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The Promise Maker

Month 3| 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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under pressure

Let’s Play!

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Digging deeper

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How do you naturally react to failure?

How do you naturally react to failure? How do you feel when you don’t achieve a goal you’ve set for yourself? (Take a few moments for students to share.)

Failure can often feel like the end of our story. Thoughts like, “Give up! You were never good enough to try in the first place!” flood our minds and cause us to doubt our ability to try again.

Just a few generations after Adam and Eve’s failure to obey God in the Garden, the entire world failed so badly, the Bible says God regretted making human beings on the earth. You’ve probably heard this story before: God sent a flood to wipe out every living creature… that is, with the exception of Noah, his family, and two of every kind of animal.

Just like in the Garden, God didn’t let our failure have the final word. Instead, he made a promise. And his promise paved a new way forward for humanity on the path of grace.

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I now establish my covenant with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you–the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you–every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.

Genesis 9:8-11

I now establish my covenant with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you–the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you–every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth. (Genesis 9:8-11)

God knew that people would fail again. They would reject him and trouble his heart. Yet rather than being done with us, he blessed us - again (Gen 9:1; 1:28) - and made an everlasting covenant with us. That’s how God works: He makes promises, and then he keeps them.

We can see God’s promise making pattern continue just a few chapters later after Noah’s descendants had fallen back into humanity’s pattern of sin.

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The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.

Genesis 12:1-3

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you. (Genesis 12:1-3)

With this promise, God created the people of Israel - his chosen nation through whom he would continue his plan to redeem the world. Like Adam and Eve, Israel experienced their own exile because of sin, but even they couldn’t stop God’s plan to bring us home to himself. Most of the Old Testament tells their story with God, and it’s a story propelled by God’s promises to its climax in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

Jesus is the descendant of Abraham through whom God is blessing the whole world. All of God’s promises have their completion in him. Through God’s promises and perfect love, he gives humanity a hope for the future.

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So what…

What difference do God’s promises make in your life today?

Tool time

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Key idea

God’s promises mean that your failures never have the final word in your story.

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If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

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And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

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How can you share about the promises of God with your friends?

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Key idea

God’s promises of redemption in Jesus give us hope for today.

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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!