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Object Lessons for Adults

Adult Object Lesson: Questions and Faith

Genesis 12:1-4a  •  Psalm 121
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17  •  John 3:1-17

How Do Christians Know When to Trust?

Pastor wearing paper bag on headThere is that part of human nature that leads us to question.

 

A great deal of religion revolves around two words: Trust and Obey.

 

In the wrong hands, reliance on trust and obedience can be disastrous.

It leads to cults like the Jim Jones group suicide a few decades ago. That’s the extreme example. Less extreme is the everyday tendency to trust church leaders for no other reason than they are church leaders. Abuse is inevitable and there are plenty of church scandals to prove it.
The reliance on trust and obedience may be the root of church decline. We pray. We trust. We fail to question and act.

 

Today’s scriptures juxtapose two key Bible figures that illustrate the extremes of trust and obey vs questioning what we hear. Finding the balance between trust and curiosity is an important concept for mature Christian faith.

Abraham

Early in biblical history, Abram (soon to be Abraham) trusted. God said “move.” He packed his camels and traipsed hundreds of miles from Ur to Canaan, through unknown territory occupied by all kinds of hostile strangers. Abram was a loyal follower.

 

He would display the same trust when God told him to sacrifice his favorite son, Isaac.

 

Things worked out pretty well for Abraham. His trust in God resulted in a long life and three major world religions.

 

A few thousand years passed between Abraham and Nicodemus. Things had changed. God sent Jesus to live among his people.

Nicodemus

Nicodemus had a front row seat for some of Jesus’ ministry. He was aware of Jesus’ and John the Baptist’s growing following. Jesus’ miracles had caught his attention. No doubt about it. God was involved.

 

Nicodemus was s pretty smart guy. A Pharisee. Educated. Rich. Influential. A religious and community leader.

 

He had accepted God’s ways for most of his life. He could quote scripture with the best of them. He was probably used to arguing Jewish law with colleagues. It was not hubris that made him seek Jesus out. He had good questions. But there was danger in the air.

 

Jesus wasn’t your everyday temple leader. He was attracting a lot of attention—some of it threatening. Nicodemus wasn’t about to risk his status in the community and perhaps his life to trust and obey this maverick.

 

Some things weren’t making sense. He wanted answers. He was not ready to trust and obey. Nicodemus needed to get Jesus alone.

 

Was he wrong? Was he a poor candidate for discipleship with Jesus? Should he simply accept—trust and obey?

 

What do these two very different stories teach us?

 

Today’s object is a paper bag or sack large enough to fit over an adult head—your head. Take a marker and draw a big question mark on the paper bag.

 

You are going to play both Abraham and Nicodemus.

 

Start talking about Abraham and his trust. Put the bag over your head and ask a congregation member, perhaps a youth, to lead you around the nave while you demonstrate obedience and trust. Plan this ahead of time and make sure you are led to a couple of pre-arranged spots.

 

At first, accept being led. Ask questions such as ”Where next?” “Are we there yet?’

 

But at some point start asking less trusting questions. “Haven’t we been here before?” “Why are you taking me here?” Stumble a bit and comment that this may not be such a good idea.

 

Start mimicking Nicodemus. “I know you are of God.”

 

Make sure one of the stops on your guided tour is the baptismal font. Here, you can address Nicodemus’s first question about being born again.

 

Stress Jesus’ answer:

“Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.”

 

This is a pivotal doctrinal verse. We have this verse because Nicodemus asked a good question.

 

You can stop at the pulpit and address Nicodemus’s second question and Jesus’s answer:

“Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? . . . .”

medium_2773212037

 

You might end your tour at the altar and cross.

 

Because Nicodemus questioned Jesus, we have the perhaps the most famous and foundational verse in the Bible.

 

John 3:16. It is so well-known that people make posters with just the reference on it.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

 

Nicodemus took big risks in questioning Jesus. He risked his safety. He risked his status. He risked feeling like a fool as he sat at the feet of the greatest teacher.

 

Take a minute to thank God for Nicodemus and his questioning ways. Face it, we were wondering some of the same things! The answers Nicodemus risked his life to ask are just as pivotal to the growth of Christianity as Abram’s trusting obedience was to the growth of Judaism.

photo credit: NoHoDamon via photopin cc

Related posts

The Wind Blows Where It Will

Slideshow: Questioning God

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You will receive a weekly slideshow (which you can use on your church website or during worship), an object lesson and many other church planning ideas—all geared for small church use.

Slides are in editable form.  Individual slides can be posted on websites or converted to jpgs for use in a bulletin or newsletter. (Please include appropriate credits.)

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10 Mar 2014

Adult Slideshow: Nicodemus Asks Some Questions

This week’s slideshow pits Abraham’s unquestioning faith against Nicodemus’s nocturnal interrogation of Jesus. Abraham became the father of a great nation. Nicodemus’s session with Jesus gives Christianity its foundational scripture.

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Please Consider Subscribing to 2×2

2x2virtualchurch adds a slideshow and object lesson to our library each week. There are nearly 100 in our collection. If you like our easy, interactive approach to teaching adult learners, please consider subscribing.

You will receive a weekly slideshow (which you can use on your church website or during worship), an object lesson and many other church planning ideas—all geared for small church use.

Slides are in editable form.  Individual slides can be posted on websites or converted to jpgs for use in a bulletin or newsletter. (Please include appropriate credits.)

Thank you.

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10 Mar 2014

Adult Object Lesson: Our Secret God

medium_5788011762

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21  •  Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
Psalm 51:1-17  •  2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

Shh! Don’t Tell Anyone

Today we are going to talk about our God and His love of secrets.

 

You get to choose an object today. But don’t tell anyone. It’s a secret.

 

Here are some ideas for objects:

  • a heart-shaped object of some sort
  • a small cross
  • a wedding ring
  • a seed or acorn
  • a band-aid
  • needle and thread
  • a chocolate kiss
  • a manger from a small creche set

 

If fact you might use several of these! It will add to the fun and the understanding of keeping and revealing secrets.

 

Begin today’s lesson with a question.

Do you remember the last words of last week’s gospel lesson?

 

Help your congregation remember that last week was Transfiguration Sunday. Jesus and his selected disciples climbed a mountain. There, they met in dazzling light with Moses and Elijah. Then they came down from the mountaintop with Jesus, and Jesus said . . .

Don’t tell anyone one what you just saw until after I’m gone.

 

God loves a secret.

 

And then we move to today’s lesson where God is repeatedly described as seeing and hearing in secret.

 

You might think that such hush-hush behavior would create a distance between God and us, His people.

 

But think about it.

 

Doesn’t it draw us closer? It’s Lent. We search our hearts. We find what God already sees. And it’s our secret. In these secret moments, it is just God and you. Secrets create bonds.

 

The only ones likely to break this secret bond are we.

 

So how do we keep our mouths shut? Does God really expect us to keep quiet? The revealing of a secret can be like a dam breaking!

 

One way is to keep in touch with God. Keep sharing our secrets. God knows them anyway. But he doesn’t mind hearing from us from time to time. Jesus put a time limit on keeping the secret of the Transfiguration. The timing for the revelation of our secrets is up to us.

 

This is one of those “adult” object lessons that also works with children. Children understand secrets—perhaps better than adults.

 

As you talk about the God who sees and hears in secret, share your secret object(s). You can just hold one in your closed palm or you can have it nested in a small candy or jewelry box. If you use more than one object, alternate. Your secret will be different from listener to listener.

 

For extra mystique, you might pre-plan to leave one person out. Make sure people realize that someone is being left out.

 

Allow your congregation to figure out what to do about that.

 

That’s part of the power of the secret . . . wondering exactly what we mortals are supposed to do with it!

 

VARIATION 1: You might ask each member of the congregation what meaning they find in the object revealed to them — without revealing what object they saw. This will create some intrigue when a person who sees a band-aid or needle and thread talks to the people who saw a ring or chocolate kiss.

 

VARIATION 2: If you use this object lesson with a larger group or as a camp or youth skit, you can have a few young people circulating through the gathering, each showing a different object. This technique would be a way of engaging younger members of the congregation.

photo credit: Naenia Ivella via photopin cc

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2x2virtualchurch adds a new object lesson to our library each week. There are nearly 100 in our collection. If you like our easy, interactive approach to teaching adult learners, please consider subscribing. You will receive a weekly slideshow (which you can use on your church website or during worship), an object lesson and many other church planning ideas—all geared for small church use.

 

Thank you.

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06 Mar 2014

Adult Object Lesson: Transfiguration

bowls3

Matthew 17:1-9  •  Exodus 24:12-18
Psalm 2  •  2 Peter 1:16-21

Mountaintop Experiences for Valley-Dwellers

You know the old philosophical question: Is the glass half empty or half full? The answer determines, for some, whether you are an optimist or a pessimist.

 

Artists would ask: Are you looking at the positive space—the water—or negative space—the air? Artists know that both work together to create great things!

 

It’s with this question in mind that we are going to ponder a bowl and how it might help us think of The Transfiguration.

 

Use a simple kitchen bowl. Nothing fancy. A glass half-filled with water will also be a useful prop. You might fill the glass from the baptismal font as you start your lesson.

 

Today’s lectionary lessons refer to and compare the Bible’s great mountaintop experiences.

 

In the Old Testament, Moses climbs Mount Sinai to spend 40 days and nights closer to God. In the New Testament, Jesus goes on a little hike with a few select disciples. For all they know they are just taking another stroll with Jesus. If he stops to pray, it will be nothing new. They are accustomed to His ways and are totally comfortable using Jesus’ prayer time to nod off, just as they will do in Gethsemane. Praying is something Jesus tends to do alone.

 

Both mountaintop experiences are beyond memorable. They are highlights of our collective relationship with God—foundational stories of our faith.

 

As you talk about mountaintop experiences display your bowl upside down. It will be like a little mountain. With the bowl inverted, talk about the two biblical mountaintop experiences. Explain that they are like the bowl turned upside down—out of the ordinary—not the usual way we view a bowl.

 

Mountaintop experiences are exhilarating. Having reached the top, we feel a personal sense of accomplishment. We feel closer to God. With the world laid at our feet, we may even feel a little more like God.

 

Allow your learners to think about their own mountaintop experiences. When you’ve talked about the amazing events that occur on mountaintops, slide your fingers down the side of the bowl (mountain) to remind them that both Moses and the disciples came down from the mountain. And so must we.

 

Do we leave God behind? Does God remain in the clouds, waiting for us to return? Now turn the bowl around. The bowl becomes a valley. Valleys in the Bible are a symbol of the depths of despair.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil. For thou art with me.”

God is with us on the mountaintop in spectacular glory. But he is also with us in the valleys—the everyday trials and troubles of life—our personal and collective depths of despair.

 

At this point you might want to pour the water from that half-filled glass into the bowl. Water seeks the valleys. Our baptismal waters, like the River Jordan, flow through the valleys of our life.

 

We need occasional mountaintop experiences to catch the view, to help our spirits soar. But most of us spend more time in the valleys. God is with us there, too.

 

Is the glass half full or half empty? Is your bowl a mountain or a valley? Regardless, God is with us.

 

With that thought we end the season of Epiphany and begin our journey into the valley we call Lent.

Related posts

Teaching the Transfiguration Through Art

Slideshow: (The images of this slideshow can be used for bulletins and web sites.)

Last year’s Object Lesson on the Transfiguration

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25 Feb 2014

Adult Object Lesson: Matthew 5

silver bulletMatthew 5:38-48  •  Leviticus 19: 9-18
Psalm 119:33-40  •  1 Corinthians 3:10-11,16-23

The Christian’s Silver Bullet

Christianity is an attractive religion in that it centers on love more than deeds. God is our loving Father. We are his cute-as-a-button children.

This relationship comes with challenges. There is always the danger that God’s faithful will enjoy the protection of their Father to the point that they seek to have Him wrapped around their little fingers. Get as much of God’s love for ourselves as possible.

All children have a knack for drawing attention to our own needs—real and imagined.

Jesus addresses this temptation in his Sermon on the Mount.

We’ve been reading Jesus’s sermon in ten-verse segments for the last few weeks. Now might be a good time to piece together all of Matthew 5.

Lone Ranger Christianity

Today’s object is a bullet—a silver bullet.

As you talk to you adult learners channel their memories back to the Saturday matinée or Saturday morning television.

The Lone Ranger’s mission was to help the individually oppressed. He and Tonto rode about the West looking for damsels, ranchers, bankers, and children in distress. They would rescue them in as peaceful a way possible and ride off into the sunset, leaving behind a memento. An unspent silver bullet. “Who was that masked man? I didn’t have time to thank him.”

In today’s section of the Sermon on the Mount (verses 38 to 48), Jesus illustrates the Sermon’s opening list of “blessed” people. Remember that strange list?

Jesus probably gave this same sermon over and over again—the better that Matthew might record it years later. Imagine him delivering it to you!

Jesus is opening the church doors and letting the faithful out into the world. Our relationship can grow only so far within our own circle. The Father is telling His children it is time to grow up.

As God’s children, we will leave “home” and face a gauntlet of challenges. We will become “Rangers” of sorts.

We will face unpleasantness.

  • People will argue with us and ridicule us.
  • We will be tired and feel like failures.
  • People will seek to take advantage of us.
  • People will turn to us for help when we are feeling needy ourselves.

We will be tempted to point them toward the church door. “Here’s where I found peace. You are welcome. Sunday morning. 10 am. See you there.”

We will ask: When did it become our job to solve everyone’s problems?

We know the theory. It became our job the day we were baptized and accepted as Children of God.

How do we put that theory into action?

And so Jesus gives us a list of behaviors that are in keeping with God’s wishes for his people.

Talk about the scenarios in today’s lesson. Compare worldy advice with the advice Jesus gives.

Display the bullet (you can use a picture) and talk about Silver Bullet or godly advice.

The Christian’s silver bullet is in godly behavior.

  • Somebody is giving you a rough time.
    Turn the other cheek.
  • Are you working hard and feeling like you are getting nowhere?
    Go the extra mile.
  • Are the needy begging for help? Don’t they know how you worked for what you have?
    Give them the shirt off your back.

Our earthly parents would caution us. “Learn to fight back.” “Tough time? Find a way to move on.” “Walk around the beggar.” “Don’t lend money.”

But that’s not God’s way. If it were, where would we be!

How often when we watched the Lone Ranger, was the focus on the needs of the hero?  The focus of the serial stories is always on the people in distress.

God’s silver bullet is in putting other peoples’ needs ahead of our own—which brings us back to the Beatitudes. Take another look at the people who are blessed in God’s eyes.

As we reach the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is taking us out of our comfort zones.

What are Jesus’ final words in Matthew’s Chapter 5?

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Tall order. It’s all right to take baby steps.

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2x2virtualchurch adds a new object lesson to our library each week. There are nearly 100 in our collection. If you like our easy, interactive approach to preaching and teaching adult learners, please consider subscribing.

You will receive a weekly slideshow (which you can use on your church website or during worship), an object lesson and many other church planning ideas—all geared for small church use. Thank you.

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photo credit: RW PhotoBug via photopin cc
18 Feb 2014

Adult Object Lesson: Keeping the Law

cageMathew 5: 21-37  •  Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Psalm 119: 1-8  •   1 Corinthians 3:1-9

What Are the Consequences
of Breaking the Law?

Each of the lectionary readings for February 16, 2014, or the sixth Sunday in Epiphany, has to do with keeping the law.

 

The Gospel keeps us in the Sermon on the Mount where we’ve spent the last few weeks. Today’s passage is just one part of Jesus’s longest (but still short) sermons. He is talking to people who take the law seriously. The people gathered around Jesus on the hill live under the law of the land (Roman rule). They must also keep the law of their religion, which has consequences that are more dire than today. And then there is tradition—perhaps the hardest task-master of all.

 

Consequences of breaking any of these laws were swift and harsh.

 

In walks Jesus, with a new message. Let’s not dwell so much on things like murder and adultery and the trouble they bring.

 

Let’s talk about how we live our lives before we reach extremes.

Today’s object is a cage. It can be a bird or pet cage.

 

The cage is a symbol of consequences for failing to follow law.

 

Harm, steal, murder and expect to go to jail.

 

Today’s lesson suggests that there is a lot going on inside our heads and heart before we ever get to crimes that call for such drastic intervention by society.

 

They are crimes against God’s intent for us. They are laid out early in the Ten Commandments—before we get to murder, theft, lying, adultery and coveting.

  • Love God. Treat God with respect.
  • Honor mom and dad—the foundation of societal structure.
  • and coming up in Matthew 22 but hinted at here: Love your neighbor as yourself.

 

Disobeying these laws today will not put you in jail.

 

Disobeying the later commandments might get you there.

 

Today’s message reinforces these early commandments. If we set standards for our lives that honor God’s intent, the consequences are freeing.

  • Don’t insult one another.
  • Work harder at making peace than strife.
  • Respect the relationships of others and the boundaries that come with them.

 

Do these things because you love and honor God.

 

These are rules for happy living—rules that set us free.

 

You might use your cage in this way.

 

Write down on separate index cards each of the infractions listed in any of today’s lessons.

 

ANGER, INSULTS, LUST, CONTENTION, LYING, SWEARING, etc. You can expand on them.

 

As you talk about each, toss its card into the cage, repeatedly locking the door.

 

As you near the end of the list, pick up the cage, unlock the door and allow the cards to fall out.

 

Following God’s rules sets us free to do good and honor God. We’ll have our place in the kingdom—close to God.

photo credit: Pensiero via photopin cc

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Consider Subscribing to 2×2

2x2virtualchurch adds a new object lesson to our library each week. There are nearly 100 in our collection. If you like our easy, interactive approach to preaching and teaching adult learners, please consider subscribing.

You will receive a weekly slideshow (which you can use on your church website or during worship), an object lesson and many other church planning ideas—all geared for small church use. Thank you.

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13 Feb 2014

Adult Object Lesson: Light of the World

bushelThis Little Light of Mine . . . 

Matthew 5: 14-16
“You are the light of the world.
A city built on a hill cannot be hid.
 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket,
but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.
 In the same way, let your light shine before others,
so that they may see your good works
and give glory to your Father in heaven.

 

We once had a church organist who was technically very capable but had no church background. I asked him to play “This Little Light of Mine” one Sunday. Although easy enough to play by ear, I found printed music for him.

 

He balked. “This is unsingable,” he said. “The rhythms are too difficult.”

 

The pastor was by my side smiling as I responded.

 

“Every three-year-old who has been to Sunday School knows this song. Play it.”

 

Start today’s lesson by singing This Little Light of Mine together.

 

It is fun to sing. It is not just for children. Gospel singers like it, too.

 

It builds on a concept, straight from the Bible, that we often don’t think about today.

 

What is a bushel? How would you put a light under a bushel?

 

Having grown up in a house on a lot carved out of a cornfield, I knew from a young age that a bushel was a measure. My brothers and I gleaned corn from the field, shucked it, filled bushel baskets, and sold the corn to a granary—my first job!

Our bushel “baskets” were metal. I never really thought about putting a candle under one.

 

A bushel basket is about the size of a small wash basket. If you have one a bushel basket, use it. If you don’t, use a small wash basket.

 

You might use a small candle. A tea light would be perfect.

 

Keep in mind that the bushel in Jesus’ time was probably a woven basket. Because of the size and airiness of the bushel basket, covering it would not deprive the flame of enough oxygen to extinguish the light, but the light would not shine so brightly or so far.

 

The analogy is more about impediment. The song leaves the snuffing out to Satan.

 

Our lot is to keep the light shining as brightly as we can.

 

Today’s adult object lesson leads us to ponder how we create impediments that keep our lights from shining—and in doing so tempt Satan to finish the job.

 

Ask your adult learners what stops them from doing their best. How are they shading their lights?

 

And then sing the song!

This little light of mine.
I’m going to let it shine.

 Hide it under a bushel, no!
I’m going to let it shine.

 

(At this point you could add some verses written by your adult learners. For example: Won’t let time get in my way. I’m going to let it shine.)

Don’t let Satan blow it out.
I’m going to let it shine.

All around the neighborhood
I’m going to let it shine.

photo credit: Lodigs via photopin cc
07 Feb 2014

Adult Object Lesson: The Beatitudes

Think outside the boxJesus Thinks “Outside the Box”

Today’s object is a box. We tend to like our world so that everything is sorted out and kept where we know things are. This applies to our ideas as well as our canned goods, garden tools, and clothing.

 

Today’s scripture is one of the more difficult scriptures to understand. Unlike some of the tougher scriptures, the passage from Matthew, known as The Beatitudes, is one of the better-known scriptures.

 

It was among the verses we memorized as children back when children were expected to memorize key scriptures. The Ten Commandments, The Creation, Psalm 23 and then The Beatitudes.

 

We memorize verses that are part of the arsenal of our faith. We know the day will come when they’ll need them.

  • “Love one another.”
  • “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
  • “Though shalt not bear false witness.”
  • “Honor they father and thy mother.”
  • “Yea, though I walk through the valley . . . ”

 

The Beatitudes aren’t like that.

  • Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
  • Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you.

 

Huh? Why do these verses resonate with us?

 

None of us as children had a clue what the words we were regurgitating meant! And yet, we felt a sense of comfort.

 

But, who hasn’t felt meek and persecuted?

 

It’s nice of God to notice!

 

We are still in the season of Epiphany. Epiphany includes the scriptures that reveal the nature of God. That’s what the Beatitudes are all about.  The Beatitudes belong here.

 

Jesus is teaching his favorite subject. Most of the parables are stories that teach about the kingdom of God.  The Beatitudes are, perhaps, the broadest discourse on the topic that has survived to reach our ears today.

 

Each of the eight beatitudes tells us something about heaven. Jesus is encouraging us to think beyond our earthly experience and expectations.

“Think outside the box, people. The kingdom of God is not like an earthly kingdom. The knights of this roundtable will not be quite so sure of themselves as they vie for favored status. Mark my words, folks. In God’s Kingdom, there is room for those that would never stand in honor before an earthly throne.”

 

In God’s kingdom, there is room for those with doubts. There is room for those who are weak with grief. You wallflowers over there—there is room for you, too. Seekers, there is room at the table for you. There is room for those who don’t know it all and for those who have power but choose to show mercy. There is room for those who can turn away from the temptations of a popular, comfortable and self-centered life. There is room for those who might go out on a limb to stop the misuse of power. Blessed are those who suffer because they fought for what they believe when they were the only ones who believed it.  There is room in heaven for those who take the fall.

 

The ways of heaven are not the ways of powermongers on earth. Those who achieve earthly power would take advantage of the weak and persecuted. Many would watch while others are mistreated—even in the Church.

 

But here we are, stuck for the moment on earth.  While we are stuck we can practice thinking outside our earthly expectations. The Beatitudes help us do just that.

 

Think outside that box! Make it a habit.

photo credit: Ben K Adams via photopin cc
29 Jan 2014

Adult Object Lesson: Follow Me

pulltoy2Matthew 4:12-23

Follow Me!: Appreciating Discipleship

In today’s gospel. Jesus calls his first disciples.

 

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

 

Today’s object is a pull toy. Any pull toy would work, but one with some extra duckies or cars would be best. Have a youngster pull the toys as you talk. Some mishaps are likely and that can weave into your message.

 

Pull toys are among the first toys we give our children. They become leaders as soon as they take their first steps.

 

Here’s the analogy. The person pulling the toy is the leader. The puller can be God/Christ with people connected by a tether of faith, supported by the Word.

 

But the analogy can expand. The followers can be a succession of the faithful. But following is rarely a straight line. The cars or duckies can topple and make life more difficult for those following. The tether can become tangled. Oh my!

 

The role of follower or modern disciple is not easy. It never was. We have the Bible to follow. Then comes doctrine. There are constitutions (tons of them). There are professional church leaders. There are lay leaders of various sorts. There is tradition.

 

And then there is conscience. What place does this have?

 

The water is murky for us modern disciples.

 

Suggest this: A good follower is also a good leader. Each of us is tethered to others. This gives us responsibility.

 

Too often church leaders think of followers as help that works sacrificially at the grunt jobs for an occasional earthly attaboy or attagirl and the promise of a seat at the heavenly table.

 

To some, a good church follower doesn’t question and contributes healthily to the expenses of the church.

 

A good follower is a repetitive church statistic—the one you can count on over and over. If your monthly attendance is 1000, that probably includes 200 counted four times!

 

In today’s Gospel, the first disciples gather around Jesus. Some show up on their own, encouraged by friends.

 

The first step in discipleship is showing interest.

 

Look around your congregation and ask how many qualify so far.

 

The second job is to accept the invitation. The disciples had to agree to leave wife, parents, and their source of income.

 

Ask how many in the congregation are still “in.”

 

This should bring a chuckle. To do so today would be an extreme gesture of devotion. It was in Jesus’ day, too! Does anyone expect this measure of devotion today?

 

A brief review of the ups and downs of the biblical disciples is in order. They questioned. They  made mistakes—huge mistakes. They took ridicule — sometimes even from Jesus. They suffered. They kept coming back. In the process, they became leaders.

 

So what do we expect of today’s followers? Serious answers to this question could be  revealing.

  • We expect monetary support.
  • We expect attendance.
  • We expect baptism. Why isn’t the baptism of the disciples memorialized in today’s gospel?
  • We expect some form of labor. How’s the plea for volunteers going in your church?
  • We expect followers to be hungry to learn.  Why is adult education so poorly attended?
  • We expect participation in church government. What barriers do we set up to control participation?
  • Do we expect innovation? Do we allow for missteps along the way?
  • Do we expect questions to lead to thought leadership?
  • Are we more interested in bringing people to Christ or bringing them to the Church?
  • Which of these questions is most important?

 

There are many possible questions! Let them flow.

 

What is expected of followers of Christ?

 

Are we a simple pull toy? Or are there multiple tethers at work? (If your group is small, you might ask them to draw how they might illustrate their church structure as a pull toy.)

photo credit: D. Bjorn, Catchin’ Up via photopin cc

 

22 Jan 2014

Adult Object Lesson: Agnus Dei

Lamb of God? What’s That?

origin_5763470803Today’s gospel tells the story of Jesus baptism from a different point of view than the other gospel writers. The banks of the Jordan are crowded with spectators. It might be a bit like Woodstock!

 

John looks at Jesus and makes an announcement. “Here, folks, comes the Lamb of God.”

 

Huh?

 

Lambs don’t mean much to us today. In Jesus’ day, they meant a lot. They were money in the bank. To sacrifice a lamb was to sacrifice something of value. The people on the banks of the Jordan could relate to two stories from their heritage: Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac and the Passover story.

 

Sacrifice is a tough concept to visualize. Any “object” seems trivial in comparison to the foreshadowing of God sacrificing his Son.

 

Today, explore the idea of sacrifice and perhaps your adult learners can suggest objects that mean  something to them.

 

Sacrifice is often intangible.

 

Sacrifices can be forced upon us. A jail sentence is a sacrifice.

 

Sacrifices can be cultural. Slaves sacrifice freedom. Women are often culturally expected to sacrifice their own potential for the order of society.

 

Time spent at work is a sacrifice from time spent with family. Parents sacrifice their own desires  to better the lives of their children. Sacrifices are costly emotionally and monetarily. Sacrifices are supposed to mean something. One person’s sacrifice should make a difference.

 

Ask your adult learners what might symbolize sacrifice. Ask: What is given up? What cause is furthered?

 

It might be a diploma. Choosing to devote time and money to education is a sacrifice that parents and students make to further their careers and ability to serve.

 

It might be a baseball and bat. In baseball, a capable athlete, who could use his at bat to try for a grand slam, goes for the bunt to move teammates around the diamond.

 

It might be a spreadsheet. In business, decisions must be made. What great feature might be sacrificed to keep down production costs or get a product to market.

 

It might be a helmet or medal. In war, sacrificial decisions are made. It is called heroism when one soldier risks his life to save another. It is called collateral damage when decisions are made to sacrifice villages to meet a strategic goal.

 

Today’s lessons are a bit mystical. Jesus is the Lamb of God. Lambs are meant to be sacrificed. Even God’s lamb. But what cause will be furthered?

 

Nothing short of saving the world.

 

 

14 Jan 2014