Panorama for Hindus

Thanks to my colleague for providing this to me.

Panorama or Summary „From Creation to Satsang“ story;

At the very beginning of time, Bhagwan was there, and there was nothing else… only Bhagwan. He created the universe and everything in it. He created the first human beings, a man and a woman. They were not like their Creator. He alone was God, and they were his special creation. He had a perfect relationship with them—he walked with them, spoke with them, and cared for them—until one day the man and the woman disobeyed Bhagwan and severed their relationship with him. This disobedience separated them from God.

The man and the woman had children. Their children had children, and they continued to multiply until the whole earth was filled with people. But just as with the first man and the first woman, their disobedience separated them from God. Yet Bhagwan never forgot His special creation. One day, He spoke to a man named Abraham and said to him, „I will give you many descendants. I will make them into a great nation. They will be the people I have chosen for My purposes. Through these descendants of yours, I will offer the whole world the path to a restored relationship with Me.“ And although Abraham and his wife had never been able to have children, Abraham trusted in God’s promise. For this reason, Bhagwan regarded Abraham as someone who had a right relationship with Him.

God kept His promise to Abraham. Abraham had a son, and his son had sons, until God had indeed made a great nation out of Abraham’s descendants. Sometimes they trusted God and His promises, just like their forefather Abraham, but most of the time they were disobedient, just like the first man and woman. That is why God sent special messengers to the people to show them how they could restore a good relationship with Him. One of Bhagwan’s messengers was named Isaiah. Isaiah brought Abraham’s descendants a message of hope about a promised Muktidata. He said, „We have all strayed from God and His ways. We are all disobedient. But God says, ‚I am sending you a Savior, the Muktidata, who will take upon himself the full punishment for your disobedience. He will be scourged and beaten. He will die because of your rebellion against Bhagwan. But I will restore his life. And because of what the Muktidata will do, you can have a right relationship with me.‘“

From then on, they waited eagerly for this promised savior, and they waited, and she waited.

Bhagwan truly kept His promise to Abraham’s descendants. He sent the promised Savior. This was Sanatan Guru Yishu, God’s own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Guru Yishu proved that he was indeed the Muktidata by performing many miracles and healing people, and just as in the story I told you earlier, even evil spirits acknowledged his authority.

Not everyone recognized who Yishuji was, but many people followed him as the one and only Sanatan Guru. He taught his disciples. One day he said to them, „If you follow me, I will give you Amrit Jivan. You belong to me. No one can tear you away from me. God and I are one.“

Those who did not place their trust in Guru Yishu became very angry that he had claimed he and God were one. So they persuaded the government to have him executed. And just as God had said, Yishuji was flogged. He was beaten. And then he was brutally put to death. But just as God had promised, Guru Yishu was brought back to life!

After that, the Sanatan Guru appeared to his disciples and clearly proved that he had returned from the dead. For forty days, Guru Yishu taught his disciples. He said to them, „I will soon leave you, but when I do, I will send you God’s Spirit, the Pawana Aatma. And when you receive His Spirit, you will receive peace (Shanti) and also power (Shakti)—the power to tell everyone about me. Go out into the whole world and share with people what I have done in your lives and what I can do in theirs. Teach them to follow what I have taught you. And when they place their full trust in me, give them my diksha. Initiate them as my disciples by immersing them in water. Let them undergo this symbolic initiation to show that they have completely submitted themselves to me. It will signify that they have turned away from their disobedience and, through their faith in me, have turned toward God.“

One day, Yishuji actually left them. He ascended into the clouds right before their eyes. As they watched, two supernatural beings appeared and asked them why they were looking up at the sky. „Sanatan Guru Yishu will one day return in the same way that he left,“ they said.

From that moment on, Guru Yishu’s followers waited eagerly for his return. And they went everywhere, telling people about him. And when people believed in Yishuji, they were immersed in water, symbolizing their diksha as his disciples. This ceremony signified that they had turned away from their disobedience and toward a restored relationship with Bhagwan through faith in Sanatan Guru Yishu.

That is what Yishuji’s true followers continue to do even today. They tell everyone about him. They come together to worship God, pray, care for one another’s needs, and learn more about their Sanatan Guru, Yishuji.

And that is something I do as his shishya. I feel compelled to tell others about Guru Yishu and how he has changed my life.

Hindu Terminology

Thanksgiving

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.

Jesus and Inclusion

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.

Stories about death, inner and physical healing

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.