Lesson 12. The Promise of the Savior and the Fulfillment of That Promise

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

Plan. The expulsion of the first people from paradise; the temptations of the devil; the powerlessness of people in the fight against it; the promise of the Saviour; the reproduction of people, their sinfulness; admonishing them through the Angels; law. The birth of the Savior; its purpose; the name Jesus; the name of the Mother of God; Jesus Christ is God the Son; His life, teaching, and works on earth; Christians. Coherent presentation, conclusions. H. When people sinned, God expelled them from paradise. It became difficult and bad for Adam and Eve to live, but the devil still confused them to commit sins. The more a person sins, the worse his life is. But people had already fallen under the power of the devil and could not overcome him themselves. God took pity on Adam and Eve and, when He expelled them from paradise, told them that He Himself would come to earth as a man and defeat the devil. What did the devil do when God expelled people from paradise? How do sinful people live? Why couldn't people overcome the devil on their own? What did God say to people? Many years have passed since the creation of the world, and many people have been born on earth. People began to sin more and more, and the devil confused them to sin. God sent angels to people, gave His law, and people all sinned. When many years had passed since the creation of the world, God Himself was born on earth from the Most Holy Virgin Mary. He lived on earth as a man and saved people from the devil and from sins, and therefore He is called the Savior. How did people live on earth? What did the devil do? What did God do for people? From whom was God born? How did He live on earth? What was He born for? What is He called, then? Of course, you know that in winter there is the feast of Christmas. It is we who celebrate the birth of God on earth. All people have their own name: for example, your name is Peter, your name is Ivan, so God, when He was born on earth and became man, was given the name Jesus, and then the name Christ was added. So, the name of our Saviour? Who was he? U. God. Z. And what else have you become? U. Human. Jesus Christ became man, but He also remained God. He became both God and man. What holiday is there in winter, when you go to praise? Whose birth are we celebrating then? What name was given to God on earth? The word "Jesus" is not Russian, but Jewish. God was born and lived in the Jewish land, and therefore He was given the name Hebrew. "Jesus" in Russian means Savior. What word is Jesus? Why was God given a Hebrew name on earth? What does Jesus mean in English? From whom was Jesus Christ born on earth? D. From the Virgin Mary. H. Who was he? U. God. H. So, who did the Virgin Mary give birth to? U. God. The Virgin Mary gave birth to God, and therefore She is called the Mother of God or, in other words, the Mother of God. What is the name of the Virgin Mary? Why is She called the Mother of God? We now know that God Himself came to earth to save people from sin and from the devil. God exists alone, but in how many Persons? U. In three. H. Name the three Persons of the Holy Trinity. God the Son came to earth to save people from sin and the devil. So, which is the Person of the Holy Trinity? How many years did Jesus Christos live on earth? At first He was a small child, then He began to grow up and lived as a simple man until the age of 30. When he was 30 years old, He began to teach people how to live in God's way. Jesus Christ raised the dead with one word of His own; He will tell the dead to rise, and the dead will rise again. Likewise, in one word, He did other things: He would say that the deaf should hear, that the blind should see, that the sick should become well, and that everything should be done according to His word. Can any man do such things in a word? Such works can be done by God. Jesus Christ told people to believe in Him, that He is God. But not all people believed in Jesus Christ. Those who believe in Christ are called Christians.

In what land did Jesus Christ live? The Jewish leaders did not believe in Jesus Christ and envied Him. Many people followed Him, many believed in Him, and the Jewish leaders wanted to destroy Jesus Christ. And what they did, I will tell you about it another time. Here the second part of the lesson is repeated, and then both together. A coherent presentation can be presented in the following form. The first people, Adam and Eve, did not live long in paradise. They did not fulfill God's commandment and sinned. For this, God expelled them from paradise. From Adam and Eve, other people began to be born. A lot of time passed, and many people were born on earth. All people sinned: the devil persuaded them to sin, but people could not overcome the devil. When many years had passed since the creation of the world, God the Son, Jesus Christ, was born in the Jewish land from the Virgin Mary. He lived on earth, taught the people how to live according to God or according to the law of God; He made the sick healthy and raised the dead. Jesus Christ said that He was God and that He came to save people from sins and from the devil. Some people believed in Jesus Christ, and the Jewish leaders began to envy Him. We have said that those people who believe in Christ are called Christians. That is why we are called Christians. By our faith we glorify Christ and glorify Him rightly or, in other words, rightly, and therefore we are called Orthodox Christians. If someone asks you what faith you have, what will you answer? - We are Orthodox Christians and therefore we must do what Jesus Christ taught people. He taught us to love God more than anything else in the world and to love all people as we love ourselves. For God we should spare nothing, but for people we should try as for ourselves. If we do not live peacefully with people and do not help them, then it means that we do not love God and do not obey Jesus Christ Himself. Whoever does not obey Christ is called a Christian in vain.

Lesson 13. Teaching the prayers "Lord, have mercy" and "Holy God..."

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

Plan. Repetition of information about the life of the first people in paradise, about the consequences of the Fall; the need for prayer for mercy. Repetition of previously learned prayers; their difference from prayers for mercy. The meaning of the prayer "Lord, have mercy". Teaching the prayer "Holy God..."; its name is the Trisagion; an indication to whom and for what we pray in it; memorizing it. Application. H. You, children, already know that in paradise the first people saw God and talked with Him. At first they were sinless, but when they ate the forbidden fruit, they became sinful. Life became bad for them, and the devil began to constantly confuse them for their sins. People themselves could not overcome the devil, they could not do anything good without God. For the first sin, God punished people, punished them for other sins, when people forgot God's law. Then people began to ask God not to punish them for their sins, so that He would have mercy on them. What are our words to God called? U. Prayer. H. So people began to pray to God for what? D. That He would not punish them for their sins. H. People prayed to God in paradise as well: there they talked with God, but in paradise they did not ask for mercy, because they did not sin there.

Remember them. There follows the repetition of the prayers "Lord, bless", "In the name of the Father...", "Glory to Thee, O God..." and "Glory to the Father...". In these prayers, we do not ask God for forgiveness of our sins, we do not ask for mercy on us. In the prayer "Lord, bless" we ask for what? D. God's blessings on our works[1]. H. What do we promise to do in the prayer "In the name of the Father..."? U. Only good deeds. H. What do we do with the prayers "Glory to Thee, O God..." and "Glory to the Father..."? U. We praise or praise God. H. You, of course, have heard the prayer "Lord, have mercy" many times; Stand up and say it. The disciples say a prayer. In this prayer we call God the word Lord and ask Him to have mercy on us. Have mercy in another way, you can say: "Forgive me, do not punish for sins." In this prayer we pray to whom? What do we call God? What do we ask of Him? How else can I say have mercy? You know that God is one, but in three Persons; name the three Persons of the Holy Trinity. In the prayer Lord, have mercy, we do not name the Persons of the Holy Trinity, but pray to God alone. We already know two prayers: one to God alone, in which we glorify God; and another, in which we praise one God, but in three Persons. What kind of prayers are these? U. "Glory to Thee, O God..." and "Glory to the Father...". In the prayer "Lord, have mercy" we ask God alone to have mercy on us, and there are prayers in which we ask one God for this, but in three Persons. Listen, I will read you such a prayer. The teacher of religion reads the prayer "Holy God...". How many times is the word holy said in this prayer? U. Three times. H. First we say Holy God, then Holy Mighty, then Holy Immortal. In this prayer we call God the Father – the Holy God, God the Son – the Holy Mighty One, and God the Holy Spirit – the Holy Immortal. You see that in this prayer we name all three Persons of the Holy Trinity[2]. Who do we call the Holy Immortal? Holy God? Holy Strong? What do we call God the Father? You know that God is in three Persons, but He is one. In the prayer "Holy God..." we name three Persons, and then we say: have mercy on us. When we ask something of two or three, we do not say "give," but "give"; And in this prayer we do not say "have mercy," but "have mercy." By doing so, we show our faith in one God. We pray in this prayer to whom? U. To God alone. H. In how many Persons? What do we ask of God? D. That He would have mercy on us. H. How to say "have mercy" in another way? After that, the whole lesson is repeated, followed by memorization of the prayer in chorus and individually. You hear this prayer both at school and in church. It is always read three times in a row. All people always sin before God, and it is necessary to pray for all people that God will have mercy on them. Everyone says "have mercy on us", and not only me. All people are children of one God, they are all brothers, and therefore it is necessary to pray not only for each oneself, but for all people. The answers of the disciples are assumed on the basis of the previous explanation of the prayers given.^ The prayer "Holy God..." is also called the Trisagion.- Ed.^

Lesson 14. Teaching the prayer "God, be merciful to me a sinner"

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

Plan. Showing a picture of the parable of the publican and the Pharisee; looking at it. Christ's Teaching on Behavior in Prayer. Presentation of the parable with instructions on the picture. Teaching the Prayer of the Publican; explanation of it; memorization. Moral Application. The teacher of the law shows a picture illustrating the parable of the publican and the Pharisee. H. Look, children, who is drawn in this picture? D. Two people[1]. H. Where are they standing? U. In the church. H. How do they stand: next to each other or in a different way? Y. One in front and the other behind. H. Are they both looking in the same place? One looks up, and the other looks down. H. What do people do in church? U. Pray to God. H. So why did these two men come to church? U. Pray to God. You have already heard that Jesus Christ lived on earth and taught people how to live in God's way. Once He taught people how to stand at prayer. That's what He said. Two people came to church to pray to God. One was proud, and the other humble; the proud one was called a Pharisee, and the humble one was called the publican. What was the name of the proud? How - humble? In this picture, both of them are depicted: which, in your opinion, is a Pharisee and which is a publican? U. The one who raised his head is a Pharisee. Z. the Pharisee stood forward and began to boast before God. He said: "I thank Thee, O God, that I am not like other people, robbers, offenders, or like this publican: I fast twice a week and help the poor"[2]. Where did the Pharisee stand? What did he start doing? What did he say? See, here he is standing in front, with his head up and boasting before God. And the publican stood behind, did not dare to raise his eyes to heaven and prayed thus: God, be merciful to me a sinner[3]. Where did the publican stand? How did he stand? How did he pray? To whom did he pray? What did he ask of God? What did he call himself? And what did the Pharisee consider himself to be? He boasted that he was doing everything right, in truth. Remember: he who always does everything in righteousness is called a righteous person. What is the name of a person who does everything in truth? Who is called righteous? What kind of person did the Pharisee consider himself to be and what kind of publican? God forgave the publican, but did not give His mercy to the Pharisee, because he condemned others and praised himself. He prayed wrong, but the publican did it right. The prayer of the publican is still read by people, it is called the prayer of the publican. Let's remember it. Memorization of prayer follows. There is no need to condemn anyone; There is no need to say that we are better than people and that other people are worse than us. Whoever is proud is the worst of all: even if he does something bad, he will still praise himself. And boasting will make him completely bad. The first answer is: "People"; it is followed by the question: "How many are there?" etc. The task of the teacher of the law is to guide the students to the desired result in accordance with the children's answers, which cannot be foreseen.^ Cf. Lk. 8, 11-12.- Ed.^ Luke. 18, 13.- Ed.^

Lesson 15. Teaching the Prayer "O Most Holy Trinity..."

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

Plan. Repetition of the Trisagion. Transition to the prayer "O Most Holy Trinity..."; its reading by the teacher of the law; division into parts; indication of appeals and their content; explanation of the meaning of Slavic expressions. Inference. We already know one prayer to all three Persons of the Holy Trinity, in which we ask God to have mercy on us. Let us remember this prayer. The disciples read the prayer: "Holy God...". In this prayer, we first name all three Persons of the Holy Trinity, and then we ask God alone to have mercy on us. Today we will learn one more prayer to all the Persons of the Holy Trinity. Stand up, all of you, and listen more attentively. The teacher of the law reads the prayer separately and clearly: "O Most Holy Trinity..." Sit down and listen. Now I will read only the beginning of the prayer: Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Repeat these words. We say: Most Holy Trinity, to whom do we pray with these words? Then we say: have mercy on us, – what do we ask of the Most Holy Trinity? Who is the First Person of the Holy Trinity? Second? Third? In the prayer "Holy God..." We call God the Father God, God the Son the Mighty, God the Holy Spirit the Immortal, and in the prayer "O Most Holy Trinity..." The Persons of the Holy Trinity are called differently. In this prayer we call the first Person the word Lord, the second the word Master, and the third the word Holy. What do we call the first Person? Second? Third? We call the first Person the Lord and ask Him: cleanse our sins. What do we ask of God the Father with these words? D. That He would cleanse our sins. H. By what word do we call Him? W. Lord. H. Our body is made unclean from filth, and our soul is made unclean from sins. We ourselves wash off the dirt from the body with water, and only God can cleanse our soul of sins. That is why we ask God to cleanse our sins. What makes the body dirty? What does the soul come from? What do we do when the body gets dirty? Who can cleanse sins? How do we pray to God about this? After the Father, we call God the Son by the word Lord, and we ask Him: Forgive our iniquities. You know that God has given people His law. Whoever does not live as God commanded him to live, sins or, in other words, commits iniquity. God loves us, gives us everything we need, but we do not obey Him and are guilty of this before Him. When someone offends us, and then asks for forgiveness, then we forgive the offender. And God forgives those who ask Him for forgiveness even more quickly. That is why we ask God in prayer to forgive our iniquities. We pray to Him: O Lord, forgive our iniquities. Who does iniquity? To whom are people guilty of iniquity? What do we do when the offender asks us for forgiveness? From whom do we ask forgiveness for our iniquities? What word do we use to call God the Son? With what words do we ask Him for forgiveness? After God the Son, in prayer we call God the Holy Spirit by the word holy. We pray to Him thus: Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities. The word weakness, or dumb, how can we say it in another way? U. Illness, illness. H. When a person is sick, what is done to him? U. Treated. H. A healer will be called to the sick person to visit the sick person and cure him, or, in other words, heal him. Not only the body, but also the soul can get sick. She knows what God has commanded her to do, but she cannot do it because she is assailed by sickness or infirmity. Then no healer can help the soul, and only the Holy Spirit can heal it. That is why we pray that the Holy Spirit will come and heal our spiritual illnesses, or, in other words, visit and heal our infirmities. In prayer we say: Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities. How to say otherwise, visit? Heal? Infirmities? What do we call the Holy Spirit? What do we ask of Him? How do we pray for this? In this prayer we ask the Holy Trinity to have mercy on us: God the Father to cleanse our sins, God the Son to forgive our iniquities, the Holy Spirit to visit and heal our infirmities. If we pray to God fervently, then God gives us what we ask of Him. He gives us because He is very kind, and for this kindness we should always praise or glorify Him. Therefore, at the end of the prayer "To the Most Holy Trinity..." we promise to glorify God. We end this prayer with the words: ... For the sake of the name of T. You already know what the words in the name mean; the same is meant by the words of the name T for their sake. Here we recall the explanation of the prayer: "In the name of the Father...", and then follows the memorization of the prayer: "O Most Holy Trinity...". When you pray, remember that you are guilty before God of your sins, and remember that God is very kind: He loves us and gives us everything we ask of Him. Both in joy and in sorrow, trust in God and pray to Him always.