January 11, 2015 Baptism of the Lord Gen. 1:1 5 Ps. 29 Acts 19:1 7 Mark 1:4 11 Goal for the Session Youth will hear God calling them beloved, along with Jesus, and explore responses to God s love. PREPARING FOR THE SESSION Focus on Mark 1:4 11 WHAT is important to know? From Exegetical Perspective, Leslie J. Hoppe Mark wishes his readers to know who Jesus really is from the very beginning of his story of Jesus ministry and death. The characters in Mark s story will come to such knowledge only gradually. The climax of Mark s Gospel comes with the confession of the centurion on Golgotha: Truly, this man was God s Son (Mark 15:39). Ironically, it was the death of Jesus that revealed his true identity. The words spoken by the voice from the heavens identify Jesus as God s beloved Son (Mark 1:11). The rest of the Gospel describes how this beloved Son fulfills the mission given to him by God a mission that will result in his execution. WHERE is God in these words? From Theological Perspective, Lee Barrett Jesus baptism does more than initiate the beloved Son s career of obedient suffering. A mysterious connection is implied between Jesus identity as the suffering, obedient Son and Jesus empowerment by the Spirit. This critical descent of the Spirit catalyzes Jesus potent public ministry with its exercise of power over demons, sin, the law, and even nature. Jesus did not receive the Spirit in order to enjoy privately its spiritual benefits, but rather in order to pass it on. The church has claimed that Jesus underwent baptism so that we might commune with him in baptism and share his empowerment by the Spirit. If our baptism involves a participation in Jesus baptism, and if Jesus baptism initiates his ministry of suffering obedience, then our baptism must include a similar acceptance of self-denial. SO WHAT does this mean for our lives? From Pastoral Perspective, Elton W. Brown When John the baptizer testifies that Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit, he is declaring what all of Mark s Gospel declares: that the ministry of Jesus is the beginning of the eschatological reign of God. The Spirit that is the sign of the turning of the ages has now been poured forth on Jesus. From now on, he and those who follow him are blessed and stuck with an eschatological mission: to declare and embody God s reign. NOW WHAT is God s word calling us to do? From Homiletical Perspective, Ted A. Smith Baptism of the Lord Sunday can be a great day for congregations to celebrate the tearing open of the heavens. The coming stretch of Ordinary Time will carry us into the hard work of discipleship. But before Mark takes readers on that journey, the Gospel gives us a moment to taste and see and hear the goodness of the Lord. Today makes God s love manifest in word, song, sacrament, and prayer. It is a day to wear white and shout hallelujah. The heavens have been torn open, and this is a day to bask in the love they reveal. 1
FOCUS SCRIPTURE Mark 1:4 11 Focus on Your Teaching Youth aspire to achieve great things, from prestigious scholarships to heroics in the sports arena. They have come to expect extraordinary celebrations for successes in their lives, such as the generous dumping of sports drink at the end of the big game. Imagine God offering a bucket-dumping celebration, not for youth s achievements and successes, but for the sake of God s love. God s unconditional love may be totally beyond the comprehension of some youth because they have little experience of love of any kind. Help them celebrate God s love and acceptance. God, help my words bear the teachings of all those who have gone before to those I teach. Amen. YOU WILL NEED newsprint, markers Bibles pitcher of water large bowl towels For Responding option 2: copies of Resource Sheet 1, pencils or pens option 3: Resource Sheet 2, paper, watercolors For Film Connection Nacho Libre (2006, PG), player In a guided meditation, people are verbally guided into a state of consciousness by a person s voice. If you can find some quiet meditative music to play in the background, it might be a nice touch. LEADING THE SESSION GATHERING Post a sheet of newsprint. As participants arrive, ask them to write achievements and successes at home, at school, and in extracurricular activities. Affirm each item, and encourage the group to recognize each other s achievements. Brainstorm some ideas for celebrating the achievements. Ask: P Who celebrates your achievements and how do they do that? P Who celebrates you simply because they love you? How do they do that? P Which kind of celebration do you like best and why? Explain that in today s story, words of unconditional love are expressed. Pray: God, guide us by your Spirit to hear your word to us today. Amen. EXPLORING Hand out Bibles and have the youth turn to Mark 1. Have them read the first three verses. Point out that Mark s Gospel begins with Jesus baptism. Read Mark 1:4 11. Ask the group to name the key elements in the story. List the responses on newsprint. Ask the youth to keep the key elements in mind as you invite them to imagine the story in a guided meditation. Turn the lights off. Invite the group to get into comfortable positions. Ask them to close their eyes; slowly read the following in a soft voice: 2
You are at a river. Picture the river in your mind. What does your river look like? Are there grassy banks beside it? What kinds of sounds does your river make? Is it a quiet river? A river with rapids? A flowing river? What does it smell like? Can you smell fish? Does it smell fresh like after a rain? Picture your river (pause). Imagine you are standing at the banks of the river. People mill about the banks of your river. Some are in the river. A man is standing in the water. As you watch, he lays his hands gently on a person s head, and the person goes under the water. You hear him say, Your sins are forgiven. He removes his hands, and the person comes up out of the water. You see a look of joy on the person s face (pause). You want to feel that kind of joy. You look at the man; he holds his hands out to you. You go into the water. It swirls around you, tugging at your legs. You go deeper until you reach the man. He lays his hands on your head, and you slowly sink under the water (pause). Hear the sounds that the river makes. You feel his hands leave the top of your head, and you come up out of the water. You feel different, renewed. You hear a voice saying, You are my beloved, and with you I am well pleased. (pause). You look at the people on the banks of the river and in the river; they seem different. Now, you see that they are God s people people for whom you will care and love and to whom you will minister. You feel joy! Depending on your tradition, be attentive to youth who have not been baptized and look for an opportunity to invite a conversation about it. Ask the group members to slowly come back, stretch, and open their eyes. Ask: P How do you feel when you hear the word beloved? P What are some other words that mean beloved? P How do you feel when you hear that you are God s beloved? P What are some appropriate responses to God s love? Explain that for Jesus, baptism signified that he was about to begin his ministry. As followers of Jesus, we have ministries in the world also. Challenge the youth to explore ways to respond to God s love for them through the Responding option you have selected. RESPONDING Choose one of the following learning activities: 1. Celebrating Baptism Participants will explore responses to God s love by brainstorming ways to enhance the congregation s celebration of baptism. Ask: What can we do to celebrate baptisms and baptism anniversaries of members of our church family? Ideas may include obtaining the date of church members baptisms and creating a chronological chart listing the dates. Each gathering of your group could include remembering church members baptism anniversaries with a card or contact reminder of God s unconditional love. Challenge the group to make plans and follow through. 3
2. Living Wet or Dry Participants will explore responses to God s love in a quiz. Restate today s Scripture that shows God s pleasure at Jesus baptism. Remind participants Jesus ministry followed baptism. Call it living wet. Pass out Resource Sheet 1 (Wet Dry Quiz). Complete the quiz, and then go through it together. Create a list for living wet (talking about faith, praying, helping others). Challenge youth to choose one way to practice living wet in the coming week. 3. Be Bold! Participants will use color and imagination to explore responses to God s love. Distribute paper and watercolors. Using Resource Sheet 2 (Guided Art Meditation), lead the youth in expressing their feelings about God s love and their responses to God s love. Encourage them to display their creations as reminders of God s love. CLOSING Place the bowl on a table and pour water into it from the pitcher. Place towels near the bowl. Remind the youth that baptism is a sign of God s love. Tell them that as part of the closing prayer you will be pouring water over their hands to signify God s abundant love. Explain that when the prayer is ended they may, if they choose, dry someone else s hands as a sign of gratitude for God s love. Close with the following prayer: God, with water and your word, you love us. Make our lives a compelling witness to your love and grace. Amen. ENHANCEMENT FILM CONNECTION Set the DVD of Nacho Libre to chapter 9, beginning with Nacho exiting the bathroom and ending with a boy changing the channel. Explain that Nacho Libre is about a monk who aspires to be a professional lucha libre wrestler. In this scene, Nacho, the monk, baptizes his wrestling partner. Watch the clip and discuss: P What about this clip is funny to you? Why do you find it funny? P What are some similarities and differences between this film clip s depiction of baptism and Mark 1:4 11? P How is God s unconditional love conveyed in the movie s view of baptism? In Mark 1:4 11? 4
January 11, 2015 Youth Resource Sheet 1 Mark the line beside each statement to indicate how wet or dry the idea is. Remember, living wet is living the faithful life that is part of our baptismal promises. Living dry is more selfish and less concerned with others. A. Building a home with Habitat for Humanity. B. Giving away old shoes to kids in Haiti. C. Walking by the homeless shelter to see if you know anyone. D. Taking a bath. E. Eating only candy for a week to prove that you can do it. F. Asking a friend to come over to play video games. G. Tying blankets for the homeless shelter. H. Eating supper with your family. I. Going to church. J. Giving up beets for Lent. K. Reading the Bible every day. L. Spending times with other baptized believers. M. Working for a clean water organization. N. Having a huge pie-eating contest. O. Sleeping. P. Going on a mission trip to Jamaica. Q. Talking to others about Jesus. R. Being baptized. S. Taking care of babies in the nursery. T. Serving a meal at a shelter. V. Reading books to a young person. W. Cleaning your room. X. Eating some wings while watching the big game. Y. Standing up for someone who s being bullied in school. Z. Praying. Wet Dry Quiz
January 11, 2015 Youth Resource Sheet 2 Guided Art Meditation Directions: Let s relax, and have fun thinking of all God has done for us. I m going to read from a list of prompts to trigger your imaginations. In response, you can write or draw on the paper. You can even scribble. Just let the ideas flow and know that God s love is with us. To begin, choose a color that represents you. Put yourself on the paper with that color. Remember, we re not making art, we re just letting our hearts and minds and hands work together, so whatever the first thing that comes to mind, use your color to add yourself to the page. Next, with that same color make some kind of lines or squiggles or arrows that lead from whatever you colored for yourself to all the edges of the page. Now choose another color to represent God. Add God to your paper. In baptism, God calls Jesus beloved. This is God s word to us too. Pick another color and add God s unconditional love to the page. God s love calls us to minister to the needs of others. Choose a color for the various needs that people have and add that to your paper. Because we are baptized, we have everything we need to be the hands and feet of God. We talk to a friend who is sad. We pray for someone who is sick. We offer to help at the food shelf. Choose a color and add words or pictures of the many things we can do to serve God. Keep this paper as a reminder of your own baptism and your own call to live faithfully.