them as they move into the next season of life.

More Than Words // Saturday, October 20 @ All Day // Free

More than Words is a free conference for the youth and young adults at the Bradenton Convention Center. There will be several guest speakers from around the United States. We will be hanging out there all day, so while it is free, bring some money to buy snacks throughout the day.

Recap

Last Week - You Belong

Adopted

We are all adopted into this family, and can consider each other brothers and sisters

Be-long

As brothers and sisters, we are going to have conflict - embrace the conflict - take it head on and conquer it by being long, patient

Commit

We need to commit to building relationship: with God, with others

Make being here a priority in your busy week

Let Youth Group be a time of refreshment and growth

Tonight, let’s talk about OUR INHERITANCE

1. What is Our Inheritance? // Beatitudes > Kingdom of Heaven

Beatitudes

This is a list of blessings (inheritance) a follower of Christ will receive.

The list is given to us by Jesus, who I’m pretty sure would be the BEST resource for knowing what inheritance awaits us in Heaven.

Matthew B. The Beatitudes: The Character of Kingdom Citizens (5:3–12)

The first portion of the Sermon on the Mount is known as the Beatitudes, which means “The Blessings” but can also be understood as giving the believer his “be—attitudes”—the attitudes he should “be.” In the Beatitudes, Jesus sets forth both the nature and the aspirations of citizens of His kingdom. They have and are learning these character traits.

Matt 5:

Matthew 5:3–12 ESV

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew B. The Beatitudes: The Character of Kingdom Citizens (5:3–12)

All of these character traits are marks and goals of all Christians. It is not as if we can major in one to the exclusion of others

We should be striving to acquire ALL of these traits - as we do, our inheritance will grow.

Character Traits from the Beatitudes

Kingdom of Heaven

Comfort

Inherit the Earth

Righteousness

Mercy

See God

Called Sons & Daughters

Great Reward in Heaven

Inheriting Eternal Life

In order to partake in the the Kingdom of Heaven, we first need to inherit eternal life in Heaven

The Good Samaritan

Luke 10:25–28 ESV

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

Luke 10:25

How to inherit eternal life:

Love God with all your Heart

Love God with all your Soul

Love God with all your Strength

Love God with all your Mind

Love your neighbor as Your Self

2. How do we acquire our inheritance?

Humility and Faith are the keys to gaining inheritance

DEFINE — Humility: an absence of pride or arrogance

Practical: “what can I do for you” NOT “what can you do for me”

Humility

1 Peter 5:5–10 ESV

5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Towards God

Humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God

Matthew 21

Matthew 21:44 ESV

44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

When we are humble, we willing choose to have ourselves broken before God.

When we live in pride, we willing choose to be crushed by the wrath of God.

This may sounds harsh, but the choice is yours.

James 4:10 ESV

10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

You be humble = God will exalt

Towards Others

Towards Others

Clothe ourselves with humility towards others

Clothe lit. means — to become

We are to become humility! So we are not acting humble, we are humble

You can only act for so long, but if you are something, there’s no need to act, you just are

Faith

Faith is a weapon we will use to fight!

Fight What?

Fight off the attack of the enemy

Satan has no inheritance coming to him, nothing would please him more than for you not to receive your full inheritance.

John 10:10 ESV

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

1 Peter 5:8 ESV

8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

1 Peter 5:

The enemy is coming after you and your inheritance, but your faith is what will fight the battle

1 Peter 5:9 ESV

9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

tells us that we are to resist the devil, and stand firm in our faith

The Result

1 Peter 5:10 ESV

10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

IF you are...

Humble towards God

Humble towards Others

Firm in your Faith

YOU will be...

Restored

Confirmed

Strengthened

Established

…all by God!

If you are humble towards God & Others, and firm in your faith; you will be restored, confirmed, strengthened, and established by God.

3. The Prodigal Son

This story encapsulates the very ideas we’ve talked about tonight.

Found in

The Story Outline

Younger son asks for his portion of the inheritance early - had no patience

He squandered (spent) all his inheritance on earth - he had fun, but it had no eternal impact

He is “crushed” () by his decisions & returns home

His father gladly welcomes him home and even celebrates his return by throwing a party with the best bacon on the farm

Your residence in Heaven is determined by putting your faith in Jesus Christ

The amount of your inheritance is going to be based on your character here on Earth

God will always be glad to welcome us home to Heaven, but how much of reward you receive is dependent on your earthly character

The older son is frustrated because it seems like poor behavior is being rewarded - his focus is on the wrong things

The father shifts the older son’s focus to what his inheritance will be...

Luke 15:

Luke 15:31 ESV

31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.

The father doesn’t say a portion, he say all that he has is his.

The Outcome

The younger son chose to take an earthly inheritance and it left him crushed and without a future inheritance

The older son chose to be patient and in turn gained a large future inheritance

We can chose to focus on the now and gain, gain, gain here on Earth — and we will enjoy it here on Earth.

However, if we follow the recipe of the Beatitudes and , we will see that a Heavenly reward is well worth the effort put in.

The Call

Feel like the younger brother

Need a restart

Pray

Feel like the older brother

Need to adjust your focus

Pray

Huddles

6th & 7th - Girls: Sherri & Hayley

6th & 7th - Guys: Adam & Jadon

8th - 10th - Girls: Bre & Kailey

8th - 10th - Guys: Jarek & Aaron

11th & 12th - Girls: Jodi

11th & 12th - Guys: Mike (Nathan)