Jesus prepares a place for his followers John 13:1, 13:21, 30, 13:38, 14:1-6, Revelation 21:1-8 and 22:1-5
The following panorama was created in one of my training courses: This story was designed specifically for people who long for security and a home. I personally like how the word of God can speak into different situations:
Jesus knew that the time would very soon arrive that he would leave this world and return to the father. He had predicted that one of his friends would betray him into the hands of the religious leaders and the person had already left to do so. He also had predicted that his friend Peter would deny him that same night.Then Jesus continued, saying to his disciples: 'Do not be afraid. Believe in God and believe in me.' In my Father's house there are many rooms. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have said that I was going there to prepare a place for you. When everything is ready, I will come back for you so that we can be together there. You know the way.' 'No,' said one of his friends, 'we don’t know where you are going; how can we find the way?' Jesus said: 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.'
Much later, after Jesus had been crucified, died, resurrected and returned to God the Father, one of his friends, John, had a vision about the end of the world, when Jesus would return. Among other things, he saw the following: He said:
'I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first one had passed away. I heard a voice from heaven. It said, "God is living with man." It also said, "They will be his people." And, "He will be their God." He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, mourning, crying or pain.”
And God said: Look! I am making everything new! Those who stay firm in their faith will inherit this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But those who have chosen to deny Jesus, God, and his commands will be thrown into the lake of fire and be separated from God forever.
I also saw the river of the water of life, originating from the throne of God and the Lamb, Jesus. On either side of the river was the tree of life, whose leaves were for the healing of the nations. Nothing will be cursed anymore. There will be no more night, and no one will need the light of a lamp or the sun, for God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
In order to regulate colaboration in a team, many teams give themselves a team covenant, listing many verses for each other. There are said to be around a hundred such verses in the New Testament. Even 20 such verses are difficult to remember. So the idea arose to pack this into a panorama, not to leave individual verses standing alone, but to give the most important verses a framework. This is how it came about.
Jesus went up a mountain to pray. He prayed all night. The next morning, he chose his 12 disciples. Then, he went down the mountain with them, and they came to a large, open space. There, a large crowd was waiting; many wanted to be healed by Jesus. And Jesus spoke to his disciples and to the crowd. The essence of this first speech to his team was: "Be as merciful as your Father in heaven! Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. If you are willing to forgive others, then you will be forgiven. Give what you have, and you will be so richly given that you will not be able to take it all in. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.’ "
One day just before his arrival and execution in Jerusalem, the mother of two of his disciples asked that her two sons be given the two places of honor at Jesus' side in his new kingdom. The other disciples were furious. Therefore, Jesus called them together and, through his example, patiently admonished them: "You know how the rulers of the world oppress their peoples. Those who have power exploit it ruthlessly. But it must not be so with you.”
"You know how the rulers of the world oppress their peoples. Those who have power exploit it ruthlessly. But it must not be so with you. Whoever wants to be greater, let him serve others. Whoever wants to be first, let him be subordinate to all. Even the future ruler did not come to be served. He came to serve and to lay down his life so that many people might be delivered from the power of evil." Jesus then went with his disciples to Jerusalem.
On the eve of Passover, the feast of deliverance from slavery in Egypt, Jesus washed his disciples' feet to set an example for them to follow. At the end of the foot washing, he summed it all up again: "Today I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you are to love one another. By loving one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples." In a long farewell speech, Jesus described the relationship between himself and his disciples. "I am the vine, and you are the branches. He who abides in me, as I abide in him, bears much fruit. For without me you can do nothing. Remember, it was not you who chose me, but I who chose you, that appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. So that no matter what you ask for from the Father, using my name, he will give it to you."
After his execution and resurrection, Jesus gave his disciples a great commission: make disciples of all nations. And yet, the team of disciples struggled with this. Jesus first had to give Peter a vision and have him meet Cornelius, a God-fearing Roman centurion. Then Peter realized, "Only now do I really understand that God does not favor or discriminate against anyone because of their background. All people are welcome to Him, no matter what nation they come from, if only as long as they have reverence for Him and live in obedience to Him."
Paul worked with various teams, including one in Ephesus. There he witnessed the silversmiths' revolt against the Christians. Later, he wrote them a letter. At the end, he emphasized, like Jesus, that as followers of Jesus we should pray for one another continually.
This summary is based on Scripture and it is true.
We too are part of this team of disciples and want to serve according to the example and calling of Jesus. Our goal has been described by John, another disciple called by God. John was exiled to a deserted island because of his faith. There God gave him a message of hope: One day, people from all peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will worship Jesus because he has ransomed them with his blood and sacrificial death.
In my last course, a participant made a fascinating suggestion for a panorama for Thanksgiving. If you want to know what a panorama is, take a look at the current manual pages 24-26. Important, the page numbers change as I regularly work on my manual, just check the table of contents. Now back to this participant. She shows us that God makes it possible for us to return to fellowship with Him through Jesus Christ, not through our good deeds. Her goal: „To know and live a heart full of gratitude, remembering that all blessings are a gift from God.“ So she has created a panorama or summary of the following texts that is good to use at Thanksgiving.
Creation, Genesis 1-2,
Noah after the Flood, Genesis 7
Joseph, Genesis 47
Miriam's song of praise after the liberation from the Egyptians through the parting of the Red Sea, Exodus 15,
Daniel thanks God despite prohibition, Daniel 6
Mary's song of praise, Luke 1:46-49
Jesus gives thanks in the midst of his grief and before a miracle, Matthew 14:19
Jesus gives thanks before he raises the dead, John 11:41.42
Jesus gives thanks before he is crucified, Luke 22:17-19
Ten lepers are healed, one gives thanks, Luke 17:11-19
When you tell this story to Muslims, please use the following names:
Noah: Nuh
Joseph: Jusup
Egypt: Misir or Misr
Miriam, the sister of Moses: Maryam, the sister of Musa
Daniel: Danyal
Mary, the mother of Jesus: Maryam, the mother of Isa
Jesus: Isa
John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin: Yahya (pronounced Jachia)
This is the participant's suggestion:
In the beginning was the Almighty who created everything and saw that it was good. After he had finished creating he rested and set a pattern for us to rest and reflect on the good things God has given us. Unfortunately, humans did not always trust Him, and they turned from trusting Him and being thankful and disobeyed His commands. This separated man from God, yet God still pursued and loved His people. People continued to not follow God, and their disobedience became so bad, that God decided to set a great flood to kill the people He created. One man, Noah, still followed God, and God saved him and his family on a large boat. After the flood, Noah gave thanks to God. As Noah and his sons began to have descendants, many continued to not follow God, but a few followed God and gave thanks to Him seeing that all they had was a gift from God. Joseph had eleven brothers who hated him. They sold him to traders in a far away land, and he ended up in some very hard circumstances. When a famine hit the land, Joseph ended up saving his family from death. He thanked God for his terrible circumstances knowing that though his brother wronged him, God used these circumstances for good. Many years later, God’s people were slaves in Egypt when God delivered them into freedom. This included a great miracle of God moving the waters of a large sea, so the people could walk across on dry land. After they had crossed the sea, Mariam, the sister of Moses gave thanks to God for saving them. Many many years later, God’s people were again in captivity, and their captures made a law forbidding praying to anyone but the king. One man, Daniel, decided that giving thanks to God was worth whatever may happen to him for breaking the law, so he continued to pray and give thanks. Daniel was thrown into a den of lions, but God saved him from being eaten. This led to the king to write a new law saying that the people should give thanks to the God of Daniel. Yet again many years later, a different Mariam, the mother of Jesus found herself pregnant though she had never slept with a man. She knew, that she is a virgin. An angel told her that God had placed a child within her, and she was to call this child Jesus. She gave thanks to God even though she did not completely understand. Jesus became an example of thankfulness to God. When his cousin, John the Baptist had been killed and he was grieving, a crowd of 5,000 men plus women and children was gathered around him, and there was nothing to eat except five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus gave thanks to God for the food then began to break them. Everyone was full after they ate, and there were twelve baskets of food leftover. Later a good friend of Jesus died, and Jesus went to visit the family. He then gave thanks to God that God always hears him. Jesus then tells his friend, who was already buried, to come out of the grave. His friend was alive! Now, many people did not like that Jesus was teaching people, doing miracles, and even raising the dead, so some people were plotting to kill him. Jesus knew that one of his closest friends had betrayed him. When Jesus sat down for a special meal with his closest friends, he knew it was the last meal he would eat with his friends, including the one who betrayed him, but Jesus again thanked God for the meal. Soon after Jesus was taken by the authorities and killed. He didn’t stay dead though, in three days, God raised Him from the dead. Now those who believe have so much to be thankful for that Jesus is not dead but lives. Before Jesus’s death and resurrection, he met ten men with a terrible skin condition. He told them to go show themselves to the person who could give them a clean bill of health. On the way, they were healed! One of them turned back to thank Jesus. The others did not. I want to be like this one man who turned back to thank Jesus and the other examples of people who thanked God. I have so much to be thankful for. I am most grateful that Jesus obediently trusted God and died and rose again. What are you thankful for? How will you respond in gratitude to what God has done for you?
Many thanks to the participant!
The photos are from https://www.freebibleimages.org, a free super resource for Bible photos or drawings.
At my training courses, participants come from many different backgrounds. Once, a participant who worked at a Christian school in a deprived area (Inner city area) asked me: "Storybek, what stories are there about Jesus and inclusion?" As a reminder: inclusion means the equal participation of all people in social life - regardless of individual circumstances. To be honest, I discovered new things about Jesus' teaching. Inspired by this participant, the following set of stories was created:
The woman at the well John 4:5-19:25-30:42
Mary and Martha Luke 10:38-42 Focus: Mary as a woman is naturally part of the meeting.
Jesus and the children Luke 18:15-17
Jesus and the tax collector Luke 19:1-10
Jesus heals a blind beggar Mark 10:46-52
Antioch Acts 11:19-30+12:24-13:4a Focus: The descendants of Abraham and Greeks/Gentiles were welcome in the church.
Peter and Cornelius Acts 10 Focus: God welcomes everyone, as long as they are God-fearing and obedient to him.
Calling of the tax collector Levi Matthew 9:9-13
There are certainly many more stories that could be used. I recently heard a quote from a pastor on the radio about his congregation: "There is no place where inclusion is practiced more than in a Christian congregation. We have all ages, we have people from almost all walks of life, men and women, people with disabilities and people from different ethnic backgrounds. We are perhaps more inclusive than those who talk about it." Unfortunately, I didn't remember this pastor's name. I doubt whether this pastor is always right. The challenge remains to learn again and again what Peter also had to learn visting Cornelius: God welcomes everyone, as long as they are God-fearing and obedient to him.
In future blog posts, I will also present a story set from time to time. You can find all the material with formulated stories in my handbook "Stories and Oral Bibles" under https://www.fivefingerfood.org/en_us/download/. As my handbook continues to grow, I can only give the current page, page 250, but this will change. Otherwise, check the table of contents under "Jesus and inclusion". https://www.freebibleimages.org, a free super resource for Bible photos or drawings.
Jesus says about himself: I am life. He made this very clear through various stories and through his resurrection from the dead. It is definitely worth reflecting on the questions of death, inner and physical healing based on stories from the Holy Scriptures and trusting Jesus. In many painful things I am comforted by : "The best is yet to come!"
Death
Jesus raises the son of a widow Luke 7:11-17
Miracle for a woman and a daughter Luke 8:40-53
The authority of Jesus Mark 9:2-29
Lid: Jesus knew that he would die and that he would rise again. That is also my hope
Mary and Martha and the resurrection of Lazarus Luke 10:38-42; John 10
Resurrection of Jesus Luke 24:1-7,36-47 Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8-11
Shortly before the deadline - and then still "Today!" Luke 23:39-43
Tabea Acts 9:36-43
The Future Revelation 7:9-10; 19:6-8; 21:1-6; 22:1-2.17
Inner healing
David and Bathsheba 2 Samuel 11:1-27; David and Nathan 2 Samuel 12:1-25
Jesus' first ministry Mark 1:14-39
The woman at the well John 4:5-19:25-30:42
The sinful woman forgiven John 8:1-11
The liberated Mark 5:1-20
The conversion of Paul Acts 9:1-18
Physical healing
Jesus heals a paralytic Mark 2:1-12
The liberated Mark 5:1-20
The faith of a pagan officer Luke 7:1-10
Miracle for a woman and a daughter Luke 8:40-53
The sick man at the pool John 5:1-9
Jesus heals a man born blind John 9:1-9
Seeing the weak Luke 14:1, 7-14
Jesus heals ten lepers Luke 17:11-18
Peter and the paralytic Acts 3:1-19; 4:1-4
And more stories of healing
In future blog posts, I will also present a story set from time to time. You can find all the material with formulated stories in my handbook "Stories and Oral Bibles" under https://www.fivefingerfood.org/en_us/download/. As my handbook continues to grow, I can only give the current page, page 171 but this will change. Otherwise look in the table of contents under "Death, inner and physical healing". https://www.freebibleimages.org, a free super resource for Bible photos or drawings.
There are usually various reasons for loneliness. We therefore recommend a combination of stories from Block A and Blick
A) Think about and observe why people are lonely, why is the person you are talking to lonely?
- Loneliness due to social behavior
They are lonely because of their social behavior, such as Zacchaeus. Tell the story of Jesus and the tax collector Luke 19:1-10, lid: Jesus wants to come to you today and be your guest.
Ananias and Sapphira Acts 4, 32-35;5,1-1 Cover: Ananias and Sapphira destroyed the community with selfish motives.
- Loneliness due to psychological problems or demonic obsession
The liberated Mark 5:1-20
Lid: You are important to Jesus. He wants to set you free.
- Loneliness due to illness:
Jesus heals ten lepers Luke 17:11-18
Peter and the paralytic Acts 3:1-19; 4:1-4
The sick man at the pool John 5:1-9 Key verse: I have no one. Lid: Jesus invites you
- Loneliness due to social poverty
The rich man and the poor man Luke 16:19-31
Lid: The best is yet to come and God has the last word, not us humans. Even all the wealth won't help.
- Loneliness in prison.
The release of Peter from prison Acts 12:1-19. Cover: The church prays for the lonely.
- Loneliness, because they are victims of human trafficking and crime
Abraham, Sarah and Hagar Gen 16:1-16 and Hagar and Ishmael must leave Gen 21:1-21
Joseph-Genesis 37-50, this story has already appealed to many people
- Loneliness because of their gender or social position
Abraham, Sarah and Hagar Gen 16:1-16 and Hagar and Ishmael must leave Gen 21:1-21
Anyone using this story with Muslims should first read the section on Hagar in Islam in the article Hagar on Wikipedia. Many Muslims are familiar with the Islamic version of the Hagar story.
Ruth
- Loneliness because of being a refugee
Ruth
Idea: Jacob on the run
- Loneliness in the service of God
Elijah and God's care 1 Kings 17
Elijah on Mount Carmel 1 Kings 18
Elijah on the mountain of God 1 Kings 19:1-19
Idea: Jeremiah: The book of the prophet Jeremiah offers many possibilities
- Loneliness because the relationship with God is not right.
The story of the prodigal sons Luke 15:11-32
Cover: The younger son ran away from God the Father. The older son was always with God the Father, but he had no relationship with the father.
- B) We invite lonely people to church.
The story of the Great Banquet Luke 14:15-24
The Spirit of God Acts 2:1-47 Emphasis on what we have in common
Antioch Acts 11:19-30+12:24-13:4a
In future blog posts, I will also present a story set from time to time. You can find all the material with formulated stories in my handbook "Stories and Oral Bibles" under https://www.fivefingerfood.org/en_us/download/. As my handbook continues to grow, I can only give the current page, page 169, but this will change. Otherwise look in the table of contents under "Stories for lonely people". https://www.freebibleimages.org, a free super resource for Bible photos or drawings.
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