The focal verses Romans 15:1-4 for Step 2 of “Glorify God” notes the example of Jesus to serve others. Paul says to follow his example in pleasing others, just as he followed the example of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:33-11:1). To me, the key point of Romans 15:1-4 is that we should have hope in what seems like a hopeless situation. After all, we can't change someone else can we? So we should demonstrate endurance and be encouraged by the Scriptures, which give hope. What verse has recently encouraged you? How are you demonstrating endurance right now? In what way are you hopeful as a result?Jesus made the point (see Mark 9:38-39) that we should not forbid someone practicing Christianity just because that person is not one of us. Jesus also taught, “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). Trey Turner’s comments on “Glorify God” begin with the question, “Is there such a thing as Christian ambition?”. He answers by saying we should be ambitious to glorify God by serving others.
Because it gets the class into the Scriptures, I like the Adult Leader Guide recommendation to use pack item 22 (pg. 146) in Step 2, but it is difficult for me because I teach a large class. What to do? What to do?
To achieve the same effect, I’m thinking of putting together a word search puzzle, or perhaps a simple crossword puzzle covering Romans 15:1-13 that the class can work as a group. I’ll fill in spaces as they call out answers to the clue words (verses). Below are the answer words followed by "clues" with a 60x60 puzzle.
endure bear with
others please
yourself love your neighbors as
hope Scriptures give
unity we have one body, Spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism, God
one glorify God together as
praise welcoming and accepting each other leads to
Jesus merciful servant
peace God grants
joy God gives
trust God of hope fills as we
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1 comment:
Great ideas Ethel. I have a large class, so such exercises are more difficult for us to do.
One idea I adapted from David Greenberg material follows.
Who Will Cross the Line First?
Objectives
This short on-your-feet activity helps members realize that they’ll be more successful working together toward the same objectives rather than standing apart letting their egos get in the way.
Preparation
Place masking tape on the floor to divide the room in half Say Everyone please stand on one side of the line, opposite another person. (Allow for participants to take their places.) You have one minute to convince the person opposite you, without force, to cross the line. Begin. (Announce that time is up after about one minute.)
Discussion Questions
How many of you got the other person to cross the line? How did you do it? What did you try that didn’t work? How many of you offered to cross the line if the other person crosses—if you cross, so will I? That way who wins? (Both people). How do you feel about the following statement: “Together we’ll be considerably more successful reaching for the same objectives rather than standing apart concerned about who will be first.” How does this apply to our church? How does our ego sometimes get in the way of our success? How can we work together to ensure greater collaboration? What can you do personally to increase the collaboration on our class? How will this help our class?
Materials Required
Masking tape
Group Size
Any size
Comments
This is a very simple activity, but don’t let that fool you – it can stimulate a great discussion about what it takes to get the most collaboration from members. Approximate Time 5 – 10 minutes, depending on discussion time
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