Parent Cue for 3rd week of March 2013
As a church, we want to supply resources to help you as a parent move your kids forward in their journey of faith. To help you, we supply a weekly “Parent Cue” and “Kids Devotional”. The Parent Cue will help you discuss the week’s lesson and Bible story with your child. You can schedule a time to sit down with them–or just have a discussion over dinner. For this week’s parent Cue, click here to download it.
For older kids, we also have Kids Devotional material that goes along with what we’re learning in Kids Church. Encourage kids to choose four different days during the week to do these devotions. Most 4th and 5th graders are capable of having a “quiet time” on their own, once they’ve been taught how to do it, but they still need an adult to prompt them and/or follow up on it. Even though kids in early elementary (kindergarten through 3rd grade) are beginning to read things on their own, most are not mature enough to have a God time by themselves. This is something extra you may choose to do with your younger kids. Click to download it here.
How to Study the Bible-Part 3
We left off with this exercise last week:
Exercise: Make observations in Luke 10:38-42, asking the following questions:
- Who?
- What?
- Where?
- When?
How many observations can you make?
One key to making good observations is to try to look at things from different perspectives. I’ve read the Gospel of Luke many times, so it can be easy to gloss over a story thinking I know all of the details. To practice observation, look at this picture (By the way, I have no idea where I got these pictures. I didn’t draw them and they have been circulating for years.):
What do you see? Share with a friend and compare what they see. Do you see the same thing?
Now let’s look at another one.
What animal do you see? Share with a friend and compare what they see. Do you see the same thing?
You and your friend may see the same thing. And some will have trouble with this. Others, however, after studying the picture will see things differently. In the first picture, people will see either a young woman or an old woman. In the second, an observer may see a seal or a polar bear.
OK, one more, what do you see?
Like the first picture, this one can be seen either as a young girl or as an older woman–depending on the angle which ones uses to view the picture. Don’t see it? Click on the image.
Sometimes when we’re looking at a passage in the Bible, we need to do our best to look at it from different angles. This, by the way, is one of the reasons that it is great to get together with other people to study. We all bring new perspectives to the text and often see things that others don’t. While Bible passages can’t mean whatever we want them to, we can learn a lot from other people’s observations.
Take a few minutes to go back over your previous observations. Do you see anything new or different? If you have a willing friend, have then study the text and compare notes with you. Does anything stand out to them that you didn’t see?
My observations on Luke 10:38-42, the Story of Mary & Martha::
(I won’t list all of them–just some of the relevant ones)
- Martha opens her home to Jesus and his disciples
- Mary was “at the Lord’s feet”
- Martha was “distracted by all the preparations” and gets upset at her sister, Mary.
- Martha addresses Jesus about Mary’s behavior, but I don’t see where she addresses Mary
- Jesus doesn’t side with Martha, but with commends Mary with the words “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
- From the context, I noticed that this immediately follows Jesus telling the expert in the religious Law answering Jesus’ redirection of his original question about what to do to inherit eternal life and Jesus telling the Story of the Good Samaritan.
There is a temptation to move on to interpretation quickly. And if you’re reading this before I have posted the next part, you may wonder what is taking so long. Taking time to carefully observe the details of a Biblical passage will lessen the likelihood of missing the intended meaning and application. Careful observation doesn’t guarantee correct interpretation, but the more time and effort you spend gathering facts, the more likely you are to reach the correct interpretation. We’ll move on to interpretation next week. Comment below or contact me if you want to discuss your observations.
Easter will be here soon!
Easter comes early this year–March 31. Amidst all the chocolate bunnies and egg hunts, it’s a time to step back and celebrate what God has done. Jesus led a perfect, sinless life here on earth and sacrificed his life in order that we may have eternal life. On Easter we celebrate his sacrifice and his resurrection. Mark your calendar and join us at our regular time (11 am) as we celebrate. Of course, if you can’t join us, you can always catch the podcast here or in iTunes here.
Looking ahead: Dover Days-Special Project
As mentioned previously, we plan on setting up a booth on Saturday and telling people about who we are and why we do what we do. In planning and preparing, we have a really cool idea for a way to grab people’s attention while serving them. Well, we have a few ideas, but we have one new one that will be a lot of fun. This idea will take a little practice, but is great for people who love seeing kids smile. Even though Dover Days is still weeks away, if you want to be a part of this, I need to know in order to get things ready. (I’m purposely being cryptic while we plan out the idea, so you’ll have to come ask me in person or contact me for more information.)
Anyone who calls Deep Water home is welcome to come and pass out literature & cool swag, talk to people–and play lots of cool games with kids. Mark May 4 on your calendar. We’ll have more information soon–and you’ll even be able to order a T-Shirt if you want one.
And, of course, even if you don’t want to volunteer for this special project, remember to save the date for Dover Days. It’s a fun local event celebrating Dover’s history. There are lots of things for kids and adults to enjoy–and, as a church, we love being a part of this community!
Parent Cue for 2nd week of March
As a church, we want to supply resources to help you as a parent move your kids forward in their journey of faith. To help you, we supply a weekly “Parent Cue” and “Kids Devotional”. The Parent Cue will help you discuss the week’s lesson and Bible story with your child. You can schedule a time to sit down with them–or just have a discussion over dinner. For this week’s parent Cue, click here to download it.
For older kids, we also have Kids Devotional material that goes along with what we’re learning in Kids Church. Encourage kids to choose four different days during the week to do these devotions. Most 4th and 5th graders are capable of having a “quiet time” on their own, once they’ve been taught how to do it, but they still need an adult to prompt them and/or follow up on it. Even though kids in early elementary (kindergarten through 3rd grade) are beginning to read things on their own, most are not mature enough to have a God time by themselves. This is something extra you may choose to do with your younger kids. Click to download it here.