B. Short Story: The Pastor's Cat
Dwight Nelson recently told a true story about the pastor of his church. He had a kitten that climbed up a tree in his backyard and then was afraid to come down. The pastor coaxed, offered warm milk, etc.
The kitty would not come down. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb, so the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to his car and pulled it until the tree bent down, he could then reach up and get the kitten.
That's what he did, all the while checking his progress in the car. He then figured if he went just a little bit further, the tree would be bent sufficiently for him to reach the kitten. But as he moved the car a little further forward, the rope broke.
The tree went 'boing!' and the kitten instantly sailed through the air - out of sight.
The pastor felt terrible. He walked all over the neighborhood asking people if they'd seen a little kitten. No. Nobody had seen a stray kitten.
So he prayed, 'Lord, I just commit this kitten to your keeping,' and went on about his business.
A few days later he was at the grocery store, and met one of his church members. He happened to look into her shopping cart and was amazed to see cat food.
This woman was a cat hater and everyone knew it, so he asked her, 'Why are you buying cat food when you hate cats so much?' She replied, 'You won't believe this,' and then told him how her little girl had been begging her for a cat, but she kept refusing.
Then a few days before, the child had begged again, so the Mom finally told her little girl, 'Well, if God gives you a cat, I'll let you keep it.'
She told the pastor, 'I watched my child go out in the yard, get on her knees, and ask God for a cat. And really, Pastor, you won't believe this, but I saw it with my own eyes. A kitten suddenly came flying out of the blue sky, with its paws outspread, and landed right in front of her.'
Lesson learned... Never underestimate the Power of God and His unique sense of humor.
C. American Idioms: Explain what it means and make a sentence or give an example.
- about time
- Achilles' heel
- act high and mighty
- Across the board
- against the clock
- all set
- all thumbs
- all walks of life
- apple of someone's eye
- at each other's throat
D. Bible Story - Luke 10:25-42 — The Good Samaritan
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he 25 asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” 26 He answered: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your 27 soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” 28 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my 29 neighbor?” In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when 30 he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same 31 road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, 32 when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a 33 Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. 34 Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look 35 after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into 36 the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” 37 Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Discussion Questions:
- How would you summarize the message of this parable?
- Jesus replied to the legal expert’s question, “who is my neighbor?” with perhaps the best-known parable in the Bible. Let’s consider this parable from the point of view of the priest and the Levite. Could they have had good reasons for behaving the way that they did?
- What was the Samaritan’s response to the situation? Why did he help the beaten man? (10:33) How practical was his approach?
- How does it feel when someone has mercy on you?
No comments:
Post a Comment