PARSON TO PERSON: Teaching moments

One of the most effective ways to teach is through teaching moments.

When a fig tree didn't produce fruit, Jesus spoke to it, and it withered. That got the disciples' attention! They asked how that worked. Jesus said, 'This is how faith works. If you will say to the mountain - be removed and cast into the sea, and not doubt in your heart but believe what you say will happen, you will have what you say.” He could have taught this same thing in the synagogue. But the listeners would need to imagine a tree, it withering, and how words impacted it.

Jesus taught that if your faith won't move your mouth, it will never move your mountain.

Proverbs 18:21 says that death and life are in the power of your tongue. When our words line up with what God declares, that's faith at work. Complaining or whining about the mountain never moves it.

As parents we need to use teaching moments for our kids. Not, 'I told you so,” but, 'Can you see why I said ...”

When three drunk high school students crashed their car and were killed, the car was towed to the entrance of the high school and sat there for several days. It was a high-impact teaching moment. We often learn through discovery more than through dialogue.

God told Joshua (Joshua 4:1-9) to build a monument of 12 large stones on the other side of Jordan after God had made the water 'stand up as a heap,” and Israel had crossed over on dry ground. God said, 'When your children ask, what do these stones mean, you shall teach them about my love and faithfulness.”

Look for teaching moments - then use them.