Seminary pretty much consumes my life! A 4:45 a.m. alarm means an early bedtime! The lack of sleep is one challenge but the biggest one for me is coming up with a 50 minutes lesson everyday. I try to present a lesson that has the students reading the scriptures, applying what they read to their lives and learning good scripture study skills that will benefit them throughout their lives....plus I have to do my best to make it interesting and entertaining enough to keep the attention of 22 teenagers. It is a daunting task. Some days are just so so and others are great. Today was one of those great days.
We are studying the book of Judges and today's lesson was on Samson. After a bit of an introduction, I put them in groups, gave them a scripture block to read and asked them to draw a picture to tell the class their part of the story. Plus they needed to explain what motivated Samson to do what he did in their section. We had already learned that an angel had visited his mother to let her know that her son would "begin to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines." His super human strength was given him to help with that deliverance.
First they intently read their assigned verses
Then there was lots of discussion between the partners.
Why take the gate of the city and the posts? To show how strong and powerful he was!
We are studying the book of Judges and today's lesson was on Samson. After a bit of an introduction, I put them in groups, gave them a scripture block to read and asked them to draw a picture to tell the class their part of the story. Plus they needed to explain what motivated Samson to do what he did in their section. We had already learned that an angel had visited his mother to let her know that her son would "begin to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines." His super human strength was given him to help with that deliverance.
First they intently read their assigned verses
And finally they started drawing.
Their clever illustrations and insightful comments brought the story to life. What motivated Samson to use the foxes to burn the fields of the Philistines? Anger and a desire for revenge.
Why lie to Delilah about the true source of his power? His own conceit.
And why after taking his strength did the Lord allow him to use it once again to bring down the temple of Dagon? To show the true power of the Lord, God.
Principles from the story of Samson to apply to our lives:
- Anger and vengeance can lead us to make choices that hurt others and ourselves.
- If we break our covenants with the Lord, then He will withdraw His Spirit from us.
- If we place our own desires ahead of the Lord's will, then we will not reach our divine potential.
- We must make careful use of our own spiritual gifts.
No comments:
Post a Comment