Questions:Considering the obviously antithetical natures of light and darkness, why do you think Moses makes the point that “God separated the light from the darkness?”What do you think the source of that light was?
Questions: When Jesus begins His ministry, who or what does He claim to be?What condition are the people in He is talking to and what does He tell them to do?Why?
Questions:What examples does Paul use to illustrate the ways believers are to be separate from unbelievers?What reasons does he give?What is the ultimate goal of that separation?
Questions: For what purpose did God call His people out of darkness into light?What have God’s people received that distinguishes them from all other people?
Psalms and Hymns
Great Is Thy Faithfulness“Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest, sun, moon and stars in their courses above join with all nature in manifold witness to Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.”
All Creatures of Our God and King “All creatures of our God and King, lift up your voice and with us sing Alleluia, Alleluia!Thou burning sun with golden beam, Thou silver moon with softer gleam, O praise Him.”
Wait! Before we go any further. Can we just have a moment of silence for Pluto, who 12 years ago today left our solar system as a “Planet” and suffered the humiliating demotion to “dwarf planet,” thanks to some cranky members of the International Astronomical Union? You can leave your kind remembrances in the comments section of this post.
Factoid #1: In 1968 NASA got sued for reading the bible from the moon. Watch this rad video of astronauts reading Genesis 1 (by Sam, 9).
Factoid #2: We saw Mars through our telescope. We watched a video called 7 Minutes of Terror about Curiosity ‘s risky landing in August 2012. NASA just sent a new space craft to Mars and it is exactly 1/2 way there (by Nate, 11).
Factoid #3: We got an Orion reflecting telescope and looked at the moon. We saw a bunch of craters and bumps, which led us to discover on-line that the moon has a massive lunar bulge on its surface caused by the earth’s strong gravitational pull on the moon (by Joel, 13).
Teacher’s Two-Cents: Every couple of weeks we drive down into civilization for errands, appointments, music lessons and to visit Tom’s folks whom we love dearly and who, unlike ourselves, have internet and a TV. The youtube videos linked above are evidence of our most recent wifi binge. We didn’t include a link to the Netflix documentary I’m going to talk about now because I only recommend it for mature viewers. The Furthest: Voyager in Space, stands in sharp contrast to the Apollo 8 Genesis Reading we linked above. During the Apollo 8 mission, the astronauts came around the dark side of the moon and their first glimpse of the earth inspired them to read aloud on a live, televised broadcast the very words that are meant to come to all our minds when we view the world around us, “In the beginning, God created…”
But the Voyager mission seemed to be motivated by the opposite kind of response. In this frenzied pursuit of human achievement, we were given a first-time close up look at 4 awe-inspiring planets. And while people on earth reacted with wonder and surprise, the truth of Genesis 1 was noticeably absent from the conversation. Instead, the guiding principle of the mission seemed to be the possibility that there was other life somewhere in the universe and Voyager was our attempt to find it or be found. The Golden Record encapsulated on the craft, and itself encapsulating music and images selected to best represent our own achievements on earth are still out there, waiting for some other beings to discover it and be amazed at us. And while those associated with the Voyager mission seemed absolutely certain that it was possible for other forms of life to exist, they seemed equally certain of the impossibility of that other life being the God who made them and those planets they now stood in awe of. The Golden Record of human achievement they sent out into the universe is merely a record of our own humanistic idolatry and foolish defiance. The Voyager carries with it an offering of dross, despite its senders claims that it would in all likelihood out-live the planet it came from.
That’s my two-cents worth.
And finally, here’s a flashback to what was going on in our Hawaiian homeschool 6 years ago this week.
Questions: What words would you use to describe the kind of power that says “Let there be light,” and there’s light?Why do you think Paul references that same power in our memory verse, 2 Cor. 4:6?
Questions: What does it mean to “ascribe power” to someone?What kind of description does David give of God, before reminding us that he’s talking about the same God who “gives power and strength to His people?”How does that description affect the way you think of the power He gives you?
Questions: If Jesus is the same Word of God that spoke the universe into existence, how does that change the way you view the written Word of God?What does it say about our condition that even though Jesus made us, we don’t recognize Him as God?What does our memory verse, 2 Cor. 4:6, say is necessary in order for us to believe Jesus is who He says He is?
Questions:If Genesis 1:1 answers the question, “Where did everything come from,” how does Hebrews 1:3 answer the question, “Who is Jesus?”
Psalms and Hymns
Psalm 68E“To Him that rides on heaven of heavens which He of old did found;Lo, He sends out His voice, a voice in might that doth abound.”
How Great Thou Art “O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds Thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed.”
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