The power of a teacher

It unfortunately gets cliche sometimes to talk about the incredible influence that teachers can have in our lives from the first kindergarten teacher we remember to the college professor who became a life-changing mentor.  It is sad that it sometimes becomes cliche because few people have as much influence in the lives of so many as teachers do.

Movies and TV have a way of reflecting this and parodying it as well.  We have teachers such as John Keating in Dead Poets Society and Jaime Escalante in Stand and Deliver who reflect this sense.  Teachers who lift their students beyond where they start out.  Teachers who infuse their class lessons with life lessons.  Teachers whose influence reaches far beyond the four walls of the classroom.  There are also those such as Gabe Kaplan in Welcome Back Kotter who mixes the significant influence with comedic goofiness.  And then on the other extreme there are those such as the unnamed economics teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day Off who just continues to drone on about the class roll and Voodoo Economics...

As we focus this coming Sunday on Jesus as Teacher, take a few moments to think about the influential teachers in your life.  Who were they?  When did they come into your life?  What was it about them that made such a difference?

I'll post later this week about some of my own, but I would love to hear from you.

UPDATE: MP3 file of sermon about Jesus the Healer from Sunday is online here.