TYG - The Youth Group

Last week we discussed how amazing God is, and how deep and awful our sin is. This week we get to talk about the Good News. How God saves.

• Jesus Christ the Savior
  • The God Man
  • Why this is important
  • Jesus is the risen King
  • Jesus is the only way
• Faith and Repentance
  • Faith
  • Repentance
  • Where is obedience?

In order for there to be good news for sinners…we really must know what the bad news is. God SAVES sinners, but just how much trouble are sinners in? What has he saved us from?

• The Gospel Starts with God
  • It's His power
  • It's for His glory
  • God our righteous Creator
  • Why did God create anything?
  • Creator rights
• What is sin?
  • The heart of sin is rebellion
  • Just how bad is it?
  • The result: Judgment

Most often, we are uncomfortable with sharing the gospel because we don't really know it, or we don't talk about it much. In this first lesson, we are going to explore why the gospel gets lost in today's world, even in the church. Then we will briefly introduce what the gospel is and how to share it. We'll practice and unpack the gospel more over the next 5 weeks.

• The Fog Around the Gospel
• What is the Gospel? - What does the world "gospel" mean?
• How do we lose the gospel?
• Where is the gospel in the Bible? - Romans 1-4
  • God is our Creator, Authority, and Judge (1:18-20a)
  • Humanity rebelled, now willfully rebels and deserves judgment (1:18-3:20)
  • Jesus Christ died as a substitute for our judgment, and rose as a promise of new life (3:21-26)
  • This is only gained by faith and repentance (4:1-25)

Because Christ has changed us, we become people who pray faithfully, proclaim Christ wisely, and partner with others for the advancement of His kingdom.

• Pray faithfully (v2-4)
• Proclaim Christ wisely (v5-6)
• Partner faithfully (v7-18)

Paul calls the new believers in Colossae, surrounded by false teachers and empty traditions, to fix their eyes on Christ. Because Christ has changed everything, He changes how we live personally, how we treat others, and how we conduct ourselves in our homes.

• Christ changes how we live in the body (3:12-17)
  • Christ changes our hearts
  • Christ changes how we treat one another
• Christ changes how we live at home (3:18-4:1)
  • Christ changes how we treat our family
  • Christ changes how we carry ourselves before others

In this passage, Paul shifts from his teaching about what Christ has done for us to how we are to live because of it. "If then, you have been raised with Christ," Paul says, "seek the things that are above, where Christ is."

• Seek the things that are above (v1-4)
• Put to death the old self (v5-11)

Paul redirects the believer's focus from manmade regulations of diet and calendar, and experience, toward the sufficient Christ with whom the Christian has died and been made alive.

• Avoid regulations of diet and calendar
• Avoid regulations of experience
• Instead, live in light of your sufficiency in Christ

Because of Christ's fullness, we are complete and have no reason to look elsewhere. This affects how we live, what we base our lives on, and how we rest in Him.

• Walk in Him (v.6-7)
• Watch that no one takes you captive from Him (v.8)
• For everything you need is already yours in Him (v.9-15)

Take heart, brothers and sisters, hold fast to the faith you at once received and contend mightily, endued with all power from God, for the body of Christ and His gospel. This is the heart of a minister.

• What is a minister?
• A minister suffers to preach the word and shepherd the flock (1:24)
• A minister fights to preach the word and shepherd the flock (1:29-2:1)
• Why does the minister choose to suffer and fight? (1:25-29; 2:2-5)
• You are a minister of the gospel

Because Christ is supreme over all creation and has reconciled us to God through His death, we can trust Him, treasure Him, and remain firmly rooted in Him.

• Christ is Supreme Over Creation (v15-17)
  • He is the image of the invisible God
  • He is before all things
  • All things were created through Him and for Him
• Christ is Supreme Over the Church (v18-20)
  • He is the Head of the church
  • He is the beginning
  • He is the firstborn from the dead
  • He is the one in whom all the fullness of God dwells
• Christ is Supreme to Reconcile us to God
  • We were alienated from God
  • We were hostile towards God
  • We were living in evil
  • Christ died for us
  • Christ reconciled us to God
  • Christ presents us holy, blameless, and above reproach