Monday, January 19, 2009

The Jesus I never knew

Friends,

My Sunday school teacher Joseph came up with a great ideal for his class. Instead of the normal lessons, that on occasion can be a little dry and un-engaging he suggested that we as a class do a book study and have a discussion once a week. Well the book he picked out is called "The Jesus I never knew" by Philip Yancey. I have read the first chapter and answered some of the discussion questions that were given. Then while talking with my brother Tony this morning I thought it would be a good Blog topic and a good ideal to have folks answer some discussion questions. So if there are some questions that you all can answer with out having read the book I will try to post them in the weeks to come. Here were the questions for the first chapter.

The first question is "what was your first image or memory of Jesus and what place is most associated with that image?"


Question number two is "Do you still see Jesus the same way and if not what brought about this change?"



The last question was "What has most shaped your image of jesus as it is today?"




Again friends this is just an ideal for my blog, I'm not sure how it will turn out but these are some pretty good questions. Let me know what you think. Take care..Chris

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

My first memory of Jesus I think would be assoicated with Christmas as a kid. We didn't goto church but I remeber knowing the manager story.

I guess I still see Jesus the same way, but I see more also. God being born into humanity is such amazing thing that it cannot forgotten or minimized. The additonal Jesus I see is the Lord who gave His life as a ransom for my sin.

Good post bro!

Tony

Ron Reffett said...

Hey Chris,
Great post, Yancey is so thought provoking.
Funny that I came across this post today, I just started reading Hoping for Something Better by Nancy Guthrie. It's all about the book of Hebrews and how we view Jesus. My first memory of Jesus is a painting that hung in my Sunday school class as a kid, the one with the perfect hair and the yellow aura coming from Him, I remember the first time I met Jesus was as a 12 year old boy praying to receive Him with my pastor, it's funny how much my thoughts on that has changed since then. Now I'm stating to realize that having a relationship with Jesus is so much more than just praying a prayer and signing a card, He's unfathomable and so much more than I'll ever be able to realize in this life and in eternity. I see Him now as the total fulfillment of the law and my only hope to stand before a holy God, He's my one true savior and my righteousness. I think that the change in how I see Jesus today stems from the effect that the teachings of CJ Mahaney and John Piper and RC Sproul have had on my life.
I'm still in process, but I'm so thankful that He is faithful even when I'm not.
Blessings
Ron Reffett

Anonymous said...

Chris,
Here’s all three questions answered in one… My initial image or memory of Jesus was formed by rhetoric and TV and I’ve had to unlearn many facts as I’ve studied the Bible.
God bless,
-jim

Jamie said...

I thought I would take a shot at answering...
1. Watching the felt board as I sat in little chairs at Sunday School with cookies on my fingers and red kool-aid in my cup. I learned that Jesus liked kids (which he does...)
2. He was very solemn in this image and spoke like Fred Rogers in my mind. He's not solemn much anymore, but he definitely talks to me like Mr. Rogers when I am throwing a fit.
3. My image of Him has changed because of my personal relationship with Him. He is grander and yet more tangible than I could have imagined.