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I teach a young adult class on Sunday mornings. Over the past 5 weeks we have been taking a road trip with Jesus. We are learning about the adventures in following Jesus. We have studied about the first 4 apostles and their calling,Nicodemus, the woman at the well and the man that was let down through the roof to have Jesus heal him. Today we studied the woman that anointed Jesus feet at Simon the Pharisee's house from Luke chapter 7.
We have been without a preacher since April. We have had several men come try out but we have not hired anyone yet. We have also had one of the best preachers I have heard come preach at least once a month and we have men of the congregation fill in the other times. Tonight was my night. As I studied earlier in the week I realized that my choice to use the woman who anointed Jesus feet might not make for a great class, but that it would probably make a great sermon. I decided to do the class on Sunday morning and the worship on Sunday night over the same topic any way. I was right, class did not go as well as I would like for it. After class not going so well I didn't know whether I should use the same topic for tonight. After talking to Darah and praying about it, I went for it. It went great.
Read the story from Luke 7:36-50 and ask yourself these questions.
1. Am I aware of the enormity of my sins?
2. Am I aware of the wonder of being forgiven of my sins?
3. Having been forgiven much, do I love much?
4. Has my love found expression?
3 comments:
Small world, Big Dave! This was my topic for my Peak of the Week class last Wednesday (we're studying the Parables of Jesus on those nights).
I ended up focusing on how we look at people today - using as an illustration the tattooed/pierced/blue-mohawk-haired folks among us. We seem to judge so naturally (like good old Simon).
I had taught the weird parable that preceded this one the week before about "children in the marketplace" (which that class did not turn out well from my perspective at all), but I tied it into this one a little better. I think Simon was Luke's case study for the children that got mad because they played a sad song and their playmates didn't cry. Simon bemoaned all this sin in the world, but Jesus saw it as a magical avenue for love to flow. Oh, to be like Jesus, huh?
Enjoyed your post today...
Thanks Al. I have enjoyed teaching the road trip class. You used the tattooed/pierced/blue-mohawk-haired folks, I used the hippies of the sixties and seventies for my example.
I never could make heads or tails of the story about the children and the sad song. I plan on doing a parables class after the first of the year. I think I will skip that one.
I saw the picture of Les on your blog and in your email. I wish it would have worked out for him to come try out. The circumstances were just not right at the time and I do not think we could pay him what he needs.
Yeah, it seems to have turned out that Les needed to stay where he's at now. He's a good guy.
If you teach the parables, order "The Parables of Jesus" through Eeerdmans.com. It's a scholarly commentary sort of book, but the meaty stuff is complemented by a section at the end of each parable's examination with some great thoughts on how to apply the parable. It has been an indispensable resource for me.
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