20 - Baptism

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God, Amen

Lesson No. ( 20 )

References 

+ Matthew 3, John I 

+ The Sacrament of Baptism. 

Notes for Servants 

i “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” (Titus 3:5) 

i “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5) 

Objectives 

General: To celebrate Epiphany. 

Specific: The children will be able to ... 

1. Tell what they understand about baptism. 
2. Know that baptism cleanses us from sin and opens the gates of heaven for us. C. Explain what will happen to a person who dies without baptism. 

Bible Verse 

“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 

Matthew 3:17 

Teaching Aids 

1. Visit the Baptismal Font of the church. 
2. A picture of orthodox tradition. 

Instruction 

(1) Review last week's lesson. 

(2) Who remembers the verse? 

(3) Remind the children about the church occasions for the coming week. 

(4) Teacher should prepare the appropriate questions to emphasize the objectives during the lesson.

Lesson 

Is it necessary for us to be baptised? Who of you attended the baptism of a child? The Holy Spirit came on the water, did you see him? The priest anointed the child with the holy Myron(Chrism), did you see that? Did you see the Spirit come on the child? This is a mystery. We have called it a mystery because we cannot see the Holy Spirit when He sanctifies the heart, but he works. 

Baptism and Chrism (Myron) 

What do you usually do when your body is not clean? You wash. 

After washing, do you put on clean clothes or dirty clothes? 

What would happen if I did not take a bath and put on clean clothes? 

What would happen if I took a bath and put on dirty clothes? 

Baptism means washing the heart and the nature of man. It cleanses us from the sin that Adam and Eve did by disobeying God. In this sacrament, the priest prays on the water and sanctifies it to become holy water and washes our sins. 

Jesus told His disciples “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” (Matthew 28:19) 

Baptism is like Noah's Ark which saved good people from the flood. It is also like the crossing of the Red Sea when water surrounded the people and there was a cloud over them. 

Through baptism, we became members of the body of Christ, and became children of God. Baptism is done once and never repeated. What should I do if I sinned again? God gave us the sacrament of confession to forgive our sins and to keep us clean. 

Does the Holy Spirit come on children? Yes, in the sacrament of Chrism (Mayron). The apostles practised it first by laying hands as we read in the Book of Acts. Then they found a suitable material (i.e. the ointments which were on Christ's body and which were prepared by the women who went to the grave on Sunday morning). These ointments were used by the apostles in anointing the newly baptised persons. "But you have an anointing from the Holy One" (I John 2:20) 

Discussion 

1 - Follow up the story by talking about it with the children. 

2 - Continue the discussion while they do the activity. 

Learning Activities 

Activity Sheet.