Season of Lent

AIM: 

To explain to small children the meaning of lent and its importance.

What is Lent? 

Lent is a season of preparation. While we wait for Jesus's birth and prepare for it during Advent-  We prepare for the most joyous time for us as Christians - Jesus coming back to life 3 days after His death on the Cross- during the season of Lent.

Easter is a very joyous celebration - we celebrate the rising of Jesus after His death on the cross. With Easter we know we don't have to ever be afraid - because will always and forevermore be part of lives and with us. But before we get to Easter, we have to prepare ourselves for 40 days - so that we can "clean" ourselves during those few days.

Lent starts on Ash Wednesday and ends with Easter. We can prepare for Easter by giving up something we like and sacrificing a few things. Lent is a time for praying, loving God more, caring for others like us and those who are not as lucky or fortunate as us. Lent is a time to try and love God more.


Ash Wednesday - is always on a Wednesday. On that day, we go to church to receive a Sign of the Cross made with Ashes.
The Priest blesses the Ashes and says ,
"Repent and believe in the Gospel"
or
" Ashes to ashes , Dust to dust"
or
"Remember, man that thou art dust and to dust you shall return"

He says that to remind us that we are not here forever, and the time God has given to us - we must love everyone around us , like we love ourselves.
Even Jesus loved us so much that He died for us on the Cross.



Always remember ,  "Pray like no one is watching you. Fast like no one is watching you. Do good like no one is watching you. God knows."


A good way of learning about Lent is through learning about Jesus suffering by the Stations of the Cross.

the Site below has a good way of explaining this.

Stations of the Cross for Kids.

Another good way of practicing Lent is by doing little acts of Kindness and Charity every day of Lent.

Here is a good example courtesy Teacher Suzette of Class 1A

The community song

It’s I. It’s I. It’s I who builds community.
It’s I. It’s I. It’s I who builds community
It’s I. It’s I. It’s I who builds community.
It’s I that builds community…oh, oh, oh, oh



Chorus:

Roll over the ocean, roll over the sea,

Go and do your part to build community.

Roll over the ocean, roll over the sea(Hey!),

Go and do your part to build community.

It’s you.It's you.It's you who builds community …etc
(chorus)


It’s us…etc
(chorus)


It’s love…etc
(chorus)


It’s Christ… etc
(chorus)

It’s me, it’s you, it’s us, it’s love, it’s Christ who builds community,
It’s me, it’s you, it’s us, it’s love, it’s Christ who builds community,
It’s me, it’s you, it’s us, it’s love, it’s Christ who builds community,
It’s me, it’s you, it’s us, it’s love, it’s Christ who builds community.
(chorus).

The House Built on a Rock

Aim: 

To enforce in children that Jesus is Our Rock, Our strength . We need to go to Jesus in every sad, happy, good, bad moment in our life. Especially when we are sad or something upsets us, or we feel our studies or a situation is hard - we need to got to Jesus. That way, we will always be perfectly capable of dealing with different situations in our life.

Bible Passage: 

Luke 6:46-40 (NRSV Version)

The Two Foundations

⁴⁶ “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you? ⁴⁷ I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. ⁴⁸ That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built.^[a] 49 But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.”

 Colouring page from Calvary Kids

Lesson: 

Imagine, you are in the beach with your little Beach toys- sand buckets and little shovels etc. Imagine you make this lovely sand-castle. It is nice and big - with little towers etc. You are so proud of your work ,you run to show it to mum and dad.

Just as you are showing it ot them - a huge wave comes and washes right over your sand castle!!!

What happens to your castle? Does it remain nice and strong as it was? 

No? Why? 

Because it was made of sand and built on sand!!

Now, imagine you built that same castle a little higher up on a rock- would the wave have been able to reach it? would it have been destroyed that easily? 

Imagine  you built a strong house with bricks and all on Big Rock or a mountain? Would a wave destroy it?

This is what this parable is about. Remember we told you that Parables are stories Jesus told us to teach us a lesson. 

What Lesson was Jesus was trying to teach us??

Jesus was trying to tell us that we , or Our Lives are like the houses in the story. 

The waves are the problems, sadness, difficulties in studies, or problems with our friends. 

The Rock is our faith and Love for Jesus with our prayers. 

Jesus was trying to tell us that we need to build our lives on our Love for God. When the waves of sadness , difficulties come we are supposed to go to Jesus and get strong knowing that Jesus will help us - all we need to do is ask Him!!!

Then no matter what happens - Jesus will carry us up - He will lift us and put us high up - so our problems will look small!

Let us remember then to pray everyday and ask God to help us everyday!

Prayer: 

Dear Lord, 

Thank-you for being my Father and making me your child!

Help me to remember that You love me and that I need to come to you whenever I feel sad or find things difficult. Give me strength and help me to love you more. 

I Love you Lord, 

Amen 

Grace at meals.

AIM:   

Being grateful to God for things that we otherwise take for granted. Particularly, true for us in this country where poverty is not visible - and hence our kids can feel a disconnect with real life situations of want, hunger and need.

About this class:  

Gratitude doesn't come naturally to our children. It is learnt. 
One way would be to lead by example: 
Easy to take for granted but a life long invaluable lesson is "Please" & "Thank-you" . 
Notice and focus on nature around us. Be Vocal about the sunlight, the wind, the breeze, the chirping of birds. 
Tell the kids to help around. That way, they learn about labour and "work of our hands". They will begin to feel for all the hard work their moms put in every day. 
Encourage the kids to be a part of community or group that "gives", after all kids learn by imitation. They do what they see. 
Remind kids of those less fortunate, and encourage generosity in little things. 
Remind kids that its not a bad thing when their parents don't always give them what they ask for. In fact  they do it because they love them (the kids) so much!
Show appreciation for the little things, in this case, food on our table. 

Look at these children. What do you see? 

Are they happy? 

Why do you think they are happy? 

Would you be happy, if you were there with them? 

Why? 

They look happy to me. What do you think? Do you know why they are happy? I think, its because they are just happy to be with their friends and family and have food to eat. 

Would you be happy if I gave this food to you to eat? 

Do you know that you are very lucky and very blessed here today to come to class with a full stomach, clothes on you, and a nice, clean classroom to learn in? 

It could have been any one of us there. But God chose that you would be here today. 

Let us promise ourselves that we will not fuss over the food our mums prepare for us and be thankful to God that we have whatever we do have. 

Do you know how we got food? 

Lets start at the beginning: 

First of all we need to wheat or rice. 

Lets see , we will need a field and we need a farmer. 

The farmer will first need to plough the land. 

After ploughing the land, he will need to plant seeds. 

After planting the seeds, he will need to water the plants and wait for a good rain. Without rain, we will have no water and then the plants wont grow. That means no food. 

Who provides us with rain? God!! Yes, so we patiently wait for rain and water our plants. 

While the farmer waits for wheat to grow, he will continue to care for the crop by making sure other birds and animals don't destroy the crops. He makes sure there is enough manure for the plants to grow well. In the end, the farmer harvests the crop. 

It does not end here, he then has to store it properly and again protect the crop from pests. The crops are then sold, sorted, cleaned. 

It is then taken to factories or mills to make flour. 

Flour is then taken to another factory to make bread. The bread is then packed and sent to shops , where we buy from and it reaches our table. 

In the same way, there are many hands that work for food to reach our table. Most of all, our mums have worked hard to cook and prepare a nutritious meal for us. 

We need to be thankful to our parents for the food we have and not always fuss. 

When you go home today, thank your parents and pray for all the hands that have helped to get you your food. 

Pray for all those who are not as unfortunate as you. 

Above all Thank God. 

GRACE BEFORE MEALS: 

Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive from your bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

GRACE AFTER MEALS: 

We give you thanks, Almighty God, for all the benefits. 

Who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.May, the Lord grant us His peace and life everlasting. Amen.

LET US PRAY : 

We Thank-you Lord for your kindness. Thank-you Lord for the things we take for granted. Thank-you for life, our parents, health and food. 

Bless everyone who helps us Lord, especially those whom we do not see. 

Bless the farmers around the world. 

Bless our parents. Bless the world and Bless us. 

Especially bless the children around the world. 

Amen.

The Blind Man Of Jericho

AIM: To teach our children to see that Jesus does many wonderful things through the power of the spirit in him. Jesus is the healer of those who are sick in their bodies too. What is most important,is not to be afraid but to believe that God helps us even when we are blind and helpless.


THE BLIND MAN OF JERICHO

              As Jesus was coming near Jericho, there was a blind man sitting by the road begging. When he heard the crowd passing by, he asked "what was happening?". 

"Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." they told him. He cried out, "Jesus Son of David! Take pity on me!"
The people in front scolded him and told him to be quiet. But he shouted even more loudly. "Son of David! Take pity on me!"


Jesus stopped and ordered the blind man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?"

"Sir", he answered, "I want to see again". Jesus said to him, "Then see! Your faith has made you well".

At once he could see, and he followed Jesus, giving thanks to God. When the crowd saw it, they all praised God.

Prayer:
Dear God we thank you for giving us the gift of sight to see and to do all things to worship and praise you. We also pray for all the people who are not able to see because of some sickness or disease. We ask you to guide and protect them along the way everyday. We thank you Jesus and we love you Jesus.

Amen.