Reaching Out: Our Call To Minister Session 5: A Life-Style of Love

By the end of this session the students should be able to:

name Jesus' two greatest commandments
tell the store of the Good Samaritan
explain why we need to minister to people we may not necessarily know or like
discuss why 'faith without works is dead'
list two or three things they personally can do to be of service to others in their community

Useful scriptural texts:

Luke 10:25-37
James 2:14-25
Matthew 22:34-40
Romans 12:1-25
1 Corinthians 13:1-8a

Materials:

two or three dollar-sized pieces of green paper for each student
pencils or pens
Bibles
a basket

In preparation for this session place chairs in an open 'U' facing each other.

Procedure:

15 minutes. Have someone read Luke 10:25-37, the parable of the Good Samaritan. As you ask the following questions write down the responses on a chalk board, poster board, etc

What did the Good Samaritan ask of the innkeeper to do if the person's needs cost more than the money he left? [To let him know how much it cost and he would pay. No limits were set.]
What did the Good Samaritan receive for his efforts? [Nothing except God's blessing.]

Have someone read Matthew 22:34-40. According to this passage what are the two greatest commandments? [To love God and your neighbor.]

Have everyone read James 2:14-25. In this passage who, other than the people he is writing to, does he say believes in one God? Discuss how the Good Samaritan's actions and attitude fulfilled both of the two greatest commandments. How do you think helping that person showed that he loved God? [He took care of someone who God created.]

What do you think you would have done if you saw someone laying on the street hurt? Are there any needy people if your life that you have just ignored or walked by? What could you do differently?

15 minutes. Have participants break into groups of four or five. Each participant needs a Bible. Read 1 Corinthians 13:1-8a as participants follow along. Say, 'When we minister we show our love of one another. In the passage we just read substitute your name wherever the word "love" appears. Does this passage describe you? Why or why not? What do you need to work on to truly express love as the passage describes it?' Discuss your thoughts with your group and choose one person from your group to repot on what your group had to say.

10-15 minutes. Give each student a pen or pencil and four or six dollar-sized pieces of green paper. On two or three of the pieces have each of them write their names and phone numbers on their papers along with a service they could do for others in the Church community during the next month or so [eg helping someone with homework, raking someone's lawn, shoveling someone's driveway, cleaning someone's garage, setting up chairs, baby-sitting, painting, etc] These will be collected in a basket [see possibilities]. On each of the other pieces have them just write down the services they could do. Be creative! Collect all the services cards that don't have their name on it. [With the collected cards, create a bulletin board that displays the 'offerings' and refers people in in the parish who could use these services to the teacher. The cards that also have the names and phone numbers will be collected later by the teacher to facilitate times, etc.]

Next have kids take turns reading a verse of Romans 12:1-13 until the entire passage has been read.

Possibilities:

There are a few possibilities for what to dow with the papers that have the services, names, and phone numbers. While the following are two possibilities, it's best to speak with your parish priest for the one that would be most fruitful and appropriate.

Pass the basket around and have students drop their completed papers into it. Present the filled basket to the parish priest for him to bless and help determine where each of the 'offerings' can be best used.
Have students take their slips of paper into the church and have them place their 'offerings' in the basket during the collection. [This would be a a great opportunity for the priest to discuss giving of ourselves with the whole community either during the sermon or announcements.] Note: In order to best facilitate this project the priest may wish to announce to the parish [from the ambo and in the parish bulletin] that the teens have made these 'offerings' and ask people who might need these types of services or who know of people who might need them to check the bulletin board and contact either himself or the teacher/parish youth co-ordinator.

5-10 minutes. Depending upon the reaction of the participants you may want to use the questions below the initiate of discussion.

Why do you think I just did that? What does the reading have to say about serving others? What was the example that Jesus gave in verse 15? [He, as their teacher and master, served them.]
What is the result of serving [verse 17; being blessed]?
What do you think it means to be blessed from God? [To be recognized as a person God created in His image and likeness who is doing His will.]
According to Jesus, who is supposed to serve others? [During discussion indicate that on Holy Thursday during Holy Week there is a service just like this where the bishop washed the priest's feet, c.f. Isabel Hapgood's Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church, page 208]
What does this say about our lives? [All of our life, from morning to evening, is supposed to be in service to others.]

Conclusion:

Jesus told his disciples that the two greatest commandments are to love God and to love one's neighbor. That means ministering to anyone who we know needs help; whether they are strangers, friends, or even people we don't like or who don't like us. Everything we do in our lives is supposed to reflect that. To love God means to minister to others. Being a Christian means living a life-style of love, committed to serving others.

At the end of this session or at a subsequent session review the list of people in need and services available. What are some others needs in the community for which there is no established program. What can we do? [Encourage them not to be limited by just what is on the list].

Evaluation:

Sit down with participants [maybe over pizza] and ask what they liked best ad least about the unit.

Reminder!

At this point the Service Directory should be complete. Format into a booklet and give one copy to the parish priest and another to the parish library. Have students create a cover for it an list all the 'authors/compilers.'