We are the Priests

Introductions

This is our culture

Welcome to the Bridgetown Church Student Movement. We turn the world upside down, by turning our lives upside down for other people. The movement sits on top of the community in this room. Mutual love and apprenticeship to Jesus is what holds us together. You make us better by being a part of what we are doing. Your presence gets us that much closer to accomplishing our mission. And our mission is worth dying for.

How do I know? Because Jesus died for it. God is willing to do whatever he can to reconcile us back to Him. God wants to have a relationship with each of us.

So we know that we will see God turn the world upside down in and through us. The first will be last. The last will be first. Death will become life.

That is Community, Purpose, Mission and Truth.

I am _______________.

Announcements

bcsm@night

Halloween Party- Oct 24/ Oct 31

Before we start, let me pray.”

*Pray for God to use what you have to say to move someone further along in their journey towards Jesus.*

Story Time

Tell a quick story that introduces the message

Not too long ago, this girl I know asked me, “So, what religion are you?” She wanted to nail down exactly what it was that I believed. But I could tell, that it was more about curiosity as to what I believed and not curiosity about how she could come to know my God. There is a difference. Here, we talk all the time about living a life that compels people to ask you about your relationship with Jesus. That is part of turning the world upside down. The idea being, when you are a source of this Kingdom goodness in the lives of people around you, they will want to know what is different about you.

So I have to ask, When was the last time someone asked you about your faith? And not just in a way like, I am a Muslim, what are you? Not in a curious about you kind of way, but a curious about how they can have what you have kind of way?

Catch Up

Where we have been in the series. Where we are going.

So we launched what we call the bridgetown church student movement just a few weeks ago. A big part of the initial stage of this movement is finding ways to turn the world upside down in our sphere of influence, but also finding other people who are doing this work with us and handing them a jackalope pin.

Has any one here handed out any of their jackalope pins? Tell us the story.

This movement is built on a community of apprentices or followers or disciples of Jesus. Nick talked last week about how ineffective this movement will be, how all of it will crumble into nothing if it is not built on love. Love for one another . Love for other people. We have to love people the way Christ loves them for there to be an effective movement. In fact, if we as individuals do not share this kind of love we will do nothing and be nothing.

So let’s jump into our passage for today. We will kind of analyze what is being said here as we go.

Scripture

Read or summarize main Scripture with a little surrounding context. Ask a couple of questions to about the text.

Read 1 Peter 2:4-10

1 Peter 2:4–10 (ESV)

As you come to him, (That is Jesus) a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones

Ok so let’s pause here, As we approach God’s chosen and precious living stone, Jesus, we become living stones ourselves. As apprentices to Jesus we spend time with him and we become like Him, right?

you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house (we, our community is becoming a temple), to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

So in the minds of Peter’s original audience, what is a temple? A temple is the meeting place between the realm of the gods and humans. THE temple is where God’s presence resides in the midst of the people of Israel. So we are being made to house the presence of God. But more than that we are becoming what Peter calls a priesthood.

So what is a priest?

Tension/ Main Point

What is the rub? Create some questions and feeling in the minds of your students around the main point of the lesson.

Well, I found out this week that this is a priest, a little mallet that you use to kill fish. They call it a priest because it is giving the fish it’s last rites. Which actually points to the picture that I would think of when you say the word priest. This guy with the black shirt and white collar.

This particular passage, though, is focused on this guy, with the linen robe and ephod. So notice, Peter is saying as we approach Jesus, like a priest would do, through Jesus, we become both the temple, the place where God resides, and the priests, the people who can step into God’s presence.

We live in a very individualistic culture, so when we see that we automatically think, I am a temple, I am a priest. And elsewhere in the Bible that is the emphasis, so that is not necessarily wrong thinking. But here, Peter is focused on the community. The community is a priesthood. He goes on to say we are “chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession...” This language points directly back to a story in Exodus 19. God tells Israel, that is what they are to become. And so he has them make preparations to draw near to Him so that he can speak to the nation directly. The Israelites are like, “Yes, great!” But then God comes down to Mount Sinai and they hear his voice and the author of Hebrews, I think, describes this the best in Hebrews 12:18-22

Hebrews 12:18–21 (ESV)

... a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest (a storm) and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. (Another translation says, they begged him to stop) For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”

So they refuse to draw near to him and they insist that Moses do that part for them. You go and speak to God. We’ll stay right here. They were afraid of God’s presence. For good reason. That sounds a bit terrifying.

But notice, God’s desire, was to speak to his people directly so they could be priests to everyone else. That is the idea behind the office of priest in the Bible. This is someone who travels between God space and Human space. Someone who can draw near to God and bring a bit of that presence back out to the other people.

Look back at 1 Pt 2:9

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

In the book Multiply Movement by Francis Chan, he says, “In God’s plan of redemption, the church is called to be and to do what Israel failed to be and to do. The purpose of the church is to work together to reach out to the world around us. We have been called out of darkness into His marvelous light so that we can proclaim God’s excellencies to a watching world.”

When Moses came down from the mountain the Bible says his face, somehow, reflected God’s glory. As a royal priesthood, the New Testament assumes that people will be able to look at the church, and that they will be struck by what they see.They will look and see that reflection of God’s glory in the way we act.

But it doesn’t happen like that for most churches. There isn’t anything compelling about the way we live together. Our love isn’t very noticeable. Our unity is meh.

In other words, we don’t wear our priestly garments well. We don’t give anyone a reason to ask about what makes us unique, so nobody asks. That does not mean we don’t talk to people about Jesus and just wait for them to ask. We want to still tell other people about Jesus. But sometimes this ends up coming across like salespeople peddling a product that didn’t really work for us. A product that does not have a noticeable or compelling reason why we should buy it. We should all pray for the courage to tell others about Jesus, but we also should be working toward the love and unity that makes the church attractive. Let’s not give up on Jesus’s strategy of reaching people simply because it feels impossible at times. Jesus’s strategy was the life of the church. We must stick with His plan and pray that supernatural love begins to characterize our movement.

Jesus said that the world would recognize us by our love and unity. Peter said that people would be compelled by our hope. But are love, unity, and hope the words that you would use to describe bcsm?

I hope so. But if not, why not? What can you do about that?

Response

We respond every week with an invitation to baptism and communion.

We are called to make disciples, and strengthening the other members of the church body is an important part of this. But if we are not working together to help the unbelieving world around us become followers of Jesus, then we are missing the point. God blessed Abraham so that He could bless the world through him (see Gen. 12). If we are not actively turning the world upside down, then we are ignoring God’s mission. We can never forget that we have a role to play in God’s plan of redemption. You should feel honored to know that God has a plan for this group, this church.

God has placed each of us here in this unique setting, alongside this unique group of Christians, for the purpose of proclaiming Him to the unbelieving world around you. The way you interact with these people matters. Our church is essential to God’s ongoing plan of redemption. Remember that God left His church to fulfill His mission, and He didn’t leave a backup plan. If we do not pursue God’s mission, then our community will miss out on being exposed to the hope that God offers in the gospel. Too often, we miss out on the vibrant life Jesus wants us to experience as we pursue His mission together.Don’t miss out.

The life of our church is a matter of life and death. God tells us how the story will end, but you have an essential role to play nonetheless. Will you help us step up, look at the people around you with the compassion of Jesus, and call them into the plan of redemption that has transformed us? There’s a reason God has you in this church at this point in history, today. You can help us become an attractive community that exhibits Christ’s love, unity, and hope. You can be a part of the priesthood, the people in this community that travel between God space and Human space, the people that bring God space to human space, the people that turn the world upside down, or, rather right side up.

To close, I am going to read what follows that passage from Hebrews.

22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

We have come to Jesus, the true High Priest and to his blood, which does not speak of death, but speaks of life. To remind ourselves of Jesus’ role in making us what Israel refused to be, we take communion every week. The juice represents his blood, the bread his body.

As this song plays You can grab communion.

Now If you need prayer this week, or if you want to declare your intention to be a true disciple of Jesus by being baptized, come see one of the adults. We would love to talk with you. But, if you don’t want to move and just want to listen to the lyrics of the song, or pray, or read the Bible you can do that as well. This is a time to just spend with Jesus. If you need another pin to hand out this week, go ahead and grab one. If you have not recieved one yourself yet, you can grab two. One for yourself and one to give to another person you see turning the world upside down by turning their lives upside down for other people.

Song

Pick a song that centers around the main theme of the lesson.

Send Me- Crossroads Music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyQYwdEjArcDiscussion

How has the jackalope pin handing out gone fore you? Have you handed any out? Did you hesitate? Are you nervous?

Play Mirror. In this hilarious game, start with two volunteers who sit back to back and link arms. They try to stand up at the same time, without their backs losing contact. Then, add another pair and try it with four. Keep adding two people at a time until it is the entire group trying to stand together.

This is your community. Part of being a community is caring for one another and one way we can do that is by praying for each other. Does anyone have something we can celebrate with you this week? What is heavy for you this week? How can we help hold you up?

Pray together

QOTD: What would it mean for bcsm to live as a compelling community—a group of people who demonstrate love, unity, and hope in such a way that the unbelieving world is compelled to find out what is going on?

How can we do good deeds so they are both a witness and a discrete act of service (that is, not merely for show)?

How do you need to change your plans for the near future so that you will be an example to the unbelievers with whom you have regular contact

Family Worship

Hey, welcome to Family Worship.

This week we talked about our community becoming a priesthood and temple where the world around us can experience the goodness of God.

Is your life one that compels your friends to ask you about your faith?

In the book Multiply Movement by Francis Chan, he says, “In God’s plan of redemption, the church is called to be and to do what Israel failed to be and to do. The purpose of the church is to work together to reach out to the world around us. We have been called out of darkness into His marvelous light so that we can proclaim God’s excellencies to a watching world.” When Moses came down from the mountain the Bible says his face, somehow, reflected God’s glory. As a royal priesthood, the New Testament assumes that people will be able to look at the church, and that they will be struck by what they see.They will look and see that reflection of God’s glory in the way we act.

Read

1 Peter 2:4-10

Understand

In what way are we like living stones?

What are the implications of believers being a chosen people, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation?

Apply

How does being chosen by God for a special task make you feel?

Who can you tell about Jesus this week?

Our movement is turning the world upside down by turning our lives upside down for other people. As we grow into that movement, as we mature towards that, people will start to become intrigued in how this Jesus guy is. So here are your challenges for the week. Commit, as a family to doing at least one of these challenges this week.

Challenges

Fun: Go for an amoeba walk. Go on a walk as a family and try to pick up some other families who would be willing to join you. If no one joins you, that is ok. Enjoy your walk as a family. If someone does join, ask them where you should stop next to pick up someone else.

Practice: Invite someone from your neighborhood over for family dinner. Pray before you eat.

Do: Talk about what it would mean if your home, your family were the temple and priesthood for your neighborhood. What is one thing that you could do with the intent to connect your neighbors to God. If you are the conduit to God space in your neighborhood, how does that change your relationship with your neighbors?

Daily Devotions

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Spiritual Discipline of the week