DELIVER US FROM EVIL A LIFE NIGHT ON THE OUR FATHER

Transcription

1 GOAL LIFE NIGHT OVERVIEW DELIVER US FROM EVIL A LIFE NIGHT ON THE OUR FATHER The goal of this Life Night is to remind teens of the unseen spiritual realities present in their everyday lives and unpack the Our Father as a powerful prayer of praise and trust that calls upon grace to overcome evil. KEY CONCEPTS It is important to see evil as evil and temptation as temptation, not so that we have an excuse for bad behavior, but as part of our strategy to overcome it. Our relentless Father sent His only, beloved Son, Jesus, to battle and defeat evil through His definitive victory on the cross. The Our Father is a prayer of praise, obedience, petition, forgiveness, and deliverance from evil. ABOUT THIS LIFE NIGHT The Gather is a version of freeze tag that has the teens work together to get to home base. The Proclaim discusses the spiritual realities of our everyday lives and the Our Father as a powerful prayer that helps us overcome evil. The Break is a small group discussion on overcoming temptation and the salvific power of Jesus and the Our Father. The Send is a time of prayer and reflection that asks the teens to pray the Our Father in their own words. ENVIRONMENT Create a fort or bunker-like environment with the following supplies: dark sheets, cardboard boxes, staples and a staple gun, tape, tables, and chairs. Have dim lights. Play the war sound effects found in the Media Suggestions. Make the main door feel like the entrance to a bunker with a low ceiling, narrow walk space, and a step to walk over. Have rations instead of snacks. Have Core Members wear matching uniforms. MEDIA SUGGESTIONS Life Teen: Infestation (Life Support: May 2015) Upper Room: Tremble + Our Father (Spontaneous) (youtube.com) KEY TERMS: Angel Concupiscence Demon Salvation SCRIPTURE: Matthew 6:9-13 Luke 11:2-4 Luke 15:11-32, 18:13 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 Revelation 12:1-12 CATECHISM: GabberRino: WWII Normandie War Sounds Ambience Theme 1 hour version (youtube.com) AS YOU GET STARTED... For a Gather for smaller or larger youth group, consider having more or less teens or Core Members be it. For a more mature youth group with teens in leadership, consider asking a teen to give the Proclaim and working with them to prepare it. 40 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: RELENTLESS FATHER 41

2 For a bit of fun in the Break, have the teens make a fort to have small group in. Notes: GATHER LIFE NIGHT: DELIVER US FROM EVIL Welcome and Opening Prayer (5 min) Gather the teens in the main meeting space. Welcome them to the Life Night, introduce any teens or Core Members attending for the first time, and begin in prayer. Spiritual A-Tag (15 min) Gather the teens along one wall of the main meeting space and give each teen a blindfold. Clear the room of any unnecessary objects. Assign one to two Core Members to be it. Tell the teens that their goal is to get themselves and as many other teens to the opposite wall, home base, while blindfolded. If they get tagged, they must freeze. To be unfrozen, they must call for help until they are tagged by another blindfolded teen. Play an upbeat song that is three to four minutes long. If all of the teens make it to the opposite wall by the end of the song, they win. If they don t, the Core Members win! To make it more difficult, add a rule that during the chorus of the song the Core Members must freeze until the verse. PROCLAIM Deliver Us from Evil Teaching (15 min) The Proclaim Details can be found on pages 45 to 50. BREAK Small Group Discussion (20 min) Divide the teens into small groups with a Core Member to lead each group. Begin in prayer and then use the following questions to lead a small group discussion: 42 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: RELENTLESS FATHER 43

3 Do you think many people believe in the existence of evil? Why or why not? Have you ever considered sin as demonic temptation and Satan actively working to draw you away from God? How does this understanding change your perception of sin and desire to avoid it? What is Jesus role in overcoming evil? What is God the Father s role in overcoming evil? How can the Our Father helps us overcome evil? Going forward, how do you plan on using the Our Father? SEND The Our Father (15 min) Dim the lights and create a prayerful environment. Project the Relentless Father theme image. Play a song or two from the Media Suggestions. Instruct the teens to spread out throughout the main meeting space and find a quiet, comfortable spot where they can pray. Pass out the Our Father handout. The handout and image are both found online at lifeteen.com under the Relentless Father theme tab. Notes: KEY TERMS DELIVER US FROM EVIL PROCLAIM DETAILS Angel: A spiritual, personal, immortal creature with intellect and free will, who glorifies God unceasingly and serves God s saving plan. Concupiscence: Human desires or an inclination to sin which remained disordered due to the consequence of original sin. Demon: A fallen angel, who used their free will to sin against God, and now serves to draw people away from God s saving plan. Salvation: The forgiveness of sin and restoration of friendship with God, which is accomplished by the Son of God on the cross. TEACHING THE BATTLE Is there evil in your life? At first glance, we may not think so. Evil sounds so definitive and cold. But let s take a closer look at the suffering we encounter. The homeless person you pass on the way home from school that is not God s good plan for them, but is a result of societal sin and ultimately, original sin. When your Mom let s anger get the best of her and yells at you she s operating out of her own sin and woundedness. When you feel pressure to cheat or let a friend cheat that s temptation. Suffering and temptation were never part of God s good creation. They entered when sin entered. When we see 44 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: RELENTLESS FATHER 45

4 suffering, we see a form of evil something that lacks goodness. Genesis 3 It important to see evil as evil and temptation as temptation, not so that we have an excuse for bad behavior but as part of our strategy to overcome it. When we experience something that is not good, it can be beneficial to identify it as evil, realize that it does not belong in our life, and work to rid ourselves of it. For example, we may experience negative thought patterns or lies. We then identify them as not good, work to rid ourselves of the negative thoughts, and replace them with positive thoughts and truths. Romans 12:2 Or we may realize that a relationship with a certain friend is not healthy. We identify the relationship as not good, begin to remove ourselves from the unhealthy relationship, and form new, healthy relationships. The work of ridding ourselves of evil and filling ourselves with goodness is part of our daily battle to live for and with God. We are not the only players in this battle. God and His angels are fighting with us to get us to eternal life with God in heaven, and Satan and demons are fighting to drag us to eternal life in hell. While we are fighting for God, God is also fighting for us. Deuteronomy 20:4, Ephesians 6:10-18 Project and read Deuteronomy 20:4. THE VICTORY Our relentless Father sent His only, beloved Son to battle and defeat evil. CCC 2853 Project and read Revelation 12:1-12. Immediately after Jesus baptism, the Son of the relentless Father went into the desert to battle with the Father of Lies. In the fourth chapter of Luke we hear... Project and read Luke 4:1-13. After the liar concedes, we hear stories of Jesus casting out demons, healing the sick of body, mind, and spirit. In the very next chapter of Luke, Jesus cleanses a leper and heals a paralytic. Luke 5:12-26 Finally, through His death on the cross and Resurrection on the third day, Jesus accomplishes His Father s will and tramples the ancient foe once and for all. Project and read 1 Corinthians 15: THE JOURNEY HOME While the battle has been won, we are still on the journey home to heaven but it is not an easy journey. We have wounds and habits from the battle that make our way difficult. Sometimes old wounds lead to new wounds. Sometimes old habits are hard to break. When the disciples ask Jesus how to pray on their pilgrimage home, He points them and each of us, to pray to the relentless Father for the power to overcome woundedness. He gives us the Our Father, a powerful prayer of deliverance from the evil we encounter in our everyday lives. Luke 11:2-4, Matthew 6:9-13, CCC 2773 The Our Father can be split into five parts: praise, obedience, petition, and forgiveness, which prepare us for the final and powerful prayer for deliverance. 46 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: RELENTLESS FATHER 47

5 PRAISE Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. The Our Father begins with praise. It acknowledges and praises God for who He is holy. Our words do not make God holy or cause God to be holy, but acknowledge Him as holy, and we are thereby drawn into the innermost mystery of His holiness and love. CCC 2628, , 2807 Share a personal story of a time when you were praising God and were drawn into an experience of His presence. Whenever you have a desire to praise God after an answered prayer, in Adoration, after receiving good news you can do so by sincerely praying the Our Father. Or maybe you find yourself wishing you were back on retreat or back at a Steubenville conference, or wishing for the next XLT so you can participate in praise and worship. You can praise God then, in that moment, by sincerely praying the Our Father. OBEDIENCE Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it it in heaven. The Our Father then pledges obedience and continued faithfulness to His will, which is ultimately to love one another as we have first been loved. PETITION CCC 2822 Give us this day our daily bread... Next, the Our Father entrusts our daily needs to God, our Father. We trust that our heavenly Father will provide for us, that we will not be left lacking or without. When we are secure in the Father, we can be bold, brave, and generous in our relationships with others. Whenever you find yourself worried about how you are going to be taken care, how you are going to have enough time to study for the big test, what college you are going to attend, how you are going to pay for college, who s going to sit with you at lunch, try praying an Our Father to entrust your needs to your Father. DELIVERANCE CCC And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. We then ask for forgiveness of our own sin. We confess our sinfulness and need for mercy. We return to the Father like the prodigal son and tax collector. When combined with a good examination of conscience, the Our Father can become a sincere act of contrition in which we ask for and receive forgiveness. If we are in a potential state of mortal sin, the prayer should be combined with the Sacrament of Reconciliation. CCC 2839, Luke 15:11-32, 18:13 Consider projecting a reading Luke 15:11-32 and 18:13. Our reception of forgiveness is directly linked with our duty and ability to pass on forgiveness to others. We become conductors of God s forgiveness. We receive forgiveness and forgiveness flows through us to others. We are not to be like the unforgiving servant. FORGIVENESS Matthew 18:23-35 And lead us not into temptation... This phrase can be confusing. Why would God lead us into temptation in the first place? The difficulty comes with the translation. Lead us not into temptation can also be translated, do not allow us to enter temptation, or do not let us yield to temptation. We ask God to not let us take the path that leads to sin and woundedness. The desires to sin derives from our own concupiscence, or inclination to sin, or from the active temptations that Satan intentionally put before us to draw us away from God. Remember, we 48 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: RELENTLESS FATHER 49

6 are still living in the midst of a spiritual battle. Satan and his demons are trying to draw us away from God, while God and His angels are trying to draw us to Him. CCC 2846 But deliver us from evil. Amen. This is the final and most powerful prayer of deliverance. It brings liberation from bondage to evil. Many of us are plagued by bondage to evil. Addictions to drugs, alcohol, pornagraphy and masterbation, toxic or unhealthy relatonships, etc., run rampant in our society. Some are bound to negative self-esteem, destructive habits, and patterns of doubt, despair, depression, fear, and anxiety. Evil spirits can hold a person back from the fullness of health and spiritual well being. The Our Father can free us from any and all bondage to evil. When we talk about being bound by evil spirits, we are not talking about Hollywood s hyper dramatized interpretation of evil spirits. Though possession is real, here we are discussing demonic influences in our everyday lives. We must remember to pray the Our Father when all is well, when we are happy and want to praise and thank God. We must remember to pray it when we are stressed, worried, or don t know how things are going to work out. We are called to pray it when we need to receive forgiveness and when we need help forgiving others. And most importantly, we are to pray it when we are facing temptation and want God s help and strength to overcome it. In a quiet, yet sincere way we can battle temptation, suffering, and evil through conscious and intentional use of the Our Father. Notes: 50 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: RELENTLESS FATHER 51

7 52 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: RELENTLESS FATHER THE OUR FATHER Slowly and prayerfully read through the handout, filling it out as instructed. Be personal and specific in your responses. PRAISE Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. The Our Father begins with praise. It acknowledges and praises God for who He is holy. In your own words, praise God. OBEDIENCE Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it it in heaven. The Our Father pledges obedience and continued faithfulness to His will, which is ultimately to love one another as we have been loved. In your own words, communicate your intentions to be faithful and obedient to God. PETITION Give us this day our daily bread... The Our Father entrusts our daily needs to God, our Father. We trust that our heavenly Father will provide for us, that we will not be left lacking or without. In your own words, identify and entrust your needs to God. What are you worried about? What are you lacking? Let God know and ask Him to take care of you. 53 Relentless Father

8 54 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: RELENTLESS FATHER FORGIVENESS And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. The Our Father asks for forgiveness of our sin. We confess our own wretchedness and need for mercy. In your own words, identify and apologize for your mistakes, sins, and ways you have failed to love God or others. Then, trust in His forgiveness. DELIVERANCE And lead us not into temptation... The Our Father asks God to not let us take the path that leads to sin. This can derive from our own concupiscence, or inclination to sin, or from the active temptations that Satan intentionally put before us to draw us away from God. In your own words, identify where you need freedom and ask Jesus to set you free. ADDITIONAL NOTES: 55 Relentless Father

9 CORE TEAM OVERVIEW DELIVER US FROM EVIL: A Life Night on the Our Father GOAL: The goal of this Life Night is to remind teens of the unseen spiritual realities present in their everyday lives and unpack the Our Father as a powerful prayer of praise and trust that calls upon grace to overcome evil. GATHER (20 MIN): Welcome and Opening Prayer: Spiritual A-Tag: PROCLAIM (15 MIN): Deliver Us From Evil Teaching: BREAK (15 MIN): Small Group Discussion: Do you think many people believe in the existence of evil? Why or why not? Have you ever considered sin as demonic temptation and Satan actively working to draw you away from God? How does this understanding change your perception of sin and desire to avoid it? What is Jesus role in overcoming evil? What is God the Father s role in overcoming evil? How can the Our Father helps us overcome evil? Going forward, how do you plan on using the Our Father? SEND (20 MIN): The Our Father: Notes: 56 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: RELENTLESS FATHER 57