Adult Teaching Resources August 30, 2015

Transcription

1 Adult Teching Resources August 30, 2015 The Trouble with Kings You re the Mn! 2 Smuel 11:26-12:15 Pying the Price 2 Smuel 18:1-33 Redeeming Shky Strt 1 Kings 2:1-12, 3:3-14 Pryers for Now nd Lter 1 Kings 8:1-53 Serious Church Rel Religion Jmes 1: Subscribe to Bptists Tody to ccess the core Bible content for this lesson. Find links nd videos relted to this lesson. 1 Nurturing Fith August 30, 2015

2 Rel Religion Jmes 1:17-27 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: Prepre video equipment for the Trnsformtionl Exercise. And, Kleenex. Fellowship Question Use one of the following to brek the ice, to begin discussion, nd led into the study: How much did you spend on groceries the lst time you went to the store? Wht is the best intngible gift you hve received in the lst week? Informtion [Led clss members in the gme, Things people believe in, but do not do. ] In tems of 2-3, come up with s mny of these things s you cn in two minutes. For exmple, mny people believe tht vctions should be tken, but they don t tke the vction time they re given. [Give clss members couple of minutes to shre nswers, jotting ech one on the bord, one per group until ll re finished. Put check mrks beside duplictes. Determine which tem hd the most nswers. Declre the winner nd sy, Congrtultions! I believe winners should be rewrded. Don t you? (Puse for nswers.) Yes, I relly do believe tht. But I m not going to do nything bout tht belief tody. ] A Christin s cts re bsed on beliefs but belief by itself does not lwys motivte behvior. [Hve clss member red Jmes 1:17-18.] Wht ttitudes does Jmes encourges us to hve? (wreness of where good things come from; grtitude to God for every good gift; joy tht God gve us spiritul birth, etc.) How might these ttitudes motivte us to move from mere belief to ction? Sometimes, our behvior is counterproductive to fithful lifestyle. Obviously, there re the big sins tht physiclly hrm persons. But Jmes wrns us bout other sinful behviors, s well. 2 Nurturing Fith August 30, 2015

3 Informtion continued [Hve clss member red Jmes 1:19-21.] Wht re some of the sinful behviors tht Jmes wrns re counterproductive to fithful lifestyle? Why do you think Jmes puts so much stress on listening nd on our converstion? Mn s nger does not bring bout the righteous life tht God desires, Jmes sys. How would you elborte on wht Jmes is sying here? Do you know of situtions/illustrtions when person s nger spiritully hrmed themselves or others? When Jmes speks of the word in verse 21 (nd in upcoming verses), he is not speking of the New Testment, becuse it ws not yet compiled nd published. It my be tht he is speking, rther, of the truth of the Christin messge or of the gospel the stories bout Jesus tht the Holy Spirit uses to drw us to God. How do you interpret humbly ccept the word plnted in you? Jmes wnts ction. The ction is bsed on belief, but lso on grtitude, respect for others, civility nd humility. I ws on the debte tem in high school. Tem members would be given topic, reserch it for the ffirmtive nd negtive sides of the topic nd prepre to present either side s clled upon by the coch. Whether or not you believed in the side you were to present did not mtter, though you needed to present your cse s if it mttered the world to you. So, whether the topic ws bortion, gun rights or round versus rectngulr tbles for the school cfeteri, when you gve your cse, you used the best logic, chrm nd emotionl tug you could to win the dy. To my knowledge, none of us on the debte tem ever did nything bout ny prticulr topic. But we knew how to tlk bout it. The uthor of the book of Jmes is frustrted with persons who know how to tlk bout being followers of Jesus, but only tlk. [Hve clss member red Jmes 1:22-25.] As your techer, how do I know if I hve tught good lesson/clss? If you were the techer, how would you judge your success? As your techer, if the lesson hs chllenged me to ct more fithfully to the word or the gospel, it is good. If I ctully do something bsed on wht I hve been chllenged to do, only then is it successful lesson. Sometimes, the scriptures ffirm my current behvior. Sometimes, they chllenge me to chnge. Coming to clss, listening to sermon those re good, but relly, they re just words unless we pply them. How hs lesson or sermon reinforced your fithful life? How hs lesson or sermon chllenged you to chnge something in your life? The perfect lw ws summed up by Jesus when he ws sked bout the gretest commndment. Wht ws Jesus nswer to tht chllenge? ( You shll love the Lord your God with ll your hert, nd with ll your soul, nd with ll your mind, nd with ll your 3 Nurturing Fith August 30, 2015

4 Informtion continued strength. The second is this, You shll love your neighbor s yourself. There is no other commndment greter thn these. Mrk 12:30-31) How does tht perfect lw guide our behvior s well s our beliefs? Jmes urges us to hve religious life tht is judged not by wht we know but by how we behve. [Hve clss member red Jmes 1:26.] Agin, tlk bout bd tlk. This will be theme throughout the book of Jmes. But here, unbridled tongues re fruit of worthless religion. Outwrd demonstrtions of religion (worship, public pryers, fsting, tithing, etc.) re trumped by our speech, if this speech is not fithful to the perfect lw. Wht kind of speech ruins Christin s witness? (nmeclling; using hteful terms to refer to others; gossip; words spoken from hte; busive lnguge, etc.) If impure lnguge is sign of worthless religion, wht is sign of worthwhile religion? [Hve clss member red Jmes 1:27.] God, the Fther is here pinted s the model fther. How ws God the Fther described in verse 17? ( the giver of every perfect gift. ) How is God the Fther described in this verse, verse 27? (God provides, through us, for those in need; pure nd undefiled lives re in sync with who God is; God cres bout those who hve the most need nd the fewest resources, etc.) The verb, episkeptomi, should be trnslted not merely s visit (KJV, RSV, NASB) but s look fter (NIV). It is the sme verb used by Mtthew in Jesus wrning bout the future seprtion of people for blessing nd cursing. When the Son of Mn comes in his glory, some will be welcomed into blessing becuse I ws sick nd you looked fter me, while others will be sent into the eternl fire becuse I ws sick nd in prison nd you did not look fter me (Mt 25:36, 43). [Source: commentries/ivp-nt/js/prctice-pure-religion] Cring for the needy is the ultimte sign of pure religion. There re people who sy, I m spiritul but not religious. How would you hve converstion with such person, bsed on Jmes 1:26-27? Trnsformtionl Exercise Even smll things done for others cn remind them bout God s goodness nd love. [Show the 7 minute YouTube video, Mn pys for strnger s groceries youtube.com/wtch?v=qs_sbbxyhce Be sure to show it to the end! And, you my wnt to see tht Kleenex is close by for the lst scene.] 4 Nurturing Fith August 30, 2015

5 Trnsformtionl Exercise continued Wht mrks of rel religion did you see in the video? In silence, consider wht you could do this week s disciple with pure religion. [Close in pryer something like this: You give us every good nd perfect gift, O God. You re so generous. You give us lnguge. You give us helth. You give us resources. Give us giving hert, s you hve. Act out your love through us in this new week. 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 August 30, 2015

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. Just wges In lte 2014, fst food workers in 190 cities wlked off the job, pleding for higher py. The Fight for $15 movement, which begn in 2012, hs helped move some cities to estblish minimum wges higher thn the federl stndrd of $7.25. Reserch by the Center for Poverty Reserch t the University of Cliforni, Dvis, offers helpful perspective. Relying on the federl government s own figures, they showed tht full-time worker mking the minimum wge of $7.25 per hour would mke $15,080 nnully. The government clcultes tht the poverty level for single person is $11,945 but if tht person heds up fmily of four, the poverty line rises to $22,283. When full-time worker with fmily who mkes the current minimum wge still flls beneth the poverty level nd needs government ssistnce, something is wrong. It s hrd not to hve sympthy for hrd-working people who seek t lest living wge or to be criticl of lrge corportions who jigger the system with prt-time nd low-pying jobs so tht txpyers subsidize their businesses by providing needed benefits to their employees. Rnk growth? The term trnslted s rnk growth in the NRSV (hrupos) hs the bsic mening of filthiness. In some ncient medicl texts, it ws lso used to describe erwx tht hs to be clened out before one cn her. Given Jmes erlier chrge to be quick to listen (v. 19), tht is n pt wy to understnd its use here (Rlph C. Mrtin, Ephesins, Word Biblicl Commentry [Thoms Nelson, 1988], p. 48). Mening nd doing Pstors nd prechers know the experience of hving someone stop on the wy out of worship nd sy Tht sermon ment lot to me. It sometimes tkes n effort to keep from responding Tht remins to be seen. Religion Three times in vv , Jmes uses terms tht we trnslte s religious (threskos) or religion (threskei). The word ws used in Greek to describe both the beliefs nd prctice of those who were devoted to god. Religion nd piety re equivlent words in English. Widows nd orphns Who re the widows nd orphns of our dy the people who need our love the most? Could it be the children from Indi or Southest Asi who re sold or tricked into slvery to work in brothels or vegetble fields or fishing bots? Could it be the innocent victims of misguided wrs or power struggles tht hve forced them out of their homes nd into refugee cmps? 6 Nurturing Fith August 30, 2015

7 Digging Deeper continued Could it be the fringe people who hve no home nd rom the streets of our cities, some of them mentlly ill nd some just down on their luck? Could it be the womn down the street who keeps to herself nd seems to hve no friends? Could it be room full of boisterous 5-yer-olds who re still witing for some ptient nd cring dult to tech them bout God s love this next yer? Jmes s comment tht rel religion is demonstrted in our cre for widows nd orphns hs to be understood in broder context: Anyone in need is cndidte for cre. 7 Nurturing Fith August 30, 2015

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. Wht does Jmes men by the Fther of lights? Tody s text begins with reference to God s the Fther of lights. Wht does tht men? On the one hnd, it reclls the story of cretion in Genesis 1, where God is sid to hve creted light itself (Gen. 1:3), s well s the sun, moon, nd strs s perceived sources of light. Note tht the uthor uses the terms greter light to rule the dy nd lesser light to rule the night. In this wy he voids the terms for sun nd moon, which were similr to nmes for strl deities in other religions (Gen. 1:14-18). But Jmes clerly hs more thn cretion in mind. We my ssume tht he would hve been fmilir with other imgery involving God nd light. John s gospel speks of Jesus s the true light tht gives light to every person (1:9). Jesus spoke of himself s the light of the world (8:12), nd While I m in the world, I m the light of the world (9:5). Knowing tht he would not lwys be physiclly present in this world, Jesus clled his followers to drw upon him s their source of illumintion nd then to shre it. He sid to his followers you re the light of the world (Mtt. 5:14). We think of God nd Jesus in Fther-Son reltionship, nd we lso cll God our fther. As we trust in the light of the world nd llow Christ s light to shine through us, we lso become mediums of light in the drk plces where it is needed. Jmes noted tht God is not subject to vrition or shdow due to chnge unlike the hevenly sources of light tht wx nd wne, God s light-giving presence is constnt. We know tht in physicl sense, light is form of energy. If we re to be children of the Fther of lights who wnt to shine in this world, it will require effort. It tkes work. And work, by definition, is not esy. Jmes chllenges us to consider whether we hve ccepted the light of God, the implnted Word of God, tht is the source of your slvtion nd life nd whether our lives relly reflect tht. 8 Nurturing Fith August 30, 2015