Lesson/Family Home Evening for Beatitudes/Black History Month

So instead of trying to reformat in a way that probably makes the doc less usable and accessible, here is a link.  Lemme know if this is worse or whatever.  Not sure if I'll continue posting this way.


Lesson for 2/2/2020 (Beatitudes)

*This is not an Endorsement*

But since the field is narrowing, the endorsements are coming out, and the primaries are creeping up...

I have been predicting for a while that the ticket would be Warren/Booker.

Of course, as the race narrows, some things are surprising me.

Klobuchar is lasting way longer than I thought and that she got half a NYT endorsement is interesting to me. I like her, but I believe we need bigger change in order to address the issues we face.

Biden has Hillary energy, which is both powerful and dangerous.  I don't think he has the resistance Hillary had (we won't get into why), but he also doesn't have the enthusiasm of Trump supporters.  He also has that Bush quality of goofing his words or mixing them up.

Buttigieg has a following I suppose should be expected, but he has a Biden-like energy.  I also don't think his policies are that progressive. 

I was sort of surprised Bernie is running again, and now that we're this far into the campaign, I just hope that he and his followers can more gracefully rally behind a "lesser of two evils," because I believe in that.

Andrew Yang is surprising me in a variety of ways.  His performance is increasingly impressive, he's lasted longer, and people are taking him more seriously than I expected, and he has a good energy behind his campaign and his performance in interviews.  He's acts like a real person.  IMHO, the "freedom dividend" is the least attractive aspect of his campaign (we can get into why).  That said, his presidency could actually bring about more change-- some of the changes he's talking about (like pardons) are within the power of the presidency, whereas other candidates' proposals require support from the House and Senate and seem practically impossible unless Democrats can take both houses, which seems practically impossible unless Trump loses his base.  Other ideas he has may not be popular with Republicans, but would be politically popular in working class areas, which could garner enough bipartisan support.  He's sort of the Bernie of 2020 without being an angry, old white man (which, yes, is part of the charm for some folks).  I don't want to reduce Bernie to that (for instance, I think it's important that he's Jewish in a country and world that's historically anti-Semitic in many ways, that he's first generation, and he grew up without money), but I think there is a reality that Dems are bored of old white men (for good reason, let's be real).

I guess I'm starting to see an interesting path to the presidency for Yang and a rising enthusiasm for him.

My primary choice doesn't always (or usually) get the nomination and last time around, my alliances shifted shortly before the primary.

Anyway, if you know me, you know I love election season.

The rest of them should drop out, IMHO.  Especially John Delaney.  Then again, I didn't think Trump would make it through the primaries until they were in process and it came down to a fairly clear choice between him and Cruz.

Also, I really hope Schiff isn't who ends up with Feinstein's seat.  And I know neither of them are running for president.

Anyway, it's late and I need to stop watching news videos.

I think I might like to see Yang/Gabbard.  Didn't expect that, did you?

Building a theology like

seekinguncertainty:

Building a theology like

Meditation Noise 20: Indian Drone

I invite you to meditate for a few minutes:

Indian Drone

God Thought 6

You have permission to be beautiful.

You don't need permission to be beautiful.

Family Home Evening/Lesson: Health and Human Service Sunday (Matt 4)

Opening Check-Ins

We support each other no matter what.  Invite everyone to share something that made them happy and/or something that made them sad this past week.  We are here to support each other in prayer and presence.

Centering in Silence and Song

If you have a household altar, I recommend using it.  If not, a sense of ritual and sacred time can be initiated by lighting a candle and ringing a bell (three times is usually a good way to help everyone settle into silence). Share a few minutes of silence together. You may sound the bell again when silence is over.  Children often enjoy the responsibility of these tasks (and should be supervised and assisted as appropriate).

You may also listen to this song and discuss what it brings up for each of you:

Prayer of Jesus

If you have a particular version of the prayer that you use, you are encouraged to use it.

This is the "children's translation" that I wrote and use with my students:

God all around us with many sacred names
We roll up our sleeves to create a beautiful world with you
Please care for us and our needs and forgive us when we don’t do our best
Please help us to be forgiving of others, too.
Help us to be good, loving, and safe so we can help create a loving and safe world for everyone.
Amen.

Sacred Story

Background:

Today we are talking about mental health. One of the things Jesus was famous for was for being a healer. Today’s Bible story tells us that Jesus healed many people in Capernaum and Galilee.

Bible Story:

Story:  Read together”Follow Me!” in Growing in God’s Love:  A Story Bible (p. 206-207)


After the disciples decide to join Jesus, the story tells us that Jesus healed many people in that area.

Today in the church, we are talking about health. There are many ways to be healthy. We want healthy minds, healthy bodies, and healthy spirits. That might look differently for each of us.

Story:  Read together “Healings and Miracles” and “Friends Who Help” in Growing in God’s Love:  A Story Bible (p. 249-251).

In some of our Bible stories, people need different things to be healthy or healed. Sometimes they need to be touched. Sometimes they need words. Sometimes they need a salve, or an ointment-- maybe like Vaseline or Vicks.

There are lots of ways we try to stay healthy in today’s world, too. We understand health differently than they did in Jesus’ time. Today there are lots of medicines and medical treatments that people didn’t know about back then. However, we know that Jesus’ message of healing is still important today and that part of doing God’s work is trying to make sure everyone is healthy.

There are certain things we all need to be healthy, like food and sleep, but there are other ways in which we have different health needs. Like I have a medicine that I take every day that helps me to stay healthy and I usually talk to my doctor once a week.

You might have different health needs.

Today we’re going to read a story about what healthy looks like for different people and some different ways that we stay healthy. It is written by someone who has an important job in our country. It is written by Justice Sotomayor. She is a justice on the Supreme Court. That means she is a judge that helps decide some very important things in our country. She is also special because she is the first Latina justice, which is pretty neat.

Contemporary Story:

Story:  Read together “Just Ask!” by Sonia Sotomayor.

Conversation:

The book includes conversation prompts as part of the text. Invite the children to share their answers to the questions as they feel led.

Craft:  

We'll be making coping fortune tellers.  You can find PDF print-outs and other instructions here:  

follow link

Closing Prayer

“Dear God, please help us to have healthy minds, bodies, and spirits, and to help make sure everyone in your human family has the health care they need. Thank you for looking out for me and caring for me. Please help me to ask for help when I need it and to receive the help that I need. Amen.”

Curriculum texts used:  

• Images of God for Young Children by Marie-Helene Delval
• Growing In God's Love: A Story Bible by Elizabeth F. Caldwell and Carol A. Wehrheim

Special Texts used:

• Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You

Lesson/Family Home Evening: MLK Weekend

Opening Check-Ins

We support each other no matter what.  Invite everyone to share something that made them happy and/or something that made them sad this past week.  We are here to support each other in prayer and presence.

Centering in Silence and Song

If you have a household altar, I recommend using it.  If not, a sense of ritual and sacred time can be initiated by lighting a candle and ringing a bell (three times is usually a good way to help everyone settle into silence). Share a few minutes of silence together. You may sound the bell again when silence is over.  Children often enjoy the responsibility of these tasks (and should be supervised and assisted as appropriate).

Prayer of Jesus
If you have a particular version of the prayer that you use, you are encouraged to use it.

This is the "children's translation" that I wrote and use with my students:

God all around us with many sacred names
We roll up our sleeves to create a beautiful world with you
Please care for us and our needs and forgive us when we don’t do our best
Please help us to be forgiving of others, too.
Help us to be good, loving, and safe so we can help create a loving and safe world for everyone.
Amen.

Sacred Story

Background:

Today we have a special lesson that isn’t based in today’s scripture reading, but is based on the life of one of our modern prophets and ministers, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Most of you have probably heard of MLK, but today we will learn a bit more about him.

Story:  Read together “Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King” by Jean Marzollo


This story told us some things about MLK. Was there anything that you didn’t know about him?

MLK is a special figure in our country’s history because of the changes he helped make. He was a very brave man and he got much of his courage from stories about Jesus and even stories about Gandhi. Does anyone know who Gandhi is? He was a Hindu leader, which is a different religion.

MLK was very passionate about his faith. We read these same Bible stories that MLK read and we can learn to be brave and seek justice, too. Let’s read another story, since we aren’t reading a Bible story together today.

Story:  Read together “Be a King: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream and You” by Carole Boston Weatherford 

Conversation:

There are many ways to be like Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a great man with many great qualities. One of the ways we can be like him is to create peace and kindness.

Story:  Read together “God is peace” (p. 60-61) in Images of God for Young Children

Closing Prayer

“God, we thank you for Martin Luther King, Jr. and all the things he did for us.  We are grateful that he taught us about equality, love, justice, and freedom. We hope to continue learning from his life and striving for the justice of which he dreamed.  Amen.”

Craft: Make Peace Flowers.  Trace handprints in 3 different skin tones (on construction paper) and use them to make a flower.

Curriculum texts used:  

• Images of God for Young Children by Marie-Helene Delval

Special Texts used:

• Be a King
• Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King

Lesson/Family Home Evening: Baptism of Christ (Matt 3, Year A)

“Sacred Stories” Script

Opening Circle and Sacred Time

Introductions

Invite all children and adults to introduce themselves. You may invite the children to share about their baptism (if they remember) or when they were baptized. If they don’t know, weren’t baptized, or don’t care to share, that’s fine! They don’t have to share if they’re not comfortable. We are here to support each other in prayer and presence.

Centering

Set up the altar. You may wish to note any differences in the altar for Epiphany. Invite children to collect a flower, leaf, twig (or something like that) to place on the altar. A sense of ritual and sacred time can be initiated by lighting a candle and ringing a bell. Share a few minutes of silence together. You may sound the bell again when silence is over. Children often enjoy the responsibility of these tasks (and should be supervised and assisted as appropriate).

Opening Prayer

If you have a particular version of the prayer that you use, you are encouraged to use it.

This is the "children's translation" that I wrote and use with my students:

God all around us with many sacred names
We roll up our sleeves to create a beautiful world with you
Please care for us and our needs and forgive us when we don’t do our best
Please help us to be forgiving of others, too.
Help us to be good, loving, and safe so we can help create a loving and safe world for everyone.
Amen.

Sacred Story

Background

Today’s Bible story teaches us about Jesus’ baptism.

We don’t know very much about Jesus’ young life, so most of the stories we have about him are when he was an adult. One of the things we know about Jesus is that he was baptized in the Jordan River by John, a hermit who lived in a cave and ate wild food that grew nearby him. Even though people thought John was strange, Jesus wanted John to baptize him. It was important to Jesus that he listen to and make friends with people who were different.

Story: Read together Matt 3:13-17

Story: Read together “Jesus is Baptized” in Children of God Story Bible (p. 68-69)

Who here is baptized?
Does anyone remember their baptism?
Sometimes people are baptized when they are babies and don’t remember.
Sometimes people are baptized as adults.
Sometimes people aren’t baptized.
All of it is just fine.

Water is an important symbol in Christianity. Baptism can happen in different ways, but it always involves water.

Water is an important element and symbol in many religions, not just Christianity. What does water make you think about?

Water makes us think of being clean. When we do things wrong, sometimes we feel yucky or dirty. Baptism reminds us to “live clean” and do good in the world.

We need water for things to grow! Our baptism reminds us to grow each day, not just getting bigger, but getting smarter, wiser, and kinder.

Water refreshes us. Sometimes it can give us a burst of energy.

It invites playfulness and creativity. Many of us love to play in and with water.

It nourishes our bodies! We all need water to live. God’s love can nourish our hearts and minds.

Let’s read together a story about water.

Story: Read together “Wally the Wave’s Wandering Toward Oneness” by Rev. Ryan Althaus

Conversation:

Wally realizes that he is part of a big ocean, just like the fish, coral, sand, and all the other parts of the ocean.

When we are baptized, we become part of the church family, kind of like Wally realizes he’s part of the ocean.

Different people understand baptism in different ways, but in the UCC, we believe that everyone is loved equally by God, no matter if they are baptized or not. We believe that baptism welcomes you into community covenant. When someone is baptized, the community tells that person that they are loved by God and the community, and that we will be there to support and help the baptized person on their spiritual path. We also remember that Jesus was baptized at the beginning of his ministry and we seek to follow his wisdom.

Story: Read together “God is a spring” (p. 26-27) in Images of God for Young Children

Closing Prayer:

“God, we thank you for the ritual of baptism and how it reminds us that we are part of your human family. We are thankful for clean water and for the ways that you help us to grow in your love. Please help us to remember that we are your beloved and that we will always be a part of your holy family. Amen.”

Co-Creating Craft:

Create “pop-up” scenes of Jesus being baptized.

You can purchase a kit here.  I am planning to print a coloring page, use wax paper, and a popsicle stick to make this myself.


Curriculum texts used:  

• Children of God Storybook Bible by Archbishop Desmond Tutu
• Images of God for Young Children by Marie-Helene Delval

Special Texts used:

• Wally the Wave's Wandering Toward Oneness

Milkshake

darlinghales:

”My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard and i’m like…”

(via churchofbuffy)

This tho

Contradiction emerges. As women silence themselves to avoid separation from others, they create separation of another kind by becoming divorced from their own desires and feelings. The separation is from the truest self, and the connection in relationship becomes a kind of false intimacy. One after another, the girls moving into adolescence struggled to hold onto their own experience, to know what they knew, to speak in their own voices, to bring their own knowledge into the world in which they lived. There was the fear that one’s experience, if ever spoken, would endanger relationships and threaten survival. The tragedy came upon them quietly and subtly. Like a thief in the night, someone or something came in and robbed them of a positive sense of self. They developed, unbeknownst to themselves, a ‘no-voice voice.’
Turner and Hudson, “To be Saved From Silence” in Saved from Silence: Finding Women’s Voice in Preaching (St. Louis: Chalice Press) 1999, 85.

Meditation Noise 19: Northern Lights

I invite you to meditate for 10 minutes using sounds of the Northern Lights.  What do they sound like?  According to MyNoise.net, like this:

Northern Lights

A Text Without a Context is a Pretext

Reading the Bible is hard work, if you do it right, because a text without a context is a pretext, and scrounging up the context for a 2000-year-old work (much more if we’re using Hebrew Scriptures) requires consulting a lot of different fields of study and the works of many scholars.

I am ranting about all of this because I re-read the first chapter of John, which we all know and love, right? “In the beginning, there was the Word…”

Some time ago, in a class on Koine Greek, we went over this passage in the original language. It comes out a little differently: “In beginning was the logos and the logos was towards God, and God was the logos. This one was in beginning toward the God.”

Logos is a loaded term. It’s generally translated “word,” but that translation is a disservice to its meaning. Logos, as it was understood by those writing these texts, was more than just a word, it was a promise, an accounting, the logical implication of a divine order. Now, isn’t that more fun?

The Prologue of the Fourth Gospel: Wisdom, Word, and Unity

The Prologue of the Fourth Gospel: Wisdom, Word, and Unity

The Fourth Gospel begins with one of the most beautifully written passages in the whole of the Bible and sets the tone for the encounter with Jesus.  Using language laden with symbol and scriptural parallel, the authors of the Fourth Gospel paint a picture of Jesus as connected to God in a uniquely revelatory way.  As Genesis begins with the Word bringing life, so does the Fourth Gospel.  However, Jesus brings life not as a creative force, but as revelation of life’s potential fullness and the divine connectedness that can make such expanded life possible.  In understanding the “Word,” the scriptural parallels that convey the author’s understanding of Jesus, and the Jewish context of the Gospel, we can bring out the mystical meaning of the text that offers expanded life to those who can widen their circles of compassion and seek the divine within themselves.  The Prologue also hints at the tensions and real-world issues that challenged the community from which this text comes: tension with their synagogue community, whom they feel wronged by and whom they considered suppressors of the Jesus narrative who missed the truth manifest in the life of Jesus.  The Fourth Gospel is a unique theological perspective not offered by the synoptic authors and often missed by modern Gentile interpretation.

The Prologue’s most obvious literary parallel is with that of the first chapter of Genesis. Both documents begin with the words, “In the beginning.”  The author, calling Jesus the “Word,” connects him to the voice that speaks creation in Genesis.  John Ashton argues that “creation is indeed one of [the Prologue’s] themes, but it would be closer to the mark to say that it is a hymn about revelation that culminates in incarnation– the incarnation of the revealing logos” (Ashton, 528).  I would like to suggest that Ashton is indeed correct about the revelatory nature of Jesus in the gospel, but that Jesus revealed not incarnation but the fused nature of God with Humanity.  In calling to the books of Proverbs and Genesis, the author fuses the identity of Jesus with the feminine Wisdom, God-as-verb, and the scriptures of the Jewish tradition and their ongoing capacity for life-giving creativity.  

While many Christian circles emphasize the use of “Word” as a sign of Jesus’ fulfillment of scripture, such a suggestion is a misleading representation of the Prologue.  The Greek word Logos, translated as “Word,” is “the divine principle of reason that gives order to the universe and links the human mind to the mind of God” (Meeks, 2013).  This mystical understanding of divine connection is expanded upon and is a major theme of the Fourth Gospel.  Jesus uses “I Am” sayings (the divine name of God) and is called “light” (a common symbol of God in scripture) throughout the gospel narrative, two of the most obvious connections made between the identities of Jesus and God.  While such symbols are often interpreted as evidence of incarnation, given the signs of the Jewishness of the author and the consideration that the community from which the text came was primarily Jewish-identifying, it makes more sense to give precedence to a Jewish explanation of such language.  The Jewish mystical tradition offers an alternative paradigm that more aptly encompasses the themes and symbols used in the Gospel.

Continuing to dissect the “Word” identified in the prologue, we can further delve into its meaning for the theology put forth by the author.  Dabar, the Hebrew corollary of logos, “had power to shape the world, to reveal the presence of God, to call people to a heightened sense of selfhood, a heightened consciousness” (Spong, 44).  Again, the Hebrew understanding of the word supports an understanding which sees Jesus not simply as preexistent, but intimately connected to the mind of God and revealer of the presence of God.  Jesus’ work “has two aspects, life and light, and these correspond to the two facets of God’s work: creation and revelation” (Ashton, 528).  This revelation through Jesus, as the author will show through sign and symbol throughout the rest of the Gospel, breaks down the barriers between human life and the ultimately life-giving light of God, enfolding us into the creative verb, into the oneness of God.  Jesus represents the height of human potential.  “…In him was life, and the life was the light of all people” (1:4) (Meeks, 2013).  In essence: what is manifest in the person of Jesus, the divine quality of selfless love and a deep connection to God, is within each of us and is the ultimate truth toward which Jesus’ life points and which is revealed through his person in the Fourth Gospel.  In Jesus, Wisdom, Word, and God are flesh.  The boundary, the distance we perceive between God and ourselves, dissipates.  

The narrative form of the Prologue calls to Proverbs and parallels the Word with Wisdom.  Wisdom, in the Jewish tradition, is feminine.  I believe that this connection offers yet another barrier to be broken: the conception of gender.  The author here brings together the masculine Word with the feminine Wisdom, bringing their sentiments into a singular form.  While Jesus may have been male, the light, the divinity which he reveals, encompasses the feminine.  The author of John challenges us to rid ourselves of our dualistic ideas regarding divinity and life and to open ourselves to the reality of a God that is “all and more,”– a God that brings fullness of life and is yet beyond our capacity, unboxed.  “God must be understood as a verb, calling, informing and shaping us and all creation into being all that we were created to be” (Spong, 57).  

Without considering the narrative form of the Prologue and the claims made by these connections, “we are not in the world of the Fourth Gospel” and we miss the intent of our author (Ashton, 249).  Bultmann proposes that “Jesus does not reveal the mysteries of God or man or the cosmos, but one thing and one thing only: that he is the revealer” (Bultmann in Ashton, 53).  Jesus does not reveal these “noun” qualities– literalistic understandings– of God.  Jesus does not draw a map of the universe or the pathway to Heaven, nor does he box God in an easily digestible way.  Instead, the Jesus of the Fourth Gospel displays the life-giving power of God by continually destroying the barriers we’ve constructed and living in the reality of God.  This light, this God within, cannot be extinguished or overcome.  

Opening our eyes to these ways of interpreting the Gospel allows us to adopt a non-literalistic framework that compels us to see the Fourth Gospel as primarily symbolic in nature.  Kasemann asserts that “… John is ‘the first Christian to use the earthly life of Jesus merely as a backdrop for the Son of God proceeding through the world of man and as the scene of the inbreaking of the heavenly glory’” (Kasemann in Ashton, 72).  Indeed the author’s goal in storytelling is to offer us a transcendent truth beyond the narrative creations of his Gospel. By drawing from the Genesis creation narrative and the Proverbs Wisdom, we are offered a clearly nonliteral lens through which to find a theology that breaks down our constructs of God and asks us to seek God within ourselves.   

While this message is appealing to our modern Christian ears, the evidence in the Prologue is clear: the Johannine community was rejected by their parent Jewish community.  The author tells us that “his own people did not accept him” (1:11, Meeks, 2014).  Despite the reality that the Jesus of the Fourth Gospel continues to pour out compassion and love even through his crucifixion, the Johannine authors clearly feel betrayed and hurt by their Jewish brothers and sisters whose “darkness” it seems tried to overcome the light of the Jesus story.  Throughout the Gospel we find an unfortunate dichotomy drawn between “the Jews” and the followers of Jesus, who were also decidedly Jewish, although the text does much to suggest that Judaism need not be a qualifier for the path of Jesus.  We can see, however, the Jewishness of the text and the flaws of a deeply hurt population whose community rejected their deeply-held convictions.  With the distance we have from the time that the document was written, we can see that the Johannine community, while at odds with the orthodoxy of their synagogue, was none the less a Jewish community who certainly did not reject the whole of Judaism.  We see believers hurt by their friends and family who react in human ways that have had a damaging impact on Christian relationship with our Jewish brothers and sisters and has led to anti-Semitism and an unfair portrait of the Jewish faith.  

Despite the flaws of the author/s, they still convey a deeply Jewish identity and interpretive framework.  In 1:17 of the Prologue, the Word is paralleled with Mosaic Law.  As the Law entered the Jewish narrative in a particular time and place, so did Jesus (the Word).  Jesus is clear that his glory must manifest only at the proper hour.  An author without Jewish connection and respect for the Jewish tradition would certainly not draw a connection between Jesus and the paramount figure of Judaism.  Jesus is, however, continually wrapped into the trappings of scriptural figures.  It is impossible to reject Judaism and interpret the Fourth Gospel.

The Fourth Gospel’s Prologue offers a unique Christology and an interpretive framework often missed by modern readers, ignorant of the Jewish themes present in the text.  Using language that overflows with layered symbolic meaning, the authors of the Fourth Gospel unveil a manifestly connected Jesus in whom is offered a pathway to seek the divine.  The Prologue connects Jesus to the Genesis creation narrative, to the Wisdom of the book of Proverbs, and presents through him the great “I Am,” the light that exists within us and was revealed through the life of Jesus– a life overflowing with love and interpreted symbolically through the framework of the Hebrew Scriptures.  Jesus shows us a God that is in us and yet beyond.  Connecting with the spirit of God, living aligned with the holy, we approach oneness with the totality; we break artificial, constructed barriers; we become part of God in a new and unique way.  The Jesus of the Fourth Gospel offers us a God that is all and more and through which we can find the all and more within ourselves.  

Works Cited

1. Ashton, John. Understanding the Fourth Gospel. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
2. Meeks, Wayne A. The Harpercollins Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version with the Apocryphal/deuterocanonical Books. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1997.

Spong, John Shelby. The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic. 1St ed. New York: HarperOne, 2013.

Lesson/Family Home Evening: Second Sunday After Christmas

Opening Check-Ins

We support each other no matter what.  Invite everyone to share a new year's resolution or something they did over the Christmas holiday.  They don't have to share if they are not comfortable.  We are here to support each other in prayer and presence.

Centering in Silence and Song

If you have a household altar, I recommend using it.  If not, a sense of ritual and sacred time can be initiated by lighting a candle and ringing a bell. Share a few minutes of silence together. You may sound the bell again when silence is over.  Children often enjoy the responsibility of these tasks (and should be supervised and assisted as appropriate).

You may also listen to this song and discuss what it brings up for each of you:

Prayer of Jesus

If you have a particular version of the prayer that you use, you are encouraged to use it.

This is the "children's translation" that I wrote and use with my students:
God all around us with many sacred names
We roll up our sleeves to create a beautiful world with you
Please care for us and our needs and forgive us when we don’t do our best
Please help us to be forgiving of others, too.
Help us to be good, loving, and safe so we can help create a loving and safe world for everyone.
Amen.

Sacred Story

Background:

Today we’re learning about the Gospel of John. Who knows what a gospel is?

The gospels are the stories about the life of Jesus. There are 4 gospels in the Christian Bible. Does anyone know what they are called? Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Does anyone know where the word “gospel” came from? Have you ever heard someone talk about the “good news”? Gospel means, “good news” or “good story.” So the gospels in our scripture are the good stories of Jesus.

Today we’re reading from the very beginning of the Gospel of John. That means from the very beginning of the story. Some people think that maybe this beginning part of the gospel was from a song, like a hymn we sing in church— kind of like the Psalms. The psalms were songs, but we don’t know what they sounded like anymore. So maybe this part of the story was a song, but we don’t know how it goes. Kind of like opening credits! Sometimes when we watch a movie or a TV show, it starts with a song.

How else do we start stories? We might start a story by saying, “Once upon a time…”
or “A long time ago…”
or “A long time ago in a land far, far away…”

How else do we sometimes start stories?

So today we read how the writer of the Gospel of John started his story about Jesus. Jesus was the most important person in the world to him, so he probably wanted to make sure he started his story in a good way, so people would listen and understand him.

Bible Story:

Story:  Read together John 1:1-18.  

Contemporary Story:

We tell stories about Jesus because we feel like stories about Jesus teach us important things. We read stories together in Sunday School because we know we learn from stories. The stories we tell teach us lessons about how to treat each other, how to treat our planet, and how much God loves us. Stories are important.

Today, we’re going to share a story about stories. I think it can help us think about the ways we tell stories and why stories are important.

Story:  Read together “Cory and the Seventh Story”

Conversation:

Read together "God is the Word" in Images of God for Young Children (p. 16-17).

What is different about the horse’s story?

The animals still get together and tell their special story, kind of like how we do in church. We know that the stories we tell are important.

When people first started writing these gospel stories down a long, long time ago, they didn’t have books like we have today. How did people write things back then?

That’s right. They wrote on tablets or scrolls. So most of our gospels would have been on scrolls. Does anyone know what scrolls look like? Scrolls are like rolled up paper.

Craft:  

"Old" Scrolls

Closing Prayer

“Dear God, thank you for the stories that our gospel writers helped to save for us by writing them down and keeping them. Thank you for Jesus and his beautiful stories that teach us so many important things. We ask that we would continue to learn and grow with your stories and with each other. Amen.”

Curriculum texts used:  

• Images of God for Young Children by Marie-Helene Delval

Special Texts used:

• Cory and the Seventh Story by Brian McLaren