Luke 2:21-40

Study Questions

Click here to read Luke 2:21-40

1. Why did Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the temple? When? (2:22-23)


2. Who was Simeon? (2:25-27)


3. What did Simeon do with the Christ child? (2:28-32)


4. How did Simeon's prophecy point out that Christ would be the Savior for the world? (2:32)


5. What did Joseph and Mary do after they heard what Simeon had to say? (2:33)


6. What did Simeon say to Mary? (2:34-35)


7. How did Luke describe the woman named Anna? (2:36-38)


8. What was Anna's response to finding Mary, Joseph, and the Christ child in the temple? (2:38)


9. How did Luke summarize Jesus' childhood years? (2:40)

What's In It For Me?

Remember having team project s in school? Well, teamwork extends to the workforce in today’s businesses too, as shown in this excerpt from Dale Carnegie & Associates’ Teamwork in the American Workplace, (Training and Development, January, 1996).


What makes teams successful?
33% - getting along
29% - listening
21% - setting priorities
6% - feeling recognized
6% - having everyone agree
4% - deciding who’s in charge


When you look at the list, you might discover some interesting facts such as it is more important for members to get along than who is chosen to lead. Once a team approach for a project is chosen, what can be done to empower members to work together to accomplish their goal? This is when everyone needs to put away the “What’s in it for me?” attitude and join the “What’s in it for us?” club.


To have a successful team, everyone must be less concerned about individual rewards; appreciation, power, etc., and act more selfless in a cooperative way towards a specific goal. Teamwork also involves sacrifices, such as sharing rewards, blame, and discipline, along with suppressing personal opinions, which is difficult for many of us.


You can be proactive in preventing problems by making certain the team’s goal is clearly defined and each member’s responsibility is completely understood by everyone. As in all business endeavors, communication will be the most essential element of a successful team. Each member must trust the other team members and be willing to share their thoughts and ideas about the project, but then defer the final decision to the person responsible for that portion of the project.


The benefits of working on a team can be obvious, but some reasons might not be so obvious. Team players benefit and achieve more than isolated individuals by combining knowledge and skills, but the benefits also include making the best use of each individual’s strengths, common ownership, built-in mutual support, and increased creativity from more diverse ideas. The next time you have a large project; don’t be afraid to incorporate a team approach to accomplish your goal!

Teamwork

Teamwork: Several people working together, usually with each person doing a certain part, to achieve a common goal.

Dear Parents,
As tennis great Althea Gibson said, “No matter what accomplishments you make, somebody helps you.” She knew it would take teamwork to overcome the barriers she had to hurdle. Teamwork is a life skill all of us use, whether it is in school or the workforce, and martial arts classes are a great place for children to begin learning how to get along with others and share in their successes.

As your children learn teamwork, they will learn to communicate and listen to others and work well together. Like other life skills, teamwork requires practice and knowledge about why it is important and how to recognize it.

What can parents and caregivers do to help their children develop teamwork?

Demonstrate teamwork at home. Explain to your children, while you are doing chores, how difficult it would be to take care of an entire household by yourself. Show them how each part is just as important to the end result, i.e., making dinner begins with planning, shopping, preparing, cooking, setting the table, cleaning, etc.

Praise teamwork efforts. When you and your children are working together on a project, praise them for working together. Explain how nice it is to have help. When you work together, things are done quicker, and you get to spend time with your favorite people!

Teach teamwork. Unfortunately, when working together, tempers and personalities sometimes clash. When that happens, sit down and explain that everyone has an opinion, but sometimes we must compromise and meet in the middle, or, sometimes, one person has to have the final word.

Teach your children how to define a clear goal when working on a project. If, for example, you want a room cleaned, don’t say, “Clean the living room.” Try saying, “You pick up the toys, while he dusts the furniture, and I vacuum.”

Practice

The martial arts are like any other sport, the more you practice the better you’ll get. It’s a lot like when we first learned to walk. We all started by crawling. Soon, we were able to pull ourselves up using the coffee table. Eventually, we took our first step and then fail down. However, we didn’t give up. We kept at it. Before long, it was all our parents could do just to keep up with us. Now, we’re not only walking, but running, jumping and even kicking. We’re where we are today because we didn’t give up. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, Practice makes perfect. That statement may not be entirely true. However, the more we practice the better we’ll get. In fact, I’m absolutely positive that any martial arts student will make faster and more measurable progress when they practice what they are taught.

Let me make myself clear. I’m not talking about attending class as often as possible. However, that does help and is a great goal for students to have. I’m talking about the importance of practice away from the studio, while at home. Refining what you’ve learned in class by repetition. That is essentially what makes you better. Repetition! Repetition! Repetition!

Those of you who are new to martial arts may be wondering how you should go about practicing. Knowing what to practice can sometimes be confusing. After all, there are so many different block, kicks, punches and combinations. Not to mention all the different forms and sets. A good rule of thumb is to take a notebook to class with you. After class jot down what blocks, kicks, punches, etc. that you covered in class. Between that class and the next class practice those techniques. One thing that has helped me out is to practices in front of a mirror.

Now you may be wondering, “How long should I Practice?” It’s probably not a good idea to start off with really long practice sessions between classes. Too much of a good thing can end up having a negative effect. Start with about a 15 minute session. If that’s comfortable slowly increase to 20minutes then 30 minutes and so on.

Make sure you stay on task. If you lose focus and aren’t concentrating on what you’re doing your progress will slow. Sometimes listening to music can help. However, I would defiantly turn the TV off. The TV can be a major distraction. Having someone to practice with can be beneficial too. Make sure you friend has martial arts experience and take turns leading the workout. Practicing with someone who doesn’t have experience is a bad idea. You or they could get hurt. Also, your progress is then hindered because you end up trying to teach rather than workout. Plus, school policy forbids it.

The next question you may be asking yourself is, “How often should I practice?” Everyday would be ideal. However, I realize that that’s not always possible. Some students simply cannot put that many practice sessions into their schedule. I would say the bare minimum should be at least one practice session between each class. More would be better. Setting aside a specific time is also a good idea. Classes are currently on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So, try setting aside 15 minutes to practice on Monday, Wednesday and Friday or Saturday. Remember to stay attentive to what you are doing. No distractions!

If you follow this advice, you’ll notice faster and more measurable results in no time!

Luke 2:8-20

Study Questions

Click here to read Luke 2:8-20

1. At what time and place did the angels appear to the shepherds? (2:8)


2. How many angels did the shepherds see at first? (2:9)


3. How did the shepherds react when they saw the angel? (2:9)


4. What message did the angel tell the shepherds? (2:10-11)


5. What titles did the angel use to describe the baby? (2:11)


6. By what symbol or sign were the shepherds supposed to identify the Christ child? (2:12)


7. How many angels did the shepherds hear praising God? (2:13)


8. What was the immediate reaction of the shepherds after the angels left? (2:15)


9. After finding the Christ child, what did the shepherds do? (2:17-20)


10. What kind of reactions did the shepherds get when they told others what had happened that night? (2:18)

Luke 2:1-7

Study Questions

Click here to read Luke 2:1-7

Who decreed that a census be taken of the entire Roman world? (2:1)

1. What historical facts did Luke provide that allow us to approximate the date of Christ's birth? (2:1-2)
2. What was the purpose of Joseph and Mary's trip to Bethlehem? (2:1-4)
3. What reason did Luke give for Joseph having to travel to Bethlehem for the census? (2:4)
4. What was Joseph and Mary's marital status at the time of Jesus' birth? (2:5)
5. What were the conditions in Bethlehem the night Jesus was born? (2:7)

Luke 1:67-80

Study Questions

Click her to read Luke 1:67-80

1. Who is described in the first part of Zechariah's song? (1:68-75)
2. Who is the subject of the second part of Zechariah's song? (1:76-79)
3. Who was the source of inspiration for Zechariah's song? (1:67)
4. How did Zechariah describe the "covenant" with God? (1:72-74)
5. What title did Zechariah say would be given to his son? (1:76)
6. For whom was John supposed to prepare a way? How? (1:76)
7. What basic facts did Luke include about John's childhood? (1:80)