Teaching Like Jesus

At Saturday's training we looked at ten qualities that made Jesus such a great teacher. Here are the first three we looked at:

Jesus had a personal relationship with the Father.

• Read John 5:16-47; 8; 10;14-17. Jesus through out the book of John refers to His Father and the relationship He has with Him. Jesus' teaching was grounded in the ultimate Truth - that of a personal relationship with God. He was sent by God.
• We as teachers (and we are all teachers even if our title is just "assistant") must have a personal relationship with Christ. To not have a relationship with Him and then to teach is likes someone trying to teach fishing who has only read about fish in a book and doesn't own a fishing pole. We are not called to perfection (to continue the analogy, an "expert fisherman") but we are called to a relationship with Christ (again to continue the analogy, we should own a "fishing pole").
• You and I have been sent to "make disciples". Matthew 28:19

Possessed knowledge of the Scriptures.

• Throughout the Gospels Jesus quoted from the Scriptures (the Old Testament: the Torah, the Psalms, and the Prophets.
• Read Matthew 4 and Luke 4. Jesus used Scripture to defeat the enemy.
• He used the Scriptures to show the people God's plan of redemption.
• Jesus used Scriptures (Matthew 5:21-48) to help the people see that God's law was not being done away with but being complete in Him. He was moving us forward from the Law.
• We need to study the Scriptures and our lessons. We need to be prepared to share with our kids how the Bible is true and relevant to their lives.
• We need to be able to use all of the Scriptures to teach the kids about God's plan of redemption through Christ and how Christ desires us to move forward and live holy.

Spoke with authority.

• Throughout the Gospels Jesus is seen commanding the demons. Just a brief walk through Mark and you see the word 'commanded' numerous times, often followed by the word 'immediately' signify that Jesus was both a man of action and man for whom things happened as He said with no hesitation. Read Matthew 9:36, 14:14, 15:32, 20:34; Mark 1:41, 6:34, 8:2; Luke 7:13, 10:33.
• The disciples marveled that the "even the winds and waves obey Him". Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41
• Jesus' authority came from the two preceding qualities: a relationship with God and a knowledge of the Scriptures. Both of these qualities gave Him His mission: to seek and to save what was lost & to preach good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
• Our authority comes when we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ - when we experience it first hand - and when become a continuous student of the Scriptures. It is there - in our relationship and in the Scriptures- that we are given our mission. Our mission is to follow in our Savior's footsteps and proclaim the good news.

3 down; 7 to go.

Questions to think on/ask yourself:

1. Do I have a personal relationship with Christ? In other words, have I made a decision that I am going to follow Him?
2. Do I talk to God other than when I am in trouble or in need?
3. When was the last time I thanked Him both for who He is and for what He has done for me?
4. When was the last time I shared with Him my dreams and ideas and concerns?
5. How often do I bring to Him the needs of others?
6. Do I spend time studying God's Word?
7. Do I look over the lesson for the weekend in advance or do I wait till that morning?
8. Do I look for ways to apply what I am learning through my reading, through the kids' lessons, through the sermons each weekend?
9. Am I living holy? This doesn't mean perfection but rather attempting to live in a way that is "whole"/"complete", that is pleasing to Christ, that is good and just and right?
10. When I fail - as we all do - do I seek God's forgiveness, comfort and wisdom on how to continue and move forward with Him?
11. Do I know how to study God's Word?
12. If not or if I am unsure, am I asking for help? (There are many different ways to study and learn God's Word. There is no one "right" way. If you are interested in ways to help you learn more from God's Word email me or keep an eye on the blog for more posts about that.
13. Am I lacking confidence?
14. Have I asked Christ to give me confidence and wisdom when teaching?