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God is with us (Matthew 1:23) All the Earth worships Thee (Psalm 66:4)   His name shall endure forever (Psalm 72: 17) He is our God, the God of salvation (Psalm 68:20) There shall come a Star out of Jacob (Numbers 24:17) He will save His people from their sins ( Matthew 1:20-21 ) For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given (Isaiah 9:6) He said, “Thou art My Son; on this day have I begotten Thee ” (Psalm 2:7) We have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him (Matthew 2:2) You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger (Luke 2:12) For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord ( Luke 2:11) Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel ( Isaiah 7:14) The Angels cried out, Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men (Luke 2:14)   He will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting F...

The sayings of the prophets are now fulfilled! Use this study to learn the prophecies of the Old Testament with your children and teenagers. (Download the free printable PDF file here, in color or black/white.) All verses are weaved into the hymns of the Orthodox Church and chanted during the Christmas services. The richness and depth of the season is remarkable!      Complete this "Root of Jesse Tree" by first gluing the Mother of God in place, and adding a prophet as you study them with the verses below. The tradition of this icon can often be found with an image of Jesse reclining at the bottom of the icon as the root - the Mother of God becomes the "rod" who springs forth the "fruit" who is Christ (2nd century Bishop Irenaeus of Lyons, St Ambrose of Milan, and 8th c St Cosmas) Here are the memory verses: A shoot will come forth from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. ( Isaiah 11:1) Her womb was foreshadowed by the burning ...

For the 'Apostles fast' in the Orthodox Church, and here's an activity to assemble the icon day by day until the feast on June 29/30. On the first day, the children will cut out and glue the icon of Christ in the center of the Tree, learning the memory verse, " I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." from John 15:5. Each day(s) to follow, focus on one Apostle at a time, reading their life, learning their experiences and placing them on the icon. Each has a troparion as well to chant! Click here to download the smaller icons Click here for the tree document.   Once the tree is colored by the children, it can be laminated, along with the icons.  We have placed velcro on the backsides, and the children re-attach the icons each year during the fasting period.   Saints Peter & Paul celebrated on June 29 (fast ends) Synaxis of the Twelve Holy Apostles, celebrated June 30 ...

This year for the Publican and Pharisee Sunday lesson, here's an idea to get your kids and teens active. Meet outside and introduce the story with two balls. Make your kids observe them, feel them, and throw them around to each other in a circle facing each other. Ask them to articulate just how different these two balls are. The beach ball is puffed up, displaying an array of colors in a fancy design for all to see. It is like eye-candy. When attempting to fly, especially upwards to heavens, it is tossed to and fro by the waves of air, pushing it in several directions without ever arriving at the destination. It is weightless. It is too plastic, and possibly too perfect. Worse yet, when the air is let out and deflated......there's nothing left. (A balloon also works great and can be blown up gradually in front of the kids as you give "prideful" examples, being the best soccer player, the faster runner, the best singer, first at spelling bee, etc) The tennis ball i...

A powerful way to get your tween/teens to start writing, thinking, and spending time with God is through a " Faith Journal !" As a parent or youth worker, you can use these for down time, and inspire them to discover the power of solitude in a location that's special to them. The only goal is that it's private and quiet. However, you might choose to lead them into understanding exactly what to do with this "time." Certain days, they'll write, other days draw, reflect, answer tough questions, read prayers or complete activities. Grab a smaller lined notebook or even sketchbook, and consider adding some of these components from the list below to get them started. Decorate the front/back as they wish, with guidelines that it is "spiritual" and inspiring. Provide papers, markers, icons, glue, glitter, etc Add Quotes : Ask them to write and decorate those pages: "What will you do with the time that is given to you?" Gandolf, Lord of the ...

 We're in the process of teaching the 10 Commandments throughout our Orthodox summer religious education classes, and although we don't have an established curriculum, there have been many resources that I'd like to share in case others might need them. It could be a great Vacation Bible School program as well. We teach one commandment every week, adding them to our two plaques cut out of cardboard. Along with the short lesson, we are watching small portions of t his animated video  posted on youtube each week .  It really does seem that as the story of the Prophet Moses unfolds, so do the lessons of the 10 Commandments along with it . The kids are really enjoying the video. I find it well done, even if the Prophet Moses was not so muscular. First 4 -              Mans’ relationship with God Last 6   -             Man’s relationship with fellow ...

It can sometimes be a very frustrating task, getting kids to cooperate at daily prayer times..beyond just meals that is. I'm sharing the bare bones of our morning/evening routine with you, so that we might encourage each other in the daily struggle to teach our kids to pray with their whole   mind, body and soul: to learn that communicating with God is an ongoing relationship and gift of love that requires effort, attentiveness and sacrifice. Here is what we do....please comment and post your tips for others. May God strengthen and illumine us as parents! MORNING PRAYERS - before breakfast and school Stand and make the sign of the Cross or bows to begin Light individual candles at vigil lamp (vigil lamp is constant flame in our home in front of our icons using olive oil as our continuous offering to God for His presence and blessing. A big void is noticed if this light goes out. Try it for a month and see!) "Through the prayers of the holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, our God,...

This September, for the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, I share with you this image of the largest fragment of the True Cross of Christ in existence. It is a special treasure of the Xeropotamou Monastery on Mount Athos, in Greece.* In honor of the feast, let's ask our kids, why the Cross is so very important to us as Christians?Why do the enemies of Christ, the demons, cringe at this sign? After reading a bit from Elder Cleopa, I am reminded of an event in the Old Testament... Read out loud together Numbers chapter 21. "The LORD said to Moses, 'Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.' So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived." Numbers 21:8-9 The faithful of that generation were offered a sign of hope, and for us today as Christians, we too are given a means for our salvation. For the New Testament fulfillment of this ...

Learning to Count: The Orthodox Numbers For children learning to count, or even teens who need a good challenge, this activity opens our eyes to the many ways our Lord sanctifies numbers. This idea was inspired by an Orthodox Saint who during his martyrdom, brought to mind something holy for each horrible act against him. While they cut off each toe or finger, he praised God according to the number, finding a way to glorify our Creator. Can anyone help me remember this Saint's name? Here's how the activity works: Begin by explaining that as the adult or leader, you will call one number at a time, and ask for your children/teens to respond with a correlating event from the Bible, a Saints life, or element from our faith. You can go in order, or be more spontaneous. However, don't move on until your group has thought of everything it can for that number! Here are a few examples... 1 - One God, One Church, One Faith, One Messiah, One leper healed who thanked God, Prayers of...

A Very Popular Activity Using the handout below, consider introducing your young people to many of the items from the altar that they rarely get to see. Start with pictures if you'd like and ask your local priest to invite the kids for a close-up encounter! Can they find those items on the page? He can remove them and bring them to the Solea, or kids can stand at the royal doors and point to objects they'd like to see. Here are a few items to identify and DISCUSS! (If you need more on the meaning of an item, its location in Scripture, or its name in Greek, please e-mail me as I have a great reference book of these things!) The Altar itself as Paradise and the Holy of Holies Tabernacle Antimension cloth to serve Liturgy on Identify the Place of oblation Prothesis Lance - Knife, double-edged spear which the soldier pierced Christ with on the cross Star - placed over the Disk, as star which stood over Bethlehem at birth of Christ Paten or Disk manger for Christ Spoon - as ...

Our Sunday lessons have sure been full of surprises this Lenten season! After Pascha, I sure hope to post all the creative ideas and lessons tips that blossomed according to each theme. Sorry that it's after the fact, but at least it'll be on the web for future years :(   Here's one idea that we'll be using tomorrow based on the Gospel reading from Mark 9:17-31. We'll be making bracelets from the powerful verse "All things are possible when you believe in God."  Printed on glossy photo paper, I cut these into strips and will use a white label to close them around the wrists of the children. You could use stickers or tape. I'll use this as the closing activity, after they have heard the re-telling of the Gospel, and have unscrambled the words of the memory sentences (see the Great Lent Lesson Chart). A special bonus is that these memory bracelets help to reinforce the message with their parents when they return home. You could adapt this for other speci...