20007 Fall Review 1

Lesson 1: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Key Verses

Hebrews 11:6 Mark 11:24 James 4:3

This lesson was not really about becoming a millionaire but about seeking God’s reward. The phrase “Who Wants to be A Millionaire?” is alluring because money is the most common form of reward that we seek in our society. To demonstrate I asked Brother Roman if he had a five dollar bill that I could use. Brother Roman did not have a five dollar bill but he had a ten. I asked him to give it to me. I asked each of you to list on a piece of paper, if you were given the ten dollar bill how would you use it or spend it giving the specific amounts for each use. Then I asked if any of you would like the ten dollar bill. When it became clear that my intent was to give away the ten dollar bill everyone’s enthusiasm grew, except Brother Roman’s. However, I chose to give the ten dollars to the person who had said that they would give it back to God. Actually there were two students who said this Courtney and Alyna. Courtney had said that she would give a tenth of the money which matches what the Bible asks of us. However, I chose to give the $10 to Alyna. My choice was based on the fact that I knew Courtney and trusted her maturity but I chose to challenge Alyna’s commitment and give her a chance to mature by fulfilling it. The point of this lesson was that we are to approach our lesson time expecting to receive a reward. If we believe that God is who he says he is then we will expect him to reward us (Hebrews 11:6). Having an expectation that God will reward us pleases God. We learned from Mark 11:24 that God wants us to ask for things in faith with an expectation of receiving them. However, we also learn that to ask for something with the wrong motives, selfish reasons, is not honored by God, James 4:3. We are to seek a reward from God but the reward we seek is not necessarily a tangible reward. The ultimate reward is the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him (James 1;12). At the end of the lesson when I gave away the ten dollars, Brother Roman’s faith was stretched. When I asked him go give me his ten dollars he gave it to me without question because he trusted me. He did not know that I would give it away. Afterward I surprised him by pulling a ten dollar bill out of my wallet. Brother Roman demonstrated

faith by sacrificial giving in the same way we must act in faith and give to God trusting that he will take care of our needs even when we don’t know how. Lesson 2: Valuing God’s reward. Bible Verses

Matthew 5:33 I Peter 1:18-19 Job 1:21

Following up on lesson 1 we discussed what it means to seek God’s reward. The previous week Alyna had been given 10 dollars. She had said that she would give it all to God, but how could we know that. We discussed how in life we use various means to hold people to their commitments such as having them sign a contract and having that contract notarized. Alyna had written down that she would give the ten dollars to God, but I did not have her sign her name to the paper. Another way that we try to compel people to be truthful in what they say is by having them swear an oath like in court. I could have had Alyna put her hand on the Bible and swear that she really did put the ten dollar bill I gave her into the offering basket, but I did not. The Bible in Matthew 5:33 tells us to just be truthful and not to use oaths. I intentionally challenged Alyna’s commitment. But the real challenge was for her to value her relationship with God more than money. I Peter 1:18-19 reminds us that our salvation from sin was obtained through something more precious than Gold or silver, the blood that Jesus shed for us on the cross. Alyna obtained the very thing that she most wanted and then she gave it back to God. I then told you a story from the Bible about Hanna, who wanted desperately to have a child (1 Samuel 1-2). Hanna prayed that God would give her a son, but at the same time she made a commitment that if God gave her a son that she would give him back to the Lord. Hanna’s prayer was out of desperation because at that time to be a woman who could not have children brought great shame. Her shame was magnified because her husband had another wife who could have children. When God fulfilled Hanna’s wish it put her in the same position as Alyna. She could keep her commitment or not. Hanna chose to keep her commitment and she gave up her son to be raised by Eli to become a priest. Not only did she do this but she did it with enthusiasm singing praises. Sometimes Bible stories seem too amazing to be true. Who after giving up something that they love to God can still praise God. To bring the story closer to modern life I told the story of my friends the Ma’s. Mark and Colleen love children very much as evidence by the number that they have. Therefore, when her fourth son, Steven, died of sudden

infant death in the middle of the night, she was deeply saddened. This is the most emotionally devastating thing that can happen to a loving mother. However, Mrs. Ma could have chose to hold close to her pain and deep sense of loss, but instead she chose to use his death to give Glory to God. At the memorial service for her son she quoted Job 1:21,”Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of

the LORD be praised." By using the occasion to bring Glory to God she gave up her son to God. The story of Hanna and the story of the Ma’s reveal something interesting about the Character of God. When we give up something to God he often gives back to us even more than we gave. In the story of Hanna after she gave up her first born son to the priesthood God rewarded her with three more sons and two daughters. Curiously enough after The Ma’s lost their son they were rewarded with three more sons and two daughters exactly like the Bible story. As for Alyna all she wanted was to be in the secret seat. However, I chose the secret seat before everyone walked into the room. I wanted to be honest with God so I committed to rewarding the person who happened to sit in the secret seat. However, I did pray that it would be Alyna. That week Alyna started to sit down in the wrong chair but then she moved over for someone else and ended up in the secret seat, and of course she was the most attentive to the lesson and was rewarded. Lesson 3: Who do you call? Bible Verses:

I Peter 5:6-7 Hebrews 4:15-16 Philippians 2:6-8

This lesson began with us taking a test. Some people thought it was unfair that I was giving a test when they had not been given the chance to study. However, I reminded them that we are told to expect test daily (James 1:12) and we are supposed to always be prepared (I Peter 3:15). Our test consisted of an answer sheet showing the faces of eight famous people.

The premise was that each of you had the phone numbers of these people programmed into your speed dial list. I read a series of six scenarios. For each of the scenarios you were to write down who you would call for help or advice in the given situation. We then discussed our answers. During our discussion we discovered that several things determine who you would go to for advice in a situation. First of all is what you know about a persons experience helps you choose who you would go to for advice. We learned that (H) Condoleeza rice could be a good person to go to regarding how to get into the Juliard school of music because she had originally trained to be a concert pianist. She had performed Mozart with the Denver Symphony at the age of 15 and in 2002 cellist Yo-yo Ma requested that she accompany him as in the performance when he received the National Medal of the Arts at Constitution Hall. Condoleeza was an excellent choice for this answer but I preferred to go with (C ) Allen Greenspan because he had actually attended the Julliard School of music. He had gone in as a clarinetist but he had also picked up the saxophone. Mr. Greenspan went on to earn money for

college by performing. He became such an accomplished saxophonist that he later played with legendary jazz musician Stan Getz. Of course my choice was based upon my preference for Jazz. We are also sometimes swayed by a person’s credentials. For the question regarding how to preserve the relationship with your childhood friend through high school with the hope that someday they would be the person you marry, a few people chose (B) Dr. Phil. One reason to choose him is because he is a licensed Psychologist and he is the spokesperson and consultant for Match.com. However, if you knew him you might have chosen him because he actually married his high school sweetheart. However, that marriage ended in divorce three years later. If I were to look to success, I might actually look to race car driver Richard Petty who married his wife in 1958 and has been married since; of the people listed he has the best relationship record in terms of longevity. Another reason we might call on someone is because we think that they might care about helping us. In seeking advice about becoming a NASCAR driver seven time NASCAR champion Richard Petty was the obvious choice. However if I was a young black male seeking to become a NASCAR driver I might want to talk to Magic Johnson because he was selected as the co-chairman of NASCAR’s diversity committee with the intent of getting more minority drivers involved. Magic was also my choice for to seek advice for investing the money I inherited from my Grandmother in a start-up business because he has had numerous successes as an entrepreneur since leaving the NBA. Overall we learned that several factors determine who we would call on for advice.

Success. Have they been successful in this area? Experience. Do they have specific experience that gives insight in this area? Empathy. Do I have reason to believe that they are able to feel what I am

experiencing and understand how I feel inside. Commitment. How far is this person willing to go as far as helping you?

We then looked at Hebrews 4:15-16 and we discovered in Jesus Christ the fulfillment of all of the requirements of a good advisor and counselor.

Success. He made it through life sinless. Experience. He experienced all the same temptations that we face. Empathy. He is emotionally moved by our troubles. In fact this is the

reason we are told to bring our cares and concerns to Him, because he cares about us (I Peter 5:7)

Commitment. To understand Christ’s level of commitment we looked at Philippians 2:6-8. Jesus was so committed to helping us resolve our sin issue that he was willing to give up his position of being equal with God. Some people are willing to help you out if it won’t cost anything but God was willing to help us out even when it cost us the most precious thing. Many people will listen to you talk about your problems for a few minutes, but only a few will stay with you through the problem even if your struggle last weeks or years. How committed was Jesus to helping us solve our sin issue; he was so committed to the mission that he was given that he was obedient to death. He was going to save us from sin even if it killed him, and it did.

Lesson 4: An Unselfish Perspective Bible Verses:

Philippians 2:3-4 John 10:10-11 Revelations 22: 12-14 James 1:12

We began this lesson with a little contest. Two volunteers we seated at a table with a stack of Jenga blocks between them. They were instructed that they had two minutes to each construct the tallest tower that they could taking the blocks from the stack between them as they added them to their tower. The winner was the person who constructed the tallest solid tower. At the end of the game I blew on each tower. The contestants only got credit for what remained after I blew on their stack. We then discussed the results of the game. In some ways the game models modern life from a worldly

perspective. One way to win the game is just to take as many blocks as fast as you can and leave your opponent with only a few blocks. If you have all the blocks it is easiest to build the tallest tower. The world operates on a competitive model. There are a fixed number of blocks and you need to make sure you get yours. In the competitive model it is all about having the tallest tower, or the biggest house, the best car, the best looking girl friend or the husband that brings home the most money. In the world there are fixed resources. When you apply for a job there may only be one opening so you don’t help the other person that is there applying for that job because it would diminish your chances. However, In Philippians 2:3-4 God gives us a different model or pattern by which to conduct our lives. We are to consider the needs of others as being more important than our own. With God we don’t have to compete with each other for our reward. God promises to reward each person according to his deeds James 1:12. Each person who serves God can expect to receive the crown of life. John 3:16 reminds us that everyone who believes in Jesus Christ receives eternal life. Earlier in the year I discussed with the T & T group that we should come to each lesson expecting a reward. The reward we come to expect is not a gift from the mystery jar but the gift of eternal life from God. In addition to eternal life God also wants to reward us with a fulfilling life on earth John 10:10-11. We don’t have to compete against each other for God’s rewards because he has an infinite stack of blocks and he does not run out of them Revelations 22: 12-14. We learn that in Christ we can be unselfish just as we see Jesus was in Philippians 2. This frees us to think about the needs of others because we know we have an infinite God whose blessings and mercies (blocks) are in unending supply.

Lesson 5: Covered Bible Verses:

Isaiah 1:18 Psalm 32: 1-2 Ephesians 2:10

In this lesson we examined a bookshelf that I built. From a distance it looks good, but it is far from perfect. From our discussion we discovered that the book shelf was a metaphor for my life. God has called me to be perfect, Matthew 5:48, but I am far from perfect. Some of you may think that I must be at least pretty good because I am a teacher. However, as we look at the book case as it was being made we discover that I made many mistakes along the way as I was building it. We first took a closer look at the bottom shelf to discover that there was an area with a darker stain than the rest of the shelf. I showed you a picture of the first time that I stained this shelf and it revealed where I had tried to rub out a pencil mark by sanding against the grain. The result was an ugly stain, and

the only way that I could correct it was to go back and sand the board over again with the grain and remove all of the old stain. This was laborious and time consuming. In the end the board is still darker in that spot but at least the stain is with the grain so it does not look like a major mistake. In life sin leaves behind an ugly stain. However, God has the power to remove the stain of sin completely if we confess our sins and turn them over to him Isaiah 1:18. Nonetheless, every time I made a mistake building my book shelf I had to go back and do some work to correct it. Likewise we often have to do some work to correct the consequences of sin in our life. If you break something that doesn’t belong to you the person may forgive you but that doesn’t mean that you don’t still need to work to earn money to replace what you broke and heal the relationship with the owner. I also showed you a picture of where a washer had slipped when I was putting together a joint. Fortunately, the ugly defect turned out to be at a spot that would eventually be covered by trim board. This is like my life. When you see me teaching you do not see some of the results of the sins I have committed in the past because God has chosen to cover over them Psalm 32:1. However, before God did this for me I had to acknowledge my sins before him and admit that I was wrong Psalm 32:2. The bookcase is something that I made from my own hands. However, our lives are something God has made from his

own hand. If we let him take over our lives (Psalm 100:3) and function as our maker he perfects us through Christ. Just as the bookshelf was created for a specific purpose God has created the believer in Christ Jesus to fulfill a specific purpose. Just as the book shelf is made to hold up books, we are made to hold up the image of God for the entire world to see. Lesson 5: Out of Place and Tagged Bible Verses:

Matthew 7:13-14 John 14:6 Acts 4:12

In this lesson we watched a videotape of a KCAL 9 television news report about a house that ended up stranded on the 101 Freeway with a damaged roof. The question of the day was why this happen to this house? If you paid attention to the statement by the CHP officer you knew the cause. The owners wanted to move the house to another location, so they loaded it on a truck and began the move. When a large object like a

house or a large yacht is moved the owner must get a permit from the California Highway Patrol and Cal Trans. The owner is given a very specific approved route. However, in this case the owner decided to not follow the route that he was given. Cal trans had chosen a route based upon the size of the house. That route did not include the 101 freeway because they knew that the overpasses were too low for the house. This is exactly like our situation in life. God is very specific about the direction that we should take. In Matthew 7:13-14 He describes it as entering through a narrow gate and then following a straight path to righteousness.

We examined what happened to the house as a consequence of going down the wrong road: the roof was damaged; the tires of the truck bed upon which it was riding were flattened; thousands of people were stranded on the 101 freeway. In the same way when we deviate from the way that God has given us to go we can end up being hurt. Sometimes when we see that we are going down the wrong road there is a chance to stop and turn around. This is repentance. I gave the example of going to a party that you did not have permission

to go. When you get there you find that there are older kids there drinking beer and

liquor. You could immediately leave. You could call someone to pick you up. Or you could stay. There are many ways that you could get hurt in this situation. Someone could get drunk and start a fight. This might lead to someone pulling out a weapon and hurting you or one of your friends. Someone might induce you to drink and you may end up getting alcohol poisoning, which can be fatal. Someone could slip a drug into your drink or encourage you to take something that causes you to get sick. You might not be able to foresee the severity of the results of your action until it is too late, but you can turn around and leave before anything bad happens. One important thing to notice is the results of the driver deciding to go down the wrong path effected many people who had no choice in the matter. This is how decisions we make operate in real life. Sometimes other people end up hurt or stranded because of our decisions. Sometimes the wrong path is subtle. Any time you try to create a life for yourself outside of God’s plan, you are traveling down the wrong road because Jesus states quite plainly that he is the way to the father, John 14:6, and that in no one else’s name can you be saved, Acts 4:12. Once the house was stranded the troubles seemed to compound. The house sat on the side of the road for ten days and during that time people came along and tagged it. We examined the root of tagging which is to claim territory. It is a very primitive act like an animal marking his territory with urine. In the same way when we go down the wrong road there is someone who wishes to tag us. Satan is Jealous of the fact that you belong to God and that you are his child (John 1:12) and so he will available himself of every opportunity to tag you (Mark 4:15). He will use the consequences of your own decisions or he will use others to tag you. In one of our lessons for the junior high and high school group we looked at how much whether we would look to Dr. Laura for

advice. Today she is known for her moral and ethical principals but many years ago when she was sinning she had someone take provocative photos of her naked. Many years later when she became famous someone put those photos on the internet. This is how Satan tags us. He tries to mark you as one who belongs to him so that it is hard to walk away and forget that you once were a sinner. In the age of camera phones it easy for Satan to find someone to tag you while you are sinning. We saw a picture of a man who got drunk

and fell face down and a man whose friends marked on him when he passed out drunk. These are some minor ways of getting tagged. You should pay attention when you get caught in embarrassing situations because God might humble you but sin will humiliate

you. However we also saw some more serious ways that people get tagged as sinners in arrest photos. One of the arrest photos was of Tupac. If you ever find yourself getting arrested you need to examine your life to see how you are traveling down the wrong road; it is a warning sign. The ultimate way that Satan will tag you is to have you die in sin; we must remember that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Just as the appearance of gang

tagging is a warning sign of a dying neighborhood, the appearance of sins tags upon you is a warning sign of physical or spiritual death.