Service: Using the Gifts God Gave You
The Junior Sabbath School lesson for Sabbath, 5 October, 2008, was about spiritual gifts, how God gives them to us, how they equip us for the task to which God calls us. The Apostle Paul is an example of someone who had great gifts, but he got off to the wrong start and used them to go down the wrong path. Jesus gave Paul—then called Saul—a proverbial kick-in-the-rear on the road to Damascus. Paul realized the error of his ways and became just as dedicated towards spreading God's word as he had up 'til then been towards eradicating it.
Following are some photos showing how I taught this lesson. I like to be three-dimensional and hands-on in my teaching, keeping the kids active and involved. This lesson is one of my better efforts.
We made two batches of pumkin cookies to illustrate spirtual gifts. The girls drew the batch of dough with spices—cinnamon and nutmeg—only no one knew yet that the two batches were in any way different.
The boys drew the unspiced batch. God's spritual gifts are like spices, giving each of us our own, unique savor. The passage of scripture in I Corinthians 12:4-11 lists several such gifts: of wisdom, of knowledge, of healing, and more.
And into the oven they go! Not only do God's gifts give us each a unique flavor, but they equip us each for the work that God calls us to do, just as we use different spices in cookies than in, say, chile. Ephesians 4:11-12 touches on that aspect. When God calls us to a task, he does not call empty-handed; he also equips us.
We opened scripture to study while the cookies baked. First we read up on spiritual gifts, and then...
...And then we dove into Paul and the story of his conversion on the road to Damascus. To keep things interesting, I brought in a goad to illustrate Jesus' well-known line: "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads." My goad was a painted, wooden dowel with a sharp nail protruding from one end. You can be sure that got the kids' attention. Yikes! "Danger, Will Robinson. Danger!"
The phrase "to kick against the goad" was a common metaphor in Greek and Roman literature, and it meant "to rebel". The phrase's origin goes to the goad's use by farmers to keep their oxen on track while pulling a plow. A smart ox would feel the prick, and would move in the direction his master wanted. A rebellious ox would "kick back" against the goad, driving the point into its flesh. Ouch!
Here I'm being a "smart ox", and am walking the direction that Karl wants me to go.
But with Ryan, I'm rebelling, kicking back against the goad.
The Holy Spirit prods us towards salvation, working to keep us on the path toward eternal life. It's gonna hurt if we rebel and go the other way.
The basis for the lesson I've just gone over is the 4th quarter lesson 1 for 2008 from the PowerPoints series. I followed the lesson fairly closely, but threw in my own activities, and also a bit more emphasis upon the spiritual gift aspect.
If you're interested, Wikipedia has a short article explaining the goad. The sketch above of the plowers using a goad comes an image in the Wikipedia Commons. Finally, the Christadelphian Advocate website has an interesting article on the phrase "to kick against the pricks" ("prick" being a synonym for "goad").
