XP3: Rhythm:Week 2

INTRODUCTION-2 MINUTES

INTRODUCTION-2 MINUTES

EXCEPT for the preacher’s kid stuff! That stuff I could do without!

Note: Tell a personal story about a time in your childhood when church or something related to it felt like a requirement in your life.

Growing up in my house on Saturday mornings meant, Family Bible Study.

My grandmother would religiously call me to the kitchen table every Saturday morning to study through one of her two favorite Bible studies, Experiencing God or Mind of Christ. Now we would do one chapter every week. Doesn’t sound like a big deal and I loved studying the Bible with my Grandmother but she would somehow find a way to always schedule it when wrestling would come on. Today, that would not be a big deal, I would just pick it up whenever we were done. But back in my day, if you didn’t catch it when it came on live, you didn’t watch it. Like I said before, I loved studying the Bible but during this time on Saturday morning, I would dread being called to the table. The whole time I would be thinking about what storyline I was missing out on. Couldn’t rush through it either. Ain’t no fooling Grandma. She would tell me that I should love God more than anything on TV, especially wrestling. Hulk Hogan can’t save you but Jesus can.

Now we would do one chapter every week. Doesn’t sound like a big deal and I loved studying the Bible with my Grandmother but she would somehow find a way to always schedule it when wrestling would come on.

Now we would do one chapter every week. Doesn’t sound like a big deal and I loved studying the Bible with my Grandmother but she would somehow find a way to always schedule it when wrestling would come on.

Today, that would not be a big deal, I would just pick it up whenever we were done. But back in my day, if you didn’t catch it when it came on live, you didn’t watch it.

Like I said before, I loved studying the Bible but during this time on Saturday morning, I would dread being called to the table. The whole time I would be thinking about what storyline I was missing out on.

Couldn’t rush through it either. Ain’t no fooling Grandma. She would tell me that I should love God more than anything on TV, especially wrestling. Hulk Hogan can’t save you but Jesus can.

Today we’re going to talk about the idea of learning how to love God with all of your heart.

Today we’re going to talk about the idea of learning how to love God with all of your heart.

Intense, right?

Don’t get me wrong, my parents loved me a lot and meant well. And it could have been a lot worse. And now that I’m a parent myself, I even see why they did things like that. But growing up, I would be like, “Let’s cool down on the church stuff, people! Enough is enough!”

One time I had a birthday party. And my parents decided to invite some church people over to “speak a blessing over my life.” Again, they meant well. But I just wanted to play dodgeball! And the way this memory plays out in my mind, it was just a bunch of adults giving me advice—NOT an ideal party!

I remember one of the adults saying to me, “If you only do one thing with your life, do this: Love God with all your heart.” It sounded great. I’m sure my parents loved the fact that I heard it. But at the time, it was just confusing. I was thinking, That’s great, but when do I get to open presents?

And that’s what we’re talking about today. Not my childhood birthday parties. But the idea of you learning how to love God with all of your heart.

TENISON-1.5 MINUTES

1.5 MINUTES

And it sounds nice, but you may be just as confused as I was growing up.

What does that even mean?

You may know that you love Chick-fil-a. But how do you know that you love God?Does this mean you always feel close and connected to Him?

If it does, then all of us are in trouble, aren’t we?

B/c We all have times when we feel distant from God simply because of our mood, our decisions, or how long it’s been since we did something God-honoring?

INTERACTIVE

Throughout the remainder of the Tension and Truth sections, you’ll use the poster to emphasize the tension we often experience between what we FEEL is true versus what is actually true (FACT).

Every time you mention the word FEEL in the Tension, emphasize it and reference the poster. Then, in the Truth section, flip the poster to FACT when prompted. Then, every time you mention the word FACT in the remainder of the Truth, emphasize it and reference the poster.

Then, in the Truth section, flip the poster to FACT when prompted. Then, every time you mention the word FACT in the remainder of the Truth, emphasize it and reference the poster.

For example, have you ever been to church and the worship music starts, and you feel slightly uncomfortable?

Feel bad or guilty.

Maybe it’s because you feel bad or guilty.

Maybe you did something that’s been hanging over your head for weeks.

and it just won’t leave you alone.

Maybe you did something that’s been hanging over your head for weeks, and it just won’t leave you alone.

Worship doesn’t seem like something you can do. Why?

Because you don’t feel connected to God.

someone preaching/teaching

someone preach

talking in small group

praying.

Done too much wrong to relate to God in a meaningful way.

You feel far away.

Numb. Disconnected.

How can you love God with all your heart when your heart feels guilty or shameful?

The idea of loving God seems fake when I know all the bad stuff I’ve done or thought.

How do we even try to love God when all we can think about are the things we’ve done wrong?

TRUTH-6 MINUTES

6 MINUTES

I want to look at a passage of Scripture today that’s found in the book of Hebrews. And I think it has the potential to be a game-changer for us when it comes to how we view this idea!

The book of Hebrews is interesting because we have no idea who wrote it. There’s plenty of speculation, but nothing definitive. But what we do know is who the letter was written to.

Mostly a Jewish audience, the letter talks about “our” common ancestors and fathers in the faith. So it’s obvious that the writer and the audience had a common Jewish past, even though they were now followers of Jesus.

And for us today, this is important to keep in mind. Because the audience’s Jewish faith impacted how they understood their faith in Jesus. So it made sense that the writer would use language from their previous faith.

Just like if someone were trying to introduce you to a new food, they’d compare it to foods you already know to give you context.

For us, thousands of years later, a lot of the language used in Hebrews isn’t familiar. We aren’t from the 1st century world, and most of us don’t have a Jewish context. So that’s another layer for us to unpack. But I have confidence in us! This is what the writer says in Hebrews chapter 9:

This is what the writer says in Hebrews chapter 9:

Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them ( NLT).

Hebrews 9:14–15a NLT

Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.

If you’re like me, it seems like there were roughly a million words in this passage that don’t make clear sense in our modern world. Phrases like “blood of Christ,” “purify,” “perfect sacrifice,” “new covenant,” and “eternal inheritance.” What do they mean?

Here’s where understanding the Jewish context for this book is helpful.

All ancient religions of the world had very transactional relationships with the gods they believed in.

People believed doing certain things would right the relationship between you and the gods, which would make them more inclined to do what you wanted.

On the other hand, doing bad things would lead them to punish you, and you didn’t want that! So keep the gods happy!

Judaism was different. The Jewish people were in a covenant with God.

God had promised to make them a great nation. God had promised to always be with them.

And because the Jewish people knew that God was holy and they weren’t, their priests would regularly make sacrifices to God on behalf of them.

It was a sign of honor and respect, and it allowed them to approach God knowing that their sins and bad decisions weren’t getting in the way of that relationship.

It was a sign of honor and respect, and it allowed them to approach God knowing that their sins and bad decisions weren’t getting in the way of that relationship.

All over the ancient world, it was understood that when people behaved a certain way, there were things that had to be done to please the gods.

What Jesus did was unique. Jesus came saying that God was for people.

Jesus didn’t want it to be transactional. He wanted people to feel free and loved instead of small and insignificant.

God sent Jesus, His son, as a Person, to live on Earth alongside people to make sure they knew that He loved them.

[Communicator Note: Flip the poster from FEEL to FACT. Every time you mention the word FACT in the remainder of the Truth, emphasize it and reference the poster.]

And to prove this FACT, Jesus, having done nothing wrong, died on a cross to make sure the message God wanted to send would come across loud and clear:

That message was:

“FACT: THIS is how much I love you.”

“FACT: THIS is how much I want a relationship you.”

“FACT: THIS is how far I’m willing to go to show you how much I value you.”

Going forward, there was no need for anymore sacrifices because Jesus was the final one.

God wanted to make sure that things were different moving forward. He wasn’t asking for more animal sacrifices or grain offerings.

He was saying, “You can stop trying to satisfy me!

Imagine this: after thousands of years of NOT seeing God (or “gods”) this way, this was a hard change to accept religiously—for both Jewish people and non-Jewish (known as Gentiles).

The idea that God no longer needed to be made happy by offering Him something was a totally new concept.

So when people did something wrong, mistreated their neighbor, or spoke unkindly to their family, there would’ve been something inside of them saying,

Wait! I have to make an offering to God to make sure He doesn’t punish me. I have to make it right with Him before I can truly love Him!

But the writer of Hebrews is saying, “No you don’t! Not anymore!”

Instead of the death of animals, we have the death of Jesus to remind us of what we now know is true:

God has already forgiven you.

What Jesus demonstrated is enough. We don’t have to live with a guilty conscience.

Christ has set us free from shame and guilt.

What does this mean in light of us loving God with all of our heart?

It means that we come from a long line of people who were used to feeling guilty about things they did wrong, and who believed that guilt was supposed to keep them from God.

We are part of a complicated history where sin, guilt, and shame were enough to separate us from God.

But all of that has changed.

We can love God freely, without shame, guilt, or fear, because the truth is, the FACT is, God loved us freely.

Because God loved us without condition, we can love Him without condition.

We don’t have to wait for ourselves to be perfect. We can approach God confidently, knowing we don’t have to hold anything back.

APPLICATION-2 MINUTES

2 MINUTES

For a long time, people thought their connection to God was based on perfection. And when they were imperfect, connecting with Him was impossible. The worship with God was based on the perfection of behavior.

Not anymore.

Our bad behavior doesn’t have to keep us from God.

Instead, we can allow the mistakes we make to draw us toward Him.

Our guilt doesn’t have to drive us away. Our shame doesn’t have to block us from God.

They can be the things that allow us to see God’s good and perfect love for us. And as a result, we can develop a deep and maturing love for Him.

See, when it comes to loving God with your whole heart, you need to change the focus from what you’ve done to what Jesus already did.

When you see the love God demonstrated through His Son—and you fix your attention on that—you can stop fixing your attention on your guilt and shame.

Your worship can be a response to what God has already done for you!

Think of it this way:

Worship is about the connection, not your perfection.

This means that next time you find yourself in a mess, you don’t have to wait to make a connection with God.

He’s waiting on you. He’s already made everything right between you and Him.

Now it’s up to you to move back in His direction.

It’s up to you to decide that, even if you FEEL a certain way, the FACT is that God’s already made things right.

And . . . you have to decide which one you’re going to make decisions based on.

Remember, the goal isn’t perfection, but connection.

So what’s keeping you from feeling worthy to connect with God?

Today, I want you to lay it aside.

Accept that you don’t have to bring perfection to the table when it comes to connecting with God.

Whatever you’ve done or not done, whatever is holding you back . . . lay it aside.

Let’s take this one step further. I want you to find a place to write down this simple phrase:

“God is for me.”

Whether it’s a note card or the Notes app of your phone, write it down!

Look at it as much as you can this week to remind you that God loves you regardless of how perfect or imperfect you feel.

LANDING-1 MINUTE

1 MINUTE

As we transition to what’s next, I want you to think about the great love God demonstrated when He sent Jesus to die on a cross for your sins.

It was God’s way of showing you how much He loves you no matter what.

Instead of focusing on your imperfection, think about God’s affection in closing the distance between Him and you.

Think about how far He went to make a way for you to be in a relationship with Him.

When you’re tempted to sink into shame and guilt and distance yourself from God, instead focus on what Jesus did for you.

And then, worship God out of gratitude for His limitless and unconditional love for . . . you!

TRANSITION INTO SMALL GROUPS