If I understand 1 Thessalonians 4:14 correctly, Paul took several facts into account. (1) Jesus died, and (2) was raised to life by God. (3) Believers die, and (4) are immediately with Christ after death of the body (2 Cor 5:8, Phil 1:23), which will be eventually resurrected (1 Cor 15). (5) Christ is coming again. Hence, those who have died and are with Christ will return with Him when He comes again. God will make this happen.
To help members think about key truths in the Bible, before I present 1 Thessalonians 4:14, I will show the following as a slide:
After a few members answer, I will move on to Step 3 on the lesson, “What Hope Do You Have?”.
P.S. I don’t plan to bring it up in class, but this week’s Travolta family tragedy may give rise to questions about what Scientology teaches regarding an afterlife.
To help members think about key truths in the Bible, before I present 1 Thessalonians 4:14, I will show the following as a slide:
After a few members answer, I will move on to Step 3 on the lesson, “What Hope Do You Have?”.P.S. I don’t plan to bring it up in class, but this week’s Travolta family tragedy may give rise to questions about what Scientology teaches regarding an afterlife.
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3 comments:
I ran into the following illustration that does a fair job of highlighting the point of the message (at least, in my opinion):
``Good Night'' or ``Good-bye''?
A certain father on his death bed called for his two sons. They both gathered near him. To the one he said, ``Good night, my son.'' To the other he said, ``Good-bye, my son.'' The second son noticed the difference between the two farewells. ``Father, why did you say `Good night' to my brother and `Good-bye' to me?'' The frail, old man looked upon him with great sadness. He then replied, ``I love you both so very much. But your brother is a Christian and I will meet him again in `the morning of eternity.' So it is just `Good night' to him. However, you are not a Christian and I will never see you again. Unless you change and obey the gospel of Jesus Christ, I must say `good-bye' to you--'good-bye' throughout all eternity.''
-- Author Unknown (edited)
Just thought I would share... :)
vr,
kaf
Wow, that is some good stuff.
Thanks for the suggestion KAF. We all love stories, and this one is easy to remember. It might best be used to wrap up the lesson.
Appreciate it,
RW
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