Today's class began with another awards segment for Achievement during the Fall Quarter -- the student that was recognized today for achievement was our new student. She received the special award for a high-achieving new student -- the Rising Star award, for students attending only part of the quarter but still having a high point total. A Certificate was given to this student. Remarks congratulating the award recipient were made by George Nielsen.
One student asked a question after the awards remarks were made, asking whether or not any discussion would take place about the tragic incident that occurred Friday, December 14th, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. My response to that student was that I was not sure. I did not have any prepared remarks for the 5th graders regarding this, since it is our class policy to only present content about violence in a minimal way that is in context with the lesson material.
“In-context” would also include questions raised by students, as a result of our study of the lesson. This question was not prompted by the lesson, and there was not any “groundswell” of follow-up comments by other students (which had happened on other occasions). As it turned out, nothing happened or was said during the rest of the class that would have caused us to revisit this question. So the incident was not discussed in class.
Then two Christmas songs were played for the class, ‘What Child is This’ (performed by Carrie Underwood), and ‘Silent Night’ (performed by Martina McBride).
Then there was a brief review of the last week’s class. which was the Conclusion to the material in Winter quarter lesson 1 , from Bible Adventures, titled “The Prophets’ Promise.” The review briefly mentioned the explanation of the Gregorian Calendar, where it is now the year 2012, and the fact that the center point of this calendar is the year designated as the year of Jesus’ birth. This is to give prominence and honor to Jesus Christ, and to proclaim that His coming inaugurated a new era in the history of mankind. The Bible Adventures cover wrap, which showed a timeline of events, including the era of Micah and Isaiah, was distributed to those students who did not receive it last week.
These other points also were mentioned. The prophets studied last week, Micah and Isaiah, lived in the era after King David by several hundred years, but also several hundred years before the birth of Jesus. Micah prophesied that the coming ruler, the Messiah, would have an “origin [that is] from ancient times”, meaning that the Messiah is an eternal being, and Isaiah gave this child, born in a miraculous way, the name Immanuel, “God with us”.
Another student then asked a question wanting a more thorough explanation regarding how Jesus could be born, as we have described from the Scripture. This is the third week in a row for students to either question or challenge the Virgin birth. Today, the answer given was first, to repeat what we call the short answer, “it’s a miracle.” Then, I told the student that today’s lesson would teach on that, so hold any other comments until that point in the lesson. Please note that sexuality is another topic, besides violence, where our class policy is to present this in a minimal way, in context with lesson content. (Parents can contact me by e-mail if they have any questions about our policies -- at the address rcc.5gr@gmail.com)
Today, Lesson 2 teaches the part of the Christmas story covering the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary about the birth of Jesus, her response, and also Joseph’s dream and vision about Mary’s pregnancy. Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, is also mentioned. The primary Scripture references are from Luke, Chapter 1. At the close of class, Matthew 1: 20-21 was also read and discussed.
The lesson begins by introducing Mary and her engagement to Joseph. Then Gabriel the angel appears to Mary, announcing the pregnancy and the birth of a son to be named Jesus. The students were instructed to underline the first and the last sentences of the angel’s reply, when Mary asked him “How will this be ?” (Mary’s declaration of her virginity was not included in the quotation printed in Bible Adventures.) Those sentences are:
“35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
“37 For nothing is impossible with God.”
This is the answer directly from the Holy Bible to the question of how the birth of Jesus came about. Jesus did not have a human father. Mary conceived Him by the miraculous intervention of Holy Spirit, who fathered Jesus by creating what was needed to produce a male child inside Mary and ensuring that there were no complications or miscarriage, so that she did become pregnant.
The questions that the students asked during the lesson are listed in a separate section of this summary, below.
The next point of emphasis in the lesson was Mary’s response to Gabriel, “I am the Lord’s servant,” and “May it be to me as you have said.” She accepted God’s plan for her life. The poster showing our Class Motto - “We Serve Jesus” - was used to point out that her personal assertion, of servitude to the Lord, is the same as our assertion, in the Class Motto, (ours is stated in the plural because we are a group). Mary then said she wanted God to proceed, just as she was told.
Mary is an example and role-model for us ! We need to personally assert our Class Motto, and then be committed to following God’s plan for us, as young disciples of Jesus.
The lesson content about Elizabeth, and the question raised in the lesson about Mary’s relationship with God, will be covered in the Questions section of this summary.
The conclusion of the lesson involved Joseph. The text from Matthew 1:20-21 was read.
Joseph’s plans to divorce Mary and the intervention by God resulting in Joseph’s change of plans were discussed.
The final teaching point of the class was to introduce and practice the “Bonus” Memory verse, John 1:14 [NKJV]--
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Then the other Memory verses were re-assigned and the closing prayer was said. The Lesson Focus for today is: God had a plan for Mary and Joseph. To them it was unexpected, but “they were both willing to follow God’s plan for them, and bring Jesus to the earth.” (quoted from Bible Adventures) And -- we can follow God’s plans too.
There was a Sunday School that Clicks closing activity to build on this lesson focus. However, the materials for it were not available, and there would not have been sufficient time left to complete it. Therefore, this will be carried over to the December 30th class.
Questions from Students:
One question from a student was about Mary, essentially asking how she qualified, in God’s eyes, for selection as the mother of Jesus. The reply given stated that, besides being a direct descendant of King David, everything that we know about Mary points to her being a young woman of faith, who kept in covenant with God, in the way that was taught in her culture. Her actions that were described in this lesson speak highly of her.
Another question raised was pertaining to Elizabeth, and why she didn’t have a baby as a younger woman. The reply given mentioned that young married couples can and do have babies, and the probability is very high that they too will become parents as young adults. But it is not a 100% probability. There are some couples who experience infertility. Infertility was presented as a medical condition that prevents a lady from having a baby. (Nothing was said regarding male infertility, nor about the belief held by most people in that era of time, that infertility always represented judgment and punishment by God because of sins.)
Another question raised was about the reality of the dream Joseph had. Was it related to his imagination, to some other unknown source, or, as Scripture states, a visitation by an angel from God. The reply first of all put to rest any suggestion that Joseph experienced a hallucination. The occurrence of the dream was a normal thing, not the result of having indigestion from that evening’s meal (nor from any other source). The angel actually spoke the words stated in Scripture. God is able to transmit the visual image into a person’s brain (the parts that process input from the optic nerves and the ear drums). The result is the dream described in Matthew 1: 20-21. [In 5th grade, more detailed teaching on Dreams and Visions is presented in late spring, in conjunction with the lesson from Acts 2 about the Day of Pentecost.]
John 1: 1 teaches that Jesus is God, the Son. This is reinforced by John 1: 14, so this was selected as the Bonus verse. The repetition and reinforcement is directed at using the Word of God as a defense of the foundational doctrine of Jesus as the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary.
Bible Adventures, lesson one, stated that the Word (capitalized) was another name for Jesus. In 5th grade, we do not expand upon this, to more fully develop the meaning of Word (Greek: Logos).
The Memory Verse, assigned again this week is John 1: 1. Isaiah 60: 1. is the Emphasis Memory Verse that is re-assigned and we have decided to continue with this verse for the entire month of December. The “Bonus” verse was introduced this week, John 1:14. All three verses can be said, for Achievement Points credit, at the next class meeting on December 30th. [Note: we are not using the verse given in Lesson 2, Psalm 143: 10, at this time]
