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.
RE: teaching environment...I can understand how this would be frustrating. Honestly, I am not quite sure how to anser it for you, either. You could cater to the needs of the individual, but that would upset the entire group. The most relavant answer I can give you is to be in prayer about it.
ReplyDeleteRE:maturity levels
Mentoring! Try to develop a one on one relationship, invest in him and just try to get to know who he is. He might not have as much junk as you think, and you might learn some new things as well. My natural tendency is to go towards the people that I feel are hurting or alone. Since there are quite a few people that the teacher has to focus on, maybe it is important for you to contact the teacher and ask how you can help him or her teach and be a mentor...Does that help at all?