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Let me tell you �about Jesus

Month 9| week 3: INVITE

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WELCOME!

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I Choose You!

Let’s Play!

Icebreaker Game: I Choose You!

Materials Needed: Container, scrap paper, pens/pencils

As students arrive, ask them to write down the most random superpowers they can think of on a scrap of paper without showing them to anyone.

Begin the game by asking two students in the group to be the Battle Masters. These students will each randomly choose another student to battle by calling out, “(name of student), I choose you!”

After each student is chosen, they will read the powers they wrote on their paper to the group. The group will then decide the winner of each battle by round of applause. The game concludes when every student has been chosen. The Battle Master with the most victories is the winner.

What a wide range of superpowers you have! Unlike the Battle Masters, God doesn’t choose us randomly; he isn’t surprised or even disappointed by us. He knows us intimately, claims us as his own, and is actively pursuing a close relationship with us.

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Digging deeper

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After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Mark 1:14-15

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Repentance leads �to restoration

One day John the Baptist finds himself in prison, and Jesus declares, “The Kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Repent is just another word meaning to turn around. Jesus essentially told people, “Hey, you are headed in the wrong direction. Turn around and go this way!”

His audience was not the first group of people to head the wrong way. Think about all the ways we have talked about this throughout the year. Think back to the Old Testament when we read about how God’s people, the Israelites, continually disobeyed God’s commands. They would start out obeying God, but, after a few years or even decades, we see them following the world’s example instead of God’s. They continually turned away from God, but, even so, God still loved his people. Whenever we call upon God and repent, he listens.

The Bible shows us that God desires to draw near to his people. He has done this since the very beginning. And he desires to do that for each one of us right now. When we choose to put our faith in Jesus as our Messiah, our relationship with God has been restored. God has rescued us from where we were and brings us into a renewed and transformed life with him.

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For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”

Colossian 1:13-15

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So what…

What does the Kingdom of God coming to earth mean for me today?

Tool time

So the big question is SO WHAT? What does the Kingdom of God coming to earth mean for me today? (Let students think about this for just a moment.)

From the very moment sin entered the world, God promised that he would send a Messiah, someone who would restore the relationship between God and humanity. Jesus came inviting people to experience a new life and to become a part of God’s Kingdom.

No matter what you think or even know about God, you have already experienced glimpses of God’s Kingdom today. Anytime you are overwhelmed with the beauty of a sunrise or see kind acts demonstrated to our neighbors, you see evidence of the Kingdom of God. When we love others well, like the first Christians were taught to do, and allow the fruit of the Spirit to grow in our lives, we will see glimpses of this Kingdom lived out every day.

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How have you seen glimpses of God’s Kingdom in your world?

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Jesus invites you to become part of God’s Kingdom!

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Key idea

Jesus’ death and resurrection allow

us to live in God’s Kingdom

today

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Let’s pray

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Let’s celebrate!

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Thanks

See you next time!