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Who is my neighbor?
In "God's Word for Today" Gordon Snider writes:
God has always called His people to give special attention to their relationships with their neighbors. A review of the nearly thirty times the word is used in the first five books of the Bible shows that any wrong is magnified if it is committed against a neighbor. In his attempt to avoid that added responsibility, the lawyer who questioned Jesus in Luke 10 asked, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus' answer was the story of the Good Samaritan. Our age of electronic communication has greatly expanded our neighborhoods. Many people carry on meaningful relationships with people they have never seen. A starting place for today's lesson could easily be a repeat of the lawyer's question, “Who is my neighbor?” Once that question has been answered, the Christian is faced with the responsibility of that relationship. The texts for today's les-son help us to better understand that responsibility.
Source: Building Christian Relationships: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 70.
Meeting Our Neighbor's Need
Read Isaiah 58:6-11
“And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day” (v. 10).
An everlasting impression was pressed into my memory as a child. In the days of my childhood, we had homeless people who were at times seen in various parts of my hometown. It was rumored that if they got help from a resident, the common practice was to mark the property with an “X.”
Evidently, we had a big “X” somewhere in our front yard. My godly mother was not one to turn away from what she considered to be a genuine need. She also loved to cook. Back then, the homeless made house calls. When one of them came to our home asking for money for food, she would tell him to sit down on the porch while she prepared a plate of food. She did not settle for a sandwich and chips. Neither did she warm up leftovers. She cooked a full-fledged hot meal and served it on our good plates. I cannot help but think that God smiled and nodded His “head” in approval.
Isaiah is not just talking about helping the needy in our scripture reading. After discussing fasting that comes from the wrong motive in verses 1 to 5, he turns to describe the type of fasting that pleases God. Interestingly enough, fasting is more than going without food. Properly practiced, it means to adopt a life style in which self-satisfaction and greed are spurned while being replaced with compassion for the poor and needy. This pleases God and leads to His blessing, a truth my mother seemed to understand. (L Gayle Woods)
Fasting means to spurn self-satisfaction and greed and replace it with compassion.
This devotional is the Monday, May 15, 2017 entry of Opening the Word.
Scrapbooking
Our next quarter is about “The Church: God’s People.” Asking your class now to begin looking for relevant articles, pictures, etc. that speak to the various topics of next quarter’s lessons. For example, collect different membership covenants for Lesson 4. Include spiritual gift inventories for Lesson 8. Find stories of successful evangelism efforts for Lesson 10.
Ask for someone who loves to scrapbook to collect the various snippets provided by class members for this project. Depending on your class makeup, you could create a shared document on an app (Google Docs, Evernote, Onenote, Dropbox Paper, etc.) in which your students could paste links, documents, images, etc.
At the end of the quarter, plan for a “big reveal” in which the scrapbook (analog or digital) is presented to the class. Ask the pastor for permission to display the scrapbook on a welcome table in the foyer. If you developed a digital version, do a presentation for your class or ask your pastor for permission to present it to the church.
Christian Living in the Neighborhood
Lesson 12 - May 21, 2017
Focus Text: Romans 12:14-21; Galatians 5:13-15; Hebrews 13:1-3
Central Truth: Our love for God finds its release in a needy world.
Objective: By the end of this lesson my students should be able to identify several ways they can show love for needy persons.
Lesson Outline:
- The Peaceableness of a Christian Spirit (Romans 12:14-21)
- The Power of Christian Love (Galatians 5:13-15)
- The Practical Christian Witness (Hebrews 13:1-3)
Is it harder to get along with the Christian?
In "Doctrinal Discussion" Jason Lindahl writes:
A friend was describing conditions at his former place of employment. The picture was not rosy — bad attitudes, squabbles, childish behavior. The sad thing, he lamented in conclusion, was that the people who claimed to be Christians were the hardest with which to work. Those who made no claims to grace were, for the most part, the preferred co-workers. Too often, such an accusation has been repeated. “Christians” may be faithful at church attendance three times a week, be diligent in tithing and even verbal witnessing for Jesus, and wear three-quarter-length sleeves with fashionable ease; but whatever happened to graciousness, kindness, and consideration for others? What place is there for a chip on a Christian's shoulder, or a bite in a Christian's speech? Why doesn't anyone like to work with you, Christian? Are you sure it is just persecution?
Source: Building Christian Relationships: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 67.