The Greatest Sci-Fi Novel #5: Resolution -- 032812

Tonight we continued our study of the Bible by looking at the resolution.  The resolution, also known as the Denouement is the point in which the conflict is revealed to be resolved and there is an unravelling of the knots of the plot.  In fact denouement is the combonation of two words which mean to untie a knot. 

In the beginning we had a conflict arise between God and humans, so they couldn't have a close relationship anymore, sin had tied us up with knots so that we couldn't escape, because of this we are destined to die and go to hell.  But God had a plan to untie those knots of sin, and it involved Him coming to earth and dying for us, talking our sin upon Himself, this was the climax of the book we talked about last week.  Then Jesus was buried, everyone on earth, and even Satan, thought the plan had failed, but God's plan had actually worked.  Early on that following Sunday morning Jesus rose from the grave, alive!  The resurrection of Jesu was the resolution to the conflict.  It proved that Jesus had defeated sin and death, he had untied the knot of sin that was keeping God and humanity apart.  We could have a close relationship with him again, and we oculd go to eternity with him instead of hell when we die.  Denouement means untying a knot.  Your life is in a knot if you haven't made Jesus your God.  You are tied up in your sins and have no way to escape.  But Jesus' death and resurrection has provided a way to have those sins untied and give us freedom, allw e have to do is repent and make him our God.  Are you ready for him to untie your knots?  Just ask.

I give tonight: A++
Favorite moment: Pastor Alex being all tied up during the service

The Greatest Sci-Fi Novel #4:Climax -- 032112

Tonight we continued our study of the Bible called the Greatest Sci-Fi Novel (see post #1 in this series to understand this).  Tonight we talked about the climax of the book.  The climax is the point of highest dramatic tension or the major turning point in the action.  The climax of the Bible is the death of Jesus on the cross.  One place this is talked about is Mattthew 27:32-50.  This is the turning point, the point when everything changes.  He died, taking our sin upon himself, and our punishment so that we could have a relationship with God again.  He solved the conflict, but at the time no one knew that.  Instead, during that moment everyone thought this was a big failure.  Why?  Because at that point, many believed the Messiah would come but they thought He would be a military leader who would lead Israel out of slavery to Rome and reestablish them as a great kingdom.  They were expecting a fighter, and when Jesus was arrested, beaten, and then killed, he had failed in a very complete way for those expecting a fighter, because he didn't even try putting up a fight.  When we get to next week, you will get this more, but this moment of "failure" that was a horrible death, wasn't what it seemed, because what God's enemy intended as evil, he took and exchanged it for something good. 

My greatest failure was my addiction to internt pornography.  God din't like that I failed, he didn't approve of what I was doing, but since that point I have repented and turned this area of my life over to Him.  Since then God has taken my failure and used it for good things, he has helped my story and failure change the life of at least one other so they could find freedom and become whole again.  God took what was a failure and exchanged it for something good.  He can do that with your failures too.

I give tonight: A+
Favorite Moment: Glow sticks for failures

The Greatest Sci-Fi Novel #3 -- Rising Action: 031412

Tonight we continued our look at the greatest book, the Bible by looking at the third thing that makes a book well written: Rising Action.  Rising action is th epoint in the book in which things are leading our characters toward a climax.  It is the point in which the path to the solution starts to make a little more sense.  In The Hobbit the rising action is what takes place after Bilbo is hired to help get the mountain and treasure back from the dragon.  He and his group go through many adventures and Bilbo embraces his role as hero.  He gets into the mountain using a map and is able to stand safely before the dragon because of the ring that makes him invisible.  He is able to determine what to do in order to defeat the dragon.  The solution is now out and we are very close to the climax so that the conflict can be resolved.  Now there was a plan, it was just a matter of waiting for the timing to be right.

In the Bible the rising action is anything from Genesis 4 to the death of Jeesus.  We see Noah and his family survive a worldwid flood, we see a man named Abraham chosen by God to have a future descendant bless the whole world, we see a man named Jacob chosen by God to be the father of a nation (Israel) that will have that offspring that will bless all people, we see prophet after prophet foretell the coming of this person who will restore relationship with God and man, and we see Israel fall apart but God sitll promise there is one coming to solve the conflict. There was a plan in place, it was just a matter of waiting for the timing to be right.

Galatians 4:4-6 tells us that the right time did come and Jesus was born, as we see in Luke 2:1-12.  And it is proclaimed that this child would be the one that everyone had waited for to solve the conflict that seperated God and man.  There are some of you who are having a very difficult time in your life and you want God to solve it...know this, God has a plan, he has a solution, it is just a matter of time.  So what should we do while we wait for the time to be right?  #1.  Pray, #2. Have Patience, #3. Trust, #4. Get others to pray with us.

I give tonight: A-
Favorite Moment: Sharon's two innapporpriate comments

The Greatest Sci-Fi Novel #2 -- Foreshadowing: 030712

Tonight we continued our study of the bible as a great novel, trying to get a quick overview of what is all about.  Tonight we talked about the need for foreshadowing in a great book.  In sci-fi novels it can be a prophecy, a poem, a statement from one of the characters that later comes about.  Forewshadowing is the part that tries to show that there is resolve coming to the conflict, it gives you bits and pieces to expect later on so that you have hope in a good outcome.  We used the book Two Towers to show a case of this in a sci-fi novel.  In it Gandalf tells the people in Helms Deep to look for his coming at the dawn of a certain day.  The people there end up trapped by an overwhelming force and they know they are about to be destroyed, but then they see the light of dawn and are reminded of the promise of Gandalf, thus reminding them there is hope that there is someone coming to save them...which he does.

In the Bible there are a lot parts from Genesis-Malachi (the Old Testament) that accomplish this part of the great book, foreshadowing, which is done in the Bible through a process called prophecy.  The first prophecy is Genesis 3:15 in which we learn that from the very beginning that God has a plan to resolve this conflict that has driven a wedge between God and man.  In isaiah 53:1-12 we get another of those prophecies of a coming solution, a suffering servant who would get crushed for us, heis purpose to restore our relationship with God by taking way our sins.  This should bring us hope.

For youth group we asked you to bring your name and the meaning of your name.  In the Bible names often carry with them the idea that they mean something about who they are and what they were to do.  So Moses means "to draw out" because it describes who he is, he was drawn out of the water by his adopted mom, and who he was to become, the one who would draw his people out of slavery in Egypt.  In Isaiah 7:14 we find a foreshadowing of the promised savior and he is named Immanuel which means "God with us".  This was to show who he was, God literally with us on earth, but also who he was to become, God with us even now.  He is standing beside us even during the most difficult times, he resides in us when we get saved.  Don't forget, no matter how difficult the time you are going through Jesus is standing beside you.  And that should bring you hope!

I give tonight: A+
Favorite Moment: Times of Ministry for Students