Repentance

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the spirituality module is to teach the children how Christian spirituality should be implemented in their lives. Every week of this module it will focus on spirituality in different ways in their lives: Week 1 -- Repentance, Week 2 -- Confession, Week 3 -- Peace, Week 4 -- Purity. Week 5 is the capstone week to review.

INTRODUCTION - 10 Minutes

Ask the students: What does Repentance mean to you? Can we stop at just repenting? Or do we need something else?

Explain: Repentance is when we turn away from sin and go back towards God.

HOLY SCRIPTURE - 5 Minutes

Read Luke 19:2-10 -- The story of Zaccheus

CONTENT (MAIN POINTS)- 10 Minutes

After reading the story in the bible, reinforce the following points:

Zacchaeus was a rich man from being a dishonest tax collector and because of that he was not very liked by the people
He was so short that he couldn't see anything and he found it necessary to climb the sycamore tree to see Jesus
Zacchaeus would never have thought in a million years that Jesus would actually stop right under the tree that he had climbed and tell him to come down
Not only did Jesus stop to talk to Zacchaeus whom is a sinner, but Jesus also chose to go to his house
Being a sinner doesn't mean that Jesus doesn't want you, actually quite the opposite, Jesus wants you the sinner more than he wants anyone else, no matter what you have done. Just like he wanted Zacchaeus knowing quite well that Zacchaeus was cheating many people in their taxes and getting rich off of these people
When the people saw that Jesus went to Zacchaeus' house, people began to complain on how He went to a sinners house and Zacchaeus heard the people
Instead of Zacchaeus defending himself or running away, he stopped, faced his sin before everyone, repented and looked to the Lord and said, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold." Luke 19:8
At that very moment Jesus completely forgave him his sins and said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:9-10
Jesus quickly forgave Zacchaeus because he saw that he really felt bad for what he has done to the people and Zacchaeus has now completely repented.

ACTIVITY - 10 minutes

For this activity, bring 2 clear cups. Fill one with M & M's and the other keeps empty. Have a tray or a container to catch anything that will fall.

The MM's in the cup represent all the good things that God has in store for us. The empty cup represents our life. Have the cup that represents our life upside down or just away from the one that represents God.

Now start pouring the MMs from God towards our cup. Why are the MMs not coming into our cup?? Well it's simple; it's because we are turned away from God. But if we are facing the Lord and God tries to put all his blessings in our cup, our cup will start getting filled. As soon as your cup turns away from God those blessings (the MMs will start pouring down the side of the cup and not filling our hearts up). It's very important for us to always be turned towards God so we can welcome Him into our lives and all His wonderful gifts.

DISCUSSION (Challenge) - 5 Minutes

Discuss with the children the ABC's of Repentance using the chart found below in Appendix

APPLICATION (Action) - 10 Minutes

Ask the students to sit with themselves and God this week and repent about anything they did that was bad. Whether it's lying to parents. Bothering your brother or sister. Or maybe even calling someone names. Ask them to sit quietly by themselves and think about any bad things they did and think of the different ways they can turn towards God and how not to do these things again.

PARENTS CORNER/HOMEWORK

Have the children do the experiment they did in class for you, to teach everyone in the house how important it is for us to repent and always turn towards God.