{"id":9827,"date":"2023-05-02T08:25:28","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T13:25:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=9827"},"modified":"2023-04-25T14:51:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T19:51:00","slug":"may-7-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/may-7-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"May 7, 2023&#8211;Even Greater Things"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Angie Larson, Alexandria, MN<\/b><\/p>\n<h4><b>Warm-up Question<\/b><\/h4>\n<p>What is one area that you think humans could work better together at?<\/p>\n<h4><b>Even Greater Things<\/b><\/h4>\n<p>On Thursday, April 13th, 16 year old Ralph Yarl went to pick up his twin younger brothers from a friend&#8217;s house, but accidentally went to the wrong house. When the homeowner came to the door he shot Ralph twice. Once through the door and then when he was already on the ground. Ralph made his way to a neighbor\u2019s house where he got help for his injuries. His story shocked and outraged our nation. Ralph survived but not without difficulty.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Three days later, Ralph\u2019s aunt set up a GoFundMe page to support the family through this difficult time. Nearly 100,000 people have donated to Ralph, with nearly 4 million dollars raised. While there is absolutely no justification for the senseless and unnecessary trauma this family has endured, the outpouring of care shows what happens when humanity comes together. Ralph\u2019s aunt mentions that extra funds beyond his medical needs will help with Ralph\u2019s college tuition and his dream trip to West Africa.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Discussion Questions<\/b><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>What problems in our world do you believe people find it easy to come together for common support?<\/li>\n<li>Which problems in our world do you think people find it difficult to come together to solve?<\/li>\n<li>Why are some problems easier to solve than others?<\/li>\n<li>How can we work together to stop gun violence in our country?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><b>Fifth Sunday of Easter<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=549425843\">Acts 7:55-60<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=549425873\">1 Peter 2:2-10<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=549425903\">John 14:1-14<\/a><\/p>\n<p>(Text links are to <a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/\">Oremus Bible Browser<\/a>. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year A at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.elca.org\/Our-Work\/Congregations-and-Synods\/Worship\/Lectionary\/YearA\">Lectionary Readings<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic <a href=\"http:\/\/www.agnusday.org\/\">Agnus Day.<\/a><\/p>\n<h4><b>Gospel Reflection<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/05\/iStock-1369837941.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-9840 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/05\/iStock-1369837941-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/05\/iStock-1369837941-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/05\/iStock-1369837941-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/05\/iStock-1369837941-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/05\/iStock-1369837941-250x167.jpg 250w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/05\/iStock-1369837941-525x350.jpg 525w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/05\/iStock-1369837941.jpg 1254w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jesus starts this part of John with the words \u201cDo not let your heart be troubled.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>In the original Greek, the pronoun is plural (like \u201cy\u2019all\u201d) and the heart is singular.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Jesus assumes that the disciples, though many,<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>share one heart. They\u2019re a unified community. Whatever may come they\u2019re in it together.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Jesus tells them they don\u2019t need to worry; God has space for all of them. There is no separation or scarcity. Then Jesus says something crazy. He says, \u201cVery truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even <i>greater things than these.<\/i>\u201d Jesus tells the disciples that together, with one heart, they will do even greater things than they have seen Jesus do. Can you imagine? The disciples thinking, \u201cEven greater than feeding 5000+ people? Even greater than healing people from illnesses? Even greater than walking on water?\u201d Yet, that\u2019s what Jesus says, \u201cEven greater things.\u201d When we\u2019re one-hearted, we can make the changes our world needs. So communities can have access to safety, health care, food needs, and security. So no one will ever need to worry about ringing the wrong doorbell again.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Discussion Questions<\/b><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Around what issue do the members of your group have &#8220;one-heartedness?&#8221; \u00a0What is a problem that everyone cares about?<\/li>\n<li>Why do you think Jesus says that together we will do even greater things?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><b>Activity Suggestions<\/b><\/h4>\n<p>Grab one sticky note per kid and ask them to write their name on it. \u00a0Then have each person jump up as high as they can to put their stickie on the wall. Next, ask them to work together, to see if they can get each of theirs even higher.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 Discuss what this activity might say about our life together as a community in Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Closing Prayer<\/b><\/h4>\n<p>Blessed Savior, You give us the opportunity to work together, choosing collaboration over competition, compassion over contention, and care over conflict. Bring us together, so that through you we can do even greater things, creating the changes in our communities which allow all people to thrive. In your name we pray, amen.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Angie Larson, Alexandria, MN Warm-up Question What is one area that you think humans could work better together at? Even Greater Things On Thursday, April 13th, 16 year old Ralph Yarl went to pick up his twin younger brothers from a friend&#8217;s house, but accidentally went to the wrong house. When the homeowner came to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1400],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>May 7, 2023-Even Greater Things - Faith Lens<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/may-7-2023\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"May 7, 2023-Even Greater Things - Faith Lens\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Angie Larson, Alexandria, MN Warm-up Question What is one area that you think humans could work better together at? 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