Year C, Easter 7, 2019 – Power Up

Hey everyone! Welcome back, and for first time visitors, welcome here! If you have kids or grandkids, you may be familiar with the phrase “Power Up!” In the world of video games – and in particular Mario’s universe – a “power up” is a way for your character to find a boost of energy or an extra life that allows you to continue making your way further into the game. For me, they are always very helpful since I tend to play in such a way that puts my character into jeopardy quite often. Even as I blaze my way through a situation on the screen, I think to myself, “Wow, wouldn’t it be great if we had these things in real life?!?” We do. The passages for this week’s lectionary readings show us God’s power in large and powerful ways and just in time for when you need it ways. The Psalm reveals God’s majestic power, especially in nature, and Revelation ends with the coming promise of Jesus’ power. In John, Jesus prays that the disciples that God has given him will become one with Jesus and with God, just as Jesus is one with God. In Acts, Paul and his companions suffer as Jesus did in order to exhibit God’s power and bring others to salvation. Three years ago, we found illustrations and special effects for everything except NATURE smart. Which is interesting, because I found some crossover with it a couple times this year! We also revisit The Khan Academy! Smarts of the Week [01:58] We talk a bit about what EYE and MATH intelligences are and then speculate a bit about how Jesus may have utilized them in his ministry. You can download our worksheets below. EYE smart – [04:14]Download MATH smart – [02:59]Download This Week’s Texts John 17:20-26 – [05:18] This passage is just a wee part of Jesus’ “farewell address” where he is thanking God for the disciples given to him and praying for their strength and unity going forward after his death. For MATH smart, talk about iterative functions and convergent series to illustrate the unity and union of God, Jesus, and the disciples. For EYE smart, try roping a bit of NATURE with the way an amoeba will surround and make another organism part of itself. Okay, it eats it. Eek! God’s intention is NOT to do this! We are taken into the fellowship that exists with God and Jesus, so that we become a part of something bigger that sustains and protects us. So the amoeba is a negative illustration. EYE smart – [10:16]This video of an amoeba surrounding a stentor is interesting and also sorta scary. For an interesting visual of God’s glory cascading down to us, set up one of those marble runs for kids!MATH smart – [06:53]The Khan Academy has good videos on convergence of infinite series.Also, Iterative functions, where you plug the answer back into your formula to get a new answer, and keep doing that until it converges on a number or set that are the solution to your problem. Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21 – [12:41] The Book of Revelation has within it sets and subsets, particularly of who is “in” the kingdom to come and who is “out.” Be certain to use the words John lists in verse 15 if you choose present this chart for MATH smart. Also, the Lectionary Committee excised verses 18 and 19, which we find ironic, but bring in an accounting ledger, and talk about what is and is not supposed to be in a financial record. For EYE smart, use the above chart of for set theory as a visual representation or use John’s own image/metaphor of a bride. Have people think about times when they’ve all stood up and waited to spy the bride as she enters the sanctuary. Also, since in the final verses of this passage everyone is waiting for Jesus to show up, have people think about times when they’ve waited for a performer to step out on stage. Or for the pastor to walk out into the sanctuary. EYE smart – [13:37]MATH smart – [16:05] Psalm 97 – [20:26] Psalm 97 is an enthronement psalm – the Lord is king! For EYE smart, take the dramatic images of nature and ask your congregation to consider the expanse of land that a storm described in these verses would cover. Click the link below to see how much ground the recent storms in Dayton, Ohio covered. May God bless all who were affected, and may God’s people be a help and blessing to them. For MATH smart, consider again the convergent and divergent series. Play with the numerator and denominator values on a chart (which would be a boon for EYE smart individuals, too) to show how God is capable of being in both! EYE smart – [24:47]A link to the National Weather Service map to which I referred. MATH smart – [21:07]Back to Khan Academy for a divergent series this time. Acts 16:16-34 – [28:09] For EYE smart, I travelled over to PEOPLE smart, grabbed one of our tried and true ideas from there, and suggest that you act out this passage. Cast all the characters and have them stage this story throughout your worship space. You’ll not only engage them visually, but use the spatial aspect of this intelligence, too! Try using The Voice translation as your script. For MATH smart, think about the way Paul is able to withstand some pretty severe abuse for the sake of the Gospel. In this passage, he and his companions are beaten with rods (see the links below) and were “severely flogged.” This type of physical torture would likely make most people give up their behavior. Not Paul – use math to show why! EYE smart – [30:25]MATH smart – [31:49]On the beating with rods; And some more. This is BODY smart, but it sets up the MATH comparison.Acceleration due to gravity equationsee the worksheet for an equation demonstrating the order of magnitude using the earth and an orange’s gravityOn proper use of the phrase “orders of magnitude“And just to be consistent, here’s a Khan Academy video on some order of magnitude exercises. Image credit: Photo by Pixabay provided through Pexels. Used by permission.