Adult Teching Resources Jnury 13, 2013 God s Desire nd Isrel s Glory Rise nd Shine! Isih 60:1-9 You Are Mine! Isih 43:1-7 New Dys nd New Nmes Isih 62:1-12 Lw School Luke 1:39-45 (46-55) www.bptiststody.org Subscribe to Bptists Tody to ccess the core Bible content for this lesson. www.nurturingfith.net Find links nd videos relted to this lesson. 1 Nurturing Fith Jnury 13, 2013
You Are Mine! Isih 43:1-7 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. Prepre in Advnce: Before beginning tody s lesson, print the Your God Is Too Smll resource pge nd cut into strips for the instruction section. Also, print for ech clss member one copy of the responsive reding for the trnsformtionl exercise. Fellowship Question Use one of the following to brek the ice, to begin discussion, nd led into the study: Do you hve pictures on your refrigertor? Of whom? Use your cell phone or wllet to show recent picture of someone you love to your neighbor. Instruction Let s open our Bibles to Isih 43. Before we begin reding the text, though, notice the heding tht your bible gives to this pssge. Wht does your Bible hve? (eg. NIV hs Isrel s Only Svior; The Messge hs When You re Between A Rock nd A Hrd Plce. ) These hedings re not prt of the originl text, or even of lter texts tht were copied from the originls. These hedings re dded by modern dy editors. Our focus tody is on God s love, so s we her this reding, think of wht heding you might give this pssge something tht emphsizes God s love. [Hve clss member red Isih 43:1-7.] Now tht we ve herd the pssge, wht heding would you give it? Let s remember who Isih is tlking to. According to our lesson writer, The prophet s udience consisted of citizens from the southern kingdom of Judh, who hd lived in exile for nerly 50 yers Descendnts of the originl exiles hd never known ny other home. We cn esily imgine tht these exiles might hve felt bndoned by God. Isih s messge is hopeful word. They re not forgotten. Indeed, they re loved. These prophetic words echoed the words God gve to the prophet Moses: [Hve clss member red Exodus 19:1-6.] 2 Nurturing Fith Jnury 13, 2013
Instruction continued Being in exile for 50 yers, it ws esy to forget who they were nd lso esy to forget whose they were. They were God s tresured possession. [Hnd out slips of pper with Your God Is Too Smll quottions. Write on the bord column lbeled ROLE nd nother lbeled RELATIONSHIP.] In the Christin clssic book, Your God Is Too Smll, J. B. Phillips lists more thn dozen imges of wht he clls unrel gods, imges tht Christins my hve tht re too smll. [Nine re included on the hndout.] As we her the role nd description red, let s think bout the reltionship we hve with God if tht is our imge of God. [Ask one student t time to red the description, then sk the clss members to reflect on wht the reltionship would be. For exmple, for the Resident Policemn role, our reltionship might be ferful lw keeper or guilty criminl, etc.] J. B. Phillips goes on to emphsize tht God is Truth nd Love. Truth nd Love cn be bstrct notions (Phillips clls them unfocused ). But they come into focus for us in the person of Jesus Christ. As we see Jesus loving others, we recognize tht God loves us nd others. As we see Jesus scrificil love, we begin to understnd tht our God is willing to scrifice power, knowledge nd privilege s God hopes for reconcilition with us. Wht stories of Jesus showing love to others come to your mind? Do you hve fvorite story? How does tht story shpe your imge of God? Isrel needed to be reminded tht God loved them. Undoubtedly, they hd distorted imge of n unrel god fter spending nerly 50 yers in pgn Bbylon. Here, God ssures them of new life together. Do you hve story of leving God/church for while, then returning? Wht cused the return? Did your imge of God chnge in the interim? Trnsformtionl Exercise [Distribute responsive reding hndout.] Our lesson writer notes tht in verse 4, there is n emphtic sense in how the prophet speks God s words: I-I love you. As we red this responsive reding, picture in your mind these stories of Jesus nd her gin the messge of love given through Isih. Leder: Jesus took children in his rms nd blessed them. Clss: You re precious nd honored in my sight I-I love you. Leder: Jesus spent time with those the world rejected the poor, the lost, nd the neglected. Clss: You re precious nd honored in my sight I-I love you. 3 Nurturing Fith Jnury 13, 2013
Instruction continued Leder: Jesus lso loved those who hd power nd influence, but not becuse of these trppings. Jesus loved them becuse of who they were in spite of these things. Clss: You re precious nd honored in my sight I-I love you. Leder: Cn you, tody, her God s ncient messge for you? Clss: You re precious nd honored in my sight I-I love you. Close in pryer something like this: God, the messge you gve through the prophet Isih is the messge our world nd we need to her gin. We cn never be worthy of your love. We cn never ern your love. We cn only trust tht you men wht you sy. Give us the fith to ccept tht you do truly love us. 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. 4 Nurturing Fith Jnury 13, 2013
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. Second Isih? See lst week s Digging Deeper for fuller exmintion of the possibility tht s mny s three Isihs contributed to the book. Second Isih ppers to hve been written during the lst yers of the exile, when the Hebrews were in need of comfort nd hope nd the power of Cyrus the Persin ws rising in the Est. The sme prophet who wrote tody s text lso believed tht God hd nointed Cyrus to conquer Bbylon nd set the Hebrew exiles free (Is. 45:1). You re mine The text includes severl elements (creting, forming, redeeming, giving nme) tht re clerly designed to indicte God s ownership of Isrel: you re mine. Remembering who you re Occsionlly we red of people, especilly children, who hve been kidnpped nd brinwshed to the point of losing touch with their own identity. They hve to be deprogrmmed nd reminded of who they re in order to recover their lost sense of self nd fully reunite with their fmilies. Isih seeks to ccomplish similr tsk for whole ntion of exiles. Questions for discussion Cn you remember times when you felt the floodwters of dily stress or fiery times of personl crisis? You my be experiencing such times even now. How do you get through troubled times? Does the ssurnce of God s presence help? Sons nd dughters Note tht this promise tht God will cll on every qurter of the erth to return Isrel s sons nd dughters lso ppers in lst week s text, where Is. 60:1-9 speks of ll the ntions of the erth coming to Jeruslem, where the light of God s presence would be reveled, bringing with them the exiled sons nd dughters of Isrel. A difference in the prophecies found in Is. 40-55 nd 56-66 is tht Second Isih is more likely to connect his predictions with historicl event, in this cse the scendncy of Cyrus nd his consequent decree tht the exiles could return home. Third Isih speks from the perspective of exiles who hve lredy returned to Jeruslem, but who re still fcing difficult trils. Redeemed The Hebrew word for redeemed originlly referred to custom in which someone (usully fmily member) pid the debt to free someone who hd been 5 Nurturing Fith Jnury 13, 2013
Digging Deeper continued forced to sell himself or herself into slvery, or to recover fmily lnd tht hd been sold due to poverty. The gospels spek of Christ, the Son of God, dying in order to redeem ll who believe. Cn you imgine giving up your own child for the ske of nother, even if the child greed nd ws in on the pln? Does this sy something bout the depth of God s love s seen in Christ? 6 Nurturing Fith Jnury 13, 2013
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 bout Egypt, Cush nd Seb? We noted in the core lesson tht God s promise to give Egypt s your rnsom, Ethiopi nd Seb in exchnge for you (v. 3b) my give reders puse. The thought tht God might send one ntion into cptivity in exchnge for nother seems troublesome. Two mjor elements seem to be t ply. The prophet wnts to emphsize tht () God is powerful enough to direct the course of history nd the fte of entire ntions, nd (b) God will do whtever it tkes to redeem Isrel. Why, then, does the prophet mention these three ntions rther thn others? John D.W. Wtts suggests tht n understnding of the historicl context my provide resonble rtionle. The region we now cll Plestine, the exile s former home, served s lnd bridge to Afric for either trders or conquerors seeking ccess to the gret continent s legendry riches. Egypt ws the gtewy into North Afric. Cush the biblicl nme for n re south of Egypt tht probbly included prts of modern Sudn, Somli nd Ethiopi included the lnd of Nubi, fmous for its welth. The precise loction of Seb is not known, but it ws lmost certinly to be locted in Afric, nd not confused with Sheb, in southern Arbi. Second Isih wrote t time when Cyrus, king of Persi, ws on the move nd conquering lnds left nd right. In Is. 45:1, the prophet spoke of Cyrus s God s nointed, one whom God ws using to subdue ntions nd chnge the politicl lndscpe. At the time Isih ws prophesying, Cyrus hd lredy defeted mny ntions nd ws busy consolidting his gins in Asi Minor s fr west s the Aegen Se nd s fr est s Indi (Wtts, Isih 34-66, Word Biblicl Commentry [Word Books, 1987], 132). Bbylon hd grown so wek tht it ws little thret to Cyrus, nd he ws ble to mrch into the cpitl city without opposition. Cyrus ppered to hve empire building in view. He would probbly hve hd little interest in Plestine outside of its strtegic plce on the mp: it ws the pthwy to Egypt nd northern Afric. For this reson, Wtts suggests, there would be reson for the prophet to imgine tht Yhweh would offer to give those lnds into Cyrus power in return for llowing the Hebrews to return to their homelnd. Cyrus ws unlike the Bbylonins. He preferred to llow conquered peoples to remin in their lnds nd prctice coopertive sort of home rule so long s they pledged 7 Nurturing Fith Jnury 13, 2013
The Hrdest Question continued llegince nd provided tribute to Persi. As it turned out, Cyrus llowed the Hebrews to return home shortly fter his tkeover of Bbylon, without the necessity of God delivering northern Afric into his power. Cyrus never did invde Egypt, though his son Cmbyses did (Wtts, 133). The prophet s declrtion tht God ws willing to deliver other ntions in exchnge for the exiles is not intended to suggest n uncring ttitude towrd those ntions, but to emphsize just how specil the Isrelites were to God: You re precious in my eyes, nd honored, nd I love you (v. 4, NRSV).
Your God Is Too Smll by J. B. Phillips Resident Policemn To mke conscience into God is highly dngerous thing to do. For one thing... conscience is by no mens n infllible guide; nd for nother it is extremely unlikely tht we shll ever be moved to worship, love, nd serve ngging inner voice tht t worst spoils our plesure nd t best keeps us rther negtively on the pth of virtue. Prentl Hngover Wht we re concerned in estblishing here is tht the conception of God which is bsed upon fer-reltionship in childhood is not stisfctory foundtion for n dult Christinity. Grnd Old Mn But there is nevertheless very rel dnger tht the child will imgine this God not merely s old, but s old-fshioned. Meek-nd-Mild We cn hrdly be surprised if children feel firly soon tht they hve outgrown the tender Shepherd nd find their heroes elsewhere. Hevenly Bosom The critics of the Christin religion hve often contended tht religious fith is form of psychologicl escpism. A mn, they sy, finding the problems nd demnds of dult life too much for him will ttempt to return to the comfort nd dependence of childhood by picturing for himself loving prent, whom he clls God. God-in--Box But if the Churches give the outsider the impression tht God works lmost exclusively through the mchinery they hve erected nd, wht is worse, dmns ll other mchinery which does not ber their lbel, then they cnnot be surprised if he finds their version of God crmped nd indequte nd refuses to join their union. Mnging Director It is to think tht the God who is responsible for the terrifying vstness of the Universe cnnot possibly be interested in the lives of the minute specks of consciousness which exist on this insignificnt plnet. Perennil Grievnce To some people the mentl imge of God is kind of blur of disppointment. Here, they sy resentfully nd usully with more thn trce of self-pity, is One whom I trusted, but He let me down. The rest of their lives is consequently shdowed by this letdown. Ple Glilen Compred with their non-christin [friends] their lives seem to hve less life nd color, less spontneity nd less confidence. Their god surrounds them with prohibitions [nd boredom] but he does not supply them with vitlity nd courge. http://www.christintimelines.com/yourgodistoosmll.htm 9 Nurturing Fith Jnury 13, 2013
Responsive Reding Leder: Jesus took children in his rms nd blessed them. Clss: You re precious nd honored in my sight I-I love you. Leder: Jesus spent time with those the world rejected the poor, the lost, nd the neglected. Clss: You re precious nd honored in my sight I-I love you. Leder: Jesus lso loved those who hd power nd influence, but not becuse of these trppings. Jesus loved them becuse of who they were in spite of these things. Clss: You re precious nd honored in my sight I-I love you. Leder: Cn you, tody, her God s ncient messge for you? Clss: You re precious nd honored in my sight I-I love you. 10 Nurturing Fith Jnury 13, 2013