Youth Teching Resources Mrch 10, 2019 Epiphny (Jnury 6-Mrch 3) Not Your Typicl Techer Luke 9:28-43 Climbing Higher Lenten Seson (Mrch 10-April 14) Deliberte Devotion Deuteronomy 26:1-11 A Joyous Confession Genesis 15:1-21 (RCL 1-12, 17-18) A Hir-Rising Prediction Isih 55:1-9 A Stunning Invittion Joshu 5:1-12 (RCL 9-12) A Cutting Reffirmtion www.nurturingfith.net Subscribe to Nurturing Fith to ccess the core Bible content for this lesson. Find links nd videos relted to this lesson. 1 Nurturing Fith Mrch 10, 2019
A Joyous Confession Deuteronomy 26:1-11 YOUTH Teching Guide by Jeremy Colliver This youth 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. Prent Prep This is the first week of Lent; time during the church yer where people of fith reflect more intimtely on the life, deth, nd resurrection of Jesus. Trditionlly, people give something up nd use this time to reflect on their life with Christ. You nd your fmily my wnt to decide to do something together or set side time for this reflection to tke plce. Whtever you do, be intentionl bout not only wht you choose, but why you hve chosen it. Teching the Lesson Fellowship Begin your session by showing the clip I Am Home from Freedom Writers. If you re unble to show the clip, summrize it to the best of your bility, nd then fcilitte discussion using questions like the following: 1) Wht confession does he mke bout his own life? 2) How does the rest of the clss respond? 3) Wht did the clss men to him? 4) How did his confession provide hope? 5) Wht does confession men to you? 6) How does your fith impct how you view confession? 2 Nurturing Fith Mrch 10, 2019
Informtion Trnsition to the next section of the session by reding Deuteronomy 26:1-11. Allow the students to sk ny initil questions they hve bout the text. As you nswer their questions, you my wnt to provide some of the informtion found in Tony s commentry to nswer their questions. When the students hve hd n opportunity to shre their initil thoughts, continue the discussion by fcilitting discussion using questions like the following: 1) Wht do you believe the writer of this pssge is trying to tell the reders? Explin. 2) Wht confessions do the people of Isrel mke in these verses? 3) Wht do the people give? Why do they give it? Wht re the gifts to be used for? 4) Who is the ncestor mentioned in this pssge? Wht does he represent to the people of Isrel? 5) How re confessions more thn just dmitting wht we hve done wrong? If your group would like to dig deeper in their discussion, shre some of the insights tht Tony provides in the Digging Deeper portion of his commentry. You my wnt to use some questions like the following to fcilitte your discussion: 1) How is God seen s giver? 2) How ws Jcob considered n Armenin when he ws the fther of the twelve tribes? 3) Wht did milk nd honey represent? You my lso wnt your group to discuss The Hrdest Question if they would like to continue their discussion on this pssge. Tony poses the following question to consider s The Hrdest Question : Who wrote Deuteronomy, nd why does it mtter? Trnsformtion During the seson of Lent, there will be series of spiritul disciplines to close out ech session. Chllenge your students to prctice this discipline throughout the week. This week we begin with one tht is fmilir, Lectio Divin. If you hve not led group through Lectio Divin, fmilirize yourself with the prctice before leding your group. Use the pssge from this session to led the group through the prctice. At the completion of the prctice, llow students to shre wht they herd from God nd/or wht God is chllenging them to do. Close with pryer of silent confession. 3 Nurturing Fith Mrch 10, 2019
Digging Deeper by Tony Crtlege Digging Deeper is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Nurturing Fith Journl. 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 Nurturing Fith Journl to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Nurturing Fith Journl so they cn prepre before the lesson. No creeds? One of the shrpest criticisms ginst the fundmentlist turn in the Southern Bptist Convention ws tht the doption of the 2001 revision of the Bptist Fith nd Messge sttement mde it creedl body. Southern Bptists hd no officil sttement of fith until 1925, when pressure from emerging fundmentlism led to the doption of generl but not binding sttement of beliefs. The sttement ws updted in 1963 fter nother controversy sprked by strong conservtives who objected to the progressive scholrship being tught in seminries nd published in professors books. Still, tht sttement declred itself to be non-binding, strongly ffirming the priesthood of the believer nd regrding Jesus Christ s the criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted. The 2001 revision included section clling for wives to be submissive to their husbnds, nd explicitly stted tht women could not serve s senior pstors. More to the point, the new document deleted the sttement tht Jesus should be the criterion for interpreting scripture. It ffirmed the priesthood of the believer only in the plurl ( priesthood of believers ), denying individul interprettion. Other revisions chnged the understnding of church utonomy nd soul competency. Finlly, the document declred its sttements to be instruments of doctrinl ccountbility which gve it creedl sense. God s giver The Hebrew verb mening give is ntn. This ws commonly used s nme mong the Hebrews, including the prophet Nthn (2 Smuel 7, 12) nd severl others in the Hebrew Bible. In the New Testment, Nthnel s nme reflects Hebrew roots, mening something like God gives. The plce the LORD your God will choose For mny yers fter entering the lnd, Hebrews worshipped t number of different sites, some more legitimte thn others. When the Northern Kingdom split from Judh fter Solomon s deth, King Jerobom estblished temples t both Bethel nd Dn. Shrines re lso known from Beersheb, Ard, Lchish, nd other sites. Prctices vried widely t these sncturies, however. Mny incorported polytheistic elements relted to the worship of Bl nd Asherh. One of the primry purposes of this nd mny similr pssges in Deuteronomy ws to insist tht the temple in Jeruslem ws the only legitimte plce of worship. Even there, ctivities nd furnishings reltive to the worship of other gods occsionlly intruded (see 2 Kings 23), but once clensed, it ws esier to enforce cultic uniformity t single site. Why, then, does the text not mention Jeruslem? Although written or edited by someone who believed Jeruslem ws the only proper plce to worship, the text purports to hve been spoken by Moses, who would not hve known where the cultic center would be. 4 Nurturing Fith Mrch 10, 2019
Digging Deeper continued Thus, the writer hs Moses refer to the plce the LORD your God will choose s dwelling for his nme s euphemism for Jeruslem, where the Ark of the Covennt cme to rest in n elborte temple thought of s the home of Yhweh s erthly presence (see lso Deut. 12:5-7; 14:23-24; 16:2, 6, 11, nd others). Wndering? The word typiclly trnslted s wndering, vr, does not normlly hve tht mening. Its primry mening is to perish, to die, to be destroyed, or in some cses, to be lost. A strightforwrd trnsltion would be perishing Armen ws my ncestor, but tht would mke little sense in the context. Since the pssge ppers to contrst the settled life of Isrel in the lnd with the nomdic lives of the ncestors, trnsltors tke cue from the possible mening to be lost, with the extended mening to stry, which leds to wndering s the perceived best sense of the text. Armen? Both Jcob nd his grndfther Abrhm hd spent considerble time in the city of Hrn. Hrn ws originlly considered prt of northwestern Mesopotmi, but lter becme prt of Syri, known in the Bible s Arm. Jcob ws born in or round Hebron, in southern Judh, but fter fleecing his brother Esu of his birthright nd blessing, he ws forced to flee. Following his prentl instructions, Jcob trveled to the region tht ws clled Pddn-rm in Gen. 28:5-6, seeking both snctury from Esu s wrth nd wife from within the extended fmily. Hving spent most of his dult life there, Jcob could hve been considered n Armen when he returned. Corporte identity As we study the Isrelites ncient credo, notice tht ech worshiper would spek s member of the corporte community, pst nd present, s if he or she hd been there in Egypt, rther thn just remembering the ncestors. Wht? No lw? Commenttors often note tht the confession of Deut. 26:5-9 mkes no mention of the covennt estblished between God nd Isrel t Sini/Horeb, or of the giving of the lw. Despite the nrrtor s deep interest in the sttutes, commnds, nd ordinnces found in the lw, it is unlikely tht he composed the credo, which is focused clerly on promise nd fulfillment. The confession, probbly hnded down through the ges nd reflected in other texts tht joyfully recll God s mighty works nd delivering power, joyfully remembers how Isrel hd been oppressed, but God herd their cry, liberted them through displys of gret power, nd brought them to promised home. Tht God would hve certin expecttions of Isrel is given: inserting cluse bout receiving the lw would hve mde the confession more cumbersome nd drwn ttention from the centrl themes of promise nd fulfillment. 5 Nurturing Fith Mrch 10, 2019
Digging Deeper continued Milk nd honey As nice s milk nd honey sounds, people don t generlly live on those products. In the text, they serve s symbols of the suitbility of the lnd s future home. Milk could not be bundnt unless the lnd contined sufficient grsslnds s psture for cttle, especilly gots, who provided most of the milk used during tht time. Such lnd could lso be suitble for growing grin crops such s brley nd whet. Similrly, n bundnce of honey would require the presence of bees, which implies lnd filled with fruit trees, grpe vines, nd other flowering plnts. Honey ws sign of fertility s well s sweetness. 6 Nurturing Fith Mrch 10, 2019
The Hrdest Question by Tony Crtlege Who wrote Deuteronomy, nd why does it mtter? The Hrdest Question is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Nurturing Fith Journl. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Nurturing Fith Journl to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Nurturing Fith Journl so they cn prepre before the lesson. Our text is found in the book of Deuteronomy, which ws probbly written in two stges. Although the book consists minly of speeches ttributed to Moses nd n old trdition held tht Moses ws the uthor, criticl scholrs believe it ws ctully written much lter. Hebrew ws still developing lnguge in the time ttributed to Moses, nd the proto- Cnnite lphbet first used for writing Hebrew hd not yet been invented. The book reflects time when the people hd left their nomdic wys behind, settled in the lnd, nd tken up lifestyle of vrious grrin pursuits. Some scholrs believe n erly version of the book my hve been written by priests living in the Northern Kingdom, Isrel, nd brought south to Judh during the seventh century BCE, probbly fter Isrel hd fllen to the Assyrins. It is likely tht this erly version of Deuteronomy ws the book of the lw sid to hve been discovered by the high priest Hilkih during temple renovtions under King Josih. A reding of the book inspired Josih to hve its messge vlidted by consulting the prophetess Huldh, who ffirmed tht Judh ws in dnger of destruction due to its history of worshiping other Gods. Josih thus begn cmpign of religious reform in Judh, destroying both pgn nd Yhwistic worship sites, clensing the Jeruslem temple of elements representing Bl nd Asherh, disestblishing the work of Yhwistic priests outside of Jeruslem, nd reestblishing the Pssover (2 Kings 22-23). The prophet Jeremih ws ctive t this sme time. Themes nd lnguge found in the book of Jeremih re so similr to Deuteronomy tht t lest one scholr, Richrd Elliott Friedmn, hs speculted tht Jeremih nd his scribe Bruch could be responsible for writing t lest prts of the book, which ppers to hve been expnded during the erly yers of the exile, when the core of the book becme foundtionl for n exmintion of Isrel s pst reltionship with God (Who Wrote the Bible? [Hrper Collins, 1997]). Exilic theologins perhps inspired by Jeremih nd other prophets concluded tht the people s filure to keep the covennt outlined in Deuteronomy hd prompted God to discipline them by llowing the Bbylonins to conquer Judh nd crry its leding citizens into exile. This understnding llowed them to insist tht Isrel s god Yhweh hd not been defeted by the Bbylonins leding god, Mrduk, since Yhweh hd voluntrily sent them into exile. The messge from the pst lso offered hope for the present nd future: the sme covennt theology promised tht if the people proved fithful, God would bless them. Thus, the expnded version of Deuteronomy lid out specific ctions to be tken s mens of explining where the Hebrews hd gone wrong nd how they should behve if they were to become more obedient nd regin God s fvor. 7 Nurturing Fith Mrch 10, 2019