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KEY POINTS:

“The Way” is mentioned in the Bible in the Acts of the Apostles. It was used as a term by the early Christians because of Jesus’ statement that he is “the way and the truth and the life”. In the Old Testament, the psalms also mention “the way” quite often. A central theme is that we stray from “the way” or true path of following Jesus when we sin.  Sins are like stumbling blocks that trip us up and make us lose our way because they damage our relationships with God and others.

The Way Project for 5th grade catechism for Catechism Angel at catechismangel.com
Picture 1: A visualization of creating “The Way” (Part 1 of a 3 part project). Use butcher paper to draw a big path During this lesson have the students glue their stumbling blocks (or sins) to the path through the representations of things like logs, boulders, snakes, etc.

Supplies

  • Bibles
  • butcher paper cut to a length of 5 feet with a hand drawn path drawn across it (see Picture 1)
  • scrap pieces of various colored card stock
  • markers, scissors and glue

Vocabulary

“The Way”, Sin, Neglect

Opening Prayer:

 Say Apostle’s Creed

Introduce “The Way”?

Explain this concept by giving this overview:

  • Early Christian’s used this term because Jesus said that he is the “the way, the truth and the life.”
  • The “Way” indicates guiding words on how to live our lives!!
  • It indicates “The Way” or the path to God!
  • The Bible actually contains over 21 verses about “The Way” or “The Path”
  • Many are found in the PSALMS—a book in the Old Testament 

What is a psalm?

  • A psalm Is a sacred song or hymn, especially those contained in the biblical Book of Psalms
  • Psalms are used in both Christian and Jewish worship.
  • Many psalms are traditionally ascribed to King David

Read Psalms about “The Way” or “The Path”

  • Randomly assign the Psalm passages listed in the Google slide below to various kids or pairs of kids
  • Ask them look up their assigned passage
  • Once everyone has found their passage go around the room and ask them to either READ It or SING it!!

Alternatively, students could find their assigned Psalm and then write the whole verse on the white board.  Once everyone has written their verse on the whiteboard, then underline where it says “way” or “path”.

Large Group Discussion: Losing our Way due to Sin

Ask the group, “What causes us to stumble or lose the trail of “The Way”?

Possible answers given by students:

  • Lying
  • Jealousy
  • Worry
  • Sadness
  • Greed

Overview of Sin

Explain that sin damages our relationship with God and with others and sins are the biggest reasons we lose “The Way” to God.

Go over the 3 categories of sins that we experience:

  1. Sins of Attitude
  2. Sins of Action
  3. Sins of Neglect  (not doing something you are supposed to do)

Brainstorm together examples of each type as applied to parents & teacher relationships and sibling & classmate relationships. Feel free to pass out this worksheet (Picture 2) as a guide to the discussion. Ask the students to privately circle 2 that they have particular difficulty with.

Picture 2: Worksheet showing examples of sins that students struggle with in their lives. Ask students to find several that give them difficulty.

Activity: Add Sins as Stumbling Blocks to “The Way”

Ask the students to choose some sin or stumbling block that they feel they struggle with in their daily lives at home or at school. Ask them to consider how it takes them off the path to God?  Is the sin like a:

  • Rock or boulder?
  • Log?
  • Stream?
  • Ditch/ravine?
  • Snake?

Instruct students to cut out paper shapes of one of the physical objects listed and label them with their key stumbling block. Then ask them to glue their shape somewhere on “The Way”.

Closing Prayer

Email to Families

In class this week we started a 3 week project, in creating “The Way”, a big visual project of how we need to look to God for “The Way” to live.

In this lesson, we took these first steps on “The Way”:

  • First we read some Psalms that talk about “The Right Path” and “The Way to God.”
  • Then we discussed about how the biggest stumbling blocks we have to following “The Way” are our sins.
  • Each student then choose at least one stumbling block that they struggle with to add to “The Way” visualization that we are creating on large butcher paper.
  • They were asked to add the stumbling block in the shape of a rock, stream, ditch, snake, etc.

Questions to ask your child:

  1. What stumbling block did they add?
  2. How can they do better with avoiding their stumbling block?
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