Theme: Grace
Background (this is lesson 8 of 39 )
Two important things to remember from the book of Joshua are (1) how the people all said, "AMEN" and (2) agreed not to be afraid of sacrificing unintentional sin even when people around them were sacrificing intentional sin. Today there is evidence that people are living by different standards. The last Church (chapter) compared how people can accept God's grace or chase prosperity. When we accept God's grace, we can line our witness testimony up with the Chief Cornerstone by sacrificing unintentional sin and turning from intentional sin. However, the world will not make this easy. When we choose to chase prosperity, we will not show mercy to the people accepting God's grace.
In the book of 1st Chronicles, students will learn that they would be mixing with people who were not and denying God's grace. People are Awakened in 1 Chronicles to build a city with God's grace and not prosperity. Now we need to Awaken and build our temple with God's grace and not prosperity.
Objective for 1 Chronicles:
I can awaken and build my temple without borders which will be built with God's grace and not prosperity.
Essential Questions:
How can awaken to have faith that includes grace in my sacrifice and not prosperity? Do you believe everything you hear?
Do you believe everything you see?
Has anyone ever made you upset?
How can I align my witness up with the Chief Cornerstone's, Jesus, sacrifice?
book of 1 Chronicles - Lesson
Students will read pages 16-19 in the book, The Pattern of Sound Teaching.
After students read the information ask them, "What do you want to talk about?"
The Issue:
The Hebrews were Awakened to know that they needed to live in a city built on God's grace or the people who are saying AMEN to the word of God would be made wretched by the people who are not saying AMEN to the word of God. 1 Chronicles is where people are awakened to realize that they needed a king who would enforce the law of Moses and protect them from the people who were worshiping false gods. The Israelites were looking for a king who would build a city on grace and not prosperity.
After students read pg. 16-19 in The Pattern of Sound Teaching to hear how God only accepts the sacrifice of people who are producing good fruit and rejects the sacrifice of those who do not produce good fruit. Questions to ask students about the reading:
One of Noah's descendants built a city and made a name for himself. What does it mean to build a name for yourself? How is Achar different from Jabez?
Our discussion today will reflect on what happens when someone like Jabez interacts with someone like Achar. There is a battle for the mind! When we are building our temple, we will encounter a battle of the mind. We cannot be afraid to fight the battle of the mind. Students hear a message about how there is a battle for our minds. Here are five guides to help you fight the battle of the mind so students can build their temple with God's grace:
Do not believe everything you hear.
Do not believe everything you see.
Do not let negative thoughts enter your mind.
Do not deny the rights of another human.
When someone denies you your rights as a human, do not let them turn you into a wretched person.
Do not believe everything you hear. In saying this we can overcome social and mental anxiety when we realize that lies spread quicker than the truth, and the first story that someone hears is given more power. I always say, "If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it." My question is, "Why do people believe things that are not true?"
Do not believe everything that you see. In saying this we can overcome social and mental anxiety when we realize that what we see is not the whole picture. What is 1/8 of an inch wide and we are able to process the world around us with it? The pupil lets light in, but the optic nerve that is connected to the eye and brain is where we are able to process what we see, so we can think and make a decision about the world. When we look at something more impulses come from the brain than into the brain. This is why we get six different stories about what happened at the scene of an accident. Watch the video below and keep your eye on the ball to see how many times it passes.
Do not let negative thoughts enter your mind. In order to guard our minds, we must recognize what a lie is. The best strategy is to stay awake. The Israelites were awakened to know that the law of Moses protected them against the people who were denying the rights of other humans. The Israelites were awakened to realize that they needed a king who would build a city without borders. This is a city built on grace and not prosperity. If this did not happen the people would be wretched because of the injustices that the people would inflict on them. When people deny another person's rights as a human, they will slowly make that person wretched. Accepting God's grace is where we realize that our only hope is God's grace. In knowing this we are to suppress emotions such as anger, greed, etc. Grace is God choosing to bless us instead of cursing us as our sin deserves. We have to buy time and wait for the Lord. This is the only way we can stand against the wiles of Balial (Devil, Satan, Azazel). God offers us grace, but we have to accept God's grace.
The book of Joshua said, "Fear the Lord." This is because people who do not fear the Lord will serve their desires. Then, the book of Judges is where the Israelites stopped fearing the Lord and each person began to do what was right in their own eye. The book of 1 Chronicles is where the people were awakened to realize that when the world is crazy the laws of the world will reflect crazy. The people were awakened to realize they needed a king who would build a city that accepted God's grace. The people were looking for a city without borders where people would not bother other people. Remember Jabez prayed for a city without borders.
In the book of 1 Chronicles Jabez's prayer was answered when David was crowned king after Saul. Saul was the first king, and he did not accept God's grace. David was the king after Saul. David, a descendant of Jabez, did accept God's grace. How did King David accept God's grace? He broke out with a song of thanksgiving that gave direct orders to:
Thank the Lord
Inquire of the Lord
Brag about what the Lord has done in your life
Sing songs that give thanks to the Lord
Never stop discussing the miracles and wonders that the Lord does
Give glory to the Lord's name
Rejoice with a grateful heart
Depend on the Lord's strength
Remember the miracles and judgements are for protection
Focus on the Lord's promises
Remember the Lord has and will judge people on Earth
Thank the Lord for promising to save our souls
Bring an offering to the Lord
People who were accepting God's grace were not troubling other people. They were accepting God's grace by inquiring, praising, and thanking God. They were thankful that God was protecting them from people who were denying grace by serving false gods. The people who accepted God's grace were known by the fruit they produced. The tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped up and thrown into the fire.
Students will then complete a grace inventory and a prosperity inventory.
Grace inventory
Do you thank the Lord?
Do you inquire of the Lord?
Do you brag about what the Lord has done in your life?
Do you sing songs that give thanks to the Lord?
Do you discuss the miracles and wonders that the Lord has done?
Do you give glory to the Lord's name?
Do you rejoice with a grateful heart?
Do you depend on the Lord's strength?
Do you remember the miracles and judgments are for protection?
Do you focus on the Lord's promises?
Do you remember the Lord has and will judge people on Earth?
Do you thank the Lord for promising to save our Souls?
Do you bring an offering to the Lord?
Prosperity Inventory
Do you rely on your own ability to get what you need?
Do you brag about what you have accomplished?
Do you believe in the miracles that are written in the Old Testament?
Do you depend on your own strength to accomplish your goals?
Do you have a hard heart?
Do you believe that the miracles and judgments in the Old Testament were unfair?
Do you believe that the Lord will acquit all people who are good?
Do you feel entitled to salvation?
Do you refuse to give an offering to God?
Activity
In Exodus people were awakened to understand how the government can create a clash of cultures. Now in the book of 1 Chronicles we are awakened to build our temple without borders by accepting God's grace and not prosperity. Students will then be sorted into groups by eye and hair color. Students with blue eyes and blonde hair will be in group one. Students with brown eyes and brown hair will be in group two. Students with any other combination will be in the third group. Students will then be given materials that they will use to build a house. Students in group one will get the tape, thick spaghetti noodles, large and small marshmallows, and unlimited materials to build their houses with. Group two will get 50 spaghetti noodles and 50 small marshmallows to build their houses with. Group three will get 30 angel hair pasta noodles and 30 raisins to build their house with. Students will have 20 minutes to build their houses. How can you build your temple with grace and not prosperity?
BLOG
In the book of 1 Chronicles Jabez's prayer was answered when David was crowned king after Saul. Saul was the first king, and he did not accept God's grace. David was the king after Saul. David, a descendant of Jabez, did accept God's grace. How did King David accept God's grace? He broke out with a song of thanksgiving that gave direct orders to:
Thank the Lord
Inquire of the Lord
Brag about what the Lord has done in your life
Sing songs that give thanks to the Lord
Never stop discussing the miracles and wonders that the Lord does
Give glory to the Lord's name
Rejoice with a grateful heart
Depend on the Lord's strength
Remember the miracles and judgements are for protection
Focus on the Lord's promises
Remember the Lord has and will judge people on Earth
Thank the Lord for promising to save our souls
Bring an offering to the Lord
Students are going to read the prayer of Jabez in 1 Chronicles and then they can write a prayer in the blog about how they are going to build their temple that accepts God's grace.
Here are examples of how David broke out as a psalmist and gave direct orders to: Thank the Lord, Inquire of the Lord, Brag about what the Lord has done in your life, Sing songs that give thanks to the Lord, Never stop discussing the miracles and wonders that the Lord does, Give glory to the Lord's name, Rejoice with a grateful heart, Depend on the Lord's strength, Remember the miracles and judgments are for protection, Focus on the Lord's promises, Remember the Lord has and will judge people on Earth, Thank the Lord for promising to save our souls and Bring an offering to the Lord.
Next Lesson:
This should awaken students to think about how everything that they see and hear is not true, and how we need to guard our minds so we can have good mental health. The next lesson is from a psalmist. The psalmist has a standard to teach people. This standard teaches us to put on our armor (defense). There is also a sword of the spirit that we can fight with (offense).
Comentarios