Leader Guide

Objective
Students will learn that the victorious life we live in Christ eliminates shame, guilt, and fear of past mistakes.

Warm Up
Southwest Airlines ran a series of commercials with the tagline “Wanna get away? Well now you can.” (Find one or two you think your group would enjoy on YouTube and play them). In each of the commercials, a person would do something that caused embarrassment and they would want to get away.

• Have any of you ever experienced moments like that?

We can learn from the past and use it to shape a better future. Our past may haunt us but it doesn’t have to. We can move forward in victory – the victory we have in Jesus.

The Song
Listen to the words of this song. It has many statements that speak of things that want to pull us down. For example, the first two lines say, “No fear is ever gonna shake this ground. No past is ever gonna cut me out.” As you listen write down the things like fear and the past that can try to pull us back.

Play the song “Never Going Back” by Cross Point Music.

Transition
Let’s take turns calling out the things we heard mentioned in this song.
(Fear, past, lie, battle, guilt, pain, chains, shame, giants, grave, devil are ones I found in the lyrics but students may use other words that relate to what they are going through so don’t correct them and tell them what is or isn’t in the song.)

Give students time to list as many as they can and encourage them to write them all down.

Look at the list of things that want to pull us back. Take a moment and circle the big ones in your life. If something else is bigger in your life write it down and circle it.

Bible Study
The Apostle Paul had things in his past that wanted to pull him back. He had persecuted Christians; he went out looking to find them so they could be jailed and killed. He also sinned as we all do.

All these things weighed on his mind as he wrote a letter to the church in Rome.

Read Romans 7:21-24

• What do these four verses say to you? (Give students a couple of minutes to reflect and write down their answers. Then ask for volunteers to share their thoughts.)
• Can any of you relate to Paul when he speaks of wanting to do good, but doing evil? (In the preceding verses, the Apostle Paul speaks of this internal battle in a way that makes him sound almost schizophrenic.)
• Do you ever feel as if you need to be rescued or just want to get away?
• Be honest with yourself and write down a few things that you feel have you trapped right now.

Read Romans 7:25-8:3

• How do these verses make you feel? (Give students a moment to write down what these verses mean to them then ask for volunteers to share their answers.)

We give thanks to God because through Jesus there is no condemnation for our past or even our present. We can have victory over fear, over guilt, over shame.

Wrap Up
As Paul concludes this portion of his letter to the Romans he speaks of the triumph of believers.

Read Romans 8:31-39

• What is the greatest challenge in your faith right now?
• How can we remind ourselves of all that God has already done and find hope in His promises?

If God is for us then nothing can stand against us. If God holds our future then we never need to return to the mistakes of the past. We can leave victorious. We can ignore accusations people may throw at us from our past. They are not who we are. Our past doesn’t define us. Jesus’ past does and His death means you can be seen as a perfect child of the one true, almighty God.

We never have to go back. If you do not know that victory, then talk with a leader about how to claim that as your own.

Playlist
This song is featured on “The Linc: Victory” Spotify playlist – which is the perfect way to remind your students what you’ve taught them in this session. To share it with them, click the live link on the web version of this study.