Marriage: Gr. 2 - Gr. 5

Resources:

• SUS Copts Sunday School Curriculum: Grade 4 - Lesson 3.5: The Sacrament of Marriage

• Dr Daoud Lamei - The Holy Sacraments - Cartoons: Marriage (20:45 - 24:30)

Objectives

• Marriage in the Bible

• What is Marriage

• The Purpose of Marriage: Christ’s Commandment

• The Mystery of Marriage: The Visible and Invisible

Introduction:

• Ask the kids for examples of Husbands and Wives in the Bible

• We have seen many examples and heard of many stories of married couples in the Bible. For example, Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Ruth and Boaz, Zechariah and Elizabeth, Anna and Joachim, Joesph and Mary

• *Potential activity/fun intro: play a guessing game or trivia and have the kids guess who are those couples*

What is Marriage

• Marriage is when God unites a man and a woman who love each other together with Him and they live eternally together. 

• Even though we can only see a man and a woman, God is between them. 

• During their wedding, the Holy Spirit comes down and dwells in them so that they become united with each other and God and become One with God. This union lasts between them eternally. That means even after one of them passes away, they are still connected as One. When the other person passes away they will join their partner in Heaven.

Purpose of Marriage

• Marriage doesn’t just mean the couple lives together, it means they live a Christian life (eternally) together and help each other grow closer to God.

• Marriage is necessary and natural because it is how God intended man and woman to become closer with Him. 

• We know this is true because Christ commanded us in the New Testament:

• “But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” - Mark 10:6-8

Visible and Invisible Parts of Marriage

• Recall the two parts of a sacrament. There’s a visible act and an invisible blessing and grace. There are also visible and invisible parts of a wedding and a marriage.

• The most visible part is the two separate people; a man and a woman. But the invisible blessing is that the Holy Spirit comes down and makes them united with God, like a three-stranded braid. 

• During the ceremony, we see many other visible garments and vestments outwardly but there is also an invisible Grace. 

• *Potential activity: have an image of an orthodox liturgical wedding (probably Coptic) and ask the kids how many liturgical items they can find*

• Holy Crowns

• Holy Oil

• Rings

• Gospel

• Garments