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Family Faith CircleWeek Twenty Two – BreakoutTheme: The Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Commandment/Apostle’s CreedHost Family will lead opening prayer and introduce their family members. (Give a little detail about each person such as where they go to school, etc.)Faith Filled People to choose from (and why are they important to you and/or your family?): Saint Francis of AssisiSaint BernadetteSaint Philip NeirToday’s Readings from Lectionary: Read or summarize today’s readings to prepare for church or unpack for those that attended 8:30 mass.Song led by Jennifer St. JacquesHost Family ActivityVideo’s to choose from that go with the theme of the lesson:The Fourth Commandment (2:31 minutes) The Fifth Commandment (2:33 minutes) HYPERLINK "" Note: The Sixth Commandment is about adultery. (Against, not for.) The videos all deal with it, but some in a more straight forward way than others. I tried to find videos at both ends of the spectrum. Or you can leave it out all together.The Sixth Commandment (2:33 minutes) Good video for all ages. It talks about how trust is the foundation of all relationships and touches lightly on the “adultery” part of the commandment. The Sixth Commandment (3:00 minutes) (The audience for this video is college students, so he uses some mature words.) Stop Talking Dirty When Talking About the 6th Commandment (3:00 minutes) HYPERLINK "" Breakout:Choose one activity on topic and discussion for group. Topics suggested are from Be My Disciples.Pre-K, 1 – Combine with the Grades 3,4,5, and play Ten Commandment hopscotch. The older kids can help draw the courses. Action Items: Use sidewalk chalk to draw two hop scotch courses outside or use painters tape to do them inside. Use a bean bag animal for a stone. Toss the bean bag, and whenever picking up the bean bag, you have to yell out the commandment. There is a hopscotch course below, but you can draw one as you want. (There are variations.) As a reminder, here is how to play hopscotch From . game playright000Traditionally, this game was carved with a stick in the dirt, but with the advent of sidewalk chalk, dirty feet are a thing of the past. A hopscotch course typically looks like a series of numbered squares. The first player tosses a marker (rock, coin) into the first square; it must land within the confines of the square without bouncing out or touching a line. The player then hops through the course, making sure to skip the square with the marker in it. Players hop in single squares with one foot (either foot is fine), and use two feet for the side by side squares, one in each square. Upon completion of the hop sequence, the player continues her turn, tossing the marker into square number two and repeating the pattern.Loss of turn occurs when a player:Steps on a lineMisses a square with her marker tossLoses balancePlayers begin their next turn where they last left off.objectiveThe first player to finish one full course for each numbered square is the winner — careful not to step on any lines!a rose by any other nameThis game has international appeal, though it goes by different monikers:New Yorkers call it PotsyPersians call it LaylayFrench call it Escargot (snail), but Bosnians use their word for it — Puz Germans and Austrians dub it Himmel und H?lle (Heaven and Hell)In India, it goes by kith- kith or Ekhat-Dukhat (one two houses) After everyone has played, read the below outloud and discuss.Have a student read Colossians 3:20“Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.”What is the reason this verse gives? Obeying our parents is “pleasing to the Lord.” God has a design for everything.? The family is designed to have loving parents who encourage and discipline their children.? The family is also designed for children to submit and obey their parents. When God sees a family that is operating according to His design, it pleases Him.? He is delighted to see what He created working as He planned.God has commanded children to obey their parents.? The passages that we read taught us that we should obey because:1) It helps us to live an abundant life by avoiding costly mistakes2) It is God’s commandment.3) It is pleasing to God. It is not always easy to obey our parents, especially if we don’t understand or just don’t like what they ask us to do.Even if we don’t agree with our parents, the Bible is clear that we should submit to their authority and obey because God has placed them over us to help and protect us.? As hard as it may be sometimes, we need to trust God and His commandments.Discuss the following questions:Have your parents every made a decision or a rule that upset you?? What about the rule upset you?How did you respond?Exodus 20:12 says to “Honor your father and mother…” What does it mean to honor someone?How does making wise choices honor our parents? Hint: Proverbs 10:1What are the three reasons we talked about for obeying our parents?How is the way we honor our parents similar to the way we honor God?-from Or do this activity with both sets of kids:Why Should We Obey Our Parents? (The Commandment to obey our parents directly relates to the verse in Ephesians.)Learning Objectives:After this lesson, children will demonstrate an understanding of the “circle of blessing” concept by responding to agree/disagree questions as a group.After this lesson, children will demonstrate a new desire to obey their parents, by picking one action they can do differently.Items Needed:Circle of about 3ft diameter. I used a piece of rope attached to the floor with masking tape. A large hula-hoop would also work.Squirt-gun or plastic spray bottle. You could use a sports whistle to add optional emphasis.Optional props: stuffed animal horse, play money, hand held video game, math book, and posters to display the listening questionsGospel Connection: Both kids and adults fall short of this command. Our hearts have not always given the honor and love to our parents. The grace of Jesus allows us to return to the circle of blessing through repentance and faith. Jesus took the punishment for our sins and can grant forgiveness for our former disobedience. Kids (and parents) must trust in the goodness of Jesus in our place – that’s the ultimate circle of blessing.Optional: Download our free obedience coloring page to use with this lesson.Obey Your Parents Teaching PlanGetting Attention: Set up the circle and a few of the props while the children are watching. Do not make any comments except to say how excited you are about today’s lesson. The children will build interest and excitement to match your own.Active Listening: Before you read the Bible verse, ask the children to listen carefully for the answer to these question. “What can I do to make my life better? What could I do to make my life worse?” For added emphasis you could display these questions on a marker board or poster board. I chose red colored for the negative and yellow for the positive question.Then carefully read the key Bible verse:Ephesians 6:1-3 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”Ask the children if they can answer those two questions. Introduce the lesson by saying: That’s what we’re learning about today. I have a special name for this I call the “Circle of Blessing.” Can you repeat that with me? “Circle of Blessing.”Let’s Talk about that Bible Verse: Ask for volunteers to explain tricky parts to you. Use their answers as jumping off points to briefly clarify the meaning of this passage. Here are some parts that I chose for elaboration:honor your Father and mother (what does that mean?) it’s more than just obeying but treating them like important people with love & respectcommandment with a promise (what does that mean?) it’s the first of the 10 Commandments that comes with a specific promise from God, there is a reward if you do this rightgo well with you (what does that mean?) that God will help your life work out better, not perfect but much better than it would be if you did not obeylive long in the land (what does that mean?) when God first said this it was talking about the promised land, but for Christians the promised land is mainly about heaven, if your parents teach you about Jesus you can have eternal life in heavenwhat if they tell me to do bad things? because of sin, parents have sometimes asked their children to do things that are wrong (i.e. abuse or lying to hide abuse). In children are unsure, teach them to ask other trusted adults for help in knowing what to do.Circle of Blessing Object Lesson: Invite a child to come up to the front of the room. Have them stand inside an imaginary circle of about 3ft diameter. Then say:This is the circle of blessing. It’s a way to imagine the way obedience keeps us out of danger. Just like our Bible verse says, God will watch over us while we obey our parents. To move outside the circle is like disobeying. Moving outside the circle brings danger.At this point surprise the child by showing them a squirt-gun (or water bottle that sprays a mist) that you previously had hidden. Tell them as long as they are in the circle they are safe, but outside the circle they are in danger. Demonstrate by shooting a jet of water outside the circle. Then ask the child to step outside the circle to the spot you just shot. Then give them a short blast of water. Then say:When we obey our parents it’s like staying inside the circle, God will keep us safe. But when we disobey it is like stepping outside the circle. When we do that we cause bad things to happen to our lives.Circle of Blessing Case Stories: Ask for a series of volunteers to model the following scenarios using the circle of blessing. Have the child stand in the middle of the circle while you tell the story. Move them outside the circle as the character in the story clearly disobeys their parents. Pretend like you are talking about the child who has volunteered. At the marked parts in the story ask the class to respond if the person is still in the circle or not. After each repeat the main concept that obedience brings safety.Hint: Be sure to pick children who won’t be upset by getting a little wet. I even ask the volunteer if they will cry when they get sprayed. Obviously, this should be a silly activity and fun for all the children involved.Kristy’s Story: [optional stuff-animal horse prop] Kristy is a nice little girl in the second grade. She loves horses. She loves them so much she has big posters of horses in her room. Down the road from her house there is a farm that has horses, but her parents don’t know the owner so she’s never seen them up close. Her mom says that it would be wrong to try to pet those horses without the owners permission. [is she still in the circle?] One day, when Kristy is playing outside in her front yard she decided to walk down to see the horses – she knows her mom will say “NO” so she doesn’t bother to ask. [is she still in the circle?] Kristy walks down the road and gets very close the horse fence. She thinks about turning back and running home. She feels like God wants her to do the right thing and run home, but instead she decided to get close to the horses. [is she still in the circle?]What do you think might happen next? Allow a few responses from the children. After each answer give her a little squirt from the water. This should be funny when it happens. ?Some possible answers: The horse could bite, or the owner could be mad, or she could be hurt by a car driving too fast down the road.Then say: all these things are bad things, but Kristy could have avoided them by showing obedience to her parents. What could she have done better? Move her back into the center of the circle as they tell you.Bobby’s Story: [optional hand held video game and math book props] Bobby doesn’t like his math class. For some reason it just seems too hard for him to do all that work. Everyday he comes home from school and his parents have him do his math homework before he gets to play his video games. On one Tuesday after school, his friend Joey comes over to play for a few hours. [is he still in the circle?] He knows he needs to do his homework, but really wants Joey to help him beat the new level on his video game. His parents might let him save his math work for after dinner, but Bobby doesn’t want to take chances. He decided to leave his math book at school and pretend that the teacher did not give out any homework. When the get back to his house he looks his dad in the face and lies about it. [is he still in the circle?]What do you think might happen next? Allow a few responses from the children. After each answer give her a little squirt from the water. Some possible answers: He will get ground, he will get a bad grade on his report card, he will not be able to get into college, he will always over tip at restaurants, he will get away with the lie and it will become a habit he can’t stop. After each answer give her a little squirt from the water.Then say: all these things are bad things, but Bobby could have stayed safe by obeying his parents. How could he have shown obedience? Move him back into the circle to?visualize?obeying your parents.Joey’s Story: Joey loves it when people pay attention to him. His favorite thing is to tell a funny story at Recess when kids gather around to listen. It makes him feel important. [is he still in the circle?] One day he started telling a funny story about his dog. Everyone laughed and asked him to tell another one. He couldn’t think of any, but he did remember something embarrassing about his grandfather. His grandfather had been sick and sometimes had accidents using the bathroom. He knew is was something his parents wouldn’t want him to spread around, but as he told it the kids kept laughing more and more. [is he still in the circle?]What do you think will happen next? Allow a few responses from the children. After each answer give her a little squirt from the water. Some possible answers: The kids would laugh at his grandfather when they saw him at church, his parents would be hurt that he was making fun of their grandfathers suffering, his friends might think it’s ok to make fun of older people, he might get into the habbit of mocking people.Then say: all these things are bad things, but what should Joey have done to make his life better. Move the him back into the circle as the children tell you what the obedient action would have been.Sara’s Story: [optional play money prop] Sara is so excited that her new school has a vending machine. The best part is that it has her favorite snacks that her mom never buys at the grocery store. As soon as she discovered it she spent all her allowance money in one day. [is she still in the circle?] That night she asked her mom for more money, maybe even an advanced payment of next week’s allowance. Her mom said no and reminded Sara to be more careful about how quickly she was spending her money. The next morning she found some money layout out beside her dad’s favorite chair. She was certain it had fallen out of his pocket the night before. Without asking, she took this money so she could have more snacks the next day. [is she still in the circle?]What do you think will happen next? Allow a few responses from the children. After each answer give her a little squirt from the water. Some possible answers: It was her dad’s lunch money for the next day, ?she could get sick, her mom would find out and she could get grounded, she would get into the habit of sneaking & stealing.Then say: Those are terrible?consequences?that she could have avoided by obeying her parents. What should she have done. As they tell you the right choices move the child back inside the circle.Agree / Disagree [understanding test]: Have the children respond as a group to the following questions. If the statement is right they should stand up, if wrong they should stay seated and cross their arms.Disobeying is okay if you know your parents will say NO [disagree]Since your parents put the school in charge of you, to honor your parents means to obey your teacher too [agree]If you always obey your parents, your life will always be perfect [disagree]Once you disobey, you can’t get back inside the circle [disagree]When Jesus was a child, he always obeyed his human parents [agree]God doesn’t care if we have a bad attitude when we obey [disagree]God promised a better life for those who obey [agree]It’s not really disobeying if you parents didn’t actually say NO [disagree]When Jesus was a grown-up, he always obeyed his “Father in Heaven” [agree]New Ways To Honor & Obey [new attitude test]: Ask the children to think of one way they could obey their parents better, tell them if they have a really good example you will let the act it out with the circle & the squirt-gun. If they have trouble, offer this example: “When I whine about dinner I am outside the circle of blessing [say this part out side the circle then squirt], from now on I can be thankful even when my parents don’t cook my favorite food. [move inside the circle on don’t squirt]”Closing: Lead the children in prayer thanking God for our parents. Ask for new hearts that help them obey.--- 6 &7 – (4th Commandment) Respect for Others and Ourselves, (Fifth Commandment) build a culture of life, (Sixth and Ninth Commandment) teach us to express and share love in respectful ways. Action Items: Bibles to look up scripture and chairs set up in a circle. Play the game (below). Get some adults to play as well if there are not enough people. Play a few times and then do the lesson. Print off the examination of conscience to distribute.?Who Is Leading Whom?Materials:Chairs placed in a big circle.Duration:Approximately 15 minutes?? What you will do:Arrange the chairs into a large circle and have everyone sit down. Then, have one student volunteer to leave the room?until called. While away, the rest of the class selects one person to be the leader. When the volunteer returns to the room, he or she will find everyone following the leader, but will not know who the leader is. The class tries to notice what the leader is doing and do the same, but without looking directly at the leader so as not to give him or her away. The leader should change actions about every 15 seconds or so. Naturally, the leader should try to change actions when the volunteer is not looking directly at him or her.Actions can be whatever the leader wishes. Some examples are rubbing eyes, popping zits, coughing violently, slapping face, etc. When the volunteer discovers the leader, he or she becomes the next volunteer to leave the room, and the class chooses another leader.Discussion Questions:1. Leaders: How did it feel knowing the class would follow your every action?2. Followers: What if the leader did something questionable--would you still follow for the sake of tricking the volunteer?3. When should we follow someone in a leadership role?4. How do we know that we can trust the leadership of Jesus?The Truth About AuthorityGETTING STARTED??How many of you like being told what to do or someone having authority over you???Why is it that we don’t?like authority figures???Who are some examples of authority figures with whom you have difficulty getting along???How are authority figures similar to our game of “Who Is Leading Whom?”It can sometimes be hard to accept that someone has authority over you. Sometimes it feels like they are abusing their authority, and it can be hard to take.?But no one is exempt. Even the President of the United States answers to Congress, the American people, and the Supreme Court. You have parents, teachers, coaches, and grown-ups at church who have the authority over you.God is the ultimate authority, and He has plenty to say about respecting authority.Discussion Questions:1.?Do you think people your age have a hard time respecting authority? Why/why not?2.?What does it take for you to respect authority?Sometimes we demand respect from someone before we’ll return that respect. While this is common and easy to understand, it’s not necessarily right. You may have parents, teachers, or other authority figures who are not good at their respective jobs (or at least you might feel that way) but the Bible says that we should still respect them.Our government might not be “Christian,” but we should still respect the laws that don’t cause us to deny Christ.Respect isn’t something you wait to give until someone proves themselves; it’s something you’re commanded by God to give certain people.The Fourth Commandment is Honor Your Father and Mother. How do we do that? That’s right, we’re supposed to respect our parents.Read?Ephesians 6:1-2 and?2 Timothy 3:2Discussion Questions:1.?What do these passages say about respecting/honoring your parents?2.?Why is hard sometimes to respect them?3.?Do you think you should respect your parents if they ask you to disobey God? Should you obey them?We can joke around about the trials of a teenager, but for some of you, it’s no joke. Some of our friends may have abusive parents, or maybe parents have abandoned them. For some of you, respect may be the most difficult feeling you can produce when concerning your parents. But that doesn’t exclude you. The command to respect your parents remains.The Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Commandment all really deal with respect for ourselves and others in our lives. And respect for life whether it is in the womb, someone you pass by daily, or someone at the end of their life. The Fourth Commandment is Honor Your Father and Mother. The Fifth Commandment is Do Not Kill – that can also mean support life. Support your life by eating well and exercising, surrounding yourself with good friends. We can support others by taking some of their burdens from them just by listening. The Sixth Commandment is Do not commit adultery – basically do not date outside your marriage. But it is broader than that. It means be loyal to those you are committed to. While the Ten Commandments may seem ancient, they are still applicable to our lives today. Adults – Action Item: IPad for watching video on Ten Commandments. Bishop Barron on the Ten Commandments (13:07 minutes) Prayer RequestsHost Family will lead Closing PrayerAn examination of conscience for preteenshis Sharing Buttons to More1. You shall have no other gods besides the Lord your God.Do I love God above all things?Is He number one in my life or do I put myself before God?Have money and pleasure become more important to me than the God who created me for Himself?Do I pray often? Have I neglected my friendship with God by neglecting prayer?Have I been involved with occult or superstitious practices, i.e., fortune telling?Have I ever received Holy Communion in the state of mortal sin?Have I told a lie in confession or deliberately withheld confessing a mortal sin?2. You shall not take the Lord your God's name in vain.Have I ever committed perjury, that is, lied under oath in a court of law?Have I ever lied after "swearing to God" that I am telling the truth?Have I ever used God's name out of anger, that is, as a curse?3. Keep the Sabbath day holy.Have I deliberately missed Holy Mass on the Sabbath (Saturday evening through Sunday)?Have I ever missed Mass on a Holy Day of Obligation.4. Honour your father and your mother so that you may live long and flourish.Do I disobey my parents?Do I fail to respect them?Do I swear at them?Am I ashamed of them?Do I let them know I love them?Do I lie to them?Do I steal from them?Am I obeying and honouring those in place of my parents, such as teachers and principals?Do I skip class?Do I lie to my teachers?Do I swear at them?5. You shall not kill.Am I killing myself by taking illegal drugs, such as marijuana?Abusing alcohol?Do I stand up for the unborn child's right to life, or have I merely accepted society's anti-life mentality?Did I participate in or approve of euthanasia or "mercy-killing"?Have I murdered anyone's reputation by deliberately spreading rumours or keeping rumours alive by passing them on?Do I nurse anger against anyone?Hold a grudge?Refuse to forgive another?Have I cursed anyone?6. You shall not commit adultery.Have I broken trust with a friend or parent?Have I ever freely and deliberately entertained impure thoughts?Am I modest in dress?7. You shall not steal.Do I steal from my parents?Do I steal from friends?Have I ever stolen from a stranger?Have I stolen any property from a store?In other words, have I ever taken what rightfully belongs to another?Do I gamble excessively?Do I seek to share what I have with the poor and needy?8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.Am I a liar?Am I guilty of detraction, that is, making known the faults of others?Am I guilty of slander, that is, spreading lies about someone?Do I gossip about others?Do I reveal information that should be confidential?Am I "two-faced", that is, have I been a certain kind of person to some people, but a completely different kind of person to others?9. & 10. You shall not envy your neighbour's wife and goods.Am I envious of others?Do I wish that others be deprived of the goods or talents that are theirs?Am I jealous of others?Do I harbour unforgiveness and grudges against others?Am I a resentful person?Do I put down others? ................
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