Unexpected

I started something new today...Sunday School Teacher! Our church just started The Academy (aka Sunday School) and I get to teach the jr/sr high youth class. It was awesome today! For those of you that don't know, I was the youth leader at my previous church. I felt God pushing me to change churches and step back for a while. I have done my best to listen for HIS direction before commiting to any ministries. I was really beginning to miss the teaching aspect of youth ministry. And, wouldn't you know, HE opened a door for me.

I am teaching out of a curriculum called DE, the Disciple Experiment. Today we spent time asking 2 questions; 1. What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? 2. What does a disciple look like?I'm not going to tell you what the answers were...I'll let you work on that yourself. It was interresting to see how general answers were.

Then, my favorite part, we got to look at Jesus! The gist of the lesson was that Jesus always did the unexpected.

He went off by himself when a close friend was beheaded. (matt 14:1-13)

When a woman asked for help, he talked about being sent to help lost sheep. (matt 15:21-28)

He cursed a fig tree, causing it to wither, because he was hungry and it had no fruit for him to eat. (matt 21:18-23)

When he was arrested, he asked God to find another way to save the world so he didn't have to die on a cross. (matt 26:36-45)

When he was falsely accused before Pilate, he didn't say a single word! (mark 15:1-5)

A man said he wanted to take care of his dying father, but Jesus told him to let someone else take care of the dead. (luke 9:59-60)

He threw the tantrum of all tantrums in the temple courts before Passover. (john 2:13-17)

The Pharisees brought an adulteress to Jesus and he doodled in the dirt until they left. (john 8:1-11)

When he heard that Lazarus was sick, he let Lazarus die without trying to help. (john 11:1-17)

He got teary-eyed when he saw people mourning the death of Lazarus. (john 11:17-37)

Unexpected...Jesus rose above the norm so many times. Why?..."For God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." (John 11:4) Jesus did the seemingly unexpected to reveal God's glory. To show that He is who He says He is.

To challenge us to do the same as HIS disciples.

There were 2 questions earlier in this post. I challenge you to answer them. More importantly, I challenge you to seek out how God is leading you to answer them. What does being a disciple, a follower, of Jesus Christ look like for you? Do you do the unexpected?