This is the lesson from January 20, 2008
Things to look forward to:
Lesson by John Haney next week (January 27)
Lesson by Tony Murphy on February 24
Baselines for today’s lessons:
• There are no genuine relationships without conflict.
Marriages, Christian communities, Sunday school classes, families, work communities, and neighborhoods
• One of the sources of stress in our lives is unresolved conflict.
• As Christians, we are called to seek resolution and reconciliation for the conflicts of which we are a part. {Can you think of scriptural calls for this perspective}
Love our enemies, pray for those who persecute you
Forgive those who trespass against us
Love one another as I have loved you
Romans: 12:18 If possible, in as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Love your neighbor even as you love yourself.
Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted forgiving each other
Wake-Up Exercise: Five principles related to conflicts and their resolutions. Use words on the right to complete statements on the left.
1. Unity is not the __________ of conflict but the result of __________ conflict.
2. Faulty _________ almost always leads to flawed interpretation that provoke wrong __________ with potentially disastrous __________.
3. Resolution is not possible without __________.
4. Good conflict resolutions nearly always begin with __________ rather than __________.
5. ___________ is not possible without cooperation. Use the words at most once. Some will not be used.
Cooperation
Communication
Carbohydrates
Information
Questions
Interpretations
Absence
Accusations
Lawyers
Resolved
Conclusions
Pork pie hats
Results
Reconciliation
The authors of our materials claim that we can see evidence of these principles in the following story. I am going to tell the story and as I tell it, I want you to listen for examples of the five principles.
Tell story from Joshua 22:
As the twelve tribes of Israel entered the Promised Land, 10 of the tribes crossed to the Western Side of the Jordan river while 2 of the tribes (Gad and Reuben) located on the eastern side. The tabernacle, an elaborate tent structure that housed the central place of worship of God, crossed the Jordan with the majority and was located at Shiloh. This was designated the official place of worship of God.
A rumor arrived at Shiloh. The two tribes who stayed on the eastern side of the Jordan were building a huge altar. As the weeks passed, the rumors became more excited. Not only were they building a large altar. On this altar they were going to start burning sacrifices to Gods other than Jehovah. That really caused a stir. Before long, the ten tribes were forming an army to cross the Jordan, tear down the altar, and punish the wayward tribes. However, some wise head intervened, and before the armies crossed the Jordan, a delegation was sent led by a man named Phineas.
The delegation arrived from Shiloh and faced the elders of the two eastern tribes. Phineas asked these questions:
How could you break faith with God like this?
How could you build this altar in rebellion to God?
Don’t you know that your sin will result in punishment for us all?
He then offered a compromise: If this land is causing you to sin, come on over to our side of Jordan. We will squeeze together and make room for you. Only don’t continue to rebel against God.
Then the leaders of the two eastern tribes answered. “You don’t understand. This altar is not for sacrifice to other Gods. This altar is to remind our children of the God that we all serve. We built it to be a witness between your people and our people, that we serve the same God. The altar is not for the purpose of rebelling against the Lord, but as a witness to the power of God.
When the delegation from Shiloh returned home with the news, everyone was relieved. “The report pleased the Israelites and the Israelites blessed God and no longer talked of war.” The altar on the eastern side of the Jordan was called Witness.
Did you detect any of the five principles in this story?
Questions For Reflection:
1. Do any of the principles connect with your experience?
• Have you seen one of the principles acted out in real life?
• Can you think of a circumstance in which thinking about the principle could be useful?
2. Sometimes conflicts cannot be resolved because one or more parties won’t communicate and won’t cooperate.
• How should we respond as Christians to this circumstance in our work place
• How should we respond as Christians to this circumstance in our Christian community?
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Stress: Lesson 2
Lesson from January 13
This week, I had a conversation with a young friend who reminded me of some of the stresses of families of persons of your stage of life. In this particular family, both husband and wife have executive positions, they have several small children, they have strong connections to extended family … and in the midst of their life together, it is hard to find a moment of personal time. In thinking about this family, I remembered my own family in the mid-eighties. We lived in Cary, North Carolina. Every morning we saw a 6 year old and eight year old off to school, Claire began a 25 mile commute to Chapel Hill, North Carolina where she was a graduate student, and I drove 8 miles to my first supervisory job, a job in which I supervised 4 women 20 years older than myself. Along the side, we were trying to care for Claire’s parents who were in ill health in north Georgia. It was a time of life filled with stress. We are going to spend a little time for the next several weeks seeking God’s guidance on ways to lower the level of that stress and at the least, make it more productive in our lives.
In the first lesson on Stress that Karen Clarke taught on December 30, the lesson turned around one of my favorite passages in the Bible;
“Rejoice in the Lord always.” Again I say, “Rejoice!”
Let your gentleness be shown to all. The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your wishes be known to God.
And the peace of God that passes all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Phillipians 4:4-7
Three points:
· Paul’s prescription for anxiety is reliable. He is in prison facing execution at the time he writes the letter of Phillipians. He knows what stress is!
· The prescription works because when we come into the presence of God in prayer, we find the Lord of Peace who is a good listener.
· The prescription works because in prayer we gain perspective and truth.
End of Review of Last Lesson and Beginning of Lesson 2: Failure Leads to Stress
Although the authors will try to suggest perspectives to help us cope with stress … to overcome stress … they will certainly not act as if stress is not real. Indeed, that is a major point. Stress is real and will severely impact our lives if we do not make progress toward mastering it.
In today’s lesson they go right to a major source of stress … out failures. Sometimes life is stressful, not because of external circumstances, but because of our own failures and errors. And failure is stressful, not just because it is humbling and embarrassing, but because it often has concrete consequences.
The authors then take us to one of the most painful moments of embarrassment and failure in the New Testament.
Reader 1: Matthew 26: 31-35
Reader 2: Matthew 26: 69-75
Before we think further about this scripture, let’s see if we can see ourselves in it.
Reader 3: Read John 21:15 – 17
Our authors believe that in these scripturse we get important perspectives about how God sees our failures:
· While Jesus does not affirm our failures … he nonetheless anticipates them. He knows who we are.
· Jesus believes in us despite our failures.
· Jesus sees our failure and shame.
· Jesus forgives us our failure.
Conclusion:
The quarterly tells a very poignant story from the 1996 Olympics. The long jump gold medalist from the 1992 Olympics, Mike Powell, is competing against Carl Lewis. Powell is behind and is coming up for his last jump. In the previous jump he pulled a muscle so he can only limp as he rushes toward the board. In an instant, Powell lifts off and then due to a wave of pain, crashes face down in the sand far from the point he needed to reach. The camera focuses on Powell as he grimaces with pain and as he pulled himself out of the sand. Then the camera follows him as he limps away from the competition, dragging his injured leg. No coach comes to console him, no trainer comes to provide atowel to wipe sand and grime from his face. It was a very telling picture of a man buried deep in his failure with no hope for redemption or reconciliation.
This is our antidote against the stress induced by our failure. We are not necessarily insured against the natural consequences of our failure. We may lose relationship with other people, we may lose the gold medal, but we do not lose relationship with God. God will meet us with towel and comfort as we limp away from the fray. God comes to us in our failure and offers forgiveness … but also offers reconciliation.
This week, I had a conversation with a young friend who reminded me of some of the stresses of families of persons of your stage of life. In this particular family, both husband and wife have executive positions, they have several small children, they have strong connections to extended family … and in the midst of their life together, it is hard to find a moment of personal time. In thinking about this family, I remembered my own family in the mid-eighties. We lived in Cary, North Carolina. Every morning we saw a 6 year old and eight year old off to school, Claire began a 25 mile commute to Chapel Hill, North Carolina where she was a graduate student, and I drove 8 miles to my first supervisory job, a job in which I supervised 4 women 20 years older than myself. Along the side, we were trying to care for Claire’s parents who were in ill health in north Georgia. It was a time of life filled with stress. We are going to spend a little time for the next several weeks seeking God’s guidance on ways to lower the level of that stress and at the least, make it more productive in our lives.
In the first lesson on Stress that Karen Clarke taught on December 30, the lesson turned around one of my favorite passages in the Bible;
“Rejoice in the Lord always.” Again I say, “Rejoice!”
Let your gentleness be shown to all. The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your wishes be known to God.
And the peace of God that passes all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Phillipians 4:4-7
Three points:
· Paul’s prescription for anxiety is reliable. He is in prison facing execution at the time he writes the letter of Phillipians. He knows what stress is!
· The prescription works because when we come into the presence of God in prayer, we find the Lord of Peace who is a good listener.
· The prescription works because in prayer we gain perspective and truth.
End of Review of Last Lesson and Beginning of Lesson 2: Failure Leads to Stress
Although the authors will try to suggest perspectives to help us cope with stress … to overcome stress … they will certainly not act as if stress is not real. Indeed, that is a major point. Stress is real and will severely impact our lives if we do not make progress toward mastering it.
In today’s lesson they go right to a major source of stress … out failures. Sometimes life is stressful, not because of external circumstances, but because of our own failures and errors. And failure is stressful, not just because it is humbling and embarrassing, but because it often has concrete consequences.
The authors then take us to one of the most painful moments of embarrassment and failure in the New Testament.
Reader 1: Matthew 26: 31-35
Reader 2: Matthew 26: 69-75
Before we think further about this scripture, let’s see if we can see ourselves in it.
Reader 3: Read John 21:15 – 17
Our authors believe that in these scripturse we get important perspectives about how God sees our failures:
· While Jesus does not affirm our failures … he nonetheless anticipates them. He knows who we are.
· Jesus believes in us despite our failures.
· Jesus sees our failure and shame.
· Jesus forgives us our failure.
Conclusion:
The quarterly tells a very poignant story from the 1996 Olympics. The long jump gold medalist from the 1992 Olympics, Mike Powell, is competing against Carl Lewis. Powell is behind and is coming up for his last jump. In the previous jump he pulled a muscle so he can only limp as he rushes toward the board. In an instant, Powell lifts off and then due to a wave of pain, crashes face down in the sand far from the point he needed to reach. The camera focuses on Powell as he grimaces with pain and as he pulled himself out of the sand. Then the camera follows him as he limps away from the competition, dragging his injured leg. No coach comes to console him, no trainer comes to provide atowel to wipe sand and grime from his face. It was a very telling picture of a man buried deep in his failure with no hope for redemption or reconciliation.
This is our antidote against the stress induced by our failure. We are not necessarily insured against the natural consequences of our failure. We may lose relationship with other people, we may lose the gold medal, but we do not lose relationship with God. God will meet us with towel and comfort as we limp away from the fray. God comes to us in our failure and offers forgiveness … but also offers reconciliation.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Jan 6, 2008: Class Meeting
Class Social: January 19, “Recycled Christmas”: In the class meeting today, the class decided to revisit a class tradition: The Recycled Christmas Party. Here are the details on the party:
Date and Place: January 19 at home of David and Carla McCorvey
Time: Nursery at church open at 4:30, food laid out at McCorvey's at 5:00 pm
Activities: Shared meal, Exchange of recycled gifts, ... and perhaps visits by noted rock groups!
Food: Chicken Fingers provided by McCorveys. Other dishes provided by guests. [Note: If you are non-cooker, come anyway. You need what your classmates will provide.]
Here are the dishes that were pledged at the class meeting today:
Hagan- dessert
Linton - main dish
Wheeler- fruit salad
McDowell- let them know what is needed [Sarah and John, just make a choice in view of what your see here]
Snider- potatoes or veggies
Everly- Dessert
Murphy- side dish
Larsh- side dish
For More Info: Call Carla or David at 920-8080.
What is a “Recycled Gift?” A “recycled gift” is that unusual Christmas gift that you are not quite sure what to do with. In some cases it will be a very nice gift that just does not fit your persona/your interests/your décor. In other cases, all may have cause to wonder, “why would anyone give this?” The gifts will be exchanged using a very confusing set of rules that you will only understand after you have lost the gift your heart desires (unless Tony Murphy manages to impose order on chaos.)
Final Note: This social will take the place of the Super Bowl social that had been tentatively discussed several weeks ago.
Birthday Info to be posted: In class meeting today, we passed around the roster for the class to get updates on emails, phone numbers, and addresses. [If any class member would like to have your own personalized copy of this roster, email Ed and he will provide it to you]. One piece of information that is on the roster for some families is information about family birthdays. Paul Snider is going to take that information and produce a birthday posting on our class Blog. [It will live under the label Birthdays]. In class today, we gave people the opportunity to signal that they did not want birthdays posted by removing them from the roster. However, several folks (Alfords, Hicks, Maynard, Minceys, West) were not there to remove their birthdays.
Safe Sanctuary Training: Safe Sanctuary training for the Southern Conference of UMC will be held on Saturday, January 26, 2008 at Pittman Park UMC in Statesboro and on Saturday, February 16, 2008 at Waycross First UMC in Waycross. Claire hopes to attend the February 16 training and then work with Amy, Carla, Chrissy and others to produce a training session for the entire church. Before the end of this year, all members of WBUMC who work with children will need to have completed this training.
Curriculum: Many thanks to Karen Clarke for getting us started on the curriculum entitled: Intentional Choices: discovering contentment in stressful times. We will be in this curriculum over the next several weeks.
Special Things Ahead:
We are pleased that on January 27, Pastor John Haney will be our guest teacher.
We are pleased that, should the Wheeler grandchild Natalie be baptized on February 24, Professor Tony Murphy will take the podium to teach that day.
Ski trip is tentatively scheduled for Feb 5-10. Anyone interested, talk to Mitch.
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