Proverbs 11:2 Sunday School Lesson Outline

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. (NIV)
When pride cometh, then cometh shame; but with the lowly is wisdom. (KJV)

 

I don’t know about you, but if I’m not very careful, my pride can sometimes trip me up.

Unfortunately, pride is not something that we deal with once and we’re done.

Pride stays with us and is typically an issue in some form or another our whole lives.

Not that we are bad or a failure, but because the flesh is stubborn and wants what it wants.

 

For this reason…

We have to choose to set our pride aside and humble ourselves on a daily, sometimes moment-by-moment basis.

 

Now there are 2 kinds of pride. One is good and one is bad.

 

The good one is like when you take pride in something you are doing.

You want to do a good job and you want to get it right.

You care about your work.

Wanting to do a good job and do the best you can is a good thing.

You enjoy doing a good job instead of a half-baked job.

That kind of pride is okay.

 

The other kind of pride is the one being addressed in this verse.

It’s the bad kind.

Here’s Google Dictionary’s definition of it:

Pride – over-inflated sense of self-importance.
When you think more of yourself than you should.

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Journaling

For several years now I’ve had the habit of journaling.

Typically, I do it first thing in the morning before I start my day.

I’ve found that writing before the world has a chance to distract me means that my truer, unguarded self comes out on the page.

 

Sometimes, I vent about people and events.

Sometimes I remind myself I need to buy milk.

Always. by the end of the second page I find God there.

As I’m listing my thoughts I begin to think about and then ask the Lord’s opinion on things.

I begin to become aware of where He’s working in my life and where I need to pray and ask Him to intervene and help me.

 

Some days I write 3 pages, some days I write 10.

Always, I make a point of laying aside all pretenses and focusing on being my true self, writing my real feelings.

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Did Judas Go to Heaven?

One question I’ve seen asked a lot is whether Judas Iscariot went to heaven.

Some say there is no way he could have since he betrayed Jesus.

Others assume he did because the Bible says he regretted what he’d done.

 

Let’s look at these a little further.

First of all, yes Judas did betray Jesus.

But, at the same time, so did Peter when he denied Christ 3 times before the cock crowed. (Matthew 26:31-35, 69-75 NIV)

 

If I am real honest with myself, there are times I betray Jesus, too.

No, I don’t do anything “big” like sending people to kill Him.

But…

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He Who Began A Perfect Work…

When my kids were young I taught them about Jesus as best as I could.

All 3 got saved and baptized at a fairly young age.

As they got older and started going out on their own and were exposed to the world a bit – school, friends’ houses, the mall, the movies, etc. – then later college – they began to witness and experience bad things..

Things people typically witness or experience in a broken world.

Painful things.

 

Before long they struggled with their faith as society bombarded them with all sorts of lies that downplayed God and emphasized self.

Lies that characterized God in false, disrespectful ways.

 

They weren’t always obvious.

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Praying in the Night

I used to have a lot of trouble sleeping.

Sometimes I woke up 3 or 4 times a night.

I would usually look at my phone, get up and walk around the house, or read before trying to go back to sleep.

Sometimes I would pray or read my bible.

Mostly, though, I just played on my phone.

 

Over time I began to sense that maybe the Lord was trying to talk to me during these wakeful moments.

I wasn’t sure, so I typically would just go back to sleep.

 

Then one day while doing my daily bible study I came upon this verse:

On my bed I remember You;
    I think of You through the watches of the night.Psalm 63:6 NIV

 

It was then I realized that not only was that probably the Lord prompting me, but that we are actually supposed to focus on Him as we are drifting off to sleep.

 

I read some cross-reference verses for this (what I call chasing a verse) and came across these:

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It’s Easter Sunday!

Today is Easter, the day we celebrate Christ’s triumphant rise from the grave.

It’s the day we remember how He beat death and hell as He paid for our sins so we can be reconciled to God.

 

Today – let us rejoice as we celebrate that Christ is risen indeed!

 

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 NIV

 

To learn more about Easter read my post, What is Easter?.

 

To learn more about the Easter Season, please visit my Easter page, a compilation of previous Easter and Lent posts.

 

 

 

What Is Easter?

Easter, also called Resurrection Sunday, is the day we celebrate that Jesus rose from the dead, gaining victory over sin, death, and the grave.

 

Jesus had been killed by crucifixion on a Friday.

Early on the following Sunday morning some women who had been Jesus’ followers, came to His tomb with prepared spices.

They were planning to properly anoint His body for burial.

They’d been unable to do it right after the crucifixion because the Sabbath started at dusk Friday and lasted until dusk Saturday.

During this time they were not allowed to do any work due to Jewish law.

 

When the women got to the tomb the stone blocking the entrance had been rolled away.

Jesus’ body was not there.

The tomb was empty except for the linens Jesus’ body had been wrapped in when placed there late Friday afternoon..

 

There was an angel there at the tomb.

The angel spoke to them:

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What Is Good Friday?

Good Friday is the day we remember Jesus and His death on a cross.

 

Crucifixion was a common way to execute people during the time of the Roman Empire.

It was a very slow and painful way to die, sometimes taking several days.

The person being executed typically died due to exhaustion and asphyxiation.

 

The night before Jesus died He’d been arrested and taken before the Jewish high priest and elders.

After questioning Him at length, they decided Jesus should die for the sin of blasphemy* because He said He was the Christ, the Son of God.

 

They took Him to the Roman Governor, Pilate, and asked that he execute Jesus for them – Jewish leaders were not permitted to execute anyone themselves.

Pilate questioned Jesus at length but couldn’t find Him guilty of anything.

 

When Pilate returned Him to the leaders and elders, stating there was no basis for execution, the leaders told Pilate that Jesus had claimed to be a king and was therefore an enemy of Caesar.

When Pilate asked Jesus if He was the king of the Jews, Jesus said yes.

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Jesus Was Arrested

Jesus was arrested the day before He was crucified.

(This day is sometimes called Holy or Maundy Thursday.)

 

The Jewish elders and chief priests hated Jesus so they wanted to arrest and kill Him.

They were scheming together to think of a way to capture Him.

They were a little hesitant to do it openly because they knew how popular He was; they didn’t want to stir up an angry crowd, and they didn’t want the crowd to turn against them.*

 

A man named Judas Iscariot was one of Jesus’ disciples.

He knew that the Jewish elders and chief priests were very upset with Jesus and looking for a way to get rid of Him.

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Belonging to God

I was reading a bible study book and it mentioned Psalm 100:3, which says:

Know that the Lord is God.
    It is He who made us, and we are His;
    we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. (NIV)

 

There’s a lot of good stuff in this verse, but what really stuck out to me was the second line –

It is He who made us, and we are His,

 

According to this verse, it is God who made us.

We weren’t made by accident. We didn’t suddenly just exist.

We didn’t evolve from slime somewhere.

God made us.

On purpose.

He meant to do it.

 

Because God has made us, we belong to Him.

We are His people.

This means we aren’t our own.

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