Dark Of The Moon Series

DARK OF THE MOON

Series: Ephesians 6

INTRO #1: Transformers: Dark of the Moon

I plan to open up by asking the youth what was their favorite Transformer movie moment (I am sure some of our coolest kids will have great answers here). Obviously, what I am going for here is a detailed talk about battles that will lead into a discussion about warfare—spiritual warfare (remind all MS that there is an age appropriateness to the movie that is still questionable—the recent ones are in no way innocent when it comes to language).

INTRO #2: Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd

On the Dark Side of the Moon album written years ago by Pink Floyd (I don’t suggest going to buy it). There is a song titled The Great Gig in the Sky which has the following lyrics…

"And I am not frightened of dying, any time will do, I don't mind. Why should I be frightened of dying? There's no reason for it, you've gotta go sometime." "If you can hear this whispering you are dying."

Now, I don’t want to imply here that anyone is dying per se, but our friends with us involved in this spiritual war are absolutely feeling the consequences of their actions, the consequences of NOT understanding the spiritual war, which is what we will look at today.

TRANSITION: Enough of the Dark Side of the Moon, we will now talk about the Dark Side of the Galaxy. More specifically, the invisible nature of the war.

BIBLE VERSE: Ephesians 6:10-12

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

5 GREAT TRUTHS:

1. There is an invisible world just as real as the visible world.

2. We are involved in the invisible war.

3. Our enemy is strong and his goal is to destroy us.

4. We are to respect our foe—but not fear him.

5. We need to analyze our enemy’s tactics if we are to defeat him.

THE LESSON:

1. There is an invisible world just as real as the visible world.

Leaders, this is the part I will teach as an intro to the small group teachings. I will begin by taking a person to an open window/door leading up to garage/something that could look outside, and ask them what they see. When they respond, I will ask them why they can’t see it (and never tell them what it is). After awhile I will explain to them that there is an invisible war going on, right outside this very house there could be demons and angels clashing all over the ability to preach this message. Honestly, if we could actually see it, it would be unbelievable (or horrific depending on one’s viewpoint….probably horrific if we’re being honest).

2. We are involved in the invisible war.

The humans working for the American secret military operations of the transformers tend to ignore that there were Decepticons and that they were on their way. The war to them, seemed invisible because it wasn’t right in front of their faces. Thus, many responses were made in error.

This next series of verses can be terrifying as your greatest nightmare if we fail to understand the contextual meaning.

BIBLE VERSE: Daniel 10:7-13 (verses 12-13 emphasized in bold writing)

7 I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; those who were with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. 8 So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. 9 Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground.

10 A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. 11 He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.

12 Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.