Week 1 17950 Griffin Rd Southwest Ranches, FL 33331 (954)475-8700 www.sawgrasschurch.org
PREPARED Week 1 Who is Jesus? Fresh Start ground rules: 1. Remember the purpose to help you in your rela onship with God 2. No ques on is too basic or silly we learn together 3. Basic assump on the Bible is true (please bring a Bible!) 4. Par cipate add to the discussion and do some work Ge ng to know one another: Ques on: How long have you been coming to Sawgrass Community Church and what do you hope to gain from this study? You must make a choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not le that open to us. He did not intend to C.S. Lewis in Mere Chris anity MEMORY VERSE (Jesus said) I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. John 14:6 NLT Crucial Ques ons A. Jesus Nature: About His humanity Philippians 2:5-11 & Hebrews 2:17-18 v. 7: He humbled Himself/became slave, took on human form v. 8: He died a physical death of a criminal on a cross v. 17: He was in every respect like us v. 18: He has gone through suffering and tempta on like us About His divinity Colossians 1:15-20 v. 15: He is the visible image of God and existed before God made anything else v. 16: God created everything through Him v. 17: He holds all crea on together v. 19: God is fully present in Him B. God s Purpose in Sending Jesus Luke 4:16-21 & John 3:16-17 Luke 4:18 Good news to the poor, set cap ves free, sight to blind, freedom for oppressed John 3:16 Eternal life John 3:17 Not to condemn but to save
C. Crucial Ques ons: 1. Who is Jesus Christ and why is Chris anity unique? (John 14:6) 2. Why did God send Jesus? (Like 19:10) 3. Why did He have to die? (1 Peter 3:18, Isaiah 53:1-12) 4. What does the resurrec on mean for me? (1 Corinthians 15:17) 5. How do I become a Chris an? (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 10:9-10) (See Spiritual Growth Con nuum) Resources for digging further: The Road Less Traveled, M. Sco Peck, MD Mere Chris anity, C. S. Lewis The Case for Christ, Lee Strobel (see summary in booklet) Bible study: John 1-3 Homework: The seven I am claims of Jesus Look up references and ask: What does this tell me about Jesus? What do these truths mean for my life? John 6:35 John 11:25 John 8:12 John 14:6 John 10:9 John 15:1 John 10:11 Prayer: Are there any needs we should pray about today?
Summary of The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel Can the biographies of Jesus be trusted? A study indicates that there was nowhere enough me for legend to have developed and wiped out a solid core of historical truth. Do Jesus biographies stand up to scru ny? The Gospel writers intended to preserve reliable history, were able to do, were honest and willing to include the difficult-to-explain material, and didn t allow bias to unduly color their repor ng. Were Jesus biographies reliably preserved for us? Compared with other ancient documents, there is an unprecedented number of New Testament manuscripts that can be dated extremely close to the original wri ngs. Is there credible evidence for Jesus outside of His biographies? One expert (has) documented thirty-nine ancient sources that corroborate more than one hundred facts concerning Jesus life, teachings, crucifixion, and resurrec on. Does archaeology confirm or contradict Jesus biographies? There s no ques on that archeological findings have enhanced the New Testament s credibility. No discovery has ever disproved a biblical reference. Is the Jesus of history the same Jesus of faith? The idea that stories of Jesus emerged from mythology fails to withstand scru ny. The Jesus of faith is the same as the Jesus of history. Was Jesus really convinced He was the Son of God? From earliest tradi ons: Jesus believed He was the Son of God the anointed One of God the Son of Man and the final Messiah. Was Jesus crazy when He claimed to be the Son of God? Jesus exhibited no inappropriate emo ons, was in contact with reality, was brilliant with amazing insights into human nature, and enjoyed deep and abiding rela onships. Jesus also backed up His claims through miraculous feats of healing, power over nature, etc. Did Jesus fulfill the a ributes of God? The New Testament specifically confirms that Jesus ul mately possessed every qualifica on of deity, including omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, eternality, and immutability. Did Jesus and Jesus alone match the iden ty of the Messiah? Against astronomical odds one chance in a trillion, trillion, trillion (13 mes total) Jesus, and only Jesus throughout history, matched the fingerprint created by all Old Testament prophecies. Was Jesus death a sham and His resurrec on a hoax? The evidence from history, medicine, body mechanics, the ac ons of His disciples in the years following, etc., is overwhelming that His death was no hoax.
Was Jesus body really absent from His tomb? The empty grave is reported or implied in extremely early sources da ng so close to the event that they could not possibly have been products of legend. Was Jesus seen alive a er His death on the cross? This truth is supported by numerous early New Testament references, and Paul even challenged first-century doubters to talk with the eyewitnesses themselves. Are there any suppor ng facts poin ng toward the resurrec on? No one knowingly and willingly dies for a lie (all but one disciple died as martyrs), and within weeks of the Crucifixion, thousands of Jews became convinced Jesus was the Son of God and abandoned social and religious prac ces of genera ons to follow Him. The growth of the Church in the face of cruel Roman persecu on also supports the resurrec on. The idea that stories about Jesus emerged from mythology fails to withstand scru ny.