adult D O W N L O A D E D Sunday School That Clicks

Lesson 8

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July 22, 2012

Justice and Restoration for use as

STEP

1. Lesson 8

Focus: Justice reverses wrongdoing.

Lesson 8

Bible Basis: 2 Kings 8:1-6

By Daphne Myers

Students will discuss how God brings justice to situations where justice has not been done. OPENING ACTIVITY: Passing It On

W

ho among us has not been the object of gossip or false accusations? For most of us it results in little more than hurt feelings and misunderstanding, but what if a lie changed the course of your life?

Start class with a familiar activity sometimes called “Telephone.” Whisper a statement in the ear of one of your students and ask that student to whisper what he or she believes the statement was into the next student’s ear. Go around the class until the statement reaches the last person in class, then ask that student to repeat the statement out loud. The outcome is often funny and rarely resembles the original comment, revealing that what we hear may have little to do with the truth. While the results of “Telephone” are funny and harmless, this week’s story about Brian Banks shows how a whole life changed because someone lied. OPENING STORY (read the story aloud or make copies to pass around): HIS GOOD NAME IS BACK, BUT NOT HIS LOST YEARS IN PRISON Ten years ago, Brian Banks was a 225-pound high school football player being recruited by the University of Southern California and other top college football programs to play middle linebacker. But a girlfriend accused Banks of rape, and he went to jail, taking a promising football career with him. Even when he got out of jail, he struggled to find his place in society, since he was a registered sex offender. Banks always said he was innocent, and two months ago in a Los Angeles courtroom, it took all of 30 seconds for a judge to exonerate Banks.

Lesson 8

/ July 22, 2012 / Step 1

Lesson 8

Memory Verse Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, “Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.” —2 Kings 8:6

D O W N L O A D E D Sunday School That Clicks

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“I haven’t smiled like this in 10 years,” Banks tweeted to friends. “I’m FREE.” He’s not just free from his past. Banks is not going to be a prisoner to it. He stood outside the courthouse in a sweatshirt inscribed with the word “Innocent” and said he’s not dwelling on the woman whose lies sent him to jail. “I can’t hold on to that, that bitterness and that anger,” Banks said. “It won’t get me anywhere.” Banks was 16 and Wanetta Gibson was 15 when they went to the “make out spot” at Polytechnic High in Long Beach. The teenagers fooled around, but they did not have sex. Then they returned to class. “By the end of the day,” Banks said, “I was in custody.” He faced up to 41 years in prison. Prosecutors offered a plea deal that would get him out in five. Even though there was no DNA evidence, Banks’ attorney advised him not to take the chance of staying in prison until he was 57 years old. “She told me I was a big black teenager,” he said, “and no jury would believe anything I said.” Gibson sued the school district for not providing a safe environment and received $1.5 million. Banks spent five years and two months in prison, then another five years on probation. Banks had to register as a sex offender and wear an ankle monitor. He figured he’d never get his good name back. Then last year, Gibson contacted him on his Facebook account. She wanted to let “bygones be bygones.” Banks was flabbergasted that she wanted to become Facebook friends, but he saw it as an opportunity. “I stopped what I was doing,” he said, “and got down on my knees and prayed to God to help me play my cards right.” He set up a couple of meetings with Gibson. She admitted she’d lied and wanted to help Banks clear his name. She wouldn’t talk to prosecutors because of the school district settlement, but Banks secretly recorded the conversation. He contacted the California Innocence Project, a law school program at California Western School of Law. Attorneys took the evidence back to the original judge, and his record and name were cleared. Banks broke into tears. “There are no words in any language, no gesture in any culture that can explain or describe what I have been through,” he said.

Lesson 8

D O W N L O A D E D Sunday School That Clicks

/ July 22, 2012 / Step 1

Lesson 8

Memory Verse Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, “Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.” —2 Kings 8:6

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Gibson didn’t attend the hearing. The district attorney said it’s unlikely she’ll face any charges. The case is 10 years old and she was only 15. “It’s been a struggle,” Banks said. “But I’m unbroken, and I’m still here today.” He even has rekindled his high school dream of playing in the NFL. “Let me show you what I can produce,” Banks said on NBC’s Today show. “I think that any team that gives me an opportunity will be really impressed with what I can do.” The Seattle Seahawks, Kansas City Chiefs, San Diego Chargers, and San Francisco 49ers all accepted his challenge and let Banks participate in tryouts and minicamps last month. [You can show these videos of Banks’s story from ABC News and his tryout with the Seahawks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaYzqhqit30 http://www.nfl.com/videos/auto/09000d5d829cf717/Brian-Banks-livesNFL-dream] [Now form small groups and have your class discuss the following questions.]

..What wrongs have you seen that need to be made right? ..When have you seen restoration come out of a tragedy? ..Would you blame God if you suffered a tragedy such as Brian Banks did? Explain your answer.

..How can suffering and tragedies be opportunities for God to reveal His glory and power?

[When you are finished with the questions, go on to Step 2 in your Adult Teacher’s Guide.] News Source: http://tablet.sportingnews.com/2012-05-26/sn-david-whitley-a-tragictale.html

adult D O W N L O A D E D Sunday School That Clicks

Lesson 8

/

July 22, 2012

Justice and Restoration for use as

STEP

4. Lesson 8

Focus: Justice reverses wrongdoing.

Lesson 8

Bible Basis: 2 Kings 8:1-6

Lesson 8

Memory Verse Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, “Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.” —2 Kings 8:6

GOD RESTORES JUSTICE

G

od in His mercy touched the heart of the king of Israel, so that the king restored not only what the widow had lost but what she should have reaped during the seven years she was gone.

Our God is a God of restoration and redemption. And because He is a just God, He ultimately sets all things right in His way and in His time. He promises complete justice and restoration through Jesus: “In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth” (Isa. 42:3-4). Have your students return to the groups they had in Step 1 and discuss these ideas.

..In what situations have you been discouraged because you have not seen God’s restorative justice at work?

..Ask God to bring restoration and redemption to situations where

His justice is needed and for His guidance about your part in that process.

Close the class in prayer, acknowledging your need to trust God in everything, believing that He will ultimately restore all that has been lost. Ask Him to forgive you for situations in which you lacked faith in His power to bring redemption and that He would help you see that His justice will be done. (David C Cook is not affiliated with and does not endorse any website listed on these pages.) THE BIBLE IN THE NEWS A hotel in Britain is replacing its Gideon Bibles with Kindle e-readers loaded with the Scriptures and access to other “religious texts”: http://www.christianpost.com/news/hotel-in-britain-replacesgideons-bible-with-kindle-carrying-scriptures-77579/