What is taught must be in accordance with the locally agreed syllabus; (If your school is outside of Cambridgeshire: the S.C.A.A Model 2 syllabus has been included to help in matching this lesson plan with your local Agreed Syllabus).
Cambs Agreed Syllabus:
FF (Festivals & Fasts)
Enable pupils to:
become familiar with the biblical stories retold during Lent, and Pentecost, and through them become aware of Christian beliefs about God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Pupils should consider this:
How do you celebrate special times of the year, & how do you feel about them?
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S.C.A.A. Model syllabuses:
KEY TEACHINGS / FOCUS:
CHURCH
Shared celebrations, including Pentecost.
Shared times of reflection, including Lent.
AT1 Listen to stories associated with important festivals.
AT2 Consider the importance of ritual & ceremony in life, eg birthdays, anniversaries, sports day, school celebrations.
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RESOURCES:
2 sweets.
One piece of paper with this instruction on it: "Stand for 10 seconds near the sweet, then go & sit down & the sweet will be given to you."
A second piece of paper with this on: "Stand with your hand near the sweet, but not touching it, for 20 seconds then you can have the sweet."
STARTER:
Q. What do people do on Remembrance Day, & why do they do it?
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It is to remember with gratitude, all those who have died in past wars, because they were fighting to keep the freedom that we enjoy in this country. Wreaths are made out of red poppies & are laid at the monuments which list all the names of those who have died to make victory possible. At this time many people will be remembering those dark days.
Christians have various days set in the year that help them to remember certain situations in Jesus' life or in the early Church.
Today we will be looking at 2 of these days.
MAIN TEACHING:
Firstly the 40 days of LENT from Ash Wednesday onwards.
Some Christians choose to go without something for those 40 days, eg sweets. So let's see what Jesus did which was celebrated in this way. (Taken from Matthew 3:16-4:11 All quotes from the Living Bible)
At the time Jesus was baptised by John (Teachers note: Baptism has been covered earlier in Lesson Plan 6 'Christian ceremonies: baptism, & confirmation.') He came out of the water & suddenly there was a glimse of heaven in the clouds above. The Spirit of God came down out of heaven & rested upon Jesus. This looked rather like a dove coming down to land. Suddenly a loud voice from heaven said, "This is My Son! I love Him & I am very pleased with Him!"
Q. How many 'Persons' are there to God?
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1) God the Father. 2) "My Son" which is Jesus. 3) The Spirit of God - also known as the Holy Spirit. These three Persons are the One God of the Bible, who is often referred to as the 'Lord God'. They are known as the 'Trinity', which means three.
Jesus then walked out into the barren wilderness being guided by the Holy Spirit.
After 40 days of fasting, that means going without food, He was very, very hungry! And the Bible tells us that the leader of the invisible, evil forces, known as the 'Devil' or 'Satan' came to Jesus & tempted Him by saying:
"If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
Q. Surely there was nothing harmful in that, was there?
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To answer that I want 2 volunteers. I've got 2 pieces of paper & both have got some instructions on them which have to be obeyed. (Teachers note: Put 2 sweets on your table & give the volunteers a piece of paper each, with this instruction on the first one: "Stand for 10 seconds near the sweet, then go & sit down & the sweet will be given to you." & on the second one: "Stand with your hand near the sweet, but not touching it, for 20 seconds then you can have the sweet.")
Q. What would have happened if they hadn't obeyed the instructions?
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The sweet would be taken off them.
Let's go back to Jesus who has just spent 40 days without food. That was His instructions, & Jesus only did what His Father wanted (John 6:38). Satan was trying to get Jesus to disobey God the Father. That would have been like one of you saying to ................ don't worry about the instructions on the paper, eat the sweet now! Jesus wasn't going to be disobedient so He answered:
"It is written (in the Scriptures): 'Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
Q. What do you think Jesus meant by that?
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It's important for us to have food - 'bread' as He called it. But it is not the only thing. It is very important to hear what God is saying, & for us that means reading the Bible, which is 'the Word of God'.
Then Satan took Jesus supernaturally to the highest point on the Temple, & said to Him:
"If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
For it is written (in the Scriptures): "'He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
Satan decided to try & beat Jesus by quoting some Scripture at Him! In other words Satan was saying; "Prove to those people down there that you are the Son of God by throwing yourself off the top of this building & surely God will rescue you, because it says that here! It will be an impressive sight for those people & they will then believe in you!"
But Jesus knew that by doing that, it was making God into a puppet. Satan could pull a string & God would have to jump to wherever the strings pulled. But that wasn't right, God is King, & as King He gives the orders.
So Jesus answered:
"It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
The designer of a car tests the car, because he has got the authority to do so. The car doesn't turn round & demand to test the designer!
So in a similar way, God as the Designer of the world can test people, because He has got the authority to do so. People can't demand to test God the Designer! (Teachers note: God as the Designer has been covered earlier in Lesson Plan 8 'God as Creator')
Satan still hadn't successfully tempted Jesus into disobeying God the Father, so he supernaturally took Jesus to the top of a very tall mountain. From there many nations could be seen, with all their wealthy cities. Satan said to Jesus:
"All this I will give you, if you will bow down and worship me."
Satan must have thought; "Nothing works quite like a bribe, Jesus will fall for this one!"
The offer of lots of power & wealth is a very powerful temptation.
Q. If someone offered you a large amount of money to do something which was against the law, would you do it, & why?
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Jesus said:
"Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"
In other words, it doesn't matter how much money, or gifts, or power is given, it's never worth turning away from God!
Jesus had resisted Satan's temptations & so he left Him.
The 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness without food is remembered by Christians at the time of Lent.
The second event that we are now going to look at is called 'Pentecost'.
The Bible tells us that Jesus had been taken back to heaven & His followers were meeting together in Jerusalem, because He had said to them:
"Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised,
which you have heard Me speak about.
For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
Acts 1:4-5 (NIV)
Then came the Jewish celebration, the day of Pentecost, which was a feast that celebrated the bringing in of the Barley harvest from the fields. Many people were in Jerusalem to celebrate, but 120 of Jesus' followers were waiting & praying in a room.
Suddenly there was a massive gale blowing around in the room where they were all seated & they saw flames separate & come down to rest on each one of them! Nothing got burnt by the flames, because it was the Holy Spirit of God who came down & filled each person. They all began to speak in foreign languages praising God & speaking about Him.
With all the noise & the strange things happening, many people started to gather outside the house. Jesus' followers were now leaving the house, still speaking in the different languages. Everyone was utterly amazed, & they were saying: "Why are these men speaking in our own native tongues?"
There were at least 15 different languages being spoken & everyone was asking: "What does this mean?"
Whilst others, made fun of them and said, "They're drunk!"
Q. What would you have thought if you had been there?
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Peter started to tell the crowd in a loud voice that they weren't drunk, but this was in fulfillment of Joel's prophecy where God had said that He would pour out His Spirit on all people. That at that time your sons and daughters would prophesy, the young men & old, would see visions from God. Even poor servants, both men and women, would receive God's Holy Spirit, and they would all prophesy. There would also be signs & wonders in the sky & upon the earth, but everyone who would call to the Lord would be saved.
After Peter had told the crowd about this prophesy he said:
"Listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man who was fully approved by God. There had been many miracles, wonders and signs, which God did through Jesus as you yourselves know & have seen.
Jesus was given over to you according to God's plan and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing Him to the cross! But God raised Jesus from the dead - it was impossible for death to hold onto Him."
Then Peter read another prophecy which king David had said hundreds of years earlier. In this prophecy God would not allow His 'Holy One' to decay & rot in the grave.
Peter then continued to talk to the crowd:
"I can tell you confidently that king David died & his body has decayed in the grave, but he was a prophet who looked to the future & he spoke about the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Yes, God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of this fact. Now He has been raised up to God's throne & He has now poured out the promised Holy Spirit, which you have seen & heard. Therefore let everyone know this, that God has made Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord & the long awaited Christ!"
Q. Imagine if you had been one of those in the crowd, what would you have thought?
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When the people heard this, they felt extremely guilty & they said to Peter, "What shall we do?"
Peter replied, "Turn from your self centred life, & turn to God. Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, & you also will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for everyone, for all to whom the Lord our God calls to."
Those who accepted Peter's message were baptized.
Q. How many people do you think got baptized?
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The Bible tells us that about 3000 were added to the 120 that day.
When Jesus was crucified, His followers became too scared to do anything. It looked as if it was the end of the matter. Then Jesus rose from the dead & His followers believed in Him, but they were still very scared & powerless to do anything. It was only when God sent the Holy Spirit upon them that they became fearless & they went everywhere proclaiming about Jesus' death & resurrection & how their sins could be forgiven.
For these people, believing in Jesus & receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit was a life changing experience.
PLENARY:
Q. Have you had any sort of 'life changing experience', or a situation that has changed your view on things?
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Q. Have you been able to resist a big temptation, & how did you feel afterwards?
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Either take a short time to discuss these questions, or leave it with them.
Design a poster to illustrate the true meaning behind Lent or Pentecost.
(Teachers note: There are 2 worksheets to accompany this lesson plan).