Taught the weekend of Nov 29th - 30th

MESSAGE OUTLINE OPENING

1. [Pull out one flare, calling it a "dynamite stick."] This is highly explosive! Most people won’t handle or touch it.

2. Yes it is dangerous! But when it is used properly, it can have explosive results!

a. Demolition teams use it to level old buildings to make room for new ones. b. Ski resorts use it to set off avalanches in a controlled environment. This prevents avalanches from happening later when there are people on the mountain.

c. It is also used to reach gold and precious stones locked within a mountain, to blast tunnels and cut a path for a highway.

3. James 5:16 says, "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." Prayer can be like dynamite.

4. Are you daring enough? Do you have the guts? Are you willing to step out of your comfort zone?

5. Tonight we are going to talk about the five most dangerous prayers!

Dynamite Prayer #1: GOD SEARCH ME!

1. Psalm 139:23-24 says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

2. We have to allow God to enter every closet and corner of our lives.

3. Are we willing to look at what He finds?

4. Psalm 51:10 says, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."

Dynamite Prayer #2: GOD STRETCH ME!

1. Isaiah 54:2 says, "Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back, lengthen your cords."

2. Our prayer should be: "Stretch my vision and my heart for the lost. Help me to be a better person, student, and employee."

3. A rubber band is not useful until it is stretched.

Dynamite Prayer #3: GOD BREAK ME!

1. Hosea 10:12 says, "Break up your fallow ground for it is time to seek the LORD."

2. Break any hardness, bad habits, bitterness, unforgiveness, addictions, and negative attributes.

3. Matthew 23:12 says, "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

4. Pride is like a flagpole and humility is like an elevator.

a. When you climb a flagpole and reach the top, there’s only one thing left to do: go down!

b. On an elevator, I am not actually climbing, I am on my knees before God, humbled. But the next thing I know, I’m at floor 32 and I never changed positions!

Dynamite Prayer #4: GOD LEAD ME!

1. Matthew 26:39 says, "Not my will, Father, but your will be done."

2. [Read Proverbs 3:5-8.]

3. We must know, trust, and believe in His direction!

4. John 16:13 says, "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come."

Dynamite Prayer #5: GOD USE ME!

1. Isaiah 6:8 says, "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’"

2. Luke 10:2 says, "He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’"

3. Who are the workers? You and I! Not some stranger down the street.

4. I dare you to ask God to use you each morning.

a. You can pray, "God send people across my path to minister to. I pray that your Holy Spirit would guide me to those individuals who need a touch from you. Give me the words to speak."

CLOSING

1. What would the result be if each one of us prayed and lived out each one of these prayers? [Tape the five sticks together.]

2. Think of the new things God could do, the lives that could be saved, and the riches of heaven that would be unlocked.

3. Are you willing to light the match? Are you ready for some explosive results in your life?

4. [Set aside a time of prayer and worship. Allow the students to spread out around the room and spend some time alone with God. Encourage them to take a few minutes and pray through these prayers.]

Taught the weekend of Nov 22nd -23rd

Nov 22^nd – 23^rd Through Prophets’ Eyes / Our world or His word?

Habakkuk 3:16-20

• Transition statement: In this improv exercise, only the last word rules the day. Habakkuk learned that God has the last word in the story of our lives and our world. This leaves us with this choice: our world or His word?

• Background summary: Habakkuk is the only minor prophet who didn’t address the people directly. Instead, this book is much like a journal of the prophet struggling with God.

• Transition statement: Have you ever yelled at God? If you haven’t, then maybe you haven’t looked at life in a while without sanitized gloves on, and you need to look through Habakkuk’s eyes.

• Teaching point: Why? is the question that summarizes Habakkuk’s attitude. The good news is that God was not caught off guard by Habakkuk’s questions. He offered Himself and asked Habakkuk to trust Him. So the question of why was replaced with a Who.

• Teaching point: Habakkuk chose to see God’s word instead of his world. This is the question that this prophet invites us into as well: our world or His word?

• Transition statement: We can take a lesson from the Survivor Tree and find hope in the midst of the rubble. We can choose to trust God’s word over our world.

• Teaching point: We can ask God the hard questions. But our hope is that, as we grieve and ask and ponder, we will move from why to Who and move from just seeing the world around us to trusting God’s word.

• Teaching point: This is the hinge on which true discipleship swings: The moment we realize that God really is good and that He really can be trusted. In this moment, God builds in us faith that can face the fire and come out on the other side.

• Teaching point: No matter what is going on in our lives now, as followers of God we can trust the truth that God has the last word in our lives. So today, we make this choice between our world and His word.

Core Scripture: Habakkuk 3:16-20

Memory Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJ) "For we walk by faith, not by sight."

Discussion Questions:

1. Look up the memory verse. Explain what this verse means to you.
2. Do you think God gets "mad" when we question Him? Why or why not?
3. What does God feel like when we choose "our world" over "His Word"? What things make us want to choose the world over Him and His Word?
4. How can we choose God's word over our world?
5. Does "walking by faith, or trusting God" mean you have every question answered in your life?
6. How do you walk by faith when you don't completely understand the negative things happening in your life or in the world around you?

Bottom Line:

• Habakkuk chose to see God's word instead of His world. This is the question that this prophet invites us into as well: our world or His word?
• We can ask God the hard questions. But our hope is that, as we grieve and ask and ponder, we will move from why to Who and move from just seeing the world around us to trusting God's word.
• This is the hinge on which true discipleship swings: The moment we realize that God really is good and that He really can be trusted. In this moment, God builds is us faith that can face the fire and come out on the other side.
• No matter what is going on in our lives now, as followers of God, we can trust the truth that God has the last word in our lives. So today, we make this choice between our world and His Word.

Taught the weekend of Nov 15th - 16th

November 15 & 16 - Hall of Justice

• Transition statement: We all want justice for ourselves, but sometimes we fail to fight for justice for others because we just don’t see it. So through Micah’s prophet’s eyes, we find the question justice or just us? Are we taking the time to reach out to others like Jesus?

• Background summary: Isaiah and Micah were contemporaries. While Isaiah focused more on sins of sexual morality and worshiping other gods, Micah’s message concentrated on the plight of the poor and destitute and on social justice.

• Teaching point: Micah saw the sin that others often overlooked. As he stared into the eyes of the poor and destitute, Micah saw just how corrupt power can be. So Micah spent his time standing up for them.

• Teaching point: For Micah, true religion was not about ritual or a great worship service. Rather, it was about putting Others First by acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God.

• Transition statement: The Superfriends’ headquarters was called the Hall of Justice (this is in reference to the old comic known as the “Justice League” where all those with super powers came together to help mankind). In this place, they combined their super powers in order to plot goodness for the world with each other. Maybe they were on to something…

• Teaching point: Micah calls us to pick up the fight of justice for those who cannot fight for it themselves. This includes people who have less than us, people who are a different race than us, and people who are weaker than us.

• Teaching point: We can see through prophets’ eyes and use our special powers to make things different. Our churches can become Halls of Justice where we work together for the good of the world.

• Teaching point: The struggles of justice are the struggles of our world. Thankfully, Christians around the world are getting involved. Today, you too can join the movement, both in your school and around the world.

Core Scripture: Micah 6:8

Memory Verse:
Matthew 5:7 (NIV) "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."

Discussion Questions:

1. In what ways do people choose "just us" over justice?
2. What would it look like for us, as Christians, to choose justice in our lives? How will this lead us to put Others First?
3. How does loving mercy help us choose justice? How can we do this?
4. How does walking humbly with God help us choose justice? How can we do this?
5. What things can we do to help bring justice to people who have less than us? How can we bring justice to people who are a different race than us? How can we bring justice to people who are weaker than us?

Bottom Line:

• Micah saw the sin that others often overlooked. As he stared into the eyes of the poor and destitute, Micah saw just how corrupt power can be. So Micah spent his time standing up for them.
• For Micah, true religion was not about ritual or a great worship service. Rather, it was about putting Others First by acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God.
• Micah calls us to pick up the fight of justice for those who cannot fight for it themselves. This includes people who have less than us, people who are a different race than us, and people who are weaker than us.
• The struggles of justice are the struggles of our world. Thankfully, Christians around the world are getting involved. Today, you too can join the movement, both in your school and around the world.

Taught the weekend of Nov 8th - 9th

Nov 8th – 9th
• We continue looking through prophets’ eyes by looking at Nahum’s curse on Assyria and asking ourselves the question judgment or what the Judge meant?

• Background summary: Nahum’s name means “comfort.” We must remember that Israel would have seen God’s judgment against Assyria as comfort that He had not forgotten His people or overlooked that nation’s violence against them.

• Read Nahum 1:2-3.

• Judgment is never God’s heart; it is what God is forced to do when people refuse to live the way the Judge meant, or intended. He is good, and so at times He is driven to defend His goodness and defeat evil. This is Nahum’s message.

• Teaching point: Nahum tells us two things. First, God is slow to anger. Second, God does not leave the guilty unpunished. This means that, as much as God hates judgment, He hates evil more.

• Teaching point: Today the prophet Nahum leads us to ask this question: judgment or what the Judge meant? This leads us to think back to how Paul told church in Rome to “consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God.”

• Teaching point: Consider the kindness of God today. Life with God is about more than avoiding judgment. It is about learning to live in the way the Judge meant for us to live and to put Others First in our lives.

• Sometimes we break others, and sometimes others break us. Nahum challenges us with the kindness and sternness of God and calls us to go through life choosing between judgment and what the Judge meant.

• Teaching point: The ball is in our court. How will we live? Will we see the world and life through prophets’ eyes, or will we go on acting as if we had never heard Nahum? Judgment or what the Judge meant – the choice is left to us.

• How can we live by what the Judge meant in our everyday lives?

Core Scripture: Nahum 1:2-3

Memory Verse: John 12:47 (NIV) "As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it."

Discussion Questions:
1. What is your definition of "judgment"?
2. Who do you think "deserves" judgment?
3. Why do you think we look at judgment this way?
4. Do you think most people judge themselves or others more harshly? Why?
5. How do you think God wants us to view judgment? Is that easy or hard?
6. How can we help others see the kindness and sternness of God appropriately?

Bottom Line:
• Judgment is never God's heart; it is what God is forced to do when people refuse to live the way the Judge meant, or intended. He is good, and so at times He is driven to defend His goodness and defeat evil. This is Nahum's message.

• Nahum tells us two things. First, God is slow to anger. Second, God does not leave the guilty unpunished. This means that, as much as God hates judgment, He have evil more.

• Consider the kindness of God today. Life with God is about more than avoiding judgment. It is about learning to live in the way the Judge meant for us to live and to put Other First in our lives.

• The ball is in our court. How will we live? Will we see the world and life through prophets' eyes, or will we go on acting as if we had never heard Nahum? Judgment or what the Judge meant - the choice is left to us.

Taught the weekend of Nov 1st - 2nd

November 1 & 2, 2008

• Background summary: The book of Haggai was written after the Exile, which was the lowest point in Israel’s history. Years later, the people of God returned home.

• Teaching point: Haggai called the people to a different way of life. He implored them to stop and “give careful thought to their ways.” He wanted them to see if the way they were living was really beneficial.

• Teaching point: Haggai said the people should stop working on their own houses and start working on God’s house. While they worked on God’s house, perhaps God would work on their houses.

• Teaching point: Our house or God’s house? This question gets to the heart of how we see life and the world. Are our lives all about us? Is the world all about us? Or should our lives be about something bigger?

• Teaching point: We don’t have to spend our lives concerned about our own houses. Instead, we can look to put Others First and the most important Other, God, first by working on His mission while we trust Him to work on our houses.

• Teaching point: Our lives can be about something bigger, something better, something that really matters – others and the Other, God. It’s time for us to spend our lives looking through prophets’ eyes by choosing to work on God’s house and trusting God to work on our houses.

Core Scriptures: Haggai 1:1-11

Memory Verse: Matthew 6:33 (NIV) “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Discussion Questions:

1. What kind of situation were the Israelites in at the time of this passage? What did they see when they looked around? How did this affect them personally? How did this affect them spiritually?
2. What choice did the Israelites make: our house or God’s house? Why did they make this choice?
3. How do we also tend to choose our houses over God’s house? What does this choice look like in our lives? What forms does this choice take?
4. What did Haggai see that the Israelites needed to do? How did he speak into this choice?
5. What would Haggai say about what we need to do? How can we stop? How can we give careful thought to our ways? How can we choose God’s house instead of our houses?

Bottom Line:

• Our house or God’s house? This question gets to the heart of how we see life and the world. Are our lives all about us? Is the world all about us? Or should our lives be about something bigger?
• We don’t have to spend our lives concerned about our own houses. Instead, we can look to put Others First and the most important Other, God, first by working on His mission while we trust Him to work on our houses.
• Our lives can be about something bigger, something better, something that really matters – others and the Other, God. It’s time for us to spend our lives looking through prophets’ eyes by choosing to work on God’s house and trusting God to work on our houses.