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Alive in Five Speaking Notes – By Kent HulbertQuestion: Who is your favorite superhero and why?Many have a favorite such as Superman, Wonder Woman, Captain America, Captain Marvel to Iron Man.Let’s focus on one, Spider-Man. Spider-Man is a very average, insecure, nerdy teenager, struggling with a monumental crush, and coming to grips with his unique super powers and opportunity to make a positive difference in the world.15-year old Peter Parker attempts to be a friendly neighborhood superhero, but, when as the need arises and Peter’s school classmates need rescuing, Peter finds a way. Peter comes alive to his purpose and how to share his unique personality and gifts to help others. Just as Peter Parker is learning how to step up to challenge after challenge, we all can find the courage to step up to help others come ALIVE in a powerful relationship with God. As followers of Jesus, we have been given access to a power we can tap into whenever we call out to God in prayer. A power that is alive, beyond what our finite minds can sometimes think or imagine.The Bible describes it like this in Ephesians 1:19-21 (NLT) “I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. ?Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come.”By being alive in a relationship with God, we tap into God’s power in our lives which gives us strength and courage. Strength and courage, not only for ourselves, but, to share with others on how they can come alive to God and a relationship with Him.Alive in Five“…because of his great love for us,?God, who is rich in mercy,?made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:4-5 NIV“For I am not ashamed of the Good News about Christ, it is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes…” Romans 1:16 NLTHow someone can come alive to know God is the most amazing message in the history of humanity!Show ALIVE in FIVEGod is love.Our sins divides us from God.Jesus died for our sin, then came back to life. We need to decide to put our faith in God.The Holy Spirit will help us live for God.Five clear points of the Gospel message connected to five icons or images.Think of these as five points as talking points, little springboards to launch into deeper levels of conversation.God is love.God is the definition of love, and He loves us deeply. God’s love for us is reliable, everlasting, and has no limits!1 John 4:16“We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.”God created everything, and even the simple things He created are examples of how He loves us.Psalm 86:15“But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.”?God still loves us when we do wrong, or when we feel shame. God loves us even when we reject Him-even if we deny His existence! God not only loves you, but He also loves the entire world. How we are to love others is a reflection of His love toward us.1 John 4:7–8“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”In his powerful little book on drama, The Three Uses of the Knife, David Mamet describes the three key elements for every good drama.“Yes. No. But wait!”In Spider-Man, we see “Yes, Peter comes alive as Spider-Man”“No! He struggles with reconciling his own insecurities and guilt of his own mistakes with his superpowers.”“But wait! He overcomes enemies and obstacles to come alive to who he is meant to be.”Understanding God’s Love for us is the “yes” portion of the human drama. But we are about to unpack the “No!”Pair Share: (Break off in groups of 2-3 where seated) In What ways have you seen or felt God’s love?Our sins divides us from God.Sin is breaking God’s commands, violating God’s character and missing God’s mark. Sin is a problem everyone has.1 John 3:4“Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.”Our sin doesn't stop God from loving us, but when we sin we move away from God creating distance between us. There is nothing we can do to remove sin on our own.If you and I tried swimming from California to Hawaii without any help whatsoever it would be impossible. It’s about 2,500 miles! The longest that has ever been swam in the ocean unassisted is just over 100 miles. Let’s say you are a really strong swimmer and make it 50 miles. The world record holder makes it 100 miles. I may make it a half a mile. It doesn’t matter we’re all gonna drown. We all miss the mark that God has set. Maybe you’re better than me and Mother Theresa is better than you but all of us fall short of the standard. We have to be as good as God to get into heaven!Pair Share: In what ways has sin separated you from God?Jesus died for our sin, then came back to life. While we were separated because of sin, God showed His perfect love by sending Jesus, His Son, to live a sinless life and die a sacrificial death for us. God’s perfect love resulted in the perfect action to pay for our sin.Romans 5:8“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”1 Peter 3:18“Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.”I’m going to teach you a theological term that you can impress your parent’s with. It’s called “Substitutionary Atonement.” Say that with me “Substitutionary Atonement.” It basically means that Jesus died in our place for our sins. Just like a substitute teacher takes the place of the regular teacher, Jesus took our place and suffered for our sins. Here’s another way to explain it…The Semi Truck illustration: Let’s say you are walking across a busy street. You have your headphones in and are jamming to some tunes. What you don’t see is a huge semi-trailer tractor truck speeding in your direction at 100 mph. You don’t see it but your youth leader does and with lightning youth pastor type speed he runs across the street and pushes you out of the way. And he gets hit instead of you. He died in your place. The full impact of that speeding truck hit him instead of you. In the same way the anger of God was headed at us because of our sin and Jesus pushed us out of the way and took the hit so that we don’t have to. He took the full impact of God’s anger toward our sin so that we could live.That is what substitutionary atonement means, Jesus died in our place for our sins so that we could live!Not only did Jesus demonstrate God’s perfect love by dying, He also demonstrated His perfect power by conquering death and coming back to life.Romans 6:9–10“We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God.”Jesus was seen by over 500 witnesses on 12 different occasion over the course of 40 days and many of these witnesses died for their claim that they saw Jesus alive. Now many people will die for what they think to be the truth but nobody will die for what they know to be a lie. These people knew that Jesus rose again and were willing to die for it!Pair Share: what would it have felt like if someone were to take the punishment and pay the price for you?We need to decide to put our faith in God.Jesus paid the price to save us from our sin, but to receive that salvation we must put our faith in God.John 3:16“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”We do that by making Jesus our Lord and believing that God raised Him from the dead. When we put our trust in God, we have faith. Our faith enables us to receive God’s grace.Hebrews 11:6“And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”Romans 10:9–10“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”The Great Exchange…who’s got a piece of lint or crumpled up paper or piece of trash like a gum wrapper or something in their pocket? I will give you this $10 bill (or candy bar) if you will give me your piece of trash. Do you believe me? Then give me your trash… Give $10 bill in exchange for the piece of trash. In the same way Jesus took the trash of sin from our hearts and gave us his priceless righteousness. All we must do is believe and receive it.Pair Share: What is preventing you from having faith in God, and in Jesus’s death and resurrection?The Holy Spirit will help us live for God.Jesus died for our sin, but He also died so that we could have a better life by living a selfless life-a life focused on God and His perfect love. The Holy Spirit will help us! 2 Corinthians 5:15“He (Jesus) died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.”The new life that Jesus makes us alive to is not just for eternity, but it is also for how we live right now. We live the rest of our lives to honor Christ.The Holy Spirit also gives us power to be who God wants us to be and do what God wants us to do. John 14:26“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.”Acts 1:8“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”The Gospel message is MUCH greater than we could ever imagine. The Gospel is more than our sins forgiven and our relationship with God has be restored. God has also placed the Holy Spirit with in us to empower us to live our new life the moment we believe and trust Him as our Savior and Leader of our Life.Pair Share: In what ways do you need the Holy Spirit to help you live for God?It’s time to decide. Are you ready?Every person has to make his or her own decision to have faith in God. Just like a gift card. The value of the gift card is meaningless, unless the gift card is utilized. We must act on God’s offer.You can begin your faith journey with God by saying a simple prayer. A prayer is a way to express your faith and trust in Jesus. You might say something like the following prayer to God.Dear God,I believe that You are real, that You love me, and that I have been separated from You by sin.I know I cannot save myself from sin. I know only You can save me.Thank You for sending Jesus to pay the price for my sin.?I believe that Jesus is Lord, that He paid the price for my sin with His death, and that You raised Him from the dead.Please forgive me as I accept You into my life and help me through Your Holy Spirit.Help me to live for You.Amen.Not ready? You may not be ready to put your faith in God and live for Him, but that does not change how God feels about you. God still loves you and He will continue to reach out to you. God is patient because He does not want anyone to perish, including you (2 Peter 3:9). When you are ready to follow God, He is ready to welcome you.?Have doubts?Something Amazing still-exploring/ Cold Case Christianity Reasonable Faith – Read the Bible – Now What?Becoming a part of God’s family: The Church. Find a church that believes Jesus is Lord, one that believes and teaches the Bible, and one that embraces the Holy Spirit as He helps us grow. Join that church and become an active part of the Body of Christ.Pray: Talk to God. Pray to God on a regular basis; make it a daily habit in the morning or in the evening. Praying is as simple as talking to God. Tell God how you feel, what you are thinking, and how you need His help. Read the Bible. As we read the Bible, God reveals Himself to us through its pages and we learn more about Him.Find a spiritual mentor. Mentors help us grow in our faith and give us guidance. A mentor can be a pastor, youth pastor, small group leader, or simply a person who is wiser and more experienced in the Bible than we are.Share your faith with others. A big part of following Jesus is sharing God’s love with others, both by serving them and telling them about what Jesus has done for us.Next Steps?Memorize the GOSPEL.Take 5 minutes and have them memorize the five statements. Memorize for a minute. Say it without looking. Memorize it for a minute. Say it without looking. Turn to each other and quote it. Have fun practicing!Use it as a guide, not a script.The ultimate goal is to share it in the midst of a real conversation, not just a presentation.Tie in your story.Write a note on a Alive in five brochure and give them away to your friends. Let them know you want to meet up with them again and see if they had any questions.Look for ways to start conversations to share how others can be Alive in Christ. ................
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