The Nooma Video does not directly discuss the Holy Spirit, but the concept is perfect for this discussion. It gave the teens a lot to think about. They loved "St Patrick's Bad Analogies." It is a funny but informative video that discusses the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. I was a little nervous about them getting it, but they were laughing throughout.
Apostles' Creed Week 10
Read Apostles’ Creed
"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended to the dead. On the Third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”
Review
"I Believe in the Holy Spirit"
Watch “St Patrick’s Bad Analogies”
Discuss the theology of the Trinity.
Three persons, One God
Quote from the the Athanasian Creed that the youtube mentions:
That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;
Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.
For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit.
But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.
None are created - all are eternal, the Three are One.
All are equal
The Father is not the Son who is not the Spirit, but the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Spirit is God. Three in One - Tri (Three) + Unity (One) = Trinity
We only worship One God.
Complicated? Yup, but we’re trying to express who God is with human words and human imaginations. So, it’s impossible to fully grasp this - sorry guys!
Some ways we talk about the Trinity:
Father, Son, Holy Spirit
Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer
Deuteronomy 6:4 (The Lord is One)
Read Luke 3:21-22 (While the Son is being baptized, the Spirit descends and the Father speaks)
Read Luke 23:44-46 (The Son commits His ruach, His pneuma, that is that same Spirit that descended and entered him at his baptism, to the Father)
The breath of life leaves him as he dies a real death. He leaves his person, his safety, his identity, in the hands of the Father, and breathes his last.
We see most vividly perhaps, in the story of Jesus how all three Persons of the Trinity are involved in everything God does. The Father does nothing without the Son and the Spirit. The Spirit does nothing without the Father and the Son, and the Son does nothing without the Spirit and the Father.
Three in One.
Perhaps the best way to talk about the Spirit is as breath.
Everybody close your eyes. Breathe In. Breathe Out. Breathe In. Breathe Out. Breathe In. Breathe Out. Breathe In. Breathe Out.
We sometimes talk about the Spirit as Sustainer. We’re going to watch something that explains this pretty well.
Watch "Breathe" (A Nooma Video by Flannel)
Everyone of us has the Spirit of God in us, whether we want to or not. We are all made in the image of God, and only as the Spirit sustains us, sustains all of creation, do we have life.
You and every single person with whom you come into contact breathes the Spirit with every breath.
How does that change how you view yourself?
How does that change how you view others?
Close in prayer.
Almighty God, you have revealed to your Church your eternal Being of glorious majesty
and perfect love as one God in Trinity of Persons: Give us grace to continue steadfast in the confession of this faith, and constant in our worship of you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; for you live and reign, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Thursday, April 10, 2014
"And Will Come Again to Judge the Living and the Dead"
There was way too much to talk about in an hour. Because of that, I'm not sure if I went in the right direction for this section. We could talk about justice for weeks - well for the rest of our lives really. However, we did have some good conversations about justice. The role playing didn't go quite as well as I was hoping, but I think that had more to do with the scenarios than their participation.
Apostles' Creed Week 9
Review
Read Apostles’ Creed
"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended to the dead. On the Third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”
"And Will Come Again to Judge the Living and the Dead"
First, I want to quickly talk about the first part of this phrase. Last week, we talked about how Jesus ascended into heaven. We said that this means Jesus is still alive and at work. This week, we said that Jesus is going to come again. One of the most important doctrines of Christianity is that Jesus will come again. We don’t know when or exactly what it’ll look like, but Jesus is going to come back to earth. But I want to spend more time today on the second part of this: Justice.
What is justice?
(One of my teens brought up the Justice League. We had a good time talking about this kind of justice.)
How do you think the love of God and the Justice of God work together?
There are two types of justice that we talk about about:
Retributive Justice
Restorative Justice
For a great summary, see:
http://www.cscsb.org/restorative_justice/retribution_vs_restoration.html
What kind of Justice do you see in the American justice system? (Both, but mostly retributive)
Let’s look at some stories of the Justice of God - split up into groups.
Exodus story - all of it, but see Exo 12:33-37 (Justice for slaves and oppressors)
Where and how is Justice happening?
Deuteronomy 10:16-22 (justice for widows and orphans)
Where and how is Justice happening?
Psalm 9:5-10 (Justice is destroying the wicked and providing a safe place for the oppressed and all who turn to him)
Where and how is Justice happening?
Micah 6:6-8 (Justice is doing good, loving kindness, and walking humbly)
Where and how is Justice happening?
Luke 6:27-36 (Bless those who curse you…Be Merciful as your father is merciful)
Where and how is Justice happening?
Revelation 19:11-16 [“The Word of God” (v. 13) wages war against the nations with the sword that comes from His mouth]
Where and how is Justice happening?
What is the weapon that Jesus uses to wage war? (words that are like a sharp sword)
Regather.
According to these passages, what is God’s justice?
When we’re talking about justice, and love for that matter, in a situation, a good question to ask is, who is the littlest person in the story? Who is the “least of these,” a phrase from Jesus?
So let’s look at these four scenarios and ask yourself, what is God’s justice in this situation?
I used four scenarios which I bought from a study on Amos:
http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/waol/itempage.jsp?itemId=BF-11272&catalogId=NA&catSecCd=NA&subCatSecCd=NA&subSubCatSecCd=NA
I won’t write them here for copyright purposes. However, they were sticky and relevant to the life of a teenager.
Regather and debrief.
Justice isn’t easy. It’s sticky, complicated, takes prayer, practice, and reading about how God has done justice in the past - i.e. reading Scripture.
It’s something that must be done.
If time, split up into the same four groups and have them discuss how to practice justice in their lives today.
Jesus is going to come back and set the world right. He is going to restore completely what has been destroyed. He is going to bring about reconciliation in all creation. He is going to bring peace, real, true, long-lasting peace. He is going to bring deliverance from those things that bring death - greed, lust, addictions, all sorts of sins. Somehow, in some way, God is going to set the world right and, Scripture tells us, all people will worship him.
We have the awesome opportunity to participate in what God wants to do. Eternal, universal justice won’t come about until Jesus returns and does it. But we can see pockets of this justice now. We can be a part of what God wants to do and help bring about pockets of justice in Baker City. We can become signs of what God desires to do so that all of Baker City can see what kind of God God is, what kind of Justice God enacts. That’s my challenge to you today. Live your life leaning into the justice of God, leaning into what God is going to do, as if you can’t wait for Jesus to return.
Let’s prayer.
Apostles' Creed Week 9
Review
Read Apostles’ Creed
"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended to the dead. On the Third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”
"And Will Come Again to Judge the Living and the Dead"
First, I want to quickly talk about the first part of this phrase. Last week, we talked about how Jesus ascended into heaven. We said that this means Jesus is still alive and at work. This week, we said that Jesus is going to come again. One of the most important doctrines of Christianity is that Jesus will come again. We don’t know when or exactly what it’ll look like, but Jesus is going to come back to earth. But I want to spend more time today on the second part of this: Justice.
What is justice?
(One of my teens brought up the Justice League. We had a good time talking about this kind of justice.)
How do you think the love of God and the Justice of God work together?
There are two types of justice that we talk about about:
Retributive Justice
Restorative Justice
For a great summary, see:
http://www.cscsb.org/restorative_justice/retribution_vs_restoration.html
What kind of Justice do you see in the American justice system? (Both, but mostly retributive)
Let’s look at some stories of the Justice of God - split up into groups.
Exodus story - all of it, but see Exo 12:33-37 (Justice for slaves and oppressors)
Where and how is Justice happening?
Deuteronomy 10:16-22 (justice for widows and orphans)
Where and how is Justice happening?
Psalm 9:5-10 (Justice is destroying the wicked and providing a safe place for the oppressed and all who turn to him)
Where and how is Justice happening?
Micah 6:6-8 (Justice is doing good, loving kindness, and walking humbly)
Where and how is Justice happening?
Luke 6:27-36 (Bless those who curse you…Be Merciful as your father is merciful)
Where and how is Justice happening?
Revelation 19:11-16 [“The Word of God” (v. 13) wages war against the nations with the sword that comes from His mouth]
Where and how is Justice happening?
What is the weapon that Jesus uses to wage war? (words that are like a sharp sword)
Regather.
According to these passages, what is God’s justice?
When we’re talking about justice, and love for that matter, in a situation, a good question to ask is, who is the littlest person in the story? Who is the “least of these,” a phrase from Jesus?
So let’s look at these four scenarios and ask yourself, what is God’s justice in this situation?
I used four scenarios which I bought from a study on Amos:
http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/waol/itempage.jsp?itemId=BF-11272&catalogId=NA&catSecCd=NA&subCatSecCd=NA&subSubCatSecCd=NA
I won’t write them here for copyright purposes. However, they were sticky and relevant to the life of a teenager.
Regather and debrief.
Justice isn’t easy. It’s sticky, complicated, takes prayer, practice, and reading about how God has done justice in the past - i.e. reading Scripture.
It’s something that must be done.
If time, split up into the same four groups and have them discuss how to practice justice in their lives today.
Jesus is going to come back and set the world right. He is going to restore completely what has been destroyed. He is going to bring about reconciliation in all creation. He is going to bring peace, real, true, long-lasting peace. He is going to bring deliverance from those things that bring death - greed, lust, addictions, all sorts of sins. Somehow, in some way, God is going to set the world right and, Scripture tells us, all people will worship him.
We have the awesome opportunity to participate in what God wants to do. Eternal, universal justice won’t come about until Jesus returns and does it. But we can see pockets of this justice now. We can be a part of what God wants to do and help bring about pockets of justice in Baker City. We can become signs of what God desires to do so that all of Baker City can see what kind of God God is, what kind of Justice God enacts. That’s my challenge to you today. Live your life leaning into the justice of God, leaning into what God is going to do, as if you can’t wait for Jesus to return.
Let’s prayer.
Friday, April 4, 2014
He Ascended into Heaven, Is Seated at the Right Hand of the Father
This week I wanted to appeal to the kinesthetic learners in our group, so I took them on a "walking journey" through the story in the Apostles' Creed. Our youth room is in a two story building. We started on the top floor, went down the stairs, popped in the youth room for a short clip of The Bible (History Channel), wandered through the gym in the dark, and wound our way back up the stairs. There were 7 stations at which we stopped. Each station was marked by a piece of paper with instructions. This was a way for us to walk through the descending and ascending present in the middle section of the Apostles' Creed and, more importantly, in Phil 2:6-11 and the story of Jesus. I find that the teens remember and internalize things better when we do something while we're processing. They were focused throughout and answered the questions thoughtfully.
Apostles' Creed Week 8
"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended to the dead. On the Third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting."
Review
"He Ascended into Heaven, Is Seated at the Right Hand of the Father"
Read Phil 2:6-11
What do you notice about the structure, the “plot line,” in this hymn?
- It’s a pyramid - a descending and an ascending.
We’re going to follow the storyline of Jesus as we walk around this building. We’ll all stick together and go through each stopping point as a team.
Station 1: In the Form of God (Phil 2:6), John 1:1-3
God is the one who created everything!
Circle up and share your favorite form of creation
I.e. “Bears” or “Yosemite” (not mountains or animals)
Station 2: He emptied himself… in the form of a human (Phil 2:7), John 1:14, Luke 2:1-7
God became man!
What are some rights that God has of which God emptied himself when God became man?
Station 3: He humbled himself by becoming obedient (Phil 2:8a), John 13:1-5
The God of the universe is washing people’s feet - including the one who is going to betray him!
Ask for a volunteer and wash someone’s feet
Put yourself in the place of Jesus. I want each of you to close your eyes. Pull up somebody in your head who has hurt you, betrayed you, bullied you, somebody you don’t think you’ll ever be able to forgive. Now, imagine yourself washing that person’s feet, forgiving them, and giving them a chance to accept your forgiveness. How would you feel while you’re touching their dirty, stinky feet? What thoughts would be crossing your mind?
Station 4: To the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil 2:8b), Matt 27:45-54
Can you believe that this One went through that for us, for you!
The Bible - At The Cross (I'm sure there is something better out there, but this worked)
Leave the room in silence
Station 5: Spends Three days in death - He was actually dead! Luke 23:50-56
Jesus experienced real, physical death.
Move through the gym in darkness and silence.
At other side, ask group members to split into small groups and share a time when they have felt in utter despair.
Station 6: Therefore God highly honored him (Phil 2:9a), Luke 24:1-9
Jesus conquered death and sin and paved the way so that we can have resurrection life
It is here that Jesus starts going up the staircase.
Listen to this story of resurrection (I shared a story of resurrection in my life).
Station 7: And gave him the name… to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:9b-11), Acts 1:6-11
Jesus is still alive and is in power
Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father. Symbolically, what does it mean for someone to sit “At the Right Hand?”
Regather
The staircase ends with Jesus ascension and placement at the right hand of the Father
Why does it matter that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father?
After going through the story of Jesus in this manner, does anything strike you?
Close in prayer.
Apostles' Creed Week 8
"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended to the dead. On the Third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting."
Review
"He Ascended into Heaven, Is Seated at the Right Hand of the Father"
Read Phil 2:6-11
What do you notice about the structure, the “plot line,” in this hymn?
- It’s a pyramid - a descending and an ascending.
We’re going to follow the storyline of Jesus as we walk around this building. We’ll all stick together and go through each stopping point as a team.
Station 1: In the Form of God (Phil 2:6), John 1:1-3
God is the one who created everything!
Circle up and share your favorite form of creation
I.e. “Bears” or “Yosemite” (not mountains or animals)
Station 2: He emptied himself… in the form of a human (Phil 2:7), John 1:14, Luke 2:1-7
God became man!
What are some rights that God has of which God emptied himself when God became man?
Station 3: He humbled himself by becoming obedient (Phil 2:8a), John 13:1-5
The God of the universe is washing people’s feet - including the one who is going to betray him!
Ask for a volunteer and wash someone’s feet
Put yourself in the place of Jesus. I want each of you to close your eyes. Pull up somebody in your head who has hurt you, betrayed you, bullied you, somebody you don’t think you’ll ever be able to forgive. Now, imagine yourself washing that person’s feet, forgiving them, and giving them a chance to accept your forgiveness. How would you feel while you’re touching their dirty, stinky feet? What thoughts would be crossing your mind?
Station 4: To the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil 2:8b), Matt 27:45-54
Can you believe that this One went through that for us, for you!
The Bible - At The Cross (I'm sure there is something better out there, but this worked)
Leave the room in silence
Station 5: Spends Three days in death - He was actually dead! Luke 23:50-56
Jesus experienced real, physical death.
Move through the gym in darkness and silence.
At other side, ask group members to split into small groups and share a time when they have felt in utter despair.
Station 6: Therefore God highly honored him (Phil 2:9a), Luke 24:1-9
Jesus conquered death and sin and paved the way so that we can have resurrection life
It is here that Jesus starts going up the staircase.
Listen to this story of resurrection (I shared a story of resurrection in my life).
Station 7: And gave him the name… to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:9b-11), Acts 1:6-11
Jesus is still alive and is in power
Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father. Symbolically, what does it mean for someone to sit “At the Right Hand?”
Regather
The staircase ends with Jesus ascension and placement at the right hand of the Father
Why does it matter that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father?
After going through the story of Jesus in this manner, does anything strike you?
Close in prayer.
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