Last night, I had the privilege of teaching a lesson at AWANA to 17 clubbers ranging from 3rd to 6th grade. Here was the content of my lesson:
Our memory verse is Joshua 1:9 – “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Then I showed this short video (2 min 37 sec) to give them the context of this verse:
I started off by asking a question:
How many of you believe in the God of the Bible? Everyone (who was paying attention 🙂 ) raised their hands in agreement as I expected, so then I asked a follow-up question:
Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?
This question is based on a question that Del Tackett asked during “The Truth Project”:
To clarify, I reminded them some of what they believe: that the God who created the universe and everything in it:
- Knows every detail about you, loves you and is watching over you?
- That the Bible is His inspired word; that He knows what your attitude is about His word and whether you live according to it?
- That Jesus was not just a good man and good teacher, but that He God the Son – the One Who created and sustains the universe – that He really lived, walked the earth, lived a perfect life, did miracles and predicted that He would die and rise from the dead and then did it? That His death and resurrection really did pay the penalty that you deserved for your sins?
- That when you pray to God, He actually hears you?
- That one day, when you die, you will actually go to heaven to live with Him forever? But that others will be cast into hell?
If you really believed all of that was real, it would affect the way you live your life. What are some of the ways that would affect the way you lived? You would sincerely attempt to live your life according to the Bible, which would involve:
- Reading your Bible every day, meditating on it and memorizing it
- Praying to God every day
- Going to church on a regular basis
- Striving to live holy lives (rather than wonder how close you can get to sinning without sinning)
- When you do sin, you would be quick to sincerely repent and be reconciled to God (not just be sorry that you got caught)
- Not be a hypocrite – you would live and act the same whether you’re at church, school, home, a friend’s house or by yourself
- When making decisions, you would always have first in mind what God wants you to do
- Since we know that those who don’t believe in Jesus will not go heaven, you would make sure to tell them about Jesus, even if they think you’re strange and weird and make fun of you.
- You would expect to be persecuted for your faith and not be surprised when that happens
And finally, you would not be worried or afraid, but you would be courageous, knowing that God is with you, which is what our memory verse Joshua 1:9 tonight talks about.
I want you to see how “what you believe” is connected to “how you live your life”. A person who claims to be a believer in the God of the Bible, but who does the following, is not living according to what they profess to believe:
- Lives a life of constant, unrepentant sin
- Doesn’t read their Bible, pray or go to church
- Acts/speaks differently depending on who they are with
- Makes decisions without reference to God’s word
- Is constantly worried, discouraged or afraid
Belief will manifest itself in the way you live!
1 Peter 4:12-16 