Share Our Life Stories

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5 Gospel Theme: Jesus followers welcome and serve others. Welcome to Good News for Children. Each week you and the children you teach will hear Jesus teaching his disciples as they travel from Galilee to Jerusalem. People gather around Jesus to listen to him and question him. Some become his disciples, some walk away. Good News invites children to enter these Gospel stories by reflecting on their own experiences of welcoming and being welcomed and of following a leader. The stories and activities in each lesson help the children make the Gospel message their own. Worshiping with their parish community reinforces the learning they have experienced. Materials: Pencils, crayons or markers, scissors, tape or stapler, Good News CD. Pray and Sing Plan to begin each Good News class with prayer and song. The Good News CD has an easy-to-learn song, We Hear God s Word, which can also be used as a Gospel acclamation. Or sing the following words to the tune of Did You Ever See a Lassie? We gather here together, together, together. We gather here together to show we love God. To hear Jesus stories, to clap, pray, and sing. We gather here together to show we love God. Conclude with a spontaneous prayer asking God to bless the group as you gather to learn about Jesus. Objective: The children will reflect on their experiences of serving and being served. Cover: Who Serves at Church? Gather in a story circle. Distribute Good News, read the title questions aloud, and give the children time to examine the photos. Ask who served in these ways at their church last Sunday. Don t pressure every child to answer, but use the conversation as a way to assess the children s familiarity with the Eucharist. Story: The New Babies (page 2) Stay in the story circle. Before turning to page 2, ask if any of the children have younger siblings. How did they get ready for the new baby? How did they welcome the baby? How do they help their parents? Let each child contribute once if he or she wishes, then ask the children to turn to page 2 and speculate from the title and illustrations what the story is about. If your children September 23, th Sunday in Ordinary Time Teaching Guide Wisdom 2.12, 17-20; James ; Mark We Hear God s Word is a CD of songs to teach your Good News group. They will learn readily by singing along. The 14 songs include a Gospel acclamation, songs for Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter, and several songs on the Eucharist. The CD can be purchased at pflaum.com or call Share Our Life Stories The Chi-rho symbol links weekly lessons to doctrine in What the Church Believes and Teaches. are good readers and enjoying reading aloud, have them take turns reading one paragraph at a time. Or have them put down their issues as you read the story aloud. Take plenty of time with the questions. Accept all answers to the last question, including pets and plants. Listen to the Gospel Objective: The children will understand Jesus wants his followers to welcome and serve others. Gospel Ritual Make moving to the Gospel area a ritual the children look forward to. Play and sing We Hear God s Word from the Good News music CD or use some other song or acclamation the children know. Let them show reverence for the scriptures by placing a Bible, lectionary, or a copy of Good News open to the Gospel reading on a beautiful piece of cloth. Use shells, leaves, or flowers to enhance the area. Gospel: Who Is the Greatest? (page 3) Assign three children to proclaim the Gospel and ask the rest to stand quietly and listen. This theme of serving others is repeated over and over during these fall Sunday Gospels, so keep the conversation about the Gospel short. You can return to Jesus words as the children complete the activities. Vocabulary Word: Disciples (page 3) Ask a volunteer to read aloud the definition of disciples to conclude your Gospel discussion. Point out the illustration of Jesus and his men and women disciples. Build Christian Community Objective: The children will recognize ways they serve. Activity: How Do You Serve Others? (page 3, bottom) Move to the work area. Read the activity aloud, making sure the children understand this simple task. Distribute pencils and crayons or markers. Go around the room as the children work, helping them and getting to know them. Conclude by having the children share some of the ways they serve. Direct them to cut off the strip at the bottom of page 4, write their name, and add a drawing of themselves. Prayer: Disciples Prayer Service (page 4) Gather in the work area. Review the prayer service with the children, so they know they will each come forward and add the strip of paper with their name to the class chain. Celebrate the prayer service. Place the chain of names in your Gospel area. Note to Parents: Sharing Good News at Home (page 4) Call the children s attention to the parent note on page 4. Ask them to share it with their families. WCBT, page 4, Receive and Share the Good News Introduce the children to the What the Church Believes and Teaches catechism handbook by reading this page together. If you send the book home with them, clip a note to the cover introducing it to the parents.