Lost In Translation: Belief Righteousness Salvation

WEEK 4 (FEB. 26, 2012) Putting it all together... how does "Belief", "Righteousness", and "Salvation" work together? I shared an illustration of basketball. I want to play basketball and I believe that I can play so I go out and buy a basketball and find a hoop and start shooting (Belief). Sometime I make a basket... but, at least at first, most of the time I miss. I never miss on purpose but the more I practice, the more I make and the less I miss (Righteousness). God will only let me in heaven if I never miss a basket... but because of Jesus' death on the cross and my acknowledgement of Jesus as Lord (coach) of my life, God ignores my missed shots and only sees me making my shots. Now I know this has some theological holes, but on the surface, this is how "Belief", "Righteousness", and "Salvation" work... 


BOTTOM LINE: 

What we believe, fuels what we do. What we do moves us closer or further from God. God moves closer to us, because of Jesus in spite of how far we move from Him.

PARENT CUE: This is a great time to have a discussion about what "being saved" really means. Keep the conversation simple and ask for examples.

How would you illustrate "Belief", "Righteousness", & "Salvation"?

Lost In Translation: Salvation

WEEK 3 (FEB. 19, 2012) "Salvation"... one of the most overused and maybe underestimated words in the Christian vocabulary. It's easy to be thankful for salvation and yet forget what it really means. When you study the Scriptures, it's obvious that Jesus didn't just save us from the punishment of our sin... He saved us to actually live out what we say we believe about Jesus. How many people think that "I've said the prayer, now I'm saved"... unfortunately that's isn't anywhere in the Scriptures... there's something more to "salvation". It's not earning your salvation... it's more of "working out your own salvation" (Philippians 2:12-13)

BOTTOM LINE: 

Salvation... not just saved "from" but saved "to"

PARENT CUE: This is a great time to have a discussion about what "being saved" really means. Keep the conversation simple and ask for examples.

What does it mean to "work out your own salvation"? 

Lost In Translation: Righteousness

WEEK 2 (FEB. 12, 2012) We don't use the word "righteousness" anymore. But this word is a key to really understanding the Gospel. Without righteousness, we would be... well... unrighteous. And unrighteousness is what separates us from God. This week, we challenged the students to think about that word and how it works with "Beliefs". Beliefs are internal choices (convictions) that affect external actions (what we do). And "what we do" is either righteous or unrighteous. Our actions prove what we really believe... and what we really believe affects how we act or react... they go hand-in-hand. 

BOTTOM LINE: 

True righteousness begins when we line out hearts up with God's heart

PARENT CUE: We used a phrase "WHEN YOU SEE AS GOD SEES, YOU WILL DO AS GOD SAYS"... that's righteousness. And that is what God expects from us. Discuss the following question with your teen sometime after our discussion on Sunday morning (be sure to share what you think about the question... be honest, be simple, be listening more than speaking. You may have to explain the question a little, too:

Why do we try to separate what we believe from what we do? 

Lost In Translation: Belief

WEEK 1 (FEB. 5, 2012) Belief is a word that we use often in the Christian faith. We talk about believing in Jesus. We talk about believing in the Bible. We talk about believing in God’s church. But what if we are just scratching the surface when it comes to our understanding of belief? What if instead of simply believing in Jesus, we started to believe Jesus? Believe who He says He is and believe what we read about Him in the Bible. What if we saw the word “belief” as having more to do with a person and less to do with a set of statements or ideas? In this session, we look at the word “belief” in light of who Jesus says He is. We turn the tables on a belief that resonates with facts and instead resonates with the person of Jesus Christ. 

BOTTOM LINE: 

Beliefs are convictions that affect what you do

PARENT CUE: One of the phrases the students will see and hear this Sunday is "Trusting in who He is changes who we are"... and ultimately should change what we say we believe. We don't believe so we can trust... we trust so we learn what to believe. Discuss the following question with your teen sometime after our discussion on Sunday morning (be sure to share what you think about the question... be honest, be simple, be listening more than speaking:

What are some things that you have a hard time   believing about God?