Falling Plates – Romans 5:6-11 Lesson

Falling Plates – Romans 5:6-11 lesson from Wednesday October 5, 2015.

This lesson was designed from a question Pastor Dwight had me ask the youth last Wednesday night:  “What do you have to do to go to Heaven?”.

Lesson intro video for the night:

Falling Plates is a video made by two friends, Howard Crutsinger and John Strong, who wanted to visually “show” the world what the Gospel looks like instead of just “telling” them. Taking a very creative and artistic approach, the video uses far more images than it does words.

Essentially, the video covers the span of creation, the fall, and our redemption. Narrated by Jesus, the video covers all that He’s done for us because of His love for us.

I like it when people keep the Gospel simple.  And that video was simple.  This short clip showed us what the Gospel looks like by giving us pictures of brokenness followed by images of redemption and hope and restoration. Regardless of what you believe, this video – and the message behind it – are true for each and every single one of us. All of us have been damaged by sin, our wicked choices, and have suffered the consequences of it. When sin smashes us into a million pieces, Jesus is the only One who can restore our lives and put the pieces back together again.

• What were some of the other images of “brokenness” that the video used to describe our choices?
• Can you explain the concept of sin and its consequences?
• How do you think it made God feel when His creation – you and me – turned our backs on Him in favor of other things?
• In the video, one of the images that was referenced and repeated several times was that of a battery slowly dying. If you had to guess what percentage your battery was on right now, what would it be? Why?
• One of the questions we were asked in the video was, “What are you searching for?” Is there anyone who’s brave enough to answer that question?

Romans 5:6-11 (NLT)

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, no one is likely to die for a good person, though someone might be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s judgment. 10 For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God– all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God.

• Do you have a plan for dealing with the brokenness and sin in your life? If so, what is it? If not, why not?
• In what ways does this passage sound like the video we just watched?
• The video rightly said that when our lives fall apart, we start searching for other things to fill us or fix us. The video said it just brings about more brokenness and death and separation from God. What does Jesus offer us that NOTHING or NO ONE ELSE can offer us?
• In the video, Jesus said, “Somebody has to die: you or me.” Can you explain why “somebody has to die” because of sin?

[su_highlight background=”#f2f148″]Romans 6:23 New King James Version (NKJV)[/su_highlight]

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

[su_highlight background=”#f2f148″]James 1:15 New King James Version (NKJV)[/su_highlight]

15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

• What does it mean to be “made right in God’s sight”? Why is that important?
• Sometimes, the people in the world around us make Jesus out to be some Guy who makes demand after demand of us. But in the video, Jesus was narrating it and said, “I’m not here to condemn you. I came to bring you back to life.” Which “persona” of Jesus does the Bible seem to agree with? How can you tell?

You’ve just heard the best news of your life: Jesus died for you when you were at your worst. When you were broken, He gave His life on a cross to give you your life back. But He wants a response from you. What is your response to Jesus’ radical gift of love?  Some of you may be hearing this for the first time.  Some of you may have grown up in church and have heard it so much that it is something you know, but don’t apply to your own life.  Listen to this testimony of someone who grew up in church, had Godly parents, knew the Gospel, but failed to follow God’s path for his life until…

Shattered plates. Tainted water. Dead flowers. Burnt trees. Tear-stained eyes. All of those images show us the state of our relationship with God when we choose sin over Him. The video, Falling Plates, showed us what our lives look like after sin, and all that Jesus did to right our wrongs.  Josh Harmony’s testimony video was a great example of someone growing up in a Christian household with Godly parents teaching him about Christ, but him failing to follow God’s path for his life.

Sin is nothing to play around with. Sin is a simple little word with cosmic consequences. Sin is anything we do that displeases God. When we sin, we essentially tell God that we know better than Him. The result is always, always, always the same: death.

But that’s where Jesus comes rushing in. He came to Earth, from Heaven, to die in our place. To die so that we don’t have to. The Bible’s apex moment is without a doubt the moment that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave showing us that He has power over our sin, over the grave, and over our death. He died so we don’t have to be separated from God anymore.

There is no one on this planet who loves you like that!