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Bible study #1 on "Take Me To Your Leader" by Newsboys [song lyrics]
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"Meet Isabelle" "Isabelle is a belly dancer She says: Ladies and gents, I'd like you to meet Isabelle. She's a belly dancer,
which means she has to work almost constantly to live, and it also means
she has a good body. (well, I'm assuming the latter.) Being a belly dancer
probably means she isn't married, because I don't know of any husband
in his right mind who would let his wife dance for other men. Being a
belly dancer means you take what you can get, and the better you perform,
the bigger the paycheck. Unfortunately, she's a kleptomaniac. (In case
you don't know, that means she has the constant urge to steal.) If she
were a lowly housewite this probably wouldn't be such a big problem, but
a belly dancer . . . Yep. That presents a problem. She spies Helena, who
is most likely trading with a store owner or something. Isabelle just
can't take her eyes off the hand basket. But the harder she tries to resist,
the more it Before long, Isabelle is caught. She starts sobbing. Why her? Why couldn't she just live like a normal human being? She is dragged before Joshua, who, by the way, isn't having a good day. His wife Ruth just left him. When he sees Isabelle, his anger is unleashed, and he gives her the harshest punishment available for theft. Isabelle is put in jail and befriends the chaplain. She starts talking, about how she just can't help it, she doesn't want to, it just calls out her name! She is pleading while tears stream down her face. The chaplain is sympathetic, but there isn't anything he can do to help her case. I don't know under what circumstances she says what she says next, perhaps the chaplain is a good man who isn't in jail for stealing. She says, as her voice is shaky, " I don't know why you care, I'm just a jailbird sitting here rotting, I don't know what's out there, or what's going to happen to me when I die . . . I don't know where or how . . . (Everybody sing!) Just take me to your leader NOW!" She is begging to know God. Even if Joshua won't give her mercy, God will. Even to Isabelle. Even to you. |
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"Here's Justin!" " Justin is adjustin' to the odor He says: This guy is terribly afraid of death. I guess it's a pretty reasonable fear if you don't know where you're going after you kick the bucket. His latest attempt at cheating death is aromatherapy. Now before I do on, I would like to make it clear that of COURSE (and we should all know this) there is no way we an cheat earthly death. Our best hope is to know where we are going to go AFTER we die on this earth. BUt anyway. . . So because we know no earthly stuff will keep us from death, the aromatherapy isn't going to work any better than the 'live supplements' that Justin has already tried. His late wife always said to him that immortality can't be bought in a jar . . . or can, or stick, or bag, etc. Finally something hits him. Maybe it's the evergreen incense giving him a headache or something, but finally he realizes that none of this stuff is going to save him. So he starts searching. Then his neighbour kid drives by in his clunker of a car, this song with the words "SHINE" blaring out of the stereo. (I'm going to take a leap and say that this neighbour kid must have been old enough to drive, but young enough to be called a kid. . . so, a teenager). Justin is first annoyed by the music, then he starts to think: 'This kid, always joyful, no matter what, and not scared of death because...?' Then it dawns on him. This kid might have the answer! Before he can snuff out the incense, Justin's out the door yelling out, "I don't know why you care, but I don't know what's out there. I don't know how it's done . . . so, TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER, SON! I see you've got the joy, I've seen you live it, boy. It's real, it's free, it's fun . . . So take me to your leader, son!" |
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"Can You . . . Take Me . . . TO YOUR LEADER?!?!?!?!" "They don't know why we care They see we've got the joy The stories of Isabelle and Justin were written to make a point. (Yeah, I know, it's been fun, but it's time for ol' TMTYL to pretend like she can actually be serious here) There are people out there who are searching for the answers to life, and guess what? WE have the answers!!! We've got the truth, the ticket to heaven. My youth leader, Sherri, said, "The truth is the truth, whether they believe it or not, it's the truth." I think that's a really good statement. I haven't figured out how that applies to the lesson, but it's still a good quote. People are out there waiting for us to take them to our Leader's Son! There's a pretty good chance that we won't be ministerig to a kleptomaniac named Isabelle or an aromatherapy guru named Justin, but we could be ministering to our unsaved friends, neighbours, family, etc. ANother little point I'd like to make is that we shouldn't just sit around and wait for them to come to us, because they might not just show up at our doorstep. We've got to step out of out "comfort zone" and witness to them. But if you are anything like me, and would rather sing on stage dressed like a Newsboy (oh wait, who am I kidding, I'd do that anyway) than minister, there is a simple way to plant a seed. Just by living the truth and 'shining your light' is a good way. Another effective way is just to be there when they need you. One of your friends broke up with her boyfriend, you can be the one to sit on the phone and just listen. Listening is a good first step to witnessing. People DO notice when you aren't out drinking with everyone else, they DO see that you are different from everyone else. They "see we've got the joy, they see us live it, oi." Stealing this from another song (however this applies here) we've got to "Shine, make them wonder what you've got." Think about it. As I said earlier, we've GOT the answers. We've GOT eternal life. Now, not everyone is going to accept Jesus Christ as saviour, no matter how hard we try. But we can try. We SHOULD try, because the Bible says so many time in the New Testament. (I'll have specific reference to that next week) My challenge to you all (Oi, I'm starting to sound like my youth leader!!!) is to, even if just by lending an ear, shine for God. Live like you have the truth. You never know, someday someone might just come up to you saying " Can you . . . take me . . . TO YOUR LEADER?!?!?!" |
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"That Boring Review Thang" Okay, so over the past three weeks we've covered Isabelle's journey from the streets to the jail cell, Justin's incense overdose, and our responsibility to take 'em to our Leader. I hope that in some way, shape, or form, you got SOMETHING out of this effort, even if it was just the enjoyment of reading an e-mail [or webpage] It's been quite something writing these. I say something, because some weeks I'd be running to the computer, bursting with ideas, and some week I'd be like . . . 'Oi, what do I write???' Like this week. I've been dreading this lesson from the start because I never know what to put. I don't know how I can say anything more than I've already said. All I can really say is that I hope that someday, bcause you've listened to TMTYL (not me,the song) , you'll be able to bring someone to Christ because that gave you the courage and wisdom. Because this IS a Bible study after all, I'm making up for my loss of words with true words of wisdom from the Bible. Here's just a few of the verses in the Bible that deal with witnessing and spreading the gospel. All these verses are in the New King James Version (Thanks to Papa for helping me find these!) Acts 22:15 -- For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard Acts 26:16 -- But rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose; to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. Matt. 10:7 -- And as you go, preach, saying "the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt. 10:18 -- You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. Luke 19:40 -- But He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out." Acts 1:8 -- But you shal receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witness to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea an Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 3:15 -- . . .and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. Acts 5:32 -- And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him. Acts 10:42 -- And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and of the dead. Those are just a few of the verses out there that deal with this topic. The reason I typed them all out is that I know from experience that if somewhere it says to look something up, I rarely do. You guys might be different, but that's the way I am. |
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