2009 Initiative "365 Holy Days" - For the month of August, the "exalted" month, we focus on the Resurrection, the exaltation of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is imperative to mourn the loss of ourselves, and so in this 21st century in the USA, to grieve the passing of ourselves. If you are not Christian, then you are dead in your trespasses and sins (see Ephesians 2:1); if you are Christian, then it is not you that lives, but Christ that lives within you (see Galatians 2:19, 20). The five steps of grieving are Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. This week we focus on step 5--Acceptance, as we conclude First Corinthians 15, AKA "The Resurrection Chapter".
It Is WELL With My Soul:
- Warm-up: Game - "I Accept"
- Exercise: Review the four preceding steps of grieving our own deaths when we received Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord. Give examples of challenges encountered and/or overcome in this process over the last few weeks.
- Lesson: Dead Rising (5 of 5): Acceptance (First Corinthians 15:50-58)
- Accept Your Own Mortality (First Corinthians 15:50-52)
- Accept Jesus' Immortality (First Corinthians 15:53-57; Isaiah 25:8; Hosea 13:14)
- Accept The Job You Have Been Given (First Corinthians 15:58)
- Life application: Acceptance is the doorway through which we can truly begin our new life in Christ. In accepting our daily death to this world and accepting our new life that we have in Jesus, we accept the position He gives us, as well as the tools to do the particular job He has for us; we'll work as His servants because He did the work necessary to get us into His household. Let's pray.