Entry of the Holy Family to Egypt
OBJECTIVE
- To witness how the prophecy was fulfilled
- How to escape evil
- To establish an altar for the Lord in the midst of Egypt and to destroy the idolatrous temple.
INTRODUCTION & HOOK - 10 Minutes
Option 1
Hide an object and tell the students a very detailed description of it and where it is located (for example close to the third chair from your right) try not to be so obvious though ..the idea is to relate this to what the prophets said about the Messiah and we knew He was Christ.
Option 2
Name some important/ famous individuals (singer, actress, presidents, inventors ..ect). Try to pick individuals they can relate to. For example, where they were born, gender, age, middle school, even name
How proud do you feel when a "known individual" you can relate to in a way or another?
HOLY SCRIPTURE - 5 Minutes
"Out of Egypt I called my Son" Hosea 11:1
"Blessed is Egypt My people" Isaiah 19:25
Servant might want to ask the student where are these verses located (Old Testament or New Testament) before saying the reference
CONTENT (KEY POINTS) - 15 Minutes
The Church celebrates this Feast on June 1st (24 Bashans). It is one of the Minor Feasts of the Lord.
The Holy Family came to Egypt after the angel appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him to take the women and the Child and flee to Egypt because Herod wanted to kill Him.
Having Christ come to Egypt as a child fulfills the prophecy that was mentioned about Him in the Old Testament (you can bring in Hook 1 idea). It's because of these details that the Old Testament revealed to us that we know Christ.
We as Copts take a special interest in this feast due to the fact it has to do with our earthly roots (game 2). If we love having something in common with a celebrity or famous person, how should we feel that Christ Himself came to our land
Christ was about 2 years old when the Holy Family arrived in Egypt and they dwelt there for 3 years and 10 months. They visited 29 spots*.*
DISCUSSION (Challenge) - 10 Minutes
We can see how blessed we are being called Copts. Now if we try to understand this event as our early fathers always did, how can we benefit from this spiritually ?
- The Escape in the spiritual life: Christ wanted to give us an example of escaping from the devil (Herod representing the devil) not out of fear or disbelief in the power of God, but out of keeping ourselves safe.
- When Christ came to Egypt, all the idols fell down: as we enter any place we need to present Christ in us so that others may see Him.
LIFE APPLICATION - 5 Minutes
For the servant to pick one or more as many as needed
- Let's try to stay away from bad friendship
- Avoid Gossip - if you can't walk out of it, at least don't help spread it
- A smile can be act of kindness that shows Christ in us
- Let's not follow the world into the usage of "unclean " words, and if possible ask others to not use them in front of you
ACTIVITY - 5 Minutes
SERVANT RESOURCES
PARENTS CORNER/HOMEWORK
If parents or family members are personally familiar with any of the spots that were visited by the Holy Family in Egypt, they can share stories or photos about those locations.