What do you Value?

This is the lesson I did while I was with the youth group in Myrtle Beach, SC in 2016. The main passage is found in Luke 19, the passage of Zacchaeus. 

MB Lesson

April 1, 2016

1.       Recap the week

a.       Sunday Empty is good

b.      Monday sinking in your circumstances

c.       Tuesday Sinking in your sin

d.      Thursday- Gospel

2.       Hook

a.       Right and wrong response

                                                               i.      Have you ever given someone the wrong response? OR the right one?

1.       Teachers, Parents, friends.

3.       You have experienced a lot of things this week, I bet your hearts have been moved and now you have a response or a choice, we are going to look at someone today who had the right response to Jesus

4.       Luke 19

a.       Who is Zacchaeus?

                                                               i.      Chief tax collector

1.       Title used nowhere else in scripture

2.       Tax collectors work for the government

3.       Go door to door to get money to give to Rome, the gov’t.

4.       He is a Jew, working for Rome, the enemy

5.       Gets his wealth from the Jewish people

6.       Did what it took to climb the ladder, to be promoted

7.       Seen as a traitor by his people

8.       Tax collectors where like the lowest people in society’s mind

9.       Imagine if you were related to Zacchaeus and he comes to your door asking for money, and asking for more than what he would usually ask for, this creates divides among people

                                                             ii.      Story told only in Luke

1.       Luke is consistent in showing how Jesus had compassion for those in need and those rejected by society

                                                            iii.       He had a desire to see Jesus,

1.       He was not in want, most people that came to Jesus had a serious need, blind, lame, lepers, but he had everything He needed

a.       Like us, we do not necessarily need to rely on God for our physical needs

                                                                                                                                       i.      We like to think that we are in want, money, friends, social status, but truly we are not in crazy want

2.       He had an emotional need that he noticed and He knew that Jesus was different, so he wanted to see Jesus

a.       A little aside, we may have something (Jesus) that others need or want in their lives

                                                           iv.      Invitation

1.       How did Jesus know his name?

2.       Do you think Zacchaeus thought Jesus would actually talk to him, He said he just wanted to see him, not speak to him.

3.       What does it say that Zacchaeus did next?

a.       He stayed up in the tree. No He obeyed.

4.       I do not want us to miss the obvious here.

a.       Zacchaeus was not viewed well by his peers, Christ singles him out, why? Does he notice that Zacchaeus is desiring to see Him. He climbs a tree to do it. He basically is acting like a child, like a fool so that He can just see Him. Not talk to Him, not meet Him, see Him. Throughout scripture Jesus notices when people’s hearts are in the right place, The men who lower the paralyzed man through the roof, the woman at the well, He notices when people do the foolish thing to be near him. WE should be doing the foolish just to be near him just to see him.

                                                             v.      Conviction

1.       How does Zacchaeus respond to Jesus?

a.       He is convicted of his sin.

b.      He is convicted of his wealth, or how he acquired it.

                                                                                                                                       i.      So what does he do about it

                                                                                                                                     ii.      Does walk away sad and not do anything about it?

1.       No He does something about it. He is not willing to live as he was living. He has been changed from the inside out because of coming in contact with Jesus.

                                                                                                                                    iii.      There is an outward response to an inward change.

1.       James speaks of this in James 2:26 Faith without works is dead, there is action to show the inward change.

2.       If you join a sports team, you wear a uniform to show who you represent. An outward action, you use the proper techniques for whichever sport you are in to show you know the sport. An outward action to show an inward change.

a.       I faked this action for a very long time. I pretended to be a Christian for a long time. I fooled people, but I never fooled God.

2.       Just a chapter before Jesus comes in contact with a rich man.

a.       Luke 18:18-23

b.      He seeks Jesus out and asks Him how do you inherit eternal life?

                                                                                                                                       i.      Jesus responds, Sell all you have and give to the poor. (Does Jesus say that anywhere else?) It is about the heart. Jesus is combating what He values.

                                                                                                                                     ii.      The rich man left sad because he had great wealth. We have no idea what he did after that. But the difference here is that The rich man is leaving sad and Zacchaeus is joyful. He realizes that Jesus, is greater than anything else. Jesus is greater than wealth.

                                                           vi.      What is God convicting you of?

1.       What do you find valuable in this world, is it money, status, friends, appearances.

2.       What might He be asking from you/of you?

a.       In this case Zacchaeus is feeling convicted by how he has treated people because of money.

b.      What is your thing? What has this week been chipping away at?

                                                                                                                                       i.      Maybe it is to talk to someone

1.       Ask for forgiveness

2.       Make a public declaration

3.       Maybe it is to stop certain friendships or relationships

4.       Maybe it is to stop caring what others think of you.

5.       Or to stop worrying about __________.

6.        

                                                                                                                                     ii.      What is God telling you, you need to do?

                                                          vii.      Many of you have had a very emotional response to this week. Which is awesome, You are coming in contact with Jesus and you are being willing. But you also had that at Districts, Bond, MB last year, and KY or Quincy. But it didn’t quite seem to stick. It didn’t last. After a few weeks you have return to living how you did before

                                                        viii.      I believe that is because you have a choice. You have a response. You need to chose how you are going to respond.

1.       Are you going to be obedient to what Christ is telling you, to what you are being convicted of? Or are you gong to return to your life, your school, your home, your job, as if this week never happened.

2.       Are you going to be stuck in this cycle of trip high, change for a few weeks, back to my life, oh look another trip, then another trip high, then change for 3 weeks now instead of 2, so I must be getting better right but then it starts again like it does every time, it is so slow you do not even notice it. The slow decline back to normalcy, back to what you were like before the trip. But oh I cannot wait for the next trip so that I can have another high.

a.       What you have felt this week is amazing, do not get me wrong. But it is a lot of emotion and you will not have that intense amount of emotion all of the time and I want to tell you know that that is okay. I do not want you thinking that the Christian life is a trip high all the time. IT IS NOT! IT is a daily walk, it is a daily choice, it is a daily faithfulness. And to be honest sometimes I do not feel like it. But I still do it because I remember what He has done for me and I will remain faithful to Him, the best I know how.

3.       This is not how we are called to live. It is inevitable to have a trip high, but it should deepen your life for God, not restore it every time.

b.      After my Haiti trip this last year

c.       Which response will you have the one of the rich ruler, or Zacchaeus? Will you leave sad after this week because you know what God is requiring of you and you value it too much to give it up, or Zacchaeus filled with joy and so ready to give whatever up because you value Him more than anything else.

5.       Response time

a.       I am going to give you time to reflect on this, to think about what is God asking of you. What have you experienced this week, and why do you not want to return back to how you were living.

6.       After response time

a.       After my Haiti trip last year I wrote down a list of 5 things that I wanted to work on to help me be able to stop the downward slope.

                                                               i.      Number one was a daily time with Him. I made the choice to get up earlier, which might mean going to bed earlier, so that I could start my day with Him. Some days I read, some days I pray. Some days I still get up, but I am so tired I may rest. But I am still being faithful and making it a priority.

                                                             ii.      Post reminders around, because we are forgetful people, we need to be reminded. So post reminders, that is why we did _____________ for you to post to remind yourself of what you want to be

                                                            iii.      Limit your screen time, we waste so much time on those things and we also are not having good interactions with people when we are on those things while hanging out with people.

                                                           iv.      DO things that require faith. Go out of your comfort zone. Push yourself a bit so that you actually have to rely on God and that He will get all the glory.

                                                             v.      Surround yourself with people that are trying to do the same thing. Be in small groups where you are learning stuff. Have one-on-ones with people to discuss life and what you are struggling with and need prayer for.