Capstone

OBJECTIVE

As Orthodox Christians, we are blessed to have an enormous amount of resources explaining and describing death and the afterlife in the Orthodox perspective. This module aims to educate our 5th graders in this study (eschatology), presented in an age-appropriate manner.

INSTRUCTIONS/IDEAS

"No More" Activity

Before playing the game, servants may want to introduce the activity in the following way:

  • What do you look forward to about Heaven? (Wait for responses.)
  • "Do you want to know what I look forward to? I look forward to the "No Mores". You know...no more death, no more crying and no more pain Who wants to read Revelation 21:4?" (Wait for response.)
  • Revelation 21:4 paints a perfect picture of eternal life with Jesus

Before playing, have a class volunteer read Revelation 21:4.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."

At this point, explain the rules of the game and and discuss the opposites to each of the "No Mores" on each of the cards.

For this activity, you will need to make a big die. You can use a box about 8" square. The 6 sides will have the typical numbers 1 through 6. You will also need to make 2 sets of the following 12 cards. Each card will have a back and a front (e.g., one side "love" and "hate" on the other side). For ease of play, choose a red color of paper for all the 'bad" things and a green color of paper for all the "good" things. You could simply write the words on each card or get a little creative and add some pictures to each card. Also, make sure each card includes the number as well.

  1. death/life
  2. crying/joy
  3. pain/healing
  4. lies/truth
  5. guilt/freedom
  6. murder/love for life
  7. stealing/giving
  8. idol worship/worship God
  9. bad language/praise
  10. hate/love
  11. greed/contentment
  12. selfishness/thinks of others

Place each set of cards in numerical order on either 2 tables or 2 packet charts. You are now ready to play the game.

How to play:

Divide your class into 2 teams. A player from team one will come forward and roll the big die 2 times. He will then get to choose one of the "no more" cards from his set of cards to be turned over according to the following rules:

  1. A player must turn over the total he throws. A player who throws a 3 and a 4 may turn over the 7 on their set of cards...OR
  2. A player may turn over two cards that add up to the total thrown -- suppose a player throws a 6 and a 1. The player may turn over a 6 and a 1; or 5 and 2; or 4 and 3; or 1, 2 and 4 -- all equaling a total of 7.
  3. If a player cannot turn over a number on a throw because the number has already been turned over, the die is passed to the next player. The player does not turn over any numbers on that turn.
  4. The first team to turn over all of their "No Mores" is the winner.

Option 2

Servants may consider having class watch the film "Heaven is For Real"