Discovering Jesus:
Core Gospel Framework
The core message of the Gospel is called the kerygma. The kerygma informs the central mission and identity of the Church and the identity of every baptized Christian. The most basic form of the kerygma contains five lessons. These five lessons are: Creation, Fall, Redemption, Salvation, and Re-Creation.
- Creation: God is love and has created me for relationship with him.
- Fall: I have broken my relationship with God by my sin.
- Redemption: Jesus restores my relationship with God through His life, death, and resurrection.
- Salvation: Jesus invites me to trust him, to turn from sin and to give my life to Him.
- Re-Creation: Jesus has poured the Holy Spirit into my heart to bring me to new life in His Church and sends His Church on mission so that others can experience new life
Lesson III -
Jesus restores my relationship with God by His life, death, and resurrection.
1. Announce: Display a Jesus Restores image, such as Image 3a, 3b, or on page 27-28 or one of your own that you really love. Display on a Smart Board, a poster, or a screen/iPad/etc. (sin separates people from God) (Jesus) (He rose!) (Easter)
2. Read [John 3:16] What causes people be apart from God?
Jesus is God’s Son. Jesus died on the Cross for our sins. What happy thing happened next? Jesus rose from the dead! It was the best day. Do you know day that was? Because Jesus died and rose from the dead, we can be close friends to God forever! The Bible says, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will have eternal life.
3. Guide- Read: The Garden, the Curtain, and the Cross by Carl Laferton
4. Engage
Sin is a choice that causes hurt. Sin keeps us apart from God and apart from other people. Sin makes us sad and brings all the bad things. Jesus never sinned. Can you imagine?! He always did what God the Father asked of him. He always treated everyone with kindness and respect. Jesus always chose love. Jesus never chose sin. Jesus died on the cross. It really hurt him. His friends were so sad. But something amazing happened! Because Jesus died, all our sins could be taken away! We can be close to God forever!
Simple prayer song so we can tell God how much we love him.
Jesus I adore you
Lay my life before you
How I love you
5. Lead
Because of sin, people and God are separated. We can’t get to heaven, we can’t love God as much, and we can’t love other people as much. This is a problem!
Only Jesus could fix this problem. Jesus is God, but Jesus is also a human person, a man who lived on earth. Jesus is God AND a human, so He can fix the sin problem.
Jesus died on the Cross so we could be close to God again.
Jesus died on the Cross because He loves us. He loves us so much that He didn’t want anyone to be apart from God.
6. Pray
Encourage the children to sit comfortably and be calm and quiet. Explain: Boys and girls, let’s pray about this. Will you repeat the words of this prayer? You can say them out loud after I do.
Dear God, (children repeat)
You have made me so good and special. (children repeat)
Sometimes I choose to sin and hurt others. (children repeat)
I’m sorry. (children repeat)
Dear God, thank you for sending Jesus. (children repeat)
Jesus took away my sins on the Cross. (children repeat)
Jesus died this way because He loves me. (children repeat)
Thank you Jesus! (children repeat)
Amen. (children repeat)
Lesson III -
Jesus restores my relationship with God through His life, death, and resurrection.
Scripture:
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, [then] I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.
- Revelations 3:20
Reflection: Jesus is standing at the door knocking. This door is your heart. The door does not have a handle, so you need to be the one to let Him in. Jesus came to live with us and teach us how to truly and unselfishly love. Jesus, free from sin, took the burden of our sins and laid them at the foot of the cross. He suffered, died, and rose again for us. For you and me… Jesus is God, knocking on the door of your heart ready for a relationship with YOU. You just have to open the door.
Take some time to think about everything that has been weighing you down, all the burdens you feel like you have been carrying.
Prayer—The Creed
Leader: Lord, Jesus, we thank you for the deep, unending love you have for us. Come into our hearts and strengthen us with the love and peace we can only find in you. Deepen our relationship with you and your Holy Bride the Church, as together we pray:
All: I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
Lesson II -
I have broken my relationship with God by my sin.
- Sometimes things are sad, or we feel angry, or hurt, or scared. How do think this child is feeling? Remember that all good things come from God.
- All things that are scary, bad, or hurtful happen because of sin.
- Sin is a thought, a word, or an action that we choose to do even when we know it’s wrong. A mistake or accident is not a sin because we didn’t do it on purpose. When we choose to sin, we hurt ourselves, we hurt other people, and we hurt God.
- God loves us no matter what, even when we sin. But God wants us to be close to him, and when we sin, we pull away from God. Then we aren’t as close to God anymore. We need help to get close to God again! Who do you think takes away sins and gets us close to God again Jesus!
- Jesus is God’s Son. He loves us so much that He came and took all our sins away.
Read [Isaiah 59:2, 3, 8]
The Bible says, “Your sins have separated you from God. Your mouth has told lies. They plan to make trouble. Then they carry it out. They don’t know how to live in peace with others. What they do isn’t fair. We aren’t being treated fairly. We haven’t been set free yet.”
Guide
When we choose to sin, we cause hurt. If you choose to call your friend a mean name, how will they feel? If you choose to lie to your mom or dad, how will they feel? If you choose to break someone’s toy on purpose, how will they feel?
Engage
We’re going to learn a simple prayer song so we can remember that Jesus will help us when we sin.
Jesus, remember me
when you come into your kingdom
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom
Lead
The Bridge Craft Part I:
Hold your paper like this. (landscape/horizontally)
On this side, draw some people.
You can draw a family, one person, or lots of people. On the other end of the paper, draw God. You can draw whatever makes you think of God.
Who remembers what is a sin? (children give answers)
Sin is a choice. When we do something wrong on purpose, it’s a sin.
Sin separates us from God.
Carefully rip your paper so that the people are apart from God.
Now people are apart from God. This is a big problem!
God still loves all the people. But they don’t always know that because they’re apart from God.
Who do you think could fix this problem? (children give answers)
Jesus will come to save us! That will be wonderful.
Pray
Dear God, I know you love me no matter what. Help me to remember how
good and loving you are. Sometimes I sin. I make choices that hurt others. I’m
so sorry. God, please help me to follow Jesus and not sin.
Dear God,
Thank you for being so close to us.
Thank you for sending Jesus.
Thank you that Jesus shows me your love.
Amen.
DISCOVERING JESUS II –
I have broken my relationship with God by my sin.
Scripture:
So submit yourself to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your
hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you of two minds. Be to
lament, to mourn, to weep. Let your laughter be turned into
mourning and your joy into dejection. Humble yourself before the
Lord and he will exalt you.
Do not speak evil of one another, brothers. Whoever speaks evil of a
brother or judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the
law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge…
So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, it is a sin.
- James 1:7-11, 17
Reflection:
When you are in a relationship with someone and you continuously hurt them, your relationship becomes broken. Our relationship with God is broken because of sin. A sin is any choice that goes against God’s love. Sin is how we say “no” to God. We sin, when we try to protect a friend’s feelings, and tell a little white lie. We sin when we gossip about a person in class.
Many times, through our actions, we have turned from God and refused to admit our failures and wrong doing. We hurt ourselves, hurt those we love and damage our relationship with God.
Reflection Activity:
When you are in a relationship with someone and you continuously hurt them, your relationship becomes broken. Our relationship with God is broken because of sin. A sin is any choice that goes against God’s love. Sin is how we say “no” to God.
Over the last few years around Christmas Time, a video pops up on social media. It is the one with the big ball of plastic wrap filled with little prizes and one big prize in the middle (usually $20 -$50). Family members sit around a table and are each given 15-20 seconds to unwrap as much of the ball as possible to get a prize. The only catch is that when they are doing this they are wearing oven mitts.
This $100 bill, the big prize is your relationship with God. A parent asks, “What did you do after practice this afternoon?” You say “nothing,” when in fact you ran to Subway and spent the money you were supposed to turn in for a school fundraiser. (Cover the money with a few feet of plastic wrap.)
To protect a friend’s feelings, you tell a little white lie. (Wrap a lesser bill into the ball.)
You gossip about a person in your class. (Wrap another 2 feet around the ball.)
As you can see, the ball gets bigger and bigger with layers of lies, layers of sin. This is what we have done to God. He is the prize in the center. How do we get to him?
Song: “Broken Halos” (Chris Stapleton) OR “Jesus Friend of Sinners” (Casting Crowns) As we listen to this song, I ask that you to think about one thing that you can do or stop doing to help peel the layers of wrap back and bring you to Jesus. Ask Jesus to help you!
Prayer—Act of Contrition
My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and faith to do good, I have sinned against you whom I should love above all things. I firmly intend, with your help, To do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us. In his name, my God, have mercy.
Lesson I -
God is love and has created me for relationship with Him.
God made everything! God made everything good!
Read [Psalm 139:1, 5, 14]
The Bible says, “Lord, you know all about me. You are all around me, behind me and in front of me. You hold me safe in your hand. How you made me is amazing and wonderful.”
God made everything good. God made you! God gave us so many gifts and talents. God gave me a gift for: (teaching, cooking, playing soccer / personalize to yourself)
Who can share a talent or gift God gave you? (teaching, cooking, playing soccer / personalize to yourself)
All the good things come from God. That includes you and me! God made us so good! What is a good thing about you?
God is love. He loves everyone and He loves you! Who else loves you?
God loves us the most of anyone. Isn’t that amazing?
We’re going to learn a simple prayer song so we can tell God how much we love him
Father I adore you lay my life before you how I love you!
Lead God Made game: (can be done outside or in a classroom)
Invite the children to stand up and have space to themselves. Invite the children to repeat after you and do the motions.
Good morning/afternoon, God! (use your hands to make a mouth trumpet)
God, thank you for making the dirt under my feet. (stamp loudly)
God, thank you for making the sun and sky above me. (raise hands up high)
God, thank you for making all of nature. (arms out to the side)
God, thank you for making all the good things! (spin in a circle with arms out)
Most of all, God, thank you for me! (bring hands in over your heart)
Boys and girls, we are going to pray together. Prayer means talking and listening to God. I’ll pray some words out loud, and you can pray along with my words by being good listeners.
Dear God, you are so awesome! You made the world so good, so beautiful. Best of all, you made all of us! You made us to be good and loving just like you. Dear God, help me to know in my heart how much you love me. Help me remember how good and special I am. I love you, God! In Jesus’ name, Amen
Discovering Jesus:
God is love and has created me for relationship with Him.
Scripture:
The Word of the Lord came to me: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you. “Ah Lord God” I said, “I do not know how to speak, I am too young.”
But the Lord answered me, Do not say, “I am too young.” To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak. Then the Lord extended his hand and touched my mouth, saying to me, See, I place my words in your mouth. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you – oracle of the Lord.
- Jeremiah 1:4-9
Reflection: What is going on in your life right now?
When you think of God, what comes to mind?
What is your purpose?
We have been told, God loves us more than we can imagine – we are part of God’s plan – we are wonderfully made… And we are! But how often do you really think about that and truly THANK God for this gift we each have been give?
Prayer: God, thank you for knowing me and loving me from the beginning of time.
God is love and has created me for relationship with Him.
Reflection:
Sitting here, I know you have a lot of questions on your heart. Some of these questions are about things that are going on in your life. Some of the questions are bigger.
· Is God real?
· Why am I here?
· What is my purpose?
On our journey to today, in this thing called life, we each have been told, and have read again and again that God is love. Every time we experience love, we experience God. God is real. He is love.
We have been told, God loves us more than we can imagine – we are part of God’s plan – we are wonderfully made… And we are! But how often do you really think about that and truly THANK God for this gift we each have been give?
.
Song: “Wonderfully Made” (Sarah Hart)
If you only knew, If you could see
Just for one day the way that He sees you
Would you take heart
Could you believe
That you are free to be just you
To come out of your hiding
Beloved one
[Chorus]
You are beautifully, fearfully, wonderfully made
And loved since the very beginning of days
Fashioned with purpose, designed for His praise
You are wonderful
