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Teaching is Not Grandstanding
Everybody likes a good show, right? Another temptation we face as teachers is to put on a show to entertain our students. No, we might not call it such. But the intention is the same. How does this happen?
Sometimes, the teacher is trying to engage the curiosity of their students. So they launch off into a highly animated one-person skit. The class is entertained, but other than telling their friends what an enjoyable class they had this Sunday, are not prepared to live any differently. At other times, the teacher may be so animated by a certain topic that they put on a show, even unintentionally, expressing their frustration, disgust, etc. with the issue at hand. Again, the students may applaud the teacher for voicing their own irritation. But the end effect is a rant.
Passion in teaching is important; how can you use passion to reinforce the lesson, instead of replacing the lesson?
The Savior Dies
But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water (John 19:34).
Jesus, the blood and water flowing from your side speak to us the surety of your death and
the blessings that flow to penitent believers.
The blood and water speaks of the two great benefits which all believers partake through Christ Jesus. They are justified by his blood and purified by the cleansing stream of Calvary. They both flow from the pierced side of our Redeemer. To Christ crucified we owe merit for our justification, and grace for our sanctification.
And, your legs were not broken. These soldier thought they were in control but were in fact fulfilling prophecy, "that the Scripture should be fulfilled, a bone of him shall not be broken"; referring to Psalm 34:20, "he keepeth all his bones, not one of them is broken; and again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced."
Isaac Watts give us these words from his song When I Survey:
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Jesus, I want to be at my best for you this day. (William Cook)
This devotional is the Friday, April 1, 2016 entry of Opening the Word.
Bremner Cross by NPS / Jacob W. Frank is licensed under CC BY 2.0
The Price of Free Salvation
Lesson 5 - April 3, 2016
Focus Text: John 19:17-30
Central Truth: Jesus purchased salvation through His death on the cross.
Objective: By the end of this lesson my students should be able to tell someone else how free salvation can be attained.
Lesson Outline:
- The Savior's Suffering (John 19:17-22)
- The Savior's Compassion (John 19:23-27)
- The Savior's Death (John 19:28-30)
- The Savior's Burial (John 19:38-42)
Happy Easter!
He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. (Matthew 28:6)
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of Your only Son. We thank You for His sinless life, His suffering in our behalf, and His loving sacrifice. We praise You for Your power in raising Him back to life and His victory over sin and death, giving us reason to worship this and every Easter!
How Should Christians Live in the Aftermath of the Resurrection?
In "Doctrinal Discussion" Randy Bland quotes N.T. Wright's Surprised by Hope:
I know that God’s new world of justice and joy, of hope for the whole earth, was launched when Jesus came out of the tomb on Easter morning, and I know that He calls His followers to live in Him and by the power of His Spirit, and so to be new-creation people here and now, bringing signs and symbols of the kingdom to birth on earth as in heaven.
Bland finds three truths from this statement:
- The resurrection is for everyone.
- The resurrection opens up the possibility for Christians to live by the Spirit.
- We must realize that we live in what theologians call the time between the already and the not yet.
Consult your Adult Teacher's Insights for more discussion!
Source: Jesus, Son of God: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 26.
Even so … for God so loved
John 3:14-16:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God's gift of love to us!