Use one or both of these questions to introduce the lesson: 1. What were the best seats you’ve ever had to an event like a concert, baseball game, or stage play? Why were those the best seats? What are some ways people manage to get front row seats to big events? 2. Think of an […]
A deacon’s meeting had gotten out of sorts. Tempers flared, temperatures rose, and words got ugly. One deacon tried to calm the group by saying, “I think we should just stop and pray.” Another deacon said, “Has it come to that?” Why is prayer often a last resort as opposed to a first concern? Prayer […]
Atheists must contend with hard questions. If God doesn’t exist, how did our complex universe arise from nothing, and how did morality come from amorality? Without God, on what grounds shall we determine what is right or wrong? If we are not created in God’s image and human beings are nothing more than fortuitously evolved […]
Use one or both of these questions to introduce the lesson: 1. Are you an optimist or a pessimist? Why do you say that? 2. Do you think the world is getting better or worse? How confident are you that your grandchildren will have a better life than you have had? Why? Read Luke 18:1. […]
If the unforgiving servant had a shrunken heart (last week’s lesson), the unjust leaders who condemned Jesus had shrunken souls (today’s lesson). While many Jews received Jesus gladly and became children of God (John 1:12), these “religious leaders” played the role of antagonists in the gospel record and in this text we see evidence of […]
