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Teaching is Not Lecturing
If teaching is not reading, as suggested in last week's tip, some might assume that to teach means to lecture. Indeed, some Sunday school lessons rival the pastor's sermon in tone, delivery, and length. However, the most effective lessons are typically not lectures. In fact, a study in the secular realm reveals that "undergraduate students in classes with traditional stand-and-deliver lectures are 1.5 times more likely to fail than students in classes that use more stimulating, so-called active learning methods." (news.sciencemag.org)
Why is this true?
A lecture assumes that students learn best by listening, but requires passivity. Some learners are more visually oriented. Others internalize by writing. Some learn best through dialogue. Lectures may be important, but only utilizing this method of learning may shortchange many of our students. Why? Most often, we learn best through activity.
How can you design your lesson so that your students do not only hear the Word, but also begin to put it into practice?
Source: http://news.sciencemag.org/education/2014/05/lectures-arent-just-boring-theyre-ineffective-too-study-finds
The Irony of the Gospel
In "Biblical Perspective" Randall McElwain writes:
As Jewish idioms, love and hatred are relative terms. Love for the things of God is equated with hatred of this life. The term translated lose here is often translated “destroy.” A selfish love for this life destroys the very life one seeks to protect. The great paradox of the gospel is that the only way to gain eternal life is to give up life. The great irony of the gospel is that Jesus, who already possessed eternal life, gave up His life to provide eternal life to humankind.
Discussion: How have you seen a love for this life destroy people's lives?
Source: Jesus, Son of God: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 11.
Christ’s Death Foretold
Read Isaiah 53:1-6
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; And the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all (v.6).
Isaiah portrays for us one of the most graphic, and yet most beautiful, scenes in holy writ. Where would we be had Christ not suffered humiliation and death for our sins? He became the spotless and perfect Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world (Jn. 1:29).
When Christ was here on earth, He also likened the multitudes to scattered sheep having no shepherd. Revealing His compassion through His sacrificial death, He became our Good Shepherd – thus providing meaning and direction to our lives.
Because sheep naturally tend to stray, they become lost and defenseless. This makes them vulnerable prey. Just so, humanity is without Christ. God, the Father, willed that His Son become our substitute – to be sin for us, who knew no sin (II Cor. 5:21). Certainly, we can join with John the Beloved, BEHOLD, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us… (I Jn 3:1a). (Shirley Gordon)
Man of sorrows, what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim!
Hallelujah! What a Saviour! - Philip P. Bliss
How can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
This devotional is the Monday, March 7, 2016 entry of Opening the Word.
Christ's Death Explained
Lesson 2 - March 13, 2016
Focus Text: John 12:20-36
Central Truth: Christ willingly gave His life for our sake.
Objective: By the end of this lesson my students should be able to explain why Christ had to die in order that we might live.
Lesson Outline:
- The Principle Behind Christ's Death (John 12:20-26)
- The Purpose of Christ's Death (John 12:27-32)
- The Problem of Christ's Death (John 12:33-36)
Prayer: Lesson 1 – The Forgiving Savior
Heavenly Father, As we begin this new quarter of studies on Your Son, help our teachers today to impress upon their classes how importantly You value forgiveness. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
What motivates God?
In "Doctrinal Discussion" Randy Bland asks the question, "What motivates God?" Why does God love us so much? He then writes:
Yet, for love to be real, there must always be the possibility of pain and rejection. God made Himself vulnerable in order to live in loving community with other beings, and He was rejected, first by many of the angels, and then by humanity. He continues to feel the pain of rejection up to this very moment. Most of us would run from that level of pain, but God embraced the pain through love and found a way to win many people back to Himself. That way, of course, is the cross.
Discussion: What motivates us? How does this compare to what motivates God?
Source: Jesus, The Son of God: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 7.