Third Day: 'Revelation' Bible study

I just perused a copy of Interlinc's latest Music Video Loop Magazine (MVL 64/65) Here's a Bible study I wrote for this issue:

Leader Guide

Artist: Third Day

URL: thirdday.com

Album: Revelation

Label: Essential

Song: Revelation

Writer: Kirk Moore

Ministry: Union Congregational Church

Location: Somonauk, Illinois

Email: kirk@revkirk.com

Theme:

God’s Guidance

Objective:

Students will learn that following God and seeking God’s guidance isn’t about having it all figured out; rather, it’s about not having things figured out -- and seeking God anyway.

Warm- up:

Show Me What to Do: This “no prop” game asks students and leaders to repeat a sequence of numbers in rhythm. Have students stand in a matter where all can see the leader. Let them know that you are going to show them a number (using digits from 1 to 5) on your hand. All they have to do is repeat that number – with the correct rhythm (with one number rhythm isn’t too important – as you add numbers to the sequence it will get more difficult.) The leader continues adding numbers to the sequence in each proceeding round. (It might be good for the leader to practice this – as it can get confusing even if you’re making up the sequence!) The game is over when all students have missed at least once. (Or when you’ve gone through enough rounds to declare several winners!) As an alternative “props needed” game, find a “Bop-it”, “Bop-it Extreme” or “Brainwarp” game and use the ‘passing’ version of one of the gizmo’s games.

Transition:

Say: Sometimes it’s really hard to follow directions, isn’t it? Everything seems to come at once and it seems impossible to get everything right. And having a leader who keeps messing up doesn’t help things either! (Yes, that line won’t work well if you used the “props needed” games. In that case, you can say “And those electronic games have no forgiveness for your mistakes!”) Life can be that way, too. And following God, while simple in some ways, can get difficult and frustrating when we keep making mistakes and feel like there’s no use in even trying. Today we’re gong to watch a video from Third Day (pause for a few to look at each other with a “Cool! I love that group!”) called “Revelation.” In the song, the group asks for God’s guidance while they know that they keep messing things up on their own.

Hand out Student Guides and then play “Revelation” from Third Day.

During the song, have students fill in the "fill in the blanks" portion of the student guide

Transition:

Say: This song is a request from the singer for God’s guidance. It is also a lament. Do you know what that is? (Let students offer suggestions. If none can describe a lament . . .) a lament – as it applies here, is a song or a poem that expresses grief, sorrow, anger, stress or regret. A lament can have hope for something better in it, too.

Bible Lesson:

There are places in the Bible that are full of laments. Can you name any? (Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Job, Jeremiah and the Psalms) Since today’s song is a . . . song. Let’s look for laments from the songbook of the Bible, the Psalms

Have selected students read the following verses from the Psalms aloud:

Psalm 31:1-5

Psalm 51:1-4, 10-12

Psalm 73:1-2, 22-26

Say: In each of these Psalms, the writer asks for God’s guidance. But all through asking for guidance, the writer also acknowledges how imperfect they are. They don’t come to God with everything together. Instead they come to God just as they are: Flawed and in need of guidance.

Say: If you were to write a Psalm of lament, what do you think you’d put in it? (Let the group offer suggestions - write them on an overhead or a flipchart, etc.)

After a short time, tell the students that they’ll now have a chance to write their own psalms. Let them know that you’re not going to collect them and that you’re not going to make anyone share them with the rest of the group. Give students 5-10 minutes of quiet, contemplative time to compose their psalms.

At the end of the quiet time, give students an opportunity to share their psalms, if they desire. If not move right to the wrap-up.

Wrap-up:

God’s guidance – God’s revelation isn’t something that comes to us because we demand it or because we tell God what we think we should do – it comes from us asking God what God wants us to do. And we don’t have to have everything figured out to ask for God’s guidance. We can ask just as we are. To close, let’s spend just a few more minutes in silence reading the psalms we’ve written. During that time, let’s also ask for God’s revelation.

Close in silent prayer

Third Day - Chronology

I wrote a review of Third Day's Chronology part 1 for Interlinc's YLO 68 too. Here's the unedited version.

Album Title: Chronology
Label: Essential
Genre: Southern Rock
TIYL: Bo Bice, Black Crowes, REM, Tom Petty, Kid Rock
@: thirdday.com
By: Kirk Moore – kirk@revkirk.com

I remember back to 1997 or 98 (it wasn’t that long ago, right?) when an up-and coming band called Third Day, weary after spending hours lost on a tour bus, arrived just in the nick of time to perform for 3000 youth leaders at a youthworkers convention. The band, cordial but nervous, wondered if they were making a big mistake by trying to play their energetic southern rock for a group of "stuffy youth pastors"
After about 30 seconds, the band took in the energy of the excited crowd and rocked the hotel ballroom harder than they ever thought possible. Third Day learned that day that youthworkers love great music and that there was nothing "stuffy" about them.

Third Day’s newest release remembers the early days of the band – offering early hits and rare glimpses in music and video of a band coming into its own. Some of the video segments on the accompanying DVD will have you laughing out loud.

As a greatest hits album, Chronology offers classics like Consuming Fire, Agnes Dei, Love Song and Sky Falls Down. Youthworkers can pay special attention to a few lesser-known songs, however, as material for great group discussions:
"Alien" – Describes life from the perspective of one who has been outcast, ignored or marginalized in some way. This song is a challenge to reach out to everyone with Jesus’ love.
"Have Mercy" – Reminds me of the prayer of the tax collector in Luke 18 as he cried out in prayer, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!"
"She Sings in Riddles" – Here’s a wonderfully confusing song. It speaks of things that look enticing but are harmful and also about the difficulty in understanding God’s desire for us. Deep thoughts and deep discussions are sure to accompany listening to this rare classic.

Chronology offers excellent insight into Third Day’s early years as a band and also provides an excellent introduction to any who are unfamiliar with the band at all. Students will want to play this one with the volume turned WAY UP. (You might want to check the maximum wattage rating on your speakers!)

Let's team up, too

The record (short for recording -- not a term that means "a vinyl lp") has been out since late last year.
I've loved the southern-fried rock flavor of this band for a long time (Aren't they listed in my profile?)

And this song seems to be taken right out of the UCC's stillspeaking initiative.

Third Day's "Cry out to Jesus".


(This is the first time I've tried to embed video in the blog. If it won't load you can see it by clicking on the song title.)