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1 Corinthians 10 The Message (MSG)

BU Wrestling FCA

Dec 1, 2014

Essential Question: What temptations do you battle with that negatively affect you? Do
you believe you have an outlet to these temptations?
Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the Godgiven Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters, in a
baptism like ours, as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate
and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the
Rock, Gods fountain for them that stayed with them wherever they were. And the Rock
was Christ. But just experiencing Gods wonder and grace didnt seem to mean much
most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God
was not pleased.
The same thing could happen to us. We must be on guard so that we never get caught up
in wanting our own way as they did. And we must not turn our religion into a circus as
they didFirst the people partied, then they threw a dance. We must not be sexually
promiscuousthey paid for that, remember, with 23,000 deaths in one day! We must
never try to get Christ to serve us instead of us serving him; they tried it, and God
launched an epidemic of poisonous snakes. We must be careful not to stir up discontent;
discontent destroyed them.
These are all warning markersdanger!in our history books, written down so that we
dont repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallelthey at the beginning,
we at the endand we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Dont be so
naive and self-confident. Youre not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as
anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; its useless. Cultivate God-confidence.
No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had
to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; hell never let you
be pushed past your limit; hell always be there to help you come through it. So, my very
dear friends, when you see people reducing God to something they can use or control, get
out of their company as fast as you can.
I assume Im addressing believers now who are mature. Draw your own conclusions:
When we drink the cup of blessing, arent we taking into ourselves the blood, the very
life, of Christ? And isnt it the same with the loaf of bread we break and eat? Dont we
take into ourselves the body, the very life, of Christ? Because there is one loaf, our manyness becomes one-nessChrist doesnt become fragmented in us. Rather, we become
unified in him. We dont reduce Christ to what we are; he raises us to what he is.

FCA
Team

Wrestling
Huddle

Who gets choice? (You have to be able to wrestle from all positions): (Job 1: 21)
As wrestlers, weve got to be able to wrestle through the entire match, from beginning to
end. Well find ourselves in every conceivable position: top, bottom, neutral, ahead or
behind in the match; while theres still time on the clock, we can compete and win. We
must have faith, and believe in ourselves, holding on to the confidence that we can defeat
our opponent.
In our relationship with God, a daily walk, while theres still time to live on this earth, we
must choose to put our faith in the Lord, and refrain from listening to the father of lies
(the devil / Satan), whether we are on were on the peak of the mountain top, or when we
find ourselves in the low valleys. There will always be times of temptation and
discouragement, for life on this earth is a battle. But we must remember that God is with
us, and we always have a choice in what we do. Just as we can choose top, bottom, or
neutral, in a wrestling match, God gives us the choice in how we live our lives. We dont
have to fall into temptation and wrong-doing! 1 Cor. 10: 13 states, NO temptation has
overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow
you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the
ways of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.
If we choose our own selfish desires, the ultimate price will be defeat. If we choose to
follow the Lord, the end result will be a life of blessing, and an eternity in Gods loving
presence. The choice is yours. What choice will you make? God is still King, and He
never stops loving and calling, and knocking on the door of your heart. He never ceases
loving you, no matter what your past looks like, no matter how far you have fallen. He
will call you to the top of the mountain, while providing Himself as the way. He beckons
us in all situations to follow Him, with eyes of faith set on His Truth and Promise. We
can never go wrong following our Lord. As King David slew Goliath while still only a
young boy, so did the Lord Himself crushed the evil one (the devil), when He died for
our sins and rose again, conquering death. Now He has gone on before us, to prepare a
place for us to follow.(the Body always follows the Head). At the end of our lives on
this earth, our relationship with God is all that will matter, as
Job 1: 21 states, Naked I came from my mothers womb, and naked I will depart. The
LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised. (So,
choose wisely my friends!)
Discussion Questions:
1. When we find ourselves ahead in a match, how do we conduct ourselves?
2. When behind, how do we conduct ourselves?
3. Whats our best position in wrestling: Top, Bottom, Neutral?
4. In victory or defeat, who else is impacted?
5. Is it the same in life? Who else is impacted if we lose the spiritual battle?
6. What must we do to address our weaknesses as followers of the Lord?
7. What is the most important choice you can ever make?
CONCLUDE WITH A SHORT PRAYER

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