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 Advent, and through it become aware of Christian beliefs about God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Pupils should consider this:
Do you think you have to be a believer to take part in a religious festival?
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S.C.A.A. Model syllabuses:
KEY TEACHINGS / FOCUS:
CHURCH
Shared times of reflection, including Advent.
AT1 Listen to stories associated with important festivals. (Advent).
AT2 Talk about the importance of belonging to a group & sharing activities together.
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RESOURCES:
No special resources required.
STARTER:
Imagine that someone very important was going to come to your house. Someone like a queen or king, or the Prime Minister, or a pop star, or some other superstar. There's not a set date, but you know that they will visit you shortly, perhaps next week! You know that they will want to see you & the places you go to & the things that you do.
Q. What sort of things would go through your mind?
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What shall I wear? I'd better tidy my bedroom! I'd better make sure this person doesn't see my scruffy little brother! etc.
You would then really look forward to this person coming.
MAIN TEACHING:
We are going to look at the festival of Advent, which includes the four Sundays before Christmas.
Q. What does the word 'advent' mean?
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It means the arrival of someone very special, & for Christians this refers to two major events:
Firstly what has already happened:
the arrival of Jesus Christ into the world as a baby, which is celebrated at Christmas. [Teachers note: This has already been covered in Lesson Plan 5 'Christmas: the story of Jesus' birth.']
And secondly, the expected arrival of Jesus Christ again, which hasn't happened yet. This is what we will look at now.
After Jesus was raised from the dead, His disciples saw Him being taken up into heaven & they were told:
"Why do you stand here looking into the sky?
This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven,
will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." Acts 1:11 (NIV)
Jesus had said to the religious leaders that He would come again on the clouds of heaven. Matt 26:64 (NIV)
Christians believe that at some point He will come back to earth, not as a baby like last time, but as King, the All-powerful God!
Jesus tells us that there will be something very unusual about that day, not only will He appear in the clouds, with power & a great show of strength, but also He will gather up His followers in such a way that:
"Two men will be working together in the fields, and one will be taken, the other left.
Two women will be going about their household tasks; one will be taken, the other left."
Matthew 24:40-41 (The Living Bible)
That means that all those living on the earth who believe in Jesus will be taken up to meet Him. But that is not all, every believer who has died will be raised to life from the ground to meet Jesus in the sky. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
This will happen at the end of the world. The Bible does not make it clear how soon after Jesus' second coming the end will come.
In the Bible the end of the world is known as 'the Day of the Lord', 'the Last Day' or 'the Great Day'.
It is described in a very serious & frightening way, because their will be no other day like it.
Christians believe that it will be the very last day, the end of the world as we know it.
Here is a part of what is said near the end of the Bible:
"The day of the Lord is surely coming, as unexpectedly as a thief,
and then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise,
and the heavenly bodies (the Sun, moon, planets & stars) will disappear in fire,
and the earth and everything on it will be burned up.
And so since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives we should be living!
You should look forward to that day and hurry it along--
the day when God will set the heavens on fire,
and the heavenly bodies will melt and disappear in flames.
But we are looking forward to God's promise of new heavens and a new earth afterwards,
where there will be only goodness." 2 Peter 3:10-13 (The Living Bible)
Let's see what we can learn from this.
(1) "The day of the Lord is surely coming"
The Bible is saying that this is a definite event, which will happen. We don't know when, but it is coming.
The disciples even asked Jesus when it would happen, but He never gave them a date.
To answer their question He warned them not to be led astray, because there would be many people who would claim to be the Christ coming back for the second time! When Jesus actually returns, there will be no doubt about it, because it will light up the sky like a lightning flash!
He said that there would be many wars, & there would be famines & earthquakes in many places in the world, & that lawlessness would increase. But even with all this going on, His teaching about the Kingdom of God would be taught in every country in the world & then the end would come. (Matthew 24:3-14)
(2) Jesus will return again "as unexpectedly as a thief"
Q. How easy is it to know when a thief is planning an attempt to break into your house?
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You wouldn't be able to say, that next Thursday at two in the morning a thief is going to try & break into your house. You just don't know when the thief will strike, & the Bible says that you just won't know when Jesus is going to return.
(3) The earth is going to end with fire "And so since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives we should be living!"
This is a warning notice that should be read & understood.
An illustration
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Imagine that you've got to go onto a building site where a tall skyscraper is being built. But before you enter you see a warning notice that says: "Danger from falling items! Wear a hard hat at all times!"
Q. What is the warning & what is the solution?
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The warning: the falling items. The solution: wear a hard hat!
Q. Do you put on a hard hat? ........Why?
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Imagine that you had ignored the warning notice, you refused to put a hard hat on & then you got hit on the head by something falling from above.
Q. Your head hurts, so whose fault is that?
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If you had followed the instructions on the warning notice then you wouldn't have received a head injury.
In the Bible reading it says:
"and the earth and everything on it will be burned up.
And so since everything around us is going to melt away,
what holy, godly lives we should be living!"
Q. What is the warning & what is the solution?
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The warning: Everything is to be burned up. The solution: Live a holy, godly life!
Q. What is a holy & godly life?
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Holy means being available to do what God wants. A godly life is living your life in such a way that is pleasing to God, & that means wanting Jesus to be your God & friend.
(4) But this 'Last Day' is not the end. It is only the end of the world as we know it at the moment, because the Bible says:
"we are looking forward to God's promise of new heavens and a new earth afterwards,
where there will be only goodness."
The second coming of Jesus Christ will be the start of a new heaven & a new earth.
At the moment we live in a world where there is suffering & evil, as well as good things, but the new world will be all goodness. No tears, no pain, no suffering, & no death. That is something to really look forward to!
Everyone who does not want to believe in Jesus Christ & who doesn't want to trust in God, make themselves into God's enemy, & they will be excluded from heaven. In the Bible these people are called 'sinners' & they will 'perish' because they are shut out of heaven.
The Bible says that Jesus:
"isn't really being slow about his promised return,
even though it sometimes seems that way.
But he is waiting, for the good reason that he is not willing that any should perish,
and he is giving more time for sinners to repent." 2 Peter 3:9 (The Living Bible)
'To repent' means to 'turn around'. In other words, if someone is walking away from God because they are His enemy, then they have a change of heart & they decide to turn towards Him & trust Him, - that is what it means to repent.
PLENARY:
Let's go back to how we started this lesson.
Imagine that a superstar or someone very important was going to come to your house.
Now change that thought to Jesus Christ's second coming. You don't know when He will visit, it could be 1000 years from now, or it could be in the next few minutes!
It's not a case of: "What shall I wear? - And I'd better tidy my bedroom!" but rather "Am I looking forward to Him coming?"
Q. Do you think that you have to be a believer to look forward to Jesus' second coming & also to celebrate 'Advent'?
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Q. How important is it for Christians to celebrate 'Advent'?
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Either take a short time to discuss these questions, or leave it with them.
Draw a picture illustrating how the world will end according to the Bible.
(Teachers note: There is a worksheet to accompany this lesson plan).