Bullhorn

(Based on the Nooma of the same name.)

Scripture from the Nooma

Read the following:
Matthew 22:34-40 The Greatest Commandment

34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” 

John 13:31-35 After the Last Supper

31 When he [Judas] was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. 33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 

Watch the video with these two questions in mind, then come back to discuss them:
1) What is Rob Bell’s main point?


2) Does his point come from the scripture he’s citing?



As always, though you can find the complete Noomas on YouTube, I encourage you to buy the videos if you're going to use them for teaching. Here's the trailer for Bullhorn.



3) What would you want to say to the man with the bullhorn?



Scripture confirms our need to care for the poor and the helpless time and time again. But we do have a message to share also.
Romans 10:8-17
This is the message of faith that we spread. 9 If you declare that Jesus is Lord, and believe that God brought him back to life, you will be saved. 10 By believing you receive God’s approval, and by declaring your faith you are saved. 11 Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be ashamed.” 12 There is no difference between Jews and Greeks. They all have the same Lord, who gives his riches to everyone who prays to him. 13 So then, “Whoever prays in the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 But how can people pray to him if they have not believed in him? How can they believe in him if they have not heard his message? How can they hear if no one tells the Good News? 15 How can people tell the Good News if no one sends them? As Scripture says, “How beautiful are the feet of the messengers who announce the Good News.” 16 But not everyone has believed the Good News. Isaiah asks, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 So faith comes from hearing the message, and the message that is heard is what Christ spoke.

4) What should we tell people about Jesus?

Lump - a Nooma study

Forgot to post this!

The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) prove we’re all sinners. And if we didn’t get it then, when Jesus explains them fully (Matthew 5) he ends with

“46If you love those who love you, do you deserve a reward? Even the tax collectors do that! 47Are you doing anything remarkable if you welcome only your friends? Everyone does that! 48That is why you must be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.” 

So maybe we can fool ourselves that we didn’t break a commandment.  Clearly, though, none of us are perfect.

1)    Picture or think about one of your sins in your mind.


2)    How do we deal with that stuff?

Watch the Nooma called Lump. (Here's a trailer from YouTube. You can find the whole video, but I encourage you to buy them if you're using them to teach.)





Galations 6:1-10

1Brothers and sisters, if a person gets trapped by wrongdoing, those of you who are spiritual should help that person turn away from doing wrong. Do it in a gentle way. At the same time watch yourself so that you also are not tempted. 2Help carry each other’s burdens. In this way you will follow Christ’s teachings. 3So if any one of you thinks you’re important when you’re really not, you’re only fooling yourself. 4Each of you must examine your own actions. Then you can be proud of your own accomplishments without comparing yourself to others. 5Assume your own responsibility.

 6The person who is taught God’s word should share all good things with his teacher. 7Make no mistake about this: You can never make a fool out of God. Whatever you plant is what you’ll harvest. 8If you plant in the soil of your corrupt nature, you will harvest destruction. But if you plant in the soil of your spiritual nature, you will harvest everlasting life. 9We can’t allow ourselves to get tired of living the right way. Certainly, each of us will receive everlasting life at the proper time, if we don’t give up. 10Whenever we have the opportunity, we have to do what is good for everyone, especially for the family of believers.

3)    If we can’t be perfect, why does Paul think we should try to be good?


4)    What’s one verse you would want to remember out of that scripture?



Romans 8:31-39

31What can we say about all of this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32God didn’t spare his own Son but handed him over to death for all of us. So he will also give us everything along with him. 33Who will accuse those whom God has chosen? God has approved of them. 34Who will condemn them? Christ has died, and more importantly, he was brought back to life. Christ has the highest position in heaven. Christ also intercedes for us. 35What will separate us from the love Christ has for us? Can trouble, distress, persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger, or violent death separate us from his love? 36As Scripture says:

“We are being killed all day long because of you.
We are thought of as sheep to be slaughtered.”

 37The one who loves us gives us an overwhelming victory in all these difficulties. 38I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love which Christ Jesus our Lord shows us. We can’t be separated by death or life, by angels or rulers, by anything in the present or anything in the future, by forces 39or powers in the world above or in the world below, or by anything else in creation.

5)    How do these scriptures help us to deal with our sin?


6)    What’s one verse you would want to remember out of that scripture?

Sunday

a lesson from Matthew 23 using Nooma 04

Matthew 23:1-12

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees teach with Moses’ authority. So be careful to do everything they tell you. But don’t follow their example, because they don’t practice what they preach. They make loads that are hard to carry and lay them on the shoulders of the people. However, they are not willing to lift a finger to move them. They do everything to attract people’s attention. They make their headbands large and the tassels on their shawls long. They love the place of honor at dinners and the front seats in synagogues. They love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have people call them Rabbi. But don’t make others call you Rabbi, because you have only one teacher, and you are all followers. And don’t call anyone on earth your father, because you have only one Father, and he is in heaven. Don’t make others call you a leader, because you have only one leader, the Messiah. The person who is greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever honors himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be honored.” 

1) What do you think is Jesus’ big point here?


2) What do you suppose the Pharisees and scribes thought about it?


We’re going to watch Nooma 04: Sunday. (Trailer below.) It’s based on that passage above and Mark 7:1-22. Try to keep track of what you notice. If there’s a place you want to stop and talk, or rewind and rewatch, just say so.

3) What questions do you have?


4) What’s the big idea? How does it connect to what we read in Phillipians 3:7-9?

These things that I once considered valuable, I now consider worthless for Christ. It’s far more than that! I consider everything else worthless because I’m much better off knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. It’s because of him that I think of everything as worthless. I threw it all away in order to gain Christ and to have a relationship with him.

5) Jot down one thing you want to remember from this. Here's the trailer for Nooma 04. I'm sure you can find the whole video online, but I also urge you to support the ministry. They're doing downloads of individual Noomas for only $1.99 each now, or watch online for $1.00. 

 

Rob Bell makes reference to the Shema Israel here, and I agree that it goes well with what Jesus is saying. It's even how Jesus answers the scribes who ask him what the greatest commandment is. This presentation of the Shema is from Judaism 101, where you can see and hear the Hebrew, also:

Sh'ma Yis'ra'eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad.
Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.

Barukh sheim k'vod malkhuto l'olam va'ed.
Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever.

V'ahav'ta eit Adonai Elohekha b'khol l'vav'kha uv'khol naf'sh'kha uv'khol m'odekha.
 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

V'hayu had'varim ha'eileh asher anokhi m'tzav'kha hayom al l'vavekha.
And these words that I command you today shall be in your heart.

V'shinan'tam l'vanekha v'dibar'ta bam
And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall speak of them

b'shiv't'kha b'veitekha uv'lekh't'kha vaderekh uv'shakh'b'kha uv'kumekha
when you sit at home, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.

Uk'shar'tam l'ot al yadekha v'hayu l'totafot bein einekha.
And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.

Ukh'tav'tam al m'zuzot beitekha uvish'arekha.
And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The Shema almost always brings this song to mind:

 

Photo credit: Marion Doss @ Flickr. My Aunt Gert (Gertrude Golden) taught in a place like this.

Open

Gethsemane today.

Start with prayer:

• Something you know about God – Praise Him!
• Take a minute to talk to God about something you wish you hadn’t done. (Not out loud.)
• Thank God for something He’s done.
• Is there anything you want God to do?

Matthew 26:36-42

Then Jesus went with the disciples to a place called Gethsemane. He said to them, “Stay here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons with him. He was beginning to feel deep anguish. Then he said to them, “My anguish is so great that I feel as if I’m dying. Wait here, and stay awake with me.” After walking a little farther, he quickly bowed with his face to the ground and prayed, “Father, if it’s possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. But let your will be done rather than mine.”

When he went back to the disciples, he found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you stay awake with me for one hour? 41Stay awake, and pray that you won’t be tempted. You want to do what’s right, but you’re weak.” Then he went away a second time and prayed, “Father, if this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, let your will be done.”

Psalm 13 (a psalm by David.)

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I make decisions alone with sorrow in my heart day after day?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look at me! Answer me, O Lord my God!
Light up my eyes, or else I will die and my enemy will say, “I have overpowered him.”
My opponents will rejoice because I have been shaken.

But I trust your mercy.
My heart finds joy in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord because he has been good to me.

Watch the Nooma called Open. (019)




(This is a trailer. Of course you can find the whole thing on you tube, but you might consider supporting the ministry by buying it.)

1. What did you notice?



2. Why is it important to be honest – even brutally honest – with God about how we feel? How was David or Jesus honest?



3. Why should we pray? What will we get out of it?



Before Jesus went to the garden, he prayed for his followers – including us!

John 17:9-26

“I pray for them. I’m not praying for the world but for those you gave me, because they are yours. Everything I have is yours, and everything you have is mine. I have been given glory by the people you have given me. I won’t be in the world much longer, but they are in the world, and I’m coming back to you. Holy Father, keep them safe by the power of your name, the name that you gave me, so that their unity may be like ours. While I was with them, I kept them safe by the power of your name, the name that you gave me. I watched over them, and none of them, except one person, became lost. So Scripture came true.

“But now, Father, I’m coming back to you. I say these things while I’m still in the world so that they will have the same joy that I have. I have given them your message. But the world has hated them because they don’t belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one. They don’t belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.

Use the truth to make them holy. Your words are truth. I have sent them into the world the same way you sent me into the world. I’m dedicating myself to this holy work I’m doing for them so that they, too, will use the truth to be holy.

“I’m not praying only for them. I’m also praying for those who will believe in me through their message. I pray that all of these people continue to have unity in the way that you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray that they may be united with us so that the world will believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me. I did this so that they are united in the same way we are. I am in them, and you are in me. So they are completely united. In this way the world knows that you have sent me and that you have loved them in the same way you have loved me.

“Father, I want those you have given to me to be with me, to be where I am. I want them to see my glory, which you gave me because you loved me before the world was made. Righteous Father, the world didn’t know you. Yet, I knew you, and these disciples have known that you sent me. I have made your name known to them, and I will make it known so that the love you have for me will be in them and I will be in them.”

4. How can you know that Jesus was praying this for you as well as praying it for his disciples then?



5. What are three of the several things Jesus prayed for us? Pick one: why would he want that for us?



6. What part of this prayer matters the most to you? Why does it matter to know that Jesus wants that for you



7. Write down one thing that you got out of today’s lesson.



Photo credits: from Flickr, lyng883; from servicioskoinonia.org via markdaniels.blogspot.com

Rhythm

Rhythm

photo: Jacob Whittaker @ Flickr

When you think about God, do you have a picture in your head?

If you do, what do you picture?

Where did that picture come from?

Here is a preview of the video.  (You can find the whole thing online, but I encourage you to support the ministry if you like their materials.)

Scripture from the video:

Exodus 3:14 

And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

Deuteronomy 4:15-18

You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below.

John 4:24  God is sheer being itself – Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.

John 10:10  I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest.

Discussion Questions

Why do you think people, including some writers of the Bible use human physical references like “hands,” “feet,” “eyes,” and “he” to describe God, when other Scriptures state that God is a spirit and has no form?

What do these characteristics of God mean: truth, love, grace, mercy, justice, compassion? 

Does he have these characteristics or is He these?  Like ‘He is truthful’ or ‘He is truth’?

Is what we believe or what we do more important to Jesus?  How do you know?

What does Jesus mean by “life in the fullest”?

Do you believe that if you live the way Jesus taught us to live, being in tune with the song, that you will have life in its fullest?

Jot down one thing you got from this video and discussion:

Nooma 001 - Rain

This week the youth study is watching a Nooma from Rob Bell.  The first one, called Rain, which is also a good introduction to the series.  Here's the trailer.  (You can find the whole thing on YouTube, but that seems morally shady.)






The description from nooma.com is "Things don’t always work out the way we want them to, or the way we think they will. Sometimes we don’t even see it coming. We get hit with some form of pain out of nowhere leaving us feeling desperate and helpless. That’s the way life is. Still, it makes us wonder how God can let these things happen to us. How God can just stand by and watch us suffer. Where is God when it really hurts? Maybe God is actually closer to us than we think. Maybe it’s when we’re in these situations, where everything seems to be falling apart, that God gets an opportunity to remind us of how much he really loves us."

Rain

When have you felt just abandoned or in so much trouble you wanted to scream?



Matthew 7:24-27 Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. (NIV)

Psalm 34:17 Is anyone crying for help? God is listening, ready to rescue you.

Psalm 55:17 Evening, morning, and noon, I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.

Psalm 72:12 For He will rescue the poor who cry out and the afflicted who have no helper.

Psalm 84:2 I long and yearn for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh cry out for the living God.

Psalm 88:1 O LORD, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you.

Deuteronomy 1:31 There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.

Does the idea of God being close despite your troubles help? How or why not?