WEEK SIX
EPIC JESUS
Group Preparation Options
Book Reading: Supernatural, Chapters 11-13
Heritage Sermon: Sunday, April 17 (watch here)
Heritage Sermon: Sunday, April 17 (watch here)
Group Time (75 min)
30 Min - The Bigger Story
THE GIFT OF THE WORD
Most people are somewhat familiar with the life story of Jesus. He was born of a virgin, performed miracles, died on a cross, and rose from the dead. But sometimes in an attempt to make the story memorable, we condense it down to just the highlights. However, there is great power and meaning in even the most seemingly minuscule details.
Imagine trying to explain your own life story to someone. Could you do it in a sentence? 5 minutes? 30 minutes? Try as you might, there would always be more details, more experiences, more relationships - all that play an important role in your story.
Then imagine hearing that person "retell" your story to someone else with simple paraphrases. You'd desperately want to interject with, "There's so much more!" And yet, we do that all the time with the Bible - a story that spans multiple millenniums, authors, cultures, and even dimensions.
Keep in mind that you and I have something none of the prophets of old had access to...something not even available to Jesus' own disciples: the complete written story of God. Over a period of many generations, God masterfully unfolded His story of creation, the fall of humankind, great rebellions on earth and in the heavens, the redemption delivered through His Son, the giving of the Holy Spirit to empower the Church, and finally, glimpses of the new age to come when all things will be made new again:
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” - Revelation 21:3-5
PLOT TWIST
Jesus' disciples were familiar with the Old Testament, and they were so grateful for the promised Messiah, but they hadn't yet pieced together God's master plan for saving the world. When Jesus started talking about His impending death, that didn't fit at all into their idea of bringing God's Kingdom to earth. Just imagine Peter actually REBUKING Jesus for suggesting that He must die:
From that time on Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to You!” - Matthew 16:21-22
THE GREATEST BIBLE STUDY OF ALL TIME
When Jesus did indeed lay His life down on the cross, it left His family and friends devastated. They were afraid, confused, and surely full of uncertainty about the future. However, after His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples and settled all of their fears. In this moment came what had to have been one of the most fascinating Bible studies of all time:
He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
Then He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." - Luke 24:44-49
Can you imagine sitting around the table with Jesus as He explains the entire Old Testament, showing how it has all been pointing to Him!?!
The events of Jesus' life, the early years of the Church, as well as John's vision for the age to come (Revelation) would soon be recorded, and now have the whole story - beginning, middle, and end. What an honor!
Most people are somewhat familiar with the life story of Jesus. He was born of a virgin, performed miracles, died on a cross, and rose from the dead. But sometimes in an attempt to make the story memorable, we condense it down to just the highlights. However, there is great power and meaning in even the most seemingly minuscule details.
Imagine trying to explain your own life story to someone. Could you do it in a sentence? 5 minutes? 30 minutes? Try as you might, there would always be more details, more experiences, more relationships - all that play an important role in your story.
Then imagine hearing that person "retell" your story to someone else with simple paraphrases. You'd desperately want to interject with, "There's so much more!" And yet, we do that all the time with the Bible - a story that spans multiple millenniums, authors, cultures, and even dimensions.
Keep in mind that you and I have something none of the prophets of old had access to...something not even available to Jesus' own disciples: the complete written story of God. Over a period of many generations, God masterfully unfolded His story of creation, the fall of humankind, great rebellions on earth and in the heavens, the redemption delivered through His Son, the giving of the Holy Spirit to empower the Church, and finally, glimpses of the new age to come when all things will be made new again:
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” - Revelation 21:3-5
PLOT TWIST
Jesus' disciples were familiar with the Old Testament, and they were so grateful for the promised Messiah, but they hadn't yet pieced together God's master plan for saving the world. When Jesus started talking about His impending death, that didn't fit at all into their idea of bringing God's Kingdom to earth. Just imagine Peter actually REBUKING Jesus for suggesting that He must die:
From that time on Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to You!” - Matthew 16:21-22
THE GREATEST BIBLE STUDY OF ALL TIME
When Jesus did indeed lay His life down on the cross, it left His family and friends devastated. They were afraid, confused, and surely full of uncertainty about the future. However, after His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples and settled all of their fears. In this moment came what had to have been one of the most fascinating Bible studies of all time:
He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
Then He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." - Luke 24:44-49
Can you imagine sitting around the table with Jesus as He explains the entire Old Testament, showing how it has all been pointing to Him!?!
The events of Jesus' life, the early years of the Church, as well as John's vision for the age to come (Revelation) would soon be recorded, and now have the whole story - beginning, middle, and end. What an honor!
DISCUSS TOGETHER
How have we taken the Word of God for granted?
What has this series done for your desire to dig in to God's story through the Bible?
30 min - Epic Victory
A SECRET BATTLE PLAN
We have finally reached the climactic appearance of Jesus! After generations of rebellion and conflict, Heaven has now come to earth, and the Son of God will sever the grip the powers of darkness have on humanity. But everything must happen in the right way at the right time.
It was clear to the principalities of evil that the Messiah had arrived - and they wanted Him destroyed. In one early attempt to take Him out, young children were slaughtered soon after Jesus' birth (Matthew 2:16-18). As soon as Jesus started His earthly ministry, He would be led into the desert to be tempted by Satan himself. Knowing that Jesus had come to take back the nations, Satan offered Jesus an "easier" way - he led Him to a high mountain and promised to give Him all the kingdoms of the world if He would just bow and worship him (Matthew 4).
No deal.
Jesus had an army to assemble and train first. Then He had to trick the enemy into crucifying Him at just the right moment without revealing that His death would actually be the thing to seal His victory - and ours!
None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. - 1 Corinthians 2:8
THE TIME TO DIE
Once everything was in place, Jesus set the trap. While standing at the headquarters of darkness - a large rock near Caesarea Philippi known as a place to worship the gods of the dead and believed to contain a corridor to Hell - Jesus makes this proclamation:
"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:18-19)
Standing at the front door of evil, Jesus calls out the enemy: "Here I am, and you can't stop Me!"
Then He takes it a step further and ascends a nearby mountain and unveils His deity:
After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. (Matthew 17:1-3)
This is a scene I can't even comprehend. I have to laugh when I read Peter's response, which was basically, "This is awesome, should I get you three a shelter so we can just hang out for a while?" God then speaks from the clouds instructing Peter to be quiet and listen up, and he and the others understandably fall to the ground in fear.
Jesus has now revealed Himself to the powers of darkness, and He knew they would come running. Soon after, He would make His way to Jerusalem, where He would be arrested, tried, and sentenced to death.
While on the cross, Jesus makes reference to Psalm 22 when He cries, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Amazingly, Psalm 22 - written hundreds of years earlier - is a virtual play-by-play of the crucifixion.
But what's amazing to me is that it also appears to give us a glimpse into the spiritual realm - describing what Jesus may have been seeing while on the cross:
Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
Roaring lions that tear their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted within me.
My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death. (Psalm 22:12-15)
Bashan1 was the region He and the disciples had just visited - the location that contains the "gates of Hades". This seems to describe a scene where the powers of darkness have come running. They prowl around the cross, thinking they were about to victoriously kill the Messiah. And for three days perhaps they thought they were right.
But, the story doesn't end there.
All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him —
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
They will proclaim his righteousness,
declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it! (Psalm 22:29-31)
The moment breath returned to Jesus' lungs, our victory was sealed. Jesus conquered the one thing the enemy had in store for all of us: DEATH. The grave is powerless against the unstoppable Lord, and now He offers eternal life to all who believe in Him.
It is finished. He has done it!
We have finally reached the climactic appearance of Jesus! After generations of rebellion and conflict, Heaven has now come to earth, and the Son of God will sever the grip the powers of darkness have on humanity. But everything must happen in the right way at the right time.
It was clear to the principalities of evil that the Messiah had arrived - and they wanted Him destroyed. In one early attempt to take Him out, young children were slaughtered soon after Jesus' birth (Matthew 2:16-18). As soon as Jesus started His earthly ministry, He would be led into the desert to be tempted by Satan himself. Knowing that Jesus had come to take back the nations, Satan offered Jesus an "easier" way - he led Him to a high mountain and promised to give Him all the kingdoms of the world if He would just bow and worship him (Matthew 4).
No deal.
Jesus had an army to assemble and train first. Then He had to trick the enemy into crucifying Him at just the right moment without revealing that His death would actually be the thing to seal His victory - and ours!
None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. - 1 Corinthians 2:8
THE TIME TO DIE
Once everything was in place, Jesus set the trap. While standing at the headquarters of darkness - a large rock near Caesarea Philippi known as a place to worship the gods of the dead and believed to contain a corridor to Hell - Jesus makes this proclamation:
"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:18-19)
Standing at the front door of evil, Jesus calls out the enemy: "Here I am, and you can't stop Me!"
Then He takes it a step further and ascends a nearby mountain and unveils His deity:
After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. (Matthew 17:1-3)
This is a scene I can't even comprehend. I have to laugh when I read Peter's response, which was basically, "This is awesome, should I get you three a shelter so we can just hang out for a while?" God then speaks from the clouds instructing Peter to be quiet and listen up, and he and the others understandably fall to the ground in fear.
Jesus has now revealed Himself to the powers of darkness, and He knew they would come running. Soon after, He would make His way to Jerusalem, where He would be arrested, tried, and sentenced to death.
While on the cross, Jesus makes reference to Psalm 22 when He cries, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Amazingly, Psalm 22 - written hundreds of years earlier - is a virtual play-by-play of the crucifixion.
But what's amazing to me is that it also appears to give us a glimpse into the spiritual realm - describing what Jesus may have been seeing while on the cross:
Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
Roaring lions that tear their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted within me.
My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death. (Psalm 22:12-15)
Bashan1 was the region He and the disciples had just visited - the location that contains the "gates of Hades". This seems to describe a scene where the powers of darkness have come running. They prowl around the cross, thinking they were about to victoriously kill the Messiah. And for three days perhaps they thought they were right.
But, the story doesn't end there.
All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him —
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
They will proclaim his righteousness,
declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it! (Psalm 22:29-31)
The moment breath returned to Jesus' lungs, our victory was sealed. Jesus conquered the one thing the enemy had in store for all of us: DEATH. The grave is powerless against the unstoppable Lord, and now He offers eternal life to all who believe in Him.
It is finished. He has done it!
1 Amazing side note: one root definition of "Bashan" is "dragon-snake", two words used in Scripture to describe Satan. (Source: Bashan, Symbology, Haplography, and Theology in Psalm 68 by James Charlesworth)
DISCUSS TOGETHER
The Bible describes Satan as "the accuser" (Revelation 12:10). Day and night he lies to us, trying to convince us that we are too messed to experience God's love.
Now that you've been given a better sense of all Jesus endured, reflect on Romans 5:6-11 and share as a group what it means to you:
"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."
Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."
15 min - Final Encouragement
Spend time simply expressing to God and each other how incredible He is. Talk about the wonder of His story. Make a fresh commitment to pursuing God through His word - not just as a discipline of study, but also to have a time each day that you give your heart, soul, mind and spirit an opportunity to be in awe of Who He is and What He does.
Special Reminder
Is there anyone in the group who is a follower of Jesus but has never made the public declaration of baptism? We are having a special corporate baptism celebration the final Sunday of this series: April 24. It would be the perfect way to conclude this experience together!
Our Baptism team is always ready to walk with you through this celebration. Simply text the word BAPTISM to (229) 252-7950 and someone will personally follow up with you.
Special Reminder
Is there anyone in the group who is a follower of Jesus but has never made the public declaration of baptism? We are having a special corporate baptism celebration the final Sunday of this series: April 24. It would be the perfect way to conclude this experience together!
Our Baptism team is always ready to walk with you through this celebration. Simply text the word BAPTISM to (229) 252-7950 and someone will personally follow up with you.
Optional Homework for Next Week:
- Book Reading: Supernatural, Chapters 14-16
- Heritage Sermon: Sunday, April 24
Note to Group Leaders
Thank you for your willingness to walk with others in discipleship. We are here for you whenever you need us. We are praying for you and cheering for you. One tool we want to offer: ESPN.
Each time you gather together, make a point to:
E: Encourage (offer words of hope to everyone in your group)
S: Scripture (always let God's Word be your guide)
P: Prayer (prayer changes the atmosphere - we encourage you to begin and end your time together in prayer)
N: Next Step (if anyone is facing a particularly difficult circumstance in life, we have many Next Step tools available for you)
Reach out anytime:
Chrissie Forehand (Small Groups Pastor):
Thank you for your willingness to walk with others in discipleship. We are here for you whenever you need us. We are praying for you and cheering for you. One tool we want to offer: ESPN.
Each time you gather together, make a point to:
E: Encourage (offer words of hope to everyone in your group)
S: Scripture (always let God's Word be your guide)
P: Prayer (prayer changes the atmosphere - we encourage you to begin and end your time together in prayer)
N: Next Step (if anyone is facing a particularly difficult circumstance in life, we have many Next Step tools available for you)
Reach out anytime:
Chrissie Forehand (Small Groups Pastor):
Or send a note to:
Brian Lassetter (Discipleship Pastor):
Brian Lassetter (Discipleship Pastor):