bless group lesson 11

8/14/2019 Bless Group Lesson 11

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The BLESS Group

Lesson #11: "And ascended into heaven and is seated at theright hand of the Father. He will come again with glory tojudge the living and the dead. His kingdom will have no end.

Date: Sunday, January 31, 2010

PREPARATION:

OBJECTIVE:1. Learn the meaning of the next lines in the Nicene Creed("And ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of

the Father. He will come again with glory to judge the living and thedead. His kingdom will have no end. )

2. Learn about our churchs name day - The Presentation of

the Lord at the Temple celebrated on February 23. Learn about the Three Hierarchs celebrated on January 304. Read and discuss the parable of the Prodigal Son (todays

Gospel reading)

HANDOUTS:1. Line drawing of The Three Hierarchs1. Line drawing of The Presentation of the Lord at theTemple1. The Prodigal Son story review and coloring page

MATERIALS NEEDED:1. Markers/crayons to color handouts

OPENING PRAYER:Our Father, Who art in heavenHallowed be Thy Name;Thy kingdom come,Thy will be done,on earth as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread,and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us;and lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from evil. Amen.

THE LESSON:

THE MESSAGE:


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1. This weeks line of the Creed / Memory Verse:"And ascended into heaven Jesus ascended into

heaven to show that we can now ascend with Him.

and is seated at the right hand of the Father. Only kings cansit at the right hand of another king - this means Jesus is equal to God.

He will come again with glory to judge the living and thedead This refers to the second coming of Jesus. Those who loveand follow Him, will taken to Heaven with Him. He did not announcethe exact time of His future coming so that we may be prepared for itat all times. For example, when company comes to your house, youlike to know the day and time so you can clean and be prepared fortheir arrival. If you dont know when they are coming, you will have tokeep the house clean and neat all the time.

His kingdom will have no end. Heaven begins here and nowwhen we believe in Jesus, love Him, and obey His will.

2. The Three Hierarchs:Although our Church has a special day to honour and commemorateSt. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian and St. JohnChrysostom, we also have the 30th day of January to honour themtogether.

The Greek word Hierarch means Bishop.

The Three Hierarchs are considered the Patron Saints of education andculture, because they used the art of education and the Greek classicsto teach aboutGod. Honoured as Doctors of the Church, Sts. Basil, Gregory andJohn wereintellectual giants of equal stature, serving God and man with anequally high level of devotion and spirit.

3. The Presentation of the Lord at the Temple:Forty days had passed since Jesus Christ was born. It was the custom in

that and to have every baby boy brought to the temple as soon as hewas forty days old. The father and mother would bring some gift to thetemple to offer God, because they were grateful to have a baby son.Now Joseph and Mary were ready to go to the temple. They bought alittle wicker cage with two pigeons in it. This would be their offering tothank God for their Son.


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There lived at this time in Jerusalem a very old man. His name wasSimeon. He was a very good and wise man. He had spent many yearsreading and studying the old holy books in which prophets had toldabout the coming of Christ. Once, while Simeon was praying, God toldhim that he would not die until he had seen the Saviour, the Lord JesusChrist. Simeon waited and waited for many years. He had grown verytired of living. He often went to the temple to read and pray.Often he wondered when God's promise would come true.

One morning in the very early spring Simeon knew that God wantedhim to go to the temple at once. He went to the temple and prayedand waited. All at once Simeon saw Joseph and Mary, with the BabeJesus Christ in her arms, coming up the steps of the temple. He knewthen that this was the Saviour whom God hadpromised he would see before he died. Simeon went up to Mary and

asked her to let him hold the Child. When Simeon held the Child in hisarms, he began praying out loud: "Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servantdepart in peace, according to Thy Word; For mine eyes have seen Thysalvation, Which Thou hast prepared in the presence of all people; ALight to lighten the gentiles, And the glory of Thy people Israel."

Joseph and Mary wondered at the meaning of the words which werespoken by Simeon. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary:"Behold, this Child is set for the fall and the rising of many people; asword shall pierce through your ownheart."

There was also a very old woman who lived at the temple. Her namewas Anna. She was a very good woman and often received messagesfrom God. Anna also came up to Mary and Joseph and thanked God forletting her see the Babe.When all was over, Joseph and Mary returned home with their babySon, wondering at all they had heard.

- What did Simeon mean by his prayer? (Now that Simeon has seenthe Saviour, the goal of his longing and the purpose of his life isfulfilled. He is ready to die.)

On this feast, we bless candles. This is to remind us that Christ, in thewords of St Simeons prayer, is the light that enlightens all mankind.How is Jesus the light of the world? (He guides us in the way weshould live; He helps us overcome evil; He gives us understanding inthe ways of His Father.)


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4. The Prodigal Son:One day Jesus told a story that teaches us what we should do after wehave done something wrong.

There was a man who had two sons. One day the younger son said tohis father: "Father, give me my share of all you have." And the fatherdivided his money between the two sons.

A few days later the younger son took his money, left his home, andwent into a strange country far away. There he made new friends andtried to have a very good time. The friends he chose were bad andtaught him to do many evilthings. He lived there for a long time, trying to enjoy himself by doingmany wicked things. At last all the money that Now the young manfound himself alone, hungry, without friends and without any money.

He began to look for work, but the only kind of work he could find waswatching over a herdof pigs in muddy fields.

Then one day the young man said to himself: "Here I am, hungry andunhappy. In my father's house there are many servants who work forhim and have plenty to eat. I have behaved so badly that I am notworthy to be my father's sonanymore. But I can ask him to let me come back to become one of hisservants.He got up and started on his journey home. He was feeling very hungry

and miserable and thinking all the way how he would ask forforgiveness from his good father. He was still a long way off from hishome when his father sawhim. The father felt so sorry for his son that he ran out to meet him. Hehugged him and took him home. He did not scold his son for all the badthings he had done. The son said: "Father, I have behaved too badly tobe called your son!" But instead of answering him, the father said tothe servants: "Bring the best clothes for my son. Put a ring on hisfinger and shoes on his feet. Prepare the very best dinner for us. Weshall have a feast and be happy because my son who was lost is foundagain."

When the older son came back from the fields, he heard music anddancing in the house. He called one of the servants and asked himwhat had happened. He learned that they were feasting because hisyounger brother had returned home. He was not pleased. He thought:Had not the younger brother behaved badly and left his father's housewhile he, the older brother, stayed at home like a good son and did all


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the work? But when the father heard that the older son did not want tojoin them, he came to him and said: "My son, you have alwaysbeen with me. All I have is yours too. But today we are glad becauseyour brother was like one dead, and he is alive again; he was like onelost, and he is found again."

We are all God's children. When we are bad and do wrong, we behavelike the younger son, who left his father. What should we do to makethings right again? We must come to our Father and tell Him that weare sorry. Then He will receiveus gladly, just as the father in the story received his son.

Jesus told this story to teach us that God is always willing to forgive usand to share His love with us even when we do things we shouldnt.

- Do both sons need to be forgiven? Why? (The older son is jealous anddoesnt rejoice that his brother is alive.)- What is the difference between the two sons? (The younger saw thathe was wrong and asked for forgiveness.)

THE ACTIVITY:N/A - just coloring the three icons/handouts

THE RESPONSE / HOMEWORK:N/A


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Coloured by:__________________________________

Date: _______________________________________


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St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian and St. John Chrysostom

Coloured by:_______________________ Date: __________________


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The younger son wanted all of his share of his fathers money so hecould gofar away and live by himself. He spent all of the money doing badthings.Then there was a famine - there was no food in the country where he

was. Hewas not even allowed to eat what the pigs ate. He decided that hisfathersservants were better off than he was so he went back home and askedhis fatherto forgive him and make him a servant. The father was not mad at all.He had


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the servants put the best robe on his son and threw a party because hewas sohappy that his lost son had come back home. The father said For thisson ofmine was lost and now is found And they began to celebrate!

bless group lesson 11

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