Help! I would like to convey the idea of communal living somehow to my junior high class with some sort of "hands-on" exercise during class, i.e. distributing assests to class members and then having them pool their resources together. Any ideas out there? Any movies that might apply? Any help is appreciated! Thanks!
Southern Belle
Southern Belle,
There are several games and ideas that promote the idea of cooperation... which can serve as examples of communal living and working together. Look for two old youth group game standards-- 'The New Games Book' and 'More New Games'.
One exercise that can be done with a group is to give them a challenge in which they work together cooperatively. Give the group several small pieces of carpet-- not enough for the entire group-- and tell them they have to cross the distance of a long hallway, or the length of a fellowship hall, by only stepping on their carpet pieces (be creative- call the floor hot lava, goo, slime, whatever... theologize it if you'd like by making it a journey to the Promised Land or whatever). One important note is to remember not to give too much help- let the kids work out the solution. If some in the group take off quickly without much planning or forethought (as J Highers are want to do), they will soon discover that they are stranded and some are left behind. If one stumbles or falls, they have to start over. If they leave someone behind, they will need to backtrack and rescue them. To complete the task, they will have to work together- sharing at times and helping each other along the way. Make it harder by roping the kids together in tandum- giving them some slack between each youth but not too much so they are sort of restricted. Put an emphisis on the rule that everyone must make the crossing and no one can be left behind. Celebrate their success of working together when they make it, laugh with the trials and tribulations of failure.
Of course, the most profound example of communal living I see in our world is the work being done in homeless shelters. We often take our Sr. and Jr. High kids to a shelter and bring an evening meal for the staff and residents. Individually, we cannot feed them because of the great need but, when we work together and plan together, we have more than enough to provided a good meal for the 70 or 80 residents of the shelter. In our church, it has become a badge of honor to insure that we can provided the best food for these folk and we now go to the shelter once a month. The point we make with our church members is that the residents of the shelter deserve our best, so we strive to provided. Our youth like the work because it is a direct way to put their budding theology to work- here is a need, here is a solution.
As for a movie, I vaguely remember one from several years ago called 'Babbet's Feast' about a woman who cooks a meal for her community. It might have too many adult themes in it though... How about 'Dead Poets Society'... the boys of a private school form a community of support around a charismatic teacher? 'Remember the Titans' might work...
TB in MN
I'm thinking of using this pericope to emphasize transformation within the congregation. The purity of motive within the early church, in immediate response to the Holy Spirit, seems to go well with some of the concepts in Bill Easum's book, "Sacred Cows Make Gourmet Burgers." We need to be able to feel transformed by worship and live lives of gratitude, contributing to the needs of others without the red tape of permission getting. That's what I'm mulling over this week. MTSOfan
I think one can make a good sermon using this text with 1Peter. In this passage, the emphisis is on love highlighted in the ideal life of the faithful- everything is working, everything is good, life is wonderful. 1Peter calls us to forgive out of the context of a broken community struggling to hold to its faith- nothing seems to be right, they are being persicuted, people are losing faith, the community is being torn. Together, we have two passages upholding the pillars of the faith- loving and forgiving. It also stresses that communities go through highs and lows, good times and bad. The constant in both is that we are loved- God celebrates with us, God grieves with us, God always loves us.
TB in MN
There is some real potential here for helping us to see what the Church looks like when it is at its best. What kind of things were happening? 1) Theological development - people were devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching; 2) Group building - they ate together, they spent time together, they held possessions in common; 3) Kingdom building - the text says they had the goodwill of all the people, and the Church was growing; 4) God-empowered - There was awe, there were signs and wonders. I have witnessed congregations around me who have re-constituted themselves around this pattern, and it has proven very powerful.
-Dale in Chattanooga
I'm interested in the idea that they "spent much time together". Why did they do this? what were they doing? In my church some people spend some time together socially. Some people spend a lot of time together working on committees. But this seems much different. What kind of time are we to spend together today?
DGinNYC
Bread seems to be at the heart of many passages. Any ideas about how to learn more about bread? Why is it at the center of living: food, bread of life, rising from flatness, hope for the stomach?
PM in KS
Hi Southern Belle:
A church I ws at once gave each of the people interested, over half of the congregation $5 adn told them that ,like the talents, they needed to use it and multiply it in a set time, I think it was 2 months.
Some bought seeds, grew plants, and sold them. Others bought produce and cooked and canned and sold. Some bought flowers and gave them away and called the multiplication the smiles they recieved. Other pooled resources and mutiplied that way.
Hope this helps
ALS in CNY
Southern Belle - I might be a bit late in posting this for you and I know some won't like this suggestion of a movie - but what about Harry Potter - working together is a key theme in this movie and these books. If Harry, Hermione and Ron hadn't pooled their resources and worked together on solving the "puzzles" they were faced with they wouldn't have survived.
Chris, Moss Vale, Australia
Well, even if nobody is talking about community, I will post this anyway... from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's "Life Together" (ch. 3,"The Day Alone")(My own thoughts are not formed enough yet to be of much use to others...)
Bonhoeffer is talking about the relationship between solitude and community. He writes, "Many people seek fellowship because they are afraid to be alone. Because they cannot stand loneliness, they are driven to seek the company of other people." On the other hand, we are called into community, and "if we scorn the fellowship of our (sisters and) brothers, we reject the call of Jesus Christ." "Each by itself (that is, solitude and community) has profound pitfalls and perils. One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation, and despair. Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. Let him who is not in community beware of being alone."
The whole chapter says it much better than that one little quote, but maybe this will be helpful to someone.
He also talks about how many of us take our life together as Christians for granted, when really fellowship is a gift which can be taken away at any time. Many people serve God among enemies. Christian community is something we should thank God for, from the bottom of our hearts.
DGinNYC
How did the early church find the courage to "sell their possessions?" In my reflection on the lectionary texts it seems that their actions were empowered by a deep trust in Jesus as the "gate" or "Good Shepherd" who would provide all they needed.
--KB in KY
There perhaps is no more succinct and tangible expression of church life--what it is and how it looks--than this passage. But to preach on it, one must admit the "ideal" nature of it--this is Church at its primal best: as if we were given a gracious moment of perfection, call it a "foretaste of glory divine" in order to instruct the Church for ages to come. This portrait sets the pattern for church life to come. But "pattern" can mean different things. (1) It can mean "example"--something we are supposed to imitate, like cutting out fabric for a dress or wood for a toy. Or (2) it can mean "archetype"--the original shape of an imprint or idea, like genetic DNA coding in a person or like a nation's foundational document (U.S. Constitution, for example). It seems that this second understanding of pattern is more accurate and effective: this portrait of early church life is not to be DUPLICATED (like a copy machine) but REPLICATED (as with cells in the body). This understanding allows for a myriad variations on a common theme.
I will be doing a seris on "Church Life" based on the images in this passage between now and Pentecost Sunday. The image I'm working with is the book of Acts as a photo album or scrap book of early Christian life. And this passage is a "montage"--an image which will be workable for our congregation since our new church directory has such a page, a composite of our ministry over the past year or so--a cobbled together collection of Christians at their best. Of course, life in any church is not one long "Kodak moment"--and even this ideal situation does not last but a couple of chapters before disagreements and disharmony erupt.
So, if we take these snapshots as some sort of "mold" for church life, we will only be disappointed. But if we point to the images in these verses as reminders of what "church" at its heart is all about, the direction we are aiming, then there is abundant inspiration.
Another way to work with the material here is to look at it as "building blocks for Church life." Here is an opportunity to teach about the 4 dimensions of life in the body of Christ, what was taught in my seminary as "2 Ks and 2 Ds." KERGYMA--worship, witness; KOINONIA--community, fellowship; DIDACHE--formation, teaching/learning; and DIAKONIA--service, mission. Any congregation can be challenged to look closely at its own life, in light of the early Church, to see which dimension needs to be strenthened, where spiritual gifts need to be cultivated. Individual Christians can be enlightened as to which area they are best equipped to minister out of.
Whether for one sermon or a series, or even for a Bible study, there is beauty and quality in Luke's simple testimony to the life of the first Christians.
One other "preaching scenario" outline:
*their witness had POWER (God worked though them)
*their witness had PRESENCE (they made a difference in people's lives)
*their witness was PUBLIC(like Jesus, their ministry was not a private affair)
I heard another sermon on this once--"What 21st Century Christians Can Learn from First Century Christians"
> they GAVE UP (realized they were part of something greater than themselves)
> they SHOWED UP (they got involved, wanted to be on the playing field)
> they GREW UP (they were interested in learning, growing; organic growth)
Hope SOMETHING here helps.
TK in OK
