Monday, December 9, 2013

What did Jesus look like?

Nobody knows exactly what Jesus looked like.  Based on where he grew up, he probably had brown hair and dark eyes.  His skin would have been some shade of brown.  He probably had a beard since most Jewish men in that place and time wore beards.  We don't know if Jesus was short or tall.  He could have been handsome or very plain.  He did a lot of walking so it's hard to imagine that he was fat, but was he skinny? 

A lot of people have created artwork that portrays the face of Jesus. What kinds of things do you suppose the artists were saying about Jesus in these pictures?

Were they trying to show what they think Jesus looked like or were they trying to say something about the kind of person that Jesus was?

One interesting thing about art is that people make pictures of Jesus that look like the people in their part of the world.  Depending on who created the picture, Jesus may be African or Japanese or European. He may look like a Native American or a man from India.

It's kind of cool that there are no descriptions of what Jesus looked like in the Bible.  Instead we can use our imaginations just like all the artists who have created pictures of the face of Jesus.  Use the comments section to describe the way you imagine what Jesus looked like.



Friday, November 22, 2013

Let's tell some stories!

Two of the best stories ever are the story of Passover and the story of Jesus' Last Supper.  Both of these stories come from the Bible.  The Passover story is in the Old Testament in the book of Exodus.  The main character (other than God) is Moses.  Nobody really knows what Moses looked like, but people have had lots of ideas.



What do you think Moses looked like?  Use the comments section on this post to share your ideas.  Was he young or old?  Short or tall?  Was he good looking or kind of plain?  Do any of these pictures match the Moses of your imagination?


Friday, November 15, 2013

Hello Friend!


When people are baptized in the Lutheran church, the congregation promises to do some very special things for the person being baptized.
  1. We promise to bring them to worship.
  2. We promise to teach them about God.
  3. We promise to share the Bible with them.
  4. We promise to take care of them and pray for them.
One of the ways the church keeps its promises is by inviting baptized people to come to Christ's table for Holy Communion.  Some churches invite babies.  Some wait until the children are in first grade or fifth grade.  Some churches wait until the children have been confirmed.  There's no right or wrong time to take communion for the first time.  And no matter how old you are, it's good to learn about communion and why we do it.  

Some of the pages on this website will be a part of your Communion Instruction Class. Some of the pages are here for you to explore on your own.  Whichever page you're reading, I hope that you will add your own stories, questions and ideas because your thoughts are as important as anyone else's.

Pastor Heidi