Level 6, Chapter 1: God Gives Us the Law Lesson …

1 Roman Catholic Diocese of Baker Level 6, Chapter 1: "God Gives Us the Law". Lesson Introduction Duration: 1 hours Primary Aim: God's Law is our path to happiness here on earth and in heaven God created to share his Goodness CREATION Creation is good and orderly We can know there is a God Divine & Natural Law (Ten Commandments) applies to all people GOD'S LAW. Following God's Law we find true happiness Ten Commandments plus New Law: love of God and neighbor JESUS' LAW. Disobeying is a failure to love God and neighbor Ability to know good and evil CONSCIENCE. Choosing and doing the good Materials: Bibles, evaluations, pencils, balls of string, Ten Commandment Handout, Rosaries, Music Issue, and Prayer handout. Key Words (Vocabulary): Ten Commandments: the laws given to us by God for happiness. Decalogue: the Ten Commandments given to Moses by God. Beatitude: the state of being happy. Conscience: our ability to know and judge what is right or wrong.

2 Lesson Plan 1. Opening Prayer and Scripture (6:30-6:35 PM). Opening Prayer: Heavenly Father, We thank and praise you for the wonders of your creation. As we gather together for our first night of faith formation, we ask for the abundant presence of your Holy Spirit now and throughout the school year. Assist us tonight to gain a fuller understanding of you and what you ask of us by helping us obtain greater knowledge of your laws. Help us to always walk in your ways, to be obedient to you through the help of well formed consciences. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.". Catholic Prayer: "Our Father" (with emphasis on "And lead us not into temptation .."). Scripture Reading: John 10:7-15. Faith and Life Series, Lesson Plan Guide 1. Roman Catholic Diocese of Baker 2. Activities (6:35-7:05 PM). a. Activity 1 (Icebreaker) (6:35-6:45) "Name Game": Have everyone sit in a circle. (For larger groups or if time is constrained, one might want to break into circles of twenty or less).

3 Each person needs to think of an action that corresponds to the first letter of his or her name. , Julie jumps, Willie whistles, Danielle dances, etc. As the game proceeds from one person to the next person in the circle, the person whose turn it is must repeat the name and activity of all those that preceded them. ( , The second person in the circle would have only to repeat the first person's name and action and then their own while the 20th person would start with the first person's name and action, then the 2nd's --- proceeding along the circle until reaching the 19th person and finally themselves.). b. Activity 2 (6:45-6:55) "Ball of String": A ball of fairly stout string or twine is needed for this activity. Have the youth stand in a circle shoulder to shoulder. (For larger groups, youth can be broken into several circles, though circles of just about any size should work.) A youth is given the ball of string. The youth keeps hold of the end of the ball of string while tossing or handing it across the circle to someone else.

4 The second youth holds the string near where it unravels from the ball and tosses or hands it to another youth in the circle. This continues until everyone has grasped a piece of the string. Next have the youth work to unravel the complex web they have woven. They cannot let go of the string where they are holding it nor let it slide through their fingers. The point of the activity is to show how easily it is to hurt someone's reputation through gossip, slander, or detraction (the creation of the string web). Once that has occurred, it is much more difficult, if not impossible, to undo the injustice. (If string, twine, or rope is not available or if a another activity is desired, a variation of this activity can be done by having each youth reach across the circle with either their right or left hand and grasp another person's hand. Then they reach with their other hand and grasp the hand of a different person. The task then is to "undo" the "human knot" without letting go of anyone's hand.)

5 C. Activity 3 (6:55-7:05) "Two Truths and a Lie Game": Everyone sits in a circle. Each person prepares three statements, two of which are true and one of which is a lie. In any order, the person shares the three statements to the entire group. The object of the game is to figure out which statement is a lie. After all three statements have been shared, they are quickly repeated at which time the rest of the group votes on the statement they think is a lie. The person then reveals which one is the lie. If a majority of the group voted on the statement that is a lie, then the person caught in the lie goes to the middle of the circle and dies like a cockroach; lying on their back and kicking and screaming until dead. The Lesson to be learned is that lying has consequences and even if you are not caught you still suffer the agony and stress of maybe being caught. So why even put yourself in this situation by lying in the first place?

6 Faith and Life Series, Lesson Plan Guide 2. Roman Catholic Diocese of Baker 3. "Creation" (7:05-7:10 PM). Key Message Points We can know that God exists from the world around us. There is a certain order in which things happen ( , gravity, seasons). All creation testifies to the glory of God. (Ask for examples. , the complexity and order of the human eye or a tree.). God made man for a purpose: heaven. To get to heaven, we must do good and avoid evil. We are designed for this; it is written in our hearts. Humans everywhere believe there is a certain way we ought to act. Because of the effects of the Fall (Original Sin), we are prone to sin. Adam and Eve chose to disobey God. We are affected by their Original Sin. However, we have free will. We can choose good or evil. To be truly free, we must choose to do good. Being free from sin, we are guilt-free---free from what burdens us and holds us back. 4. "God's Laws" (7:10-7:15 PM). Key Message Points In order to live in relationship, we must fulfill certain responsibilities.

7 Can you be best friends with someone who is always lying to you or steals from you? God gave us the Ten Commandments or Decalogue ("ten words") so that we can live in relationship with God and one another He did not need to do this, as his Law was already written upon our hearts. Because of Original Sin, humans have a hard time recognizing the true good, so, in his love and mercy, God revealed his Laws to us. God wanted his people to know what was right and wrong and what was truly good and truly bad for them because he loves us God wants a faithful people so we can share in his happy life The Ten Commandments (read Exodus 19:5---20:16 or use the "Ten Commandment Handout" and discuss). The first three commandments teach us how to love God; the last seven how to love our neighbor. We are not simply to be obedient to God's Laws; rather, we should want to keep them to show our love for God; we should want to hear and obey his words.

8 Jesus taught that the foundation of all law is love: to love God above all things, with one's whole mind and heart and soul, and to love one's neighbor as oneself. In keeping these commandments, we are made free. free from sin, free to follow God, and free to recognize and follow our Savior. 5. "Conscience" (7:15-7:25 PM). Key Message Points God has given each person the ability to judge if something is right or wrong. This ability is called conscience and every person is born with a conscience. God Gives us a conscience so that we could live according to his law. A conscience has to be taught---and taught correctly. We call this forming a conscience. Faith and Life Series, Lesson Plan Guide 3. Roman Catholic Diocese of Baker God has given us the means to form our conscience correctly. God has revealed truths about himself and given us the Ten Commandments. To live according to the will of God we must follow and obey the commandments.

9 If we disregard or break God's law we sin. God has given us reasons why we should want to follow the Law. God is the giver and author of that Law, and since he is our Creator he knows what is best for us. Obeying God's Law is necessary for our eternal salvation. How could we live with God forever if we choose to reject his life and his friendship by serous sin? An even greater reason to obey God is that we know his great love for us. What better way do we have of showing our love for God than by doing what he asks of us? 6. Evaluation (7:25-7:30 PM). Fill in the blank answer key . 1) Every person has the law in their heart to do good and avoid evil. 2) We have free will so that we can love and obey God. 3) Our conscience is the ability to judge if an action is right or wrong. 4) Jesus said that all of the commandments can be summed up in this: Love God above all things with our whole mind and heart and soul, and love our neighbor as oneself.

10 5) God's laws known as the Ten Commandments are also called the Decalogue. 6) Write one or more petitions to pray during our Intercessory Prayers. For .. _____. _____. _____.. We pray to the Lord. Conclusion: prayer in the Church (7:30-8:00 pm). Exposition Hymn: Father I adore you . Intercessory Prayers Divine Mercy Chaplet Hymn: Sanctuary . Benediction Divine Praises Hymn: "Give Me Jesus". Faith and Life Series, Lesson Plan Guide 4.