Church year/traditions
Name three seasons of the church year and their colors.
Advent - purple or blue; Christmas - white; Epiphany - green; Lent - purple; Holy Week - red; Easter - white; Pentacost - red; Ordinary time - green
What question does the parable of the Good Samaritan seek to answer?
Who is my neighbor.
When Mary finds out she's pregnant with Jesus who does she go visit?
Elizabeth
What is a parable?
A story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels.
Name the four gospels. Which one is really different from the others?
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. John is different.
Why do we have the season of Advent? Name the four candles.
To prepare for the coming of God in Christ. Hope, peace, joy, and love.
In the parable of the lost sheep, the shepherd leaves 99 sheep behind to find one. Why is that important to us now?
The parable shows how it is not the powerful or the people who've got it all together who are important. Rather in God's world, every last person is important, especially those who are struggling/lost.
Who is a Pharisee? Why was Jesus often fighting with them?
A Jewish religious leader. They insisted on a strict interpretation of the Law that often made loving people less important than following the rules.
What does the woman who finds her lost coin do after finding it?
Tells all her neighbors and asks them to celebrate with her.
Name three metaphors for God.
King, Father, Mother, hen, eagle
What color do we use to mark "ordinary time" in the church year?
Green
Society often values retribution and revenge. People deserve what they have coming to them. According to the parable of the Good Samaritan, what does God value?
mercy and forgiveness. (generosity, self-sacrifice, love all acceptable).
Who tests Jesus in the parable of the Good Samaritan?
A lawyer.
Who thinks God that he's better than the guy next to him in the temple? Why does he think that?
The Pharisee says he's better than the tax collector. Pharisees were religiously devoted and tax collectors stole from their own people.
Blessing/the blessings listed by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:3–11).
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Why did the church change Advent's color from purple to blue?
to indicate that Advent is not so much somber as a time of reflection and preparation. During Lent we focus on resisting temptation, repenting from our sins, seeking forgiveness in a somber tone.
Attractive, influential, popular people often rise to the top in our society, getting powerful jobs and lots of attention. According to the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector, what does God value?
Everyone is important to God and humility and meekness are Kingdom values.
Tax collectors were Jews who worked for the Romans and collected taxes from their own people12. They were hated and regarded as sinners by their fellow Jews, who resented paying taxes to the foreign oppressors.
How much does the laborer hired at 5pm make in the parable of the laborers? Why might that be important?
They earn a full day's wage. God's grace and mercy are available to everyone. You cannot earn it, it doesn't matter where you come from or when you "find" God.
Jesus tells the disciples to be like "salt" and "light" in the world. Why?
Dull and flavorless people/churches/programs do not attract people, do not provide opportunities to share God's love. Jesus is the light of the world. Light overcomes darkness. There's no point in putting the light under a bushel where it cannot be seen - the would must see the disciples love for one another.
What is the liturgical color for Christmas and Easter? Why?
White. New life/resurrection. Will accept purity, joy, new life, light.
What do these modern Beatitudes likely mean?
Blessed are the undocumented, the unemployed, the unpopular.
People who have experienced hardship, exclusion from society's values, exclusion from in-groups understand that life's meaning does not come from society's values. It is not one's legal status, employment status or social status that brings meaning to life. (unemployed people are not "productive" which makes them valueless in capitalist societies, undocumented people do not have basic rights, unpopular people are not included in many communities/spaces. But these people do not put their faith in citizenship, their job or their popularity and therefore to not follow empty promises about what makes life valuable.
Jerusalem to Jerico
Who were the two people who passed by the man beaten up by the robbers in the parable of the Good Samaritan? Give three reasons why they might have passed by.
A Levite and a priest. They might have passed by because the man was "unclean" for people going to the Temple; they might have thought it was a trap/could have been hurt themselves; not their problem/someone else would deal with it.
Who prepares the way for Jesus to come? What does he ask people to do to prepare?
John the Baptist. He asks people to repent, that is, to turn away from sin and towards God.