The Great Commandment and the Great Commission

(Note: Please pardon the odd and inconsistent font. Blogger seems to be having a problem this morning.)

Yesterday, in the 7th-8th grade English class, I assigned a persuasive essay on why Christians need to obey both the Great Commandment (love your neighbor) and the Great Commission (preach the gospel). We talked about how some people succumb to the either-or fallacy of focusing on one to the exclusion of the other. Julie Brackin and I also role-played a conversation between a Christian and an agnostic using the "Are You Good Enough?" booklet that Metro Life Church has been providing for outreach. I have compiled a list of Scriptures about the subject to help them as they research their essays. I trust that they will helpful to all of us. After each passage, there is a link to that entire chapter on www.ESV.org so you can read them in the larger context.

The Great Commandment and the Great Commission

The Great Commandment:

Matthew 22:34 “But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”” Matthew 22

The Great Commission:

Matthew 28:16 “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28

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The following Scriptures are about the Great Commandment (love one another), the Great Commission (preach the gospel), and the core essentials of the gospel message.

Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” John 3

John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’” John 14

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1

Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4

Romans 1:14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” Romans 1

Romans 10:14 “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Romans 10

2 Corinthians 5:11 “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience… 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2

Colossians 1:27 “To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” Colossians 1

1 Timothy 6:18-19 “They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” 1 Timothy 6

James 2:14 “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” James 2

1 Peter 2:12 “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” 1 Peter 2

1 John 3:16 “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” 1 John 3

December 7th and 8th Grade English Classes

Dear friends,

In the 7th-8th grade English class, we are doing a two week series of on-line lessons on Advent using Scripture, fine art, music, poetry, and film. I have already posted the homework assignments for 8 days, which you can find by clicking here: Advent Assignments. This week's assignments are at the top.

As a recap of what we did during the two Monday classes in December:

December 1:

• Read and discussed Luke 1
• Read student Thanksgiving stories and poems
• Looked at pictures from the book One Wintry Night by Ruth Bell Graham and discussed the concept that the Biblical story of redemption does not begin with the birth of Christ but with creation
• Read an abridged version of classic O. Henry short story The Gift of the Magi
• Listened to Christmas music by Sara Groves.

December 8:

• Read and discussed Luke 6,
• Read student responses to last week's art and literature assignments
• Looked at all of the Giotto paintings on the life of Christ and read two poetic essays from Madeline L'Engle's book The Glorious Impossible
• Read my new poem "The Story Did Not Start with a Stable and a Star" (which is also included in the December 10 assignment)
• Compared three different versions (Celine Dion, National Christian Choir, and Sara Groves) of the song "O Holy Night"

We probably did a few other things each of these weeks, and we certainly took some bunny trails off of the aforementioned topics, but those are the main things.

Anyone is welcome to use the lessons I have posted. You can always adapt them for younger or older students.

Blessings,
Virginia Knowles

Gingerbread House contest

Dear friends,

The high school students sure enjoyed the first annual Gingerbread House building competition on Monday. My daughter Joanna is going to put together some of her photos on-line soon, but I at least wanted to give you the link to the ones I took: Gingerbread House Contest at Providence

Here are just two of them to whet your appetite!

Our First Day of School

Dear PHE friends,

There is a post on my own blog about the first day of Providence from my own perspective.You can find it at Our First Day of School.

Please feel free to post your own experiences!

Blessings,
Virginia Knowles