Hi everyone,

With some help from Liz I found the flowchart (last year I lost a USB memory stick which had most of Mod 10 resources saved + much much more – it takes me a while to retrieve material in a creative way but I have done it !!!!)

Padlet link is I and Kerrin keep adding.

Link to Frayer model

The article that I was referring to regarding law and gospel is by Sin, Between law and Gospel by Piotr J Malysz. Kerrin made this comment:

“Very much says we don’t have sin without the light of God’s grace – they cannot be separated. Sin becomes sin conclusively only in the face of God’s goodness. He finishes with… “Let me come back to the question behind this paper: How can we talk about sin today? The answer I wish to suggest is suspiciously, although deceptively, simple: by remaining faithful, first and foremost, to the gospel, by not underestimating the gospel.””

Below I will put the conversation I had via email with teachers at a school where I delivered Module 10. I am sharing this two exchanges because they show that there are many different theologies we will encounter and we need to dig deep (as you said Liz) into our Lutheran theology and help our teachers to the same although not all will be ready so we need to be judicious about what we do when.

First my email after I returned to LEQ

Good afternoon everyone,

I have been giving some serious thought to the question of teaching the ‘full gospel’, of there being maybe ‘too much grace’, is ‘grace’ all there is to tell? of the question of God’s judgment and hell. I have been reading, viewing, discussing and thinking and asking myself questions, so I will feed you bits and pieces as I have time.

I have attached Luther’s explanation to second article of the faith (2nd part of creed). Note the very last paragraph where he discusses what is appropriate to teach children. I do think the age of the students we teach is a critical factor to consider. We must remember that young children have a very literal view of their world. Once we get into secondary students, while often still in the literal mode are also asking questions, expressing doubt, unwilling to be acquiescent which is all part of that stage of development and therefore needs great sensitivity on our part.

Blog - Enter the Bible

Yesterday I came across two other resources that could shed some light on the discussion. One is a sermon by Nadia Bolzweber where she discusses God’s apparent wasteful generosity. Here is the link and the other is a sermon by the late Marcus Borg on ‘what is Christianity about’ which again provides some direction as to where to place our energies when teaching CS to children/students.

I am also attaching a chapter from a book Exploring religion in school written in 2004 by Brian Hill who was advocating teaching RE in the public domain. He provides a perspective of what is to be the purpose of CS in the classroom.

The reply by one of the teachers (some of this is scary for me). It may help give some direction for a series of videos that LEA can produce Anne.

After prayer, discussion with fellow Christians, and biblical study, I have arrived at the follow points that I think need to be considered. I apologise for the brevity of these explanations, but it is the end of a term and I am on an international service learning trip next week.

  • Jesus taught about kingdoms, and I like to think that we take his lead.
  • Jesus didn’t water down his message.

“Jesus spent a significant time interacting in positive ways with people who disagreed with Him. He did not isolate Himself from those who disagreed; he embraced those who disagreed. He did not change his message to gain approval, but continued to love those who did not accept His message.” Blanchard & Hodges (2008) “Lead Like Jesus”

  • He certainly didn’t de-illuminate it for children (Matt. 19:14, Luke 18:16).
  • Grace and the law are inseparable. I use to think they were, but I was young in my faith and needed a solid “either/or”.
  • By limiting the message to the “nice/non-controversial bits” we are at risk of sterilizing Truth. I call this the “Rob Bell Fallacy”.
  • We can approach the full Gospel account of judgement, but pay special focus to the hope of Heaven. IF YOU DO NOTHING ELSE WITH THIS EMAIL, PLEASE WATCH THESE VIDEOS. Matthew West is a powerful storyteller.

Matthew West “The Reason for the World”

Behind the Song (from M. West):

The Song: