Friday, December 2, 2005

Good Morning!

Article in this morning's Birmingham News about the Narnia movie and church groups.

Today's Overview: Chapter 11 -- Aslan Is Nearer

Peter, Susan and Lucy make it with the Beavers to the Stone Table. There they meet Aslan and his people. Aslan sends off a rescue party of animals, including winged horses, to go and rescue Edmund. One of the things that the kids and the Beavers notice is that the snow is beginning to melt everywhere -- I sign that the White Witch's spell is beginning to break.

Meanwhile, Edmund is beginning to see the White Witch for who she is -- someone who is cruel to all, and who has no love in heart for anyone or anything. Edmund begins to feel compassion for some of those whom the White Witch mistreats. This is partly because the White Witch's powers are beginning to wane, including the spell she has over Edmund, but also because something new is awakening in Edmund.

The scriptures today focus on the joy of God's deliverance, which is a reflection of where we are in the story --- all of Narnia is beginning to emerge from the years of eternal winter as the White Witch's spell is breaking due to the arrival of Aslan. One thing to note -- the Easter story is essentially a spring story -- there is a lot of symbolism in how the new growth of spring emerging from the cold and dark of winter is evocative of the story of Jesus. Lewis uses that same thought in this story as the return of Aslan brings a new spring to Narnia.

Today's Scriptures

Psalm 98; Joel 2:21-27; Revelation 15:3-4

Today's prayer request: Friend of Nicole McKinney

From Nicole: "I have a prayer request for a friend and her friend's family. A dear friend of mine lost her best friend, Cathy Swimelar, to cancer earlier this week . Of course, she is very sad about losing her and she is very concerned for Cathy's family. Cathy also left behind a daughter, whose 10th birthday was this week. . I can not imagine what they are going through. Any prayers are needed.

Today's class member prayer:

Christie Peebles

Have a great day.

Jay

Thursday, December 1, 2005

Good Morning!

Don't forget paint ball this Saturday vs. the youth. Meet at 8:30A at church.

Today's Overview: Chapter 10 -- The Spell Begins to Break

The Beavers and the children are making the long walk to the Stone Table, keeping to paths that the White Witch can't reach. At night, they go into a large hidden hole in the ground, a kind of beaver tornado shelter, and sleep through the night. In the morning, they hear a sledge, which at first they think is the White Witch's, but it turns out to be the sledge of Father Christmas, who has finally been able to enter Narnia again as the Witch's power begins to wane. He gives a breakfast feast to all and gifts to the kids, but they are tools, not toys, for the work and battles that they have ahead.

Elsewhere, Maugrim the wolf and his assistant reach the Beaver's house but find it empty, so they head to the Stone Table as well. The White Witch encounters another group of animals who have meet up with Father Christmas, who has provided the group with a breakfast feast. When they tell the Witch about who provided the feast, she is so upset she turns them all to stone. Edmund begins to realize what a terrible mistake he has made by siding with the Witch.

As noted in the study, one of the clues that C.S. Lewis provided in the story as to Aslan's identity is the Father Christmas appearance -- who in the world arrived at the same time as Father Christmas?

The thrust of the study today focuses on the gifts that Father Christmas gives the children as tools they will need for their future challenges. Peter gets a sword and shield, Susan gets a bow and arrows and a hunting horn, and Lucy gets a dagger and vial of magic potion that heal any injury. The gifts are very evocative of the spiritual gifts referred to in the scriptures that we receive as tools for us to fight off evil. While they are referred to as gifts in scripture, I think that the idea of them being tools is more instructive -- they are given to us for our use, to do the work of God.

Today's Scriptures

Ephesians 6:10-18; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Hebrews 4:12

Today's prayer request: Catherine Waters, my sister-in-law.

Catherine had major abdominal surgery yesterday, and she is going to be off her feet for while, during the holiday season. We need to pray for her recovery from the surgery, and for the surgery to cure the health problems she has been having now for the last year or so.

Today's class member prayer:

Chris Wesson

Have a great day.

Jay

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Good Morning!

Don't forget paint ball this Saturday vs. the youth. Meet at 8:30A at church.

Today's Overview: Chapter 9 - In the Witch's House

Edmund makes his way to the White Witch's house. He meets on the way Maugrim, a wolf who is the chief of the Secret Police. He brings Edmund to the White Witch, and he tells what he knows -- that he has brought his brothers and sisters to Narnia, and that he has heard that Aslan in on his way. The Witch begins her plan to stay in power -- she sends Maugrim to the Beaver's house to kill anyone who might be there, and she has her sledge prepared (has all the bells taken off) so that she can head to the Stone Tablets silently so that she can hopefully surprise Aslan and the others that are meeting there. Edmund has completely betrayed his brothers and sisters, as well as the Beavers and even Aslan.

The unit today focuses on the traps of the devil, and Edmund has certainly fallen into one -- he has fallen under the spell of his own desires (in his case, his lust for Turkish Delight, the sweet candy offered to him by the Witch on his previous visit), and the White Witch sets other traps -- sending the wolf to the Beaver's house and the taking of the bells off her sleigh so that she can sneak up on Aslan and the others. In a way, this is a good symbol for us to think about -- evil and the devil doesn't come up on us with bells aringin' so that we can be warned -- the devil takes the bells off his sleigh so that he can sneak up on us. We have to be listening a lot closer, and paying better attention.

The scriptures today are about escaping the traps that the devil sets for us.

Today's Scriptures

2 Timothy 2:22-26; 1 Peter 5:5-9; Galatians 5:16, 19-25

Today's prayer request: Friend of Nicole McKinney

From Nicole: "I have a prayer request for a friend and her friend's family. A dear friend of mine lost her best friend, Cathy Swimelar, to cancer yesterday. Of course, she is very sad about losing her and she is very concerned for Cathy's family. Cathy's daughter's 10th birthday is today. I can not imagine what they are going through. Any prayers are needed.

Today's class member prayer:

Krystle Hatton

Have a great day.

Jay

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Good Morning! 

 

Don't forget paint ball this Saturday vs. the youth.  Meet at 8:30A at church.

 

Today's Overview:  Chapter 8 - What Happened After Dinner

 

Everyone searches the Beaver's house for Edmund, but is not to be found.  Peter, the oldest, suggests that they break up into groups to look for Edmund, but Beaver says no -- Edmund has fallen in with the White Witch, and that they are all in danger now.  They must leave the house at once and move on to meet Aslan.

 

Mr. Beaver is right, because Edmund did slip out and head to the White Witch's house.

 

In this chapter in our book, the focus is on the coming of Aslan, as Mr. Beaver told the story.  Note that this is appropriate at this time of the year -- Advent -- because this is a place in the story where the parallels between Aslan and Jesus are strong.  As with Christ, the coming of Aslan was foretold and prophesied.

 

While the parallels to the Gospel story are there, I think we ought to think also about the Revelation story and prophesies made there.  There are a lot of people who have that prophesy top of mind, and who are on the lookout for the beginning of the fulfillment of that prophesy.  We discussed in class on Sunday one element of that in talking about the Left Behind series.

 

As we will see, the rest of the Narnia story plays out more in line with the Advent/Gospel story, but at this part of the story, we can look two ways and think about Mr. and Mrs. Beaver.  In our study, yesterday, it draws a connection between something Mrs. Beaver says and the story of Simeon in the early part of Luke -- someone who realizes that they are seeing a long-held prophesy come to fruition.  We can't really see ourselves in that place, because that has already happened.  But thinking about the Revelation story, we could be in the Beaver's shoes -- we could be people who marvel at a prophesy being fulfilled in front of our eyes. 

 

Today's Scriptures

 

Micah 5:2; Isaiah 9:6-7; Matthew 12:18-21

 

Today's prayer request:    Saundra Aaron

 

This is Valerie's brother's mother-in-law, who is being treated for breast cancer.  Need to continue to remember her as she continues her treatment, and her family as they head into the holiday season with her illness very much on their mind.

 

Today's class member prayer: 

 

Michelle Ray

 

Have a great day.

 

Jay

Monday, November 28, 2005

Good Morning! 

 

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.

 

Some news:

 

-- On this Saturday, December 3, we will be having a paintball outing with the youth.  Everyone who is interested should be at the church at 8:30AM.  Make sure to bring a lunch.

 

-- On Sunday, December 11, we will be going out to lunch and to see the new Narnia movie.  In the next week or so, we'll need to get a count on that, so we can order tickets ahead of time.

 

Today's Overview:  Chapter 7 - A Day with the Beavers

 

Link to the full synopsis of the book is available at our class website -- leapclass.blogspot.com.

 

The four children meet Mr. Beaver, who takes them to his home to meet his wife.  They have tea.  They learn three things at the Beaver's house -

 

-- that Mr. Tumnus most likely was taken away by the Witch's secret police to her castle, from which very few return -- the few reports of survivors say that the castle is full of those whom she has turned to stone.

 

-- that Aslan, the great lion is on the move, and that his arrival in Narnia would signal the end of the reign of the witch.

 

-- that the arrivial in Narnia of the children is seen as fulfillment of prophesy.

 

Two things happen while they are listening to Mr. Beaver.  First, when they hear Aslan's name, they have a brief mystical, spiritual experience.  Second, as they are listening to Mr. Beaver, they don't realize that Edmund has disappeared - he slipped off while Mr. Beaver was talking.

 

In our study, the focus is on the reaction of the children to hearing Aslan's name, and the comparison is made to the power of Jesus' name.  Our scriptures for the day are examples of how the simple mention of Jesus' name in some circumstances was accompanied by an example of the power of God.  These are three of the examples of reactions to hearing Jesus name -- some positive and some negative, depending on where people's hearts where.  In the story, it is a similar reaction -- as it turns out, when Edmund heard Aslan's name, his reaction was one of fear and horror -- apparently, he has fallen under the sway of the White Witch and his own desires.

 

Today's Scriptures

 

Acts 3:6, 16; John 18:4-6; Phillipians 2:9-11

 

Today's prayer request:      Christie and Andrew Peebles

 

Christie and Andrew are pregnant again, about ten weeks+.  We need to pray that they have a problem-free pregnancy.

 

Today's class member prayer: 

 

Monica Harbarger

 

Have a great day.

 

Jay