Tag: Sunday school
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Questions for Reflection and Discussion – Genesis 28
The text we’re studying for Sunday, November 18 is Genesis 28, the story of “Jacob’s ladder.” Here are a few questions we might want to consider in class: In v10, Jacob is leaving Beer-sheba for Haran – that is, in a way, “undoing” what his grandfather Abraham did. Do we have any reactions to this…
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Questions for Reflection and Discussion – Genesis 27
The text we’re studying for Sunday, November 11 is Genesis 27 (focus on vv 5-10, 18-19, and 21-29). Here are a few questions we might want to consider: What are our impressions of the four characters involved in this story, and what gives us those impressions? For instance, how do we picture Isaac, Rebekah, Esau…
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Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
So, Rebekah says “Yes, I will go.” This is what we know for sure. That she says “Yes, I will go” to “the man,” who comes from who knows where, with lavish gifts. Actually, we know he comes from Abraham’s household in Canaan, we know he has been praying for guidance from YHWH, we know…
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Questions for Reflection and Discussion – Colossians 3 5-17
The text we are studying for Sunday, August 26 is Colossians 3:5-17. Here are a few questions that we might be able to consider in class: V5 uses the language “put to death” for “whatever in you is earthly.” What is our response to that? (E.g., does it seem harsh? Do we feel we’ve accomplished…
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Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
This morning, in our class discussion of Romans 2:1-12, we all agreed that it’s HARD not to judge people. “Don’t judge people” might not be exactly what Paul is saying in Romans 2 (although he will say that, exactly, in Romans 14). He’s just saying “you don’t have any excuse, then, because whenever you judge…
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Questions for Reflection and Discussion – Romans 2 1-12
The Uniform Series text we’re studying for Sunday, August 5 is Romans 2:1-12; we might be able to describe this text as a “gotcha!” move in Paul’s diatribe about good law-abiding-citizen behavior and righteousness and who is righteous (spoiler alert: God, period – which includes Jesus) and justification-by-grace-through-faith. As such, it probably is not meant…
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Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
We were confident we understood the meaning of the Luke 14:15-23 text: “it’s about salvation, everyone is invited, some people turn it down, and eventually it will be too late.” It means some other things, too, like that if someone takes the trouble to make a party, you should take the trouble to attend; and…
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Questions for Reflection and Discussion – Luke 13 22-30
Here are a few questions about Luke 13:22-30, the study text for Sunday, July 22, that we may or may not want to consider in class: The text begins with Jesus going through towns and villages on his way to Jerusalem and someone asking him “Lord, will only a few be saved?” (v23) What do…
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Questions for Reflection and Discussion – Luke 18 1-8
Here are a few questions on Luke 18:1-8, the text we are studying for Sunday, July 15, that we might or might not want to consider in class: The narrator introduces the parable as being about “the need to pray always and never lose heart.” Does this teaching seem more applicable to some situations than…
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Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Our class couldn’t help noticing the relevance of the story Jesus tells in Luke 16:19-31 to our own world. Today, as then, some people interpret material success as a sign of God’s favor. Today, as then, some people believe that anyone who’s destitute, suffering, sick, whatever, is that way because they’ve made bad choices, because…
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Notes on Luke 16 19-31
The Uniform Series text for Sunday, June 24 is Luke 16:19-31, Jesus’ story of “the rich man and Lazarus.” Here are my notes on the text:
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Questions for Reflection and Discussion Matthew 15 1-9
The Uniform Series text for Sunday, June 17 is Matthew 15:1-9. [Some notes on that text are here.] Here are some questions we might (or might not) want to consider in class:
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Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
In class this morning, we went through as many of the possibilities of meaning of the three parables we’d read in Matthew 13 as we could think of. Lots of different things occurred to us: we should be careful about just taking whatever “comes up” – maybe it isn’t good for us! Recalling that Jesus…
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Questions for Reflection and Discussion – Matthew 13 24-33
The Uniform Series Sunday school text for Sunday, June 10 is Matthew 13:24-33. Here are a couple of questions we might want to consider in class:
Matters of Interpretation 