Pi, Talents, and Holy Week Today is Pi Day: March 14 = 3.14 = pi! All over the country, math teachers with a sense of humor are serving pie to their students and studying geometry. I did this at school, and again this evening in youth group. It was a great start to the evening!
Then we read the Parable of the Talents from Matthew 25. Now, I'd set this up last Friday, when I gave each student a sealed envelope labeled, "GOD'S MONEY." Inside was a crisp five dollar bill, and instructions: This is God's money. You are to use it in a way that gives Him pleasure. Be prepared to report next Friday on what you did with God's money, and why you did it.
We had, of course, several students who had forgotten the whole thing, and one who'd lost his envelope. But the rest of us ... Samuel gave his $5 to a school food bank; I gave mine to a jobless mother for Easter candy; Vicki gave hers to a Bible study branching out into China; LeHao bought clay for the children at Lamb's Lunch tomorrow; Karen gave hers to a homeless person on a street corner; HaiMai bought chocolate crosses and handed them out to her Bible class at school; and Nancy bought Clementine oranges, added a note saying they were from God, and handed them out to classmates. I asked her why she'd done that, and she said she wanted to do something that wasn't being done all the time. Isn't that great?!
Then we reviewed our timeline of Jesus' life, from Christmas on, and I emphasized the activities of Holy Week: Palm Sunday, the Last Supper (with Communion and washing feet), the arrest and Peter's denial of Him, the torture and taunting, the crucifixion and burial, and the Resurrection. It's a story that never fails to move and amaze me.
We talked about secular Easter symbols: Why do they have bunnies at Easter? Is it because they reproduce quickly? I think LeHao was a bit startled when I said that was exactly right. We opened bags of Easter candy and ended the evening playing Spoons with the Easter-egg cards from the bags.
God's money ... everything I have is God's ... how can I use it better for Him ... I need to focus more on this.
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