“Love, Peace, and Caring for Others”

By George Nielsen

Jesus cares for us and has great compassion -- He understands our weaknesses and wants to help us.  Our Bible Adventures lesson (“Jesus Cares”) had two examples of Jesus helping people in need, and our Key Verse from the Holy Bible declares how God still stands ready today to help those who are connected to Him -- “the family of God.”    The verse is Philippians   4: 19 which says:

My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Our class motto is We Serve Jesus.  As young disciples of Jesus, we can serve our Lord by being His hands and feet, that is, being the people who do practical work of serving that helps others.   And we can use our spiritual gifts in ministry that helps and blesses others -- extending further the influence of the Kingdom of God, here on the earth, as it is in heaven.   Jesus said we should be “a light” -- that pushes back the darkness of evil in this world.   People that still need to Come to Jesus for forgiveness can be drawn to Him by our service and ministry to them.

Bible Adventures published a prayer written by Saint Francis of Assisi that can be read for inspiration and encouragement, and also spoken in prayer to God by disciples, today.   It is reprinted below:

LORD, make me an instrument of Thy peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; Not so much to be understood as to understand;  

Not so much to be loved as to love;

For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;  It is in dying that we awaken to eternal life.  

Feb. 10, 2013 - "Jesus Cares" Part 1

By George Nielsen 

This week we used the review time at the beginning of class to finish teaching the Winter session ‘BGMM’ major topic -- The Kingdom of God -- using the class handout “The Kingdom and the Church.”     The students also had several questions about the new material presented today.   After we concluded teaching the BGMM lesson, we introduced Lesson 9 from Bible Adventures, “Jesus Cares”.   The new Memory Verse also was assigned and practiced.


The BGMM handout, titled “The Kingdom and the Church”, was distributed again, and we were able to cover page one of this 3-page paper.  We also explained how Jesus’ declaration, “I will build My Church,” was developed further on pages two and three, and students and their parents could review that information at home.   We also will come back to this material in the Spring (beginning in late April).


In fifth grade, one of our goals is for the students to decide to be, and learn how to be, young disciples of Jesus. We teach that  “Christianity is a Way of Life,”  and use our On the Right Path diagram as a visual for contrasting living as Jesus’ disciple and living in a self-serving way, not bothering with anything related to serving Jesus.      

Because many of the students attending today had not been present for class last week, we began by repeating the main ideas that were covered last week:

Jesus’ declaration “Upon this rock I will build My Church.”

God’s Kingdom -- the visible part, which is the Church, and the invisible part, which is the spiritual realm.  This included presentation of the doctrine of the Trinity, angels and demons, and people as three-part beings (with body, soul, and spirit).   Jesus’ statement to Pontius Pilate - “My kingdom is not of this world” - was presented.   Then we transitioned to teaching on the End Times.  

Next, we taught about the return of Jesus, as King, in His second coming.  He will rule the world from Jerusalem.   We teach The Millenium as being a literal period of 1,000 years.  There were several questions from students about the millennial reign and about satan, his punishment in “the pit” (the abyss), his ultimate punishment in the Lake of Fire, and the punishment of non-believing human beings.   There also were questions about God’s ability to destroy (annihilate) satan, which were answered by stating that God has decreed eternal punishment for satan, instead of his destruction.  


Additional questions the students asked were about their eternal destiny and the timing of the Second Coming.   The brief answers given were about the assurance of salvation for disciples of Jesus, and that the timing of the Second Coming is unknown, but disciples need to be committed to always being ready for the Lord’s return.    Other questions were about angels and demons, and their activity.    In fifth grade we have a specific learning objective to emphasize that the Biblical accounts of spiritual beings and their actions here on earth are real, not symbolic, and that this continues today, as it was in Bible times.  


Next, we taught about the first petition from the Lord’s Prayer, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”     The brief remarks made explained the handout presentation, emphasizing numerical growth, making new disciples, and that the influence of the Church throughout society should grow.


A link to a copy of “The Kingdom and the Church” is given at the end of this summary (along with the copyright notice).

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This class was one more instance where questions from students took the majority of class time.    The students were told once again that we both accept and appreciate their questions, that are on-topic, and that we will adjust our schedule when needed, to allow for the questions.    We began Lesson 9 from Bible Adventures, but will have to continue it next week.   There is a Sunday School that Clicks video for this lesson, that will also be shown next week.


Lesson 9 presents two incidents for Jesus’ ministry -- He healed Peter’s mother-in-law, and reached out to a social outcast, Zacchaeus, the tax collector.   These are used as illustrations of how much Jesus cares -- He wanted to show people that God cares about them.    Because of the limited time available, these Bible stories were just mentioned and introduced.    Then we turned to page four of Bible Adventures to practice the Memory Verse, Philippians 4: 19.    The Lesson focus is expressed in this verse:

My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Page 4 also has a famous prayer written by Saint Francis of Assisi that emphasizes care and ministry to others, as a disciple of Jesus.   Comments were made about this prayer to complete this part of the lesson presentation.   


Then we said our closing prayers, to conclude the class.   

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The Memory Verse assignment for this week is  Philippians 4: 19 (NIV), and the Emphasis verse from last month, John 3: 16 (NIV), is continued for one more week.   At the  request of students, we have agreed that if John 3: 17 (NIV) is also recited along with John 3: 16, one extra achievement point will be awarded.   

The new Emphasis verse will be announced next week.

Students have been instructed to give the Class Handout to their parents, so that they can be helped in reviewing them.   (Completing the study of the rest of this handout [pages 2 - 3] will be deferred until Session 4  of ‘BGMM’ , scheduled to begin in April.)

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Materials used in today’s class can be viewed online:
The Prayer of Francis of Assisi is shown in this Blog -- in a separate post, published February 11, 2013, titled “Love, Peace, and Caring for Others”.

“The Kingdom and The Church” -page 1-  (Click HERE to link to a copy of this Handout.)  
Note: The Handout document listed above is Copyright c. 2011, 2012. George Nielsen.  All rights reserved.  Documents may be viewed/used for student or parent study and review, for students enrolled in the 5th grade class.   

Feb. 3, 2013 "The Bible is God's Message for Me"-- Session 3 (continued)

By George Nielsen

This week we have continued the Winter session of extra Bible Curriculum lessons for 5th graders, "The Bible is God's Message for Me" (‘BGMM’).   The major topic covered is The Kingdom of God.   The ‘On the Right Path’ (‘OTRP’) diagram is also used for  explaining some of our answers to students’ questions.   


This week another copy of the class handout titled “The Gospel of the Kingdom” was distributed, for students who had been absent last week and to replace the ones left on the floor of KidZone last week after they were used as paper airplanes, after class. 

We also distributed the Class Notes handout again this week, and reviewed these key points from the bottom of page one of the handout:

God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

You recognize and submit to Jesus’ Lordship and Authority

The review included my remarks that many students (and adults) do not understand the concept of a Christian BEING a disciple of Jesus.   They have assented to the teachings of Christianity (to the extent that they know them), and their view is “Christianity means that ‘I go to church on Sundays’.”   In fifth grade, one of our goals is for the students to decide to be, and learn how to be, young disciples of Jesus.   So the review included more discussion of that goal.    Discipleship was emphasized, and also the phrase “I Serve JESUS” -- explaining that  “Christianity is a Way of Life”.    

The next BGMM handout, titled “The Kingdom and the Church”, was distributed.   In the remainder of the class, we were able to cover part of page one of this 3-page paper.    The main ideas that were covered included:

Jesus’ declaration “Upon this rock I will build My Church.”

God’s Kingdom -- the visible part, which is the Church, and the invisible part, which is the spiritual realm.  This included presentation of the doctrine of the Trinity, angels and demons, and people as three-part beings (with body, soul, and spirit).   Jesus’ statement to Pontius Pilate - “My kingdom is not of this world” - was also introduced.

Then we said our closing prayers, to conclude the class.   BGMM Session 3 will be extended for one more class, on February 10th, during the first part of the class which is normally used for review.    Page one of this handout will be reviewed and the additional material from page one will also be presented.   (Completing the study of the rest of this handout [pages 2 - 3] will be deferred until Session 4, scheduled to begin in April.)

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The Memory Verse assignments are the same as last week: Mark 1: 14-15 (NKJV), and the Emphasis verse from last month, John 3: 16 (NIV), is continued for one more week.   For Achievement Points credit, we have agreed to allow full credit for reciting Mark 1: 14; if a student can also recite verse 15, they will get double-credit.

Students have been instructed to give the Class Handouts to their parents, so that they can be helped in reviewing them and with practice of the Memory Verses.

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Materials used in today’s class can be viewed online:
“The Gospel of the Kingdom” (Click HERE to link to a copy of this Handout.)    
“The Kingdom and The Church” -page 1-  (Click HERE to link to a copy of this Handout.)  
Note: Handout documents listed above are Copyright c. 2011, 2012. George Nielsen.  All rights reserved.  Documents may be viewed/used for student or parent study and review, for students enrolled in the 5th grade class.   

Jan. 27, 2013 "The Bible is God's Message for Me"-- Session 3 (continued)

By George Nielsen

This week we have continued the Winter session of extra Bible Curriculum lessons for 5th graders, "The Bible is God's Message for Me" (‘BGMM’).   We are covering the major topic of The Kingdom of God.  We also used the ‘On the Right Path’ (‘OTRP’) diagram when explaining our answers to questions raised by students.  
 
This class began with review of the idea from last week’s music video featuring The Newsboys performing the song “God’s Not Dead (Like a Lion)” -- “He’s living on the inside, roaring like a lion (not croaking like a frog)."   The upbeat music and the imagery in the lyric are intended to emphasize how God Almighty is Active, not passive, Dominant, not weak or cowardly, and the King, like a lion who is king of the jungle.     (A link to the video is provided at the end of this Blog post.) 
 
Last week, students made comments, about sin and God hating sin, and our review today included restating these comments.  A student commented on how God’s hatred of sin should carryover to hatred of us, the sinners.    Hatred of sinners does appear to be the logical conclusion from the truth that God hates sin, BUT this logic is not descriptive of how God actually considers mankind.   God loves mankind.    God’s ways are higher than man’s ways, and they reflect God’s grace, mercy, and love.    This was explained used John 3: 16 and Romans 5: 8  as Scripture references. 
  
Then another copy of the class handout titled “The Gospel of the Kingdom” was distributed, and there was a very brief review of the first page, which was covered last week.  (Click HERE to link to a copy of the Handout.)    Mark 1: 14-15 is the key verse, and the review emphasized the teaching in verse 15, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”  
   
Repenting is more than just admitting that we have sinned.  We acknowledge our offense against God and we agree to turn away from it, turning to Jesus for forgiveness and for help to defeat any temptation to commit that sin again.   Believing the gospel includes belief in salvation through trusting in Jesus as our Savior, and also belief that Jesus is the King.   But this is not just some theoretical belief, it has an impact on us, in our own life.   Jesus is our King, and we serve Jesus.

Next, the students read from part of the Class Notes handout.  The information read was:

The Holy BIBLE Will Help You Learn About HIS KINGDOM

God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

The first step in that plan is -- “Come to JESUS”

The next step is to BE His Disciple -- “I Serve JESUS”  

You recognize and submit to His Lordship and Authority

GRACE is God showing His love to you even though you don't deserve it. You can't earn God's grace; you can receive it as a gift.  You do not deserve to be saved from sin and to have eternal life. But God showed His grace by sending Jesus to be our Savior, redeeming us out of slavery to sin and the devil.   Jesus was punished for us.  

You can actually receive that grace when you Come to Jesus - this means that you are saved from sin's punishment when you trust in Jesus as your Savior.

Then, returning to the information from page 2 of the Gospel of the Kingdom handout, we covered the teaching on Jesus’ kingdom being a spiritual kingdom -- that the Kingdom of God is within you.   Finally, we discussed the idea of submission to Jesus’ Lordship and authority.   This requires obedience and service, and the examples given were from the Scripture passages on page two of the handout -- The Great Commission, from Matthew 28, and The Good Samaritan, from Luke 10.

The students were instructed to take The Gospel of the Kingdom handout home and give it to their parents, so they could help them with further study and with the Memory Verse practice, since no student had memorized Mark 1:14-15.   The students who had made the handout into a paper airplane and thrown it were rebuked verbally for doing so.   The Class Notes handout was returned, for use next week, the Memory Verse assignment from last week was assigned again, and the class ended by saying our closing prayer.

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The Memory Verse assignments are the same as last week: Mark 1: 14-15 (NKJV), and the Emphasis verse for this month will also continue into February, John 3: 16 (NIV).  

Click on the Video title to link to YouTube and view the video discussed in today’s class:
“God’s Not Dead  (Like a Lion)” --- The Newsboys

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A Blog post with remarks about the national Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative holiday has been published   There was insufficient time during the past two weeks to make any remarks in class about Dr. King, racial discrimination, and the civil rights movement.