OVERVIEW GOAL The goal of Surfer Jesus is to help teens develop a deeper understanding of who Jesus is, leading them beyond their initial nice guy impression and into an intimate relationship with Jesus, the Son of God and Savior of the World. THE MAIN POINT Jesus is not just a nice guy, made-up myth, or our cosmic butler. He is a divine Person whose very name expresses his power and purpose. Jesus Christ: God saves, the Messiah. KEY CONCEPTS Like our relationships with all people, our relationship and understanding of who Jesus is grows with time and we are continually called to know Him deeper and trust Him more. In Jesus s teachings, while not explicitly saying that He is God, Jesus reveals Himself to be the Son of God. The name Jesus does not mean gentle or nice but He who saves. Jesus is our Savior. He does not take the path of least resistance but willingly enters into suffering and dies so that we might be saved. SCRIPTURE Matthew 3:16-17, Matthew 16:13-17, John 10:30, Philippians 2:5-11 CATECHISM 430, 444-445, 2086 ANNOUNCEMENTS Bibles will be used at every Life Night bring them weekly No small group change requests until after 1 month Household applications YOUCAT 9-10, 71-79 *See end of breakdown ARCHDIOCESAN PRAYER ACTS OF FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE FAITH: O my God, I firmly believe that you are one God in three divine persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I believe that your divine Son became man and died for our sins, and that he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the holy catholic Church teaches, because in revealing them you can neither deceive nor be deceived. HOPE: O my God, relying on Your almighty power and infinite mercy and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Your grace and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer. Amen. LOVE: O my God, I love you above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because you are all good and worthy of all my love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of you. I forgive all who have injured me and I ask pardon of all whom I have injured. The Fake News Series 1
OUTLINE BREAK (8:10-8:45) Reflection and Discussion: Break the teens into small groups and give the teens the Surfer Jesus Handout found at the end of this Guide. Introduce the handout using the following: As you heard in the Proclaim, we all have ideas about who Jesus is. Some of these ideas are helpful and help us dive deeper into relationship with Him. Some of these ideas are not as helpful and leave us with a splintered or partial picture of who Jesus is. In this small group, we re going to look at the ideas we have of who we think Jesus is and who He desires to be in our lives. Give the teens about five minutes to fill out the handout and then lead a small group discussion using the following questions: Whip Around: If you had to choose one word to describe yourself what would it be? Follow up by asking teens, individually, why they choose that word to describe them? How would you describe Jesus? Which titles did you put a star next to? Which titles did you circle? Why? When you think back to your earliest memories of Jesus, what comes to mind? What sort of image of Jesus was first painted for you? What are some ways that you can work to change your impartial picture of Jesus into a full picture? What might be causing the blind spots you currently experience, and how can you work to have your eyes opened to who He really is? If someone were to ask you who Jesus really is, what would you tell them? Scripture Study: The Catechism (CCC 429) and the Creed identify three principle titles of Jesus: Christ, Son of God, and Lord. For each title, ask for one volunteer to describe what the title means. Then, through general consensus, decide which title the group is least familiar with, understands the least, or has trouble believing in (including the name Jesus). After deciding the title your group will focus on, have a teen read the corresponding Scripture verse and use the questions as a primer for discussion: JESUS Tip: Check out YouCat 72 at the end of this breakdown for more info. Matthew 1:18-24: The Birth of Jesus What does the name Jesus mean? Why do you think God the Father chose this name? Do you think it was important for Jesus to save us from our sin? Why? Does sin keep us from being who we were created to be? How? How does Jesus saving you from your sin change your life? Do you think this makes a difference? Do you feel like Jesus can give us new life? What is the difference between a Christian and someone who does not know Jesus? CHRIST Tip: Check out YouCat 73 at the end of this breakdown for more info. Philippians 2:5-11 The title Christ means Messiah or anointed one. Jesus was anointed by God the Father to accomplish His mission of redeeming us from our sin and bringing us back into the family of God. What do you think was the whole point of the Son of God becoming a man, dying on a cross, and then rising from the dead? In other words, what was Jesus mission on earth? Looking at the words of St. Paul from this passage, how did Jesus accomplish his mission? Do you think you honor Jesus with the way you speak and act in the way Paul describes? What is one thing you can do better to honor, follow, and love Jesus? The Fake News Series 4
OUTLINE BREAK (cont.) SON OF GOD Tip: Check out YouCat 74 at the end of this breakdown for more info. John 3:16-18 At the core of our faith we believe that Jesus is God the Son of God the Father. Do you believe that Jesus is God? How does this believe effect the way you live or how you follow the things Jesus taught and did? Why do you think God the Father would let His only Son die? What does that say about God s love for you and me? LORD Tip: Check out YouCat 75 at the end of this breakdown for more info. John 20:24-29 Lord was understood as a title for God Himself. After Thomas just witnessed Jesus being executed on a cross, why do you think it was hard for Him to believe that Jesus was God? Have you ever been able to relate to Thomas or had a hard time believing that Jesus is who He says is? Share an example from your life. Has Jesus ever reassured your faith in Him in a dramatic way like He did for Thomas? What about a more simple or subtle way? Share that experience. SEND (8:50-9:00) Tonight s Send is done IN YOUR SMALL GROUP You will NOT come back to the Gym at the end of the night. Instead, see below for instructions on how to close your time in small group tonight. Be sure to dismiss in between 8:55-9:00pm. Act of Faith (10 min) Faith in God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is a gift. It is something that we receive from the Father, through the merits of Jesus the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Gather your group in front of one of our beautiful images of Jesus (or in front of His Presence) on campus and conclude the night by praying the Act of Faith together. Teens will receive a text at 8:45pm from Flocknote with an image of the Act of Faith Prayer. Challenge your teens to pray this right after they wake up every morning this week. Here are some possible locations to pray the Act of Faith: At the bottom of the altar steps looking onto the Crucifix and Tabernacle In the St. Anthony Statue Chapel point out that St. Anthony is holding the infant Jesus possibly make a point to ask for St. Anthony s intercession for a strong faith like him. In front of the Jesus statue at the back of the Narthex in the Church At one of the Stations of the Cross in the Church Gathered around the Holy Family Statue in the garden next to the Adoration Chapel In the Adoration Chapel If you select this option they should pray the Act of Faith silently on their own *If there is a group using the area you planned to use, wait for them to finish or find a different location. The Fake News Series 5
9 What does God show us about himself when he sends his Son to us? God shows us in Jesus Christ the full depth of his merciful love. [65 66, 73] Through Jesus Christ the invisible God becomes visible. He becomes a man like us. This shows us how far God s love goes: He bears our whole burden. He walks every path with us. He is there in our abandonment, our sufferings, our fear of death. He is there when we can go no farther, so as to open up for us the door leading into life. 314 In Jesus Christ, God took on a human face and became our friend and brother. - POPE BENEDICT XVI, September 6, 2006 Incarnation (from the Latin caro, carnis = flesh, becoming flesh ): God s act of becoming man in Jesus Christ. This is the foundation of Christian faith and of hope for the redemption of mankind. 10 With Jesus Christ, has everything been said, or does revelation continue even after him? In Jesus Christ, God himself came to earth. He is God s last Word. By listening to him, all men of all times can know who God is and what is necessary for their salvation. [66 67] With the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the revelation of God is perfect and complete. To make it comprehensible to us, the Holy Spirit leads us ever deeper into the truth. God s light breaks so forcefully into the lives of many individuals that they see the heavens opened (Acts 7:56). That is how the great places of pilgrimage such as Guadalupe in Mexico or Lourdes in France came about. The private revelations of visionaries cannot improve on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No one is obliged to believe in them. But they can help us understand the Gospel better. Their authenticity is tested by the Church. 71 Why are the reports about Jesus called the Gospel, the Good News? Without the Gospels we would not know that God sends his Son to us men out of his infinite love, so that despite our sins we might find our way back to eternal fellowship with God. [422 429] The reports about the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus are the best news in the world. They testify that the Jew who was born in Bethlehem, Jesus of Nazareth, is Son of the living God (Mt 16:16) made man. He was sent by the Father so that all men might be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (cf. 1 Tim 2:4). In the Roman catacombs we find an ancient Christian secret sign that was a profession of faith in Christ: the word Ichthys (= fish). If you spell the word out, each letter serves as the beginning of the Greek words Iesous, Christos, THeou (= of God), hyios (= Son), and Soter (= Savior). Ichthys Zonton means: Fish of Life. 72 What does the name Jesus mean? Jesus means in Hebrew God saves. [430 435, 452] In the Acts of the Apostles Peter says, There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). This is essentially the message that all missionaries brought to people. That is one of the reasons why I believe in Christianity: it is a religion that no one could have thought up. - C.S. LEWIS (1898 1963) 73 Why is Jesus called Christ? The brief formula Jesus is the Christ expresses the core of the Christian faith: Jesus, the simple carpenter s son from Nazareth, is the longawaited Messiah and Savior. [436 440, 453] Both the Greek word Christos and the Hebrew word Messiah mean the Anointed One. In Israel kings, priests, and prophets were anointed. The apostles learned that Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38). We are called Christians after Christ, as an expression of our exalted vocation. 74 What does it mean to say that Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God? When Jesus calls himself God s only-begotten Son (or only Son, Jn 3:16) and Peter and others bear witness to this, the expression means that of all men only Jesus is more than a man. [441 445, 454] In many passages of the New Testament (Jn 1:14, 18; 1 Jn 4:9; Heb 1:2, and so on) Jesus is called Son. At his baptism and his Transfiguration, the voice from heaven calls Jesus my beloved Son. Jesus discloses to his disciples his unique relationship to his heavenly Father: All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him (Mt 11:27). The fact that Jesus Christ really is God s Son comes to light at the Resurrection. The Fake News Series 6
75 Why do Christians address Jesus as Lord? You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am (Jn 13:13). [446 451, 455] The early Christians spoke as a matter of course about Jesus as Lord, knowing that in the Old Testament this title was reserved as a form of addressing God. Through many signs Jesus had shown them that he had divine power over nature, demons, sin, and death. The divine origin of Jesus mission was revealed in his Resurrection from the dead. Thomas confessed, My Lord and my God! (Jn 20:28). For us this means that since Jesus is the Lord, a Christian may not bend his knee to any other power. Wherever God does not have pride of place, human dignity is at risk. It is therefore urgent to bring our contemporaries to rediscover the authentic face of God, who revealed himself to us in Jesus Christ. - POPE BENEDICT XVI, August 28, 2005 76 Why did God become man in Jesus? For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven (Nicene Creed). [456 460] In Jesus Christ, God reconciled the world to himself and redeemed mankind from the imprisonment of sin. God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son (Jn 3:16). In Jesus, God took on our mortal human flesh ( Incarnation), shared our earthly lot, our sufferings, and our death, and became one like us in all things but sin. God is so great that he can become small. God is so powerful that he can make himself vulnerable and come to us as a defenseless child, so that we can love him. POPE BENEDICT XVI, December 24, 2005 77 What does it mean to say that Jesus Christ is at the same time true God and true man? In Jesus, God really became one of us and thus our brother; nevertheless, he did not cease to be God at the same time and thus our Lord. The Council of Chalcedon in the year 451 taught that the divinity and the humanity in the one person Jesus Christ are united together without division or confusion. [464 467, 469] The Church grappled for a long time with the problem of how to express the relation between the divinity and humanity in Jesus Christ. Divinity and humanity are not in competition with each other, which would make Jesus only partially God and only partially man. Nor is it true that the divine and human in Jesus are confused. God took on a human body in Jesus; this was no mere appearance (Docetism), but he really became man. Nor are there two different persons in Christ, one human and one divine (Nestorianism). Nor is it true, finally, that in Jesus Christ the human nature was completely absorbed into the divine nature (Monophysitism). Contrary to all these heresies, the Church has adhered to the belief that Jesus Christ is at the same time true God and true man in one Person. The famous formula, without division or confusion (Council of Chalcedon) does not attempt to explain something that is too sublime for human understanding, but rather draws the boundaries, so to speak, of the faith. It indicates the line along which the mystery of the person of Jesus Christ can be investigated. He remained what he was, and he assumed what he was not. - Roman Liturgy, January 1. Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. - Jn 14:10 78 Why can we grasp Jesus only as a mystery? Jesus extends into God; therefore we cannot understand him if we exclude the invisible divine reality. [525 530, 536] The visible side of Jesus points to the invisible. We see in the life of Jesus numerous realities that are powerfully present but that we can understand only as a mystery. Examples of such mysteries are the divine Sonship, the Incarnation, the Passion, and the Resurrection of Christ. 79 Did Jesus have a soul, a mind, and a body just as we do? Yes. Jesus worked with human hands, he thought with a human mind. He acted with a human will, and with a human heart he loved (Second Vatican Council, GS 22, 2). [470 476] The humanity of Jesus is complete and includes also the fact that Jesus possessed a soul and developed psychologically and spiritually. In this soul dwelled his human identity and his special self-consciousness. Jesus knew about his unity with his heavenly Father in the Holy Spirit, by whom he allowed himself to be guided in every situation of his life. mystery (Greek mysterion = secret): A mystery is a reality (or one aspect of a reality) that in principle eludes rational knowledge. The Fake News Series 7