World Religions

Read Galatians 3:26-28

God loves me with an unconditional love. Name some of the ways I love who I am.

What can we do together to create a greater sense of unity and acceptance among us?

After viewing the film Glory Road write a 5 paragraph essay response to the question: What Does It Take to Change the World?

Pick and choose from the following six ideas to develop your own thesis and topic sentences. In your essay refer to specific detail from the film, your own experiences, and passages from Scripture to develop your response to the question: What Does It Take to Change the World?

One: Recruiting Strategies
(read Luke 14:15-24; 1 Corinthians 1:24-31; and John 3:16-18; John 1:12-13)

• How does Coach Haskins change his recruiting methods after the traditional methods fail?
  In school, when a team “captain” was choosing up sides for a team — what determined if someone got picked or not?
• Have you ever wanted to be part of something — knowing you could do well — only to be rejected? Or have you ever rejected someone because of their race, the way they talked, the clothes they wore, or where they lived? Describe your experience.
• When Paul comments about “the wise” who do you think he is talking about? Who would represent the “wise” in Glory Road?
• What kind of people does God “recruit?”
• What does God use as His standard for who makes the team?

Two: Good Players Need Good Coaching
(read 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; 2 Timothy 2:2-7)

• Name some of the behaviors that players on the Texas Western team had to overcome in order to become winners.
• What kinds of things did Coach Haskins do to discipline his team so that they would work together?
• What does the Bible say about why some people might not work well together?
• Name some roles Christians play in changing the world for Christ.
• Describe a coaching or mentoring relationship you have or had in school. What effect did the coaching have on your performance? What characteristics did you most appreciate in the person who was helping you?
• What does Timothy — and the rest of us — learn about playing on God’s team from each of the examples that Paul uses?
• Where should we go to find out what we should do, what the rules are, and how to work hard?
• Once we have learned how to change the world for Christ, what does Paul say we should do with that knowledge?

Three: Great Players Persevere
(read 1 Peter 5:8; 1 Peter 4:12-19; James 1:2-3,12 and Romans 5:1-5)

• What were some of the responses people had when the Texas Western team began to win — especially when they began to beat highly-ranked teams?
• Once things got really bad, what happened to the team?
• How was their internal conflict demonstrated outwardly?
• Who is one of our opponents?
• Why shouldn’t we be surprised that we face opposition?
• What does it mean to be reviled?
• What do James and Paul say we should do in the face of difficult opposition?
• What is the end result of endurance and perseverance?

Four: Players Don’t Stand Alone
(read Romans 12:4-13, Philippians 2:1-11 and Hebrews 10:23-25)

• When Coach Haskins announces his decision to his team — what is their response?
• Some of the white players would never again get a chance to play in a championship tournament, so why do you think they agreed to sit out the game?
• What lines of support did you see develop that helped Texas Western to prevail? According to the Bible, what are some ways we can show support for one another?
• How does meeting together regularly contribute to the support of all members?

Five: All Players Triumph through Belief and Action
(read James 2:14-26)

• What obstacles have you overcome in your life?
• Can you give some examples of how action confirms belief?
• What kind of actions can you take that will lead others to Jesus and help to change the world for Christ

Six: Go Play to Win!
(read 1 Corinthians 9:25-27)

• What one thing will you change about yourself this week to help win the world for Christ?
• What one thing will you commit yourself to do for someone else in this room to help them in their faith
• Discuss what you can do to reach out to others and help them to join God’s team.

NRSV translation of the related Scriptures from http://bible.oremus.org/:
James 2:1-10
Luke 14:15-24
1 Corinthians 1:24-31
John 3:16-18
John 1:12-13
1 Corinthians 12:12-27
2 Timothy 2:2-7
1 Peter 5:8
1 Peter 4:12-19
James 1:2-3
James 1:12
Romans 5:1-5
Romans 12:4-13
Philippians 2:1-11
Hebrews 10:23-25
James 2:14-26
1 Corinthians 9:25-27

Here are some facts about Judaism. Write a post about this ancient religion in your blog.

• 3,500 years old
• Founded by Abraham and Moses
• Jewish people are specially chosen by God.
• Followers worship in synagogues; their spiritual leaders are called rabbis.
• Has twelve million followers, most of whom are in Israel and the United States.
• Six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust in an attempt to wipe out Judaism.

Monotheism is a belief in one god alone. Polytheism is a belief in many gods. Around 2000 BC.E., most peoples in the Mediterranean region believed in many gods. They saw each force of nature – the wind, the sun, the rain – as a separate deity. This was a way of explaining the world in which they lived.

Unlike most of their neighbours, the Jews believed in one god, not many. Think about what you know about the history and geography of the region. How do you think the Jewish belief in one god affected their interactions with the other people?

The history of the Jews goes back thousands of years. Below are some important events in the years before the Common Era (B.C.E.). Use your knowledge of Judaism and the history of the region to determine their correct order. Number them 1-10, with 1 as the earliest event.

a. Cyrus, king of Persia, allows the Jews to return to Judah.
b. The kingdom of Israel splits in two. The northern kingdom continues to be called Israel. The southern kingdom is called Judah.
c. Abraham, to whom the Jews trace their ancestry, is told to leave Mesopotamia and settle in Canaan, which is now Israel.
d. When King Antiochus tries to force Jews to worship idols, a group of rebels overthrows the king.
e. The kingdom of Israel is founded.
f. Judah comes under the control of Alexander the Great.
g. Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and receives the laws of God.
h. The Babylonians conquer the southern kingdom of Judah.
i. Persia conquers Babylonia.
j. The Assyrians conquer the northern kingdom of Israel.

Abraham was the first prophet of Judaism. According to the Midrash, a book of Jewish stories and aphorisms, Abraham was walking near the city of Ur when he saw an empty palace. For a moment he thought that the palace appeared before him like an illusion. Then he realized, of course, it was probably built by someone. In order for a palace to exist it must have been built. Likewise, Abraham reasoned that the world itself was made by something. This “something” is called God.

Do you think things can exist without having a beginning?

According to the Bible, God promised to deliver the Jews from slavery in Egypt. Directed by God, Moses asked the pharaoh to release the Jews. The pharaoh refused. God then sent ten plagues to the Egyptians; Jews were not affected by the plagues.

First, the water in the Nile turned to blood. Then a wave of frogs covered the land. Next the dust of the earth was changed into gnats, which attacked people and animals. In the fourth plague, swarms of flies filled the air. Then came a disease that killed the Egyptians’ livestock. Next the Egyptians suffered from painful boils. In the seventh plague, severe hail killed people and animals. Then came locusts, which ate any crops that survived the hail. The ninth plague brought three days of utter darkness, so that people could not see to move around. In the tenth plague, the firstborn sons in all Egyptian homes died. Finally, the pharaoh agreed to let the Jews leave Egypt.

The pharaoh refused to let the Jews leave until the tenth plague. How do you think ordinary Egyptians felt about this? Imagine living through plague after plague. Would you want to keep the Jews in Egypt, or let them go?

The Jews were freed from slavery in Egypt after god sent ten plagues to the Egyptians. In the last plague, the firstborn son of every house in Egypt died. Speaking through Moses, God directed the Jews to do certain things. Death would pass over the house of anyone who obeyed theses directions. Jewish families were told to sacrifice a lamb and to mark their doors with its blood. They were then to roast the lamb, eating it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They were to dress as if they were traveling, with sandals on their feet and staffs in hand. God also told them that they should celebrate this event in the future by performing the same rite every year.

Moses explained, “When your children ask you, ‘What does this rite of yours mean?’ you shall reply, ‘This is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt; when he struck down the Egyptians, he spared our houses.” (Exodus 12 26:27)

Passover is still celebrated in Jewish homes today, 3000 years after the first Passover in Egypt. Why do you think this event is still celebrated?

When Moses led the Jews out of Egypt, they crossed the Sinai Desert. God called Moses to the top of Mount Sinai and gave him the Ten Commandments. These commandments formed the moral code for the Jewish people. Some were injunctions – things the people were told to do. Some were prohibitions – things they were told not to do.

Injunctions included keeping the Sabbath day holy and honouring one’s parents. Prohibitions included worshipping other gods, making idols, taking God’s name in vain, killing, committing adultery, theft, bearing false witness, and wanting things that belong to other people

Do you think these Ten Commandments are a good foundation for a code of conduct?

Prophets are people who have a special ability for listening to and speaking for God. The prophet Isaiah, who lived around the eighth century B.C.E., was an adviser to the king of Judah. At that time, the kingdom was under attack from Assyria, Isaiah told the king that god would protect the people if they had faith, but if they rejected god, they would be destroyed.

My friend had a vineyard on a fertile hillside; he spaded it, cleared it of stones, and planted the choicest vines; . . . Then he looked for the crop of grapes, but what it yielded was wild grapes . . . Now, I will let you know what I mean to do to my vineyard: Take away its hedge, give it to grazing, break through its wall, let it be trampled! Yes, I will make it a ruin: it shall not be pruned or hoed, but overgrown with thorns and briers; I will command the clouds not to send rain upon it. The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his cherished plant. (Isaiah 5:1-7))

In your own words, explain what Isaiah was saying here.