My vision for Sunday School... for my local church involvement of any sort, for that matter...
"From Christian Clubhouse to Kingdom Outpost"
I am starting to see this... and someone on DAB gave me this quote today:
"Some wish to live within the sound of Church or Chapel bell;
I want to run a Rescue Shop within a yard of hell."
- C.T. Studd.
Ok, so it wasn't really a shopping spree, but we did spend probably $25 and bought anything and everything we needed. It was fun. Erin picked Zorina up @ her house, brought her to the church where I was, we went through our decoration planning, of which Zorina gets to head up herself as I don't get home from PA until 3-4 hours before VBS actually starts, and we have that planned. Then we all went to Culvers and had dinner... good times. I am so thankful for my wife for helping make this happen; it was a lot of fun. Different from when I've done stuff with guy teenagers, and having Erin along for the ride really made it seem natural and cool and fine and all that... Thank you, honey.
After dinner we did the shopping spree @ good old Walmart... bought some "cool pens" (Zorina and Erin approved), big rubber bands, and some last minute stuff for our trip to PA.
Great family evening and great evening with our sis Z.
DAY 1OPENING (30 MINUTES)TRACK IT QUESTION – Would you rather… EXCITEEXPERIENCE ITSHEAR PLEASURES
EXPRESS ITBIBLE STORY INTRO
BIBLE STORY EXPLORATION
CLOSING (40 MINUTES)EXPLOREEXPRESS ITDISCIPLE ACROSTICS
EXPERIENCE ITDOWN, DOWN, DOWN UNDER
TEAM TIME
EXCELGOING AGAINST THE HERD
FINAL DEPARTURE
PRAYER PRAISE THANKS CONFESSION REVIEW SUPPLICATION – THE PRAYER OF INTERVENTION IF GOD ALREADY KNOWS EVERYTHING, WHY PRAY? … GOD WANTS YOU TO DEPEND ON HIM AND TALK TO HIM. GOD KNOWS EVERYTHING WE DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING GOD WANTS YOU TO TALK TO HIM WRAP IT UPWhat is prayer?Talking "with" God?Ps 145:1-8Ps 88:1-9Why is praise important?
List stories where God brought Israel "out of" something?How do / can you keep track of what God has done in your life? Joshua 4:1-9 (pile of rocks on the bank and in the middle of the Jordan)What does it mean to "confess"?So all of that is review… last week we talked about 3 kinds / parts of prayercoming to understand who HE is, and coming to understand who WE are, Is all of that introduction to just getting around to the asking, then? What does "supplication" mean? Why is "getting things done" listed last here?"I prayed about it, and God said "no""Persistant Prayer – can we "change God's mind?"Is prayer just going to God "for help?"Or getting our marching orders?What's the "biggest" thing you've ever prayed for?Are there things you'd love to see happen but are just not comfortable taking it to God?Where IS the power? Is it in our faith, or in the power of what is behind our faith?How big of something would you like to start praying for? Can you believe it could happen? Could it be YOU holding it all back?So, just WHAT IS FAITH?Is it where salvation comes from?So is faith and belief the same thing?What are some of the reasons God doesn't answer prayer right away?If God already knows everything, why do we even need to tell Him what we want?How does this correspond with the way we go about our own prayers when we pray for "lists?"What does it mean when we say that "God knows everything?"Where do you get your guidance from?Does God WANT to see us come to understand?``Is there a difference between knowledge and wisdom?The Bible is not a book of exceptions. It is a book of examples.There is POWER in the words of your prayers. If you feel like it's a waste of time, maybe it is.Prayer is an expression of a RELATIONSHIP between you and God.
Psalms 72:1-20 : Kingship and Fatherhood
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 2:00 AM
From Deuteronomy 17:
14 "When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, take possession of it, live in it, and say, 'We want to appoint a king over us like all the nations around us,' 15 you are to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses. Appoint a king from your brothers. You are not to set a foreigner over you, or one who is not of your people. 16 However, he must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire many horses, for the LORD has told you, 'You are never to go back that way again. ' 17 He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won't go astray. He must not acquire very large amounts of silver and gold for himself. 18 When he is seated on his royal throne, he is to write a copy of this instruction for himself on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these statutes. 20 Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, he will not turn from this command to the right or the left, and he and his sons will continue ruling many years over Israel.
I did not know this was in Deuteronomy. From 1 Samuel 8, when it came to pass:
So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have."
6 But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."
10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."
In Deuteronomy God fortells of the longing of a king. God's kind of king. A king who purposefully reigns under and with God's authority. In 1 Samuel, the people ask for a king, but what Samuel tells them they'll get is not at all what God told them they should hope for in a king. Why the difference? Both passages talking about the desire for a king coming from the people because they want to be like other nations. It's almost like the king described in Deuteronomy would be more of a loving, rulling judge than the warrior king described in 1 Samuel. Maybe this is the difference. I particularly noticed the last words in the Samuel Passage: we want a king to lead us and go out before us and fight our battles. They wanted a king to do their work for them. Even though Samuel told them that they'd be the people thrown to the front of the battlefield, that their women would basically be made slaves, and that their land, money, and possessions would be taxed and taken over. They wanted someone to do their work for them, and God originally wanted a King to rule over them in His authority... to represent Him.
As I think about this more, it starts to click. A leader is not simply a leader because he tells people what to do. He is a leader because he has authority; because he speaks on behalf of someone or something bigger than himself. This is how Jesus led. Not in his own power but that of his Father. Not in his own strength but in the power of the One who sent him. He is the kind of King predicted in Deuteronomy... he is THE king predicted in Deuteronomy.
I loved the Psalm for today as well, which is described as "a prayer for the king" in the HSB. It's also described as relating to Solomon, so when I first read this, I thought maybe this was one of his wise sayings... an example - a picture - of the kind of King talked about in Deuteronomy.
1 God, give Your justice to the king
and Your righteousness to the king's son. (B)
2 He will judge Your people with righteousness
and Your afflicted ones with justice. (C)
3 May the mountains bring prosperity [a] to the people,
and the hills, righteousness. (D)
4 May he vindicate the afflicted among the people,
help the poor,
and crush the oppressor. (E)
Here the prayer is for God's justice to be given to the king... for His righteousness. For him to defend, not attack. To help, not oppress. As I read this, I thought... what a godly leader this would be! What a prayer this would be if we prayed this for our leaders, and if our leaders prayed this for themselves. And then I got to the last phrase in this psalm, and it HIT me.
The prayers of David son of Jesse are concluded.
This is not Solomon praying for himself. This is not the people praying for the king. This is a FATHER passing the mantle to his son. This is a blessing bestowed from father to son, from king to prince. These are David's "final words." As I read this I wonder how often the leaders we have - nation, state, organization, church, home - receive this kind of blessing and prayer from their fathers. No wonder so many of our leaders have lost their way; they didn't know it in the first place or have it set / told / set upon them by those who preceded them!
What to do here? "Being Fathered" is a huge concept in my life, something I long to learn about and share, and honestly... to experience. I no longer look go my earthly dad for this, but still recognize that I need it - from "fill-the-gap" fathers here on earth, but ultimately, from my Heavenly Father. It's so important, and here it is, put into words as David passes the mantle to his son in Psalms. As God declares what His King will be like in Deuteronomy.
Fathers, love your children. Raise them up your entire life to be your sons, but even more, to be God's sons. Teach them the word. Bind it on your heart so that you can show them how to bind it onto theirs. Model it. Share it. Do it with them. And when the time comes for your last words, for your "final prayer," may it be a blessing to those that follow you, a life well lived as a model for what a man chasing after God can do through him.
Alphabet Pockets FELLOWSHIP GREEK: KOINOS Common… Things that concern everyone… Things that are shared DICTIONARY: Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary it means: (a) companionship, company, associate (vb.); (b) the community of interest, activity, feeling or experience, i.e., a unified body of people of equal rank sharing in common interests, goals, and characteristics, etc.; (c) partnership, membership (an obsolete usage but an important one. It shows what has happened to our ideas of fellowship). DISCUSSION: There are three key ideas that come out of this. Give examples of each of these concepts, both pro and con. (1) Fellowship means (2) Fellowship means having or sharing with others certain things in common such as interest, goals, feelings, beliefs, activities, labor, privileges and responsibilities, experiences, and concerns. (3) Fellowship can mean a partnership that involves working together and caring for one another as a company of people, like a company of soldiers or members of a family. But what about Christian fellowship according to the Word of God and the words for fellowship as they are used in the New Testament? BIBLE STUDY: Where do these verses fit in to these categories? ACTIVITIES: Have some games for us to play as a group. Keep your eyes open as we do these. See if you can find something you can learn about doing things together, as opposed to doing something alone. Group Charades (Working Together – Everyone must participate) APPLICATION: Isolation Kills. Loneliness Kills. Independence, Individualism… these are characteristics of our society that are often looked at as "good" but in reality they are killing us. We're stressed out and don't feel comfortable talking to anyone. We're surrounded by people but are afraid that we're the only one that thinks this way or struggles with that sin.That's what fellowship is about. We can play games all we want. We can have fun all we want. But what we have in common that really means something is Jesus. He gives us common ground where we can share our deepest hurts, the things that hold us back, and that we can celebrate and enjoy together. Think of someone this week that you can reach out to. Is there someone in your class that is just "down?" That you've caught yourself making fun of, privately or publically? That you've excluded from your "group" just because they're different? What would happen if you made a conscious effort to find something "in common" with that person. If you sat by them at lunch? If you stuck a smiley face in their locker? If you sent them a text and just said "Hi." Who can you bring in to the relationship and truly share life with?
Divide into teams of 4 or 5. Everyone on the team searches through their own pockets, wallets, purses, etc. The group tries to come up with one possession which begins with each letter of the alphabet. The winning team is the one to have objects representing the most letters.
The Point: Teamwork, cooperation, and creativity.
being a part of a group, a body of people. It is opposed to isolation, solitude, loneliness, and our present-day independent kind of individualism. Of course, it does not stop there because we can be in a crowd of people and even share certain things in common, but still not have fellowship.
Acts 2:42-45
They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.
that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;
If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Everyone gets in a big circle. Pick a volunteer to leave the room after you explain the game. Once that volunteer is out of hearing range, pick another volunteer who wants to be the leader. Everyone must slyly watch this person and imitate what they do when the other volunteer comes back into the room (cross legs, cross arms, yawn, stick out their tongue, etc.). The person who was out of the room will come back in, stand in the middle of the circle and try to see who is the leader (the one everyone is watching).
The leader can get bold and make faces, throw their hands in the air, etc. when the person in the middle's back is turned and before they have a chance to see who started it, everyone is doing it.
Give the person in the middle three chances to guess who the leader is. Then choose a new volunteer and a new leader. You can have the leader be the next volunteer if he is guessed or any way you see fit.
The Point: Either peer pressure or leadership and influence.
Divide the group up and give each team something that they need to act out for the other groups to guess. Suggestions: poison gas in the room, laughing gas, bad odor in the room, etc. You don't need to make it a contest, but if you want to, have staff judge which group did the best.
Guess the Leader (All against one)
Everyone gets in a big circle. Pick a volunteer to leave the room after you explain the game. Once that volunteer is out of hearing range, pick another volunteer who wants to be the leader. Everyone must slyly watch this person and imitate what they do when the other volunteer comes back into the room (cross legs, cross arms, yawn, stick out their tongue, etc.). The person who was out of the room will come back in, stand in the middle of the circle and try to see who is the leader (the one everyone is watching). The leader can get bold and make faces, throw their hands in the air, etc. when the person in the middle's back is turned and before they have a chance to see who started it, everyone is doing it. Give the person in the middle three chances to guess who the leader is. Then choose a new volunteer and a new leader. You can have the leader be the next volunteer if he is guessed or any way you see fit.
The Point: Either peer pressure or leadership and influence.
Praise God, my Grandfather has gone home! He went peacefully tonight about 15-20 minutes ago (9:30?) I was outside praying for this very thing as he breathed his last breath.
I went outside about 9:25 tonight. Decided to talk to God out loud and "release and complete" this earthly relationship. I told him goodbye, I told him I'd see him soon, and I claimed God promise that His will is our sanctification, and there was no more possibility for my grandfather to be more set apart than to go home this very night. I went in the house, almost KNOWING it was going to be tonight, that I'd be awoken in the middle of the night to find out he'd gone home.
But NOOOO!!! God took him WHILE I was in that prayer, or immediately after it. I'm totally serious. I walked in the door, and my mom was on the phone 5 minutes later. Such an answer to prayer.
My grandpa loved to go up on his grain silo and sing "Oh What A Beautiful Morning" at the top of his lungs on clear summer mornings. I can already see him scaling the gate of heaven with that same SHOUT!!!!!!
I've been reading a lot in Mark lately about faith, and thought I'd copy down some things here that I'm being reminded of.
From Mark 5:
30At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?" 31"You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?' " With all the people crowded around Jesus, the disciples didn't understand what he was asking when he said, "who touched me?" But that's not what Jesus was really asking. He wanted to know, "who touched me...touched me with the expectation of being healed?" The woman's faith in the power in Jesus was different from the many people that were crowded around Jesus... she knew that something could and would happen if she could just touch Jesus... she had the faith that others did not. From Mark 6: 37Jesus replied, "You give them something to eat." This seems to almost be a teaching opportunity for the disciples. They're worried about food, and so they come to Jesus, the "miracle worker guy." But He turns it around on them and tells them to give the people food. Of course there is no food, so the (hidden?) meaning is, "you perform the miracle." Get creative. How is God going to work this one out? I love it. Later, Again From Mark 6: 47Later that evening he was still there by himself, and the boat was somewhere in the middle of the lake. 48He could see that the disciples were struggling hard, because they were rowing against the wind. Not long before morning, Jesus came toward them. He was walking on the water and was about to pass the boat. What I never noticed before in these verses was the phrase, "[Jesus] was about to pass the boat." Here are the disciples, struggling against a headwind to make any progress, and here comes Jesus, strolling across the lake. I can almost hear him whistling a tune in the midst of the storm, simply on his way across the lake to meet the disciples he sent over there hours ago. But no, here they are, still stuck in a storm. Did Jesus really expect their faith to have gotten them out of that jam? Had they already seen Him calm a storm and did He really expect their faith to do the same? This is an interesting read, and a new way of looking at things in Mark for me. This is an action-packed gospel, but I'm loving the expectation of faith that Jesus seems to have of His inner circle. He also is amazed at the faith of some of those who "shouldn't" understand and have it, and surprised at the lack of it from some of those who "should." How true all of that is today. Father, we believe! Help our unbelief, and Lord, show us how to do as you instructed the disciples when you told them to go feed everybody... "How much bread do you have, Go and see!" Let us get moving, regardless of our expectations of how you "should" work. You have enough bread for everyone, along with a basket left over for each of us! Readings: http://www.awalkthroughtheword.com/DailyReadings.aspx?month=2&day=21 http://www.awalkthroughtheword.com/DailyReadings.aspx?month=2&day=23
