{"id":78,"date":"2013-12-30T00:28:56","date_gmt":"2013-12-30T05:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/?p=78"},"modified":"2013-12-30T00:28:56","modified_gmt":"2013-12-30T05:28:56","slug":"zacchaeus-a-wee-little-man-but-a-huge-lesson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/?p=78","title":{"rendered":"Zacchaeus – a “wee little man”, but a HUGE lesson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, Sunday, December 29, 2013, our lesson was sort of a continuation of last week’s <\/a>lesson. \u00a0We began class by talking about our Christmas gifts. \u00a0Which was our favorite? \u00a0Which one was unexpected? \u00a0What did we “know” we were getting? \u00a0 It was a lot of fun for me to see the excitement in their eyes as they “remembered” seeing these gifts for the first time.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Our lesson for last week<\/a>, included our memory verse from Romans 12:1, which reads:<\/p>\n

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God\u2019s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God\u2013this is your true and proper worship.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

This week, I began the discussion by asking a couple of questions. \u00a0First, “Can you recall anything that is different about your life AFTER you were saved?” \u00a0Since these are very young boys and girls (4-6 grade), they didn’t really have an answer for that. \u00a0I expected that to be the case. \u00a0I followed that question with, “Are there any behaviors that you do now that people around you can say are “christian” behaviors?” \u00a0I had to explain that question a bit, but it got a few of them thinking about their lives and actions. \u00a0Several good answers in fact. \u00a0“Going to church” was common. \u00a0“I’m nice to some people that others are mean to” was one response. \u00a0I am seeing progress in trying to get these kids to take their Sunday School lessons out to their Monday-Saturday lives. \u00a0It’s exciting to see them actually be intentional about applying these lessons. (Praise GOD!)<\/p>\n

We read the memory verse a few times to help them get it into their minds. \u00a0We then, began to talk about a story that they are pretty familiar with. \u00a0The story of\u00a0Zacchaeus is one that most of us learn about as very young people in church. \u00a0I mean as soon as they recognized the story, 2 or 3 of them were humming the song, “…Zaccaeus was a wee little man…” \u00a0However, I was wanting to use this story in a way that, perhaps, they had not thought of before. \u00a0We discussed the fact that Jesus was something of a celebrity. \u00a0People in the region had all heard of his preaching and miracles. \u00a0When they found out that he was coming to town, they lined the streets. \u00a0So much so that this man,\u00a0Zacchaeus, was unable to see Jesus. \u00a0This caused him to climb into the tree, where Jesus called him down.<\/p>\n

At this point in the story, I wanted to frame another concept for the kids. \u00a0We talked about the idea that\u00a0Zacchaeus was probably one of the least liked people in town. \u00a0We talked about why that was the case as well. \u00a0I asked the kids to think about someone in their own lives who was, like\u00a0Zacchaeus, not very well liked. \u00a0Maybe it is a person who they are pretty sure is not a christian. \u00a0Maybe it is a person who is a bully or who is just a loner. \u00a0I wanted them to firmly recognize SOMEONE in their own lives who could be the\u00a0Zacchaeus in the story. \u00a0After giving them some time to think of someone, we moved on with the story.<\/p>\n

Now, when Jesus called to\u00a0Zacchaeus and went to his house for dinner, there was a murmur that when throughout the crowd. \u00a0Luke 19:7 reads:<\/p>\n

All the people saw this and began to mutter, \u201cHe has gone to be the guest of a sinner.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Interesting response, don’t you think? \u00a0I mean, these people surely had heard about at least SOME of the content of Jesus’ message. \u00a0They certainly knew that it was not unusual for him to do such a thing. \u00a0At any rate, it is\u00a0Zacchaeus’ response that we wanted to focus on. \u00a0You see, after meeting Jesus, there was an instantaneous and noticeable change in his behavior! \u00a0Read Luke 19:8:<\/p>\n

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, \u201cLook, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here is the real meat of the lesson for the kids. \u00a0When salvation came to Zacchaeus, the people could SEE a difference in his life. \u00a0Jesus CHANGED\u00a0Zacchaeus from an object of scorn into a man that had a love for those around him and it showed up in his lifestyle. \u00a0THAT is how offering our lives as a “living sacrifice” looks.<\/p>\n

So, in wrapping up, I asked the kids to think about that person they thought of before. \u00a0I asked them to recognize that Jesus came to die for THAT person. \u00a0I asked them if they thought that Jesus would be willing to eat dinner at their house. \u00a0Of course he would. \u00a0In fact, Jesus loves that person just as much as he loves each of us in class! \u00a0I asked them to think about whether they thought that person KNEW that Jesus loved them. \u00a0This is where it gets a little tricky with such young people. \u00a0It is difficult for them to understand how it is possible for unchurched people to not understand this reality. \u00a0We talked a little about that, so that they could grasp it. \u00a0Once they did, I asked them this question:<\/p>\n

Is your life and behavior going to help that person understand that you have been changed by Jesus love AND that it is possible for Jesus love to change them, too?<\/p>\n

I helped them to understand that Salvation was supposed to be so much more than just a ticket to heaven. \u00a0It is an ongoing part of our daily lives. \u00a0Each day should be a day that we offer our lives as a living sacrifice as a worshipful response to God’s mercy toward us. \u00a0What a WONDERFUL story that showed how it looks to live a changed life.<\/p>\n

One more thing…this was NOT the lesson I prepared. \u00a0It is one that unfolded as God revealed it a little piece at a time during class. \u00a0I cannot tell you how amazing it feels to become a mouthpiece for the creator of the universe. \u00a0It is one of the most amazing things in the world. \u00a0God is SO GOOD!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, Sunday, December 29, 2013, our lesson was sort of a continuation of last week’s lesson. \u00a0We began class by talking about our Christmas gifts. \u00a0Which was our favorite? \u00a0Which one was unexpected? \u00a0What did we “know” we were getting? \u00a0 It was a lot of fun for me to see the excitement in their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[25,24,21],"class_list":["post-78","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sundayschool","tag-forgiveness","tag-sin","tag-sunday-school"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Mji6-1g","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=78"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78\/revisions\/80"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=78"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=78"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}