LOVE WILL GUIDE US
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children
SESSION 4: LOVE IN OUR CONGREGATION
BY REV. ALICE ANACHEKA-NASEMANN AND CATHY CARTWRIGHT
© Copyright 2010 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 11/8/2014 2:15:05 AM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
SESSION OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life. — Jane Addams, American social activist and 1931 Nobel Peace Prize recipient
The session focuses on the fourth Source of Unitarian Universalism, expressed in children's language as "Jewish and Christian teachings which tell us to love all others as we love ourselves." Jesus called on his followers to live in service to those in need; this service strengthens community. Children hear a story of Jesus' life and explore the concept of community. Alternate Activity 3 offers an introduction to reading the Bible.
GOALS
This session will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
SESSION-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Welcoming and Entering | 0 |
Opening | 7 |
Activity 1: Group Sculpture | 18 |
Activity 2: Story — Meet Jesus | 15 |
Activity 3: What is Community? | 12 |
Faith In Action: Celebrating Community | |
Closing | 8 |
Alternate Activity 1: Sharing Joys and Concerns | 7 |
Alternate Activity 2: UU Source Constellation — Jewish and Christian Teachings | 10 |
Alternate Activity 3: How to Use the Bible | 15 |
Alternate Activity 4: Bookmarks — The Parable of the Mustard Seed | 10 |
Alternate Activity 5: One Body | 15 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
Center yourself with your personal beliefs and the calling you have found, as a Unitarian Universalist religious education leader, to offer choices for our children. Recall our fourth Principle, "The free and responsible search for truth and meaning." Christianity, at times, brings up strong feelings for some Unitarian Universalists. Take a moment to realize Jesus' ultimate message to the world was love, and we offer love to our children every time we gather. Reflect on the love expressed by some followers of Jesus, including Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa. Take those positive thoughts to the gathering today.
SESSION PLAN
WELCOMING AND ENTERING
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity is for congregations where participants do not arrive in a group but individually before the session actually begins, and the expectation is that children will arrive at different times. Welcome participants as they arrive and gather them in groups of three or four around newsprint and markers. Invite each small group to draw a picture together.
A second co-leader should greet any new parents and explain the plans for the day and any arrangements for pick up.
Including All Participants
This is an excellent time for co-leaders to notice the abilities and temperament of each child. Note how they respond to you. Are they shy and reticent? Are they anxious and jumpy? Invite a parent to share any concerns and pertinent information, including information about children's allergies. Do you have a sign-in sheet? As the children settle in, co-leaders should review the names of the children attending and share any issues that may need special attention during the session.
OPENING (7 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather the children in a circle. Distribute Handout 1, Ten Million Stars, or point out the words printed on newsprint. Light the chalice and invite the group to read the words together responsively.
Referring to the Night Sky display, say in your own words:
When people first began to ponder the night sky, they wondered, "What are stars and why are they there? Why do they move?" "Where did I come from? How did life begin? Why am I here?" Although the sky did not give the answers, people used the stars as symbols for their beliefs about the important questions in their lives.
When people looked at their night sky, they saw patterns and pictures in the way the stars were arranged. Thousands of years ago, the Greeks and Romans, Chinese and Arabs, Native Americans, and other people all around the world named these constellations for gods they worshipped, animals they relied on, and everyday scenes from their lives.
Indicate the Big Dipper. Invite the children to discover the pattern of a dipping spoon. Say:
We call this constellation the Big Dipper. If we lived in Southern France, we would call it a Saucepan. Do you see the saucepan?
Ask the children what other pictures they see. Encourage them to imagine the constellation upside down. Tell them:
To the Skidi Pawnee Indians, this constellation looked like a sick man being carried on a stretcher.
To the ancient Maya, it was a mythological parrot named Seven Macaw.
To the Hindu, it looked like Seven Wise Men.
To the early Egyptians, it was the thigh and leg of a bull.
To the ancient Chinese, it was the chariot of the Emperor of Heaven.
The Micmac Indians saw a bear instead of the scoop, and hunters tracking the bear instead of the handle.
Now say:
People discovered how to use the stars to guide them when travelling. Knowing the constellations in the night sky helped them find the direction they wanted to go.
In the 19th century, people who were kept as slaves in the Southern states gave the Big Dipper a new name: the Drinking Gourd. This constellation became a symbol of freedom. Slaves who escaped knew they could travel at night, following the Drinking Gourd, to get to the Northern states where they would be free.
Say, while pointing to the North Star:
This one star does not move much in the Night Sky. The earth rotates and orbits around the sun, but this star, the North Star, is located directly above the North Pole, so it seems to always stay in the same place in the sky. Travelers without a map, a compass, or a GPS can use the North Star to know where they are and where they are going.
For Unitarian Universalists, love is like the North Star.
Now indicate the poster you have made of the seven Sources. Say, in your own words:
We let love and our Sources guide us, like stars in the night sky guide travelers. We use the wisdom of many Sources to help us answer the big questions about what we believe, just like ancient peoples used the stars.
Explain, or remind the children, that a "source" has to do with origin, or beginning. When we talk about the sources of our beliefs, this means we are talking about where our beliefs begin and how we get ideas. Say, in your own words:
Jewish and Christian teachings are one of our Unitarian Universalist Sources. Today we are talking about Christian teachings, especially Jesus' message of love. Christianity is one of the many world religions we can learn from that offer this same message, "to love one another as we love ourselves."
Distribute (or indicate, if posted) the "Love Will Guide Us" lyrics. Sing "Love Will Guide Us" together.
Collect handouts/newsprint for use in future sessions.
Including All Participants
For participants who are not fluent readers, take time to teach the opening words and song aurally, so children can come to know them from memory.
Use an LED chalice to avoid fire hazard and to include participants who are sensitive to smoke or scents.
ACTIVITY 1: GROUP SCULPTURE (18 MINUTES)
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
A group must work together to create "sculptures" using only their bodies. Of course, teamwork and togetherness are the most important elements of success. The goal is to create community spirit.
Invite four or more participants to be a sculpture. Gather everyone else to be an audience. Explain that the small group will have a very short period (30 seconds to one minute is suggested) to create a sculpture and it must include everyone in the group. The sculpture can be moving or still. Tell the small group whether or not they can talk to each other; keeping the children silent while they make a sculpture is one way to invite a group's usual leaders to become followers and shy folks to participate more actively.
Call out an object from your list. Then count down the time. Say "stop" when time is up. Observe the result. Then call out the next object. Keep the pace swift. After calling out a half dozen or so, stop and give a big round of applause. Have the group switch with participants in the audience so others get a turn. Repeat, to give all who wish a turn in a sculpture group.
Follow up with these questions:
Including All Participants
If someone is physically challenged, place them safely in the sculpture area and invite the group to create the sculptures including them.
ACTIVITY 2: STORY — MEET JESUS (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather participants in a circle in the storytelling area and show them the story basket. Say something like, "Let's see what's in our story basket this week."
Tell the group the items in the story basket will be placed on this table after the children have passed them around the circle. Take the story-related items from the basket, one at a time, and pass them around. Objects that are fragile, or which should not be passed around for any reason, can be held up for all to see and then placed directly on the table.
Name each object and ask a wondering question about each one, e.g., "Who knows why sheep stay together in their flock? Does anyone know what a Torah is? Who is this a statue of? What religion uses a cross for their symbol? What is a symbol for Unitarian Universalism?"
As items come back to you, display them on the table. Then say, in your own words:
Today we are exploring the Christian message of love that comes from Jesus' teachings. Unitarian Universalists believe it is important to love all others as we love ourselves. That is why Jesus' teachings about love are part of our fourth Source.
Remove the sound instrument from the story basket. Tell the children that every time you tell a story, you will first use the instrument to help them get their ears, their minds, and their bodies ready to listen. Invite them to sit comfortably and close their eyes (if they are comfortable doing so). You may tell them that closing their eyes can help them focus just on listening. If someone is unable to close their eyes or sit still, invite them to hold one of the story basket items or an item from the fidget basket. In a calm voice, say:
As you breathe in, feel your body opening up with air. As you breathe out, feel yourself relaxing.
Repeat this once or twice and then say:
When I hit the chime (turn the rain stick over), listen as carefully as you can. See how long you can hear its sound. When you can no longer hear it, open your eyes and you will know it is time for the story to begin.
Sound the chime or other instrument. When the sound has gone, begin telling the story. Read or tell the story slowly, like a meditation. Use the rain stick again to indicate that the story is over.
Then, ask:
Including All Participants
Make sure everyone has an opportunity to experience the items in the basket, whether by sight or touch.
You may wish to make fidget objects available to children who find it difficult to sit still while listening to a story or can focus better with sensory stimulation. Remind children where the fidget basket is before you begin the "centering" part of this activity. (For a full description and guidance, see Session 1, Leader Resource 4.)
Consider using rug squares in the storytelling area. Place them in a semi-circle with the rule "One person per square." This can be very helpful for controlling active bodies.
ACTIVITY 3: WHAT IS COMMUNITY? (12 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather the group and say, in your own words:
Jesus preached that community is important. He did so with his message of love. When he gathered his disciples to help him teach, Jesus was creating community.
Ask the children if they know what a community is. Can they give examples? A community can be a neighborhood, a school, a classroom at school, friends at work (for adults), Girl Scout or Campfire clubs, and sports teams. A community can also be a congregation or a religious education group.
Now ask the children: What is a community? What does it have? Invite them to think about the communities they gave as examples. List attributes that various communities share. Add, if they do not suggest:
Ask participants to think of ways their group is a community. Add any new ideas to the list.
Use the list and the definition of "community" you found to summarize a definition of a community that applies to this group. You may choose talk about what it means to be part of a community: Why does someone choose to be in Scouts? Do they feel their neighborhood is a community? How? Why do we choose certain communities and not others? Can we be in more than one community (e.g., your family, your neighborhood, your school, your congregation)? Does everyone in a community have to think alike? Look alike?
Now ask the group:
Including All Participants
For participants who may lose focus during this discussion, provide the fidget basket.
CLOSING (8 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Our Unitarian Universalist beliefs come from Jewish and Christian teachings that tell us to love all others as we love ourselves.
Description of Activity
Gather participants at work tables. Invite them each to decorate a Source Star to take home and share with their family. You might suggest they draw a cross and/or a heart to symbolize Jesus' teachings about love. As children work, attach one star that says "We learn from Jewish and Christian teachings" to the Night Sky.
When children are done, gather them in a circle. Say, in your own words:
Today we learned from Christian teachings. Jesus showed his followers how to love others as they would love themselves. He showed how love helps a community and everyone in it.
Indicate the fourth Source words you have posted on newsprint. Invite the children to follow along quietly as you read aloud:
Our Unitarian Universalist beliefs come from the Jewish and Christian teachings that tell us to love all others as we love ourselves.
Pause and invite volunteers to give an example of what that Source means.
If you wish to sing "Our Sources," distribute Session 1, Handout 3 or indicate the newsprint where you have posted the lyrics. Teach/lead the song, with a musical volunteer if you have invited someone to help. You might play the music clip of "Our Sources" for the children to sing along.
Distribute Taking It Home and thank participants.
Save the Night Sky display and the handouts/newsprint to use next time.
Including All Participants
At this age, children have a wide range of reading ability. Do not put individual children on the spot to read aloud.
FAITH IN ACTION: CELEBRATING COMMUNITY
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
The purpose of this Faith in Action is to celebrate community together. Photos and archival information will help people who have been involved for a long time to remember. Those who are new can learn the stories. By gathering to share a meal, the group "breaks bread" as community.
Before the meal, welcome everyone and explain that this is a Faith in Action activity in a program for 2nd- and 3rd-graders called Love Will Guide Us. Tell the group this gathering celebrates community while helping us recognize part of our fourth Source, Jewish and Christian teachings. Tell everyone the children learned that Jesus' message of love is one of the many sources that guide us as Unitarian Universalists.
Begin your meal together with a prayer. You might use this Christian blessing:
Thank you for the food we eat,
Thank you for the friends we meet.
Thank you for the birds that sing,
Thank you, God, for everything.
During the meal, encourage people to tell stories about the congregational community. Afterward, show the video and invite everyone to look at the display.
Close by gathering in a circle, holding hands (if comfortable) and saying:
Today we celebrate the spirit of community. Thank you for all the moments and memories we share together.
Including All Participants
Describe the room's accessibility when inviting guests.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Take a few minutes to evaluate the session with your co-leader immediately afterward, while it is fresh. Share your thoughts with any other team leaders and your religious educator. You might find it helpful to consider these questions:
TAKING IT HOME
The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life. — Jane Addams, American social activist and 1931 Nobel Peace Prize recipient
IN TODAY'S SESSION... the group learned about Jesus' life through a story, "Meet Jesus," based on passages from Christian scripture. They explored the fourth Unitarian Universalist Source, "Jewish and Christian teachings which tell us to love all other as we love ourselves," learning that Jesus preached and demonstrated the importance of taking care of everyone in a community. The children identified communities they belong to, talked about what being a community means, and worked together on human sculptures.
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about... Jesus' message of love and his ability to use love to create community wherever he went. Explore the meaning of community in your own life. What communities are important to you?
EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Online, learn about Jesus and Christianity from a Unitarian Universalist perspective (at www.uua.org/visitors/beliefswithin/6633.shtml). Read five UU perspectives in the pamphlet UU Views of Jesus (at www.uuabookstore.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=514), edited by Bruce Southworth. Read resources about UU Christianity from the UU Christian Fellowship (at www.uuchristian.org/R_Welcome.html) website.
The UUA Bookstore (at www.uuabookstore.org/) offers Our Chosen Faith: An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism by John A. Buehrens and F. Forrest Church (Beacon Press, 1989). Highly recommended for leaders of this program, this book presents two essays focused on each of the six Sources of Unitarian Universalism. The UUA Bookstore also offers:
A Family Ritual. If you read to your children on a regular basis, consider adding the parables of Jesus to your repertoire. You might read:
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: SHARING JOYS AND CONCERNS (7 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity invites children to experience a ritual enacted in many Unitarian Universalist congregations. Sharing joys and concerns can deepen a group's sense of community. It gives participants a chance to share a portion of their lives in a unique way, encourages listening to others and, in many cases, makes a link with the adult worship experience.
Introduce the concept of sharing joys and concerns by saying something like:
As a community of caring people who are kind to each other, we want to know what has made you very happy or what has made you sad. You are invited to put a flame on one of these felt candles, place it on this felt board, and then share your joy or concern. Everyone in the room is asked to listen with respect. You do not have to say anything at all, if you do not want to.
Invite participants to come forward one at a time. As children share, listen without comment.
Variation
Instead of sharing their joys and concerns, invite children to light a candle and, if they wish, answer a question. A question to fit this session might be "Who are a group of people you like to spend time with? How are you connected to them?"
Including All Participants
If participants are reluctant to stand to address the group, allow them to speak joys and concerns from where they sit or invite them to light a candle silently.
This sharing circle can be a vital part of congregational ministry. Many congregations have in place a safe congregation policy in the event a participant reveals they are being hurt by someone. It will be important to alert your religious educator, minister, or Board president to any troubling issue that arise in this sharing.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: UU SOURCE CONSTELLATION — JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN TEACHINGS (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Use this activity with your Opening to add additional Source constellations to your Night Sky.
Tell the children:
Our Sources are the way we are guided as Unitarian Universalists to help us live our faith.
Ask the children if they remember (or know) what a "source" is. Allow a moment for responses. Then, explain that the definition of source you are looking for has to do with origin, or beginning.
Say in your own words:
Today we are talking about our fourth UU Source, "Jewish and Christian teachings which tell us to love others as we love ourselves."
Allow children to share the relevant information they know. Then, distribute the UU Source Constellation handout. Say:
We think it's important to learn from other religions. To help us, we have a constellation named in honor of this Source of learning. Connected stars look like a cross (for Christian teachings) and the Star of David (for Jewish teachings). Can you find them in our Night Sky?
Give them time to look for the Star of David and the crucifix symbol. As children find the symbols, let them show you by tracing the shapes with a finger on their own handouts.
Distribute gold and silver stars. Have children stick gold stars on the outlined stars and silver stars on the solid stars on their handouts. Then, invite them to pencil the cross and star symbols by connecting the gold stars. Tell them they make take home their own Jewish and Christian Teachings constellations.
Say, in your own words:
As Unitarian Universalists, we learn from Jewish and Christian teachings, especially the wisdom they can give us about love.
Light the chalice.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 3: HOW TO USE THE BIBLE (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
The story "Meet Jesus" refers to specific Christian scripture passages, and this activity gives children a primary source experience with the Bible. The activity is appropriate for children who know how to look up information in books and are familiar with reference tools such as a table of contents and a book index.
Show the children a Bible. Tell them the word "bible" comes from the Greek word for book. Look at the list of chapters at the beginning and point out the Hebrew scripture and the Christian scripture. You may tell the group some people refer to Hebrew scripture as the Old Testament and Christian scripture, which was written later, as the New Testament. Do not refer to Hebrew scripture as "the Jewish Bible."
Look at the first four parts of the Christian scripture, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Explain that these were four men who were disciples, or followers, of Jesus and that each section has stories about Jesus' life.
Indicate where you have written Luke 2: 4-6, 39-40. Demonstrate how to look up this part of Jesus' story in the Bible:
If participants have Bibles, invite and help them to find the book of Luke, chapter 2, and verse 4.
When all have found the passage, read it aloud to the group. It is the story of Jesus' birth and may be familiar to them.
For further exploration, look up other passages cited in the story "Meet Jesus." Talk about using the teachings of Jesus, and his message of love and forgiveness. Use these questions, drawn from Meet Jesus: The Life and Lessons of a Beloved Teacher by Lynn Tuttle Gunney:
Including All Participants
Do not put children on the spot to read aloud from the Bible.
You may wish to make large-print handouts of the Christian scripture passages for children to read along silently.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 4: BOOKMARKS — THE PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This is a wonderful lesson for a wide variety of learning styles, including kinesthetic. Playing music while children work on bookmarks can tap another mode of learning.
Open a mustard seed packet and show the children the seeds. Say, in your own words:
Have you ever seen a mustard seed before? The mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds. It is so small that if you held one in your hand and you dropped it, you would have a very hard time finding it. Even though the mustard seed is so small, it grows into a plant large enough for birds to stand on its branches and make nests in it. At least this was true for mustard plants in the time of Jesus.
When you look at this little mustard seed before planting it in the ground, you might think it would be impossible for a seed so tiny to grow into a tree.
Jesus talked about the mustard seed and he compared it to love. Love starts out very small at first. Nevertheless, when you see that the more you love, the more you get back in return. Love grows and grows, just like the mustard seed.
Tell the children the story about Jesus and the mustard seed is in Christian scripture, in the book of Matthew.
Distribute heavy paper stock, glue, and contact paper. Show children how to add a bit of glue to the paper stock and spread it thin (so it will dry quickly). Go around the room and sprinkle some mustard seeds on each paper. Give each child a piece of contact paper and invite them to wrap it around the bookmark once the glue is completely dry.
Optional: Use the permanent marker to write "Matthew 13:31" on each bookmark.
Optional: Punch a hole in the top of each bookmark and loop a piece of thin ribbon through the hole.
While everyone is making bookmarks, lead a discussion:
Do you like to read or listen to stories? Jesus loved to tell stories. Jesus' stories that have lessons in them are called parables. The mustard seed story was one of many he told people as he walked around the countryside.
Ask the group:
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 5: ONE BODY (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants work together to create one large picture of a body. Ideally, the body will contain aspects of everyone in the group.
Invite children, one at a time, to pose by lying down on the mural paper while you trace one part of their body. Position each child so that, all together, the tracings will form one complete body. If the group is large, trace individual fingers of some children, or trace more than one complete body, so every child is represented.
When tracing is done, invite everyone to draw and color the body’s hair and clothes. Ask the children to look at what others in the group are wearing and urge them to represent aspects of everyone’s clothing and hair styles on the body. Optional: Use construction paper, glitter, and yarn to show clothes, accessories, and hair.
Display the mural in your meeting space.
Follow up with these questions:
Including All Participants
Before you start the activity, make sure participants are comfortable getting on the floor for you to trace them. Ask each person for permission to touch them before you draw the body part. If touching is problematic, or any children cannot lie on the floor, post the mural paper on a wall and have everyone draw a part of a body freehand.
LOVE WILL GUIDE US: SESSION 4:
STORY: MEET JESUS
Adapted by Lynn Tuttle Gunney from Meet Jesus: The Life and Lessons of a Beloved Teacher by Lynn Tuttle Gunney (Skinner House, 2007), available from the UUA Bookstore.
This is the story of Jesus, a beloved teacher. Although he lived long ago, his lessons of love and kindness still bring hope and joy to people all over the world.
Jesus was born more than two thousand years ago in a land now called Israel. He grew up in the town of Nazareth with his parents, Mary and Joseph.
(Luke 2:4-6, 39-40)
Joseph and Mary raised Jesus in the traditions of their Jewish faith. Jesus learned to read the Torah, a sacred book that Jewish people believe was inspired by God. As Jesus and Joseph worked side by side in the carpentry shop, they talked about religion. Jesus felt a strong connection to God. He began to sense that God had called him to bring people a new message of love and forgiveness.
(Luke 14:6-7)
When Jesus grew up, he began to travel to countryside and tell people his ideas about living together in peace and harmony. Soon crowds gathered to hear him preach. People who were sick often came to him, and he helped them feel better. News of Jesus as a healer and teacher spread.
(Matthew 4:23-25)
Jesus did not do this work alone. A group of men and women traveled with him. He chose twelve friends, called disciples, to help him teach his ideas to others. Together they walked from village to village, sharing their new ideas with anyone who wanted to listen.
(Luke 8:1-3; Mark 3:13-14)
Jesus said we should love one another because God loves us. Jesus taught that God loves each of us, even when we make mistakes or do wrong.
Jesus often told stories, or parables, to teach people about God. One day he told this parable:
Once there was a shepherd who looked after a flock of one hundred sheep. When the shepherd noticed that one little lamb was missing, he was very upset. Leaving the flock, the shepherd searched high and low from dawn to dusk. When he finally found the lost lamb, he was filled with joy.
This parable helped Jesus explain how God loves and cares for each one of us, just like the shepherd loves and cares for each one of his sheep.
(Luke 15: 3-7)
Mothers and fathers brought their sons and daughters to meet Jesus. At first, the disciples waved them away, worried that the children would bother Jesus. But Jesus gathered the children around him and blessed them. "Let the little children come to me," he said.
Jesus believed we should love one another, even people who aren't our friends. "Treat everyone the way you would like them to treat you," he taught. We call this the Golden Rule.
Jesus taught his followers to look for ways to live together in harmony, to learn to forgive, and to settle arguments in a peaceful way. "Blessed are those who work to bring peace to the world," he said, "for they are children of God."
As he went from village to village, Jesus reached out to help sick people get well and to feed those who were hungry. He treated everyone with the same kindness—women and men, Jews and non-Jews, rich and poor, good and bad.
(Matthew 9:35, 15:32-38; John 4:7-10; Luke 19:1-7; Mark 2:15-17)
By now, Jesus had many followers, and not everyone was happy about that. Some people worried that the crowd might get out of hand and disturb the peace. This would get the leaders in trouble, since they were in charge of keeping the peace in their city.
Once the disciples knew the leaders disapproved of Jesus, they were worried. When they gathered for the Jewish holiday of Passover meal that year, Jesus blessed the bread and wine and gave thanks to God. "May peace be with you," he said to the disciples. Jesus asked them to remember him and his lessons, no matter what happened.
Today that meal is known as the Last Supper. In some churches, people share bread and wine as a way to remember it.
(Luke 22:8, 14, 17, 19-20; John 14:27)
After the Last Supper, things happened fast. Soldiers arrested Jesus, saying he was stirring up trouble. In those days, the worst criminals were punished by being nailed to a wooden cross and left to die. Jesus was punished in this terrible way.
(Mark 14:43, 46; Mark 15:15-29)
As Jesus suffered on the cross, his mother, Mary, and his friends gathered at his side. They knew Jesus had done nothing wrong. They were filled with sadness.
(John 19:25-27; Mark 15:40-41)
After Jesus died, his followers carried on his teaching and honored his memory. Jesus' message of love and kindness spread throughout the world. Years later, people who learned from his followers wrote down what they wanted people to know about Jesus' life and lessons. The best known of these stories later became part of the Christian holy book, the Bible.
Some people said that Jesus was the son of God and started the Christian religion with that belief. Some said that after Jesus died, God resurrected him, or brought him back to life. They celebrate his resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Many Unitarian Universalists say that Jesus was a wise and beloved teacher, whether or not he was the son of God. They say it is important to remember him because he taught us to treat people with love and to stand up for justice and peace. They believe that now, two thousand years later, we can still learn from the life and lessons of Jesus.
No one knows for sure what day Jesus was born, but many people celebrate his birthday on Christmas Day, December 25. This is a day of joy and generosity spent with family and friends, sharing food, singing songs, and giving gifts.
We can celebrate the life of Jesus on any day, by trying to live as he did, with full hearts, loving words, and kind actions.
LOVE WILL GUIDE US: SESSION 4:
HANDOUT 1: UU SOURCE CONSTELLATION — JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN TEACHINGS
LOVE WILL GUIDE US: SESSION 4:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: UU SOURCE CONSTELLATION ANSWER SHEET — JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN TEACHINGS
LOVE WILL GUIDE US: SESSION 4:
LEADER RESOURCE 2: SOURCE STAR — JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN TEACHINGS
FIND OUT MORE
Online, explore connections between Unitarian Universalism and Christianity (at www.uua.org/visitors/beliefswithin/6633.shtml). Read five UU perspectives in the pamphlet UU Views of Jesus (at www.uuabookstore.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=514), edited by Bruce Southworth. Read Logan Geen's blog post "The Humanity of Jesus" (at new-uu.blogspot.com/2009/04/humanity-of-jesus.html) on the Unitarian Christian Universalist blog.
The UUA Bookstore (at www.uuabookstore.org/) offers Our Chosen Faith: An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism by John A. Buehrens and F. Forrest Church (Beacon Press, 1989). Highly recommended for leaders of this program, this book presents two essays focused on each of the six Sources of Unitarian Universalism.
Also available from the bookstore (at www.uuabookstore.org/):