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Jesus’ Use of Object Lessons

In Christ’s teaching, He used the things with which the people were most familiar, the things of the earth to teach them the things that were unfamiliar, the things of heaven. The unknown was illustrated by the known; divine truths by earthly things, the spiritual by the natural, the difficult by the simple. Object lessons speak to the eyes and other senses so that they are received into the heart. In fact, the more senses that are involved, the greater the learning that takes place.

When we use tangible objects – insects, fruits, vegetables, animals, coins, thermometers, tools, and weapons – to teach intellectual and spiritual truths the the teaching method is usually called an object lesson. Something physical is used as a metaphor for an abstract concept or principle that is difficult to explain.

More than just a visual, an object lesson draws a truth from something you are showing or doing. The object becomes a hook on which you hang your lesson and can create powerful associations that serve as reminders every time the object is seen outside the classroom. Real objects, places and events can make learning come alive for children, youth, and adults.

Jesus often used the objects at hand around Him to teach people about God and His Kingdom. When He was by a well, He used water. After He fed 5000 people, He taught them about the Bread of Life. When He was on a fishing boat, He said the Kingdom was like a fishing net. He told His listeners to consider the lilies, the sparrows, and the hairs on their head. Jesus referred to a fig tree, a mustard tree, yeast, salt, a vineyard, money and other things from everyday life to reveal spiritual truth. When He spoke of a vineyard, He was probably by a vineyard. When He said, consider the sparrows, there were probably sparrows flying around. When He taught the parable of the sower, it’s by no means a major stretch of our imagination to think that there was a sower in the next field where Jesus was.

Jesus asked the disciples to remember Him as they took bread and wine at the Last supper. The Bible is filled with visible reminders of God’s constant communication and connection with His people. Just as Christ was the visible image of the invisible God, object lessons are a visible expression of the invisible (Colossians 1). In fact, Christ himself was THE ultimate object lesson. His entire life, teaching, death and resurrection are all object lessons.

To find out how you can use object lessons, like Jesus did, to bring your lessons to life and teach life changing spiritual truths visit www.CreativeObjectLessons.com

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.
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Art of Storytelling

Read through the Gospels and you cannot help but notice that storytelling was one of the key characteristics of Christ’s teaching.

Jesus was able to hold people’s attention with his stories, and through His artful storytelling, profound spiritual truths were brought to light. His stories always had an interesting beginning, were incredibly vivid and gripping, and painted pictures and images that not only fired the imagination, but were easily remembered and passed on to others. They were simple stories that were quickly understood, but held truths of great depth that were not quickly forgotten! They created intense images that burned themselves upon the listener’s imagination, giving each something to see in his own mind’s eye.

Why Storytelling?

Our lives are lived and told in story. Stories are, in fact, the oldest form of teaching. In Biblical times it was the Father’s responsibility to tell the stories of God’s people to his children at every opportunity as much as it was the prophet’s responsibility to proclaim God’s words to His people. Stories are meaningful for any age student from any culture. Every person, regardless of age, background or situation, has a story. That’s what makes stories so powerful!

Stories have a way of weaving their way into our subconscious–both the stories of our own experiences and the stories we hear. Stories can be a source of personal growth and build community not only with those around us, but with those who journeyed in the faith long before us. Stories can bring laughter to our sorrow, healing to our hurts, clarity to our doubts, understanding to our confusion, answers to our questions, and decisiveness to our choices. Listening to a Story is like starting out on a great adventure. We want to know how it ends and what it means.

Stories connect those things that are commonly known with spiritual truths. The familiar is used to explain the unfamiliar. The concrete is used to explain the abstract. Abstract principles and concepts are illustrated in practical, real to life actions. He used a story of the birds and lilies to help listeners understand a believer’s trust in God. He used the wind to explain the Holy Spirit (which was also a play on words). He used grapes and figs to explain fruitful discipleship. He used salt and light to describe the effect of believers on the world. Jesus deliberately took things that his pupils would understand and applied spiritual truths to them.

Storytelling Methods

Jesus used stories of real events, both historical and current. Luke 13:1-5 refers to then-current events concerning Galileans killed by Pilate and the Tower of Siloam. The story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 is not presented as a parable, but as a real situation. Stories often hold interest and present abstract concepts more effectively than a simple statement of the point of the story.

Jesus’ most frequent method of storytelling was the parable, often described as an “earthly story with a heavenly meaning.” A parable is a story that uses a parallel between a very familiar situation (like farming) and a less familiar topic (like the Kingdom of Heaven) to shed light and understanding on the latter.

Jesus also used metaphors and similes and other word pictures. Word pictures – words and phrases that create a picture in your mind – are a very effective communication tool. Instead of just saying that it is bad to make children who believe stumble, Jesus painted an effective word picture by saying that it would be better to have a millstone hung around your neck and be cast into the sea than to make one of these little ones who believe to stumble. (Mark 9:42) The latter statement has much more impact. (Luke 17:2,6,24,37) A metaphor is a word picture where something is described by calling it something else. Jesus called Herod “a fox.” A simile is a similar comparison introduced by the words “like” or “as.” Jesus described His love for the people of Jerusalem with a simile: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I would have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.”

All of these show the place of storytelling in the teaching ministry of Christ. Youth ministry is about hearing the stories of young people, creating experiences that result in stories, and sharing with one another the story of God’s work in this world through Jesus Christ. And through exploring these stories, we all move a little further along in our journey with Christ.

To learn a little more about how to be a life-changing storyteller like Christ see Steps to Story Telling


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Teachable Moments

Jesus Took Advantage of Teachable Moments

Oliver Wendell Holmes once described the teachable moment this way: “A moment’s insight is sometimes worth a life’s experience.”

As Christ walked among us, teachable moments often presented themselves in circumstances, situations, and events that were seemingly unplanned. Sometimes the participants would respond to the events with a question or a simple statement of observation. Then, Jesus had a habit of responding with another question or with a saying that was difficult to understand. As he continued to fan that spark of curiosity or interest, the discussion would leave the person deep in thought and the encounter would be forever branded on the listener’s mind.

Ask Nicodemus about his conversation with Christ and he could probably tell you every single word! The same with the woman at the well, the man healed on the sabbath, the paralytic lowered through the roof, the woman in the crowd who touched his garments, and I dare say, every person who had a personal encounter with Christ.

Like the rich young ruler who walked away saddened, some left unable to accept the truth that had been revealed. But for others, that one teachable moment became a life-changing experience! Jesus began with the day to day moments of life, and used those moments to spotlight spiritual truths.

It was characteristic of Jesus to make use of whatever occasion arose. This is one of the reasons his teaching was so alive and exciting! When you see the events of life through heaven’s eyes, all of life can become a canvas on which truths of God reveal themselves in a myriad of vivid colors and hues!

  • When His disciples were accused of working on the Sabbath and breaking the Sabbath Law by threshing wheat, Jesus used the occasion to instruct the Pharisees on the real intention of the Sabbath Law.
  • When the woman anointed Jesus’ feet in the house of Simon the Pharisee and Jesus was criticized for permitting such a sinful woman to touch Him, He used the occasion to teach on forgiveness.

Do you make use of occasions as they arise in your classroom to teach your students spiritual truths? Look for them, be aware of them, and make use of them.

In the world today, it’s hard to follow your youth through the daily moments of their lives and recognize and fan into flame those teachable moments. Yet, with a carefully chosen icebreaker, game, or learning activity, you can create a controlled experience where teachable moments can spring into existence. As they do, the effective teacher can pick out those little sparkles among the mundane and polish them into life-changing diamonds of truth! Truths that will last an eternity!

For 52 of my best ice-breakers with detailed instructions on how to use them as teachable moments and transition to life changing truths, visit http://www.CreativeIcebreakers.com


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Teaching Like Jesus – Jesus Began at the Level of the Student

When Jesus talked with the woman at the well He began with water, compared that water to eternal life, and finally explained about the Messiah (John 4:1-26). He began with people at the level they were at and then stretched them and gently guided them to deeper spiritual truths and action.

Rather than scolding Thomas for his religious questions, Jesus gave him the evidence he needed to believe (John 20:24-28). Jesus responded to His mother’s worry by explaining why He stayed in the temple (Luke 2:49). Jesus comforted His disciples by assuring them He would prepare a place for them (John 14:1-3). At the Last Supper He tempered Peter’s overconfidence by telling him what to do after failure (Luke 22:32). He helped His disciples see that children weren’t a bother to “serious” religion, but a demonstration of it (Mt 19:13-15).

By beginning at the level of the student we can gently guide them into deeper spiritual truths. In the process we are a little closer to teaching as Jesus Taught.


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Teaching Like Jesus – Jesus Spent Time with Students

Jesus spent time with His students. He called 12 people to be His closest disciples (Mark 1:17-20). He talked with them (Mark 11:20-25), rested with them (Mark 6:30-31), and shared the Last Supper with them (Mark 14:12-26).

He also spent time teaching others who were interested in Him (Mark 6:34-44). He respected people by taking time for children and by talking with the very people others often chose to ignore (Matthew 19:14; John 4:9). He spent time listening to and understanding people, regardless of their background. He accepted Zacchaeus, the hated tax collector, when no one else would. Rather than judging him, Jesus spent time with him and let God’s love transform Zacchaeus (Luke 19:2-10).

Jesus knew that more is caught than taught. When we spend time with students they learn from our lives and we discover a little bit more about their needs and concerns. Then we are a little closer to Teaching as Jesus Taught.


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Teaching Like Jesus – Jesus connected with Life

Jesus’ parables, “earthly stories with heavenly meaning,” made spiritual truth clear by relating it to the everyday experiences of life. “The kingdom of God . . . is like a mustard seed” (Luke 13:19). People could relate to the stories because they were drawn from real life. He used a coin to teach about taxes (Mark 12:16-17). He used the stones of magnificent buildings to explain the intensity of the end of the age (Mark 13:1-4).

The greatest engagement is to be actively involved in life. Involve rather than inform. Suppose you had climbed a mountain and wanted to convey to your students the exhilaration of reaching the top and the relief at discovering that the grueling work was really worth the effort. Would it be better to tell them about your climb or take them to the top of the mountain with you? Taking them to the top would take more time than saying: “The results are worth the climb.” But which would impact their lives more deeply? It’s the same with Bible study: the more youth do for themselves, the more meaningful their learning becomes.

Jesus taught by first being an example, and then by encouraging others to follow his example. He served by washing His disciples’ feet (John 13:1-7). He emphasized baptism by being baptized (Mt 3:13-17). He sent the disciples out in pairs to proclaim the kingdom of God. (Lk 10:1-12) He challenged His followers to share His gospel with the world (Mt 28: 18-20).

When spiritual truths connect with real life, lives are changed and we are a little closer to teaching as Jesus taught.


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Teaching Like Jesus – Jesus Invited Others to Talk

“Who do people say that I am?” Jesus Asked — perhaps because people find it easier to begin talking about other people’s opinions. It was an invitation to discussion. Jesus then asked the personal question: “Who do you say I am?” (Matthew 16:15) because he was never content to leave spiritual truth at the level of discussion of what others believed. Spiritual Truth must become personal if it is to change lives.

Jesus used questions to help people draw conclusions for themselves, such as when He spoke with the rich ruler about eternal life (Luke 18:18-29).

He also invited discussion and used questions to correct faulty thinking, as when He talked with religious leaders about authority (Matthew 21:23-27). Often Jesus did not answer His own questions but used them to lead His listeners toward truth.

But Jesus did more than ask questions. Part of encouraging others to talk is learning to listen. He himself learned by listening to teachers in the temple (Luke 2:46). He reminded His followers to listen to understand (Mt 11:15; 13:18; 15:10). God commanded people to listen to Jesus (Lk 9:35). Jesus listened and encouraged others to listen.

When we invite others to speak, we get them to interact with the truths of God. When we invite others to speak, we are one step closer to teaching as Jesus taught.


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