"A Very Long Walk with God"
Click below to download the Cornerstone Connections leader’s guide and student lesson. This week’s resources also include two lesson plans and a discussion starter video which offer different ways of looking at the topic. Each lesson plan includes opening activities, scripture passages, discussion questions, and real-life applications.
Enoch lives the story of how much God wants to be in relationship with us, and how a life of trusting togetherness will restore us to permanent companionship with Him.
Scripture Passages
OVERVIEW
Relationships are very important to God, because He is love and His whole kingdom and law is built on the foundation of love. Family is one of the purest, closest ways God describes our relationship with Him as He asks us to call Him Father. The Bible frequently gives details about families and relationships between people—fathers, mothers, siblings, half-siblings, cousins, single individuals, and friends like the disciples and apostles. Stories about Bible characters such as Cain and Abel, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Daniel, Esther, Ruth, David, Samuel, Eli, Joseph and Mary, Peter, and Paul highlight the struggles and triumphs of families and friends. Relationships are complicated, because when sin came into the world it brought jealousy, greed, fear, disagreements, violence, failure, anger, deception, and brokenness. There is one special relationship, however, between Enoch and God, which gives us an example of a very good, devoted, and life-changing friendship.
OPENING ACTIVITY: GUESSING WITH FRIENDS
Supplies: 3 x 5 inch notecards, pencils
Play one round of a game in which individuals have to guess details about their friends. Each person gets a 3 x 5 inch notecard and a pencil. Everyone will write their name and three facts about themselves that they believe others might not immediately recognize. The youth leader will collect the cards, shuffle them, then read out the three facts, and everyone will try to guess who the three facts are about. After the game, discuss the following questions.
QUESTIONS
BIBLE STUDY GUIDE
Read each Bible passage, then discuss the questions.
Earnestly Seek God
Read Hebrews 11:5-6.
5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
QUESTIONS
Blessings Until Jesus Comes Back
Read Matthew 5:1-12.
1Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.
The Beatitudes
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
QUESTIONS
Persevere to the Promise
Read James 1:12.
12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
QUESTIONS
APPLICATIONS
In this world, relationships are complicated. Unfortunately, sin has corrupted and destroyed God’s original plan for pure love in relationships. Even in the Bible, there is page after page of family struggles and brokenness in relationships. Your relationship with God is the most important one you can maintain, benefit from, enjoy continually, and thrive in. Choose today, to be devoted to God like Enoch, and one day you will also walk with God when He comes back to take you to heaven!
EXPERIENCE THE TOPIC
Consider applying what you learned in this week’s lesson by doing one or all of these activities:
SCRIPTURE PASSAGE
LEADER’S NOTE
For a Relational Bible Study (RBS) you’ll want to get into the Scripture passage and encourage the youth to imagine participating in the story while it’s happening. Then you will be able to better apply it to your own situation today.
You will need to ask God for the Holy Spirit to be present as your small group discusses the questions (no more than 3-6 people in a group is recommended). Start with the opening question. It is a personal question and the answer is unique for each individual. There is no right answer and nobody is an expert here, so don’t be surprised when you hear different responses. You are depending on the Holy Spirit to be present and to speak through your group. Say what God prompts you to say, and listen to what others share.
Take turns reading the chapter out loud. Follow that with giving the students some time to individually mark their responses to the questions (a PDF version of the handout is available as a download). This gives each person a starting point for responding when you start to share as a group. Next, begin the discussion by asking the students to share what they marked and why on each question as you work your way through. Feel free to take more time on some questions than others as discussion warrants.
Encourage each person in the group to apply what is discussed to their personal lives and to share with the group what they believe God wants them to do. Then ask them to pray that God will help each of them to follow through in doing so. Remind them to expect that God will show them ways to live out the message of this passage in the coming week, and that they are free to ask others in the group to help hold them accountable.
OVERVIEW
Into a narrative of birth and dreary existence and eventual death, Moses suddenly introduces a sublime character, Enoch, who pleased the Lord and lived in His immediate presence. In a deteriorating age, Enoch gave a remarkable demonstration of commendable piety. In thought, word, deed, and attitude he was in accord with the divine will of God; and he brought joy to the heart of his Maker. The Bible says regarding him: “Enoch was well-pleasing unto God.” One striking statement reveals a hint of the beginning of Enoch’s walk with God (Genesis 5:22). It may have been at the moment of the birth of his baby boy, doubtless a high moment in his life, that he set his heart on intimate communion with his God. His close association in such atmosphere brought him heavenly wisdom, which fitted him to understand and appreciate the rich things of God.
On account of his genuine piety and his apprehension of divine wisdom, he was lifted from the earth to continue his walk in the sacred regions beyond. His disappearance was sudden and totally unannounced, and death had nothing to do with it. The Scripture says: He was not found, for God translated him. “By faith Enoch was translated,” says Paul in Hebrews, “that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had translated him” (Hebrews 11:5). A beautiful and meaningful miracle was wrought so that the one man who had learned to love God and walk with Him might continue in that fellowship without interruption.
“Life-changing Intimacy!”
Can you remember a time when life was at its best for you?
Read Genesis 5:21-24.
21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. 24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech. 26 After he became the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Altogether, Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.
28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. 29 He named him Noah and said, “He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.” 30 After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 Altogether, Lamech lived a total of 777 years, and then he died.
32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.
1. How would you describe Enoch’s Life?
2. What do you think is the meaning of Genesis 5:22?
3. Why do you think it meant that Enoch walked with God?
4. What do you suppose Enoch and God discussed for 300 years?
5. What do you think was the reaction of Enoch when God took him?
6. What was Enoch’s greatest legacy?
7. What preparations are you making now to be with Jesus forever?
8. How can you offer God your best in today’s world?
SUMMARY
In Enoch’s case, he did not live a perfect life. He lived as close to God as any human could after 65 years. As it was with the other males in his genealogy, they lived so many years and then died. He never tasted death. The birth of his son signaled a life changing experience with God. This familiarity with God offered him a fellowship that lasted 300 years. No doubt his walk would have continued, but God took him away, he did not die. Such a walk was commanded of Israel (Leviticus 26:3, 12) and of the church.
All these things noted in scripture are for our learning and encouragement. Having a deep and abiding relationship with God is especially important because we too have an opportunity to, like Enoch, not experience death. We can live lives that will have us ready for translation when God comes to claim us as His own—just as he did for Enoch, Elijah, and others.
APPLICATION
The genealogy accounts here run on for several generations without anything remarkable, or any variation but of the names and numbers. At length there comes in one that must not be passed over so, of whom special notice must be taken, and that is Enoch, the seventh from Adam: the rest, we may suppose, did virtuously, but he excelled them all, and was the brightest star of the patriarchal age.
Below, find some application activities to interface with this lesson. These are simply to provide ideas for your usage, or to invite you to imagine and create some of your own, as you impact the lives of teens for God’s glory.
