Session 2: The First Christians
The
purpose of this session is to introduce students to Jesus’ command to “teach
all nations” and to introduce the life of the first Christians.
Objectives:
By the end of this session participants will be able to . . .
-
Define
Pentecost as the birthday of the Church.
-
Name
which apostle gave the first sermon about the Good News of Jesus Christ
-
List 4 things the early Church did to continue the work of Jesus
Christ. [Continued to believe
in Jesus as the apostles taught; lived in loving fellowship with each other;
worshiped as Jesus indicated by receiving communion; prayed the way Jesus
indicated (i.e. the Lord’s Prayer); cared for the poor and lonely; etc.]
-
List
concrete ways we, as part of that Church, can continue the work of Jesus
Christ today.
Useful
Texts for Leader Reflection/Preparation
(Scriptural,
Liturgical, Lives of Saints, etc):
|
Matthew
28:16-20 |
|
Mark
16:14-16, 19-20 |
|
Luke
24:44-53 |
|
Acts
2 |
Materials:
A:
Passports, Polaroid camera, film, glue stick, pens or pencils, rubber stamps
for “official seals.”
B
& C: News magazine articles on Jerusalem, black and white world
maps (available at most teacher supply stores) for each participant, different
color markers, a middle eastern map that includes Jerusalem, notebooks and
pens for participants, passports, Polaroid camera, film, glue stick, pens,
rubber stamps for “official” seals.
A:
Younger Children
Preparation:
Decorate
the classroom space as if it were going to be a birthday party (streamers,
hats, maybe a cardboard or real cake, etc.). As students arrive and they notice
the decorations tell them that today we are going to learn about a very special
birthday.
1.
Opening prayer
2.
Tell students, “Just as all of us shared the good news on the cards we made,
all of Jesus’ friends helped to spread the good news of God’s love for us.
In fact, Jesus told His friends to teach others about Him and God,
His Father. Today we are going to learn about a very special birthday. Can
anyone guess whose birthday it might be?” Get a few responses and then say,
“I have something for us to read. Let’s read it and see if anyone can guess
whose birthday it might be.”
3.
Discussion of Pentecost and the 1st Christians
Read
the attached compilation of Matt. 28:16-20 and Acts 1-2.
Ask
the following questions:
-
Who
can tell me whose birthday we just read about? [The Church’s]
-
What
happened that made it the Church’s birthday? [Jesus asked the Father to
send the Holy Spirit so that everyone who believes in Him can be together
as God’s Church, as one family. The Holy Spirit descended on the apostles
giving them the ability to tell people about Jesus in a way that they could
understand and believe that Jesus is God’s Son.]
-
On
what Old Testament feast day did the Holy Spirit give the new life in Christ
to the Church? What’s the other name for the Church’s birthday? [Pentecost]
-
What
were some of the things the people did to show how they changed the way
they lived? [Gathered together to learn about God and Jesus; Sang hymns
of praise and thanksgiving; Helped people who were sick, or hungry, or had
no clothes.]
4.
Discussion of Family as “Little Church”
Say,
“St. John Chrysostom says that every family is a “little Church.”
Include
the following in your discussion:
|
every
family is like a little church where we can learn to live together in
love and sharing– like the first Christians did.
|
|
· everyone,
young and old, who is baptized receives God’s Holy Spirit like the apostles
did on Pentecost. |
|
the
role of parents and godparents in raising and teaching these “new Christians”
about Christ and His Church. |
Ask:
“What do we do together in our families to show love? to work together? to
share with others? to help others? to celebrate? How can we bring God’s Good
News and love to other people?”
5. When you are finished, tell students, “Jesus’ friends, were called apostles
(which means “those who are sent”) since He sent them to teach all people
about Jesus and God’s love. They did not stay long in Jerusalem after Pentecost.
Instead, they traveled all over the world, teaching people about God’s love
for us.”
6. Passports: You need to make copies of the passport page so that every participant
has one. Pass out passports and say, “Next time we’re going to visit some
of the places the apostles visited and learn how they and the people after
them followed Jesus’ command to baptize all nations. But, before we
begin our journey, we need to fill out a passport.
Fold
and pass out the passports. Have students fill in passports. Take pictures
using the Polaroid camera. Glue pictures onto passports. A teacher, serving
as the Passport Officer, should sign all passports. This teacher should also
stamp the passports with the “official seal.” Collect passports for next session.
As
the passports are being “processed” talk about the purpose of passports.
[A paper or small book that shows who someone is, where he/she was born,
the country he/she lives in, and allows him/her to enter and exit different
countries.] If you or someone you know has one, you may want to bring it
in to show the participants the places you or they visited.
7.
Conclude by reviewing how the apostles were so happy about the Good News of
God’s love in Jesus that they shared it with everyone they met and eventually
to other people all over the world.
You
may wish to use any remaining time to hold a little birthday party: sing the
troparion of Pentecost instead of “Happy Birthday”; discuss what might be
appropriate “gifts” to bring for the Church’s birthday; or have a cake with
candles and drinks.
B
& C: Pre-teens and Teens
1.
Opening Prayer
2. Tell students: “One of the most important cities in the world is Jerusalem.”
Ask students if they have heard about Jerusalem in or on the news. Show students
articles and pictures to reinforce your statement.
Ask
students to find Jerusalem on the world map. (You may want to find a map of
the middle east in an encyclopedia, Christian bookstore or on the internet.)
Then have them find it on a middle eastern map. Explain how Jesus’ life was
spent in and near Jerusalem. Explain how Jesus’ friends, the apostles, began
sharing the good news in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.
3. Discussion on Matthew 28: 16-20 and Acts 2.
Read
or choose participants to read the accounts of Jesus’ Ascension and Pentecost
in the above scripture citations.
Discuss
the following:
What
4 tasks did Jesus give to His disciples before He ascended back to His Father:
1. make disciples of all nations; 2.baptize them in the name of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit; 3. teach them to do all that He taught them
to do; and 4. go to Jerusalem and wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Have participants write these down in their notebooks.
-
What was the result of Peter’s
sermon on Pentecost? [Thousands of people believed in the Resurrection of
Jesus and the Descent of the Holy Spirit. They were baptized in the name of
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit and found new life in the Church.]
4. Discussion on the First Christians
Have
participants take a clean piece of paper from their notebooks and fold it
in half so that there are two columns. At the top of one column have them
write “The First Church,” and “My Family: a Little Church” at the top of the
other column.
Give
participants Bibles and have them mark the two readings above from Matthew
and Acts. Have them look through the texts to find answers to the following
questions:
-
What
were some of the things the people did to show how they changed the way
they lived? [Gathered together to learn about God and Jesus; Sang hymns
of praise and thanksgiving; Received Holy Communion in remembrance of the
Lord’s Supper; Helped people who were sick, or hungry, or had no clothes.]
Have
participants write each of the above on a separate line under “The Early Church”
column.
5. Discussion on family as a “little Church”
Looking
at the things they’ve already written in their notebooks, brainstorm with
them ways that every family can be like a little church.
Include
the following in your discussion:
- every
child starts out as a new Christian just like the people in the reading.
- everyone
who is baptized receives God’s Holy Spirit like the apostles did on Pentecost.
- every
family is like a little church where we can learn to live together in love
and sharing– like the first Christians did.
Discuss:
“What do we do together in our families to show love? to work together? to
share with others? to help others? to celebrate? How can we bring God’s Good
News and love to other people?”
Have
participants write each of the above in the column labeled “My Family: A Little
Church.”
6.
The Good News Spreads Across the World
When
you are finished, state: “The apostles followed Jesus’s command to teach all
nations. After they preached in Jerusalem, where they established the first
Church, they traveled all over the world, teaching others about Jesus Christ
and starting new churches. Among the places the apostles visited were Rome,
Italy; Damascus, Syria; Egypt; Ethiopia; India; and Greece.” Hand out a black
and white map of the world to each participant. Have students locate these
places on the map and color them with one color marker. Ask them if they know
anything about any of these places.
Continue
by saying, “The Good News about Jesus continued to spread across the world.”
Using another color marker have participants color in any other country that
they know of where the Church was established.
Have
participants use their markers to make a key on their map to show which color
indicates the apostle’s missionary work and which color indicates the further
growth of the Church.
7.
Passports: Continue by telling students: “Next time we’ll be visiting some
of the places the apostles visited: Antioch, Syria; Athens, Greece; and Rome,
Italy. We’ll need to fill out a passport to travel from country to country.”
Fold
passports. Have students fill in each section. Take pictures and glue them
onto the passports. A teacher, serving as the Passport Officer, should sign
and stamp each passport. Collect passports and maps for next session.
8. Conclude by reviewing how the apostles were happy to share the good news
of God’s love and how they obeyed Jesus’ command to “teach all nations.”
9. Closing Prayer
Bible
Story
(The
following text is a compilation and summary of material found in Matthew 28:16-20
and Acts 1-2.)
After
seeing the women, Jesus appeared to his disciples and proved to them that
he was alive. He stayed with his disciples for forty days after he had risen
from the dead. Then one day he took them to a mountain and said: “All power
in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Now I say to you: ‘Go and make
disciples in every nation. Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to do everything I have commanded you
to do.”
Jesus
told the disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait there until God’s promise was
given to them. Jesus said he would send God’s Holy Spirit to baptize them.
When God’s Spirit would come, Jesus said they would become his witnesses –
his apostles! They would bring his Good News to the people in Jerusalem and
to all parts of the world!
Then
Jesus lifted up his hands and blessed them. The disciples looked up and saw
a cloud lifting Jesus up into the heavens. They kept looking up until he disappeared
out of sight! Two angels in white robes appeared among them and said: “Why
are you looking up into heaven? This Jesus whom you saw go up into heaven
will come back in the same way.” The disciples stayed for awhile and then
remembered Jesus’ instruction that they should return to Jerusalem. As they
went back to the city, they were filled with great joy! Even though Jesus
was no longer with them, they remembered him saying: “I will be with you,
even unto the end of time!”
The
disciples returned to the upper room where they had been staying. Everyday
they prayed with the women and Mary, Jesus’ mother, and other relatives in
his family. They waited for more than a week for God to send his Holy Spirit.
The
big Jewish feast of Pentecost was coming and the city was crowded with many
people. They had traveled to Jerusalem from countries all over the Roman Empire.
Jesus’ apostles and friends were together in the upper room when suddenly
a powerful sound came from heaven. It was like the rush of a big wind and
it filled the whole house. Tongues, like fire, came down and rested on each
one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak
in other languages!
Jesus’
friends ran outside, speaking to each other about what was happening! When
the visitors and the people of the city heard them, they were confused. They
said: “We all speak a different language, but each one of us understands what
these men are saying about the great works of God. How can this be, since
we come from different places and we don’t understand all these languages?
What does this mean?
Then
Peter stood up and said: Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, listen
to me. In the Scriptures God said: “I will pour out my spirit upon all people,
and your sons and daughters will prophesy...and I will show you wonders in
the heaven above and signs on the earth...before the day of the Lord comes!
That will be a great day and when it comes, everyone who calls on the name
of the Lord shall be saved.” Then Peter told the people in Jerusalem about
Jesus. He told about the miracles and signs that Jesus showed, he told them
about his teaching, and he told them how Jesus was killed and died. Finally,
he told them how Jesus had risen from the dead and ascended to heaven to sit
at the right hand of God his Father.
The
people were amazed to hear this and they asked Peter and the apostles “What
do you want us to do?” Peter said: “Repent and be baptized in the name of
Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you shall receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit. God has promised this to you and to all your children.
On that great day of
Pentecost, three-thousand people listened to God’s word and were baptized and
gathered together as the Church. This was the birthday of the Church, for together
they would begin a new life. These new Christians changed the way they lived.
They gathered together to learn about God and his son Jesus Christ, who came
to give us new life. They sang hymns of praise and thanks to God for their new
life in the Holy Spirit. They remembered how Jesus took bread and wine and shared
it with his disciples, so they did the same. They showed their love for each
other and helped people who were sick or hungry or had no clothes. This is how
the first Christians lived and how the Church began.