Learning about love and eternity

Transcription

1 Teaching notes. Session one: Is anything eternal? In groups of 3 5, provide the following pictures: oceans, celebrities, love, friendship, the world, water, dinosaurs, the truth, memories, mountains, the sun, a skeleton, food, trees, sky, Stonehenge, Jesus, a photograph. Ask children to sort these images into a column according to how long they think these things will last in the world. The column may be uneven (i.e. several may fill the top spot'). For the sake of clarity, concepts like friendship and truth refer to the idea of friendship and truth rather than specific instances (although it is healthy to discuss the difference). Spend some time with each group and allow the children to debate the order of the images. As a class, build a list of those things most people believe will last forever. Write it up on the board. Explain the Christian idea of eternity with reference to souls, God, love. Relate to the list made on the board. How do individuals feel about the idea of eternity? Can children choose adjectives to explain their feelings? Extension: if time allows, children can make a record of things that they wish would last forever and why their choices would be a good thing. Session two: What is Christian love? Ask children what they understand by the word 'love. Discuss the idea that love comes in different forms not just amorous, e.g. love between a parent and child. Discuss unconditional love and explain that love should be unconditional. Explore what is meant by unconditional (Christian term is agape ). Give children a series of Bible references. In groups, children investigate how Jesus portrayed love (Love your enemies Matthew 6:43-47; The two great commandments, Mark 12: 29-31; The lost son, Luke 15:11-32; Jesus heals ten men (lepers), Luke 17:11-19; Jesus forgives the people who have crucified him, Luke 23:34; God loves the world, John 3:16; What is love? 1 Corinthians 13:4-13). If necessary, narrow this selection to four teachings in order to pick up the pace in this section. Children could freeze-frame key moments and summarise teachings back to the rest of the class. Alternatively, jigsaw feedback so that a representative of each group meets with others representatives and feeds back to them. Show the class a wedding ring. Ask what it symbolises. Ask 'why a ring? Explain the idea of a hoop representing eternity. What do the couple promise each other? (To love each other for their whole lifetime.) In a marriage, family or civil partnership, what kinds of love can be found? ( In love,' passion, comfort, looking out for one another, love of children, etc.) Discuss how the ring symbolises eternity and love. Provide children with a strip of card onto which they write down in illuminated scripts different forms of love. At the end of the session, join the strips in a class paper-chain which itself makes an eternal ring Page 1 of 9

2 Session three: Heaven and after death Show an image of hell and an image of heaven. Explain that these are just artists' ideas of heaven and hell. Give children the sentence starter: Heaven is Hell is Explain the Christian belief that because of Jesus s resurrection, Christians will also be able to have life after death (eternal life) in heaven. (See John 3: 16). Provide copies of the two excerpts below to different table groups in the class. If possible, do not let children know that two different parables have been handed out. a. The parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25: 31 46). b. Jesus forgives the criminal crucified next to Him (Luke 23: 32 43). Ask: according to the bible, how do Christians get to Heaven? Can anyone go to Heaven? After some discussion, explain that there have been two readings one very judgemental, the other more gentle. Which do the children think is fairest? Write the following statement on the board: Some people think that we can create a sort-of heaven / hell on Earth. What do they mean by that? Children record, in whatever manner they wish (pictures, lists, paragraphs, copy and paste ICT collages etc.,) how they interpret the statement Page 2 of 9

3 Images to support activities The Oceans Celebrities (famous people) Love Friendship The World Water Dinosaurs The truth Page 3 of 9

4 Memories Mountains The Sun Skeleton Food Trees The Sky Stonehenge Jesus A Photograph Page 4 of 9

5 Quotes to accompany activities Love (Mark 12:29 31) 29 Jesus answered, The most important is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 31 The second is this: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. Healing (Luke 17: On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers,[a] who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. 14 When he saw them he said to them, Go and show yourselves to the priests. And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.17 Then Jesus answered, Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? 19 And he said to him, Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well. Forgiveness (Luke 23:34) (As the Roman soldiers squabbled over Jesus s things beneath the cross upon which he was dying.) 34 And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they cast lots to divide his garments Page 5 of 9

6 The lost son (Luke 15:11 32) 11 And he said, There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me. And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.15 So he went and hired himself out to[a] one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants. 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. [b] 22 But the father said to his servants,[c] Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to celebrate. 25 Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound. 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him! 31 And he said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found. 1 Corinthians 13:4,13 4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love Page 6 of 9

7 Love (John 3:16) 16 For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Eternal Life (John 3:16) 16 For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Beach Barbeque (John 21:1 14) 21 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, I am going fishing. They said to him, We will go with you. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, Children, do you have any fish? They answered him, No. 6 He said to them, Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some. So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, It is the Lord! When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. 8 The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards[a]off. 9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, Bring some of the fish that you have just caught. 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, Come and have breakfast. Now none of the disciples dared ask him, Who are you? They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead Page 7 of 9

8 The parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25: 31 46) Learning about love and eternity 31 When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. 37 Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you? 40 The King will reply, Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. 41 Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me. 44 They also will answer, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you? 45 He will reply, Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. 46 Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life Page 8 of 9

9 Jesus forgives the criminal crucified next to Him (Luke 23: 32 43) Images to accompany session three 35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, He saved others; let him save himself if he is God s Messiah, the Chosen One. 36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar37 and said, If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. 38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews. 39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: Aren t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us! 40 But the other criminal rebuked him. Don t you fear God, he said, since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. 42 Then he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. 43 Jesus answered him, Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise. Heaven and hell Page 9 of 9