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1 Thanks for downloading resources from Walking In His Footsteps! We try to provide Biblical and practical resources to encourage Biblical Practical Living. If you enjoy our resource(s) please share our links. Tell a friend, co- worker, minister, parent, or whomever you think might benefit and/or enjoy our resources. Here s a few things you need to know about all our resources: NOT EVERY RESOURCE LOOKS THE SAME. Each curriculum book follows a format (Hook, Line, and Sinker); however, each of us prepares and teaches in different ways. Each resource may look different based on the author who submitted them. So, in order to make more resources available at a faster rate, we upload it exactly how we taught it. There may be typos, wrong uses of contractions, and even misspelled words. Other resources such as family devotionals, sermons, and other lesson series will be uploaded in the format that the author submitted them. These may also contain typos, wrong uses of contractions, and misspelled words. We ask you to overlook these. MAKE EACH RESOURCE YOUR OWN. Feel free to make each resource your own. We never intended for someone to download a resource and teach it verbatim. They are meant to be a teaching guide. Please don t use our resources for lazy lesson preparation. GIVE CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE. We are offering these resources to you, free of charge. With that being said, we ask that you do not post our resources on any other website or that the resources on the Walking in His Footsteps website be used for financial gain. We encourage you to share these resources with others, but that you acknowledge the author of each series, as well as Walking In His Footsteps. QUESTIONS: If you have any questions or want to give us some feedback, send us an to contactus@walkinginhisfootsteps.com.

2 Lambs Among Wolves Lesson 1: The Dangerous Life Purpose of Lesson: Answer What does living as lambs among wolves mean? Introduction: What is the most dangerous place or situation you ve found yourself in? (get a few students to tell a story-quickly) How many of you would purposefully put yourself in that situation again? Lesson: Have you counted the cost of following Jesus? Let s look at Luke 10. Jesus is sending out the 72 (or 70 depending on your translation) he is giving them last minute instructions. In verse 3 we see our theme verse Go your way; behold, I m am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. What does it mean to be sent out as a lamb in the midst of wolves? (ask) Life with Christ, life following Christ is NOT easy. We are being sent into the world the world is full of darkness. Wolves are everywhere. Remember the words of Jesus in John 15:18ff, If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its won; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. We will encounter hatred from the world. We will encounter distractions, temptations, and persecution. Matthew 7:15 speaks of wolves in sheep s clothing, Acts 20:29 talks about fierce wolves not sparing the flock. We have been given a mission that is dangerous. What is our mission? The Great Commission the same as Jesus, to seek and saves he lost. To bring lost souls to God. If we genuinely follow Christ and strive to bring others to Him, we will meet obstacles, we will meet wolves that seek to destroy our lives. 1 Timothy 3:12- Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted 1 Peter 4:12- Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening you. Now the question remains, are we not being persecuted because we are not fulling desiring to live a godly life? Are we not being persecuted because we aren t giving our all to God? God did not call us to live comfortable lives. He called us to live radical lives. We are called to be living sacrifices meaning we have to sacrifice our wants and our desires and live for HIM. We need to have an undeviating devotion to the will of God, even if it

3 means we must give up something. Think back to Jesus in the garden. He begged God, if there was another way, to not send him to the cross. BUT, Jesus said not my will, but your will be done. Discuss Jesus gave up His life to follow and be obedient to the Father. What are you willing to do? What are some things that distract us from fully following Christ? What are some things that tempt us away from following Christ? What are persecutions we experience that make it difficult to follow Christ?

4 Lambs Among Wolves Lesson 2: Following the Shepherd Purpose of Lesson: Answer How Can We Live Like Lambs Among Wolves Introduction: Last lesson we discussed how the Christian life is a dangerous life. We discussed how we will face persecution, temptations, and distractions. How can we stay focused? How can we live like a lamb among wolves? Lesson: Simply speaking we must follow the shepherd. We are lambs we discussed that last week. We have been sent out as lambs among wolves. But we have not been sent out alone we have the God on our side. Jesus is the Good Shepherd In John 10:14-18 (READ) we see that Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd. What does a shepherd do? He protects the flock fights off danger. Does this mean we will never be harmed or put into danger NO, Jesus already said we would be among wolves. But we must FOLLOW Him, where ever it may lead us. Earlier in John 10, Jesus says of his sheep A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. Who are you following? We need to be like the straying sheep who have returned to the Shepherd that Peter talks about. 1 Peter 2:25 says, For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseerer of your souls. We do not need to trust or follow ourselves. Solomon gives us practical advice against doing this in Proverbs 3. READ WE MUST FOLLOW THE SHEPHERD! How To Follow The Shepherd - Know Him How can we know Jesus? First, we have to spend time in the Word. God sent us His word, not because he had to, but because he wanted us to KNOW Him, and KNOW what he expects.

5 Second, we must have love. Anyone who does not love does love God because God is love (1 John 4:8). Brings us to our next point - Love Him We already talked briefly about love. But we MUST love Jesus in order to follow Him. We may know someone, but that doesn t mean we will follow them. But if we KNOW them and LOVE them, we will probably trust and follow that person. Jesus is not just a person; He is our Savior, the Son of God. We also must love others. When we love and serve others we love and serve Him. READ 1 John 4:7ff again. - Obey Him If we can KNOW and LOVE Jesus, we must then OBEY Him. We cannot follow someone without obeying them. John 14:15 If you love me, keep my commandments. John 14:23 If anyone who loves me, he will keep my word We are called to be lights of the world a city on a hill cannot be hidden, right? So why do we try to hide so often? We need to be bold we need to remember for to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps (1 Peter 2:21). Discuss What is the hardest part of following the shepherd? Easiest? Explain. What things prevent us or get in the way of following the shepherd? What is the best thing about Jesus being our Shepherd? How can we convince/show others living as a lamb among wolves is worth it?

6 Lambs Among Wolves Lesson 3: Reaching Paradise Purpose of Lesson: Answer Why We Choose To Become Lambs Among Wolves? Introduction: Our goal(s) as followers of Christ should be to reach heaven and take as many people with us as possible. Our reward for being faithful is eternal life, in heaven, with God. Living the dangerous life, following the shepherd is WORTH IT to receive such a reward. There was a story I heard once about a little girl who was given a fake pearl necklace. She adored that necklace. She wore it everyday, everywhere. She treasured it. She never let it out of her sight. One day, her father wanted to surprise her. He went out and bought a real pearl necklace. He called her over and told her that he had a surprise for her but she had to give him her necklace. She wouldn t do it. The next day he did the same. Over and over, until one day, the little girl walked up to her father and said I want you to have this as she handed him her necklace. He then went to his dresser, reached into his drawer and pulled out the box containing a real pearl necklace. Lesson: What does that story have to do with reaching paradise? For starters we must make a choice. Are we going to make earth or heaven our home? We live on earth with all of our possessions, our family, our friends, the pleasures of life we enjoy living. Are we willing to give all of that up to make heaven our home? Are we willing to give all of that up to following the shepherd, living the dangerous life knowing that if we succeed we will have our reward in heaven? Can we delay pleasure? Do we understand what we would be trading if we kept that fake pearl necklace? We understand this is the WHY So how can we reach paradise? Walking In The Light There is only one way Jesus. We must walk in the light as he is in the light. 1 John 1:5-7. READ We must follow in the footsteps of Christ. He showed us how to live. It s up to us to follow Him and obey Him. Remaining Faithful Passages to read:

7 Rev 2:10 Prov 28:20 Phil. 3 Hebrews 10:23 This is extremely hard. Once we have been baptized we are saved, correct? Of course. So does that mean once I ve contacted the blood of Christ, I can do whatever I want? Of course NOT. We must continue to walk in the light, for the rest of our lives. When we were baptized, we died to self and were raised a new creation made for good works. The Faithfulness of God We know we are to be faithful TO God. Have you thought about God being faithful TO YOU? He is. He always keeps his promises. He never breaks them. He promises us eternal life IF we obey Him. Our faithfulness determines our path. Our faithfulness determines our destination. What path are you on? Are you on the path the Word of God has illuminated? What destination are you headed toward? Are you headed toward a heavenly home in heaven? Your life is determined by your faithfulness? How faithful are you? Discuss What does it mean to delay pleasure? What are some things we might enjoy that prohibit us from walking in the light? What is the most challenging thing(s) about remaining faithful? What is the most challenging thing(s) we must give up to follow God? In what ways has God shown His faithfulness in your life?