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:
WR Writings
Enable pupils to:
explore how Christians express their faith through other forms of writing e.g. hymns, stories and plays, different types of prayers.
Pupils should consider this:
What books or stories have you read, or heard, which helped you?
How did they do this?
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S.C.A.A. Model syllabuses:
KEY TEACHINGS / FOCUS:
GOD
Language, symbols, stories, songs & creeds which describe God...
AT1 Explore ways in which Christians respond to the belief that God is ultimately responsible for order & purpose in the world.
AT2 Consider Christian ideas about God, & share their personal views with the class.
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RESOURCES:
Optional: Print out 'The Creed & prayer for OHP' if you are going to use an OHP.
Optional: Yellow Pages.
STARTER:
Imagine that something special has just happened to you. You now want to write it down so that you can remember it & also tell others about it.
Q. In what different ways could you do this? (What different forms of writing could you use?)
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You could write a song, a poem, a story, a play, a dance, or just write down the key points.
Christians have used many different forms of writing to help express their faith. We'll look at the these now:
MAIN TEACHING:
[1] Songs were composed to express the Christian faith:
[a] Originally Christians used the Psalms written within the Bible.
Psalm 130 is an example of one. See if you can spot the sort of emotions the writer must have been feeling at the time:
"Out of the depths of despair I call to you, O Lord.
Hear my voice O Lord.
May your ears be open to my cry for mercy.
If you, O Lord, keep a long list of our sins,
then who could have their prayers answered?
But you do forgive;
therefore we should respect your awesome authority.......... (etc.)
Q. What emotions did the writer have?
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He could have been in despair because of all the wrong & bad things he was doing. So he was relying on God having mercy & forgiveness. But he thought that being forgiven shouldn't be taken for granted, he wanted to respect God's authority.
[b] For hundreds of years Christians have written songs known as hymns. In the 1700's many people turned to God & it is now known as the '18th Century Revival'. During this time many good hymns were written.
Here is an example of a hymn written by Isaac Watts. It starts with "When I survey..." which means "When I look at...."
"When I survey the wonderous cross,
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride"....(etc).
Q. Who is the 'Prince of glory' mentioned in the hymn?
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Jesus.
Q. How was the writer picturing Jesus?
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He was picturing Jesus suffering crucifixion upon the cross, & because Jesus was taking the penalty for all the sins of those who would turn to Him, that was creating emotion within the hymn writer.
Q. What emotions do you think the writer was experiencing?
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Isaac Watts felt very humbled by this picture of Jesus. Whatever the world could offer in the way of riches just felt insignificant when compared with what Jesus did for mankind: "My richest gain I count but loss," And there was no place for feeling proud when looking at Jesus upon the cross: "And pour contempt on all my pride"
[c] There are new Christian songs being written all the time. They can be a song with many verses, or they can be very short & are then known as a 'chorus'.
Here is an example of a chorus:
"Father, I can call You Father,
For I am Your child today,
Tomorrow and always,
You are my Father."
(Composed by Danny Daniels. Copyright © 1989 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing/Adm. by CopyCare.)
Q. What is the focus of this chorus?
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This is speaking about a relationship with God.
It is the Christian calling God "Father" "Daddy!"
A relationship that will last forever.
[2] Creeds were written to express the Christian faith:
A creed is made up of facts & statements which set out certain truths about the Christian faith to stop false teachings & ideas.
We will look at one which is known as 'The Apostles' Creed' & it was written about 50 years after the Bible had been finished: (Teachers note: This could be put on an OHP sheet. The creed could be read by the teacher. Then the children could all stand & read it together just like it is done in some Churches).
"I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of 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 arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
where 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."
*The words "catholic church" here means the world wide Church. (It's not saying the Roman Catholic Church).
The idea was that these creeds were to be read out at each Church service, so that everyone would hear the this summary of the Christian faith. Then if someone said that Jesus was just a man, the people would remember the words of the creed & they would be able to correct them by quoting a part of the creed.
Q. Which bit of the creed would they quote?
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"I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord...."
[3] Prayers to express the Christian faith:
This could be put on an OHP sheet. The prayer could be read by the teacher. Then the children could all stand & read it together just like it is done in some Churches).
"We have come together as the family of God
in our Father's presence
to offer him praise and thanksgiving,
to hear and receive his holy word,
to bring before him the needs of the world,
to ask his forgiveness of our sins,
and to seek his grace,
that through his Son Jesus Christ
we may give ourselves to his service."
Q. What does the prayer say about a special relationship with God?
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That God is a Father to those who meet with Him, they belong to His family: "We have come together as the family of God in our Father's presence"
Q. What does the prayer say about listening?
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To listen to the Bible being read & the explanation by the preacher: "to hear and receive his holy word," But listening is not enough, because it also says: "to hear and receive". To receive means to agree with it & put it into action, so that it becomes part of that persons life.
[4] Stories to express the Christian faith:
Mary Jones was born in 1784 in the Welsh village of Llanfihangely Pennant. Her father died when she was only 4 years old. Her school was about an hour's walk, so that meant two hours of walking a day!
One day when she was about eight years old, Mary and her mother were walking home from a Christian meeting, & she remembered a Bible verse that the preacher had said. The Bible verse was:
"God's Word is a lamp to my feet and a light unto my path."
She knew that 'God's Word' was the Bible, but she didn't have one & they were just too poor to do anything about it.
But a neighbour, Mrs. Evans, had a Bible & every Saturday afternoon Mary went to read it for several hours. Mrs. Evans' house was filled with many beautiful things, but Mary did not allow herself to be distracted by these things, she just kept reading more & more of the Bible.
One day Mary was washing the clothes in the river as she normally did, & she had the idea that she could earn some money by washing other people's clothes, so that she could buy a Bible of her own. Soon she was doing other jobs as well, like looking after children, weeding gardens, & knitting socks. Mrs. Evans also gave Mary some little chicks so she could sell the eggs.
It took six years of careful saving to get enough money, but the closest place to buy a Bible was from the Reverend Charles at Bala, which was over twenty-five miles away, & there were no buses or trains.
Q. What would you have done if you had been Mary Jones?
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She was now nearly sixteen years old & she set off alone to walk the fifty mile round trip. She was concerned that she would wear her shoes out, so she took them off & carried them!
When she finally got to Bala, she met the Rev. Charles, but he had some bad news to tell her. He didn't have any Bibles to sell to her! He only had one left & that was reserved for someone else.
Mary couldn't help but cry! The Rev. Charles listened to Mary saying how she had worked for six years to buy a Bible, & then she had just walked the twenty five miles only to find there wasn't any. The Rev. Charles decided that the other person could wait a little longer for the new Bible so he sold her the reserved one. He was very moved by all of Mary's efforts & he thought that it was wrong that Bibles were so difficult to find in Wales, especially as so many people were becoming Christians at that time.
Q. How important was this Bible to Mary Jones?
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In1802 the Rev. Charles was in London & he told a couple of religious organisations (The Religious Tract Society & the S.P.C.K.) about the desperate need for Bibles in the Welsh language, & he told them about Mary Jones. They appreciated the problem, but they didn't have the funds to help, so they suggested that he should form a society that would provide Bibles for Wales, & not to stop at that, but to distribute to the whole world!
Because of this, fifteen months later a society was formed, which was called 'the British and Foreign Bible Society'. By 1907, this society had distributed almost 204 million Bibles, New Testaments & portions of Scripture throughout the world!
Mary died at the age of 82. In her town a monument was built with these words on it:
"To the remembrance of Mary Jones, who in 1800 at the age of 16,
walked from here to Bala, in order to buy a Bible from Rev. Charles in the Welsh language.
This event was the cause of the foundation of the British and Foreign Bible Society."
There are thousands of other true Christian stories, some can be found in ordinary book shops, but most will be in Christian bookshops. These can be found in the Yellow Pages listed under 'Booksellers' & then looking at each individual entry to find the Christian ones. (Teachers note: Could find the nearest Christian Bookshop by using the Yellow Pages).
Q. Who knows where the nearest Christian Bookshop is?
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Q. Have you ever read any Christian books?
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A couple of examples are 'The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe' & 'Maximus Mouse'.
The Christian faith is also expressed in poems, & in plays, & in dances.
PLENARY:
Q. What things have you learn about God from looking at some of these different forms of writing?
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Either take a short time to discuss this question, or leave it with them.
(Teachers note: There is a worksheet to accompany this lesson plan).