Read
the lessons at the Vanderbilt Library website:
http://divinity.lib.vanderbilt.edu/lectionary/BLent/bLent1.htm
Photograph
shows civil rights demonstrators outside a lunch counter in
Nashville, Tennessee. From the Kelly Miller Smith Papers, Vanderbilt
University Special Collections.
Emmanuel Lutheran Church at Saint Luke's Anglican Church
Family Lectionary Study;
Alternate Sundays from 9:30 to 10:15 in the Gym
Opening Music
Introduce: "I have decided to follow Jesus"
Review of Previous Lessons
Discuss Pew-work. Give everyone a chance to show or talk about their insights.
What was the sermon on? -- (It wasn't on any lesson; it covered prayer, and mentioned Jeremiah 3:33 as “God's phone-number”)
What was the Old Testament lesson (Elijah's ascension)
What was the Gospel lesson? -- (The Transfiguration)
Did anyone have any insights about...
5 weeks of prayer for your neighbours? (Five Blessings, Five Minutes, Five times a day)
Following a Master faithfully?
Listening to Jesus; allowing Jesus to “transfigure” us.
Set the calendar-clock to the right date. We are at the beginning of Lent, a season of preparation for Easter. Our memory scripture for this season is today's Gospel lesson:
And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came
from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And
straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened,
and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: and there came a
voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased. And immediately the spirit drove him into the
wilderness.
And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted
of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered
unto him.
Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into
Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
And saying,
The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and
believe the gospel.
Bible Passage
The forty days of Lent remind us of the forty days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness. During Lent, it's normal for Christians to also fast and undertake acts of penance, as our way of faithfully following our Master.
But all the while we are fasting, we remember that we are people of a Promise, and that our God keeps god's promises. We know that Jesus, who fasted and was rejected and killed, also rose from the dead and lives forever. Let's read about one of God's promises and the sign God gave us.
Craft
Rainbow ribbon-banners.
Pew-work Hand-outs
“Pew-work” is like Home-work, except that it is done in the pews, instead of being done at home. Because it is focused on the readings (as the sermon, presumably, also is) it can be done during the sermon to help the listener concentrate. Or, it can be done while waiting for everyone else to finish their communion. It isn't done during prayers, or hymns, or the readings, because
During Prayers, we pray
During Hymns, we sing
During the Readings, we listen
Middle-school Students' Pew-work
Elementary-School Students' Pew-work