Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Making All Things New:
a Guest Post from Rebekah

Rebekah has been assembling lesson plans for our children's Sunday school class for the better part of two years now.  Behind the scenes, every month, she focuses on a story, picks out key theological themes, and also outlines the basic plot points of the passage.  This makes it easier for our amazing teachers to jump in and go on a given Sunday morning.  The goal is a comprehensive survey of the Bible in three years.  She does an amazing job.

Rebekah sent me the draft for April's lesson, the last supper, yesterday.  I was blown away by its comprehensiveness, simplicity, and beauty.  She wondered out loud to me if she had done justice to what goes on in the Eucharist.  "Um, yes.  Yes you did."

Anyway, with her permission, here it is: sketched from Mark 14:10-26.

The Last Supper 
Mark 14:10-26

lesson themes

here are the themes we will be emphasizing during the workshop rotations this month:

  • Jesus knew that He would die and that his death would make possible a new and restored relationship between God and God's people
  • Jesus is our "passover lamb" (recalling that in the time of moses, the israelites' firstborns were spared by putting lamb's blood on the door frames of their houses the night before they were freed from their bondage in egypt)
  • When we meet at church to break bread and drink wine each sunday, Jesus is sharing that meal with us, feeding us with Himself, and reminding us that He makes all things new and makes it possible for us to be friends with God and one another
lesson summary

  • the disciples follow Jesus' instructions in order to prepare for the passover meal
  • during the meal, Jesus tells the disciples that one of them will betray him
  • Jesus also reminds the disciples that He will die, in fulfillment of the Scriptures
  • Jesus marks a new covenant and promise between God and His people as He blesses the bread and wine that recall the unleavened bread and lamb's blood at the first passover in egypt and shares them with his disciples

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