CONTE NTS

Bluefish TV Presents DUG DOWN DEEP LEADERS GUIDE

Copyri ght 2011 Bl uefi sh TV
by Bl uefi sh TV
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I SBN- 978-1-57275-313-6
I SBN- 1-57275-313-7
ALL RI GHTS RESERVED. No par t of thi s book
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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL
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FREE ONLINE EXTRAS
ABOUT JOSHUA HARRIS
THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH BY JOSHUA HARRIS
HOW TO USE THIS LEADERS GUIDE
ARE YOU A TRADER?
Session Four
HOW WE CHANGE
Session Three
HOW GOD MAKES US RIGHT
Session Two
THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING GOD
Session One
WHAT WILL YOU BUILD YOUR LIFE ON?
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Promotional Materials
Go online to: www.bluefshtv.com/promo to download logos, posters or fyers
to help promote this series to your class.
Handouts
There are handouts to use with each lesson. Youll need to make enough
copies for your entire class beforehand. There are three places to fnd these
handouts:
1.) Online: Go to www.bluefshtv.com/handouts. Scroll down to the Dug
Down DeepYouth Series. Download the supplemental handouts by
clicking on the Buy Today FREE button. Insert the quantity and click Add.
Click Checkout, fll out the appropriate contact info, and place your order.
Then click on Dug Down Deep - Handouts (DOWNLOAD NOW) PDF. Save
the fle to your computer.
2.) DVD: Insert any Disc into your computer. Close any DVD software that
might open automatically. Open My Computer by Double-clicking the
icon on the Start Menu. Right-click on the DVD (title) in the D Drive. Open
the Folder titled Handouts. Right-click on the appropriate lesson title.
Select Open. Select File then print copies of the lesson handout for entire
class.
3.) In this Leaders Guide: As a last resort, each handout is located at the
end of each lesson that you can copy, if you prefer.
Free Downloads
Youve been given access to a FREE VIDEO DOWNLOAD along with each
lesson. Each download fts well with the topic addressed and can be used as
an icebreaker to enhance your teaching times. At BluefshTV.com you can also
download over 800 funny or dramatic clips. Visit BluefshTV.com and receive
the following free downloads:
FREE ONLINE
EXTRAS
Lesson
1. What Will You Build Your Life On?
2. The Importance of Knowing God
3. The Way to Be Good Again
4. How We Change
Download
Is Your Faith in Kindergarten?
Order Your Faith
A Man Fell in a Hole
Teen Stunt Man: Bible
Code
DDD1
DDD2
DDD3
DDD4
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ABOUT
JOSHUA HARRIS
Made to Make a
Diference
with Max Lucado (DVD)
Can You Really Change
the World?
Identity
(DVD)
4 Powerful Video
Illustrations about the
Search for Self
Why Jesus?
with David Nasser (DVD)
What do you question about
Jesus?
Filmed in Israel
Preview these and many other
resources at
You May Also Like:
Joshua Harris has been serving as the senior pastor of Covenant
Life in Gaithersburg since 2004. He is a gifted speaker with a
passion for making theological truth easy to understand.
Joshua is perhaps best known for his run-away bestseller, I Kissed
Dating Goodbye, which he wrote at the age of twenty-one. His
later books include Boy Meets Girl, Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is),
and Stop Dating the Church. His newest book is Dug Down Deep
and is his own story of learning to build his life on the
truth about God.
The founder of the NEXT conferences for young adults,
Joshua is committed to seeing the gospel transferred
to a new generation of Christians.
Joshua and his wife, Shannon, live in Maryland with
their three children.
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Ill be honest. The mission Jesus has given us scares me. Im much more
comfortable being called out of the world than I am being sent into it. As a
pastor I can devote myself to the concerns of the church, spend most of my
time with other Christians, and shut myself of in the safety of church life like a
hamster in a plastic rolling ball.
But that impulse to wall myself of from the world isnt always
motivated by a love for holiness. Too often I separate myself from the world
because Im afraid or just plain lazy. Unbelieving people think Im weird.
Theyre diferent from me, and diferent can be uncomfortable.
In those moments I have to remind myself: its not enough for me to
be holy. When Jesus left, he didnt say, Stay on this hill and be holy. He told his
followers to be holy and to go share the gospel with the world. For the church
to be faithful, we need both a concern for holiness and a heart to reach the
world. Each of us has to continually evaluate our motives, our lifestyle choices,
and our eforts to befriend people who dont know Jesus.
I once heard John Piper share the story of being invited as a young boy
to attend a movie with his classmates. His very godly but very conservative
parents frowned on movie watching. But while his mother would have
preferred he not go, she didnt forbid him. Instead she explained her own
convictions and let him make the choices. Do what you think is right, she
told him. We have standards, Son, but they have to come from the inside.
Refecting on the story, Piper said, Theres a world of diference between
separation and consecration. The issue is not separating rules but consecrated
hearts.
Theres a lot of wisdom for the church in those words as we wrestle
with questions about engaging and infuencing a godless culture. To
consecrate something means to set it apart for Gods use. True consecration is
an inward reality, not a matter of physical proximity or outward regulation.
Theres no contradiction between consecration and evangelistic
mission. If our hearts are consecrated, we can live in the darkest culture
and powerfully shine forth the truth of the gospel. If our hearts are not
consecrated, no amount of separation or man-made rules will keep us from the
infuence of worldliness (1 John 2:1517). It will be in us no matter how high
we build the walls around ourselves.
Jesus said that Christians are to be like salt and light in the world
(Matthew 5:1316). John Stott writes, So Jesus calls his disciples to exert a
double infuence on the secular community, a negative infuence by arresting
its decay and a positive infuence by bringing light into its darkness. For it is
one thing to stop the spread of evil; it is another to promote the spread of
THE MISSION
OF THE CHURCH By Joshua Harris
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truth, beauty and goodness. The church is called to engage the world around
us with countercultural lives and countercultural truth from Gods Wordto
arrest the decay brought about by human rebellion and spreading the life-
giving light of Gods truth.
Notice that both analogies Jesus uses assume contact. Salt is a natural
preservative. It halts decay. But it wont work if its diluted. And it has no efect
if its isolated. Salt has to come into contact. So it is with the church. We have
to be in the world, engaging and infuencing every aspect of culture with the
truth of the gospel.
In the same way Jesus doesnt call his people to be just a city. Were to
be a city on a hill that shines forth light to a dark world. Flight into the invisible
is a denial of the call, writes Dietrich Bonhoefer. A community of Jesus which
seeks to hide itself has ceased to follow him.
If we would obey Jesus, we must go into the world. Ive been
challenged by the example of other churches to study my local community
with the evangelistic intentionality of a missionary. To ask questions like
If I were a missionary to another nation, how would I view my life? What
decisions would I make about where I live or how much I need to live on?
Where would I spend my time so I could form friendships with unbelieving
people? What would I seek to learn about the culture so I could befriend and
clearly communicate the gospel? What are the idols and false gods people are
worshiping?
Ask these questions, and then apply them to your current
location. The mission feld is right in front of you. Imagine how this kind of
evangelistic urgency could be used by God to touch your campus, workplace,
neighborhood, and community.
Excerpted from Dug Down Deep by Joshua Harris Copyright 2010 by Joshua Harris.
Excerpted by permission of Multnomah Books, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights
reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in
writing from the publisher.
Excerpted from
DUG DOWN DEEP
by Joshua Harris
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This Leaders Guide is a tool to help you combine the video and Bible
Study into a dynamic growth experience. As the leader, take some time
in advance to consider the Bible Study questions and come up with
personal examples to encourage discussion.
There are handouts to use with each lesson. Youll need to make
enough copies for your entire class beforehand (Check out page 2
for detailed instructions). By using the handouts and breaking into
small groups for discussions, your group will work on situations and
personal issues brought up earlier in the video, Bible Study section and
discussion.
With that in mind, lets preview the guide. The main body of the Guide
is written as a conversation you would have with the class. When
theres a specifc question to ask, it appears in bold type. When we
want to whisper directions in your ear, well use this italic type. (If youre
looking for a quick answer, the suggested answer sometimes appears
in parentheses after the question.) But many of the questions are open
for discussion, so they have no (suggested) answers in parentheses.
Instead, the paragraphs that follow after might include thoughts you
could add to the discussion.
Each lesson has particular sections...
OPEN
This is the icebreaker. Adjust it to the character of your group, but
dont skip it, for several reasons. (1) Every group needs some transition
time. (2) The people get to know each other. (3) The introductory
questions draw out practical connections between the subject matter
and their lives.
Each lesson includes an option for an activity or discussion-only
questions to get things going its your choice.
VIEW
Now its time to watch the video. Make sure to set the audio at a
comfortable level before beginning the session and everyone can see
the screen. You dont want your students to miss anything.
HOW TO USE
THIS LEADERS GUIDE
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RE-VIEW
People can forget what they see unless they review it right away. The
discussion questions in this section help your students remember
what they just viewed from the teaching and real-life stories. But other
questions try to connect the video to their emotions or experience.
How did you feel when they said that? Is that true in your life? Do you
have the same issue?
You as the leader will set the tone. If you ofer a comment thats a bit
challenging, a bit radical, a bit cutting-edge, then the group will feel
that they have permission to do the sameand you will have a rip-
roaring discussion.
BIBLE JOURNEY
This is an in-depth Bible study based on the Biblical teaching
mentioned from the video. Within your youth group, you will fnd
diferent levels of faith. This is a time to open up the Bible and help
them grow, or fnd their faith.
PERSONAL EXCAVATION
In this section your students will refect on the true foundation of their
faith. They will be asked to consider how they live out their personal
faith with their friends, in the midst of temptation, in their actions, and
in their attitudes.
LAST WORD
This is an opportunity for your students to be challenged to do
something with what theyve learned. This section will direct the
students to refect on how they live out their personal faith with
their friends, in the midst of temptation, in their actions, and in their
attitudes. There may be students that are not sure where they stand in
their relationship with God. Every session, this would be a good time
to make it known that you are available at any time to answer their
questions in private.
WOULD YOU TRADE THESE THI NGS
TO I MPACT SOMEONE ELSE FOR
CHRI ST?
A TRADER I S A NEW KI ND OF
MI SSI ONARY, NOT DEFI NED BY
GEOGRAPHY, BUT WI LLI NG TO
FAI THFULLY MI NI STER WHEREVER
GOD HAS THEM.
DI SCOVER HOW TO BE A TRADER
AT RI GHTNOW.ORG
Session One
WHAT WILL
YOU BUILD
YOUR LIFE
ON?
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Leader: Be sure to have enough Blocks handouts printed out for the
entire class. For detailed info on printing handouts, see page 2.
OPEN
Leader: How do you want to start this session, with high energy or
low? Each of the four sessions in this series will ofer both optionsan
activity that will get your students moving, playing, laughing; and also
a discussion question to get into the main theme. Depending on the
makeup of your group and the time of your meeting, you might fnd it best
to use one or the other, or both.
Activity
Preparation: Provide an assortment of papernewspaper, copy
paper, construction paper, maybe even some manila folders. Divide
the group into two teams. (If you have more than twenty students, you
could add a third or fourth team. Ideally, each team will have 610.)
Your job is to use this material, and only this material, to build as tall
a structure as possible. You can fold it, bend it, tear it, crumple it, but
your object is to construct something tall. At the end of three minutes,
the team with the tallest structure wins.
Leader: After the results have been measured and the winners applauded,
talk about it.
Winners, what was the secret of your success?
What problems did you all encounter?
How important was it to create a frm base? Did it help you build
higher if you paid attention to the bottom layer?
Discussion
Leader: If you prefer not to do the activity, use these questions instead. If
youve done the activity, you can skip this.
FREE VIDEO
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Is Your Faith in
Kindergarten? For
detailed download
instructions, see
page 2.
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Whats under this room? Whats under this building? What is it
built on?
Why do you think builders pay so much attention to building a
strong foundation?
[Introduce the video here after Activity or Discussion] As you might guess,
well be talking today about having a strong foundation for your life,
but this might be a little diferent from what youve heard before.
VIEW
Watch Session 1: What Will You Build Your Life On? (20 minutes)
RE-VIEW
People build the foundation of their life on diferent things. What
false foundations did we see in the stories in the video? (Kaitlyn
relied on growing up in a Christian home. Her faith was shattered
when her mother passed away, making her bitter and rebellious. Ryans
foundation was his popularity and relationships in sports. After an
injury took him out of sports, he felt isolated and turned to drugs.)
How did that work out for them? Did the foundations hold? Why or
why not?
As you look around at your family and friends, what other
foundations do people build their lives on?
In the video, both Kaitlyn and Ryan had reality checks when things
went wrong. What went wrong, and how did it afect them?
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Do you think this is the way it usually happens: that people think
their foundation is fne until the storms come? Have you seen this
happen in people around you?
Yeah, but to be honest, doesnt the same sort of thing happen to
Christians sometimes? Doesnt our faith-foundation get shaken
when bad things happen in our lives? Whats the diference?
BIBLE JOURNEY
Joshua Harris referred to an important Bible passage that we should
take a look at. Turn to Luke 6:46. Somebody read verses 4649.

Leader: If you have access to a chalkboard or whiteboard, and you can
storyboard the following analysis, it might be fun, and it might also
make the story very clear.
So, if we were to make a flm of this parable, how many scenes
would it have, and what would they be?
There are three distinct scenes in the story (though you could
certainly add others for dramatic efect, and you might split them up
diferently).
1. The building of the houses. (And youd have to cut back and
forth between the two building projects.)
2. The storm/food (torrent).
3. The result. One house is standing; the other, rubble.
So the main plot of the story is that one house is destroyed and
the other is still standing, but a flm needs character development
too. So who are the two builders? What are we told about them?
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The one whose house stands (the rock-builder) is the one who comes to
me and hears my words and puts them into practice, Jesus says. The other
is the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice.
How could we show this in our flm? What scenes could we make
up to illustrate the way these two live?
But heres one crucial detail that Joshua called to our attention.
Somebody read verse 46 again.
Who is being described here? Who is Jesus telling this parable to?
Who is he telling it about?
Some people were calling Jesus Lord but not doing what he said.
These were the people he described in the story building without
a foundation. Joshua makes the point that this is not a salvation
message. Jesus is not saying, Become a Christian and your house will
stand. Hes talking to people who already call him Lord, but they arent
grounding their lives on his teachings.
What does Lord mean? When someone comes to Jesus saying,
Lord, Lord, what are they saying? (A lord is a boss, a master. This is
the statement of a servant. Lord, Ill do what you say.)
So, how did their words line up with their actions? (They didnt.)
Somebody read Luke 6:4345. This is the lead-in to the foundation
story.
What is Jesus saying about trees and fruit? (Trees bear fruit
according to their nature.)
What is Jesus saying about our hearts and our actions? (Our actions
refect whats truly in our hearts.)
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How does this paragraph connect with the story of the
foundations and the storm?
You can call Jesus Lord, but if you dont really act like his servant,
youre like a thornbush producing fgs. Its a contradiction. It doesnt
happen. Your words might sound nice, just like a house might look
nicebut if it has no foundation, its not much of a house at all. Both
of these paragraphs are about substance and appearance. The true
power of our faith comes not from the words we say, but the things we
do.
Does this mean we have to do good things to earn our salvation?
No. We cannot earn salvation. God saves us by his grace. It is a free gift.
And he ofers forgiveness when we mess up, and we will mess up. But
heres what Jesus tells usfollowing him is not just a matter of saying
religious words. It means committing yourself to living your life his
way. It means letting him change your heart. It means building your
life on him. This is authentic Christianity.
Theres a diference between being imperfect and being a pretender.
Jesus knows that we will not always do the right thing, and he ofers
forgiveness. But if we can extend his parable, thats a bit like nailing up
a crooked board when we build the house. You can tear that of and try
again. But the question remains: What are you building the house on?
Are you basing your identity, your success, your actions on Jesus? Or
are you just saying so?
PERSONAL EXCAVATION
Turn to 1 Timothy 6:17. We talked earlier about what people built their
life-foundations on, and there are several answers. This little passage
gives us one example of a foundation that a lot of people have.
Somebody read verses 1719.
These verses are talking about people who build their lives on . . .
what?
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Do you know people who would ft that description?
What can they do to change their foundation? What should they
do diferently?
It really starts with that challenge to put their hope in God. If you
put your hope in wealthwhat does it say about wealth?its so
uncertain. Its like building on a sandy foundation. If you want a rock-
solid foundation, put your hope in God.
What does that mean: to put your hope in God?
Hope is a lot like other religious wordstrust, faith, etc. But hope has a
forward feeling to it. We hope for something in the future. It also has
some joy in it, right? We expect a happy futurenot because of our
bank account, but because of our relationship with God.
All that stuf about good deeds and being generousthats what
comes out of a heart that hopes in God. As we saw before, a fg tree
produces fgs. And a hopeful heart produces generous actions. You
dont need to bribe God to save you. Youre sharing your money
because you dont need to cling to it anymore. You have a new
foundation, in God.
Leader: Distribute the Blocks handout.
This is the frst session in a series that will challenge us to examine
our current foundations and then build our lives on whats most
importantan awareness of who God is, and a vibrant relationship
with him. That all starts by being honest with yourself about what your
life is like now. What kind of foundation have you built your life on? Are
you serious about following Jesus, or have you just been saying, Lord,
Lord, because church is where the cool people hang out?
The idea of this self-evaluation sheet is that your true foundation
becomes apparent in your thoughts, your relationships, your ambition,
and how you spend your time.
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Take the next few minutes to go through this sheet by yourself. Maybe
its something you want to take home and pray about, but start here.
No ones looking over your shoulder, so you dont have to give the
right answers, if there are any. Just be honest.
LAST WORD
Take another look at the foundation youve described. These arent all
bad things. In fact, some of them are very good building blocks for
the life you want to havebut theyre not a good foundation. The frst
step in this whole process is to decide to make Jesus your foundation.
Talk to him this week about how to do that.
Handout
BLOCKS
How would you describe the current foundation of your life? Whats most important to you?
One way to evaluate this is to look at four diferent areas:

What do you think most about?
What relationships do you invest the most time, energy, and emotion in?
What ambitions do you have for the future?
How do you spend your time?
The diagram below gives you fve blocks in each of those four areas. Write into each block one
of your top fve. (Or, if one answer takes up 40% of your time, ambition, etc., give it two blocks;
three blocks for 60%, and so on.)
Some suggested answers are given below, but you can make up anything you want. Just be
honest about it. This is a way for you to evaluate your own life.
RELATIONSHIPS
(You could put the #s in the blocks)
1. Family
2. BFF
3. Girlfriend/boyfriend
4. Twitter following
5. Christian friends
6. Friends who respect my faith
7. Friends who tear down my faith
8. People Im using to get what I
want
9. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
THINKING
School
Family
Jesus
Love & Sex
Sports
Celebrities
Clothes
Acne
Bling
Other . . .
AMBITION
Fame
Success
Money
Marriage
Beauty
Education
Popularity
Ministry
License
Other . . .
TIME (waking hours)
Shopping
Texting
Gaming
Skating
Studying
Practicing
Worshiping
Kissing
Chatting
Other . . .
TIME
THINKING
AMBITION
RELATIONSHIPS
SESSION TWO
THE
IMPORTANCE
OF KNOWING
GOD
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FREE VIDEO
DOWNLOAD: Visit
BluefshTV.com to
receive one of our
favorite videos that
fts well with this
lesson. Enter the code
DDD2 to receive:
Order Your Faith. For
detailed download
instructions, see
page 2.
Leader: Be sure to have enough Because God Is handouts printed out
for the entire class. For detailed info on printing handouts, see page 2.
OPEN
Leader: As always, if you prefer to skip the activity and move ahead to the
discussion, do so.
Activity
Well be holding a press conference. Well need several volunteers to
answer questions, but everyone else in the room can ask questions.
Heres the rule: Every answer must be a lie. Total fabrication. Make stuf
up. (And of course that would make this completely diferent from any
real press conference you would see on the news.) If we catch you in a
truth, youre done, and the next person steps up to answer questions.
Leader: Youll have to stay on your toes to manage this. And you might
have to start with questions like What is your name? or What is your
claim to fame? (Of course theyll be making up fake names and fake
fame.) But get the group to chime in as soon as you can. Encourage follow-
up questions based on their original fabrications. In order to catch them
in a truth, you might ask a casual question like, Isnt it hot today? or Are
you having trouble hearing the questions? (Their denial would prove that
they can hear the questions.)
See if anyone can feld ten questions without lapsing into truth. If
so, congratulate them and move on to the next question-answerer.
Depending on your time frame, you could use 35 question-answerers
before the game gets old.
[After the Activity . . .]
Was it hard to keep telling lies? Was it fun?
Were any of our answerers convincing? Were they good liars?
Would you have believed them if it wasnt part of this game?
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Discussion
Leader: If youre not doing the activity, you could start here.
Is lying difcult? Why or why not?
Do you think its hard to keep lying, to keep a made-up story
straight?
[Introduce the video here after Activity or Discussion] Were going to be
talking today about double-lives, about people who are living a lie.
Unfortunately, we see a lot of this in the churchor rather, we dont
see it, because people are hiding the truth about who they are.
VIEW
Watch Session 2: The Importance of Knowing God (17 minutes)
RE-VIEW
We met a couple of students who talked about their double lives,
doing the Christian thing on Sunday, but being very diferent in
other situations. Do you think this is pretty common?
Why do you think people do this?
Do you think these people are really trying to live a lie, or just
trying to fgure out who they really are?
In the two cases we saw, Jaron got involved with drugs because his
friends were going that direction, and Merrilee got drawn away
from Christ by a boyfriend. What efect do our friendships have on
the way we live?
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Is it better just not to have any non-Christian friends?
In the video, Joshua Harris talks about theology. So . . . what is
theology? (Heres what Joshua said: Simply put, theology is the study of
the nature of Godwho he is and how he thinks and acts.)
According to Joshua, why does theology matter?
Heres what Joshua said; What you believe about Gods naturewhat
he is like, what he wants from you, and whether or not you will answer to
himafects every part of your life. Theology matters, because if we get it
wrong, then our whole life will be wrong.
So if you think of God as distant and uninvolved in your life, then
youll live selfshly. Youll use other people to get what you want and think
that God wont notice. If you think God exists just to serve your needs and
desires, youll pray when youre in trouble but ignore him the rest of the
time. Youll be angry when he doesnt give you exactly what you want.
Messed up theology leads to messed up living.
So we have kids talking about double lives or hypocrisy or living
a lie. And then we have Joshua Harris talking about theology.
Whats the connection? It seems like we have two diferent
subjects here. How do they ft together?
Remember what Joshua said. Messed up theology leads to messed
up living. What you think about God afects what you think about
yourself, and what you think about yourself afects the choices you
make.
So heres a tough question. Lets consider the stories in the video
starting with Jaron who was playing guitar at church but doing
drugs with his friends. What does that behavior tell us about how
he was thinking about God?
We dont want to be too harsh, because many of us are dealing with
similar issues, but it would help to think it through. Did he think that
God only cared about what he did on Sunday? Did he think God didnt
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care about his body, but only his spirit? Did he think that God only
wanted worship but not obedience?
How did his thinking change? How did he start thinking diferently
about God, and about himself?
What about Merrilee, who was dating an atheist guy? How do you
think her ideas about God afected her choices?
She said one very interesting thing at the end of the interview: I
guess it felt nice to be that desired, and he [the boyfriend] just became
everything that God should have been in my life.
Could it be that she saw God as one who just demanded obedience
and didnt really love her? Maybe she forgot how much God wanted
her, that he had a plan for her, and that he longed for her to follow him.
BIBLE JOURNEY
Turn to Jeremiah 7. We dont dig into Jeremiah very much, but it gives us
a great example of people who were leading double lives because they
didnt have a good idea of who God is. Somebody read verses 38.
What was the problem?
What were they saying about the temple of the Lord?
These people lived in Jerusalem, where Solomon had built the
magnifcent Temple. They assumed that their relationship with God
was great, just because they had the Temple in town. As far as they
were concerned, they didnt need to live Gods way, as long as they
kept that Temple nice and shiny.
This is a bit like a person nowadays who says, As long as I show up
to church on Sunday, everything is fne between God and me. I dont
have to obey him 24/7. I go to churchthat proves Im a Christian.
Jeremiah calls this kind of attitude deceptive words.
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What specifcally does God want these people to do? How should
they be living when theyre not in the Temple? (The text mentions
justice, caring for the needyimmigrants, widows, and orphansnot
shedding innocent blood, and not following other gods.)
How many of those things apply to us in modern times? How can
we do these things?
Somebody read verses 911.
What was Baal?
Baal was a god worshiped by the people who lived around the
Israelites. They asked Baal to send rain to make the crops grow, and
they would thank him for a good harvest. Many passages of the Old
Testament talked about Baal as a false god and warned the Israelites
against this religionand yet people kept falling for it. Maybe one
of its selling points was that it was sort of a sex-religion. It celebrated
sexuality without the restrictions of the Israelite law.
Get the picture here. These peopleand Jeremiah is talking largely to
leadersare abusing people, lying, bribing judges, misappropriating
funds, and even playing around with the worship of other gods, and
they come back to the Temple and say, Isnt it nice to be Gods chosen
people?
So how does God feel about what the people are doing?
Do you know the story of Jesus and the moneychangers? He went to
the Temple and turned over the tables of those who were making a
ridiculous proft from selling sacrifcial animals. He scolded them for
making Gods house a den of robbers. He was quoting from verse 11.
Flip ahead to chapter 8. Somebody read verses 19, and as this is read,
consider these two questions:
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1. What are they doing wrong?
2. What does God want them to do now?
Leader: This might be a section you want to read yourself, for proper
emphasis. Read it slowly, and then ask those two questions again.
Why do you think Jeremiah talked about birds in verse 7? What is
he trying to say?
Theres a very interesting image here. Birds migrate, and then they
return. They fy south for the winter, and then they fy north again. This
whole passage, beginning in verse 4, is about returning. God seems to
be saying, I know you will wander away from me at times, but I want
you to return. Even birds return home after a while. Why arent you
returning to me?
This is a very important idea as we apply it to our lives today. There
will be times when we sin. Thats not good, but its reality. When that
happens, God wants us to return to him. He ofers forgiveness and
restoration.
The problems come when we fail to admit our sin, when we try to have
it both ways. Hey, I can worship God on Sunday and sacrifce my body
to the sex god or the drug god or the alcohol god all week long. Im
not really wandering away from God; Im just experimenting. Those are
the kind of deceitful words that keep us from returning to the Lord.
Turn to the next chapter. Somebody read Jeremiah 9:2324.
Do you ever hear people boasting about their wisdom, strength,
or riches?
According to these verses, whats more important than wisdom,
strength, or riches?
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Of course there are many things to understand and know about
God, but how does he describe himself in verse 24?
Kindness, justice, righteousness, delightare those the words you
would use to describe God?
This brings us back to what Joshua Harris was saying in the video
that the better we know the Lord, the better our lives will be. Good
theology means a proper understanding of who God is, and that leads
to a proper understanding of who we are and how we should act.
PERSONAL EXCAVATION
What is God like? If we had to come up with a list of ffteen things
that describe God, what would they be?
Leader: A whiteboard or its equivalent would be helpful here. Write down
the ideas they give you, adding your own to the mix. Among others, you
could say that God is Love, Holy, Spirit, One, Trinity, Impartial, Delighting,
a Communicator, Merciful, etc. After you have ten or ffteen written down,
distribute the Because God Is handout and break into groups. This will
work best in very small groups3 or 4.
Most of this sheet is taken from what Joshua was saying in the video.
Notice the three columnsBecause God is this, I am this, and heres a
way I could think or act based on that fact. The frst one is there as an
example. You have four other qualities of God listed there, but then
Im asking you to pull three more from the list we just came up with
(or from your thinking). Fill out the three columns as best you can, and
then well talk about it.
Leader: Give them about 10 minutes, or until their interest fags. Remind
them that this isnt about getting answers right, but about doing good
thinking. There might be several ways to look at some of these. For
instance, we are created beings, but we are also partners with God in
creation, since he gave humans stewardship over the earth, and we are
made in his imageso we should act with responsibility and creativity.
When you bring them back together, go through their responses. Its best
to go subject by subject, according to the descriptions of God, asking
people to report on what they came up with for this one or that one. Afrm
creative thinking, even if its diferent from what youd expect.
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LAST WORD
Maybe youve been living a double life, at least in some ways. So heres
the challenge. Keep thinking like this through the weekconsidering
who God is and how you relate to him. As you get involved in
questionable activities, bring those questions to God. God, show me
who you are, and then show me how to act with my friends, in school,
with my family, and so on. You might fnd that everything begins to ft
together.
Handout
BECAUSE GOD IS...
God Is . . . So I am . . . And so Ill think or do this . . .
The Creator Created He knows how Ill function best
Eternal
All-powerful
Omnipresent
All-knowing
SESSION THREE
HOW GOD
MAKES US
RIGHT
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Leader: Be sure to have enough Roamin handouts printed out for the
entire class. For detailed info on printing handouts, see page 2.
This lesson presents the gospel messagein the video, the discussion,
and the Bible study. Prayerfully consider how youll approach this. You
might feel that most of your students are already Christians, but we would
urge you not to assume that. Even if some have previously raised a hand
or prayed a prayer, it might be just now that they fully understand what its
all about. This lesson might provide an explanation for something theyve
already committed to, it might call them back into a faith theyve secretly
rejected, or it might teach them how to present their faith to others. It
will take spiritual insight on your part, listening skills, and creativity (all
prompted by the Holy Spirit), to provide what your students need in the
way they need it. So bathe this lesson in prayer.
OPEN
Activity/Discussion
Leader: Were combining the activity and discussion for this session,
since the discussion starts in the world of entertainment anyway. If you
feel you need a more energetic activity, you could have people act out or
draw (a la Pictionary) scenes from favorite movies, TV shows, or books,
and see if others can guess what they are. (Then you would move into this
discussion.)
Can you think of a character in a movie, TV show, or book, who did
something they regretted later?
Leader: Be ready with an example or two from your own viewing or
reading.
What did they do?
Why did they do it?
Why did they regret it later?
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How did this feeling of regret or guilt afect their emotions? How
did it afect their lives?
Do you think thats pretty realistic? Does guilt and regret really
afect people like that?
In stories, and in real life, there are some things we mildly regret. I
should have studied harder for that test. I shouldnt have thrown
applesauce at that guy. We can learn from our mistake and laugh
about it later. But there are other things we regret that leave us with
a deep sense of guiltrelationships that have been broken beyond
repair, damage done to ourselves or others, messes we get into and
dont know how to get out of.
What can we do about our guiltnot just our feelings of guilt, but also
the fact that we are, in fact, guilty of wrongdoing? Thats the focus of
todays video.
VIEW
Watch Session 3: How God Makes Us Right (18 minutes)
RE-VIEW
We met two people in these interviews, Shelby and Josiah. What
do you remember about their stories? (Josiah followed in his older
brothers footsteps of drugs and alcohol after his father died, found
faith in Christ at church camp, turned back to alcohol after a break up
with his girlfriend, a friend pointed him back to God, and he gave up
old friends. Shelbys father was a policeman killed on duty which made
her bitter and rebellious, forced to go to church, heard a message
about forgiveness which touched her heart to be forgiven and to
forgive.)
How are their stories similar? How are they diferent?
Both of them struggled with the loss of their father. How did this
loss afect their behavior?
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Of course not everyone loses a parent, but do you think that
other personal and family tragedies often cause people to behave
badly?
Leader: You might get some interesting discussion on this point. Its true
that tragedies often instigate destructive behavior, and there are several
diferent psychological explanations for this. But someone might object
that these tragedies dont cause the bad behavior. Shelby didnt have
to cut herself and Josiah didnt have to get drunk. These were personal
choices they made, and theyre responsible for themeven though their
decision-making abilities might have been hindered by their grief.
How did things turn around for these two? How did they fnd their
way to Jesus? (Shelbys youth leader said something that stuck in her
mind. Josiah had a friend who sent him a text message that got him
thinking.)
Do you think God usually uses other people to bring people to
him, or does he usually just speak to their hearts spiritually?
Of course God uses many diferent ways to reach people. In these two
cases, it seemed to be a combination. Still, its interesting that they
both remember the outside input from people, which seemed to stir
up something in their heart (which was certainly the whispering of
the Spirit). And whats especially remarkable is the subtlety of these
messages. Shelby doesnt seem to be talking about a revival-meeting
altar callit was just something that the youth leader put out there.
Josiah got a text message! Hey, dude, its all right, you know. Just run
to God, hes waiting for you. Thats it. And yet God used that simple
message to save this guys soul.
What kind of infuence do you think you might have on others who
need to connect with Jesus?
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Joshua Harris talked about a woman who had a superior
autobiographical memory. She can recall in vivid detail every day
of her life going back to her childhood. Would you want an ability
like that? Why or why not?
There might be some very cool things about that, but Joshua looks at
the other side. We might hold vivid memories of every wrong thing
weve ever done, and the guilt might be enormous.
Even if our memories arent that vivid, we all have an awareness
of things weve done wrong. Joshua mentioned that we cannot
get rid of this guilt ourselves. Why cant we? Isnt it just a matter of
committing ourselves to live better lives in the future?
The holy God wont just shrug of our sin. We deserve death, and that
debt must be paid. But Jesus has paid that debt for us. Though he was
perfect, he gave his life to atone for us. Now we get rid of our guilt by
receiving his forgiveness. Yes, we commit ourselves to live better lives,
but thats because we love God and want to please him. Were not
earning our salvation. That is a free gift that we just need to receive.
Joshua talks about man-made religion that leaves us trying to pay for
our own sins. And thats what so many millions of people do every day.
Without Jesus, theyre trying to be good enough to make up for their
wrongs. Or theyre punishing themselves with self-hatred and cutting.
Or theyre trying to drown out their guilt with alcohol and drugs. But
the incredibly good news of the Bible is that a savior has come. Jesus
has done for us what we can never do ourselves.
Leader: Do not gloss over this point. Its amazing how durable this
assumption is: that Christianity is all about improving ourselves morally
so we can be good enough to earn salvation. While the Bible makes it clear
that good works are the fruit of redeemed lives, redemption itself is a gift
of God, not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:810).
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BIBLE JOURNEY
Leader: Distribute the Roamin handout. Break into groups of about four,
let them work through it, writing down answers, and then go through
it again with the whole group. This handout is a bit more studious than
normal; so make sure each group has at least one member whos no
stranger to Christianity.
Before setting them loose, read the opening paragraph aloud.
How can we be righteous in Gods eyes? Thats the question behind
the book of Romans. Chapter 1 describes the well-known idolatry and
immorality of non-religious peoplesurely they arent righteous. But
Chapter 2 turns the tablesreligious folks are just as guilty, and maybe
more so, because they know the rules and dont keep them. Now lets
zoom in on chapter 3.
[After 1015 minutes in the groups]
According to Romans 3:10 and 3:23, who is righteous? (No one. All
have sinned.)
According to 3:20, what can the law do? What cant it do? (It can
tell us what were doing wrong, but it cant make us righteous.)
But now God ofers us his righteousness. According to 3:2224,
how do we get it? (By faith, believing in Jesus. He justifes and
redeems us.)
The word atonement is used in 3:25. What does that mean? (The
word originates from two warring parties becoming at one. It is
reconciliation, but it usually involves some sort of payment or penalty
being paid. Thats why its paired here with sacrifce.)
Well fy over chapter 4, which discusses Abraham, the ancestor of the
Jews. He was found righteous because of his faith, not by keeping the
rules. (God hadnt even given the law yet.)
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Romans 5:1 describes us as justifed? What does that word mean?
(To be declared just, or righteous. Some have said God makes it just
as if Id never sinned, but that misses the point. The term Paul uses for
justifed is a legal term, where when you put your faith in Jesus, God
credits His righteousness to your account, just like making a deposit into
your life bank account. We arent made sinless, since its obvious we still
sin, but our position before God changes since God chooses to see us as
righteous because of what His Son accomplished on the cross.)
From the same verse, what is the result of being justifed? (We have
peace with God.)
Leader: You could rif a while on what peace with God meanswhat it
could mean in the lives of your students. The kids in the video, Shelby and
Josiah, in their separate ways, were lacking peace with God and sufering
because of that. And despite their sin, God made them righteous through
Jesus, and they found that peace. Not perfection, of course, but they are
now on speaking terms with God.
Look at 5:68. Maybe someone would give up his life to save a
really good person, but how was Jesus death diferent? (While we
were sinners, Christ died for us.)
Leader: Interject the following question.
Imagine someone said to you, Id like to ask Jesus to save me, but
Ive done too many bad things. Im not good enough to be saved.
Based on Romans 5:68, how would you respond?
Thats the whole point. Jesus saves sinners. If you hadnt sinned, you
wouldnt need saving. You are exactly the kind of person Christ died
for.
Chapter 6 starts with an interesting question: If God just forgives
us for sinning, why dont we keep sinning so he can forgive us more?
How does that question get answered?
Theres an important word-picture here. We died to sin. Its as if our sin
was nailed to the cross and buried with him. Every so often youll see
a movie or TV show where some criminal fakes his death to avoid the
punishment for some crime. This is sort of like that, except that Jesus
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really died in our place. In any case, we are now free to live for God.
Why would we want to go back to the deeds of death?
You can choose to be a servant of sin or a servant of God.
According to 6:2023, which is better and why? (Of course serving
God is better, because of where these two paths lead. Sin leads to
death and destruction. Serving God leads to life, eternally.)
NOTE: We often proof-text Romans 6:23 as part of the gospel
messagewe deserve eternal spiritual death for our sin, but Jesus saves
us. This is true enough, but the verse is really talking about how we
choose to live after were redeemed. When we continue to serve sin,
we are still wallowing in the domain of death, and we will fnd our
health damaged, our relationships destroyed, our spirits deadened. But
when we choose to serve God with our redeemed lives, we enjoy a life
overfowing with life.
Chapter 7 is agonizing, but strangely comforting. (Its comforting
because weve all experienced this, and it helps to know were not
unusual.) It describes the ongoing struggle of a person who wants to
do the right thing, but keeps doing wrong. Chapter 8 ofers an in-
depth answer: the powerful work of Gods Spirit within our lives.
According to Romans 8:1, if we have trusted Christ, what is our
status? (We are not condemned. There is no condemnation.)
We started this lesson talking about regrets and guilt, and weve all
experienced those feelings. Its great to know thatwhen we are
in Christ Jesus, putting our faith in him and trusting in his sacrifce
to save usGod will not condemn us. He has every right to, but he
doesnt, because when he looks at us, he sees Jesus. He knows our
debt has been paid. You dont need to carry that weight anymore.
PERSONAL EXCAVATION
I want you to think a little more about your status with regard to this
message. Let me suggest some possible responses.
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Maybe this is all pretty new to you. And maybe this sounds like
something you want. Peace with God. A way out from the burden of
guilt youve been carrying. If thats the case, please talk with me about
it. Even if youre not ready to commit just yet, but you want to learn
more, lets talk.
Maybe youve been doing the church thing for a while, and maybe youve
heard all of this before, but now you realize that youve never really
made it your own. Maybe youve just been going along with what
your parents believe or what your friends believe, but now its time to
trust Christ for yourself. Id love to talk with you about this, but more
importantly, talk to Jesus about it. Get that personal conversation
started with him.
Maybe you already trust Christ. Great. Obviously, then, youve heard
all of this before. But I challenge you to think about someone else in
your life who might need to hear this messagethat God loves them,
that Jesus died for them, that God wants peace with them. Is the Lord
nudging you to share this with someone?
LAST WORD
Leader: Let the Last Word this time be a closing prayer, allowing time for
people to silently connect with God.
Handout
ROAMIN
How can we be righteous in Gods eyes? Thats the question behind the book
of Romans. Chapter 1 describes the well-known idolatry and immorality of
non-religious people. Chapter 2 turns the tablesreligious folks are just as
guilty, and maybe more so, because they know the rules and dont keep them.
According to Romans 3:10 and 3:23, who is righteous?
According to 3:20, what can the law do? What cant it do?
But now God ofers us his righteousness. According to 3:2224, how do
we get it?
The word atonement is used in 3:25. What does that mean?
Chapter 4 discusses Abraham, the ancestor of the Jews. He was found
righteous because of his faith, not by keeping the rules. God hadnt even given
the law yet.
Romans 5:1 describes us as justifed? What does that word mean?
From the same verse, what is the result of being justifed?
Look at 5:68. Maybe someone would give up his life to save a really good
person, but how was Jesus death diferent?
Chapter 6 starts with an interesting question: If God just forgives us for sinning,
why dont we keep sinning so he can forgive us more? How does that question
get answered?
You can choose to be a servant of sin or a servant of God. According to
6:2023, which is better and why?
Chapter 7 describes the ongoing struggle of a person who wants to do the
right thing, but keeps doing wrong. Chapter 8 ofers an in-depth answer: the
powerful work of Gods Spirit within our lives.
According to Romans 8:1, if we have trusted Christ, what is our status?
Session Four
HOW WE
CHANGE
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Leader: Be sure to have enough Whats the Good Word? handouts
printed out for the entire class. For detailed info on printing handouts, see
page 2.
OPEN
Activity
I have stored a very special prize for one of you in a vault, which is
password-protected. The password consists of a series of ten words,
prime numbers and actions. I can give you those ten parts of the
password, but you have to put them in the right order.
Here they are (out of order):
11 13 17 19 23

Say John Calvin Say Copacetic with your palms down
Scream Hop three times Be the Statue of Liberty

Leader: It would be helpful if you list those on a board. You are the
guardian of the vault. If they get the frst or second part of the password
wrong, feel free to stop them there. (That will be a valuable clue for them
in determining the early sequence.) If their hopping, screaming, or posing
isnt good enough, you may say so. Give them hints freely, especially as
time moves on. When someone gets it right, award the prize. (By the way,
they might be more willing to indulge in such silliness if you have a prize of
some valuea book, Bible, or concert ticket, or perhaps an autographed
picture of yourself.)
Here is the proper sequence. Guard this from snooping eyes:
17John Calvin23...Statue of LibertyHop1119Scream13
Copacetic
Discussion
Leader: If you dont want to do the Activity, use this Discussion opener
instead.
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fts well with this
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Are there certain things in life that need to be done in the right
order? Like what?
Getting dressed? (Underwear before outerwear.)
Phones? (Make the call before you start talking.)
Math? (Addition before Calculus.)
Football? (Line up before going out for a pass.)
These are silly examples, but have you ever tried to do something
out of order, with negative results?
[Introduce the video here after Activity or Discussion] Heres why were
talking about getting things in the right order. A lot of people have
the idea that we have to be good in order to get God to love us. This is
wrong because its out of order. Oh, its good to be good, but thats not
the start of the sequence; its the end. God loves us even though were
sinners. He forgives our sins. We dont have to earn that forgiveness; in
fact, we cant earn it. Its a gift. We just receive it.
Then, and only then, can we tap into Gods power to be good. And then
its not to get God to love us, but because we love him, and we want to
please him. Forgiveness comes frst, and then the goodness.
Of course its never easy . . . and thats what well learn more about in
todays video.
Leader: Distribute the Whats the Good Word? handout. With the
Scripture quotations on the handout, it will be helpful for them to have it
in hand as they watch the video.
VIEW
Watch Session 4: How We Change (17 minutes)
RE-VIEW
Before we start talking about the interviews and teaching, what
did you think of that clip at the beginning? The SLAP thing.
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Is that what the Christian life is really about, slapping people
down when they try to sin?
Is that what some people seem to think Christianity is about?
Sometimes Christians get a reputation for being judgmental. Maybe
we dont physically slap people, but we have our ways of getting
involved in their business. This commercial was clever in the way it
hinted at the benefts of being accountable to each other and yet the
dangers of being a bit too slap-happy. We might be trying to protect
people from sin, but we shouldnt end up being obnoxious.
But why do you think God doesnt work like that? If he really
wanted to keep us from sinning, why couldnt he send the Holy
Spirit to slap us? What does he do instead?
There are times when the Holy Spirit does kind of shake us, when we
suddenly see clearly what were doing, when we fnd a supernatural
power to stop the madness and do the right thing. Its not exactly
slapping, but it might as well be. Still, in general God doesnt seem
to be interested in policing us. Instead, he wants to help us grow. He
wants to teach us to make good choices for good reasons.
In the frst interview, Morgan talked about going back and forth
between Jesus and sin, or as she put it, teeter-tottering. She would
get into bad stuf with her friends and then repent and come to
church. But after a few months, shed go back to her sinning.
Do you think this is pretty common? Do people go back and forth
between God and sin? Why would they do this?
Morgan talked about the Jesus high that would wear of after a
few months. Is this a real thing? Have you felt it? How can we dig
for something deeper than a temporary euphoria?
Do you think there should be some cut-ofafter going back and
forth three times, theres no more forgiveness?
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We might want to do it that way with others, but God is infnitely
patient with us. Jesus talked about forgiving people seventy-seven
times. Thats not a cut-of number but a symbolic number for infnity.
God will keep welcoming us back. The big problem occurs in our own
minds and souls. Each time we drift away, its a little more difcult to
come back.

In both of these stories, we saw people who got in with the wrong
crowd. For Morgan, it was the party girls. For Brandon, it was the guys
who would steal stuf when they got bored.
How important is it to have a good group of friends around you?
Why is it so easy for a bad group to lead you into sin?
Did you hear what they said? When she was drinking with her party
girls, Morgan saw herself as beautiful. Brandon said his friends were
down for me . . . they were like the people who were never going to
leave me.
Do you think that good friendships are formed when people do
bad things together?
Sometimes it seems to work this way. Maybe its a you and me against
the world thing. You conspire together. You keep secrets together.
You lie for each other. And all of that binds you together in sin. Morgan
talked about the adrenaline rush of rebellion. When people share that
feeling, they bond.
As Christians, we can take this as a challenge. Can our Christian
friendships have the same kind of intensity? Can we support each
other? Can we push each other into new adventuresnot in
destructive ways, but fnding new ways to experience Christ and his
power?
Brandon tried to bring his friends to church, but they bailed. Do
you think thats a good idea? Can you maintain friendships with
the people who normally drag you down, in an attempt to raise
them up?
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Its a nice idea, but as Brandon found, it can be dangerous. The Bible
has arguments on both sides of this issuewarning against being
infuenced by sin-loving friends and yet challenging us to infuence
them. Proceed with caution.
In the video, Joshua Harris talked a lot about sanctifcation. What
is it?
You have the quote there at the bottom of your handout, but Joshua
also said this:

Sanctifcation is the process of becoming more like Jesus. Think of it this
way: when we frst believe in Jesus, were born againthats regeneration.
But then just like a newborn baby, we dont stay a baby. We have to grow
up. And thats what sanctifcation is: its growing up as a Christian in our
new life in Jesus.
Joshua quoted a lot of Bible verses, and you see them on the sheet.
Take another look at them all.
Is there one that you dont quite get?
Leader: Be ready to ofer some explanation. They might have problems
with Hebrews 12:14 (its just saying that, as holiness develops in our lives,
people see the Lord in us). They might wonder what it means to take up
your cross daily (and thats a great thought to mull overit probably
means to adopt a humble, servant-based, Christ-like attitude that accepts
any trials that come). They might wonder about Romans passages that
speak of the fesh (its not that our bodies are bad, but when we live only
to fulfll our physical desiresfood, sex, refreshment, comfort, high
without letting the Spirit lead us, we end up destroying ourselves).

Is there one of these verses that especially speaks to you? Why?
BIBLE JOURNEY
Turn to Romans 8. In our last lesson we started down the Romans
Road, following the logical explanation of how Jesus saves us. You
might remember that we talked about it chapter by chapter. Everyone
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is a sinner, whether theyre religious or not. We arent saved by
keeping the rules, because no one can keep them perfectly. Gods law
just shows us how sinful we are. Fortunately, God loves sinners, and
he sent Jesus to die for our sin. Even though we still struggle with sin,
we can claim Gods forgiveness, based on the promise of Romans 8:1.
Somebody read that verse out loud.
Thats where we left of last week. Were forgiven. Were saved. Theres
no condemnation. But then what? Fortunately, theres a lot more in this
chapter about living the Christian life.
The next few verses talk about our sinful nature. (Some translations
call this the fesh.) Yes, we still want to do wrong thingsdestructive
things. But they kill our bodies, our souls, our relationships. They are
deeds of death. On the other hand, the Spirit of God wants to give us
life. He wants to fll us with joy and love and blessing.
It comes down to a question of control. Will you turn over the steering
wheel of your life to the Holy Spirit or the sinful nature? Will you
throw your energy into satisfying your physical desires or into pleasing
God?
Somebody read Romans 8:913.
According to these verses, what does the Spirit do for us?
Do you see in verse 11 where it talks about Jesus rising from the
dead? What does the resurrection have to do with anything?
Its a question of power, and its a matter of life. Many people today
are under the impression that you live life to the fullest when you get
drunk or get high, when you sleep around, or when you put others
down to exalt yourself. As weve been saying, this is not life; its death.
Just ask Morgan how dead she felt after her sexual adventures. Just ask
Brandon how his friendships died when the robbery went sour. True
life is found in Jesus. And he ought to know, because he came back to
life, he conquered death.
Dont miss this amazing statement: The same Spirit that busted Jesus
out of the grave lives in believers. And so if youre struggling with the
deeds of death, and you feel you dont have the power to change, just
ask the Spirit for help. The Spirit has all the life-giving power you need.
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That sounds easy, but its not. We have a hard time turning over our
lives to Gods Spirit. If we read on in Romans 8, we fnd that its still a
struggle, but the Spirit keeps helping us.
There are two things the Spirit does for us, and youll fnd them in
verse 16 and verse 26. What are they?
Verse 16the Spirit reminds us that we are Gods children. In the midst of
the struggle, your guilt will make you think God wants nothing to do
with you. Youll be tempted to say, I cant come back to God; Ive hurt
him too much. But deep within your spirit, the Holy Spirit whispers
to you the truth. God is out there like the father of the Prodigal Son,
scanning the horizon every day to see if youre coming back. He loves
you as his child, and he wants you to return.
Verse 26the Spirit helps us pray even when we dont know what to say.
Have you ever felt like that? All your religious background just seems
empty. You have no words. Youre just kind of grunting spiritually in
Gods direction. Help me. I need you. The Spirit takes those grunts
and translates them into prayers, so the relationship with God can be
restored.
This is a powerful chapter, and were skipping over some great verses. I
urge you to read it for yourself. Memorize it. But for now well move to
the end of the chapter. Somebody read verses 3839.
So how many chances do we get before God stops forgiving us? He
cant keep loving us forever, after weve disappointed him so many
times? How many tries do we get? Two? Three? Seven?
Okay, so maybe he can forgive little stuf, but there must be
certain sins that are just too much, right? So what sins are so great
they can separate us from Gods love? Any ideas? (Nothing, in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in
Christ Jesus our Lord.)
PERSONAL EXCAVATION
Let me ask you some questions to bring this home. If you want to fip
the handout over, maybe youll want to doodle some responses.
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Are you growing spiritually? Thats what this sanctifcation is all about,
growing closer to Jesus, keeping in step with the Spirit.
How do you know youre growing? Are you better able to resist
temptation? Are you beginning to face diferent kinds of temptations?
Are you less selfsh, more joyful, more patient? Are you actually getting
along with your parents?
Is there some signature sin that captivates you? If there is, you know
instantly, because its the one thing you struggle with more than
anything. Lying, lustful thoughts, temper tantrums, drinking, sex
whatever it is, do you believe the Spirit has the power to conquer that
sin?
But if that particular sin were no longer a problem, what else would the
Spirit want you to change? Sometimes we get so focused on our one
captivating sin that we neglect everything else. So dont forget the
basics. Are you showing love to those around you? Are you rejoicing in
the Lord? Are you forgiving those who hurt you?
If there is one person in your life who could help you with your sin-
struggles, who might it be? James tells us to confess our sins to
one another, and many Christians have found that it helps to be
accountable to someone else. Youre looking for someone with
maturity, someone who will be honest with you and tough when
necessary, someone who wont blab your personal business all around
town. Look beyond your close friends and see if theres a youth leader,
teacher, pastor, or relative who might support you in this way.
LAST WORD
Let me leave you with a few more verses from Romans.
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies
to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and
holy sacrifcethe kind he will fnd acceptable. This is truly the way
to worship him. Dont copy the behavior and customs of this world,
but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you
think. Then you will learn to know Gods will for you, which is good and
pleasing and perfect.
Romans 12:12 (New Living Translation)
Handout
WHATS THE GOOD WORD?
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away;
behold, the new has come.
Hebrews 12:14
Strive for . . . holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:3
This is the will of God, your sanctifcation.
Ephesians 2:8-10
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own
doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Luke 9:23
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross
daily and follow me.
Romans 8:13
For if you live according to the fesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to
death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Romans 13:14
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the fesh, to gratify
its desires.
Ephesians 5:1
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.
Sanctifcation isnt just a matter of not doing wrong. Its a matter of actively
doing righteousness. Its pursuing obedience. The Christian life is about putting
on new behavior, clothing ourselves with Jesus himself.
Joshua Harris
All Scripture quotations from the English Standard Version
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