Preparation Week & Great Fast Week 1

OBJECTIVE

The gospel readings of the Preparatory Sunday and the first Sunday of the Great Fast are from the Sermon on the Mount, including the Lord's Prayer found in Matthew 6. This reading revolves around joyful worship of our Lord. Our Lord Jesus Christ reminds us that our worship, whether through prayer, fasting, or alms giving, is to be directed towards God, who will give us our Heavenly reward.

INTRODUCTION & HOOK - 5 Minutes

Option One:

Sing the Communal Melody for the first week of the Great Fast together, click the link for the entire hymn.

Blessed are those who have mercy,
Who give to the poor and fast and pray,
The Holy Spirit will fill their hearts,
The Son will show them mercy on Judgment Day.
Fasting is steadfastness to the soul,
He who fasts shall not fall,
He will be saved from all attacks,
The heavenly kingdom he will not lack.
Seek the kingdom with righteousness,
Think not of your garments and fullness,
All these will be to you granted,
From God many gifts are handed.
Accord mercy unto all,
Do not expect an earthly reward,
It is said "Do not worry about tomorrow,
Your gains are secure and shall grow."

Option Two:

As students arrive, write these words on the white board or large paper pad: text messaging, email, phone calls, video chat, radio messages, commercials. Ask the students what all these things have in common. Encourage discussion and participation. Guide the students to think about communication. How do we communicate with each other, how do teachers communicate with our parents, and finally how do we communicate with our Heavenly Father? Talk about how much God loves us and waits all day to spend quality time with each of us in prayer.

HOLY SCRIPTURE - 5 Minutes

Please read the story of Sermon on the Mount and the Lord's Prayer, found in Matthew 6:1-33.

Preparation Sunday: Matthew 6:1-18
Week 1 of the Great Fast: Matthew 6:24-34

Memory Verse - "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." (Matthew 6:6)
"Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matthew 6:26)

CONTENT (KEY POINTS) - 15 Minutes

The Journey of the Great Fast

The Church declares to us that the room is the point of ‎departure of the journey of the Great Fast. The ‎fact that the Church starts the fast by directing us to our room, ‎means that the fast is not only related to our bodies, but it is related ‎more to the spirit and to Kingdom of God.‎ ‎

Close Your Door

The journey starts after closing the door, the door that looks ‎at the world. Then there opens before us another door that faces ‎heaven, "Our father who art in heaven", "I looked, and, behold, a ‎door standing open in heaven." (Rev 4:1) So we close the doors to distraction and open the door to time with our Lord Jesus Christ.

Pray to your Father

Our Lord Jesus Christ taught us the "Our Father". It is the most important prayer that you can learn. The church teaches all of its members about the Lord's prayer and we repeat it so many times in the Agpeya, Divine Liturgy, and all church services.

Your Father Who Sees in Secret

This is the secret of the prayer in the room, this prayer is won feet of our Lord Jesus. In our rooms, we discover our sins and taste the love of God. We learn repentance and grow close to our Lord Jesus Christ. Since the journey is with the soul, it should be done in secret. ‎The relationship between Christ and us is an invisible relationship that begins in a quiet place. So fasting goes hand in hand with less screen time and more of the Bible, prayer, and attending the Divine Liturgy.‎

Reward from your Father

We each meet our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our great reward, and are united with Him during the Great Fast. It is an opportunity for us to get to know Him more, not intellectually, but by experience and time, becoming one in Him and He in us. It is during the Great Fast that our soul transcends time to live with the Eternal One, as if living in Heaven already.

Seek First the Kingdom

Our Lord loves us so much and always wants the best for us He says, "Seek first the kingdom of God" and "do not worry." Sometimes we forget this; we let our problems control our thoughts and we forget God. Forgive us, O Lord We should be focusing on You This is why practicing self-control through fasting is so important. When we control our thoughts and focus on God, problems cannot control us. With God on our minds and in our hearts, our problems will not feel so big.

DISCUSSION (Challenge) - 5 Minutes

Share the icon attached below with the children and ask them what they see. Encourage them to take a close look and share their observations. Some things to make sure are covered...

The Lord is oversized compared to everyone else because He is the most important figure in the icon.
The Lord is holding a paper, this symbolizes the Lord's Prayer that was written down for us.
There are birds and flowers because later in the sermon, our Lord talks about how the birds are always fed and the flowers are always beautiful, and how the Lord will take care of us even more.

LIFE APPLICATION - 5 Minutes

At the beginning of our fasting, may our Lord help us not to be concerned and troubled over many things, but to choose the good part, the one which will not be taken away from us, which is spending time in prayer with our Heavenly Bridegroom.

This is what will bring us joy, the kind that no one can take away from us. Our Heavenly Father is calling us to a holy friendship with Him in secret, through which you may start your ‎fast, your prayers, and your almsgivings. ‎

ACTIVITY - 10 Minutes

Option One: Crossword Puzzle

Distribute Holy Bibles to every pair of students. Have each pair work together to look up the Bible verses and solve the puzzle. Remind the students to write their names and the memory verse on their papers. Encourage them to take it home and review the memory verse throughout the week.

Option Two: Prayer Worksheet

As a class, discuss what it means to praise, repent, and ask. Remind them that each of these is essential in a well-rounded prayer, just like the Lord's Prayer. The last section labeled "Yes" is a great place to write down the memory verse of this week. Have each student fill out the first half in class and the second half at home during the week.

Option Three: Pray, Fast, Give

Using a white board or large paper pad, create three columns and label: pray, fast, give. Work together as a class to create at least five ideas for each list that the students can work on during the Great Fast. Listed below are some ideas, but please encourage the students to participate and join the discussion.

SERVANT RESOURCES

PARENTS CORNER/HOMEWORK

The practice in the week of preparation is the ‎prayer of the quiet place and the worship in secret which will ‎continue with us all through after the period of fasting.‎ Be sure to reestablish a prayer corner in your child's room and emphasize the importance of daily prayer routines.