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Confession & Repentance: Gr. 2 - Gr. 5

Lesson Objectives

  • Why do we need to confess
  • How do we confess/what does it mean to confess
  • Emphasize there shouldn’t be shame in confessing to Abouna
  • What is repentance, why is it necessary



Resources:


Introduction

  • Ask the kids what are some examples of things that keep us healthy and strong. 
  • We do such things because our parents teach them to us. Our parents know how to protect us and tell us how to be safe. We trust and listen to them because they know what’s best for us.
  • God is the Father of everyone in the world. He knows exactly how to keep us healthy and strong, of course physically but also spiritually. The Ten Commandments are the biggest example of things that God told us will keep us spiritually healthy. That is why we need to follow them every day.
  • What are some examples of things that don’t make us feel so good and can make us get sick?
    • Build on their examples and list a few more. If we only eat candy, our stomachs will get upset. If we go outside in the winter without a jacket then we will get a cold and get sick/ 
    • If we do the things our parents tell us to avoid, we will get hurt and sick. 
    • This applies to God our Father as well. When we don’t do things that follow the commandments, it’s like getting a spiritual bruise/wound. These wounds are sins
  • Ask the kids to give examples and provide more relevant examples.
  • We can’t completely avoid these things. We all will get sick. When we get sick, we need to go to the doctor so he can give us/our parents medicine and we can start to feel better again. How about when we make mistakes and do things that are against the Commandments? Just as we need to go to the doctor, we need to go to Abouna for confession. 



Defining Confession and the Need to Admit Our Sins

    • When we go to Abouna for confession, we need to tell him anything and everything we may have done wrong. To make us spiritually healthy and strong again, he prayers a special prayer. This special prayer is the medicine God gives Abouna to give to us. Abouna is not the one healing us, it is God who works through Abouna. 
  • Asks the kids why do we actually need to admit all our sins to Abouna. Why can’t we just say “We did bad things”
  • When you go to the doctor, you don’t just say “I’m sick.” You need to tell the doctor all your symptoms, exactly how you’re feeling so he can give you the right medication. Similarly, we need to tell Abouna about each sin we have committed so he can give us advice about how to work on them and get better. It’s very hard to not do certain sins, especially trying to do it alone. God doesn’t want us to do it alone nor is expecting it from us. He is with us on our journey of becoming better Christians and reflecting His Image. One of the ways He helps us is through our Father of Confession. Abouna has gone through many of the same problems as we have/are. He understands our struggles and knows how to get us out of them as well. The mystery of confession and receiving absolution also provides us the “invisible strength”. 
  • Even if we keep making mistakes, we can keep going for confession. The doctor will never stop giving you medicine each time you get sick. God will always forgive our sins, regardless of how many times we do them.
  • One other note: it might feel embarrassing to tell Abouna about our mistakes but instead of looking at our sins as a personal problem, look at them as sicknesses in need of medicine. Abouna can’t reveal our sins to anyone so we don’t have to worry about him telling on us to our parents. 


Tips on How to Confess

  • Before going to confess, it is important to prepare. You need to sit with yourself and reflect and it also helps to write down your list of sins so you don’t forget anything.
  • Be honest with yourself (and to Abouna), don’t hide any secrets or even the big or small things
  • Think about things you’ve done, things you’ve said, and things you’ve thought that go against God’s commandments.
  • Only talk about yourself and your sins, don’t tell Abouna what your friends, siblings parents, etc. did wrong. This time is just about you.


Activity & Analogies (These are just ideas and suggestions, feel free to 

    • Buttons/coins in a cup of cola
      • Pour a cup of cola (or really any dark drink) into a glass then drop a few buttons/coins. The buttons should sink to the bottom and then rise back up.
  • Ask the kids who like cola/juice, then ask them if they would drink this cup with the buttons/coins inside it. Assuming they say no…
    • Explain that the glass of soda is like a person and the buttons/coins are their sins. Each time we sin, we are placing a dirty coin in the cup. On the outside, the glass may not appear dirty but on the inside it is dirty. That’s one of the special graces God gives us; whenever we sin, he hides our sins so that people don’t see it (for the most part.) The soda will taste bad though and we can’t drink it unless we remove the buttons. When we do something wrong, we feel like something is weighing us down, just like these buttons. That is why we need to partake in confession. Abouna is the only one who can remove the buttons from the soda for us. But it is not Abouna’s ability to remove our sins. It is God who removes the buttons through Abouna through a special, invisible grace.
  • Salt and Pepper Plate (Grade 5 SUS Copts Curriculum Lesson 3.9 Activity)
    • Bring out a plate and then put salt on it, covering the surface.
      • This represents us after we have been baptized when we are born again and free from sin.
    • Then put black pepper on top.
      • The pepper represents sin entering into our lives. Sin harms us and causes sickness by preventing us from seeing God clearly.
    • Then, get a spoon and rub it on clothing to give it static and pass it over the plate. This should pick up all the black pepper.
      • This represents how when we repent and confess, we are purified and healed from the sickness of sin.
  • Video of a sheep stuck in a hole in the ground (idea from this blog)
    • Ask the kids what the sheep must have felt stuck in the hole. 
      • Dark, alone, scared needed help
    • We are like the sheep in our struggles. We can get stuck in the hole if we ever get lost. List examples of sins that we can get stuck doing over and over.
    • Jesus is like the man who pulled the sheep out. Christ helps us overcome our sins and get out of the hole. But for Him to do that we need to confess and represent. 
      • The sheep needed to make noise for the man to have heard and notice that he was stuck.





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