2009 Initiative "365 Holy Days" (see Romans 14:5): Today we will continue our focus on Memorial Day, a day that is observed in the United States to remember those members in the military that have given their lives in service to their country. As Christians, we serve in God's Army, carrying out His explicit mission; this week we will study our Lord's thoughts about martyrdom, and about our brothers and sisters that have given their lives in serving our Lord Jesus Christ.
Today's study is brought to us by the numbers "2" and "4" and the Greek letter "upsilon".
It Is WELL With My Soul:
Warm-up:Card Game "2 Die 4": Each player is dealt 6 cards (2+4); the player to the right of the dealer begins; players put down single or pairs of cards that add up to 2 or 4; if a player has no card or combination of cards to put down, the player must draw four cards or draw two cards and share something about themselves with the other players. A round ends when any player plays all cards in their hand. Play 2+4 hands.
Scoring: each single or pair making 2 is 2 points, and 4 is 4 points. The player with the highest score wins.Playable singles:Exercise:Playable pairs:
- 2
- 4
- J(11; 1+1=2)
- K(13; 1+3=4)
- AA(1+1=2)
- A3(1+3=4)
- A10(1+10=11, 1+1=2)
- AQ(1+12=13, 1+3=4)
- 2&2(2+2=4)
- 2J(2+11=13, 1+3=4)
- 2&9(2+9=11, 1+1=2)
- 3&8(3+8=11, 1+1=2)
- 3&10(3+10=13, 1+3=4)
- 4&9(4+9=13, 1+3=4)
- 5&6(5+6=11, 1+1=2)
- 5&8(5+8=13, 1+3=4)
- 6&7(6+7=13, 1+3=4)
- 4&7(4+7=11, 1+1=2)
- 7K(7+13=20, 2+0=2)
- 8Q(8+12=20, 2+0=2)
- 9J(9+11=20, 2+0=2)
- 9K(9+13=22, 2+2=4)
- 10&10(10+10=20, 2+0=2)
- 10Q(10+12=22, 2+2=4)
- JJ(11+11=22, 2+2=4)
Word Study "marturion"; learn Greek letter upsilon and vocalization; to sound out the "ew" that is upsilon, make your lips like saying "oo" sound while making throat like long "e" sound; this is the sound of "ew"psilonLesson:
Greek "marturion"=witness (In Acts 7:44, "marturiou"=of the testimony)
Scriptures: Romans 10:9 - That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. (sidenote GB4C: RM10.9 gets you from 4th to 5th)
From year 33-69AD, there were so many Christians dying because they would not stop being witnesses for Jesus, that the word for witness, marturion, became the word for a person that dies for their witness: martyr.2 Die 4 JesusLife application:
- The Death Of Self (Luke 9:23-27)
- The Death Of Stephen (Acts 7:54-60)
- The Death Of James, Zebedee's Son (Acts 12:1-5)
- A Light Moment (Acts 12:11-16) - Rhoda's Excitement (Great roleplay opportunity!)
- The LORD's Vengeance on Herod (Acts 12:20-24) - notice and underline the world "multiplied"
Jesus Christ is worth dying for! If you don't know that yet, keep walking with Jesus; you'll get there. Like changing the meaning of the word "martyr", our presence in the world changes the conversation, and changes lives for the better because God is utilizing us! Why are we allowing ourselves to be burdened and inconvenienced for the benefit of others? Answer: Because we love them, like our Father God loves them. They need to see and know His love by our love. "Greater love has none than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you." (John 15:13, 14) He died for us, that we could live forever; the least we could do is die for Him, that others might live--forever.