So this past weekend I just had the amazing opportunity of leading my first small group session. Now that I think back, it's something I've wanted to do for a while now, but never felt capable of.
I wasn't capable.
The night before, I'd completely drained myself from final preparations & I pretty much just collapsed onto bed. I woke up a bit earlier the morning before to do a bit more preparation - I was physically drained.
I hadn't even had time to read through my script out loud, I knew I wasn't able to do this well.
But I knew God could.
Throughout the presentation, I didn't even have to try, words just naturally flowed out of me. I wasn't even nervous. It just happened.
It definitely wasn't by my own power. God had done something great here.
Even though I felt physically weak, I was ill prepared, I still had the passion to share His message. And I really felt Him using it according to His will.
Even though I felt physically weak, I was ill prepared, I still had the passion to share His message. And I really felt Him using it according to His will.
I'm about to share my word-for-word script (warning: it's a long read).
I seriously couldn't have written all of it in the amount of time I did it in. I just can't be inspired so much for so long. God really inspired me as I was writing. So I hope that what you read, may not be my words to you, but God's message to you.
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Intro – Planting the Idea
Until next time,
Godbless~
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Intro – Planting the Idea
So today we’ll be discussing what ‘The Ideal World’ may be like. I’m
sure all of us already have our own ideas of what ‘The Ideal World’ would be
like.
Discussion: What properties or things would make our world right now Ideal? (Go along with it)
Interactive: Sit in a circle. Each person has a piece of A5 paper. Write each member’s name down the side. Write beside each name, one thing that that person would want in an ideal world. Be honest, but make sure it isn’t offensive to the other person (unless the person doesn’t mind) etc. After finished, each person says one thing they actually want. (sees if anyone gets it right). – for funs
I’m sure if you ask anyone what an ideal world would be like, they’d most probably answer with something along the lines of ‘no pain & suffering’. Today we’re going to have a look at the widely viewed idea of ‘The Ideal World’.
Discussion: What properties or things would make our world right now Ideal? (Go along with it)
Interactive: Sit in a circle. Each person has a piece of A5 paper. Write each member’s name down the side. Write beside each name, one thing that that person would want in an ideal world. Be honest, but make sure it isn’t offensive to the other person (unless the person doesn’t mind) etc. After finished, each person says one thing they actually want. (sees if anyone gets it right). – for funs
I’m sure if you ask anyone what an ideal world would be like, they’d most probably answer with something along the lines of ‘no pain & suffering’. Today we’re going to have a look at the widely viewed idea of ‘The Ideal World’.
We as humans question pain & suffering all the time. We all to get
rid of it. It’s one of one’s greatest desires at the end of the day. “Why did
that earthquake have to kill so many people, why did so & so die – why God”?
But check out this bible verse:
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. – Isaiah 55:9
Remember that His plans for our life, the decisions He’s made, how He does things are all beyond our comprehension, we cannot even start to understand any of them perfectly. It’s just like a 3 year old trying to learn out of a University text book. It doesn’t work. But remember this at the end of the day:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28
So even though humans question why pain & suffering exist, believing that it’s not ideal, God may very well see completely different to us, cause He says it’s for the good of us.
Let’s have a look at an example. David, a man after God’s own heart had a great fall when he was overcome by what he thought was ideal for him. I’m sure you’ve all heard of the story of David & Bathsheba. One day he saw a really beautiful girl & was overcome by his own lust. He wanted her right away. He ended up doing a terrible thing – killing Bathsheba’s rightful husband. He got what he wanted though as it says:
After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord. - 2 Samuel 11:27
As we read the story, we’re probably thinking of how stupid David was. It was so obviously going to displease God. But a lot of the times we are the same. Maybe some of you can relate, you’ve liked a girl in the past, thought she was so perfect for you, but as time passed you ‘somehow’ managed to see things differently & realized that what you wanted wasn’t true. That’s happened to me before. I liked this girl a few years back & ended up risking a lot for her. Back then my parents didn’t let me hang out with girls. So I used to lie to my parents & say that I was going to the library afterschool with a lot of classmates to work on a project. But in fact I was only with her & we just chilled. Now that I think back, what I did seems really stupid, cause I realized ‘she wasn’t the one’.
I’m sure a lot of us have wanted something really badly in the past, whether it was a new game, console, gadget, but once we got it, after time we realized it wasn’t so great after all. There’s something better than it. Can you guys think of any specific examples? *pleads*
So the idea I want to get at you here is that many of the things we all want, a lot of the time aren’t the best for us… so maybe we would like to rethink what ‘The Ideal World’ may really be like.
There must be a reason why God has allowed our world to be like this, with pain & suffering, There has to be some ideality to it since God is perfect, so we’re going to explore how this world with pain & suffering might be ideal today.
*plays song* All Along by Remedy Drive
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. – Isaiah 55:9
Remember that His plans for our life, the decisions He’s made, how He does things are all beyond our comprehension, we cannot even start to understand any of them perfectly. It’s just like a 3 year old trying to learn out of a University text book. It doesn’t work. But remember this at the end of the day:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28
So even though humans question why pain & suffering exist, believing that it’s not ideal, God may very well see completely different to us, cause He says it’s for the good of us.
Let’s have a look at an example. David, a man after God’s own heart had a great fall when he was overcome by what he thought was ideal for him. I’m sure you’ve all heard of the story of David & Bathsheba. One day he saw a really beautiful girl & was overcome by his own lust. He wanted her right away. He ended up doing a terrible thing – killing Bathsheba’s rightful husband. He got what he wanted though as it says:
After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord. - 2 Samuel 11:27
As we read the story, we’re probably thinking of how stupid David was. It was so obviously going to displease God. But a lot of the times we are the same. Maybe some of you can relate, you’ve liked a girl in the past, thought she was so perfect for you, but as time passed you ‘somehow’ managed to see things differently & realized that what you wanted wasn’t true. That’s happened to me before. I liked this girl a few years back & ended up risking a lot for her. Back then my parents didn’t let me hang out with girls. So I used to lie to my parents & say that I was going to the library afterschool with a lot of classmates to work on a project. But in fact I was only with her & we just chilled. Now that I think back, what I did seems really stupid, cause I realized ‘she wasn’t the one’.
I’m sure a lot of us have wanted something really badly in the past, whether it was a new game, console, gadget, but once we got it, after time we realized it wasn’t so great after all. There’s something better than it. Can you guys think of any specific examples? *pleads*
So the idea I want to get at you here is that many of the things we all want, a lot of the time aren’t the best for us… so maybe we would like to rethink what ‘The Ideal World’ may really be like.
There must be a reason why God has allowed our world to be like this, with pain & suffering, There has to be some ideality to it since God is perfect, so we’re going to explore how this world with pain & suffering might be ideal today.
*plays song* All Along by Remedy Drive
Hitting a Brick Wall
Interactive: Cat Mario.
Each person gets three goes at the game. It’s meant to troll.
The game was meant to produce the idea that there are limits to things. We all know of course, there’s a way to finish the game, but with the ‘lives’ given, there was no way you were going to. (hope they don’t)
As you probably know, a lot of scientists these days are working towards achieving this ideal world with no pain or suffering. At the end of the day, I believe the doctors & surgeons of this world are working at making the human body immortal, making us last forever.
Discussion: Do you think humans can ever achieve being immortal? (both physically, spiritually mentally)
From the Bible, we know that God has put limits on us. In Genesis 6:3 it says:
Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
So just from this passage, I myself personally believe that humans will never reach the point where they can make man immortal. Though just to point out, cause you may be wondering yourself, that there are people after this that lived longer than 120 years, Abraham 175yrs, Isaac 180yrs. Many have taken the view that God didn’t literally mean 120 years, cause we can obviously see that right after that, lifespan decreased drastically from ages like 900 years old to under 200.
Also, I believe another limitation God has put on us is time itself. As we all know, Jesus is coming back very soon. So we really don’t have too long to advance our technologies too far.
Another view I’d like to share is the fact that we’re human. You have to admit even though we are pretty darn amazing creations, we have many flaws. Logically thinking, we’ll never reach perfection, there will always be something that’s not quite right cause we’re just bound to make mistakes – But God can, & as Christians, we know He will.
Have a look at Isaiah 65:17-20 *reads* How awesome is the idea that all the pain & sorrows of this world won’t be remembered again, but instead we’ll be filled with joy? And to think that this is God’s promise for us one day, isn’t it just magnificent?
So if God had already promised us this ‘ideal world’ why are we as scientists even bothering to achieve it? Doesn’t it pretty much show how we don’t believe what God says is true?
Discussion: Do you think humans will ever be able to be cloned? Why, why not? To a certain extent? As Christians, is cloning right?
Cloning is quite a big discovery in science. But it contradicts with our Christian beliefs. Only God can truly create a human, as He himself breathed life into us.
the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breathe of life, and the man became a living being. – Genesis 2:7
As Christian scientists, we shouldn’t be trying to play god.
Have a look at this verse.
In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. – Proverbs 16:9
From this we can really remember that even though we are smart, we can figure out many methods & ways of doing things, at the end of the day, it’s up to God’s decision to allow it or not.
*plays song* Good (Adam & Eve) by Matthew West & Leigh Nash
So with what we’ve just learnt, that we can never achieve this ideal world, then should we just leave it as it is & not do anything about all the ‘pain & suffering’? I think to we have to look at what causes all this ‘pain & suffering’ first – sin.
We are our own Destruction
The game was meant to produce the idea that there are limits to things. We all know of course, there’s a way to finish the game, but with the ‘lives’ given, there was no way you were going to. (hope they don’t)
As you probably know, a lot of scientists these days are working towards achieving this ideal world with no pain or suffering. At the end of the day, I believe the doctors & surgeons of this world are working at making the human body immortal, making us last forever.
Discussion: Do you think humans can ever achieve being immortal? (both physically, spiritually mentally)
From the Bible, we know that God has put limits on us. In Genesis 6:3 it says:
Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
So just from this passage, I myself personally believe that humans will never reach the point where they can make man immortal. Though just to point out, cause you may be wondering yourself, that there are people after this that lived longer than 120 years, Abraham 175yrs, Isaac 180yrs. Many have taken the view that God didn’t literally mean 120 years, cause we can obviously see that right after that, lifespan decreased drastically from ages like 900 years old to under 200.
Also, I believe another limitation God has put on us is time itself. As we all know, Jesus is coming back very soon. So we really don’t have too long to advance our technologies too far.
Another view I’d like to share is the fact that we’re human. You have to admit even though we are pretty darn amazing creations, we have many flaws. Logically thinking, we’ll never reach perfection, there will always be something that’s not quite right cause we’re just bound to make mistakes – But God can, & as Christians, we know He will.
Have a look at Isaiah 65:17-20 *reads* How awesome is the idea that all the pain & sorrows of this world won’t be remembered again, but instead we’ll be filled with joy? And to think that this is God’s promise for us one day, isn’t it just magnificent?
So if God had already promised us this ‘ideal world’ why are we as scientists even bothering to achieve it? Doesn’t it pretty much show how we don’t believe what God says is true?
Discussion: Do you think humans will ever be able to be cloned? Why, why not? To a certain extent? As Christians, is cloning right?
Cloning is quite a big discovery in science. But it contradicts with our Christian beliefs. Only God can truly create a human, as He himself breathed life into us.
the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breathe of life, and the man became a living being. – Genesis 2:7
As Christian scientists, we shouldn’t be trying to play god.
Have a look at this verse.
In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. – Proverbs 16:9
From this we can really remember that even though we are smart, we can figure out many methods & ways of doing things, at the end of the day, it’s up to God’s decision to allow it or not.
*plays song* Good (Adam & Eve) by Matthew West & Leigh Nash
So with what we’ve just learnt, that we can never achieve this ideal world, then should we just leave it as it is & not do anything about all the ‘pain & suffering’? I think to we have to look at what causes all this ‘pain & suffering’ first – sin.
We are our own Destruction
I’m sure you guys have quite a clear idea what sin is already.
Discussion: What are some properties of sin? What is sin?
At the end of the day, sin is our choice, it’s our own mistake. I’m quite sure if we were put into Adam & Eve’s shoes in the very beginning, we’d still fall for the serpent’s deception. As a result of our sin, we brought all this pain & suffering on ourselves.
Discussion: Do you think society is getting better or worse? Is our next generation better or worse? (why/how?) Convince them it is getting worse in general. Examples of usage of drugs, vulgar language, exposure to media (violent movies etc.)
*starts drawing diagram* The line where the Ideal world is, where we’ll never get. Sin is continuously moving to the left, away from the ideal world.
Sin is the cause of all the bad things we see around us. We’re always trying to push the boundaries to what we can do & when we realize that nothing bad is going to happen, it seems ‘ok’.
It’s pretty much like the story of Charis Pastor ET told us last Sunday, where she tries to take snacks from the pantry. She’ll first do so slowly by touching the handle to see if her dad reacts, then when he doesn’t, she goes a bit further by opening up the door, having a look inside, then finally grabbing something.
I have to admit myself, that it’s quite hard not to adapt my language to fit society. Nowadays, more than half of the people I come by out of church swear in like every sentence. Back in year 9 I actually gave into it for awhile – yes, I used to swear. But then as I came to know God better, as I came to know His expectations, I realized that swearing was a no no in His eyes. From this, I really want to show that even though society has a strong pull on us, at the end of the day we should stand strong on God’s word & know what is right & wrong no matter how far the world has moved away from being right.
As the saying goes, “if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything’
Discussion: What are some properties of sin? What is sin?
At the end of the day, sin is our choice, it’s our own mistake. I’m quite sure if we were put into Adam & Eve’s shoes in the very beginning, we’d still fall for the serpent’s deception. As a result of our sin, we brought all this pain & suffering on ourselves.
Discussion: Do you think society is getting better or worse? Is our next generation better or worse? (why/how?) Convince them it is getting worse in general. Examples of usage of drugs, vulgar language, exposure to media (violent movies etc.)
*starts drawing diagram* The line where the Ideal world is, where we’ll never get. Sin is continuously moving to the left, away from the ideal world.
Sin is the cause of all the bad things we see around us. We’re always trying to push the boundaries to what we can do & when we realize that nothing bad is going to happen, it seems ‘ok’.
It’s pretty much like the story of Charis Pastor ET told us last Sunday, where she tries to take snacks from the pantry. She’ll first do so slowly by touching the handle to see if her dad reacts, then when he doesn’t, she goes a bit further by opening up the door, having a look inside, then finally grabbing something.
I have to admit myself, that it’s quite hard not to adapt my language to fit society. Nowadays, more than half of the people I come by out of church swear in like every sentence. Back in year 9 I actually gave into it for awhile – yes, I used to swear. But then as I came to know God better, as I came to know His expectations, I realized that swearing was a no no in His eyes. From this, I really want to show that even though society has a strong pull on us, at the end of the day we should stand strong on God’s word & know what is right & wrong no matter how far the world has moved away from being right.
As the saying goes, “if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything’
Discussion: Can you think of any other ways in which society
is getting worse? Ways which our morals/values are shifting for the worse?
So obviously, a world of pain & suffering isn’t ideal either. *points to diagram on whiteboard* Both ends of the spectrum have been shown they’re not ideal.
Let’s have a quick look at what the world would be like in the absence of pain & suffering. There wouldn’t be anything to question God. There’d be no ‘why God’ screaming in agony moments. So really, would we even have a need for God? We would pretty much be our own gods cause everything would be so perfect & we don’t need help with anything. We would get proud of ourselves. At the end of the day, we would probably choose all the pain & suffering over again. We’d get greedy, which will turn into hate, then we’re starting showing violence… it’s exactly the same as now…
So obviously, a world of pain & suffering isn’t ideal either. *points to diagram on whiteboard* Both ends of the spectrum have been shown they’re not ideal.
Let’s have a quick look at what the world would be like in the absence of pain & suffering. There wouldn’t be anything to question God. There’d be no ‘why God’ screaming in agony moments. So really, would we even have a need for God? We would pretty much be our own gods cause everything would be so perfect & we don’t need help with anything. We would get proud of ourselves. At the end of the day, we would probably choose all the pain & suffering over again. We’d get greedy, which will turn into hate, then we’re starting showing violence… it’s exactly the same as now…
Interact: ‘God gives us the spoon’. Have two people face off.
They both have to hold their breath & transfer marbles from one bowl to
another within the time they can hold their breath. I’ll give both chopsticks, but then I’ll
secretly give one a spoon. Person with spoon with obviously win.
I’m pretty sure you could hold your breath for longer if you didn’t have to pick it up with chopsticks – the more you struggle, the harder it is. We can’t try & struggle our way out of sin with our own efforts. Just like I gave the other person a spoon, we can only get through sin with God’s help.
I’m pretty sure you could hold your breath for longer if you didn’t have to pick it up with chopsticks – the more you struggle, the harder it is. We can’t try & struggle our way out of sin with our own efforts. Just like I gave the other person a spoon, we can only get through sin with God’s help.
God used our devastation to paint the perfect
picture
So we just looked out how sin is corrupting society, slowly destroying
it.
I’m sure many people out there see ‘pain & suffering’ & right away disapprove of God because of it. A common question asked is ‘if God is so perfect, why did He allow pain & suffering’?
Well hopefully I can show you today that God really did use our sin to paint a perfect picture.
As we could see before, the absence of sin really takes away our need for God. So in contrary to that, sin is such an essential part of God’s unfailing love to us. Without sin, we could have never experienced God’s unfailing love for us, the love that that is full of reason not to love us. There would be no grace.
Sin also humbles us. Our struggles shows us that we aren’t the best.
Imagine a world where everyone is humble, no one thinks they’re better than anyone; we wouldn’t have any conflicts with one another.
I can tell you that every time I do something wrong, I hate myself for it, I wish I wasn’t so pathetic. But with sin showing me how pathetic I am, I can also always remember that God uses us especially when we are weak & pathetic.
*read 2 Corinthians 12:7-10*
Discussion: Can you think of any examples of where you went through a hard time, but through it realized it somehow made you better?
When we go through our struggles with God, we can really see God’s power through us helping us overcome them, it not only strengthens our relationship with Him, but makes us stronger in person as well, because of Him.
I’m sure many people out there see ‘pain & suffering’ & right away disapprove of God because of it. A common question asked is ‘if God is so perfect, why did He allow pain & suffering’?
Well hopefully I can show you today that God really did use our sin to paint a perfect picture.
As we could see before, the absence of sin really takes away our need for God. So in contrary to that, sin is such an essential part of God’s unfailing love to us. Without sin, we could have never experienced God’s unfailing love for us, the love that that is full of reason not to love us. There would be no grace.
Sin also humbles us. Our struggles shows us that we aren’t the best.
Imagine a world where everyone is humble, no one thinks they’re better than anyone; we wouldn’t have any conflicts with one another.
I can tell you that every time I do something wrong, I hate myself for it, I wish I wasn’t so pathetic. But with sin showing me how pathetic I am, I can also always remember that God uses us especially when we are weak & pathetic.
*read 2 Corinthians 12:7-10*
Discussion: Can you think of any examples of where you went through a hard time, but through it realized it somehow made you better?
When we go through our struggles with God, we can really see God’s power through us helping us overcome them, it not only strengthens our relationship with Him, but makes us stronger in person as well, because of Him.
I think Job is a really great example of how God allowed pain &
suffering on someone for the greater good. I’m sure many of you have heard, Job
was a rich God-fearing man. He had lots of possessions. Imagine a guy that had
their own ten story car park full of the best cars, access to as many apple
products he wanted, loads of money in his bank account, just plain rich. He
also had lots of beloved sons & daughters. But most importantly, He feared
God.
Imagine, one day he was out with his wife, & suddenly terrorists blew up his parking lot full of cars along with all his sons & daughters, hacked into his bank account, & left him bare, with nothing. But He still praised God.
But then He suddenly had boils all over his bodies, basically huge pimples that hurt many times more. You could barely talk out of your pain. You wouldn’t even want to move. Not only that, his wife, & his friends start mocking him & telling him to curse God. But he stood his ground.
I seriously couldn’t do that. But as we can see, there’s a happy ending to the story. God blessed Him even more than before. Job probably had the most solid relationship with God after that. We can really conclude that through pain & suffering, God brought good for job.
Imagine, one day he was out with his wife, & suddenly terrorists blew up his parking lot full of cars along with all his sons & daughters, hacked into his bank account, & left him bare, with nothing. But He still praised God.
But then He suddenly had boils all over his bodies, basically huge pimples that hurt many times more. You could barely talk out of your pain. You wouldn’t even want to move. Not only that, his wife, & his friends start mocking him & telling him to curse God. But he stood his ground.
I seriously couldn’t do that. But as we can see, there’s a happy ending to the story. God blessed Him even more than before. Job probably had the most solid relationship with God after that. We can really conclude that through pain & suffering, God brought good for job.
I’d also like to point out that God’s redemption plan was one of the
most unideal events ever. The son of God being stripped of all His glory by coming
down to earth, being mocked by humans, hung on a tree to die, it’s pretty
unideal if you ask me. But through all of that, God made the most beautiful
picture every, He showed a love that none can match.
I’d like you to think about it while I play this song.
*plays song* Wedding Day (Holy) – The City Harmonic
I’d like you to think about it while I play this song.
*plays song* Wedding Day (Holy) – The City Harmonic
Response – Applying Our Role
*draws on diagram* So as we have seen now, neither the ‘perfect world’
nor the world full of sin is ideal. So it’s obviously somewhere in the middle.
As we’ve just learnt, sin is drawing it towards the left, I believe we’re working alongside God, to stand our grand in His word & to keep it in the middle.
As we’ve just learnt, sin is drawing it towards the left, I believe we’re working alongside God, to stand our grand in His word & to keep it in the middle.
Cause we’ve already seen how trying to create a perfect world doesn’t
work, we’ll have a look at how we can keep it in the middle.
Many people in this world can only see things getting worse. They can only see one side of the spectrum. But we’re here to show them that we can push back this sin. That there is HOPE & sin won’t win.
Many people in this world can only see things getting worse. They can only see one side of the spectrum. But we’re here to show them that we can push back this sin. That there is HOPE & sin won’t win.
We’re not here to fix it ourselves, cause we know that one day it will
be fixed. What we can do is prepare for it, by showing people that there is a
way out, by giving them a glimpse of the perfection that is to come one day.
In showing them that heaven will truly be the ideal world one day, we have the opportunity to prepare their souls for it, to introduce them to the only way – Jesus.
In showing them that heaven will truly be the ideal world one day, we have the opportunity to prepare their souls for it, to introduce them to the only way – Jesus.
So for us as scientists, we can do this in many ways. We have medicine
to heal people, get them through physical pain, but we can also provide spiritual
healing. With engineering & computers, we can show people that there is
always a way out with our intelligence. By solving how to do certain things –
and above all, providing them with eternal joy.
I’d like to leave you with these two verses & this song:
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. – Jeremiah 29:11
Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. You are to tell the world what you have seen and what I will show you in the future.- Acts 26:16
*plays Still by Light Society*
_______I’d like to leave you with these two verses & this song:
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. – Jeremiah 29:11
Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. You are to tell the world what you have seen and what I will show you in the future.- Acts 26:16
*plays Still by Light Society*
Until next time,
Godbless~
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