Adult Teaching Resources March 27, 2016

Transcription

1 Adult Teching Resources Mrch 27, 2016 Seson of Lent (Februry 10-Mrch 26) When Old Becomes New 2 Corinthins 5:11-21 God s New Thing Isih 43:16-21 The Drk Night Before the Dwn Luke 23:1-49 Ldies First Luke 24: Subscribe to Bptists Tody to ccess the core Bible content for this lesson. Find links nd videos relted to this lesson. 1 Nurturing Fith Mrch 27, 2016

2 Ldies First Luke 24:1-12 FIT Teching Guide by Rick Jordn This dult teching outline is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. Before the Lesson: Mke copies of the hndout Urbn Legends? for the Informtion session. Fellowship Question Use one of the following to brek the ice, to begin discussion, nd led into the study: Did you ever believe the Ester Bunny ws rel? If so, when did you discover it ws not rel? Nme one womn who hs been influentil in your spiritul life. Informtion [Distribute pens nd the hndout, Urbn Legends? ] Tke look through these urbn legends. Which do you think re true, urbn legends, or mixture of truth nd flsehood? [After the clss members hve mrked their nswers nd check them ginst the key ] How did you do on the first five sttements? Which did you think were too good to be true? Wht did you think of number six when you first red it? The Ester story is n mzing story. It is impossible, unbelievble, nd too good to be true. Yet, millions of people believe this story tht is fundmentl to the Christin religion. We ve herd the story mny times, but let us her it gin tody. And, for tody, let s py prticulr ttention to the role of women in this story. [Hve clss member red Luke 23:54-56.] We will be given the women s nmes in the next chpter. From wht Luke tells us bout them, wht re some ssumptions we might mke bout them? (they were fithful followers of Jesus; they did not hide; They knew wht they wnted to do to Jesus corpse, but hd no time to do it; they were fithful to the Jewish Sbbth lws, etc.) Let s look t nother pssge from erlier in Luke s gospel tht tlks bout these women. 2 Nurturing Fith Mrch 27, 2016

3 Informtion continued [Hve clss member red Luke 8:1-3.] Wht re further ssumptions we cn mke bout these women? (they trvelled with Jesus nd the twelve disciples; they hd rdicl trnsformtions of spirit nd body becuse of Jesus power over evil nd illness; t lest one of them, Jonn, seems to hve left fmily behind to follow Jesus; there were mny women who followed Jesus, but these three must hve been the most well known to hve been nmed by Luke; they finncilly supported Jesus ministry, etc.) These women trvelled with Jesus crvn nd supported his ministry finncilly. While the disciples dispersed during Jesus tril, betings, nd crucifixion, the women remined. [Hve clss member red Luke 23:48-49.] If some things re too good to be true, this must hve seemed too horrible to be true. We cn imgine the grief of close friends t violent, unjustified deth. We cn imgine tht these women pssed through stges of grief of shock, denil, nger, brgining, nd deep sorrow. They my hve felt other emotions, such s righteous indigntion or guilt. But when Jesus body ws tken from the cross, there ws no doubt tht Jesus ws ded. They wnted to prepre his body for the tomb, to wsh wy the blood stins nd noint the body with perfumes. But, tht would hve been ginst the Jewish Sbbth lws. Sometimes, in grief, we look for nchors. We feel drift nd need something solid nd permnent to hold onto. How do you suppose Sbbth ws tht for these women? Yet, it ws not n ordinry Sbbth. Eugene Peterson sys, It is not fr-fetched to imgine Jesus friends nd followers spending the twenty-four hours of Jesus Sbbth rest in the tomb, lso resting remembering nd observing. The entire city ws keeping Sbbth; they would lso be keeping it. It is unlikely, I think, tht they would hve gone to syngogue or temple; worshipping with the leders who hd conspired in the crucifixion of Jesus would hve put their own lives t risk. [Eugene H. Peterson. Christ Plys in Ten Thousnd Plces: A Converstion in Spiritul Theology. Grnd Rpids: Willim B. Eerdmns p. 128.] Sbbth ws dy of rest. No errnds to run. No mels to cook. No work to do. It ws dy to reflect on the cretion nd the Cretor who rested on the seventh dy. It ws time to remember our plce in the gret scheme of things. Willim Willimon puts it well: Sbbth keeping is publicly encted sign of our trust tht God keeps the world, therefore we do not hve to. God welcomes our lbors, but our contributions to the world hve their limits. If even God trusted cretion enough to be confident tht the world would continue while God rested, so should we. [Ibid, 129.] The world would continue while God rested how do you think tht ide ffected the women on tht Sturdy? Finlly, the Sbbth ended. The women went to work, gthering supplies nd perfume, nd tking tht long wlk to see their loved one s lifeless body. 3 Nurturing Fith Mrch 27, 2016

4 Informtion continued [Hve clss member red Luke 24:1-8.] The gospel writers give us different detils bout this morning tht re difficult if not impossible to blend into one story. There re different ccounts of when nd how the stone ws rolled wy, different ccounts of who the first witness or witnesses were, different ccounts of the number nd chrcter of the beings/persons greeting the first visitor/s. However, there re some consistencies in the gospel ccounts. For one thing, no one expected Ester to hppen even though, severl times, Jesus told them wht would hppen. And nother consistent thred through the gospel ccounts, s The Bible Lesson writer sys, Jesus ws ded, truly ded. Not sleeping. Not in com. Ded And, s fr s nyone in Jesus world knew, deth ws finl Their whole purpose in visiting the tomb ws not to see if Jesus ws still there, but to prepre his body for permnent residence. How does your trnsltion describe the women s emotion on coming to the empty tomb? Is this wht you would expect them to feel? Why re they not ferful? Why re they not joyful? In verse five, the women hve different emotion. Wht is it? (the women re ferful due to the two men s sudden nd dzzling ppernce) Two powerful emotions perplexity nd fer re norml emotions in time of crisis. Then, something clms their fers nd gives them understnding. Wht does tht for them? (remembering Jesus nd his words; remembering Jesus prophecy of his resurrection, etc.) [Hve clss member red Luke 24:8-12.] How do you feel bout the disciple s rection to the women s story? There ws no scopes.com to check the vlidity of the women s story. The ssumption ws, if story comes from womn, it s got to be wrong. An idle tle, n urbn legend. We might wonder, though, how long the disciples would hve not known bout Jesus resurrection if not for the women. These men did not go to the tomb t dybrek. So, the women becme the first to see nd testify the good news of Jesus empty tomb. Do you think Luke ws mking point bout women s witnesses for (or even prechers for) Christ? Trnsformtionl Exercise In verse eight, how re the men referred to? (the eleven) They hd been known s The Twelve. Wht hd hppened tht Luke does not tell us in his gospel ccount? (Juds hs died.) These were the twelve disciples who hd followed Jesus for three nd n hlf yers. Then Luke gives them different description in the next verse, Luke gives them different nomenclture. Wht does he cll them? (postles) The word postle mens one sent s messenger. Wht do you think Luke is sying in chnging the nomenclture of these men from the eleven to the postles? One precher puts it this wy: If the Jesus story ended on Fridy, then the disciples cn 4 Nurturing Fith Mrch 27, 2016

5 Trnsformtionl Exercise continued simply be the eleven, nd fter the pproprite rituls nd seson of mourning, they cn go bck to life s it ws. If the story ended on Fridy, then they cn be the eleven, lumni of Jesus school of religion, students of n inspiring though finlly trgic techer. In short, if the story ends on Fridy, we cn close out the Book of Luke. But if the news of Sundy is true, they must become postles, those sent to Jeruslem, Jude, Smri nd the ends of the erth nd we will need Book of Acts with the postles s its min ctors. [ Empty Tomb, Empty Tlk, Thoms G. Long, The Christin Century, April 4, christincentury.org/rticle/%252fempty-tomb-empty-tlk] On this Ester Sundy, I would like for us to reflect in silence on our role s berers of this story. Are we living s mere lumni of Jesus school of religion? Or, re we living s postles ordinry people sent out with n extrordinry story to shre with others? In silent pryer, stnd before the Risen Christ nd her him sk, Are you n lum or n postle? [Close in pryer something like this: Help us to be s dedicted to you s Luke describes these women, O God. My we stnd by you nd with you nd for you. Trnsform us from mere herers of your word to bold berers of your word. Thnk you, God, for Ester! Allelui! Amen.] Comments or Questions for Rick Jordn? You my send comments to the lesson pln uthor t rjordn@cbfnc.org. Rick is lso vilble to led workshops nd conferences on Christin Eduction, with prticulr emphsis on how best to use the FIT Fith model. 5 Nurturing Fith Mrch 27, 2016

6 Digging Deeper by Tony Crtlege Digging Deeper is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. Wtch for the shovel icon in the The Bible Lesson, nd then reference tht item in this Digging Deeper resource. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. Jesus tomb No one knows exctly where the tomb of Jesus ws. Ctholic trdition points to site inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre tht is now covered by drk chpel beneth lrge dome. Mny Protestnts believe site known s the Grden Tomb is more likely spot, s it is locted ner hill tht bers similrity to skull, though 2,000 yers of erosion mkes it unlikely tht the hill is very similr to the wy it ppered in Jesus dy. It hs chnged considerbly, even in the pst two decdes. Still, visiting tomb tht reminds us so much of the Ester story cn be n emotionl experience. Wondering? While Mrk sys the women hd wondered how they might move the stone (Mrk 16:3) nd Mtthew sys there ws n erthquke s n ngel swooped down to roll bck the stone nd sit on it (Mtt. 28:2), Luke does not suggest tht the women thought moving the stone would be n issue: fter ll, in his story, there were number of women. Risen, or rised? The verb trnslted he is risen is in the pssive, indicting tht Jesus ws not just risen, but hd been rised by God, which Luke clerly intended reders to understnd. Thus, hs been rised would be better trnsltion thn he is risen. The phrse he is not here, but hs been rised is missing from few mnuscripts, but is present in the most relible ones. Surprisingly, though the phrse ppers in v. 6 of the Greek, the NRSV puts it t the end of v. 5. Did Peter run lone? While Luke nmes only Peter s disciple who rn to check out the women s story, John s gospel sys he hd compny. The Fourth Gospel s version differs in number of wys: in it, Mry Mgdlene went lone to the grden nd discovered the empty tomb. Upon returning, she met Peter nd the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, understood s the postle John (the trditionl understnding is tht John uthored the Fourth Gospel, but modestly did not identify himself by nme). According to John 20:1-10, Peter nd the other disciple rced to the tomb, with the other disciple rriving first but stnding bck, so tht Peter went hed of him into the tomb. Hedlines One of my fvorite Ester stories ws told by Thoms G. Long, in his book Whispering the Lyrics: Sermons for Lent nd Ester (Lim, OH: CSS Publishing Co., 1995). The story concerned smll town pstor nmed Clint Tidwell. It hppened tht the owner 6 Nurturing Fith Mrch 27, 2016

7 Digging Deeper continued nd editor of the locl newspper ws n ctive member of his church. The editor thought Tidwell ws one of the finest prechers round, nd he often published summry of the Sundy sermon in Mondy s newspper. The down side is tht the editor didn t her very well, so he often misunderstood wht the pstor hd sid, so Tidwell ws frequently stonished to red ccounts of his sermons tht hd little to do with wht he ctully sid. One of Tidwell s most surprising experiences cme, however, when the editor understood his messge ll to clerly. One yer, erly on Ester Mondy, the pstor shuffled out of the house in his robe nd slippers to get the morning pper before brekfst. Long before he reched the pper, he could see tht the hedline ws in huge type, s if something stounding hd hppened. Hd wr broken out, he wondered? Hd cure for cncer been nnounced? Hd the president been shot? As he drew close enough to mke out the words of the bnner hedline, he ws strtled to red TIDWELL CLAIMS JESUS CHRIST ROSE FROM THE DEAD. His first thought ws to be embrrssed, nd to feel bit foolish. But didn t Pul sy tht the gospel my seem to be foolishness to the world, but it is everything to those who believe? If we truly believe tht Jesus Christ rose from the ded, shouldn t it impct our living so clerly tht others cn see our fith s if it ws written in bnner hedlines? My this Ester morning chllenge us to live in such wy tht others cn see Christ risen not only in our words, but in our lives. (I first rn cross this story in Pulpit Resource, edited by Will Willimon, in the April-June issue of 1998, p. 14.) 7 Nurturing Fith Mrch 27, 2016

8 The Hrdest Question by Tony Crtlege The Hrdest Question is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. Why is Ester so importnt? Christms is perhps the most beloved of Christin holidys, nd one in which even unbelievers or semi-believers shre. Those who think bout it, however, understnd tht Ester is the highest nd holiest dy of the yer for the simple reson tht our fith nd our hope nd our lives depend on it. Let s unpck tht sttement: we celebrte Ester becuse our fith nd our hope nd our lives depend on it. Our fith depends on it... When Jesus predicted tht he would die nd rise from the ded, nd then fulfilled his promise, there ws sense in which his resurrection vlidted everything else he hd sid nd done. If the resurrection did not tke plce, then our fith is in vin nd we re ll wsting our time. But, if the resurrection did in fct occur, the fulfillment of Jesus prediction confirms the truth of his other techings, s well. During his erthly life, Jesus ws known for the uthority with which he tught. When he stood up to tech in the syngogue t Nzreth, the people were mzed, the gospel sys, for he tught s one who hd uthority. The uthority Jesus hd in life nd his clim of reltionship with God ws ffirmed nd solidified through the resurrection. In the introduction of his letter to the Romns, Pul sid tht Jesus ws designted Son of God in power ccording to the spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the ded (Rom. 1:4). Our hope depends on it... Not only does the resurrection strengthen our fith, but it is lso the source of our own hope tht there is more to life thn this life. In some mrvelous, mysticl wy beyond our humn comprehension, the resurrection of Christ provided the key to our own resurrection. When Peter spoke of our living hope, he sid it cme by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the ded (1 Pet. 1:4). Pul echoed tht thought when he insisted: He who rised up the Lord Jesus shll rise up us lso with Jesus (1 Cor. 4:14). Our own hope of spiritul life beyond physicl deth depends on wht we see in Jesus. In his poem The Wstelnd, T. S. Eliot reflected on the biblicl ide tht we re mde from dust nd will return to dust by sying I will show you fer in hndful of dust. But believers my respond by singing Becuse he lives, I cn fce tomorrow; becuse he lives, ll fer is gone.... Our lives depend on it... But there is lso this life to live, isn t there? And it s not lwys esy. The resurrection impcts our dily living in vrious wys. It strengthens our fith nd gives us hope, but it lso reminds us tht we re clled to new nd different kind of life. If the resurrection is relly true, then we ought to be pying ttention to wht Jesus sys! We re clled to be living different kind of life. 8 Nurturing Fith Mrch 27, 2016

9 The Hrdest Question continued Every time we prctice bptism, we symbolize the deth nd resurrection of Christ, nd the commitment we re mking to wlking in new wy, living new life. Even Pul s primry rgument for better behvior ws bsed on his belief in the resurrection: Therefore we hve been buried with him by bptism into deth, so tht, just s Christ ws rised from the ded by the glory of the Fther, so we too might wlk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4). It ws fter the resurrection, fter his scension into heven, tht Jesus sent his Spirit to dwell in us nd guide us nd empower us to obey his techings nd to live the kind of lives tht bring him honor. Tht s why we sing You sk me how I know he lives, he lives within my hert. Thus we cn proclim Christ is risen! Our fith depends on it. Our hope depends on it. Our lives depend on it, nd should be different becuse of it. Ester mtters. 9 Nurturing Fith Mrch 27, 2016

10 Urbn Legends? According to the Snopes.com website in erly Februry 2016, these were some of the most populr urbn legends. Which do you think re true, legends, or mixture of truth nd flsehood? (Key nswers re tken directly from the Snopes.com site.) 1. Bby crrots re mde from deformed full-sized crrots tht hve been permeted with chlorine. 2. A womn mnged to cll 911 during domestic buse incident by pretending to order pizz. 3. Victims of domestic violence cn effectively send out secret signl for help by drwing blck dots on their plms. 4. A study proved tht pinepple juice is five times more effective thn cough syrup. 5. Southwest Airlines is giving wy free ir trvel tickets to those who follow online links. 6. A politicl prisoner in Middle Estern country ws beheded, but ws restored to life within few dys. 1. Mixture. Lbels tht sy bby crrots pper on pckges of very young crrots tht re hrvested while the vegetbles re still quite tiny. Lbels tht proclim bby-cut crrots pper on pckges of petite crrots mde by chopping down nd polishing much lrger versions of the vegetble. Crrots re treted with chlorine to prevent E.coli. 2. Legend. The story mking the rounds in 2014 seems to be bsed on 2010 commercil for the Norwegin Women s Shelter Assocition. 3. Mixture. The blck dot cmpign is merely one person s ide for helping victims of domestic violence; it is not n officilly-snctioned progrm, nd it is not tught to police officers, doctors, counselors, or nyone else who my be ble to help someone in n busive reltionship. While victims of domestic violence cn certinly drw blck dot on their plms, they should not rely on tht symbol s bringing nyone to their id. 4. Legend. We found no current reserch proving pinepple juice is five hundred percent, five times, or ny other multiplier more effective thn cough syrup t lleviting cough symptoms, suppressing cough, dissolving mucus, or hstening recovery time from cold. 5. Legend. Southwest Airlines hs responded to such scms by issuing messges on Twitter tht red: Hey folks! There is scm being pssed round on Fcebook bout 2 free ticket offer from SWA. Plese don t click or shre the links! 6. OK, this is not from the snopes.com website. But is it be ny more believble thn wht Christins celebrte on Ester? 10 Nurturing Fith Mrch 27, 2016