ADAM and Eve - Week 1
“The One Question Every Man Must Answer”
Group Leader Guide for use April 15-21, 2012
Directions: This guide provides a menu of teaching and discussion materials to help in leading your group. Please select and use the materials that best suit your group.
SERMON RECAP:
The creation story tells us from the very beginning what a Godly relationship looks like. By examining the book of Genesis and God’s design for holy relationships, we can begin to piece together the complete picture of how He wants us to approach them.
In this series, we will tackle this subject from the male perspective. The first question that every man must answer is this:
Will Jesus be primary or secondary in my life?
Every man (and woman) must properly relate to God before he can properly relate to another person. A few factors that indicate how we’re doing:
ICEBREAKER:
2012 has been a year when Christian men in sports have gotten positive media attention, men who appear to make Jesus primary in their life amid fame and stardom. Tim Tebow in the NFL, Jeremy Lin in the NBA and Bubba Watson in the PGA have all boldly gone on the record about their faith in Jesus Christ. Ask your group: (1) What effect do the testimonies of Christian sports stars such as these men have on the church? Explain your answer. (2) What effect do their testimonies and faith have on the world, including those close to them such as teammates or fans who follow them religiously?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Leaders’ note: Answers provide Bible verses for the group to look at together as you reinforce the Bible as the guide and source for victorious living.
Q: What are some things you see about God in Genesis 1, 2 and 3 that He would want you to recognize and acknowledge? These things can be facets of His character or evidences from His actions. Brainstorm these ideas together.
A: Genesis 1-3
God wants you to acknowledge that HE MADE IT ALL, and the world belongs to Him (including you). He wants you to recognize that He is a God of light and can lead you out of darkness. He wants you to realize that He’s creative and giving, One who can provide all we need. He’s a God who blesses man, not because of what man can do for Him, but because goodness and blessing are part of His character. He’s a God who loves man and made him like Himself for relationship and fellowship. He’s a God who holds people in accountability, not skirting the tough issues. And He’s a God who comes after us and calls to us when we sin, because He doesn’t want us to be separated from Him.
Q: (a) When Adam sinned, in what ways did He sin against God? (b) In what ways did he sin against Eve? (c) In what ways was his sin “his problem and nobody else’s?”
A: Genesis 3, Psalm 51
(a) Adam sinned against God by doing what God told him not to do, which is disobedience. He sinned by listening to the wrong voice (Eve), rather than calling out to God for help in temptation. He sinned by not being truthful with God, not coming clean and trying to hide from God. (b) Adam sinned against Eve by not being a spiritual leader. and staying true to what God had told them. Although Eve was responsible to God, too, Adam allowed her to go down a dangerous path with Satan without attempting to protect her or intervene (since the Bible says he was with her). (c) None of Adam’s sin was his problem alone; it had consequences for his family and the family of man. Sin may seem to be “private” and not hurting anyone else, but its ripples always to spread to others with damaging and destructive effects.
Q: Is putting Jesus first a decision you make once or can you make it many times?
A: John 13:36-38, 18:15-18, 25-27, 21:15-19; Lamentations 3:22-24
At salvation, you make a confession that Jesus is Lord and that you will be putting Him first in your life. But, placing Jesus as the primary thing in our life is also a decision that we have to make every day, often multiple times a day. Nearly every decision we make throughout the day about how live our lives is an opportunity to show the world that we value God more than everything else. However, none of us are perfect and we all fail to do this at times. Peter failed to put Jesus’s will first three different times even after Jesus warned him that he would do that. Instead of giving up on him, Jesus gave Peter grace and continued to use his life for His glory. God grants us new mercy every day to enable us to choose Him again, regardless of how we may have failed the day before.
Q: Making God primary in our life means we must become secondary. What kinds of sacrifices does this involve?
A: Romans 12:1-2, John 3:30, Matthew 26:36-39, Philippians 2:1-11
Making God the primary person in our lives means that we will have to become secondary. The specific sacrifices God call us to make will look different in each of our lives, but in order to put God first we will all have to sacrifice our will in exchange for God’s will. Jesus’s life is the perfect model for this. He left heaven to come to earth, and then went to the cross. Jesus put His own will aside and followed God’s plan. Allowing God to be first in our life means that His plans come before our own.
LEADS APPLICATION:
The heart of NewSpring home groups is summarized by the acronym L.E.A.D.S.:
L – learn the Bible together. Make sure God’s Word always trumps people’s opinions. Challenge people to form a Biblical worldview about what godliness really is for a man.
E – embrace serving together. Plan a get-together every semester to serve a group/person in need, perhaps a man struggling with his identity in Christ or with difficulties caused by sin.
A – assist one another. Men may have trouble asking for help. Be sensitive. Look and listen for cries for help from men (in or close to your group) that come in ways other than words.
D – devote ourselves to generosity. Ask your group to go through their closet, garage, storage area, etc., and get a load of stuff together to give a men’s shelter.
S – send people out to start new groups. Look for people in whom Jesus is the primary focus of their life, and who can help others do so, as well.
In what area of LEADS is your group weakest? Which one of those challenges listed above is hardest?
This Sunday our preschool pirates set sail aboard the Jolly Roger to discover that The Bible Says Jesus Is Always With Us! We learned this from a Bible story called "Jesus Goes to Heaven!" (Matthew 28:16-20; Luke 24:44-51; Acts 1:6-11). Click on your listening ears and put on your special eyes (your preschooler can show you how!), then click below to see how Captain Buckleboots' special map told us this great story!
Next Sunday will be the last in our Pirates! series, so check back later this week to find out about something special that happens on the last day of each KidSpring series.
This week, there was mutiny aboard the Penny Poor! Salty tried to tie up Captain Captain and change the route of the Penny Poor toward the island of Nah Trajare. Even though Salty tied Captain up and tried to take over the ship, Captain remembered a story from his mum about showing forgiveness. Captain taught us that Jesus forgives all our sins and we should forgive others, too! We learned When I Follow Jesus, I Forgive Others!
We hope you will join us this Sunday as we embark on the last week of our voyage! Will Captain and Satly find the Island of the Unknown? Will it be all they have hoped for? Come back to find out!