Spirit of Adoption

Note to the Teacher

The promise of Easter—some six weeks ago—is that doors to the world have been opened, making God’s promises accessible to everyone. Students are used to obtaining “all-access” passes to entertainment or gaming venues. This visual translates to the open tomb and the excitement of Pentecost, which combine to make God and the work to be done in God’s world accessible all the time for everyone who desires to be part of God’s family.

1. Ice Breaker: Share the Spirit (10 minutes)

Use the Pentecost symbols of fire and wind to emphasize the theme.

Option 1: Low-Tech

Set up in a room containing one or more open doors, if possible. Have students sit in a circle on the floor or around a table with a candle in the middle. Provide each person with a sheet of red paper and a dark marker. Show a photo of an open door and ask each youth to draw their own open doorway and include their name in a corner of their paper. Students will pass their paper, one person to the left, taking note of the name on the page and adding a detail – any addition to the doorway or the space surrounding it. This process continues until every youth has added to everyone else’s page, their open-door concepts expanding just as Pentecost spread Christianity.

Option 2: High-Tech

Set up an electric fan near the middle of your meeting space and turn it to the lowest speed. Distribute ten small slips of red paper and a pen or pencil to each student. Ask youth to write on each piece of paper an example of where they have witnessed God’s love in the world in the weeks that have passed since Easter (April 20). Completed slips should be placed in a basket in the center of the group. Mix up the slips and pass the basket, instructing each student to take several. Turn the fan to its highest speed. One at a time, youth introduce themselves and read aloud one or more of the slips they drew, then toss all their papers in front of the fan. After everyone has had a turn, gather the slips back into the basket and turn off the fan. Emphasize the importance of the continued spread of God’s love in our world.

2. Read scripture (5 minutes)

Acts 2:1-21, Psalm 104:24-34, 35b, Romans 8:14-17 CEB

Today’s scripture covers a lot of real estate, from the coming of the Holy Spirit and Peter’s message in Acts 2 to the celebration of creation in Psalm 104 to the description of God’s spirit in Romans 8. Read each passage aloud, pausing to offer a prayer of thanks for two or three important points in each before going on to the next to help students better remember the focus of each passage.

3. Discussion (15 minutes)

Think about Pentecost as similar to the opening ceremonies of the Olympic games you’ve probably watched on television. The birth of the church was likely a sensory overload of bright light and vibrant color, inspiring music and excited conversation, warm wind, and torches of fire. Imagine learning for the first time about a force called “the Holy Spirit,” adopting practices of this newly found faith into your daily life, and having everything culminate in the big event that would come to be known as Pentecost!

The word Pentecost comes from a Greek word meaning fiftieth, marking the fiftieth day after the resurrection of Jesus. That means, because Easter can fall on any Sunday between March 22 and April 25, that Pentecost happens on a Sunday between mid-May and mid-June.

Speaking in tongues is a practice described in the Bible, specifically in our Acts 2 scripture for today, where people speak in languages they do not know. It was a way to communicate the Gospel across language barriers, with everyone able to understand each other, according to Luke 2:6.

• Do you think “speaking in tongues” really happened, or was it a symbolic way to describe peoples’ willingness to listen to each other and work together? What do you think this term means?
• How would our world be different if people took the time to hear and absorb what another person was saying rather than preparing their own responses while they were listening?
• Place yourself in the Acts 2 Pentecost setting. How do you think you would have reacted to hearing the sound of rushing wind and seeing tongues of fire?
• How does the Holy Spirit’s arrival change the disciples?
• What do you think it means to be “filled with the Holy Spirit?”
• Where do you see the Holy Spirit at work in the world today?

4. Activity and Discussion (20 minutes)

Take a walk around the church building or other space where your group is meeting. Pause outside each doorway and have a volunteer attempt to open the door. If it opens, walk through and summarize what happens on the other side – office, worship center, restroom, outdoor exit, etc. If the door is locked, speculate the reason access is denied – to make personnel or financial records secure, keep children safe, control the temperature in the space, etc. Explain that “open hearts, open minds, open doors” is a phrase commonly used as a motto by the United Methodist Church. More than 20 years ago, before any students in this group were born, an advertising campaign in Baltimore featured a story called “Keys to the Kingdom.” It was about two boys who broke into a church to play pool in the basement. When the pastor met them, instead of reprimanding them, he gave them a key, telling them to play whenever they wished. One of the boys grew up to become Rev. Richard K. Swanson, a Methodist minister in Florida. Close with prayer, asking volunteers to name aloud someone they plan to invite to experience open doors at your church.

Total: 50 minutes

NEEDED RESOURCES:

• Candle and lighter or battery-operated candle
• Red sheets and slips of paper
• Dark markers
• Pens or pencils
• Electric fan
• Basket