EQUIP WEEK
EQUIPPING STUDENTS WITH THE GOSPEL TOOL
WELCOME
Foundation Scripture
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…” ~ 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
SAY: “Welcome to First Priority. We are glad you are here! Today marks Month 3 where we will focus on who Jesus is and what He did for us. Last month, we talked about God, as in God the Father. We asked hard questions and learned about the attributes of God. There are a lot of opinions about who Jesus is but we want to see clearly how the Bible describes Him. Before we get started, let’s open in prayer…”
OPENING PRAYER
DIG IN
SAY: “Jesus is the central figure in all of history. There has never been anyone else like Jesus. He was known as a teacher, leader, prophet, Son of God, and God Himself.
Jesus, being fully God and fully man, is hard for us to understand but we can begin to get a glimpse of who He is by looking at these three areas:
- The God who became man
- The man who is God
- Christ as our Savior
Let’s take a closer look at those three statements through the lens of Scripture and see what we can learn about Jesus.”
(Break into small groups or use as large group discussion)
- The God who became man – Read Philippians 2:5-7
- What does this verse tell us about Jesus BEFORE He became a man
- According to verse 7, what did Jesus do?
- Jesus experienced humanity. Read Mark 4:38, Luke 4:2, and John 11:35. How do these verse display Jesus’ humanity? (Ex. “He was tired, hungry, etc.)
- The man who is God – Read Mark 2:3-12
- What authority does Jesus show and use in these verses?
- According to verse 7, who alone can forgive sins?
- Since Jesus has the authority to forgive sins, and only God can forgive sins, what does that tell us about Jesus?
- Christ as our Savior – Read John 3:16-17
- According to these verses, what did God do for the whole world?
- Why did God send His Son, Jesus?
- What is the purpose of using the word “Savior” to describe Jesus?
“Let’s look at Romans 6:23, ‘For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.'”
There are a lot of questions during this time. If your Club doesn’t have enough time to read and answer all of them, Try to read just the verses and maybe ask one question each. (and limit the responses)
TOOL TIME
SAY: “Now let’s transition into some discussion time about salvation.
- What is salvation?
- Salvation means being rescued from sin that separates you from God.
- Why do we need to be saved?
- Because, as we learned in Month 2, God is holy and that means He cannot have sin in His presence because sin equals death. So because of our sin, we are separated from God forever unless someone or something has the power to save us. We do not have that power ourself.
So, with what we know about salvation, we are left wondering…How are we saved? Salvation is ONLY available through the work of Jesus on the Cross and His resurrection. His death on the Cross and His resurrection means we have been redeemed. Redemption means “the action of being saved from sin, evil, and death.”
Let’s take a look at how we are saved by reading Ephesians 1:7, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of His grace.”
WOW! How encouraging it is to know that Jesus Christ took our place and paid for our sins so we can have redemption in Him.”
If you ran out of time from the last discussion, just briefly talk through the two bullet-point questions. If not, these are great discussion questions to open up for anyone to answer.
SAY: “Now let’s talk about the Four that we have been discussing for the last few months. We have learned a little more about Jesus, who He is, and what He did for us, we are going to discuss what we know about Jesus and how what we have talked about fits into the Gospel story.
Let’s have one last discussion time to apply what we have learned.
- What is something new or interesting you learned about Jesus today that you would want to share with others?
- How does Jesus fit into the Gospel?
- Think about the third Icon of the FOUR, the Cross, what do we know about this part of Jesus’ life, about the Gospel, that we can use to share with others?
Those are some wild ideas to understand: Jesus is human.. and God.. and our Savior.. But because we learned that we can trust the Bible in Month 1, we know that even though some of these ideas are hard to understand, we can still trust them!
The question we want to leave you with today and what we will talk about next week is… ‘What does this all mean for me?'”
Here is a link to a guide on understanding THE FOUR.
SAY: “We have talked a lot about Jesus, who He is, and how He fits into the Gospel story. And it has been so great to hear everyone share their hearts about Him. If you have any questions about Jesus or what we talked about today, please talk to a Student Leader or Campus Coach.
As we wrap up our time today, a Student Leader will be passing out prayer cards. This is an opportunity for you to take the time to write the names of a people you are committed to praying for.
Let’s close our Club in prayer.”
CLOSING PRAYER
Have a student leader ready to pass out prayer cards.
If you are planning a Thanksgiving Party, don’t forget to announce it and tell everyone to invite their friends!
