SIN AND SEPARATION 1. LEADER PREPARATION

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1 SIN AND SEPARATION Lesson 3: Dark and Confused This includes: 1. Leader Preparation 2. Lesson Guide 1. LEADER PREPARATION LESSON OVERVIEW Sin always separates us from God. Before we become Christ-followers, it separates us from him forever. After we become followers of Jesus, our sinful nature is forgiven, but when we choose to sin anyway, it weakens our friendship with God. Walking in sin leads to darkness and confusion and it keeps us from fully engaging with God s character. In this lesson, your students will explore what it looks like to know God without really embracing him. LESSON OBJECTIVES 1. WHAT: We can know about God and even know God, yet fail to embrace him or his character. 2. WHY: Teenagers can sometimes rely on their own wisdom, rather than God s truth, regarding who God is and who he wants to be in their lives but the end result is always a confusing, unclear picture of who God is. 3. HOW: Students will be discuss the difference between knowing about God and truly knowing God, and they ll consider ways to pursue or deepen a friendship with God. PRIMARY SCRIPTURE Romans 1:18-25 SECONDARY SCRIPTURE Isaiah 58:10 TEACHING PREP The short overview below is designed to help you prepare for your lesson. While you may not want to convey this information word-for-word with your teenagers, you ll definitely want to refer to it as you lead. Read Romans 1:18 25.

2 This passage talks about people who knew about God and could even find evidence in the natural world for God s existence, yet chose to ignore the truth and to lead lives that went against God s standards. They exchanged what they knew or could have known about God for what they preferred to do. That s the kind of decision that leads to deeper darkness and more confusion. And it very clearly demonstrates how sin, even if it s called by another name, leads to complete separation from God. Even though Paul was writing to a specific audience followers of Christ in Rome his letter is different from the other letters we have from him in the New Testament. Instead of addressing specific problems or challenges facing a group of Christfollowers, he presents a theological foundation for Christianity. THE BEFORE & AFTER [optional] Text Message Questions We ve provided a couple of different text message questions to send out to your students prior to your meeting. Feel free to use one or both of the questions below. As with the rest of the curriculum, edit these questions to fit the needs of your ministry. Parent Have you ever known the right thing to do but did something else anyway? Let s talk about it tonight as a group. Do you know God s character traits? How? Find out more when the group meets. We ve provided you with an below that you can send to your parents following the lesson. Our hope is to encourage parents to continue the conversation at home. Feel free to edit and customize the to fit your ministry needs. Dear parents, This week we talked about sin leading to darkness and confusion. Using Romans 1:18-25 as our foundation, we talked about truly knowing God and his character. We delved into what a real relationship with God looks like and how knowing about God and truly knowing God aren t always the same thing. As you invest in the faith walk of your teenager, look for ways to carry on the conversation. Here are some suggestions:

3 Talk about a time you knew what you should do, but you did something different. Ask your students which character trait of God they most closely identify with. (We asked them, too.) Ask them how they came to know that truth about God. Some character traits might include how God is merciful, compassionate, just, caring, and loving. This might be a great week to have a deep conversation with your teenager about what it means to be a follower of Christ. We talked in detail about the difference in knowing about God and really knowing God. Thanks for allowing us to partner with you as you invest in the spiritual growth of your teenager.

4 SIN AND SEPARATION Lesson 3: Dark and Confused 2. LEsson guide GETTING THINGS STARTED [optional] Make a visual presentation of some famous people that students might be familiar with athletes, musicians, actors/actresses, politicians, and so on. You could do this as a PowerPoint presentation, images you print from your computer, or images you display on a laptop or tablet. Also do some online research so you have some facts about each person to use as you engage students in discussion. Welcome your students and invite them into your meeting area. Open in prayer, and then lead the activity below. Display the first photo or image and then ask the questions below. Repeat the process and questions below for each photo or image you have selected. Who is this person? What do they do for a living or why are they famous? Did you know that this person (insert some facts here)? Do you know this person or do you just know about this person? What s the difference between knowing someone and just knowing about someone? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: It takes more than the ability to regurgitate facts about someone to really know them. Let s think on that some today. TEACHING GUIDE The goal of the Teaching Points is to help students capture the essence of each lesson with more discussion and less lecture-style teaching. The main points we have chosen are (1) Knowing about God doesn t always mean knowing God, (2) Knowing God requires truth, and (3) Relying on anything else brings darkness and confusion. Remember: All throughout these lessons, it s up to you to choose (1) how many questions you use, and (2) the wording of the main points keep ours, or change the wording to make it clearer for your audience.

5 Read Romans 1:18-25 together as a group. Consider dividing verses among your students so everyone has a chance to read. SAY SOMETHING LIKE: In this passage, Paul talks about folks who knew about God. But they were not worshipping him as God. God s character was not being displayed in their lives. They could see evidence for God s existence in the natural world and in their hearts, yet they denied the truth. Perhaps they knew about him, but they certainly didn t really know him. 1. Knowing about God doesn t always mean knowing God Do you know anyone who believes God doesn t exist? What kinds of spiritual conversations have you had with that person? What does it take to truly know someone? What does it take to truly know God? Can someone who knows God truly walk away? Why or why not? Does walking away from God impact salvation? Why or why not? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: In these verses, Paul is making the case that anyone can know God we can find plenty of evidence for God s existence just by looking around at the created world. But knowing about God isn t enough. Our relationship with God needs to be genuine and vibrant, and it needs to impact the way we live. In verse 25, Paul declares that some people in this world had traded the truth of God for a lie. They decided it would be easier or seemingly better to do what they wanted to do instead of following and worshipping God. They began to worship other objects, animals, even people. Their knowledge about God was not enough to keep them engaged with him. 2. Knowing God requires truth SAY SOMETHING LIKE: We stay connected to those we have relationship because of the truths we know about them. Think about it. We stay connected with our parents because we know a fundamental truth about them: They love us. Or maybe we stay connected to our employer because of this fundamental truth: They pay us on time. We stay engaged with chemistry because of the fundamental promise of a decent grade. We stay connected because of the truth or essence of the character of that thing or person with which we have a relationship.

6 Have you ever had a friend who was accused of something that you absolutely knew they could never do? What made you convinced that they had been falsely accused? Now think about the photos of well-known people we looked at earlier. Has anyone among those photos been accused of something or had to defend themselves against an accusation? Is it as easy to trust their version of the outcome? Why or why not? What are some of God s character traits? How have you engaged those traits? Can you truly know someone s character if you aren t engaged in active relationship with them? Why or why not? What does it look like to be in active relationship with God? How does it happen? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Knowing God hinges on so much more than showing up at church, understanding Bible stories, or even going on mission trips. Knowing God is wholly dependent on a relationship with him understanding and relying on his known character. 3. Relying on anything else brings darkness and confusion SAY SOMETHING LIKE: This passage is really clear. Anything less than completely relying on God and his character brings darkness and confusion. They began to create and pursue their own forms of worship and their own idols to adore. In essence, they chose darkness. They chose confusion. They chose to be separated from God. They relied on their own wisdom. They relied on their desires. They relied on sin to make them happy and complete. And it only brought them ruin. Think about a time you faced a decision and you knew the right choice, but you chose to do something else anyway. Why did you choose not to do the right thing? What factors contributed to your decision. Why might someone choose to do their own thing if they had truly engaged with God and his character? Think about a time in your life when you experienced darkness and confusion. Maybe that even describes your life right now. How did your pattern of choices and decisions help get you to that place?

7 SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Sin will always separate us from God. Before we become Christ-followers, it separates us from him forever. We can never be in God s presence. After we become followers of Jesus, our sinful nature is forgiven, but when we choose to sin anyway, it breaks down our friendship with God. Walking in sin always leads to darkness and confusion and it keeps us from fully engaging with God s character. ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION [optional] Read Isaiah 58:10. Why does the kind of lifestyle described in this verse shine light in the middle of a dark, confused world? What is the spiritually darkest part of your world? Is it your school, or your job, or your family, or some other place? What makes that place so spiritually dark? APPLICATION Ask students to form groups of two or three for these questions. How can you shine light in the darkness and confusion of sin? Be specific. Is there a way to shine light on sin without being judgmental? If so, how? If not, why not? How do you relate to your friends who are actively living in darkness and confusion? Bring everyone back together, and ask for volunteers to share answers to the previous questions, as time permits.

8 SUMMARY End your lesson here. Provide your teenagers with a quick summary or take-home challenge based on (1) the content of this lesson, (2) the dialogue that took place during the lesson, (3) your understanding of the issues and struggles your teenagers are facing, and (4) the big picture of your youth ministry and what your leadership team wants accomplished with the teaching and discussion time. FOR KEEPS [MEMORY VERSE] Encourage and/or challenge your teenagers to memorize the verse below. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused (Romans 1:21).