February 26 - What We Believe: The Ten Commandments

Lesson Plans:  The Ten Commandments

Texts:

Exodus 20:1-21

God Gives His People the Ten Commandments

 1 Here are all of the words God spoke. He said,

 2 "I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt. That is the land where you were slaves.

 3 "Do not put any other gods in place of me.

 4 "Do not make statues of gods that look like anything in the sky or on the earth or in the waters. 5 Do not bow down to them or worship them. I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. I punish the children for the sin of their parents. I punish the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those who hate me. 6 But for all time to come I show love to all those who love me and keep my commandments.

 7 "Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will find guilty anyone who misuses his name.

 8 "Remember to keep the Sabbath day holy. 9 Do all of your work in six days. 10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath in honor of the Lord your God. Do not do any work on that day. The same command applies to your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and your animals. It also applies to any outsiders who live in your cities. 11 In six days I made the heavens and the earth. I made the oceans and everything in them. But I rested on the seventh day. So I blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

 12 "Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long time in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

 13 "Do not commit murder.

 14 "Do not commit adultery.

 15 "Do not steal.

 16 "Do not give false witness against your neighbor.

 17 "Do not long for anything that belongs to your neighbor. Do not long for your neighbor's house, wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey."

 18 The people saw the thunder and lightning. They heard the trumpet. They saw the mountain covered with smoke. They trembled with fear and stayed a long way off.

 19 They said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself. Then we'll listen. But don't let God speak to us. If he does, we'll die."

 20 Moses said to the people, "Don't be afraid. God has come to put you to the test. He wants you to have respect for him. That will keep you from sinning."

 21 Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. But the people remained a long way off.

Overview:

The Law that God handed down to his people was meant to guide the people of Israel to a life of holiness.  Of course, God had longer range plans for this Law and it still stands today.  The Law wasn’t supposed to be oppressive.  God simply wanted to give His people boundaries within which to refine their souls to a righteous state.  To this day, God still requires obedience to His Law in order for us to gain our full potential as He created us to be.  Sin is where we fall short of all the wonderful things God planned for us to do and be.  Remember, we are created in his image, but we obscure it with our sin.  We approach our true potential when we hold close to God’s will, not because he is demanding, but because He loves us so much He wants the best for us. 

The Law was not meant to take the fun out of everything.  Fallen man tends to think that just because something seems fun at the time it must be what’s best for him.  Rules ruin a good time, right?  God knows better.  What may seem fun for a moment can have consequences that last a lifetime.  God knows that when we live according to these rules we find true happiness because we are truly free.  So far from being a prison, the Law in reality sets us free. 

PreK-Kinder Lesson Notes:                                                                                                          

This class will focus on the purpose of rules.  Rules help us to know what is good for us and what is bad.  Our parents are the first people that teach us rules.  Think about some of the rules your parents gave you:  No jumping on the bed, wear shoes outside, no cookies before dinner, no running with scissors, etc.  Parents don’t give us rules to be mean, but to protect us from danger.  Parents want what is best for us.  God is the same way.  All his rules are meant to keep us safe, too.  If you think about the rules your parents have, they all make sense even if we don’t like them.  The same is true with God’s rules.  He has ten rules.  Just ten, but there are lots of little and big ways to break them.  We have to really think about our choices so that we ake sure we aren’t breaking any of them.  But, God knows we make mistakes and he is always ready to forgive us.

Objectives: 
·         Help the children understand that rules are a good thing.  They help keep us safe. 
·         Our parents give us rules because they love and care for us.  God is just like our parents.  He wants the best for us.
·         God gave us ten very important rules.  Introduce the children to the Ten Commandments.

Activities:

·         Look at the list of Ten Commandment s for Kids and talk about each one.  There are a number of them that the little ones will not really understand, but do your best with the ones you think they will understand.  Try further explanation with examples.

Crafts:

·         Ten Commandments felt board.  Cover two pieces of card stock per child with grey felt.  Cut the commandments into separate pieces.  Cut sand paper into strips that are the same size as the paper commandments.  Have the students glue the paper commandments to the sand paper strips.  Students can then affix the commandments to the felt in the right order.

Lower Elementary Lesson Notes:                                                                                                

This class will be focusing on the story of how we came to have the Ten Commandments.  As God continued his work in making his nation, Moses led the people of God into the land.  These people had by and large forgotten their faith and religious practices.  In order to become a great nation, the Israelites had to how to deal with God and each other.  Moses communicated one on one with God on behalf of the Israelites.  God gave Moses the Law, and then Moses gave it to the people.  The first four commandments deal with how we understand and relate to God.  The remaining six deal with how we relate to each other. 

In creating a nation of people who must live together in their faith, the concern of the people would rightly be on how to focus their faith properly and then how to live together successfully.  Without these two elements, the people of God (then and now) fall into disorder and cannot function.  The commandment regarding God appear first because God is supreme and is above all things, but also because we must be able to successfully navigate our relationship with God before we can hope to do so with others. 

The Ten Commandments make sense.  There isn’t anything on the list where we say, “well, that’s wrong.”  The Commandments are complete as well.  With just ten rules, God covered everything.  It doesn’t seem possible, but every sin you can think of fits on the list somewhere.  Try it out.  Think of a bad thing you think is not on the list and then think of the categories.  If you understand the nuances of each item, you will find it fits somewhere.  Even modern day sins that had no frame of reference when Moses was around still find a place in the top ten list. 

Judaism is full of laws to help the Jews stay on the right path.  The following of these laws became somewhat distorted over time so that the laws became the object rather than relationship with God.  When Jesus came into the world, he said he did not come to abolish the law.  What he did do was simplify it.  He said that there were really two main commandments.  These are to love God with everything you’ve got and to love your neighbor as yourself.  The first four commandments are about loving God, and the last six are about loving your neighbor.  Pretty simple. 

If you truly love God, you will follow all ten of these commandments with ease.  They will be a natural consequence of loving God completely.  Following the commandments will teach these principles of God and will lead to love of him.  Love leads to obedience and obedience leads to love. 

Objectives:
·         Instruct the children in the story of Moses and the Ten Commandments.  God used a human to bring the law to the world. 
·         The law is part of God’s plan of salvation and teaches us how to interact with God and each other. 
·         The law is complete.  Anything we can think of do to wrong is on the list in some way.
·         The root of obedience to the law is love – loving God and our neighbor.

Activities:

·         Read through the Ten Commandments for Kids.  Talk about what each commandment means.  Ask the children to try to come up with a sin that is not on the list.  Show them under which commandment their suggested sin fits.

Crafts:

·         Make clay tablets.  Supplies:  clay, stylus, waxed paper.  Let each child form the shape of the tablets with their clay.  With a stylus each child can draw on the tablets (They can draw squiggly lines to indicate text or just numbers 1-10).
·         Cloud mobile.  Supplies:  coat hanger, white and grey paper, glue, string or yarn.  Have children cut out large cloud shapes and glue them to the hanger.  Tie string or yarn to hanger and hang a miniature tablet set cutout. 
·         Stained glass heart.  Supplies: Dough, colorful hard candies (crushed), heart cookie cutters, waxed paper, an oven.  Have children form a heart shape around the cookie cutter.  Remove the cutter and fill the interior with pieces of colorful hard candies.  Bake in an over at 350 degree for 5-6 minutes until candy has melted.  The heart can symbolize the love we have for God when we keep his commandments..

Upper Elementary Lesson Notes:                                                                                                

This class will be learning about what the Ten Commandments really mean.  The Ten Commandments seem like just ten simple rules, but there are lots of ways to break them both big and small.  Take murder for example, it’s not just taking someone’s life, killing them.  To hold anger or hatred in your heart for someone is also murder.  To destroy someone’s reputation by gossiping is murder.  To wish ill upon someone is murder.  To feel a certain sense of joy or satisfaction at someone’s troubles, downfalls, misfortunes – murder.  We don’t think much about idols in this day and age, but we certainly have them.  Anything we put before God is an idol.  Anything we give more attention, effort, devotion or importance.  Modern day idols are money, power, possessions, the limelight, etc.  Stealing can be much more than taking something you didn’t pay for.  If you have a job and you don’t use your time well (don’t work as hard as you can, arrive late, leave early, spend too much time talking to coworkers, etc.) you are stealing.  So as you can see, there are a lot of ways to break the Ten Commandments that a lot of us have never realized. 

Objectives:

·         Help the students understand that there are a lot of different kinds of sins that cause us to break the Ten Commandment. Some are big things, some are small.
·         Discuss the fact that sin is sin.  Little sins have just as much of an impact on your soul as big ones.  We don’t want to get into the habit of excusing smaller sins thinking they are no big deal. 

Activities:
·         Have kids run through the finger play of the Ten Commandments they learned from Fr. Stubbs.
·         Help the children think through all the Commandments and how they can be broken with what seem like small sins.  List examples.  A good examination of conscience will give examples.  I can provide you with a child’s examination of conscience that will help.

Crafts:

·         Stained glass heart.  Supplies: Dough, colorful hard candies (crushed), heart cookie cutters, waxed paper, an oven.  Have children form a heart shape around the cookie cutter.  Remove the cutter and fill the interior with pieces of colorful hard candies.  Bake in an over at 350 degree for 5-6 minutes until candy has melted.  The heart can symbolize the heart that needs to be made clean in confession or the love that we have for God.
·         Foamie Tablets.  Supplies:  Foamie sheets, scissors, sharpies.  Have the students cut out the shape of tablets, then fill in the Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments for Kids:

i.                 There is only one god whom i will love with my whole heart

ii.             I will not make other things more important than god

iii.         I will not use god’s name carelessly or in anger

iv.        I will keep Sunday special for god

v.            I will be respectful of my parents

vi.        I will not kill or keep anger in my heart against another

vii.    I will be faithful to my spouse

viii.       I will not steal

ix.       I will not lie

x.           I will not be greedy

Here is a good examination of conscience for children based on the ten commandments.  It comes from http://catholicparents.org/oxcart/examinationchild2.html
The 10 Commandments are our guide. In the 10 Commandments, God has told us what we are to do and what we are not to do to live good and holy lives.
1. The First Commandment: "I am the Lord your God; you shall not have strange gods before Me."
We must believe in God, our Father. We must love Him, hope in Him, and pray to Him with loving hearts. Under the First Commandment, we must pay special attention to praying or talking with God in prayer everyday. When you wake up, bless yourself and thank God for the day. Ask Him to help you in all you think, do, and say. Remember to pray before eating and thanking God for your food and all your blessings. How our good Jesus loves a thankful heart! Kneel down next to your bed each night and pray to God before sleeping. All these are called our daily prayers. To not talk or pray to God and decide not to make Him a part of your day is a sin against the First Commandment. We are not putting God first. We must always try to put God first in our lives. When you are praying, you should always try to keep your heart with God. Offer God the pure love for Him in your heart. There might be times when your mind wanders off and you think of other things but as soon as you remember, bring your thoughts back to Jesus.
To become distracted or forgetful is not a sin. Just keep trying to keep your mind and heart with Jesus. Speak to Him as you would speak sweetly to your very best friend. Jesus loves to hear from you! Jesus knows you better than you know yourself. Did you ever think about that? He loves you so much. Always try to keep your mind and heart with Him as you pray. Ask your Guardian Angel to help you pray.
Not paying attention in Religion class or not doing your Religion lessons can also be a sin against the First Commandment if you are not trying to learn about what Jesus would like to teach you through your parents, teachers, or priests. Always try to do your very best for Jesus who gave His very best for you because He loves you so much!
I say my prayers every morning and night.
I praise and adore God. This is how I keep God’s First Commandment.
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2. The Second Commandment: "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain."
I speak of God and of the Saints and of holy things with respect and reverence. This is how I keep God’s Second Commandment.
We are told in the Second Commandment to speak with respect when we talk about God, anything that has to do with God, or about things that are holy. Never use lightly the holy Name of Jesus. There are other words, that when we speak of them, we must say with respect such as Mother Mary, the Cross, the Saints, the Blessed Sacrament, His Precious Blood...
Sometimes God’s holy Name is spoken lightly, "Oh my God, how did that happen?" If a person is in a habit of using God’s name in this way, they need to break this habit. We must always say God’s Name with love and respect.
A more serious sin against the Second Commandment is if one says the name of God in moment of anger. This is called cursing. If we are in a store or a place where we hear someone curse God’s holy Name, we can immediately pray for that person and tell Jesus we are sorry that His Name was said without love. We can whisper His Name with love. This is called "reparation."
Under the Second Commandment, then, we must always speak of God or His holy things with love and respect.
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3. The Third Commandment: "Remember to keep Holy the Lord's Day."
I go to Church on Sundays and Holydays of Obligation. I join the Priest as he offers Mass. This is how I keep God’s Third Commandment.
Our Sabbath day is Sunday, the day Jesus rose from the dead. Each Sunday is like a little Easter. Sunday is a day of rest. Sunday is a holy day. Sunday is the Lord’s day. We go to Mass each Sunday. We may also go to the Anticipated Sunday Mass on Saturday evening. We also go to Mass on all special Holy Days that the Church asks of us to love and honor God. To miss Mass on Sunday or a Holy Day on purpose is a sin. It may happen that you are sick or are unable to go to Mass on Sunday. This is not a sin. You would be there to pray and receive Jesus in Holy Communion if you were able, but you are sick or unable to get to Church. Jesus knows this.
And how do you behave in Church? You must remember to behave with love, reverence, and respect. Have you ever noticed an older child laughing and giggling, chattering, constantly turning around to look behind, putting their feet up on the pew, chewing gum, or even eating? Do you think Jesus is please with such sad behavior? It would be very wrong to act this way in Church. When we come to Mass we must concentrate on loving God with all our heart. We must be a good example to others around us. Younger brothers and sisters and other children need to see your good example.
By our good actions, we can show Jesus how much we love Him.
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4. The Fourth Commandment: "Honor your father and your mother."
I love and respect and obey my father and mother. I pay attention to my teacher in school. This is how I keep God’s Fourth Commandment.
God has given us parents to take care of us and if we do not love, honor, and obey them, then we do not love, honor, and obey God. It is not enough to say that you love your mom and dad, for if you really did you would try to live that love by your actions. You would obey them the first time they ask you something and even with a smile! A child that pouts and refuses to obey their mom or dad and sasses back is sinning against the Fourth Commandment. Under the Fourth Commandment, you must also honor and obey your teachers and priests. You must respect and obey them as you would your parents.
You must also give respect to the elderly. Their age makes them worthy of your care and consideration. If you see an old man or woman, no matter how humble or different looking they seem, always be kind, gentle, and polite to them. Never laugh or be rude towards them.
In examining your conscience on the Fourth Commandment, you will ask yourself if you have been disobedient or disrespectful in talk or actions to your parents, teachers, or priests and if you have ever been unkind to the elderly.
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5. The Fifth Commandment: "You shall not kill."
I take care of my body and soul. I never fight or quarrel or hurt anyone. I am kind to everybody. This is how I keep God’s Fifth Commandment.
To kill someone would indeed be a terrible crime and a serious sin against the Fifth Commandment! Most children would never sin in this way. But there are other ways that we can offend or hurt by not living this commandment in our lives.
We must not physically hurt anyone by hitting, pinching, biting, etc.
We must not say cruel things to others by making fun of them.
We must not hold in our hearts hatred towards another person. To wish terrible things to happen to a person or wish they were dead would be a sin against the Fifth Commandment. If we are angry and hurt we must say "I Forgive them." Look at our dear Jesus hanging on the cross on the crucifix. How good and pure He is and yet, see how He is hurt by hatred and anger. All our sins hurt Jesus. We must pray, go to Confession and Holy Communion, and He will give us the strength to love and forgive all who hurt us.
Another way we sin against the Fifth Commandment is by trying to make another person sin. If you ask your sister to get some money out of your mother’s purse for you without asking or if you ask a friend to lie for you, then you are guilty of trying to harm another person by leading them into sin. If you go to the store with your friend and see an bin of chocolate candy and say to your friend, "Nobody is looking. Quickly, put some in your pockets. They will never notice a few chocolates gone. They have so many." If your friend steals them then, not only have you sinned by stealing, but you have also broken the Fifth Commandment because you have caused harm to your friend’s soul by helping him to sin.
Under the Fifth Commandment, we must also be kind to our pets and small animals. We must not harm them or make them suffer for our fun.
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6. The Sixth Commandment: "You Shall Not Commit Adultery."
I am modest in all I do, in all I say, in all I listen to, and in all I look at. The Sixth Commandment says we must be pure. We must be modest in our dress, in our words, and in our actions. God wants all children to have a clean heart. When our Mother Mary appeared to the 3 little children at Fatima in 1917, she told them that there are fashions (the way people dress) that are coming that will very much offend or hurt our Jesus. We must be modest children. If a modest child sees a billboard or a magazine cover that is not modest, he looks the other way. A modest child does not look up bad pictures or games on the computer. A modest child does not listen to music that has impure or bad words.
Our world today is very immodest and impure and we need God’s help and our Mother Mary’s prayers to stay pure and holy. Every morning when you wake up, say an "Hail Mary" and ask Mother Mary to guard your purity. Say no impure words and try to think no impure thoughts. Pray to your Guardian Angel each night before going to sleep to protect you and guide you.
The Bible tells us: "Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God."
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7. The Seventh Commandment: "You Shall Not Steal."
I never take or damage what belongs to others. I am always honest and generous. This is how I keep God’s Seventh Commandment. This commandment tells us we must not take or keep what belongs to another. A child must not take anything, in secret, that belongs to their parents or to a brother or sister without asking. They may think that because it belongs to a family member, it belongs to them. Without permission, it is wrong to take things and would be a sin against the Seventh Commandment.
You must not take pencils, toys, candy, small or big items from your friends, neighbors, stores without asking or paying for it.
If you borrow a toy, book, or any item from someone you must return it. If you damage or break it, you must try to fix it or replace it.
You must not look at another person’s work and copy it as your own work. This would include tests, homework, reports, etc. This is cheating or stealing another’s work.
If you, on purpose, break a neighbor’s window, damage their lawn, flowerbeds or trees, then you have broken the Seventh Commandment.
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8. The Eighth Commandment: "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."
I never tell lies about anyone. I never speak of anyone’s faults. I always say the truth. This is how I keep God’s Eighth Commandment. This commandment tells us we must not lie. The serpent in paradise, in the Garden of Eden, was the first to tell a lie. It said to Eve, "If you eat of the forbidden fruit, you will not die." The serpent knew what it said was a lie. Those who lie follow the devil and God is not pleased. When thinking of the Eighth Commandment, ask yourself if you have always been truthful. Anything that is not true is a lie.
Always remember that a lie is a lie. Do not call an untruth a trifle, and exaggeration, or a little white lie. Always be honest in the small things so when you grow up you will be honest in the big things. Even if you are afraid of getting into trouble, you must not lie.
You all probably know the story told of President George Washington. When George was a young boy, he must have had cherry trees by his house. One day, perhaps when he had found an ax in the tool shed, he cut a cherry tree down. His father came home and when he saw the cherry tree cut down, he was very upset. He asked, "Who cut down that cherry tree?" All who heard him could tell he was very upset about it. George could have lied and said he didn’t do it. He also could have said nothing and that would have been a sin of omission. Instead, George said, "Father, I cannot tell a lie. I am the one who cut down that cherry tree." We are told that Mr. Washington was so impressed with his son’s honesty that he forgot about being upset. He was very pleased that, even if it seemed that George would be punished, he chose to tell the truth and accept the consequences.
Children, we must always remember the story of George Washington and tell the truth, even if it seems like we may be punished for something we did or did not do.
To repeat something hurtful against another is also a sin against the Eighth Commandment... Let’s say that one day at school your teacher handed back the class Math tests and you noticed that the girl next to you, Emily, received an "F" on her test. Emily quickly put her test in her folder before anyone could see it but you did see it. If, at recess, you told all the children in your class that Emily received an "F" on her test, this would be wrong. What you say may be true but you must also stop and think, "Is it necessary that I tell others what I know? Will it hurt that person?" To know it is wrong to tell and to tell it anyway would be a sin against the Eighth Commandment.
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9. The Ninth Commandment: "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife."
I am pure in what I think and desire. I keep my mind and my heart pure. This is how I keep God’s Ninth Commandment.
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10. The Tenth Commandment: "You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbor's Goods."
I never desire to take what belongs to others. I am never jealous. I am always satisfied. This is how I keep God’s Tenth Commandment.
This Commandment tells us we must always be satisfied with what we have. If we have a friend that has a toy or a thing that we want, we must not be envious. We must not constantly beg our parents for what other children have and what we want. This would be a sin against the Tenth Commandment. Try to always remember to thank Jesus for all the blessings you have.
A child with a thankful heart will never break the Tenth Commandment.