A.Time spent this week
Sunday School: 1.5 hours
Morning Worship: 1.5 hours
Evening Worship: 2 hours
Youth group: 2 hours
Total hours: 7
B. My class this week
We are still continuing our series on "Experiencing God."
This week, our topic discussed "Getting back to the core of God. My pastor opened with a few questions he had written out beforehand:
-Are you struggling with apathy?
-Are you struggling with lust?
-Is there anything keeping you from knowing God?
I have struggled with apathy for a while, so it was encouraging to hear other's perspectives on the issue. We talked about how our prayer lives were affected by our lifestyles, and one of the girls in the group talked about how she was in an abusive relationship for two years, how her relationship with God had changed since she had come to school, and the challenges that came with it. Another girl opened up and said that she had accepted Jesus as her savior when she was a girl, but she still struggled with finding a connection and know God personally. It was powerful to see the vulnerability in these girls and encouraging to see their willingness to share their struggles with the group.
As college students on a Christian campus, we become apathetic because we are always talking about ministry and serving people and becoming Christ like. This makes it easy to become apathetic. When we feel that God is far away, either because He wants us to grow in our faith or we choose to walk away, we need to know that God's love endures forever. In conclusion, we read Psalm 118.
C.Questions
What do you do when you struggled with apathy? How to you keep fighting?
If you encounter someone who is apathetic in their faith, how do you minister to them? Can they still minister to you?
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
WEEK 6
Time Spent this Week: 5.5 hrs
Sunday school: 1 hr
Worship service: 1.5 hr
Youth Group: 3 hrs
My Class this Week:
Think about someone in leadership who has encouraged you...who has hurt you.
"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words may never hurt me." - FALSE STATEMENT: words hurt
"Taming the Tongue" - James 3:1-12
v.1-2 "What do you see in these verses?"
- It is difficult to control the tongue
- The tongue can be harmful
v.3-12 "Why is it so hard to control the tongue when it is so harmful?"
- We don't think before we speak
- Garbage in, garbage out
- Uncontrollable emotions
- Reflection of how we think
- Return harm for harm
"Our inability to control our tongue is the most damaging thing to our witness."
- Words stick (more than words)
- More time to think abotu actions than words
"What would you say to a 'Christian' that didn't control their tongue?"
- Be slow to speak and quick to listen
- Ask God for help
"Think of a person of encouragement. How did they get there?"
- Personality
- Slow to speak
- They've seen the pain of using words destructively
- God's help
- Good examples
v.2,9 "Tongues can be used to bless and curse."
Challenge of the Week:
R.A.K (Random Act of Kindness - using speech)
"Take full responsibility for miscommunication - stop rationalizing & apologize."
I thought Mike did a great job relating to the students today. His interaction was plentiful, including personal stories, illustrations, facts, and scriptural support. He did not leave the kids hanging with questions, but instead chose to challenge them to use their tongues to bless others. It was a very effective learning atmosphere for the class, proving that you can teach with facts and simultaneously encourage the students to take ownership of the lesson.
Questions:
1. Is it a sin to be tempted?
2. How would you label profanity that pops into your head? Sin? Temptation? Right? Wrong? Neutral? Is it only a sin when you choose to verbally express crass emotions?
Sunday school: 1 hr
Worship service: 1.5 hr
Youth Group: 3 hrs
My Class this Week:
Think about someone in leadership who has encouraged you...who has hurt you.
"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words may never hurt me." - FALSE STATEMENT: words hurt
"Taming the Tongue" - James 3:1-12
v.1-2 "What do you see in these verses?"
- It is difficult to control the tongue
- The tongue can be harmful
v.3-12 "Why is it so hard to control the tongue when it is so harmful?"
- We don't think before we speak
- Garbage in, garbage out
- Uncontrollable emotions
- Reflection of how we think
- Return harm for harm
"Our inability to control our tongue is the most damaging thing to our witness."
- Words stick (more than words)
- More time to think abotu actions than words
"What would you say to a 'Christian' that didn't control their tongue?"
- Be slow to speak and quick to listen
- Ask God for help
"Think of a person of encouragement. How did they get there?"
- Personality
- Slow to speak
- They've seen the pain of using words destructively
- God's help
- Good examples
v.2,9 "Tongues can be used to bless and curse."
Challenge of the Week:
R.A.K (Random Act of Kindness - using speech)
"Take full responsibility for miscommunication - stop rationalizing & apologize."
I thought Mike did a great job relating to the students today. His interaction was plentiful, including personal stories, illustrations, facts, and scriptural support. He did not leave the kids hanging with questions, but instead chose to challenge them to use their tongues to bless others. It was a very effective learning atmosphere for the class, proving that you can teach with facts and simultaneously encourage the students to take ownership of the lesson.
Questions:
1. Is it a sin to be tempted?
2. How would you label profanity that pops into your head? Sin? Temptation? Right? Wrong? Neutral? Is it only a sin when you choose to verbally express crass emotions?
Tyler Klein: Week 6
A. Time Spent this week: 6 hours total (S.S.=1 Worship= 1.5 Youth small group Bible Study= 1.5 Youth Groups Worship 2)
B. My Class this week:
1. A reflection.
Mike began by asking everyone to think of a time that someone over them, like a teacher, advisor, coach, or whomever, said something to them that really made them feel good. After a few minutes he then asked them to remember a time that a superior said something that really cut them to the core. With those experiences in mind he then threw the common phrase “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” out into the discussion. He then said that the phrase was not really true, because they had experienced words hurting.
2. A warning
He then explained that the lesson for the day would be about how to make sure that we didn’t hurt our fellow Christians with our words, and that there was a fine line where you cross over from joking to hurting someone’s feelings. With that brought up he had everyone open their Bibles to James 3:1-12, the passage on the tongue.
3. Dissection of James 3:1-12
In verse 3 Mike asked what they thought about the statement by James that if you could master the tongue you would master the sins of the body also. A couple of good points were brought up: 1) that there may be a connection between what we say and what we do and 2) that by the way that is said that taming the tongue may be extremely difficult. Then everyone just listened to the examples of how the tongue guides the body like a bit in a horse’s mouth and that it is like a ship’s rudder or a spark in the forest. At the end of the passage Mike asked the students to respond to his summary that “our inability to control the tongue is most damaging to a Christian’s witness.” He got many varied responses, and then he challenged them to start building the habit of building other people up in random acts of kindness through their tongue instead of saying hurtful and mean things. Like James 3:6 or 9 says, the tongue can be used for good or evil, so Mike was challenging them towards good.
4. Dismissal
With that it was 10:00 and it was time to head over to service, just a quick word of prayer and we were done, ready to tackle the next passage of James the following week.
C. My Questions for the week
1. How can you get rid of distractions that kids are playing with without drawing attention to it and completely knocking the discussion off track?
2. Are “challenges” really worth doing? If there isn’t a specific goal, then will high school students actually remember it? Should we as teachers try to focus on one particular task that is easily attainable rather than go for some overarching goal like “practice giving random acts of kindness to each other each day”?
B. My Class this week:
1. A reflection.
Mike began by asking everyone to think of a time that someone over them, like a teacher, advisor, coach, or whomever, said something to them that really made them feel good. After a few minutes he then asked them to remember a time that a superior said something that really cut them to the core. With those experiences in mind he then threw the common phrase “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” out into the discussion. He then said that the phrase was not really true, because they had experienced words hurting.
2. A warning
He then explained that the lesson for the day would be about how to make sure that we didn’t hurt our fellow Christians with our words, and that there was a fine line where you cross over from joking to hurting someone’s feelings. With that brought up he had everyone open their Bibles to James 3:1-12, the passage on the tongue.
3. Dissection of James 3:1-12
In verse 3 Mike asked what they thought about the statement by James that if you could master the tongue you would master the sins of the body also. A couple of good points were brought up: 1) that there may be a connection between what we say and what we do and 2) that by the way that is said that taming the tongue may be extremely difficult. Then everyone just listened to the examples of how the tongue guides the body like a bit in a horse’s mouth and that it is like a ship’s rudder or a spark in the forest. At the end of the passage Mike asked the students to respond to his summary that “our inability to control the tongue is most damaging to a Christian’s witness.” He got many varied responses, and then he challenged them to start building the habit of building other people up in random acts of kindness through their tongue instead of saying hurtful and mean things. Like James 3:6 or 9 says, the tongue can be used for good or evil, so Mike was challenging them towards good.
4. Dismissal
With that it was 10:00 and it was time to head over to service, just a quick word of prayer and we were done, ready to tackle the next passage of James the following week.
C. My Questions for the week
1. How can you get rid of distractions that kids are playing with without drawing attention to it and completely knocking the discussion off track?
2. Are “challenges” really worth doing? If there isn’t a specific goal, then will high school students actually remember it? Should we as teachers try to focus on one particular task that is easily attainable rather than go for some overarching goal like “practice giving random acts of kindness to each other each day”?
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
WEEK 5 JON BLANCHARD
A. Time Log
(SS: 1 hr. MW: 1 hour NW: 1.5 hours YG: 2.5 hrs Total: 6 hours)
B. My class this week
There wasn't a set lesson plan for this week. My college pastor was unable to attend because of car troubles, so the group was student led. We didn't find out about it until we arrived at church, so it made for an interesting group this week.
Only five people attended this week, so we had a very smal group instead of an actual Sunday School. We sat in a circle and used the time we had to catch up on each other's lives during the past week. We were all tired and ready for spring break to get here.
Towards the end of the group, someone posed the question "what has God been doing in your life lately" as well as "what prayer requests do you want prayer for."
Over all, it was a good meeting because we had the chance to meet together in the name of the Lord and enjoy each other's company.
C. My reaction to this week's meeting
I was incredibly tired this week, so going to Sunday School was far from being on my radar. I was alright with catching up on people's lives, but I was really uncomfortable when I was asked what God had been doing in my life lately. Maybe I don't think about it enough, but I always get irritated when I am asked that question. God is giving me strength to get through the week and the day. What else do you want me to talk about?
D. Questions
1. How do you react to the question "What has God been doing in your life lately? Does the question ever bother you?
2. How do you feel about 'on-the-fly' Sunday School meetings?
(SS: 1 hr. MW: 1 hour NW: 1.5 hours YG: 2.5 hrs Total: 6 hours)
B. My class this week
There wasn't a set lesson plan for this week. My college pastor was unable to attend because of car troubles, so the group was student led. We didn't find out about it until we arrived at church, so it made for an interesting group this week.
Only five people attended this week, so we had a very smal group instead of an actual Sunday School. We sat in a circle and used the time we had to catch up on each other's lives during the past week. We were all tired and ready for spring break to get here.
Towards the end of the group, someone posed the question "what has God been doing in your life lately" as well as "what prayer requests do you want prayer for."
Over all, it was a good meeting because we had the chance to meet together in the name of the Lord and enjoy each other's company.
C. My reaction to this week's meeting
I was incredibly tired this week, so going to Sunday School was far from being on my radar. I was alright with catching up on people's lives, but I was really uncomfortable when I was asked what God had been doing in my life lately. Maybe I don't think about it enough, but I always get irritated when I am asked that question. God is giving me strength to get through the week and the day. What else do you want me to talk about?
D. Questions
1. How do you react to the question "What has God been doing in your life lately? Does the question ever bother you?
2. How do you feel about 'on-the-fly' Sunday School meetings?
Monday, February 16, 2009
WEEK 5: PHILLIP TELFER
Time Spent this Week: (5 hours)
Sunday school – 1 hr
Worship service – 1.5 hr
Youth Group – 2.5 hr
My Class this Week:
Continuing on the thought of faith, Mike jumped into the search for a definition of faith. He guided the discussion back to this issue by asking the question, "Why are you here today?" Every student had been brought to church by their parent's decision. They simply tagged along, it is the Sunday tradition of the Christian faith. One eleventh grader sitting beside me unique in the fact that his parents had decided to stay at home. He, being old enough to drive, took the responsibility upon himself to attend church. He only speaks during the lesson when a question is specifically directed at him. Mike was surprised that this student had come on his own will, and he stepped back in shock and culminated his emotions in the honest statement, "We're glad you decided to come." Perhaps it was the shock, but Mike briefly left his typical teaching style. Instead of leaving the question open for the students to answer, he shared his personal perspective of the difficulty of defining faith. He related it to love in the fact that people can use the word for a wide variety of objects (apple pie, movies, and one's mother).
Sunday school – 1 hr
Worship service – 1.5 hr
Youth Group – 2.5 hr
My Class this Week:
Continuing on the thought of faith, Mike jumped into the search for a definition of faith. He guided the discussion back to this issue by asking the question, "Why are you here today?" Every student had been brought to church by their parent's decision. They simply tagged along, it is the Sunday tradition of the Christian faith. One eleventh grader sitting beside me unique in the fact that his parents had decided to stay at home. He, being old enough to drive, took the responsibility upon himself to attend church. He only speaks during the lesson when a question is specifically directed at him. Mike was surprised that this student had come on his own will, and he stepped back in shock and culminated his emotions in the honest statement, "We're glad you decided to come." Perhaps it was the shock, but Mike briefly left his typical teaching style. Instead of leaving the question open for the students to answer, he shared his personal perspective of the difficulty of defining faith. He related it to love in the fact that people can use the word for a wide variety of objects (apple pie, movies, and one's mother).
WHAT IS FAITH?
- belief in something bigger than yourself
- internal (evident by lifestyles and actions)
- believing/trusting in something that isn't there (not easily seen)
- trusting on steroids
Romans 3:28
James 2:24 "made right with God by what we do, not by faith alone"
False assumption: faith=believing that which is nearly impossible to believe
- Faith and actions come in a packaged deal.
James 2:14
- What good is it to say that you love someone without expressing that love through actions?
- Love demands action...so does faith
Abraham & Rahab (faith was made evident by their actions)
Similarities: Good deeds
Differences: religious beliefs (Hebrew & pagan)
Questions:
1. How can a teacher create a teaching environment that encourages individuals to develop personal spiritual beliefs that coincide with Christian tradition without blatantly presenting them with a lecture on theology?2. I recognize the different spiritual maturity levels of individual students in the class, and I was wondering how a teach can do in the attempt to attend to each individual's unique spiritual needs? The fact that students are coming to youth group at their own accord clearly communicates their desire to learn and further their walk with the Lord. Worship service is one thing, but Sunday school is more intensely focused discipleship. I believe this young man in the class is dealing with quite a bit of junk in his personal and home life. What can I do to reach out to him? What can the teacher do? He is a junior in high school; there is not much time left to develop him into the spiritual man of God he needs to be prior to taking on the world.
Tyler Klein: Week 5
A. Time Spent this week: 4 hours total (S.S.=1 Worship= 1.5 Youth small group Bible Study= 1.5)
B. My Class this week:
1. Asked Question to begin.
Why are you here today? This was to get them thinking if they had taken it upon themselves to come or if they were brought by a parent. Only one kid had come by himself. This opened an opportunity for Mike to tell the kids that he was glad they were there. Before this happened he had brought brownies for everyone, which set the mood of the class.
2. What is Faith?
Just like the previous week, Mike reverted to this question. He explained that it would be really hard to answer what faith is, because it is a lot like Love. There are just so many different ways to use the word, and it can be applied to so many situations that it is really hard to put one definition to the word. He used the example of a newly-wed couple, which made me think of Jena and I, compared to when that same couple had been together 50 years. They would both try to define love, but it would be different in both situations. Faith is like that, it changes, it develops and adapts to each situation. The kids still tried to answer the question, and they came up with things like: faith is belief in something bigger than yourself, goes beyond trust, is in something not easily seen, and other things like that.
3. Dissection of James 2:14
With that Mike started reading James 2:14 through 26. It is the passage where James makes it clear that faith doesn’t exist without works of faith, at least in his mind. Faith without works of faith is dead, at least that’s what we talked about. The kids argued about it a bit, and Mike very, very briefly touched the Romans 3:21-28 passage which parallels this one. I don’t know if Mike was trying to keep the passage simple, but it could have been expounded much deeper, and in some of the teens’ comments there were great opportunities to confront them with scriptural truths about what they were saying. He did explain the actions of faith of Abraham and Rahab. I just wish that the opposite side of James would have been brought up so that the teens could have a scriptural basis for what they were already arguing about.
4. Dismissal
Mike explained that James is a tough book, and for them to try and dig into it a little deeper throughout the week. Then we took prayer requests, prayed, and left.
C. My Questions for the week
1. Is it sometimes too hard to try to throw out a scriptural reference when you’re trying to actively listen to what the students are saying? Isn’t it important to provide scripture to illuminate what is being argued, especially when it hits it on the head as squarely as Romans 3:28?
2. These teens are obviously reaching for something deeper, based on their discussion, but why don’t we use that longing to teach proper dissection of scripture? (I probably sound like a broken record.)
B. My Class this week:
1. Asked Question to begin.
Why are you here today? This was to get them thinking if they had taken it upon themselves to come or if they were brought by a parent. Only one kid had come by himself. This opened an opportunity for Mike to tell the kids that he was glad they were there. Before this happened he had brought brownies for everyone, which set the mood of the class.
2. What is Faith?
Just like the previous week, Mike reverted to this question. He explained that it would be really hard to answer what faith is, because it is a lot like Love. There are just so many different ways to use the word, and it can be applied to so many situations that it is really hard to put one definition to the word. He used the example of a newly-wed couple, which made me think of Jena and I, compared to when that same couple had been together 50 years. They would both try to define love, but it would be different in both situations. Faith is like that, it changes, it develops and adapts to each situation. The kids still tried to answer the question, and they came up with things like: faith is belief in something bigger than yourself, goes beyond trust, is in something not easily seen, and other things like that.
3. Dissection of James 2:14
With that Mike started reading James 2:14 through 26. It is the passage where James makes it clear that faith doesn’t exist without works of faith, at least in his mind. Faith without works of faith is dead, at least that’s what we talked about. The kids argued about it a bit, and Mike very, very briefly touched the Romans 3:21-28 passage which parallels this one. I don’t know if Mike was trying to keep the passage simple, but it could have been expounded much deeper, and in some of the teens’ comments there were great opportunities to confront them with scriptural truths about what they were saying. He did explain the actions of faith of Abraham and Rahab. I just wish that the opposite side of James would have been brought up so that the teens could have a scriptural basis for what they were already arguing about.
4. Dismissal
Mike explained that James is a tough book, and for them to try and dig into it a little deeper throughout the week. Then we took prayer requests, prayed, and left.
C. My Questions for the week
1. Is it sometimes too hard to try to throw out a scriptural reference when you’re trying to actively listen to what the students are saying? Isn’t it important to provide scripture to illuminate what is being argued, especially when it hits it on the head as squarely as Romans 3:28?
2. These teens are obviously reaching for something deeper, based on their discussion, but why don’t we use that longing to teach proper dissection of scripture? (I probably sound like a broken record.)
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
JON BLANCHARD WEEK 4
A. Time Spent this week
(SS=1 hr. W=2 hrs. youth group=3 hrs. total: 6 hours)
B. My class this week
This week Jim recapped all the topics we have covered thus far. This semester, we have been discussing "experiencing God," and touching upon struggles that we face each day. The topics so far have been:
1.Fear: what is keeping me from knowing God? Is my desire to like a 'normal' life keeping me from seeking after God? Am I living in the freedom of knowing Him or am I cowering in a corner somewhere? Are there any unhealthy relationships that I need to give up to Him?
2.Lust: What is lust and how does it affect us? There are alot of false realities that we believe when me process what this struggle does to us and what it does to other people. Jesus said if our hand is causing us to sin, we should cut it off. What are we doing to comabt sin and rid our lives of this junk?
3. False thinking: We all have mindsets we buy into that affect how we view people, the world, and God. When it comes to sin or even missed opportunities, we try to pass the blame along to God by saying "God wanted this to happen." This just simply isn't true! Are there things in our lives like this mentality that keep us from living in freedom?
C.My questions this week
1.how do you indetify with having mindsets that keep you bogged down? When someone exposes you to one of these mindsets, how do you react?
2. Does fear ever keep you immobilized from doing the work God has planned for you? How do you find freedom from being afraid of moving to where you should be?
(SS=1 hr. W=2 hrs. youth group=3 hrs. total: 6 hours)
B. My class this week
This week Jim recapped all the topics we have covered thus far. This semester, we have been discussing "experiencing God," and touching upon struggles that we face each day. The topics so far have been:
1.Fear: what is keeping me from knowing God? Is my desire to like a 'normal' life keeping me from seeking after God? Am I living in the freedom of knowing Him or am I cowering in a corner somewhere? Are there any unhealthy relationships that I need to give up to Him?
2.Lust: What is lust and how does it affect us? There are alot of false realities that we believe when me process what this struggle does to us and what it does to other people. Jesus said if our hand is causing us to sin, we should cut it off. What are we doing to comabt sin and rid our lives of this junk?
3. False thinking: We all have mindsets we buy into that affect how we view people, the world, and God. When it comes to sin or even missed opportunities, we try to pass the blame along to God by saying "God wanted this to happen." This just simply isn't true! Are there things in our lives like this mentality that keep us from living in freedom?
C.My questions this week
1.how do you indetify with having mindsets that keep you bogged down? When someone exposes you to one of these mindsets, how do you react?
2. Does fear ever keep you immobilized from doing the work God has planned for you? How do you find freedom from being afraid of moving to where you should be?
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
COMMENT ON TYLER's WEEK 4 POST: PHILLIP TELFER
1. I was wondering the same thing, it's almost like we're in the same class or something. In my questions of the week I briefly talked about my personal struggle with discovering biblical truths for myself, and I too believe this form of teaching is dangerous. Every week Mike affirms the class that they will discover the answer in next week's lesson. All this has come to mean is that if they have discovered the answer for themselves by that time - they will know, but if they haven't, they will be given the opportunity to think about it for seven more days.
2. I realize Jesus may not come back tomorrow, next year, or even next millenium, but I KNOW these kids will be gone in less than four years. They may not necessarily die, but Mike will no longer have the opportunity to trouble them with questions. They will head off to college with all of these questions still running aimlessly around like pinballs in their head. University is the fire for doctrinal gold, testing it's strength, durability, and purity. Without proper preparation, young adults will lose the faith they have grown up in, especially if this so-called faith is composed of an eclectic swamp of questions.
Yes, questions are critical and important, but the answer - the TRUTH - is what will last.
2. I realize Jesus may not come back tomorrow, next year, or even next millenium, but I KNOW these kids will be gone in less than four years. They may not necessarily die, but Mike will no longer have the opportunity to trouble them with questions. They will head off to college with all of these questions still running aimlessly around like pinballs in their head. University is the fire for doctrinal gold, testing it's strength, durability, and purity. Without proper preparation, young adults will lose the faith they have grown up in, especially if this so-called faith is composed of an eclectic swamp of questions.
Yes, questions are critical and important, but the answer - the TRUTH - is what will last.
WEEK 4: PHILLIP TELFER
A. Time Spent this Week: 5.5 total hours
(Sunday School - 1hr, Worship Service - 1.5 hr, Youth Group - 3hr)
B. My Class this Week: What is Faith? (James 2:14, 21-24)
Beginning the class with a compliment, Mike thanked the youth for their intentive concentration and contribution to the last three week's lessons. He also shared that his hope of talking less than the students was becoming a reality.
After praising the class, he asked them to define the phrase "Better Christian." He went further to ask them if it was even possible. Multiple students had referred to this concept over the past couple weeks, and Mike wanted them to clarify what they meant.
It means you are "More mature - closer to God." It can "only be applied to yourself," because you cannot judge others. It means you have "more faith." These were three of the student's responses.
Mike was anticipating faith would enter the conversation and used this answer to transition into the questions of the week:
"Is faith a possession (you either have it or you do not)?"
YES: You believe in God as a whole, not partially
NO: You can doubt and still be a Christian
BOTH: There are multiple types of faith
"How is it measured? What does it mean to have faith?"
: Believing in something greater than yourself (more powerful - supernatural)
: Believing you can do ALL things with God
: Certain of what we hope for, even when it is not tangible - we cannot always see it
: Belief is not faith - you need to trust to have faith
The discussion was definitely thought provoking, and Mike achieved his goal of speaking less than the students. He closed the hour by reading from James 2:14, 21-24, and challenging the class to read James 2:14 to the end of the chapter. He asked them to think about "What is faith? What is NOT faith?"
C. Questions:
1. QUESTIONING QUESTIONS. I do not like the idea of leaving children out to dry by not answering their questions. I realize the effect of discovering the answer for yourself, but do we really want have that time to spare? Personally, I had a difficult time ironing out my own Christian doctrine. I actually became depressed as a result. I never figured it out alone. I came to a solution with the counsel of one of my closest friends. I think it's dangerous to close class with questions, especially pivotal questions on faith. I don't see the problem with giving them closure and challenging them to further research on the subject to confirm it. Youth need direction.
2. INCLUSION. Mike praised the class for their participation this week, but I have noticed that the same youth are giving responses; it is a partial class participation. Not one answer or comment was shared by the five or six people sitting by me this week. How do involve the entire class? Do you call on them individually, singling them out? Or do you simply trust the Holy Spirit to speak to them in their silence?
(Sunday School - 1hr, Worship Service - 1.5 hr, Youth Group - 3hr)
B. My Class this Week: What is Faith? (James 2:14, 21-24)
Beginning the class with a compliment, Mike thanked the youth for their intentive concentration and contribution to the last three week's lessons. He also shared that his hope of talking less than the students was becoming a reality.
After praising the class, he asked them to define the phrase "Better Christian." He went further to ask them if it was even possible. Multiple students had referred to this concept over the past couple weeks, and Mike wanted them to clarify what they meant.
It means you are "More mature - closer to God." It can "only be applied to yourself," because you cannot judge others. It means you have "more faith." These were three of the student's responses.
Mike was anticipating faith would enter the conversation and used this answer to transition into the questions of the week:
"Is faith a possession (you either have it or you do not)?"
YES: You believe in God as a whole, not partially
NO: You can doubt and still be a Christian
BOTH: There are multiple types of faith
"How is it measured? What does it mean to have faith?"
: Believing in something greater than yourself (more powerful - supernatural)
: Believing you can do ALL things with God
: Certain of what we hope for, even when it is not tangible - we cannot always see it
: Belief is not faith - you need to trust to have faith
The discussion was definitely thought provoking, and Mike achieved his goal of speaking less than the students. He closed the hour by reading from James 2:14, 21-24, and challenging the class to read James 2:14 to the end of the chapter. He asked them to think about "What is faith? What is NOT faith?"
C. Questions:
1. QUESTIONING QUESTIONS. I do not like the idea of leaving children out to dry by not answering their questions. I realize the effect of discovering the answer for yourself, but do we really want have that time to spare? Personally, I had a difficult time ironing out my own Christian doctrine. I actually became depressed as a result. I never figured it out alone. I came to a solution with the counsel of one of my closest friends. I think it's dangerous to close class with questions, especially pivotal questions on faith. I don't see the problem with giving them closure and challenging them to further research on the subject to confirm it. Youth need direction.
2. INCLUSION. Mike praised the class for their participation this week, but I have noticed that the same youth are giving responses; it is a partial class participation. Not one answer or comment was shared by the five or six people sitting by me this week. How do involve the entire class? Do you call on them individually, singling them out? Or do you simply trust the Holy Spirit to speak to them in their silence?
Tyler Klein: Week 4
A. Time Spent this week: 4 hours total (S.S.=1 Worship= 1.5 Youth small group Bible Study= 1.5)
B. My Class this week:
1. Commends Students for Participation
Mike started the class period off by thanking all the students for their participation in the past couple weeks, because of their discussion. His philosophy is that if the students are talking more than he is then he’s doing something right. The past couple weeks had been really great in terms of discussion.
2. Is Faith Something you can Measure?
After a really short recap of the past weeks’ discussions, we began to try to deal with a term that had come out multiple times in the past weeks. In their descriptions and answers, some of the kids had used the wording, a “better Christian”. Mike wanted to really dive into what this meant, and he asked the class to explain what they really meant. The students knew that what they were saying wasn’t favoritism, but that when they said better they meant more mature. After that was finished, Mike asked if faith is something you do or don’t have, and if you can have more faith than someone else? This provoked a lot of strange answered, so Mike went on to the next step of the lesson.
3. Defining Faith
The students were then asked to define what faith really means. Before the discussion began Mike clarified that he wasn’t going to give them an answer, and that they would most likely be blurry on this until the next week. Some answers that were thrown out were that Faith is a belief in something greater than themselves, faith is belief in something that cannot be proven.
4. Dismissal
Right before the class time was to end we quickly read the passage for the day, James 2:14-21. It is a passage in James discussing the importance of works along with faith. Mike introduced the fact that this idea may be a confrontation with Paul’s writings on faith. Then he encouraged the class to read and think about this passage for next week.
C. My Questions for the week
1. How long can a teacher continue to teach without giving any definitive answers about what they are teaching?
2. And if this type of teaching continues, how can you be sure that Biblical truths are being understood correctly when the Bible isn’t brought in as a form of evidence or guide in the discussion?
B. My Class this week:
1. Commends Students for Participation
Mike started the class period off by thanking all the students for their participation in the past couple weeks, because of their discussion. His philosophy is that if the students are talking more than he is then he’s doing something right. The past couple weeks had been really great in terms of discussion.
2. Is Faith Something you can Measure?
After a really short recap of the past weeks’ discussions, we began to try to deal with a term that had come out multiple times in the past weeks. In their descriptions and answers, some of the kids had used the wording, a “better Christian”. Mike wanted to really dive into what this meant, and he asked the class to explain what they really meant. The students knew that what they were saying wasn’t favoritism, but that when they said better they meant more mature. After that was finished, Mike asked if faith is something you do or don’t have, and if you can have more faith than someone else? This provoked a lot of strange answered, so Mike went on to the next step of the lesson.
3. Defining Faith
The students were then asked to define what faith really means. Before the discussion began Mike clarified that he wasn’t going to give them an answer, and that they would most likely be blurry on this until the next week. Some answers that were thrown out were that Faith is a belief in something greater than themselves, faith is belief in something that cannot be proven.
4. Dismissal
Right before the class time was to end we quickly read the passage for the day, James 2:14-21. It is a passage in James discussing the importance of works along with faith. Mike introduced the fact that this idea may be a confrontation with Paul’s writings on faith. Then he encouraged the class to read and think about this passage for next week.
C. My Questions for the week
1. How long can a teacher continue to teach without giving any definitive answers about what they are teaching?
2. And if this type of teaching continues, how can you be sure that Biblical truths are being understood correctly when the Bible isn’t brought in as a form of evidence or guide in the discussion?
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
WEEK 3: JON BLANCHARD
A. Time spent this week: 5 Hours total
( SS: 1.5; AM Worship: 1.5; Lesson Prep: 2)
B. My class this week
My Sunday School lesson. This week my practicum supervisor sent me the general outline of the Sunday School lesson for the week. My job was to incorporate it into a full fledged lesson plan and teach it to the young adult class on Sunday. The theme for the group this semester is "Experiencing God's Power," and the topic this week was on lust. The process of developing a lesson plan is challenging and overwhelming when you don't have alot of practice doing it, and it is also difficult when you have been given the topic, instead of choosing your own. It was also challenging to make the lesson interesing: the most use scripture regarding lust is in Matthew 25, where Jesus tells the people that lusting in their hearts is the same as lusting in reality.
The Lesson itself. I tried to approach the topic of lust from a social perspective: C.S. Lewis equates the importance of morality to a fleet of ships sailing together in formation (Mere Christianity, pp. 71). There are three things that we should look at when we make decisions (this isn't just a lesson limited to lust): 1. the internal engines of the ship (which represents the individual) must be running up to par, otherwise the ship cannot steer or reach its destination. 2. The ship must be aware of the location of the other ships in the fleet. If a fleet of ships collides because each vessel is doing as it pleases, everyone is an unhappy camper. 3. The fleet has a mission: in our case as human beings, we are trying to form and maintain a relationship with God. All three of these factors must be taken into consideration, otherwise there is chaos and brokenness.
Lust destroys whatever it comes in contact with. Men and women struggle with it and it is not something we can overcome on our own. Jesus' solution for a lustful heart is to cut off the problem at its source.
As an object lesson, I crafted three origami paper boats to portray a fleet of ships.
The challenge. This lesson was a challenge for me. Normally lust is a topic we do not discuss across gender: guys discuss with guys and girls discuss with girls. In attendance this week there were two males, being myself and my pastor, and four girls. I haven't felt so awkward in a long time. God stretched me by teaching me how let Him speak through me, regardless of my comfort level.
C. My questions this week
1. How would you go about teaching on a touchy subject like lust to a mixed crowd?
2. How do you pick out object lessons?
3. How much prep time is adequate for preparing a Sunday School lesson? Also, can you give me some pointers on how to be more engaging with people in attendance?
( SS: 1.5; AM Worship: 1.5; Lesson Prep: 2)
B. My class this week
My Sunday School lesson. This week my practicum supervisor sent me the general outline of the Sunday School lesson for the week. My job was to incorporate it into a full fledged lesson plan and teach it to the young adult class on Sunday. The theme for the group this semester is "Experiencing God's Power," and the topic this week was on lust. The process of developing a lesson plan is challenging and overwhelming when you don't have alot of practice doing it, and it is also difficult when you have been given the topic, instead of choosing your own. It was also challenging to make the lesson interesing: the most use scripture regarding lust is in Matthew 25, where Jesus tells the people that lusting in their hearts is the same as lusting in reality.
The Lesson itself. I tried to approach the topic of lust from a social perspective: C.S. Lewis equates the importance of morality to a fleet of ships sailing together in formation (Mere Christianity, pp. 71). There are three things that we should look at when we make decisions (this isn't just a lesson limited to lust): 1. the internal engines of the ship (which represents the individual) must be running up to par, otherwise the ship cannot steer or reach its destination. 2. The ship must be aware of the location of the other ships in the fleet. If a fleet of ships collides because each vessel is doing as it pleases, everyone is an unhappy camper. 3. The fleet has a mission: in our case as human beings, we are trying to form and maintain a relationship with God. All three of these factors must be taken into consideration, otherwise there is chaos and brokenness.
Lust destroys whatever it comes in contact with. Men and women struggle with it and it is not something we can overcome on our own. Jesus' solution for a lustful heart is to cut off the problem at its source.
As an object lesson, I crafted three origami paper boats to portray a fleet of ships.
The challenge. This lesson was a challenge for me. Normally lust is a topic we do not discuss across gender: guys discuss with guys and girls discuss with girls. In attendance this week there were two males, being myself and my pastor, and four girls. I haven't felt so awkward in a long time. God stretched me by teaching me how let Him speak through me, regardless of my comfort level.
C. My questions this week
1. How would you go about teaching on a touchy subject like lust to a mixed crowd?
2. How do you pick out object lessons?
3. How much prep time is adequate for preparing a Sunday School lesson? Also, can you give me some pointers on how to be more engaging with people in attendance?
WEEK 3: PHILLIP TELFER
A. Time Spent in Class this Week 2.5 hr.
(Sunday School – 1 hr, Worship Service – 1.5 hr)
B. My Class This Week
Opening the class with the puzzling question last Sunday, Mike went around the room asking for single word answers as to the question: “Are riches a sign of God’s favor?” The majority of the room said YES or SOMETIMES, but Mike’s response was NO. He briefly explained that if God showed favor to people with riches, He would be arbitrary. Without delving deeper into the subject, he moved on to chapter two of James.
Mike told the youth to think about a time they experienced a teacher showing favoritism in school. He was specific in his request to maintain the anonymity of characters in these stories. As the principal of a local school, Mike probably did not want any of his fellow co-workers to be bashed. Three stories were shared, all referring to teachers showing favoritism to students that asked to go to the bathroom. Mike explained that what is FAIR (getting what one deserves) is not always EQUAL (receiving the same privileges).
More questions were used to probe the minds of the young adults throughout the rest of the lesson:
“Why is favoritism to the rich inconsistent with believing in Christ?”
“What is God’s attitude to the poor?”
“How does loving your neighbor as yourself relate to showing favoritism at church?”
“Why are the rich often treated with special favor?”
“For what reasons do people show favoritism to the poor?”
Concluding with another statement on his teaching style, Mike stated that “knowledge that is processed is more valuable than knowledge that is dictated.” He went on to say that he is slow to reveal to the class what he is actually thinking. Instead he chooses to teach them with questions, “information is just information.”
C. My Questions of the Week
1. How would it matter if God was viewed as arbitrarily choosing people to bless?
2. Jesus taught with parables, giving clear explanations at their conclusions…is this a more effective way of teaching than the Socratic questioning method?
I seem think Jesus knew a little more…
(Sunday School – 1 hr, Worship Service – 1.5 hr)
B. My Class This Week
Opening the class with the puzzling question last Sunday, Mike went around the room asking for single word answers as to the question: “Are riches a sign of God’s favor?” The majority of the room said YES or SOMETIMES, but Mike’s response was NO. He briefly explained that if God showed favor to people with riches, He would be arbitrary. Without delving deeper into the subject, he moved on to chapter two of James.
Mike told the youth to think about a time they experienced a teacher showing favoritism in school. He was specific in his request to maintain the anonymity of characters in these stories. As the principal of a local school, Mike probably did not want any of his fellow co-workers to be bashed. Three stories were shared, all referring to teachers showing favoritism to students that asked to go to the bathroom. Mike explained that what is FAIR (getting what one deserves) is not always EQUAL (receiving the same privileges).
More questions were used to probe the minds of the young adults throughout the rest of the lesson:
“Why is favoritism to the rich inconsistent with believing in Christ?”
“What is God’s attitude to the poor?”
“How does loving your neighbor as yourself relate to showing favoritism at church?”
“Why are the rich often treated with special favor?”
“For what reasons do people show favoritism to the poor?”
Concluding with another statement on his teaching style, Mike stated that “knowledge that is processed is more valuable than knowledge that is dictated.” He went on to say that he is slow to reveal to the class what he is actually thinking. Instead he chooses to teach them with questions, “information is just information.”
C. My Questions of the Week
1. How would it matter if God was viewed as arbitrarily choosing people to bless?
2. Jesus taught with parables, giving clear explanations at their conclusions…is this a more effective way of teaching than the Socratic questioning method?
I seem think Jesus knew a little more…
Monday, February 2, 2009
Tyler Klein: Week 3
Tyler Klein: Week 3
A. Time Spent this week: 2.5 hours total (S.S.=1 Worship=1.5 Youth)
B. My Class this week:
1. Pick-up of last week’s topic
Mike began simply by saying hello this week, and by asking everyone if they remembered the question we had talked about last week. A few kids raised their hands and got close to the question, but it wasn’t right on. It was a good way to get some involved right away. Then he got everyone involved again by asking the question again, and jumping right to conclusions.
He asked each person in the room for a yes/no answer. Most everyone said either yes or sometimes and this presented Mike with an opportunity to stir the pot, which he did.
He simply said that his opinion was no, which got a lot of people to be question him, or simply turn to his opinion. He allowed a few responses, but then he went into the Scripture focus that he was unable to get to in the previous week.
3. Dissection of James 2
Mike then transformed the original question into a question of favoritism. He asked for the kids to think of an example, and did a great job of preventing gossip by setting very strict standards on what could be said, no names and things like that. Two people gave examples, and Mike broke down what was going on with the favoritism, talking about how each person justified the favoritism.
Then with favoritism introduced he went over James 2:1-4 which was to answer the question How is favoritism inconsistent with Christianity? He got an answer then went on to James 2:5-7 with which he asked what is God’s attitude towards the poor? Then the final verses, James 2:8-9 had the question How does loving neighbors as yourself relate to showing favoritism at church? With this question he asked the kids to consider how different churches reach different classes of people, and why that happens.
That turned the discussion into why people don’t feel comfortable with the church as a whole, and then the attitude that Christians show towards the rich. We had just started getting into the fact that we favor the rich because we are selfish people and are trying to get something from the rich for ourselves.
C. My Questions for the Week
1. How can you safely disagree with something you actually agree with, just to stir discussion? Mike chose to disagree with the entire class when he said he didn’t think riches were ever a sign of God’s favor, just to stir discussion, but what if kids think you are serious, and never get a clear reason of why. I personally felt a little confused because he never explained himself.
2. Continuing this thought… How far is it appropriate to go in terms of not revealing what you think? I understand that Mike was only doing so to stir thoughts in others heads because he believes the best learning comes through self-reflection on a topic.
A. Time Spent this week: 2.5 hours total (S.S.=1 Worship=1.5 Youth)
B. My Class this week:
1. Pick-up of last week’s topic
Mike began simply by saying hello this week, and by asking everyone if they remembered the question we had talked about last week. A few kids raised their hands and got close to the question, but it wasn’t right on. It was a good way to get some involved right away. Then he got everyone involved again by asking the question again, and jumping right to conclusions.
He asked each person in the room for a yes/no answer. Most everyone said either yes or sometimes and this presented Mike with an opportunity to stir the pot, which he did.
He simply said that his opinion was no, which got a lot of people to be question him, or simply turn to his opinion. He allowed a few responses, but then he went into the Scripture focus that he was unable to get to in the previous week.
3. Dissection of James 2
Mike then transformed the original question into a question of favoritism. He asked for the kids to think of an example, and did a great job of preventing gossip by setting very strict standards on what could be said, no names and things like that. Two people gave examples, and Mike broke down what was going on with the favoritism, talking about how each person justified the favoritism.
Then with favoritism introduced he went over James 2:1-4 which was to answer the question How is favoritism inconsistent with Christianity? He got an answer then went on to James 2:5-7 with which he asked what is God’s attitude towards the poor? Then the final verses, James 2:8-9 had the question How does loving neighbors as yourself relate to showing favoritism at church? With this question he asked the kids to consider how different churches reach different classes of people, and why that happens.
That turned the discussion into why people don’t feel comfortable with the church as a whole, and then the attitude that Christians show towards the rich. We had just started getting into the fact that we favor the rich because we are selfish people and are trying to get something from the rich for ourselves.
C. My Questions for the Week
1. How can you safely disagree with something you actually agree with, just to stir discussion? Mike chose to disagree with the entire class when he said he didn’t think riches were ever a sign of God’s favor, just to stir discussion, but what if kids think you are serious, and never get a clear reason of why. I personally felt a little confused because he never explained himself.
2. Continuing this thought… How far is it appropriate to go in terms of not revealing what you think? I understand that Mike was only doing so to stir thoughts in others heads because he believes the best learning comes through self-reflection on a topic.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)