Remember Your First Love

Pre-Lesson Assignment: Read Medical Account 1. Revelation 2:1-5 1 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. What did the Ephesian disciples do well? worked hard / persevered - endured hardship / Intolerant of sin. What did they lack? Heart motivation - they stopped loving God with their whole heart. We want to talk about your walk with God, how it was at the beginning, and help you remember your first love. Question: How did you feel when you first got baptized? 2. Mark 4:1-20 1 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times." 9 Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." 10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that, "'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'" 13 Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop--thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown." What happens in our lives to make us forget? (what follows are the biblical issues. As the teacher, you need to identify which things specifically happened in their lives to choke out the word) Shallow convictions - not allowing the Word to take root. Why does this happen? (not in the Word each day, not being open about temptation, etc) The Worries of this life - what are they in your life? a. Difficult relationships - b. Discouragement c. Life challenges: school, career, marriage, kids, debt...) The deceitfulness of wealth - why is it hard for the rich to enter the kingdom? Because money makes people arrogant, thinking they are better / smarter / more clever than others. This is what happened to the disciples in Laodicea. Rev 3:14-17 The desire for other things - What are things that typically drag people away from God? a. The love of money - discussed above b. The desire for sensual fulfillment - alcohol, drugs, sex, the club scene c. The desire for a relationship - compromising by pursuing a relationship with a non-Christian. 3. Revelation 2:5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. How do we get back our first love? Remember (redo sin list, consider forgiveness, positive relationships, peace) Repent (turn from overt, blatant sin) Do the things you did at first a. Read the Bible daily - keep a spiritual journal b. Pray daily (help them write up a list) c. Share your faith daily (Philemon 6) d. Attend all the services e. Resolve any ongoing conflicts quickly! Assignments: a. Read 1 & 2 Peter, record your observations. b. Share your faith at least once daily. c. Pray with someone in your Bible Talk daily.