November 3, 2024

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It is often confusing to know the difference between when we are supposed to be still and when we are supposed to be at work.
In this week’s lesson, we focused on being still in the presence of our God.
I believe the best way to know when we are supposed to be still or on the move is to know the heart of God. When God wants us to know that He is God, He wants us to be still.
Think about that. God is all-powerful. Is there anything you can do to help Him show you His power? NO!
When God wants us to be still, He wants us to show our trust in Him and simply be still.
Waiting on the Lord is harder than it seems. At first, it is easy, but as time goes on it becomes harder and harder. In our culture of fast-paced and loaded distraction, we either become bored or can’t wait because we are unable to stay focused on God.
When God wants us to be still, I believe it is usually because He wants to bless us. So, thank Him and then wait patiently.
Psalm 37:7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!
Psa. 37:5 Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
Mark 4:39 And He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Think About It: God Wants us to Be still in His Presence.

Group Questions:
1. What did this lesson teach you about God?
2. What did this lesson teach you about you?
3. From this lesson what is He asking you to do and/or what is He going to do?
4. How did you hear from God today?

God Encounters:

I kept encountering God this week in my struggles. Father God is so kind and loving. When I face struggles, He doesn’t leave me alone. He is with me always. I don’t do anything to deserve His presence. He cannot deny Himself, He said. “I will never leave you.” Yes, there are times when we cannot feel His presence, but He is still there. And, every time this week when I became worried about whatever, He would graciously send me more peace.
“Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”
– Deut. 31:6

Devotional: “Know that I Am God”

Colorado is known for beautiful sunrises and sunsets. You can’t really appreciate them in the city, though. You have to go out in the country to get free from distractions to really see the sunrise. There are too many buildings, billboards, and many things in our way. And the same is true with our relationship with God. We have so many distractions that we do not know how to be still.
How do I be still and know that He is God… in my life? How do I really rest in Him and see the beauty of the sunrise… in my darkness?
We are looking at the buildings and the billboards. Our phones and also our fears are keeping us from seeing the beauty of God. Our hurry and our worry are keeping us from seeing the sunrise of God in our lives. What “be still” is saying, and what we are going to consider in this devotional series, is removing those distractions, so that we can see the sunrise of God in all the circumstances surrounding our lives.
Deep people are still people. They understand that God is over their pain in cancer, and their pleasure when it is the greatest day in the world. In all of our hustle and bustle, all of our buildings and billboards, can we see the sunrise and know that He is God and that He is right there with us?
Do you need to see God more clearly? Do you need to rest more deeply? Are your fears and your phone keeping you from really staying on task and keeping you frazzled? Are you running so busy that your hurry and worry are wilting your soul? God has a word for you today:

“Be still and know that He is God.”

Stillness will allow the sun to rise in your life.

Testimonies

A few weeks ago, we talked about intercession. Weeks back, one student shared that he had been praying for one of his friends at school to know Jesus. This student began sharing the gospel with his friend by telling his friend that God is alive and is excited to keep on praying for him.

“With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints,” – Ephesians 6:18

$20 Memory Verse: Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah PSALM 46:10-11

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October 27, 2024

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Last week, we discussed how to navigate difficult times. This week we continue our discussion by looking at the fact that we have overcome satan(false prophets).
To begin with, the Spirit of God must be distinguished from false spirits. This is particularly necessary because many false prophets have gone out into the world. The touchstone by which these spirits (false prophets) are to be tested is their attitude toward the incarnate person of Jesus Christ. The failure to acknowledge (ὁμολογεῖ, “confess”; cf. 1:9; 2:23; 4:15) that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is precisely what exposes the spirit of the antichrist, which John had already warned his readers about in chapter two. Up to now, John assured his dear children, the readers, that they had overcome these antichrists. The readers had successfully resisted the antichrists (false prophets) by means of the Holy Spirit who is in them. 1 John 3:24; 4:2 Reliance on God is the secret of all victory whether over heresy or any other snare. The indwelling One—the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer (3:24; 4:13; Rom. 8:9) and is thus “the One who is in you”— is mightier than the one who is in the world, namely, satan (cf. 1 John 5:19). He is called “the prince of this world” (John 12:31).
The antichrists are from the world and … speak from the viewpoint of the world. For this reason, they get a good hearing from the world. It is always true that satanically inspired thought has a special appeal to worldly minds. But people who are from God, listen to the apostles. The pronouns that begin verses 4-6 can be described as “from God” and thus know God and listen to the apostolic voice. In the history of the church, apostolic doctrine has always been the means by which the Holy Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood can be effectively distinguished.

Think About It: We overcome because of Holy Spirit.

Group Questions:
1. What did this lesson teach you about God?
2. What did this lesson teach you about you?
3. From this lesson what is He asking you to do and/or what is He going to do?
4. How did you hear from God today?

God Encounters:
I kept encountering God this week in my struggles. Father God is so kind and loving. When I face struggles, He doesn’t leave me alone. He is with me always. I don’t do anything to deserve His presence. He cannot deny Himself, He said. “I will never leave you.” Yes, there are times when we cannot feel His presence, but He is still there. And, every time this week when I became worried about whatever, He would graciously send me more peace.
“Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”
– Deut. 31:6

Devotional:
This week, I want you to start your prayers by thanking God for Holy Spirit in you.
Our devotional is directly from 1 John 4:4-6-
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. 4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore, they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

We are told that we are from God, and we listen to God and the teachings of the apostles (Bible). We are also told that we have overcome the antichrist because of Holy Spirit who is in us.

No matter how great you think the antichrist is, greater is Holy Spirit who is in you. So, do not be afraid of this world nor of things in it. Trust in God and He will lead you.

Pray to Him now-

Father God, thank you for sending me Holy Spirit. Thank You that He is greater than the evil one. Thank You that the evil one cannot harm me because Holy Spirit is in me. Help me, God, to remain in You so that You can remain in me. In Yeshua’s name, Amen.

Testimonies:

A few weeks ago, we talked about intercession. Weeks back, one student shared that he had been praying for one of his friends at school to know Jesus. This student began sharing the gospel with his friend by telling his friend that God is alive and is excited to keep on praying for him.

“With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints,” – Ephesians 6:18

$20 Memory Verse: “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33

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October 20, 2024

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Everyone will face troubles. Jesus actually promises that we will face troubles, but He ends the warning with ‘take courage…’. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. -John 14:27
This week, we talked about how God wants us to respond to the troubles we face. We looked at how King David responded to the troubles he faced.
16 “But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength; Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning, For You have been my stronghold And a refuge in the day of my distress. 17 O my strength, I will sing praises to You; For God is my stronghold, the God who shows me lovingkindness..” – Psalms 59:16-17
We also looked at how Paul and Silas responded to being thrown into jail for serving God. Acts 16:23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; 24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.
We ended our time by applying this teaching to ourselves and then listening to God for ourselves and others.

Think About It:
Jesus does not want us to be discouraged in this world.

Devotional
This week, I want you to start your prayers by thanking God that even in our troubles, He wants us to take courage because He has already overcome the world and all of its troubles.
I know it is not easy to have courage or peace when you are facing troubles of many kinds, but there must be a reason why our King directs us to take courage during these troubled times.
Christians have a dual existence: they are in Christ and in this world. In connection with Jesus, we have peace, but the world (things that live against =God’s kingdom.) exerts a hostile pressure. The world system, the enemy of God and His people, opposed Jesus’ message and ministry. John 1:5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. John 7:7 “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.
But Jesus won the victory over the system; He has overcome the world. As the “strong man” who came and ruined Satan’s kingdom Matt. 10:25 “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household! Matt. 10:26 “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 “What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. 28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.”
Jesus has won. Jesus wants us to remember this fact and to rejoice in His victory. We are to approach every trouble, challenge, and obstacle, knowing our King has already beat it. Therefore, the victory is ours despite the outcome in this world.
OUR PEACE IS IN HIM!

Group Questions:
1. What did this lesson teach you about God?
2. What did this lesson teach you about you?
3. From this lesson what is He asking you to do and/or what is He going to do?
4. How did you hear from God today?

God Encounters:
A few weeks ago, we talked about intercession. Weeks back, one student shared that he had been praying for one of his friends at school to know Jesus. This student began sharing the gospel with his friend by telling his friend that God is alive and is excited to keep on praying for him.

“With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints,” – Ephesians 6:18

Testimonies:
This week, we had a sweet time in the presence of our Lord. I am writing this in faith as it is Tuesday, five days before the actual service. I am reminded that God said that He would never leave us and that where there are two or more gathered in His name, He is there in our midst. With Him here even the bad times are good.

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,” -Hebrews 13:5

$20 Memory Verse: “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33

Resources for Those in Need:
Support services are available for people in need.
A list of available resources is available by visiting the following link:
www.ecdenver.org/resources

Upcoming Events:
Christmas Cookie Fun: Dec 7, 2024- 10am
Royal Ball: March 7th at EC Denver- 6pm
VBS: June 8th-12th- 8am-12pm
Family Laser Tag Sept 26th- 1pm
Movie On the Lawn- Sept 12th- 7pm
Movie On the Lawn- Oct 17th- 7pm
Christmas Cookie Fun: Dec 6th, 2025- 10am

Parents: You are the most important person in your child’s life. – Proverbs 22:6 Spend time helping your child understand the lesson and the devotional.
If you should have any questions or concerns, please email me at [email protected] or call me at 720.900.7385.

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October 13, 2024

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Jesus is the only way to Heaven- John 14:6
This week, we talked about the story of the sinner woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her hair and her tears while at a Pharisee’s house. She made sure that Jesus was tended to by showing her love for him. Jesus responded, “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but the one who is forgiven little, loves little.” – Luke 7:47. She did not come to Him asking for anything, rather wanting to tend to His presence. He gave her a free gift of forgiveness. She had much to be forgiven for, and so she loved Jesus very much. The Pharisee’s did not think they had much to be forgiven for, they thought they were righteous. And they loved little. Just like we talked about last week, this is a part of Sanctification, God making us Holy. We all need forgiveness for much, and when we recognize that, we become like this woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and hair. We love Him very much for the great forgiveness He has given us. He has compassion on us, He removes our sin from us, and His lovingkindness is greater than we can imagine. Since His lovingkindness is so vast, we continue to give our love back to Him, instead of choosing to continually sin. “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.” – Hebrews 10:26. God will follow through on what His word says. If we are merciful to others, we will receive mercy. We should show others what we ourselves have received from God.

Think About It:
God separates you from your sin.

Group Questions:
1. What did this lesson teach you about God?
2. What did this lesson teach you about you?
3. From this lesson what is He asking you to do and/or what is He going to do?

God Encounters:
A couple of weeks ago, we talked about intercession. Weeks back, one student shared that he had been praying for one of his friend’s at school to know Jesus. This student began sharing the gospel with his friend by telling his friend that God is alive and is excited to keep on praying for him.

“With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints,” – Ephesians 6:18

Devotional:
This week, I want you to start your prayers by thanking God for His forgiveness and unwavering love for you. He forgives us our sin, instead of repaying us for our sins. “He has not punished us as our sins should be punished. He has not repaid us for the evil we have done.” – Psalm 103:10. His love is so great for you, no matter what you have done or where you come from. His forgiveness is a gift that we do not have to earn. We can find joy in giving all of our love to Him in return. To learn more about who He is, read Psalm 103:10-13. “He has not punished us as our sins should be punished. He has not repaid us for the evil we have done. As high as the sky is above the earth, so great is His love for those who respect Him. He has taken our sins away from us as far as the east is from west. The Lord has mercy on those who fear Him, as a father has mercy on His children.” – Psalm 103:10-13. Even when nobody else is showing God their love, we should be the one’s making sure He knows how much He is loved. Ask Holy Spirit what you need forgiveness for. Remember, when we are forgiven much, we love much. We are so thankful to Him for forgiving us of so much sin. Ask Him for forgiveness of these things, receive this gift, and tell Him how much you love Him.

Testimonies:
This week, we talked about how God is the One who sanctifies us, who makes us holy. The students experimented with ink-stained shirts that suddenly became clean. The ink-stained shirts represent our sin. When we ask Jesus to be our King and follow Him, God cleans us of our sins no matter how much sin we have. It is all taken away. They learned that we are not responsible for making ourselves righteous. It is the work of God.

2For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
– Romans 8:29

$10 Memory Verse: John 14:6 Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

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October 6, 2024

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September 29, 2024

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