The BLESS Group

Lesson #11: "And ascended into heaven and is seated at the

right hand of the Father. He will come again with glory to
judge the living and the dead. His kingdom will have no end.”

Date: Sunday, January 31, 2010

PREPARATION:
OBJECTIVE:
1. Learn the meaning of the next lines in the Nicene Creed
("And ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of
the Father. He will come again with glory to judge the living and the
dead. His kingdom will have no end.” )
2. Learn about our church’s name day - The Presentation of
the Lord at the Temple celebrated on February 2
3. Learn about the Three Hierarchs celebrated on January 30
4. Read and discuss the parable of the Prodigal Son (today’s
Gospel reading)

HANDOUTS:
1. Line drawing of “The Three Hierarchs”
1. Line drawing of “The Presentation of the Lord at the
Temple”
1. “The Prodigal Son” story review and coloring page

MATERIALS NEEDED:
1. Markers/crayons to color handouts

OPENING PRAYER:
Our Father, Who art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy Name;
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

THE LESSON:
THE MESSAGE:
1. This week’s line of the Creed / Memory Verse:
"And ascended into heaven… “ Jesus “ascended into
heaven” to show that we can now ascend with Him.

“… and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” Only kings can
sit at the right hand of another king - this means Jesus is equal to God.

“… He will come again with glory to judge the living and the
dead… “ This refers to the second coming of Jesus. Those who love
and follow Him, will taken to Heaven with Him. He did not announce
the exact time of His future coming so that we may be prepared for it
at all times. For example, when company comes to your house, you
like to know the day and time so you can clean and be prepared for
their arrival. If you don’t know when they are coming, you will have to
keep the house clean and neat all the time.

“… His kingdom will have no end.” Heaven begins here and now
when we believe in Jesus, love Him, and obey His will.

2. The Three Hierarchs:

Although our Church has a special day to honour and commemorate
St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian and St. John
Chrysostom, we also have the 30th day of January to honour them
together.

The Greek word Hierarch means Bishop.

The Three Hierarchs are considered the Patron Saints of education and
culture, because they used the art of education and the Greek classics
to teach about
God. Honoured as “Doctors” of the Church, Sts. Basil, Gregory and
John were
intellectual giants of equal stature, serving God and man with an
equally high level of devotion and spirit.

3. The Presentation of the Lord at the Temple:

Forty days had passed since Jesus Christ was born. It was the custom in
that and to have every baby boy brought to the temple as soon as he
was forty days old. The father and mother would bring some gift to the
temple to offer God, because they were grateful to have a baby son.
Now Joseph and Mary were ready to go to the temple. They bought a
little wicker cage with two pigeons in it. This would be their offering to
thank God for their Son.
There lived at this time in Jerusalem a very old man. His name was
Simeon. He was a very good and wise man. He had spent many years
reading and studying the old holy books in which prophets had told
about the coming of Christ. Once, while Simeon was praying, God told
him that he would not die until he had seen the Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Simeon waited and waited for many years. He had grown very
tired of living. He often went to the temple to read and pray.
Often he wondered when God's promise would come true.

One morning in the very early spring Simeon knew that God wanted
him to go to the temple at once. He went to the temple and prayed
and waited. All at once Simeon saw Joseph and Mary, with the Babe
Jesus Christ in her arms, coming up the steps of the temple. He knew
then that this was the Saviour whom God had
promised he would see before he died. Simeon went up to Mary and
asked her to let him hold the Child. When Simeon held the Child in his
arms, he began praying out loud: "Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant
depart in peace, according to Thy Word; For mine eyes have seen Thy
salvation, Which Thou hast prepared in the presence of all people; A
Light to lighten the gentiles, And the glory of Thy people Israel."

Joseph and Mary wondered at the meaning of the words which were
spoken by Simeon. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary:
"Behold, this Child is set for the fall and the rising of many people; a
sword shall pierce through your own
heart."

There was also a very old woman who lived at the temple. Her name
was Anna. She was a very good woman and often received messages
from God. Anna also came up to Mary and Joseph and thanked God for
letting her see the Babe.
When all was over, Joseph and Mary returned home with their baby
Son, wondering at all they had heard.

- What did Simeon mean by his prayer? (Now that Simeon has seen
the Saviour, the goal of his longing and the purpose of his life is
fulfilled. He is ready to die.)

On this feast, we bless candles. This is to remind us that Christ, in the

words of St Simeon’s prayer, is “the light that enlightens” all mankind.
How is Jesus the “light of the world”? (He guides us in the way we
should live; He helps us overcome evil; He gives us understanding in
the ways of His Father.)
4. The Prodigal Son:
One day Jesus told a story that teaches us what we should do after we
have done something wrong.

There was a man who had two sons. One day the younger son said to
his father: "Father, give me my share of all you have." And the father
divided his money between the two sons.

A few days later the younger son took his money, left his home, and
went into a strange country far away. There he made new friends and
tried to have a very good time. The friends he chose were bad and
taught him to do many evil
things. He lived there for a long time, trying to enjoy himself by doing
many wicked things. At last all the money that Now the young man
found himself alone, hungry, without friends and without any money.
He began to look for work, but the only kind of work he could find was
watching over a herd
of pigs in muddy fields.

Then one day the young man said to himself: "Here I am, hungry and
unhappy. In my father's house there are many servants who work for
him and have plenty to eat. I have behaved so badly that I am not
worthy to be my father's son
anymore. But I can ask him to let me come back to become one of his
servants.
He got up and started on his journey home. He was feeling very hungry
and miserable and thinking all the way how he would ask for
forgiveness from his good father. He was still a long way off from his
home when his father saw
him. The father felt so sorry for his son that he ran out to meet him. He
hugged him and took him home. He did not scold his son for all the bad
things he had done. The son said: "Father, I have behaved too badly to
be called your son!" But instead of answering him, the father said to
the servants: "Bring the best clothes for my son. Put a ring on his
finger and shoes on his feet. Prepare the very best dinner for us. We
shall have a feast and be happy because my son who was lost is found
again."

When the older son came back from the fields, he heard music and
dancing in the house. He called one of the servants and asked him
what had happened. He learned that they were feasting because his
younger brother had returned home. He was not pleased. He thought:
Had not the younger brother behaved badly and left his father's house
while he, the older brother, stayed at home like a good son and did all
the work? But when the father heard that the older son did not want to
join them, he came to him and said: "My son, you have always
been with me. All I have is yours too. But today we are glad because
your brother was like one dead, and he is alive again; he was like one
lost, and he is found again."

We are all God's children. When we are bad and do wrong, we behave
like the younger son, who left his father. What should we do to make
things right again? We must come to our Father and tell Him that we
are sorry. Then He will receive
us gladly, just as the father in the story received his son.

Jesus told this story to teach us that God is always willing to forgive us
and to share His love with us even when we do things we shouldn’t.

- Do both sons need to be forgiven? Why? (The older son is jealous and
doesn’t rejoice that his brother is alive.)
- What is the difference between the two sons? (The younger saw that
he was wrong and asked for forgiveness.)

THE ACTIVITY:
N/A - just coloring the three icons/handouts

THE RESPONSE / HOMEWORK:

N/A
Coloured by:__________________________________

Date: _______________________________________
St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian and St. John Chrysostom

Coloured by:_______________________ Date: __________________

The younger son wanted all of his share of his father’s money so he
could go
far away and live by himself. He spent all of the money doing bad
things.
Then there was a famine - there was no food in the country where he
was. He
was not even allowed to eat what the pigs ate. He decided that his
father’s
servants were better off than he was so he went back home and asked
his father
to forgive him and make him a servant. The father was not mad at all.
He had
the servants put the best robe on his son and threw a party because he
was so
happy that his lost son had come back home. The father said “For this
son of
mine … was lost and now is found” And they began to celebrate!