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    Creative Bible Lessons in Revelation: 12 Futuristic Sessions on Never-Ending Worship
    Creative Bible Lessons in Revelation: 12 Futuristic Sessions on Never-Ending Worship
    Creative Bible Lessons in Revelation: 12 Futuristic Sessions on Never-Ending Worship
    Ebook308 pages1 hour

    Creative Bible Lessons in Revelation: 12 Futuristic Sessions on Never-Ending Worship

    By Randy Southern

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    About this ebook

    Was the book of Revelation penned by the crazy uncle in the family of Bible writers?You try to convince yourself that the apostle john is just another New Testament writer–kindly, gentle, loving. You know…normal.But he’s just so weird! Most of the time you have no idea what John is talking about in his revelation. When you must interact with his wild, otherworldly book, you escape as soon as you can to familiar, saner Bible texts. Like Matthew’s Gospel or one of Paul’s letters–after all, they straight-up tell you what Jesus did and what you should do!Yet Creative Bible Lessons in Revelation will quickly convince you and your students that St. John wasn’t so much a crazy guy as he was a visionary, inspirational, and worshipful guy! And you don’t have to subscribe to any pre- or post-eschatology theory in order to learn all sorts of good stuff from the apostle.So while these 12 sessions–complete and ready-to-teach–won’t help your students identify who the antichrist is or give them the coordinates of Armageddon’s opening salvos, they will, however, acquaint your youth group with the mysterious nature of Revelation, then demonstrate how these apocalyptic principles actually provide practical application for us today.Here’s what’s inside every session:-Detailed overviews for clear, convenient prepping.-Intriguing activities and games-with-a-point that introduce that session’s topic.-Hardcore Bible studies and provocative questions that trigger dialogue in both large and small groups.-Application exercises that translate John’s visions into practical, attainable actions and attitudes for students’ daily lives.Plus, you’ll get these bonuses:-Let’s Get Theological–lite intros to the various interpretations of the reactions to the events Revelation predicts-More More More–helpful supplements to activities and discussions-Worthy of Worship–top-drawer suggestions for turning ordinary youth meetings into extraordinary times of praising God.Questions about the future lurk in everyone’s minds–especially in the minds of teenagers. Now is your chance to explore the book of Revelation with your students–to glimpse at the never-ending worship to come, to grab hold of God’s promises and his mercy, and to bring some ease to troubled hearts.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherZondervan
    Release dateAug 8, 2009
    ISBN9780310854609
    Creative Bible Lessons in Revelation: 12 Futuristic Sessions on Never-Ending Worship
    Author

    Randy Southern

    Randy Southern is a freelance writer with more than 50 books to his credit. A former product developer for Cook Communications and editor for Scripture Press, Randy lives with his wife, Ann, and their three children in Mount Prospect, Illinois.

    Read more from Randy Southern

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      Book preview

      Creative Bible Lessons in Revelation - Randy Southern

      INTRODUCTION

      YOU SAY YOU WANT A REVELATION…

      For many Christians the book of Revelation is the crazy uncle in the New Testament family—we know we should treat him with the same respect we do the other relatives, but we can’t. He’s just so different from the others. In fact he’s a little weird—and even a little scary.

      The problem is most of the time, we have no idea what he’s talking about. His words make no sense to us. Whenever interaction with him is unavoidable, we try to make the best of it—but we take the first opportunity we can find to split to find safer, more familiar faces to spend our time with, like James or Peter or Paul.

      The problem with the crazy uncle approach to Revelation is he actually has a lot to say—deep stuff, interesting stuff, life-changing stuff. If you were to ignore him, it might be at your own peril.

      For example the book of Revelation contains some of the most inspirational—and educational—passages on the topic of worship in all of Scripture. The heavenly style of praise and adoration described in Revelation should serve as a model for our worship here on earth. Without a working knowledge of the book of Revelation then, we can’t fulfill one of our primary responsibilities as Christians—that of worship—in the way God intends.

      THE MATTER OF PREFIXES

      The question that inevitably arises in any study of Revelation is interpretation. Does this book promote—

      amillennialism?

      postmillennialism?

      pretribulational premillennialism?

      midtribulational premillennialism?

      posttribulational premillennialism?

      new-and-improved premillennialism with fluoride and an active whitening agent?

      If you’re scanning the page for words or phrases revealing the eschatological leanings of this book, don’t bother. Eschatology isn’t what the material is about. So if you’re looking for a study of Revelation containing…

      capsulated biographies of the originators of premillennialism

      explorations of the sociopolitical landscape of first-century Rome

      37 possible candidates for antichristhood

      …then good luck in your continued search.

      If, however, you’re looking for a study addressing the mysterious, apocalyptic nature of Revelation while at the same time promoting practical application of the principles found within, this is the study for you!

      WHAT’S IN IT?

      The material in Creative Bible Lessons in Revelation is organized for maximum efficiency.

      Sound Bite provides an overview of the session topic in one or two sentences.

      Kickoff offers two different ideas for opening activities and games to introduce the session topic.

      Focusing In brings clarity to the session topic using carefully chosen exercises and questions.

      Hitting the Book offers thought-provoking Bible study questions that work equally well for individuals and small groups.

      Making It Count provides helpful application exercises—ways for students to put the principles of Revelation to use in their everyday lives.

      NOTES: In the You’ll need box at the start of each lesson, you might see things like TV and DVD player listed as necessary items. But go ahead and use a VCR if the DVD players are scarce. If you have access to a video-projection unit, go for it. If it’s more convenient to use an overhead projector and transparencies or a flip chart and markers, please do. You won’t see all the variations in these lists of materials you need, but you should substitute whatever works for you, your budget, and the size of your group! (Please be sure to screen all clips before you play them for the group. If language is a problem in key scenes, turn down the volume or—if you have the time and equipment—edit it out).

      And don’t forget you can download all the repro pages for free: www.YouthSpecialties.com/store/downloads (password: rev).

      For those who want to go the extra mile, look for these tidbits—

      More More More offers occasional supplements to the activities and discussions.

      Let’s Get Theological offers guidance for introducing students to various Christian schools of thought regarding the events described in Revelation.

      Worthy of Worship offers suggestions for turning ordinary youth meetings into extraordinary times of praising God.

      FINALLY…

      May God richly bless you as you open your students’ eyes to the awesome wonders lying within the last book of his Word. May his Holy Spirit guide you as you attempt to help them make peace with the crazy uncle of the New Testament family.

      WHAT LIES BEYOND

      SESSION 1: REVELATION 1

      SOUND BITE

      We may not know exactly what the future holds, but we know who holds the future.

      KICKOFF (OPTION 1)

      I PREDICT

      This activity will work especially well if you have a small group whose members are familiar with each other. Before the session, hand out index cards and pens and ask students to write down four predictions of things they think will happen during the meeting. Emphasize that the predictions must be specific in order to be counted.

      Specific, acceptable predictions might include things like—

      Abdul will make Mallory laugh.

      Lindsay will ask if we can play volleyball tonight.

      Carlos will begin his prayer by saying, Our gracious heavenly Father.

      YOU’LL NEED

      • Bibles

      • Pens

      • Index cards (optional)

      • TV and DVD player (optional)

      • Movies with futuristic themes (optional)

      • Magic 8 Ball

      • Whiteboard and markers

      • Copies of A Letter from John, one for each student

      • Copies of You’re in Good Hands, one for each student

      Vague, unacceptable predictions might include things like—

      People will stand up after the meeting.

      We will play a game tonight.

      Someone will pray sometime during the meeting.

      If a student’s prediction comes true during the meeting, she should say, I called it! loud enough for everyone to hear. After you verify the prediction, reward the prophet with a piece of gum or candy. Do the same for anyone else whose predictions come true.

      Segue into the session topic using questions like—

      Without telling us your predictions, what did you base them on?

      If you were to make a prediction about the distant future, what would it be?

      When you think about what the future is going to be like, what do you base your impressions on?

      NOTE: This activity—and the one that follows, involving a Magic 8 Ball—isn’t meant to endorse divination or any other unbiblical practice. Quite the contrary! You’ll find at the conclusion of the Magic 8 Ball activity that you’re encouraged to clue your students into the fact that human attempts to figure everything out are futile—and that God has all the answers we’ll ever need.

      KICKOFF (OPTION 2)

      CLIPS AHOY

      Show several brief video clips from films either set in the future or depicting the future. (Be sure to screen each clip for objectionable material before you show it to your students.) Among the movie titles you might consider for these clips are—

      12 Monkeys

      2001: A Space Odyssey

      A.I.—Artificial Intelligence

      Blade Runner

      The Fifth Element

      The Matrix

      Minority Report

      Planet of the Apes

      Sleeper

      Soylent Green

      Star Trek

      Star Wars

      THX 1138

      The Terminator

      The Time Machine

      Total Recall

      Find a scene in each film illustrating its depiction of the future. For example in The Time Machine, you might show the scene in which the time traveler wakes up hundreds of thousands of years in the future in the seemingly peaceful, posttechnological society of the Eloi.

      MORE MORE MORE

      If you want to take this idea to the next level, check out www.FuturistMovies.com on the Internet. Created by a professional futurist, this site offers expert analysis on the way the future is depicted in various movies. You’ll find information on everything from the feasibility of various types of space travel to the problems with alien portrayals in movies. You may be able to find some nuggets of wisdom to sprinkle on your discussion of the future.

      After your mini–film fest, segue into the lesson with questions like—

      Which of these visions of the future do you think will turn out to be most accurate?

      What do you think the world will be like 100 years from now? How about 500 years from now? How about 1,000 years from now?

      Will the world get better or worse in the future? What makes you think so?

      If you get vague responses, encourage your students to think about specific aspects of the future, such as medical technology, transportation, climate conditions, crime, or fashion.

      FOCUSING IN

      ONCE UPON THE FUTURE

      Pass around a Magic 8 Ball and let students take turns asking it questions about the future (Will we beat Central this weekend? Will I pass my English midterm? Will this youth group meeting turn out to be the best time I’ve ever had in my life?) and then revealing its answers to the group. Then ask—

      What are some other things people do to try to figure out what’s going to happen in the future?

      If no one else mentions it, point out that some people have tea leaves

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