Jesus death and resurrection

Today we watched the Jesus DVD and saw the crucifixion and the resurrections scenes.
At the start we saw Jesus with Pilot. He was beaten with whips by the Romans. He later had thorns stuck onto his head. It seemed unfair as Jesus hadn't done anything except help people and heal them.

Pilot offered to release Jesus but instead the people chose Barabus who was a Zealot one of the Jewish rebels. This seemed sad as Barabus was a criminal but Jesus was the son of God who did everything he was told to by God.

We then saw Jesus having the cross beam strapped to him and being lead to the cross where he was nailed to the cross beam and hoisted up onto to the cross itself.
We found some of this difficult to watch and disturbing seeing Jesus suffer like this. It is humbling to think that I was resonsable in part for him having to go through that, and that he loved me enough to do it.

We then saw Mary going to Jesus tomb on the Sunday and finding it empty. At first the disciples assumed that someone had taken the body. Then Peter and John went and remembered Jesus saying he would rise on the third day. Mary went back and found Jesus in the garden. We then saw him appear to the others later. We felt happy when we saw Jesus alive again, and relieved. Jesus is still alive today and can be there for you to support you and help you to have a relationship with Jesus.

Last supper, Jesus arrest and trial.

We watched the next section of the Jesus DVD including the last supper, Jesus going to pray, Judas betraying Jesus to the Jewish authorities. We also saw some of the trial where he was taken to Pilate and Herod.

At the last supper they all seemed to be upset as Jesus was predicting his death. Jesus also said that one of them was going to betray him.
Jesus asked his disciples to stay awake with him as he wrestled with God about what was going to happen. We also saw him being tempted by the Devil to not go through with it and take an easier road.
Judas betrayed Jesus as he had lost confidence in him being a revolutionary. He lead the soldiers and priests to Jesus and showed who he was by kissing him.
Despite lots of goading at the trial Jesus was silent and controlled in his response.

In all of this Jesus followed Gods plan for him even when he was being taken to die. When we know God wants us to do things that are hard we should try to follow Jesus example, for we trust that Gods plan is the best for us.

The build up to Jesus dieing

Today we watched another bit of the Jesus DVD. The first thing we saw was when Jesus was entering Jerusalem and everyone was looking and cheering. We then saw hoe three groups of people were feeling about Jesus.

The Romans wanted peace in Jerusalem but when Jesus came there was no peace at all in Jerusalem and so they either wanted him quiet or dead.
The Jewish authorities were worried that Jesus would cause a revolution and then the Romans would wipe out the Jews so they wanted Jesus gone.
The third group were the Zealots and they were the Jewish rebels who wanted to get rid of the Romans using violence. They wanted Jesus to lead a revolution against the Romans.

However Jesus did not want violence but instead he said Gods plan was for him to die for all the people and this seemed to upset Peter and his mother because they did not understand.

alternative bloggers

During May we were on able to meet once as lots of other things came up.
However when we did meet three of us had a discussion around the commandment to honour your mother and father. We discussed what we thought that meant and what was difficult about it. We also looked at some practical ways we could show kindness to our parents, or try to cause less conflict.
It was a really good meeting but didn't happen in the usual way so this is why I am writing to update you like this.
We appreciate all the comments we get on the blog here and hope to be back soon with some more thoughts.

Jesus heals physically and emotionally

We saw some more of the DVD today. In it we saw Jesus heal a Gentile (non Jewish) womans daughter, have deep chat with Mary Magdalane and heal Lazarus.

First Jesus heals the Gentile womans daughter after some persuasion from her. The disciples seem shocked that he would do that for someone who is not a Jew. Jesus reveals that his ministry is not just for the Jews.

Later Jesus has a conversation with Mary M about how she can be a disciple of his if she speaks for him just like the men, and also that he sins are in the past and she should move on from them.

Finally we see Jesus go to Mary and Martha whose brother Lazarus has died. He seems to have waited too long to save him. However instead Jesus raises him from the dead even though he had been in a tomb for four days and was smelling bad.

So in these stories we see that Jesus can heal people both physically like the Gentile womans daughter and Lazarus and emotionally from their past like with Mary M.
What healing do you need most physical or emotional?

Jesus the amazing, working with the ordinary.

We looked at the next part of the Jesus DVD and we saw Jesus teaching, picking his 12 disciples and going out to the disciples on sea in the storm.

When Jesus was teaching there was a large crowd of people there and he was walking among them, talking about God. He was also talking to them about the poor and how God is there for them as much as the rich and powerful.

When Jesus was picking his 12 disciples he picked the poor and ordinary people and even Matt who was a tax collector (considered a traitor). After when Jesus picked his 12 disciples he gave them some of his powers to heal other people. I think that the others would have felt sad for not being picked, but those who were picked probably felt special.

When Jesus picked his disciples he sent all of the others people home. He then sent his disciples on a boat without him and after that a storm hit them. Then Jesus came to help them by settling the sea, after walking on the sea to get to them. He also said come to all of the disciples and only peter got out of the boat and walked on water with Jesus. I think that the disciples were quite scared when the storm hit them and when Jesus came to them and settled the storm they probably felt amazed when they saw that.

Jesus was an amazing man who did amazing things but with ordinary people.

Jesus respects the dissed

This week we watched some more of the Jesus DVD. We saw a few bits from Jesus life including when he first meets Levi/Matthew the tax collector, Judas Iscariot and Mary Magdeline. We also saw when Jesus deals with the woman caught in adultery. The theme we saw was that Jesus treated people with respect even when other didn't think they deserved it.

Matthew: Everyone though he was a traitor as he was a tax collector for the Romans the occupying nation. Despite this Jesus saw potential in the man and asks him to follow him and gives a chance at a new start.

Judas: Jesus was portrayed as seeming to know that Judas was trouble but accepting him anyway.

The woman caught in adultery: The woman is brought before Jesus to be stoned which was according to the Jewish law. However Jesus turns the tables on those who bring her and asks the one who has never sinned to cast the first stone. They all leave and Jesus says he also doesn't condemn her and gives her a chance at a fresh start.

Mary: See what Jesus did for the other woman and seems to wonder if Jesus will show respect for her too, and starts to think about following him.

Jesus is about giving people new starts not condemning them. We should be the same looking for potential in people not problems.

Miracles

We watched the next part of the Jesus DVD which saw Jesus arriving back from the Desert and finding Andrew and John waiting for him. Jesus then takes them to Benjamin's wedding where we see Jesus laughing, dancing and smiling. This was very strange as we had not imagined Jesus showing these human traits. Jesus was human and would have done all these things. At the wedding Jesus turned the water into wine in front of Andrew and John. There were big vases of wine and it is obvious that Jesus enjoyed a good celebration.

We then saw Jesus going into a boat with Simon, Andrew, John and James who had been fishing all night but came back with no fish. Jesus told them to go back out and he would catch them some fish. Jesus told them to throw the nets out over the side of the boat and to then pull them back in straightaway. The nets were full of fish. Jesus said to Simon to follow him and he would make them fishers of men. It was unbelievable the amount of fish that were caught straightaway.

The last miracle we saw was Jesus healing a man's legs. There were lots of people following Jesus by this time. There were lots of whisperings about Jesus calling himself the Messiah and many people did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. A man came out and asked Jesus to heal his son, Jesus looked really sad for the man and healed him. Thomas shouted that Jesus was a fake and was only doing this for money. When Jesus healed the man, the man was in great pain. This was very surprising as we had not thought that pain would be involved in healing, but it seemed to make sense as the bones had to be healed.

We thought that Jesus performed these miracles to show people that he was the "real deal" as many people were doubting whether the Messiah had come.

Getting baptised and the Red Devil

Today we watched another half an hour of the of the Jesus video. In this half an hour we watched Jesus getting baptised by John the Baptist and also Jesus getting tempted by the devil in the desert.
In the film we saw Jesus talking to John about getting baptised. John was trying to start a revival and get people to think about how right with God they were. Jesus asks John to baptise him. When Jesus got baptised God spoke from Heaven and transferred some of his powers onto Jesus. This point was where Jesus started his ministry and began his work for God.
Straight away the spirit led him into the desert for 40 days and nights where Jesus wanted to get right with God and fast and pray before he starts with his ministry. While he is doing this, and is hungry and thirsty and at his weakest, the devil comes in and tempts him. The devil was trying to get Jesus to turn stones into bread, bow down to him and prove to the people that he was Jesus and had these amazing powers. But if he had done these things people would kind of respect him in fear or because they wanted stuff from him, instead of believeing in him and following his teachings. All the choices in a way would have affected the message he put across. But he shouted at the devil and resisted and quoted scripture to stay strong.

I think it would have been very hard for Jesus to resist the devil, especcially when he was at his weakest point. But I think that it seems silly for the devil even to think that he could tempt Jesus. It shows how strong Jesus was and how he knew that his calling was so much higher than anything the devil could offer.

Father and Son

Today we looked at a DVD called Rain. In the DVD a father and his baby go on a walk to a river through a woods. When the father looked up at the sky he saw clouds so he started walking back the way they had come and then all of a sudden it started to rain and thunder and lighting appeared. The baby started to cry because he was scared of all the thunder and lighting. When the father heard the baby crying he took the baby off his back and kneeled on the floor and picked him up. He then started walking again and the father keep on whispering in the baby ear (i love you).

What I thought it meant is that the father was representing God and the baby was representing us for example poeple. So when the father is holding the baby it means God is holding us when we are going though rough times. God is with us in all the hard times of life and he can help us to get through them. He wants us to hear him saying he loves us and he knows the way home, like the father in the clip.

If you want to see the video clip check out this website. It is excellent and well worth taking the 10 minutes to watch.

Serving Others

Today we looked at Phillipians 2:5 - 11.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

We talked about how this verse was saying that Jesus came down to earth, even though he was a heavenly being, and humbled himself in order to die for us. He died on the cross, which at the time this was written, was the worst and most shameful way to die (a criminals death) and people would have been throwing things at him and calling him names. This passage calls us to be like Jesus and serve others, which he did on earth before he died.

We also looked at James 1:27.

Anyone who sets himself up as "religious" by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

We decided that this means that the people who we need to serve are those who need our help such as people who may not have much money, homeless people, care for people who are having a bad day or get picked on by others, helping out at home if your parents are very busy. It all is very simple and easy to do. Just being kind to one another also is serving.

Today is Random Acts of Kindness Day. And there is a Random acts of kindness website that has a lot of inspiring ways to be kind to others!

They can't imprison the message

We looked at a passage in the Bible which is in Philippians chapter 1 verses 1 - 21. The section is written by Paul from prison. He has been arrested for talking to people about God. Despite being in prison he seems really upbeat and is using it to talk to all the soldiers about God.
We are lucky that we live in a free society, and wont get arrested for our faith.
Also Paul was not being overcome by his circumstances but overcame them and used them for God. When we struggle do we look for opportunities to do Gods work or focus on ourselves.

The Manga Bible

Today we looked at some sections in the Manga Bible to give us an different view on the Bible.
Some of us thought that having the pictures in it made it more interesting to read. The characters are shown as looking really cool and buff which is quite cool too. It is god to see things from a different perspective sometimes to make you think. Even if you don't agree with everything it is good to get you thinking.
I have been reading it for a while and really enjoy it. It is a good way to get an overview of the story of the Bible.

Jesus as a man

This week we have been watching the first part of a film about Jesus' life. The film is called Jesus and is part of the Time Life series on the Bible. See here for more info. See here to buy.

This first part of the film focuses on Jesus and his family before he starts his time in ministry, while he is still at home. During this Jesus dad Joseph died. We see Jesus grieving his dads death. In the Bible it doesn't say that Joseph died but he is also not mentioned in Jesus later life. So it could be assumed that he does die some where along the line. It brought home how much Jesus was a man from a family with friends and commitments around him. It made us think about how Jesus though being the son of God was also a man with struggles like other people.

The film also depicted Mary (sister of Martha) having a crush on Jesus and how he had to tell her that he could not be with her because God was calling him, and his life was not his own. It also made us think of the weight that would have been on his shoulders seeing how the Romans were treating the Jews but having to wait to know when to act. In the film he did not have any brothers or sisters and so was leaving his mother on her own when he left, which was hard for him. In the Bible it seems to show that Jesus did have brothers and sisters but as the oldest his mother would be his responsibility.

Please add your thoughts on this!

The image of gold and the fiery furnace

We looked at the story in Daniel 3 about three God geezers surviving a mega hot fiery furnace. They were put in a fiery furnace because they did not obey the King when he asked them to bow down to a big statue. This is alot like what we were thinking about yesterday. In fact in North Korea there is a statue today that people have to bow down to. But Christians don't and they are killed for their faith.

This makes me feel well sad/bad. Why can't people just accept other peoples beliefs.

What do you think?

People who suffer for their beliefs

On Sunday night their was a service run in a local church by a guy from Open Doors about people around the world who are persecuted for being Christians.

So for our Bible study this week we are praying for the persecuted church!

So here is abit of info about what we were praying about, (taken from OpenDoors Frontline magazine, Jan 09).

More Christians have been killed in the 20th century, than had been killed for the whole of the previous history of the Christianity (0 AD to 1900).

60% of those killed are children.

200 million suffer per year for the Christian faith.

India: Orissa

Since August at least 60 Christians have been murdered - some say up to 500; 18,000 injured; 4500 houses ad churches destroyed;more than 50,000 people forced out of their homes, with an estimated 15,000 people remaining in refugee camps. The EU has described it as a 'massacre' of Christians. The Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, called it a 'National Shame'.

We then spent some time praying for these issues and suggest that you do the same!!!

Feel free to add comments with info about other areas of the world for prayer.

Serving others

We looked at Mark 10 v 35 - 45 where James and John were asking Jesus if they could have places of honour sitting on Jesus left and right, when he is on his throne of glory.

Jesus then says that those who are leaders must be servants, those who want to be first must serve everyone else.

We then looked at the following questions:

1. What are James and John's motives for their question?
2. Do we have similar motives?
3. What does Jesus mean by 'drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering'?
4. How will James and John share in it?
5. If you were one of the other disciples how would you feel?
6. What does it mean to be the slave of all?

Results from discussion:

1. Some thought that the brothers were being egotistical and wanted the most reward. Others thought maybe they wanted to be close to Jesus.
2. Sometimes we can try to do good things because we want to be rewarded.
3. Jesus knows he will be killed and that those who follow will also suffer. He was telling them what lay in store for them which they did not really understand. When they talked about wanting to be on his left and right, those that actually were with him when he was dying where those being crucified either side of him.
4. They would have suffered persecution and would probably have been killed, certainly many of the disciples were martyred.
5. Annoyed because they were trying to put themselves before you and say they were more important. Maybe worried that there was going to be suffering in my future as well.
6. Difficult to serve so many people when there is just one of you who is serving for everybody else. Would be a humbling experience. Would mean you had to be leading with everyone elses benfit in mind.

What is this all about?!

This is our first blog, we will be trying to add blogs regularly written by a mix of our young people and our team. We will be adding blogs about different spiritual relfections and welcome your comments and insights.

Ben Hyde
GYFC