Faith: Class for November 23, 2014

Lesson 7 Responding to God (Chapter 7)

Very cool — using reveal.js for my slides now

• http://kyleskrinak.github.io/catechism/11-23-14/#/

Objectives

• Faith is a gift from God we can accept or reject
• Experience faith in the three elements of belief, trust and actio
• Faith is our response to the truth that God made known to us through Jesus Christ

• Handout 7-A "A Coded Word Puzzle"
• Handout 7-B "Biblical Role Models for Today's Faithful"

Class Preparation

• Write "Please complete the word puzzle on the handout."
• Distribute 7-A handout, pens and pencils

Possible videos

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Sn8l2n7TGE

---

6:45 - 7:00 Class arrives
7:00 - 7:15 Game Show Catechism

Opening Prayer : 7:15 - 7:25

• Read Page 76, "Faith is Doing" James 2:14 - 17
• Faith without Works Is Dead
  14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters,[a] if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
• Offer students to volunteer when they demonstrated their faith in God
• Pray
• Father, we come to you as faithful people. Help us to overcome the obstacles that keep us from doing what we believe. Give us the strength to trust you and respond to your call. We know that saying we are Christians is such easier than acting like Christians. Please give us the courage to live as Christians. Amen.

• Today's class is on Faith and how faith leads us to God

Blind Faith

• Hide a Bible in the room
• Pick two volunteers to leave the room (to find the hidden Bible)
• Form three groups
• One group ALWAYS gives true instructions
• One group ALWAYS give false instructions
• One group gives both
• The first volunteer looks for the Bible
• The second volunteer looks for the Bible
• The group switches roles
• Discuss
• What was starting the search like?
• How did you feel?
• Why did you choose which group to guide you?
• How did you feel when you found the Bible?
• Leads to next activity

Faith Believing, Trusting and Doing

• Review 7A handout answers
• "Our bodies often reflect what is going on inside."
• Faith, our focus today, has three required elements:
• Believing
• Trusting
• Doing
• Describe Faith
• 
  

Learning from the Giants of Faith

• We'll be learning from the Giants of Faith
• Using handout 7-B
• Divide up
• Read and make up a play on the readings
• Groups perform skit
• Discuss
• Where do you see believing, trusting and doing in these skits?

Closing Prayer

 

Class for November 16th, 2014

Two lesson plans in one class

Lesson 6: God's Plan for Salvation

Lesson 10: Salvation History

Game Show Catechism: St Mary's Press has a PPT/Keynote presentation — I like this, and I'm using it.

• Noted: the size of my class makes many of the SMP-designed activities impractical to do — it is simply too disruptive for my classes' size and the smallness of our room.

We're covering two somewhat incongruent lesson plans this weekend:

• Our journey toward salvation as a challenging and mysterious path for which we can rely on God for guidance
• Express how God has led his people in the biblical events of salvation history
• Identify the flawed biblical people of faith who rely on God
• Explain how God has acted through events 
• Explain that God works through good and bad events

---

Class

6:40 - 7:00 Activity sheet "Called by God" match the verse with the description

• We'll need Bibles and the activity sheet

7:00 - 7:15 Game Show Catechism
7:15 - 7:20 Opening Prayer

• Father, throughout history you have guided us to bring about our salvation. You have given us a Covenant with Abraham, the Ten Commandments, the prophets; your only Son, Jesus Christ, His mother Mary, the Apostles, Scriptures and the Church. Yet, we still struggle to listen to you. You always forgive our wrong choices and you call us back home to You. You have made us good and to desire You. Please be patient with us. Give us the faith to trust You and follow Your will. We love you and we are thankful for all your blessings. We lift up this prayer in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

7:20 - 7:25 Today's overview — explain to class

• Salvation history: God's plan and our failed attempts to follow it.
• God is present and active working to unite us to Him

7:25 - 7:45 Mine Field (God's guidance in Salvation History)

• Go to the large hall with the class
• Pick 6 volunteers form into 3 pairs
• Lay down colored sheets on the floor
• Each pair gets a chance to guide one person through, only by speaking
• BOOM goes everyone else when a sheet is stepped on
• Reflect — ask the three blindfolded students to explain
• What did it feel like walking through the mine field successfully?
• What did you do to get through successfully?
• What was difficult?

• Read "Salvation History" on 63 

7:45 - 7:55 Abridged Human Bingo

• Write on the board the names of people who have had a positive impact on your lives
• Then write 5 events that had a BIG impact on your life
• Discuss
• Our history, and others, are important. It forms us into who we are now.
• God is active in our lives and actively forming what happens.
• The Bible is Our story of our salvation history
• We each have our own story as well. God is alive and active in our lives right now.
• Revisit the events listing
• How was God active in each event?
• Is it easy to find God? Hard? Why?
• My own example of God's participation in my life
• My friend Jim helping me back to my faith

• Read "Live It!" on page 69 

7:55 - 8:00 Do's and Don't of evangelization

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMLYBvmMbPE&feature=share

8:00 - 8:05 Closing prayer

•  Read the closing prayer on page 121. 
• Allow a few to respond for painful or joyful events from their lives
• Pray the conclusion 
• and the Lord's prayer

When is a week off from prep not a week off from class?

This week, St. Andrew's will be hosting ValLimar Jansen. This will be a; "A three-night mission to celebrate God’s love and mercy for us, and to embrace our call to discipleship." Who is she? From the OCP "Spirit and Song" page; "Blessed with an extraordinary voice, ValLimar Jansen is a highly regarded singer, cantor and recording artist. She is also a college professor, a leader of worship and prayer and a workshop presenter at conferences across the United States."

So I'm looking forward to her presentation tonight — and, well, I've also enjoyed a week off from class prep. I appreciate seeing how others pedagogically present the faith, too. Now, to get started on my Game Show Catechism questions for next week…