WOW: wk4, 3/28/2010

===WOW wk4: 3/28/2010 ===

From: John Chen
To: sam shen ; s k ; songye@yahoo.com; li.betty.h@gmail.com; liux1998@gmail.com; mshen6@yahoo.com; iluvgirlswithglasses98@gmail.com; lihongpan2001@yahoo.com; wenhueifu@yahoo.com; betty@masterfiles.com; lixin_jia@yahoo.com; guoweng@gmail.com; han2mei2@hotmail.com; zhou_yuzheng@hotmail.com; weiwujj@yahoo.com; junyang97@gmail.com; je99762@yahoo.com; qmaria_wang@yahoo.com; shiht fu ; Kate Deng ; Betty Li
Sent: Fri, April 2, 2010 12:58:20 AM
Subject: 3/28/2010 - Wk4 - PCAC G4/5 Sunday School Summary

Dear Parents and Sam,

I apologize getting this out late to you; will try to do better next week.

What a Sunday School lesson to start with as a substitute (and for this coming Sunday as well!). These are key events of Jesus' life, and significantly for Christians!! I consider it a great privilege.

For these 3 classes, I have basically 2 goals in mind:

1. For the kids to get into the Bible, so that the Word of God can get into them.
2. For the kids to be able to "connect the dots" (learned facts), and be able to see the bigger, true picture of God's revelation to His people, and so to apply rightly into their lives.

Last Sunday we dealt with Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (Luke 19:28-40), and His trial, crucifixion and death on the cross (Luke 23:1-49). As you can see, these are very large passages, but we did manage to get through it with the given time.

The structure for this class was verse by verse, and each person took turns to read. I stopped and explained or asked them questions about something almost every verse. For example, 19:29, the kids need to know that Bethany and Bethphage where Jesus told the Disciples to find the unridden colt are real places, and that they are located 2 miles SE of Jerusalem (on road to Jericho). Understanding geography and places give structure to the Bible stories. Explanations, for example, are what is the significance of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a colt, and what is special about riding a colt which no one has ridden on? I also showed a couple of photos from my computer to supplement the teaching. I showed them the Mount of Olives in respect to Jerusalem. These were photos I took about 2 years ago when Catherine and I were on a DTS study tour.

Last half of the class, we looked into the detailed trial of Jesus with Jesus brought before various people of authority; explained who they were in terms of their position, and what significance they bring into the story. And this story is ultimately the murder of an innocent man attested by the fact that Pilate found Jesus 3 times nothing deserving death. Even though Pilate had the authority to dismiss the charges brought against Jesus by the Jews, he was a weak man and caved into their demands. We, Christians, know that Jesus was more that an innocent man, He was the Son of God sent on a mission, and that what happened on the Cross was the mission: to die on the Cross in obedience to God the Father, so that His shed blood may redeem us, pay for our sins, so that we may be justified, forgiven and be seen righteous by the Father God.

There are much more during our class, but find a time before Resurrection Sunday and read these 2 passages with your child.

The challenge was always put before them to see Jesus, the perfect sacrifice of God, who provides Eternal Life to those who are sinners and repent from them. And knowing all this, what will they do with Jesus....?

Thanks for reading to the end. Have a deep, meaningful Good Friday, and a wonderfully blessed Resurrection Sunday!

+ + +
John M. Chen, Pastor to Children. o.972.867.2990 x106
Plano Chinese Alliance Church. 5025 Custer Rd, Plano, TX, 75023.
http://www.pcactexas.org