ORTHODOX VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL 2017

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3 ORTHODOX VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL 2017 Seeds [Up to 5 years] Beginner [Old Category] Contents Message from Diocesan Bishop... 4 Foreword... 5 Theme Overview... 6 LESSON 1: Theme Background - St. Paul... 8 Lesson 2: Introduction to Doing Good to All Lesson 3 : Simple ways to be good Acknowledgement... 24

4 Message from Diocesan Bishop

5 Foreword Do Good to all Beloved Sunday School teachers, parents and my dear children, We are going to enjoy the wonderful days of OVBS Orthodox Vacation Bible School is the most awaiting time of Sunday School children each year as it is the time of worship, prayer, learning, singing, sharing, games, love feast etc. which helps in upbringing the spiritual happiness in our church. This year, we have a wonderful theme for our OVBS Do Good to all (1 Thessalonians 5:15). Goodness is the nature of God. As a Christian our ultimate goal is to become like God, in other words, to be a witness of our Lord in front of others. We can achieve this goal by doing good things to all without any discrimination. OVBS 2017 theme will help us to learn more about this and I am praying for the same. Our OSSAE-UK team is working hard under the leadership of our Diocesan Metropolitan H.G. Dr. Mathews Mar Thimothios for the success of OVBS I take this opportunity to thank you all, especially our Diocesan Metropolitan, all Vicars, OSSAE UK Director, Secretary, Treasurer, OVBS Co-ordinator, District Inspectors, Head Teachers, Teachers, Volunteers and Parents for your dedication, hard work and support to OSSAE-UK and OVBS Special thanks to the team behind the song and theme books. Your every effort to support and nurture our children in Christ will be rewarded by Our Lord. In our song book, as previous years, we have included official songs provided by OSSAE and few English songs to make it livelier for our children. Each units have the freedom to choose number of songs from the song book based on their OVBS duration, however, first three songs are mandatory to be taught in all units. I request vicars and head teachers to conduct OVBS 2017 with a minimum of two days duration concluding with Holy Qurbana and OVBS rally. I hope OVBS 2017 will be a big success. Prayers and wishes for a blessed OVBS Yours in Christ Anoop Abraham Achan (Vice President OSSAE UK)

6 Theme Overview "Do Good to all". 1 Thessalonians 5:15. Saint Paul, the Apostle: Original name was Saul of Tarsus born in 4 BC in Tarsus in Cilicia [now in Turkey] and died in AD 64 in Rome [Italy]. He was one of the towering personalities of the first generation Christians. St. Paul is often considered to be the second most important person in the history of Christianity. Paul s surviving letters have had enormous influence on subsequent Christianity and secure his place as one of the greatest religious leaders of all time. Of the 27 books in the New Testament, 13 are attributed to Paul, and approximately half of another, Acts of the Apostles, deals with Paul s life and works. Thus, about half of the New Testament stems from Paul and the people whom he influenced. Theme Background The First Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians was likely the first written book of the Greek New Testament of the Bible, and was composed about 51 AD. The Apostle Paul wrote his letters in order to address particular issues that arose in different churches. St. Paul arrived in Thessalonica in the course of his second missionary journey (49-52 AD), after leaving Philippi (Acts 17:1). He was quite successful in converting many Jews there to Christianity. But jealousy arose, and he had to leave Thessalonica in a hurry (Acts 17:5-9), but later sent Timothy. This occasioned his Letter to the Thessalonians for continued instruction to his new converts to Christianity. This brief letter is rich in advice and the conclusion urges us to Do Good, Rejoice evermore and Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. We can see three main problems from Paul's letters to this church: the struggle of persecution, the rise of false prophets; and some issues of practical Christian living that the false prophets brought to the church. Theological Outlooks. In his letters to the Thessalonians, Paul addressed specific issues related to their lives. He wrote about false prophets, and about faithful and responsible living, and he also corrected their views on the second coming of Christ. Paul responded to the Thessalonians' problem in at least three important ways. First, he explained the doctrine of salvation in a way that balanced the Thessalonians' eschatology. Second, Paul related his understanding of the end times to Christian morality or ethics. And third, he showed the Thessalonians their historical position relative to the events preceding Christ's return. The heart of Paul's theology speaks to us today, it encourages us to remain faithful and holy while we await our Lord's return and the fullness of the age to come. The Thessalonian Church. The Thessalonian church was a strong and flourishing one, composed of Gentiles rather than of Jews. The favourable report brought back by Timothy was a great comfort to Paul, and at the same time intensified his longing to see his converts again (1 Thess. 3:10,11). This desire was to be fulfilled more than once. Almost certainly Paul returned there on his 3rd missionary journey, both on his way to Greece (Acts 20:1) and again while he was going thence to Jerusalem (Acts 20:3).Probably Paul was again in Thessalonica after his first imprisonment. Theme - Introduction The theme we are dealing with has this background of confusion caused by suffering persecution and the influence of false teachings. Here, the strong suggestion made by Paul is to focus purely on the person and life of Christ and imitate Him in everything. Doing Good rather than looking for avenge would be the only way to spiritual progress. Based on these Pauline message we could discuss the theme: 1 Thessalonians 5:15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. Do Good to all. It s not enough for us to simply do no harm we have to be proactive and take God s love for us to the next level and use that to love and help others. So doing Good is putting God s love into action. Doing Good is loving our neighbour as ourselves and the bible is full of passages that affirm this noble teaching. a. Do Good for Evil. Look at Luke 6: Again we see here that Jesus links together loving God with loving our neighbour and even our enemy and that loving others actually means doing something good for them. Jesus says this again in John 13: A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. And we hear this teaching affirmed by Paul in letter to Thessalonians. So it s clear that the foundation of the Christian faith is to love others. Who should we do good for? To all the people we can. Where should we do Good, just in the church or in the community and schools and homes as well? Do we do good by just giving our money or do give our time and talent and prayers as well?

7 Are we ever able to stop doing good? The answer is no, we do it as long as we can. b. Comfort the feeble-minded. To Comfort the feeble-minded; the dispirited; the disheartened is the duty of each church member. There are almost always those who are in this condition, and it is not easy to appreciate the value of a kind word to one in that state. How supporting to be addressed by one who has had the same conflicts, and has triumphed! With God's protection and guidance we should be able to conquer fears and do Good. In the Old Testament we see the Moses words of comfort and motivation to Joshua to go ahead (Deuteronomy 37: 7, 8.) c. Show the right path to the misled. In every situation we find ourselves we need to instinctively ask ourselves, what is the most good I can do? Am I loving my neighbour the best way I can? If this rule becomes part of our lives and if it truly guides our actions then we will find ourselves doing good more and more. Being the children of God it is our duty to lead the people around us, especially those who are struggling with various problems in their daily lives. d. Do Selfless service. When we actually start doing Good, it will be important for us to make sure we keep our motivations in check. For example, we don t do good things to be noticed, to get praise or to be rewarded. Jesus addressed this in what we heard from Luke 6. We don t lend to others expecting to get something in return. If we are doing good for what we will get back, it ceases to be good. If we are motivated by pride and ego, which is that desire to be noticed and recognized, then our actions stop being good, they are sinful, so we need to make sure the good we do is for the sake of others and Christ alone, not us. Jesus spoke about this in his sermon on the mount; look at Matthew 6:3-4. e. Be good in words, thoughts and deeds. We are the summation of our thoughts, words, and actions. Our words and deeds arise from our thoughts. What we do and say also shapes our thoughts. Our Lord Jesus Christ has given us many scriptures on these topics through his apostles and prophets. Here are some sample scriptures to remind us for how our thoughts, words and deeds to be. Thoughts: 1 Chronicles 28:9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD search all hearts, and understand all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever. Words: Psalm 139:4 for there is not a word in my tongue, but, O LORD, thou knows it altogether. Proverbs 16:24: Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. Matthew 12:36-37 But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment. Deeds: Psalm 15:1-2 - Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart. The apostle Paul taught that gratitude should accompany our thoughts, words, and deeds. And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father by him. (Colossians 3:17). Simple tips to do good. Take some time to reflect on why we need this golden rule to guide our lives. From now to the end of the year, what good can we do in these three specific areas of our life? a) Family b) Community (church, school, work ) c) Those who In Need (society) Conclusion: In this long eternal quest to be more like our Saviour, have the mind of Christ in us. May we try to be perfect men and women in at least this one way now-by speaking with a new tongue, the tongue of angels. Our words, like our deeds, should be filled with faith, hope and love, the three cardinal Christian virtues so desperately needed in the world today. Our thoughts leads to our actions; our actions leads to our habits; our habits leads to our characters; and our characters leads to our destiny. So a simple thought can make change in your destiny. May the OVBS training would illumine our hearts of all those who get involved in it, not only children but teachers, trainers, volunteers and parents. Let us explore the theme in its length and breadth and find our life more meaningful. I wish all the very best for OVBS Be Good, See Good, Say Good & Do Good. God Bless! Yours in His service, Ninan Achan.

8 LESSON 1: Theme Background - St. Paul

9 The story of Saint Paul. Saint Paul was originally called Saul and he was born in Tarsus in Turkey. He was a Pharisee and a tent maker and he hated Christians. He tortured and persecuted them. One day, as he was on his way to Damascus to torture more Christians, a great light shone around him and he became blind. The voice of Jesus from heaven called out. JESUS - SAUL, SAUL WHY ARE YOU PERSECUTING ME? PAUL- WHO ARE YOU? JESUS- I AM JESUS, THE ONE YOU ARE PERSECUTING PAUL - WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO? JESUS- GO TO DAMASCUS, YOU WILL FIND WHAT TO DO So at this moment, Saul began to believe in Jesus and his power and became a Christian because Jesus spoke to him. He then became to be called Paul the apostle and was filled with great joy and happiness. He travelled all around the world preaching and he suffered and was put into prison But even in prison, he wrote wonderful letters preaching and giving hope to Christians which are about 13 books in the bible such as Corinthians, Philippians and Thessalonians.

10 How can we be good like Saint Paul? 1. We become good when we make God the centre of our life and do everything in love like Jesus did for us. Let us love everyone around us, our parents, brothers and sisters, our friends and everyone that God has given to us in our life. 2. If you ever feel sad about anything, pray to God. Tell him what s wrong and pray for things to get better 3. Make a list of all the good things God has given to you every day.

11 Find the words! P U S E U J O U E E S O B C C W J S R B X L V E U S P Q H E L P E F M Z O U C C H V Y T J J C N J F L X S A E A X L H C W L I F Z R A C D P C E O B U J J P L M M I E N O T O P M H C H P B A K H E R D O N F N V N K A D X E J I N K H U I C F M E H S Z M N O T D P J S A K Z L N R O T F U Y T S I H W S E B P T H A N K F U L U E R S O I N I M S U S E J X S A R B U B A I G O D X X N L G V E T T N L I D Q U I Z O A D E L B S Y S N A I T S I R H C N E U BIBLE CHRISTIANS CORINTHIANS DAMASCUS FAMILY FRIENDS GOD HAPPINESS HEAVEN JESUS JOY LOVE PEACE SAINT PAUL THANKFUL

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14 Lesson 2: Introduction to Doing Good to All Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. Activity 1: Talk and draw answers to some questions:

15 What does it mean to do good? Doing the right thing ~ Being nice to others ~ Respecting others Points to introduce: You should even do it for people you don't like or people who have been mean to you as it is often those people who truly need it. It is easy to do good and nice things to people you like but God wants you to do good for all, after all everyone is His children. This means we should not care if they are different to us e.g. in colour of their skin their religion or where they come from.

16 Activity 2: What other nice things can you say to a person? What you say to a person can mean a lot to that person - it can make them feel a lot worse or a whole lot better when they are having a bad day. For example, saying how much you missed your parents when they come back from work. It can be easy to say something to another person to make them feel a lot better, this is us being good to people we are friends with or strangers. This in turn is will not only make them feel a lot better but is loving your Neighbour the best of your ability. This can go a long way to comforting the disheartened. This is a video from kid president to help you do this: (3:31)

17 Read the story of how a small boy s good deed of sharing was used by Jesus to feed Now colour the basket, fish and loavest and cut it out to make a basket as shown

18 Activity 3 Discuss: What do you think respect means? Let's look to superman and Sesame Street to see what they have to say: So respecting one another is like putting them first and looking at what their needs are and seeing if you can put their needs with yours. How can respecting another person be a way of doing good?

19 Lesson 3: Simple ways to be good

20 To explore: What good can we do in these three specific areas of our life? Family Community Those in need (general society) Introduction: In this chapter, we will be learning about simple things and actions that we can do to make ourselves better. We will be focusing on improving how we interact in our family, community and with those who are in need in the general society around us. Here are five simple steps that you could take to be a good person. Behaving appropriately Be honest and truthful Learn from your mistakes Care for everyone Always be ready to help and say thank you

21 Activity 1: Draw on the given post it notes (10 mins) Equipment: Colouring pens/pencils Description: Ask each to draw on there the things that they can do in their family and community e.g. their school or church to help them do good to all. Now look at some examples in our daily lives: (15 mins) FAMILY Doing the things your parents ask you to do Not making a mess Telling/letting your parents and siblings know that you love them COMMUNITY Handing out books in church or even in school if asked Not being mean to anyone or fighting Helping someone whenever you can THOSE IN NEED (general society) Giving money to charity Don t drop litter on the floor Don t waste things like water or food

22 ACTIVITY 2: complete the word search (15 mins) Using the coloured pens or pencils complete the word search Conclusion: Ask each child to say one thing that they have learnt and how they can apply it in their daily lives. Activity 3: Children's Songs of Goodness Thoughts, Speech & Deeds (Tune: Mary had a little lamb) Always think of good thoughts, Say good speech, do good deeds Always think of good thoughts, These are good seeds Good thoughts are like kindness, gratitude, mindfulness Good speech of gentleness, truthfulness and patience Good deeds of helpfulness, right effort, generous Good deeds have all these three These will make us happy Always think of good thoughts, Say good speech, do good deeds Always think of good thoughts These are good seeds

23 Good thoughts are like kindness, gratitude, mindfulness Good speech of gentleness, truthfulness and patience Good deeds of helpfulness, right effort, generous Good deeds have all these three These will make us happy, These will make us happy Activity 4: Read about the goodness of Tabitha from ACTS 9:36-42 There once was a lady named Tabitha. Everyone knew she was kind. She made clothes and helped the poor, Doing good for others all the time. When Tabitha died, her friends all cried. They asked Peter to come to her bed. He got down on his knees and prayed. Tabitha, get up! was all he said. He reached out his hand and helped her up. Her friends saw she lived once more. When everyone heard that she was alive, Many believed in her Lord. Concluding prayer:

24 Acknowledgement All OVBS participants, head teachers, teachers, coordinators, music teachers, parents and volunteers, Let us praise and thank our Almighty God for guiding us in all our centralized Sunday school activities within UK. This is our fifth successive centralised OVBS programme. Considering the unique needs of our children growing up in the UK, similar to last four years, the OVBS scheme has been developed and modified by incorporating some changes to make it an enjoyable experience for the children but keeping up the essential and core components from OSSAE. On behalf of the Indian (Malankara) Orthodox Sunday school (UK), I would like to express my humble gratitude to H.G. Dr Mathews Mar Thimothios, our Diocesan Metropolitan and president for OSSAE-UK for the blessings and invaluable guidance to all our Sunday school activities in United Kingdom. Sunday school in UK is greatly indebted to Central OVBS committee headed by H.G. Dr Yakob Mar Irenios, President OSSAE; Rev. Fr. Reji Mathews, Director General OSSAE; Rev. Fr. K. V. Thomas, Publication Officer; Rev. Fr. K. V. Alias, OVBS Director; Dr Ipe Varghese, General Secretary OVBS; Prof. Cherian Thomas, OSSAE Ex. Executive Officer and Dr. Sam V Daniel, Music-in-charge OVBS for providing us with OVBS central curriculum and song book of OSSAE. My sincere gratitude to Rev. Fr. Anoop Malayil Abraham, Vice President OSSAE-UK for his inspirational leadership and encouragement specifically towards OVBS and generally to all Sunday school activities within UK region. I thank Rev. Fr. Dr. Ninan V George, vicar of St. Gregorios I.O.C, London for spending his valuable time and effort in guiding, supervising, reviewing all theme books and preparing an overview of the theme for general assembly. Kindly join me to convey our hearty gratitude to Mrs Shali Saji (St. Marys IOC, Bristol), our OVBS coordinator of OSSAE-UK for her valuable contribution and painstaking efforts especially in compiling OVBS song book for UK as well as in the procurement and distribution of OVBS materials to all participating units. Many Sunday school and teachers from various units have assisted them in the song selections and they are specially acknowledged for their contribution. Also passing our sincere gratitude to all the students sent their drawings for book covers. Extending a big thanks to Mr Joshi Eapen, Secretary of OSSAE-UK and Mr. Bijoy George, Treasurer of OSSAE-UK for all their valuable contribution towards this OVBS. Similar to last year, the OVBS Theme book has been prepared exclusively for OSSAE-UK by Sunday school teachers from different units. I hereby sincerely thank all 15 teachers who wrote lessons namely: Ashnarose Abraham, Sonia Samson, Shijo Shaji Varghese and Shibu Thomas of St. Gregorios IOC Southend-on- Sea, Beena Jacob of Holy Innocents, Wales, Omana Varghese of St. Thomas IOC Cambridge, Solly Susil (St Thomas Orthodox Cathedral, Sydney), Koshy Matthew, Bibin George and Tina John of St. Marys IOC Bristol, Anita Mathews, Shaji Varghese and Suby Varghese of St. George IOC Manchester, Jane Jacob and Shini Joseph of St. Gregorios IOC,London, and 5 internal reviewers Loveena Alexander of St. Gregorios IOC Southend-on-Sea, Roshnie Manoj, Vinitha John, Preena Kurian and Beena Mathew of St. Gregorios IOC,London. Sunday school activities in UK is strengthened and led by all our vicars, district Inspectors, Sunday school head teachers, teachers, talent competition coordinator, volunteers and parents working at different capacities within limited resources and in various circumstances. I thank each and every one for their commitment, dedication and efforts for making our children grow in Orthodox faith enabling them to serve God in the true Christian way. Finally, I would like to thank all Sunday school children in all units for their enthusiasm and spirit; Sunday school teachers, music teachers, and OVBS unit coordinators for their commitment; head teachers and district inspectors for their dedication; volunteers and parents for their motivation; OSSAE-UK executive committee members for their outstanding support; and Church managing committee of various units for jointly working with Sunday school teachers to make this OVBS a grand success. May God Almighty continue to shower His Blessings in all our activities in future and help us to work together for His Glory! Yours in Christ Simon Chacko Sunday School Director-UK Region (sundayschool.iocuk@gmail.com)

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