POST!

This week at church: wed night – 1 hour, Sunday morning worship practice – .5 hour, Sunday school – 1.5 hour, service – 1 hour = 4 hours.
This week, Zach led the Sunday School class. We opened the class by asking for prayer requests, then we prayed for each request right after it was made. I liked this because usually, we sped forever making prayer requests, then at the end no one remembers any of them. This way, everyone was remembered and no one was left out. Then we talked shortly about what we learned the week before as a refresher, and talked about how chapter 2 and three were related. We dug into Ephesians 3 and read the whole chapter. We found three things – 1. First and foremost, we need to be saved by grace. 2. God’s people today are found in all nations, not just one. 3. Both Jew and Gentile alike can share in the body of Christ – the church! So… if God’s wants all to share in the body of Christ, what is the church to do about it? We came up with this: the church should display the Lord’s wisdom, should be unified, and should grow spiritually as to cause others to grow spiritually. We also talked about some things concerning this matter, and I will display them as my post questions: How is the church doing this?
What are we doing wrong / right?
What can we do better?

kara

Alternate Practicum Report

This Sunday, I preached at church for both the 9:00 and 11:00 services. It was quite the experience to say the least. I was very nervous before the first service and I knew that something had to change with the sermon but I had no idea what it was that I had to change… So I went on and preached the sermon, it went ok, but it kind of left a sour feeling in my mouth I guess.

I had a quick critique with Darren and Mike and they said that I needed to drive it home more, they said they felt like the sermon was like I was learning to drive a stick for the first time, lurching forward then stopping. Then after that a lady pulled Darren and I aside and said how she didn’t think I should be preaching that day because of a recent church split in a church nearby that some of the people had come to our church and that my message wasn’t fitting for them.

That was rough… I was broken quite a bit after the first service, but it made me rely on God all the more. I switched around a lot of stuff for the second service, and it ended up going very well. Darren said that it was a totally different sermon the second time, and it was at least a hundred times better than first service.

I am going to meet with Darren soon to talk about it.

Here is my outline:

Introduction

· Where do you think people pooped back in the day?

o In the toilet?

o In the sewer?

o In a river? … ok maybe

o No, in a basin.

· Everyone had one in their house, usually in a back room, and was for one thing, people would do the doodoo

o And after doing that and stuff they would simply throw it out the window!

§ Awesome, I know.

· Read

o 20In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

· Wha???

o This passage says that something that is for ignoble purposes… like one of those basins.

o Can be wiped clean for noble purposes…

§ Made Holy.

· Grandma’s China…

o Your grandma has fine china… and as we all know it has its purpose…

o Normal eating on your own or with your family

§ Use normal eating utensils and plates

o When distinguished guests come over

§ Use the fine china

o Why?

§ The Fine china brings honor to your family, it distinguishes you, and shows people they are worth it.

When I first read this passage…

· I had no idea what to talk about.

· I thought it all had to do with heresy this, and confrontation that, and church this and worker that…

o But really, this passage has one main idea behind it. In order to read that… lets read a couple of parts again.

§ V.14 – points back to 11-13 (Read that)

§ V. 15

§ Verses. 19-22

§ V. 24

o So when re reading this we see that it isn’t so much about those things but about being a pure lover of God.

· And even going further than that: how to present ourselves as pure to God.

What period of the church calendar are we in right now?

· Lent, obviously.

· During lent we give up things with the intention of denying ourselves something and in its place focusing on God.

o Kind of as a symbolism of dying to self.

· Then on easter, we celebrate what?

o The resurrection of Christ

· Celebrating that just as we were dead to sin we are now alive in the resurrection of Christ.

o Alive in the resurrection…

This is a tricky thing…

· Hi, im a college student at IWU, and I know all about how tricky this is. We learn every day about how we are supposed to be holy and sanctified.

o However, the connotation of that is we need to purify ourselves or make ourselves holy.

o Maybe you can relate?

· But no, it is nothing like that… much like in this passage, we present ourselves as holy… we don’t make ourselves holy… it seems to be already done.

Seeds are crazy little things…

· A seed isn’t really living… it ready, and willing probably to begin to grow, but in order to do that you need some outside sources right?

· Right, you need water and sunlight

o Then the seed will grow into this beautiful living plant, not over night, but over time.

· We were much like that seed.

o You and I were much like the seed when we first came to God

o We were for all intensive purposes dead… but we had potential.

So, we were dead, now we are alive…

· Life goes in stages

o First, you are dead

§ Some people don’t ever get out of this stage

§ They never come to know Christ and therefore they stay dead… forever.

§ That’s the point of evangelism

ú But evangelism isn’t the point of this message.

o Second, you have to die…

§ Yes, you were dead before, but the dead have to die in order to live…

ú Romans 6:6-11

§ We have to die in order that the old can be wiped away, in order that the old self, the self that is a slave to sin and this world dies forever.

§ It is all because of the power of Christ

ú Romans 8:11

§ It is only when we die that we can finally be alive in Christ.

o Third, you are new, and you are living!

§ This is the basic gospel, the basic good news.

§ The whole of the gospel hinges around this idea that we, as dead souls are to be born again…

ú John 3:3-7

o We are raised again and live as new approved people in Christ

So what do I mean by being approved?

· Well, its kinda like going on a date…

o Now girls, we typically hear about your side of things on this illustration, but here is the guys side.

§ We first think “ah, ill just go like this…”

§ But then we start wanting to look good so we start to work

ú In middle school this = putting on axe

ú But now we dress up nice, brush our teeth, mess up our hair a little so we look rugged and put on some cologne or something to hide “man smell”

§ So we are all ready and go to pick up the girl…

o Notice something, we look our best… but it isn’t enough.

o We don’t go thinking, yeah, I look great, that’s why she likes me… if you do think that, youre crazy.

o All that preperation hinges on something that you cant brush or make shine

§ But it is in the moment when you see each other and there is that gaze… looking into each others eyes and approving of each other for who you are, not how you look.

§ The dressing up didn’t do that, that is love.

o In the same way, we kind of go through these motions of looking good to God. We tithe, we pray, we shine our shoes, we read our bibles…

§ But in the end it doesn’t matter

§ All that matters is that look from God, the look of approval and love that only comes from his grace and love.

o Read from Ragamuffin Gospel Pg. 20

Read 2 Timothy 2:22

· We are being made new, as the old self is killed we are being made new.

o 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

· Like it said in 22, we are to flee sin, but then pursue something else.

· Im kind of sick of hearing “don’t”

o We hear that all the time

o That when we are trying to do it on our own, we want to hear the donts…

o That isn’t what God intended. He wants us to leave the old behind and live in the new

o To live in the resurrection.

· Therefore, we become do-ers

o This is what God intended for us…

§ We pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace,

ú Ephesians 5:17-21

ú Philippians 4:4-6

ú Colossians 3:12-17

§ I hope I don’t sound like a broken record, im trying to drive a point.

· This message is in preparation for easter…

o That’s what life is all about…

o We were dead and through the work and blood of Christ we were made new, we were resurrected…

Read 2 Timothy 2:20-21

· Right now, I am speaking to my fellow poop basins… if I can say that.

o Maybe we should start a club… “poop basins anonymous”

· You and I were once simply that…

o We were gross

o We were ignoble, dishonorable, cheap, menial

o We were for all intensive purposes dead and worthless…

· But, it is the gift of God that we can have life, and life to the fullest

o Read the message version of the passage

What is it for you?

· What is something that needs to die?

· Pray with me –

o God, speak to us now

§ What is it in you that you need to let go of? That needs to die?

ú Ask God

§ Now you have to pull the trigger, then God does the killing.

o Heavenly father, giver of life and death, and the power of resurrection, we pray that you would kill the remnants of the old inside of us.

o Whatever it is.

o Lord, thank you for that power that is making us new and alive. I pray that we would live in the resurrection and that you would ready us for the celebration of your conquering the grace.

Resurrect us. Amen

Teaching Report for Zach (for 3/25/09)

For this week’s practicum, I spent a total of 7 hours (1 for Sunday school, 2 hours in Sunday school preparation, 30 minutes in Sunday morning worship practice, 1.5 hours in worship service, and 1 hour teaching the pre-teen class on Wednesday night (1-hour prep).

Our class is talking about the book of Ephesians. I took over at chapter 2. I decided to get the big idea of chapters 2 and 3 before we looked at them in detail. I saw a theme that could be missed if we didn’t take the time to look at the big picture. As a result, my lesson plan was as follows:

Intro—Praises and Prayer Requests

·      Pray for each one at a time

 

Start: --Debrief what we talked about the last class by re-reading the text

·      First talk about how chapters 2 and 3 work together to show the three step process of coming back to Christ

·      Read 2:1-10

o   What is the text saying? What is the first step?

·      Read 2:11-13

o   What is the text saying? What is the second step?

 

Dig: -- Read chapter 3

·      Start by reading 3:1-5

·      I’LL READ VERSE 6

·      Read 3:7-9

·      I’LL READ VERSE 10-13

 

·      After this, what is the three-step process that we see

 

1.     First we need to be saved by grace (accepting Christ’s gift)

2.     God is now for all nations (a plan throughout time but now revealed in Christ)

3.     Jew and Gentile Both sharing in the body of Christ (the church)

 

·      But what is the church supposed to do? It’s all fine and dandy that we now know Christ wants everyone to share in the body of Christ, but what are we to do about it? (Read 3:10-21)

 

1.     We see that the church is to display his wisdom

2.     We see that the church is supposed to be unified

3.     We see that the church is to grow spiritually and cause others to grow spiritually

 

Questions: --

·      Tell me how you guys fell about the church. Are we doing this?

·      What are we doing wrong?

·      What are we doing right?

·      How can we do this better?

Pray: --

·      Dear Lord, help us to understand that you are a gracious God who’s ultimate plan is to bring us closer to you. Thank you for revealing yourself to us and your plan to us. Help us to accomplish it. Let us embrace your gift to be saved by grace. Let us embrace the fact that you are a God for all people. Let us understand that it is our duty to be unified in mind and body, that we may bring as many people back to you as possible. But most importantly God, we understand that this will only be accomplished by your love. Pour out your love on us God, so that we may be able to do your will.

·      “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within u, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen!

 

There were only 6 people at my Sunday school class on Sunday (we usually have 9-12), but I feel class went well. I think the class as a whole benefited from the more intimate setting. Individually, responses varied. Dylan slept throughout the entire class because he worked all night the night before. Michelle, in contrast, was engaged the entire class. She was eager to read and answer the questions I had. The same goes with her husband Steve. The only exception with Steve is that he was a little more critical of the way I was teaching. I think he (the pastor) pictured my lesson covering a few verses instead of a few chapters, so he butted in with details he wanted the class to know that I didn’t cover in my big picture overview. Kelly and Tony Sugar were both participatory, but not to the extent that Steve and Michelle were. Overall, however, I felt that there was decent participation in the group.

I really feel that my lesson plan was carefully put together and I executed the lesson plan in class very well. I took me exactly an hour to get through the class and I covered every point that I intended to. Therefore, I have to say that I had great direction and leadership of the class and moved them toward the points I was trying to make. I had good questions for them, gave each person plenty of opportunities to participate, etc. My evaluator felt the same way.

The main thing I need to improve is my public speaking skills. I spoke too soft and quiet and I fumbled over my words every now and again. The only thing that my evaluator told me to do was make sure I cover main details of each chapter if I have the chance even if the desired goal is to show that main ideas of each chapter.

QUESTIONS:

1) What do you guys think about my evaluator’s critique? Should I have covered the details even though I my purpose was to look at the big picture?

2) Do you see anything in my lesson that needs to be improved?

blarg

This week for my practicum, I spent 4 hours (.5 for worship band, 1 hour for sunday school, 1.5 hours for church, and 1 hour for teaching wednesday night pre-teen class).

This week we talked about works righteousness. are we saved by works or by grace. As a class we decided that you cannot be saved just because of works. Anyone can do good works, but you are truly saved BY grace, works goes along with grace in the form of discipleship. If we are saved by grace, we should be shaping our hearts to be more like Christ, then the desire to do works will come along with it. I wish I could write more, but this was really it for Sunday school. I really think we need to do something different tho because we are losing people, not in numbers but in activity. Everyone's always falling asleep, so we just need to revamp something. Any ideas?

Zach's Practicum Post #6

This week for my practicum, I spent 4 hours (.5 for worship band, 1 hour for sunday school, 1.5 hours for church, and 1 hour for teaching wednesday night pre-teen class). 

in Sunday school we continued our discussion in Ephesians chapter 1 and chapter 2. though we talked about a majority of topics, the main topic for discussion was about works righteousness. Are we saved by grace and grace alone? Are we saved by grace AND by doing good works? Are we saved only by good works? As a class we decided that the only thing that literally SAVES us is grace. We are not saved by anything that we personally do. HOWEVER, salvation includes a path of discipleship. When we go down this path and grow in our faith, we gain the heart of Christ because we become like him. As a result, if we are truly saved and growing in our faith, good works are unavoidable. That makes good works an expression and evidence of salvation, not the grace-giver. Anyways, that was the position our class corporately agreed upon.

questions:

1) what do guys think about the relationship between works and salvation personally?

2) what is your opinion of my class's consensus about the issue?

#6 !!!!!

This past week was spring break, as you know, and over spring break i went to Georgia to work at Hephzibah childrens home. Well, when we got back to IWU the dorms were locked on saturday so i ended up going to Connersville, IN with my friend for the night and consequently to church with him in the morning. It was a high school sunday school and we started off with worship at the beginning. Then, for the rest of the time we primarily talked about how to reach out to people. Everyone talked about how to reach out to their friends at high school, then they talked about welcoming people into the church and then they all talked to me seen as i was new and they wanted me to feel welcome. We then talked about how it is usually awkward to come into a church and that all the church can do is welcome someone because it really depends on the person with how awkward it is for them. So we ended up the conversation talking about that and class ended after about a half hour.

Questions!

Is it awkward for you when you go to a new church?

How can a church make you feel welcome when you come to visit?