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Curriculum > Youth > Year 3 > Lesson 18

CONCEPTS IN LESSON

Review what it meant to be a disciple in 1st century Israel - including that the disciple was to do what their teacher did.
Review main teaching points from last two classes: Jesus taught the disciples to pray and to put Jesus first.
Highlight how the disciples, by following Jesus' teachings (prayer and putting Jesus/God first), were able to do what Jesus did and because of it, were really good representatives of Jesus.

SUPPLIES NEEDED

Device that allows class to view this video clip (from the remake of Karate Kid)

OPENING PRAYER

OPENING QUESTION

We start today’s class with the opening question. One of the teachers will ask the question and then to give you some time to think of an answer, the teacher asking the question will also answer first to give you some time to think.
Once the teacher answers the question, we'll go around the circle.
When it's your turn, start with your name and then answer the question to the best of your ability.
Here's this week's question: What is something you have been practicing for awhile and you feel like you are pretty good at?

TELL

So in our two previous classes, we've talked about Jesus and his disciples
One of the things that we've discussed is how Jesus was not the only teacher in his time. There were many teachers in his time and place.
And, most of those teachers had disciples - in the Gospel of John, we learn that even John the Baptist had disciples.
The idea of being a disciple to any of the teachers at that time was that you would learn from your teacher (or "rabbi") by following the teacher, listening to the teacher, asking the teacher questions and doing what the teacher did.
It was more like being an apprenticeship than being a student at school
Thinking of Jesus as a teacher, then, one of the things to think about is "What did Jesus teach his disciples?"
In our first class, we looked at how Jesus taught his disciples to put him first (and by doing so, would be putting God first since Jesus is/was putting God first in his life).
Last class we talked about how Jesus taught his disciples about prayer AND a summary of the good news that Jesus shared - by teaching them what we now call The Lord's Prayer.
In today's story, we're going to look at what happens for the disciples when they practice following Jesus, and put their practice of prayer and seeking the Kingdom of God into action.

TRANSITION TO VIDEO CLIP

But first, we're going to watch a video clip from the Karate Kid (the remake).
In it, Dre, played by Jaden Smith, has to learn Kung Fu because he's going to be in a tournament.
(if you're wondering why "the karate kid" is learning "kung fu" - join the club!!! I have no idea…Hollywood)
The gardener, Mr. Han, played by Jackie Chan, has agreed to teach Dre kung fu.
The clip begins with their first training session together.
Let's see how that first lesson goes and what happens afterwards
Note: The clip is about twice as long as most of the clips we watch - so sit back and enjoy the film!

WATCH VIDEO CLIP

ASK – answers are in parenthesis

So at the beginning of the clip, before his training had started, what did Dre want Mr. Han to know? (that he was a pretty good athlete and already had a number of things figured out)
Did Mr. Han use any of the techniques that Dre claimed to know? (No)
In the first lesson, what DID Mr. Han teach Dre? (how to pick up his coat, put on his coat, take his coat off, and then hang it up)
Did this seem like a strange thing for Mr. Han to be teaching Dre? (Certainly seemed strange at first)
Did Dre seem to like it? (No)
Did Dre understand it? (No)
Did Dre keep doing what he was supposed to? (Mostly yes, though not happily)
So Dre listened to his teacher and it didn't make sense to him, but because he listened, what happened? What did all that practice turn into at the end of the clip? (Something different/better than what Dre thought he was doing)
At the end of the clip when all that practice is working out for Dre, did it seem like he could even believe it? (his verbal responses and facial expressions suggest that he couldn't believe what was happening)
What Dre could do at the end of the clip was pretty impressive. However, do you think he's learned all that he needs to know? (No, not at all)
But, now that Dre has a taste of what he can do, do you think he'll keep practicing? (Seems likely - at the end of the clip, he goes back to practicing with the coat)

TRANSITION TO SCRIPTURE

The video clip helps capture what it means to follow Jesus and be a disciple of Jesus (except for the fighting stuff).
There's a lot of practice involved and sometimes it seems like no progress is being made - In the Bible stories, it certainly seems like the disciples are always making mistakes or misunderstanding something.
But in today's scripture reading, they have a moment like we saw Dre have at the end the video clip: They get a glimpse of the end result of all their practice.

READ SCRIPTURE: LUKE 10:1-17

Recommend class reads it out loud; one person per verse

Luke 10:1 After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2 He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.

4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house!' 6 And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'

10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.' 12 I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town. 13 "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But at the judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades. 16"Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me."

17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!"

ASK – answers are in parenthesis

Is there anything you find interesting or weird about this story? [to teachers: You don't necessarily need to answer what they notice or have questions about - sometimes just agree with a, "yep, that's interesting" or a, "Yeah, I find that to be weird, too" works]
Verse 1 - how many disciples does Jesus appoint? (70 - that's a reminder that Jesus had more than 12 disciples. The 12 disciples though can be considered his main/more dedicated followers)
Verse 1 again - Where does Jesus send them (to places he had intended to go himself)
Verse 9 - who are the disciples supposed to cure? (the sick)
Verse 9 again - what news are the disciples supposed to share? (that the kingdom of God has come near)
Who else did these sort of things of going into towns, healing the sick, and teaching that the Kingdom of God has come near? (Jesus)
In verse 17 - what kind of experience did the disciples have? (It worked! Even the demons submitted to them)
Does it sound like the disciples are surprised? (Yes - just like Dre was surprised)
Are you surprised to hear the disciples can do the same things that Jesus was doing?

TELL

It sounds like having the disciples practice the things that Jesus taught them worked!
And, hopefully this seems very similar to the movie clip that we just watched: That the disciples are experiencing the fruits of their hard work and practice just like Dre did.
Now, this doesn't mean the disciples are ready to become a teacher like Jesus, yet, but the moment in today's story helps them to know that they are well on their way and that they just need to keep practicing.
And, because the disciples ARE learning to be and do like Jesus, then that means they are essentially becoming an extension of Jesus.
Meaning: The people in the towns and villages that the disciples visited might never meet Jesus, BUT if the disciples are doing the same things and saying the same things as Jesus, then it is as if Jesus, himself, is interacting with the people of the village.
HOWEVER - and this is very important -- if the disciples aren't as well practiced as Jesus then the people who are interacting with the disciple (and not Jesus) will be less impressed by this Jesus guy because his disciples aren't very good. If the disciples are kind of lame and useless, then why pay attention to their leader?
Thinking back to our movie clip - if Dre fights poorly, then no one would want to train with his teacher, Mr. Han.
But if Dre fights well, then other students will probably want to train with Mr. Han, too.

In case it comes up

RE: the demons - a number of things that we have medical names for, things like grand mal seizures and schizophrenia and even simple things like high fevers - the people in Jesus' time did not have specific names for. So when your body/mind was taken over by these types of things, the name the name they would use was "demons."

TRANSITION TO ACTIVITY

To help us think some more about this concept of the disciples being extensions of Jesus, let's do the following activity.

EXPLAIN "IDENTIFY THE LEADER" ACTIVITY

One person is going to be "IT" and must leave the room.
The rest of the class then will then sit in a circle and choose one person to be their leader.
Once the leader is chosen, the rest of the circle must imitate as closely as possible everything that the leader does: How the leader sits, how arms are crossed, how legs are arranged, etc. EVERYTHING must be copied.
Also, you don't want the whole group to stare at the leader, so you might want to set up a daisy chain where everyone is watching someone else - so if the leader moves, then the rest of the group can move too.
The leader will need to move in ways that the group can copy, like tapping their foot, and will then need to change to another action on a pretty regular basis. The idea is that the leader will always be moving (while sitting down) and should be pretty easy to follow in the movement they are doing.
(Note: You might want to encourage the leader to do rhythmic motions - like start clapping their hands so that when the "IT" person comes in, the whole circle is clapping their hands)
Then the person who is "IT" is called back into the room and must observe the class and try to figure out who the leader is.
Again, please note that the leader needs to do things, can't just sit still and do nothing.
But at the same time, the leader doesn't want to be "discovered" -- so the leader might want to make slow movements so that the rest of the group can keep up.
The "IT" person gets three guesses (depending on size of group - if there are only 3 people in the group, then the IT person should only get 1 chance).
We'll do this two or three times with different ITs and Leaders -- time permitting.

DO "IDENTIFY THE LEADER" ACTIVITY

ASK / TELL

Did we get better at being leaders and followers? (yes)
And as we got better at being leaders and followers, was it more difficult for the "IT" person to tell who the leader was? (hopefully -- yes!)
So that's how it's supposed to work with Jesus and his disciples as well. There should be very little difference between them and him.
Because then, the followers/disciples are more clearly conveying who Jesus is to people who don't know Jesus.
And as we see in today's story and lesson, as the disciples practice practice practice what Jesus teaches and does, then it makes whatever difference there is between them and Jesus less noticeable.
For us, if we choose to be disciples of Jesus, this is an aspect of the choice that we are making: We are choosing to be an extension of Jesus. To represent Jesus. That's the end result.
And the exciting thing we see in today's story is that it is very much possible.

CLOSING PRAYER

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Luke 10:1-17

The Disciples Do Ministry Like Jesus

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