ACTS

No, we did not talk about the book of Acts. Today we talked about prayer. A model that we explained is known as the ACTS model. ACTS stands for adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication. Adoration is simply praising God and telling Him who He is. We like to use the alphabet to assist in this process. For example, you can start by saying "God is amazing", then "God is beautiful", "God is caring", etc. Adoration comes first because we need to recognize who God is first. What we want is not as important as who God is. Confession is telling God our sins and repenting for them. We need to recognize who we are before our Savior and King. Thanksgiving is giving thanks for what God has given us and for what He has done for us. Thanksgiving is important because we need to recognize what God has given us and has done for us to have the right view of Him. He is a generous God. Last is supplication. Supplication is asking God for things that we need or want. This comes last so that the things we ask for align with God's heart. Adoration reminds us of who God is, and confession reminds us of who we are. With these things in mind it is easier to know what to ask for. Prayer is necessary in our life and we should do it everyday.

Easter

Today Danny lead us into a discussion about Easter. First of all, what is Easter? John 3:16-17  says “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him." God sent Jesus to die for us on the cross for our sins. Easter is essentially about Jesus' deep love for us that he would die on the cross for our sins. The death and resurrection of Jesus is also the basis of Christianity. We discussed how without the resurrection, Christianity would not exist. 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 says “Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if
there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be
pitied.” Because of the resurrection, there is hope, power, and love.

We also drew the bridge diagram which basically looks like this. There is a chasm that separates us from God. As humans are sinful and no matter how hard we try to do good works to compensate for our sins, we will never make it to the other side. Jesus came to die for us on the cross so he could create a bridge for us to be on the other side with God.

One more thing: Easter is not just a onetime holiday, it should be celebrated all the time. It is the basis of our faith and should carry throughout our lives, not just around Easter time.

Have a great week!