HIGHS AND LOWS:
Write down one high and one low from your week in your prayer journal. Pastor Breen or a student volunteer will gather them in prayer.
REVIEW:
What still sticks with you from our lesson on Babylon and Diaspora? If you can’t remember, feel free to consult your one sentence summary in your prayer journal.
CONNECT BIBLE ACTIVITY #1: Turn in your Connect Bible to page 523 and read the paragraph of background information under “Ezra 1:1-4.” Do the activity provided (make a copy for Pastor Breen if you are doing this for homework).
DWELLING IN THE WORD: Ezra 1:1-4
Read Ezra 1:1-4 from the New Revised Standard version of the Bible. Underline things you have questions about. Circle things you like or would like to discuss more.
Content Questions: Answer the following questions as completely as possible (group activity: do this with your parents):
What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?
What is my favorite part of this text? Why?
What stories or memories does this text stir up in you? You might remember a time when you were given permission to do something that you really wanted to do, for example.
What is God doing in this text? What is God up to?
CONNECT BIBLE ACTIVITY #2: Turn in your Connect Bible to page 525 and read the paragraph of background information under “Ezra 3:10-13.” Do the activity provided (make a copy for Pastor Breen if you are doing this for homework).
DWELLING IN THE WORD: Ezra 3:10-13
Read Ezra 3:10-13 from the New Revised Standard version of the Bible. Underline things you have questions about. Circle things you like or would like to discuss more.
Content Questions: Answer the following questions as completely as possible (group activity: do this with your parents):
What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?
What is my favorite part of this text? Why?
What stories or memories does this text stir up in you? You might remember a time when you were both happy and sad at the same time, or a time that you returned home after a long time away, for example.
What is God doing in this text? What is God up to?
BACKGROUND: If Ezra was the priest in charge of the rebuilding of the temple, Nehemiah was the governor sent to defend Jerusalem from all of the outsiders who had come to live in the land while they were away. When he arrived in Jerusalem, the wall around the city was in ruin. He thought that there was no point in rebuilding the temple if they weren’t going to rebuild the wall to defend it. As you might expect, those living in the area opposed this idea, and tried to stop them from this work
DWELLING IN THE WORD: Nehemiah 4:15-23, 6:15-16
Read Nehemiah 4:15-23 & 6:15-16 from the New Revised Standard version of the Bible. Underline things you have questions about. Circle things you like or would like to discuss more.
Content Questions: Answer the following questions as completely as possible (group activity: do this with your parents):
What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?
What is my favorite part of this text? Why?
What stories or memories does this text stir up in you? You might remember a time when you worked from sun-up to sundown on a project, for example.
What is God doing in this text? What is God up to?
DWELLING IN THE WORD: Nehemiah 8:1-12
Read Nehemiah 8:1-12 from the New Revised Standard version of the Bible. Underline things you have questions about. Circle things you like or would like to discuss more.
Content Questions: Answer the following questions as completely as possible (group activity: do this with your parents):
What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?
What is my favorite part of this text? Why?
What stories or memories does this text stir up in you? You might remember a time when you understood a story that you read in the Bible, or finally understood a concept at school, for example.
What is God doing in this text? What is God up to?
OUT LOUD PRAYER: Laughter and Tears
The Israelites who finally returned home to Jerusalem had mixed emotions. They were happy to be home, but also sad for how many years they had been away from God. It was a time of laughter mixed with tears. On one piece of paper, write something that makes you laugh that you would like to thank God for. On a second piece of paper, write something that makes you cry that would you like to give over to God’s care. Pass the first piece of paper to your right, and the second to your left. We will pray for one another’s laughter and tears with whichever prayer requests we have been given.
TALKING TO GOD/TAKING IT HOME
- During this week, in your prayers, try using “God who brings me home” as your title for God to remind you of the role of the prophets. Emphasize “thy will be done” when you pray the Lord’s Prayer.
Deep Roots Confirmation 