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Jesus' Sacrificial Death

Month 7| week 1: Equip

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To take the hope of Christ to every student

To reach every student at our school with the gospel

vision

mission

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Listen and Leap

Let’s Play!

Icebreaker Game: Listen and Leap

Materials Needed: Painter’s tape

Game Preparation: Make a 15-20 foot line on the ground using painter's tape.

Ask the group to stand in single file on the line. Explain that the right side of the line represents what is right, and the left side represents what is wrong.

The Game Expert will be yelling out situations with the answer of "right" or "wrong" to the group. When the Game Expert yells out a command, everyone must leap to the side of the line they feel best matches the situation. It will be up to the Game Expert to choose who is correct in each situation. Anyone who chooses incorrectly will be out of the game. The final student standing is the winner.

Example Situations:

- Putting pineapple on pizza

- Wearing socks with sandals

- Answering a call with a text

- Using ChatGPT to do your homework

- Eating cold pizza for breakfast

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Digging deeper

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what caused a delay or made you jump to the wrong side of the tape?

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BUT

There is hope

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Why did Jesus have to die?

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Why did Jesus have to die? And how did Jesus’ death on the cross provide forgiveness for our sins? (Take a few moments for students to share.)

Many people have sacrificed their lives to save someone else. Police, firefighters, and soldiers live with the constant reminder that they may lose their lives to protect others. But Jesus' death was different because of who he is.

In the beginning, when God created the first man and woman, they enjoyed an incredible bond. Nothing stood between God and his relationship with Adam and Eve until they chose to sin, placing a separation between them and the bond they had with God.

Just as Adam and Eve experienced a separation in their relationship with God, we too have made choices that have driven us away from our true home with God. Like in the game, we have jumped to the wrong side of the line and are trapped there by our sin.

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You were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

Ephesians 2:1-3

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But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved.

Ephesians 2:4-5

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But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations.

Ephesians 2:13-15a

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His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.

Ephesians 2:15b-16

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So what…

How does this lesson change the way I think about what Jesus did for me on the cross?

Tool time

Teacher Note: If using the accompanying PowerPoint presentation, follow along with the slide numbers listed in the instructions below. If no PowerPoint presentation is used for this lesson, make sure that you have either a dry erase board with markers, large sheet of paper, or a chalkboard to draw the image shown. Your script will provide you with what to say as you build this diagram for the students in your club.

So the big question is SO WHAT? How does this lesson change the way I think about what Jesus did for me on the cross? How can I use it to explain the Gospel to my friends in a new way? (Let students think about this for just a moment.)

We have all felt isolated or alienated like we don’t belong. Sometimes it feels like there is a gap that we just can’t bridge. Our sin has separated us from God, but he loves us so much that he sent Jesus to bridge that gap and to allow us to be fully reconciled to him.

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(Draw the cross and the stick figure and add the words Believe and God, with the arrows and JESUS CHRIST in the center. If using the PowerPoint presentation, point to the right mountain. This image should be on Slide 15)

(Point to the words JESUS CHRIST.)

The solution to this gap, which represents our sin, is through Jesus. It is by his death on the cross that he overcame the penalty of sin for us, so that we could be fully and completely forgiven of our sin. It’s by the grace of God that we have been forgiven for our sins.

The cross that Jesus died on provides a bridge for us to walk over to him. But death was not the end for Jesus. On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead, breaking death’s power over humanity. Because of his resurrection, we each have the chance to live with God for eternity.

Look back over to the right mountain where it says, “FREE GIFT.” Romans 6:23 says, The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Because of Jesus, our relationship with God has been restored, and we receive eternal life. We only see glimpses right now of what eternity will look like, but one day we will know it fully.

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What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love him.

1 Corinthians 2:9

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For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

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Who can I pray for this week?

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Let’s pray

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Thanks

See you next time!