Dr. Pat's Orthodox Super Sunday School Curriculum

I CORINTHIANS 2:2

Scripture verse: “For I am determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

Objectives:

1. Students should memorize the verse and know that Jesus was crucified for our sins.
2. Students should know that the cross is an important symbol of Christianity and why.

Background on the book:

            This letter was written by St. Paul to the struggling church at Corinth while he was staying in Ephesus for 2 ½ years during his third missionary journey around 55 AD. Paul had visited Corinth for about a year and a half during his second missionary journey and planned to visit again the following winter.  Corinth was one of the greatest trading centers of the world. It was located on a 4-mile-wide isthmus separating northern and southern Greece; because of the dangers of sailing around the tip of Greece, many ships were pulled out of the water at Corinth and hauled on rollers across the land bridge! Corinth was famous for its markets and luxuries, but also for drunkenness, pagan idols, and immorality. The young church there had serious problems dealing with these issues. Find Corinth on a map.

Possible Lesson Plan:

1. Open with prayer.

2. Review the background of the book.

3. Scripture lesson: I Corinthians 2:2, 1:18, Galatians 6:14, Romans 5:8-9. Find these and read them aloud. Begin to memorize the verse; this is an easy one. Have a large beach ball, and students sit in a circle and toss the ball -- each must give the next word of the verse when he receives the ball.

4. Discuss the concept of sin: What is it? What are some sins? Have we ever sinned? Did Jesus ever sin?  What do our earthly parents do if we sin? Would it be only fair and just for God to punish us for our sins? Instead, who was punished?

5. Review the events of Holy Week leading up to Jesus’s crucifixion. Why is the cross a symbol of our salvation? Why is Jesus called the Lamb of God? How are we forgiven for our sins? Remind the students that the story ends, not with the crucifixion, but with the empty tomb!

6. Review that great song: “Before Thy Cross” and the Troparion of the Cross.

Before Thy Cross                    O Lord, save thy people

We bow down and worship    And bless thine inheritance.

O, Master                                Grant victory to all Orthodox Christians

And thy holy resurrection       Over their adversaries.

We Glorify!                             And by virtue of thy Cross

                                                Preserve thy habitation.

     Why do we bow down before the cross? How does the cross save us?

7. Why is the cross “foolishness”? When we share Jesus with our friends, do we focus on the cross and only the cross, or on Orthodoxy, the ritual, our Church, etc.?

8. Make a cross necklace: Take a small wooden cross shape (available at craft stores), or a piece of foam cut in the shape of a cross, or cut a cross shape out of styrofoam (e.g. meat trays you can ask the Giant to give you for free). If you have a wooden cross, you can paint and then use Mod Podge to attach a small icon of the cross right in the center. More simply, decorate with paint or markers, rhinestones, sequins, pearls, whatever. Make a hole in the top and string as a necklace. Will wear the cross every day to school and, if asked, tell your friends and teachers how Jesus died on the cross? Next week, tell us what happened.

9. Close with prayer.