Theme:
Hope
Title:
Experiencing Jesus
Desired Outcome:
That the members will understand being intimate with God and being in the same room as God is not the same thing. You can sit next to a friend but still be more intimate with your wife for instance
Core Scriptures:
- John 6:35
- John 5:39
Welcome:
Any fun and welcoming Icebreaker that gets the members moving, on their feet, where all the members can participate in. If there are new members be careful not to create a space where they feel exposed or uncomfortable.
Word:
You can ask the following questions:
- Have you ever sat in uGroup or in a church service or listen to someone give you advice and think – that’s great, and I know now the steps to get there, but that is not really what I need right now?
- g. Goals for 2019, but there are people who can’t breathe and on lung machines.
- g. like how to service your Ferrari, but you don’t even have a car, let alone a Ferrari.
- Or are you trying to get your friends/family saved or trying to do God’s work or trying to do your own work – but the harder you try the more you feel like it is not working. Your efforts produce no result?
- What do you think might be wrong then? Like where is the missing link?
- We lack the very thing that would enable us to do all of the other things. If we don’t have breath in our lungs, we won’t be able to do anything.
- Why do you think sometimes, you read your Bible, and you pray, and you go to uGroup, you go to church, you do everything to the letter, but somehow changed?
- Read both scriptures and ask what the difference is between them:
- John 5:39 – you search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
- Core verse: John 6:35 – and Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
- So, what do we need?
- We need Jesus.
- How can we get Jesus? How do we experience Him, how do we have an encounter with Him?
- We must meet Him;
- Meet someone – you don’t know someone unless you meet them
- We won’t experience or believe what people tell us about Jesus if we don’t spend time with Him and see for ourselves.
- Where:
- The Word – John 1:1&14 – Jesus is the Word.
- Their attitude might be that they read the word. But ask them if they read the word to know/encounter Jesus instead of just reading words with no meaning to them.
- Verse: no one leaves the Presence of God unchanged – even if you don’t realize it right away – there is a new thing coming.
- Why:
- Jesus CAN AND WANTS to meet all your needs:
- Verse: Exodus 3:14 – and God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you,’”
- I AM comes from the Hebrew verb “to be”.
- And He has been there since the beginning of time
- He made you, He has been at your birth, your first birthday, the first time someone broke your heart, your trust, all the times you cried (not out of happiness)
- He’s seen it all and He has been through it all and been through it all with you.
Conclusion:
What do you need tonight? – What do you need Jesus (God) for tonight – Healer, Helper, Provider, Chain breaker? Ask for that in Worship – because ask and you shall receive. He is a good Father – and so a child that calls to their father, will surely be helped.
Encourage members to be open to what God wants to do. He won’t force Himself on us. He wants us to come to Him.