LAUNCH

Have you heard the phrase, “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you?” Originally it was talking about a pet and his owner, but the meaning has gone on to include humans. What do you think this means? 

EXPLORE

1. Read Luke 15:11-24.  How do you think this story relates to the phrase we just discussed, “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you”?  

2. Who in the story represents God and who represents us?

3. Why did the son leave his father who loved him and provided for him?

4.  How do you think the father in the story felt about his son’s actions and attitudes?  

5. How did the son’s actions or attitudes affect the father’s love?

APPLY

6. If you had been the father in our story, how would you have felt? How would you have greeted your son?

7.  In what way do you see yourself in the life of the son?  

8.  How does God’s amazing love cause you to react as you think about your own life? Do you find this level of love very often in the world around you?

9. Just like the father in this story, how does God long for us to respond to his unimaginable love?

10. For the rest of the story continue reading Luke 15:25-32.

LAUNCH

If you have ever known a two-year-old child or been one yourself, you know they just do wrong things. No one has to teach them to be selfish, want their own way or do something they shouldn’t and then try to hide it. Doing the wrong thing just comes naturally. This situation didn’t start with two year olds. It began way back in the book of Genesis with Adam and Eve.

EXPLORE:

1. Going back to the beginning of the Bible, what do Genesis 2:8-9, Genesis 2:15-17 and Genesis 3:1-6 say about how sin first took root on the earth?  

2.  What do these passages say about God?

3. Why did Adam and Eve eat the fruit?

4. Why is it so bad that they ate the fruit?

5. Another passage in the Bible that talks about the problem of sin is Romans 3:9-11.  What does this passage say about you?  

6. What are some of the consequences of sin?

APPLY

7. Are you a “Pretty Good Person?” Many times we consider ourselves to be “a pretty good person” because we compare ourselves to the people around us rather to God’s perfect standard, but it is important for us each to realize just how far we fall from God’s standard. Let’s take just a few of the 10 commandments and see how you do…

SIN REPORT CARD

Are you a “Pretty Good Person?”

Sometimes we feel like we’re pretty good compared to others, but the Bible says we are all sinful and need Christ’s forgiveness.  What do you need forgiveness for?  The list below represents 5 of the 10 Commandments from the Bible.  Check the box by any sins that you have ever committed. 

• Disobey your parents (Exodus 20:12)
• Murder (Exodus 20:13)
• Steal (Exodus 20:15)
• Commit Adultery (Exodus 20:14)
• Lie (Exodus 20:16)

This exercise is not intended to “shame” you, but to help us recognize why we need Jesus.  You won’t be asked to turn this in, it’s just for you..

Before we move on, let’s look at a few more verses…

8. Look up a few more verses.  What does 1 John 3:15 say about murder? So, are you a murderer? What does Matthew 5:28 say about adultery? So, are you an adulterer?

9. If you have marked all of these sins, then you are a disobedient child, a murderer, a thief, an adulterer, and a liar. Have you ever thought of yourself like that? With that description, do you sound like a “pretty good person”?

10.  Do you feel like you deserve the consequences we talked about in question 5? Why or why not?

11.  God is a just God and because of that, everyone’s sin has to be paid for. However, God is also loving and, although he can’t just overlook our sin as if it wasn’t there, he has come up with a solution for our sin. Next week we will talk about that. 

LAUNCH

Imagine you’re on one side of California’s Golden Gate Bridge. Now imagine trying to jump from one side of the bay to the other (more than a mile across). Even if you were an Olympic gold medal winner in the long jump, how far do you think you would get?

EXPLORE

1. Read Romans 5:6-11. How does this paragraph describe us before Jesus came to us? See verses 6, 8, and 10.

2. How would you define each of these words: weak, ungodly, sinners, and enemies?

3. What did Christ do for us according to verses 6 and verse 8? What was God’s motivation?

4. Why did Christ have to die? What’s unique about Jesus that he could pay for our sins? See Romans 6:23for a clue.

5. What do verses 9-11 say about us as a result of trusting in Christ?

6. What does it mean that we’re justified before God, saved from God’s wrath, and reconciled to God?

APPLY

7. How does it change the way you live when you know you’re justified (“just-as-if-I’ve-never-sinned”), instead of striving for God’s approval through your own efforts?

8. How does it feel to know that trusting in Jesus saves you from God’s wrath because of your sin?

9. What difference does it make in the way you live to be God’s friend instead of his enemy?

10. Think about some of the people God has placed in your life. Who do you think most needs to know about Jesus bridging the gap for them to have a relationship with God?

11.  What’s a specific step you think God wants you to take to help this person see that Jesus wants to bridge the gap?

LAUNCH

The world’s first commercial bungee jump operation opened at the Kawarau Bridge in Queensland, New Zealand in 1988. What would it take for you to take the 141 foot plunge?

EXPLORE:

1. Read John 3:1-3  What is happening in this story?

2. What do you learn about Nicodemus? What kind of knowledge of God and scripture would you say he has?

3. What does Nicodemus say he knows about Jesus?

4. What would you say is the difference between knowing about something and believing in something? Would you describe Nicodemus as believing in in Jesus? Why or why not?

5. According to Jesus, what does it take to enter the kingdom of God?  

6. John also talks about this idea of being born in John 1:12-13. According to this passage what is our part and what is God’s part in our becoming a child of God?

7. Read John 3:4-18.  Where do you see our part and God’s part mentioned throughout the passage?

APPLY

8. Nicodemus had seen the signs that Jesus had done and decides to seek him out to learn more. What have you seen or heard about Jesus that makes you want to know more? What are you doing to seek him out

9. How would you compare the experience of bungee jumping to someone placing their faith in Christ for salvation?

10.  How does it take the pressure off when you are sharing the gospel with someone to know that there is both a God part and a personal response part in a person coming to salvation?

11.  What is one thing that has been most helpful for you from this study today? How can you apply it?

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