Lessons and Studies

Bowser

Tribe of Judah StarCraft Series Chapter Leader
These are two lessons that Charlie and I did for the Warcraft chapter site.  I thought they could be of use here.  This first one is by yours truly, and the second is by Pastor Charles.
Edit: Oh, btw, I meant this for use for the bible studies we plan on doing over teamspeak, if it wasn't obvious
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Again I would like to say thanks to everyone who participated - this lesson was made with all of you in mind.

Here goes.

     Jesus more than a Lord; a friend.
Jesus is much, much more than our Lord; he is our good friend.  And, like a good friend, will always be strong for us and will help us when we are struggling.  Of course, we must understand some struggles are just a test of faith, and so we must be sure to pass them!  We also must understand that some of the struggles we will face in life are simply to teach us endurance, and we must turn them into positive elements and not let them get us down – be strong and humble and do not get upset at life’s challenges.  The reason I say that Jesus is a great friend and Lord to us is because he gives us the attention and concern a friend can offer, and has the authority of a Lord over his own land.
     A Spiritual friendship
Next I would like to talk about the spiritual relationships you have amongst your friends, and Jesus Christ.  You see, some of you will have special friendships with people that go beyond our physical bodies.  I believe that our spirits also communicate and have friendships with each other.  I believe this is why you get along better with some people than others and also why you naturally like people you haven’t even met yet or don’t really know, but rather someone you just saw at the bank, the store, across the street, or doing a familiar hobby that you like doing such as riding bikes, paint-balling,  …or playing Warcraft.  I think that the reason someone waved at you earlier this week during school, church, whenever and wherever is because their spiritual self likes you - and so you should take joy in that, and wave back!  Some of you have grown to be my good friends, and I do believe that we have a certain relationship that I can only describe as phenomenal and spiritual.
    Spirits – Who has them, what are they, and how do they work?
Thirdly, I would like to discuss who has spirits, what they are, and how they impact our lives and more importantly those around us.  The bible says to test the spirits of men to see whether they are good or evil.  A good spirit, in this verse, I believe, does not necessarily mean a man is Christian, but instead that he has a natural inclination to do good to others.  Have you ever met a friend who is not an evil person, but who is not a Christian either?  I believe that friend has a “good” spirit.  Of course, no good spirit should be condemned or forgotten, so urge and lead them to follow Christ.  We must be “a light to the world” (Matt 5:14) so let your friends look at you and see that light, and then bring out the light and good in them.  Now for my second question - what are our spirits?  I believe that everyone is born with a spirit, whether they are holy, wicked, or otherwise unknowing of the teachings of Christ.  These spirits reflect our attitudes and personalities; our character (in fact, if you look up any of these words in a thesaurus it should list a spirit as a synonym).  Our spirit is the very essence of who we are, and is usually the purist example of us.  And now for the final question, how do spirits work?  Firstly we must understand that the Spirit of God is always at work in our lives and in those around us.  When we become a Christian (and I believe even before then) the Holy Spirit becomes interwoven in our lives so that we are now part of a larger ‘community’ of friends and loved ones.  One of the coolest things I find in a spiritual relationship is the ability to fellowship with those friends; a spiritual friendship is the strongest bond you can have between yourself and another.  And, of course, our spirit does not come without strengths and benefits: I feel that one advantage believers have over non-believers is that of understanding, and in fact Job 32:8 says this: “But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him (that’s us!) understanding.”  A fruitful spirit will exhibit “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22).  Galatians 5:24 and 25 goes on to say that “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
 
Pastor Charles

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As most of you know last week bowser did an excellent job in telling us about spiritual friendship. This week I would like to focus on what being a friend truly is.
Proverbs 17:17 a friends loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
As friends we need to love each other. The word friend can mean many different things though There are friends like this Proverbs 14:20 The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends. Fair weather friends, only there when things are good. You know Job’s “friends.“ They claimed to be Job’s friend when everything was going well for Job. Once things turned ugly they went straight to the finger pointing and condemning Job. They are a great example of what NOT to be. What does this have to do with being a spiritual friend? It shows us exactly what NOT to be like. We are also warned not to have to many friends. Proverbs 18:24 A man of too many friends comes to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. We need to stick closer than a brother, to our friends. We are to love our friends. This love is the Agape love that Christ tell us to have for one another, the very same love that we can find in 1 Cor 13:4-7 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. The love verse I am sure we all know it. Even through the tough times we all know that we have a friend that will stick closer to us than a brother. He died two thousand years ago for us, a slow and brutal death. Christ loves us, He always has and always will. He has called each and everyone of us to love each other and our neighbor as He loved us. You may be wondering how do I do this in game? Well don’t be a jerk, that is about it, when you see someone that needs help, help them. This lesson finishes what bowser was saying. We all are connected in our bond with Christ, we all have common ground there. I want you to take it a step further though. We can say we are all one in Christ in the game when we are not face to face and dealing with each other on a day to day basis. How about your co-workers? The people at your school? Your family? Hate to break it to you, these people deserve to be treated better than your friends. It is easy to be nice to people that are nice to you, why not do what Christ called us to do, and Love everyone the way He loved us, the way we love our friends.
 
I didn't put those in quotes because quotes are very irritating for me to read.  Anyway, the second post is done by LionofJudah.

You can find the lessons here , and here , respectively.
 
Thanx for the input Bowser. Now we have bowser and LoJ on the bible study team. Haqving met them both i know i can trust them implicitly. So all we need now is to get some people to do the studies on TS.
 
bowser can. i may beable too soon, i have to write a paper on why to open the ports and i think they will.
 
Um, I guess I can do the 'first' one, or this latest one. Let me know if I can have it, and give me a good two weeks to prepare.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (LionOfJudah @ Sep. 01 2004,4:38)]bowser can. i may beable too soon, i have to write a paper on why to open the ports and i think they will.
LOL

Be sure to mention you want it done because you need to play Warcraft.

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The studies are coming a little slow as I haven't had a lot of time to get them done. I don't have any topic nailed down at the moment, but I do have a lot of ideas and notes. Say a little prayer for me that I can have the right mindset to get these done - I really don't like putting anything off, especially if it's something I'm trying to be dedicated to.

God bless guys
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Your friendly neighborhood koopa,

-Bowser
 
Sorry guys, they're still coming slow.  I can't even pick the topics I want to do, but I've been writing down notes and passages regardless. I'm still working on these studies as much as I can, they're just taking more time than I wanted them to.

I'm trying these ideas for themes:

Importance of community, friends, and churches.
Having strength and a will even when you're think you're the only one who has it.
Pastors and the clear guidelines the Bible sets out for them.
ToJ/CGA - We have a unique ministry with a common purpose.
Fear, Worries, Anxiety, Stress, Anger.
Leaders - We have stepped up to the plate and we have a responsibility.

If you'd like to add more topics just add them here.
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You know I have this idea all of a sudden but sort of been there. Since we are doing the POTW and such, if we could get ahead of the game some, we could always expand on the theme of the week for the Bible study or even run the Bible study a few weeks behind the newsletter. Would give people time to study on it a bit on their own and might make for a better study. Just a thought. Blessings,"Angel"
 
I have another idea for you. I just got back from a Bible study which we are doing for the next several weeks. It's gonna change some but we could explore about finding Christ in the OT through things like baptism, sacraments, etc. It was quite interesting and got one thinking but too much info for me to digest so quickly.

Blessings,"Angel"
 
Ah. I've been keeping a couple of really cool verses that fit along those lines. I'll be sure and try to make a lesson out of it. Danke.
 
1st Timothy 6:11,12

I. Flee from all this
A. We are to flee from the pleasures of this world. In the previous passage Paul was warning us about the love of money. This has caused more than one to wander away from Christ. We are to flee from the temptations of this world and chase after the things of God.

II. Pursue….
A. Righteousness
I. The righteousness that only comes from an obedient  relationship with God

B. godliness
I. What is the godliness that Paul is speaking of here?  The godliness of following Christ teachings and  adhering to sound doctrine

C. Faith
I. Have a sound and certain faith, we can have all the head knowledge we want, but if we have no heart knowledge then it does not matter. That is ultimately what faith is.

D. Love
I. Agape, Love unconditional. A love that never ceases to transform this fallen world. We need to pray that God will teach us to love others has He loves us even now.

E. Endurance
I. The Christian life is not always one of ease. Christ calls us each day to die to our self and to take up our cross and follow Him. Paul is reminding us to endure even though the tuff times may come, like Job we should bless the Lord. He gives and takes away, our hearts should choose to stay.

F.  Gentleness
I.  We must remember to be courteous and respectful to those around us. We should not intentionally anger our neighbors or co-workers, family or friends we should treat them with the gentleness of a young child.


III. Fight the good fight.
A. Do not go out constantly seeking strife with the unbelievers or false teachers in the church. Rather focus on what God has called each of us to.  Paul tells us to take hold of our eternal life. To embrace it. God has made us more than conquers (Romans 8). Embrace your faith, share it in a loving manner with those around you. The petty things that have constantly stood to divide us should fall away and be no more when we are all focused on pleasing God. Rather than worry about what day we should go to church, or what color the carpet is, we should be worried about how many people are going to Hell while we argue about meaningless things. Fight for Christ, spread His love to the world so that all men may be reconciled to God.

B. We made our confessions to Christ in a public place in front of many witnesses, they do not all follow us home or to work to see how we live out our lives, God does. Are you just another warm body or are you out letting God use you to reconcile man to Himself?



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By Grace alone we are Saved.

Romans 3:11-18
A. All have sinned and none are worthy.
B. What can we do to reconcile to God?

John 3:16-18
A. God has given man a way

Romans 5:8
A. How God demonstrates His love for man

We are saved by Grace Ephesians 2:8
A. Mans reconciliation to God by grace

What is Grace? (Ask the room)
Grace is defined as A favor rendered by one who need not do so; indulgence
Divine love and protection bestowed freely on people. The state of being protected or sanctified by the favor of God.  (Dictionary.com)
Examples
Pay it Forward (Movie Clip)
Read Prodigal Son. Luke 15:11-32

Why Grace? What was wrong with the Law?
I. Matt 15:10-20
A. It is not what a man does, rather where a mans heart is.
II. Gal 4:19-24
A. The reason for the law, why it does not save.

Why did Jesus have to die?
Romans 5:12, 18-19
A. Sin came into this world threw man and so it had to leave threw man.
I. Quick overview of Mans fall in Genesis 3
Leviticus 1-7 Summarized
A. In the OT a sacrifice was required for sin, something had to die.

Christ is the atoning sacrifice
A. The sacrifice was always to best the purest animal. Christ came and lived a perfect life. To be sacrificed for man to be the final atoning sacrifice Hebrews 10:4 Tells us that it is impossible for the blood of animals to cleanse man of his sins.
B. Christ as the Sacrificial lamb
I. Isaiah 53:7
Christ’s willingness to go as the sacrifice.
II. Christ called the Lamb of God
John 1:29-30


How do I receive this Grace?
Repent and be baptized Act2:38
A. Confess Christ and be saved.


*Special Reading*
Medical report of a typical Roman flogging described in the Bible.


two general outlines i aslo have a lesson on money relating from the three little pigs
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