Post-Christmas Study: Epiphany

For Sunday Jan 11th, 2009

[Note: For this study, make sure to bring paper and pens/pencils. The activity this week could potentially take a fair amount of time, so the rest of the study has been abbreviated.]

1) Have you ever had a situation where you were expecting something bad but it turned into something good? If so, please share what you had expected, what happened, and what it felt like to be in that situation.

2) Activity: Write, Rip and Read
[Note: Give everyone a single piece of paper and a pen.]
Everyone write a story. Try to fill an entire page, even if that means spacing out your writing. Filling the page is important. If you are ambitious, fill both the front and the back. However don't use more than one piece of paper. Write about anything. It can be a factual story or a fictional story. Write about anyone or anything you feel like. Whatever you write though, note that we are going to read these out loud so keep it civil.
[Note: Give everyone 5-10 minutes to write.]
Now that you are done, rip off a piece of your paper so that it removes approximately one quarter of what you had written. Everyone write your name somewhere on that piece, circle your name, and then give those pieces to the leader. We're going to read aloud the pieces one at a time and try to guess what the story was about from the piece we have. If you recognize it as yours, please don't say what it's about until after everyone guesses.
[Note: Next instruction is for the leader.]
One at a time, read whatever you can from the pieces. Ask everyone to try to guess what the story is about from what they heard. Get them to guess at not only the general gist of the story, but also how it starts and ends. Once everyone has guessed, have the owner of that piece read the entire story.

3) Was it hard to guess at what the stories were about from just the piece, and why?
When people were guessing at your own story, was it hard not to tell them what it was about to help them along?

4) Read: Matthew 2:1-12

When Jesus was born in the village of Bethlehem in Judea, Herod was king. During this time some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem and said, "Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." When King Herod heard about this, he was worried, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem. Herod brought together the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses and asked them, "Where will the Messiah be born?"
They told him, "He will be born in Bethlehem, just as the prophet wrote, 'Bethlehem in the land of Judea, you are very important among the towns of Judea. From your town will come a leader, who will be like a shepherd for my people Israel.' "
Herod secretly called in the wise men and asked them when they had first seen the star. He told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, let me know. I want to go and worship him too."
The wise men listened to what the king said and then left. And the star they had seen in the east went on ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. They were thrilled and excited to see the star.
When the men went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they knelt down and worshiped him. They took out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh and gave them to him. Later they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and they went back home by another road.

This is the Epiphany story. We've probably all heard the story of the three wise men following a star and finding the baby Jesus. Reading this story again now, what jumps out at you? [Note: Ask them to describe parts that interest them and why. Perhaps even model for them not understanding part of the story.]

5) Quiz time!
[Note: This part could optionally be run like a game show, although it is not likely they will know all these answers.]

• What is Epiphany? (The celebration of the visitation of Jesus by the wise men, or Magi. It is also the celebration of the revealing of Jesus to the world.)
  
• What day is Epiphany? (Jan 6th, every year. 12 days after Christmas.)
  
• What was the likely occupation of the wise men? (They were probably astrologers.)
  
• What was frankincense? (It was a valuable powder that was burned to make a sweet smell.)
  
• What was Myrrh? (It was a valuable sweet-smelling powder often used in perfume.)
  
• Were the wise men Jews or Gentiles? (Most likely they were Gentiles from Persia.)
  
• Why was Herod so concerned about Jesus? (Herod felt his kingship threatened by the prophecy of Jesus being the King of the Jews.)
  

6) Epiphany is an opportunity for us to be surprised and amazed by God. It is also a time to reflect that we don't know the whole story of God's plan. As we see pieces of God's plan, we can discuss them with each other and try to better understand what God has in store for our futures.
What's something specific about your life that you would like to know God's plan for?

Pre-Christmas Study: Advent

For Sunday Dec 14th, 2008

[Note: For this study, make sure to bring blindfolds and earplugs.]

1) Is it hard to wait for Christmas? [Note: Encourage them to be honest and especially to be kids. It's ok to enjoy Christmas and gifts.]
Does your family do anything special in the time before Christmas? (Advent wreaths, caroling, decorating, etc)

2) Activity: Waiting to be restored
[Note: This will require the kids to feel safe, so make sure they understand the importance of the activity. It may require a fairly large space.]

• Everyone gets a blindfold and a set of earplugs.
  
• While blindfolded, keep the blindfold on and earplugs in, and do not try to "pester" others.
  
• Someone will come around after a minute and remove your blindfold. Once they do, get up quietly, remove your earplugs, and go help someone else remove their blindfold.
  

[Note: Leave the blindfolds on for at least 2 full minutes if not more. The goal is to have them reach a state of anticipation and to be alone with their thoughts. Once everyone is "restored", move on to the questions.]

3) What was it like waiting to have your sight and hearing restored? (difficult, peaceful, etc) What did it feel like to finally have your sight and hearing restored?

4) Read: Mark 8:22-26

As Jesus and his disciples were going into Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch the man. Jesus took him by the hand and led him out of the village, where he spit into the man's eyes. He placed his hands on the blind man and asked him if he could see anything. The man looked up and said, "I see people, but they look like trees walking around." Once again Jesus placed his hands on the man's eyes, and this time the man stared. His eyes were healed, and he saw everything clearly. Jesus said to him, "You may return home now, but don't go into the village."

Having done our recent blindness/deafness exercise, how does this affect your experience of this reading?

5) Read: Acts: 1:3-5, 15-26

For forty days after Jesus had suffered and died, he proved in many ways that he had been raised from death. He appeared to his apostles and spoke to them about God's kingdom. While he was still with them, he said: Don't leave Jerusalem yet. Wait here for the Father to give you the Holy Spirit, just as I told you he has promised to do. John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. One day there were about one hundred twenty of the Lord's followers meeting together, and Peter stood up to speak to them. He said: My friends, long ago by the power of the Holy Spirit, David said something about Judas, and what he said has now happened. Judas was one of us and had worked with us, but he brought the mob to arrest Jesus. Then Judas bought some land with the money he was given for doing that evil thing. He fell headfirst into the field. His body burst open, and all his insides came out. When the people of Jerusalem found out about this, they called the place Akeldama, which in the local language means "Field of Blood." In the book of Psalms it says, "Leave his house empty, and don't let anyone live there." It also says, "Let someone else have his job." So we need someone else to help us tell others that Jesus has been raised from death. He must also be one of the men who was with us from the very beginning. He must have been with us from the time the Lord Jesus was baptized by John until the day he was taken to heaven. Two men were suggested: One of them was Joseph Barsabbas, known as Justus, and the other was Matthias. 24Then they all prayed, "Lord, you know what everyone is like! Show us the one you have chosen to be an apostle and to serve in place of Judas, who got what he deserved." They drew names, and Matthias was chosen to join the group of the eleven apostles.

Jesus asks the disciples to wait for his sign, but that sign does not come right away. How do the disciples spend this waiting time?
When you were blindfolded, what were you thinking about while you waited to be "restored"?

6) The season of Advent is about waiting and preparing. As Christians, we celebrate Advent by preparing a place in our hearts for Jesus. This is symbolic of the time before Jesus' birth when faithful people were preparing themselves for the coming of the Messiah.
What's something you can do to make a place in your heart for Jesus during the remainder of Advent?

Post Thanksgiving Study: Gratitude

For Sunday Dec 7th, 2008

[Note: For these first three questions, have post-it notes ready, and ideally a whiteboard that can be divided into 3 sections.]

1) Write down on separate post-its up to 3 items you own that you are thankful for and post them on the board. [Note: Give them a couple minutes to come up with them.]
Why did you pick the items you did? Was it hard to limit yourself to 3 items?

2) Write down on separate post-its up to 3 events that you attended recently that you are thankful for and post them on the board.
Why did you pick the events you did? [Note: Encourage them to share the significance of that event, no matter how small. This is also a good opportunity to invite laughter.]

3) Write down on separate post-its up to 3 people in your life that you are thankful for.
Why did you pick the people that you did? [Note: Encourage them to share what that person contributes to their lives.]

[Note: As an optional addition, have each of them pick out one item from all 3 sections (and perhaps even borrowing someone else's idea) as their biggest thankfulness. This might be prone to favoritism or challenge if someone in the group is on a post-it. The leader should use with caution. Focus a question on why pick that one over the others.]

4) Read: John 6:1-11

Jesus crossed Lake Galilee, which was also known as Lake Tiberias. A large crowd had seen him work miracles to heal the sick, and those people went with him. It was almost time for the Jewish festival of Passover, and Jesus went up on a mountain with his disciples and sat down. When Jesus saw the large crowd coming toward him, he asked Philip, "Where will we get enough food to feed all these people?" He said this to test Philip, since he already knew what he was going to do.

Philip answered, "Don't you know that it would take almost a year's wages just to buy only a little bread for each of these people?" Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the disciples. He spoke up and said, "There is a boy here who has five small loaves of barley bread and two fish. But what good is that with all these people?" The ground was covered with grass, and Jesus told his disciples to have everyone sit down. About five thousand men were in the crowd. Jesus took the bread in his hands and gave thanks to God. Then he passed the bread to the people, and he did the same with the fish, until everyone had plenty to eat.

Who ends up feeding the crowd? [Note: Both Jesus and the small boy.]
Why does Jesus give thanks before handing out the food?
[Note: Optionally invite them to expore the rest of the passage. Some may wonder why Jesus was testing Philip which is a valid question to ask.]

5) Read: Psalm 105:1-8 [Note: The NIV translation was specifically chosen for this reading over the Contemporary English translation.]

Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.
Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
O descendants of Abraham his servant,
O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.
He is the LORD our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
He remembers his covenant forever,
the word he commanded, for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.

In this psalm, the writer is encouraging Israel to remember the great things that God has done for them and be thankful. The psalm goes on to recount how the Lord performed miraculous signs to the Egyptians, freed the Israelites, and provided for them as walked the desert to the promised land.
What part of this psalm stands out to you personally?
Why is it important for them to remember these events and be thankful?

6) Sometimes we can be thankful before a blessing, and sometimes we can only be thankful afterward. Is there a difference in those types of being thankful?
Regardless of whether we are thankful before or after, it is important to give God thanks for the many blessings in our lives. When we close in prayer, use it as an opportunity to thank God for something you haven't already thanked him for. [Note: This is a good opportunity to encourage each of them to say a prayer of thanks out loud. Perhaps give them a little time to think about what they want to be thankful for before starting the prayer so they can be more comfortable.]