Solomon’s Temple: Where Do We Experience the Presence of God?

Here’s my lesson plan for Monday evening (Dec. 17)

Session 12: Solomon’s Temple

BIG IDEA:  God’s presence is found, not in a building, but in the People of God and in the Eucharist.

Preliminaries (20 mins)

1. Advent Procession – O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
2. Tribute to those who died in the CT massacre – ring chime 26 times…one for each victim
3. Video: We Can Build a Beautiful City

Engage (10 mins)

1. Play “Where’s Waldo?” game.
2. Explain that the goal of that game is to find Waldo, who is not easily recognizable.
3. Today we are going to focus on “finding” God who is not always easily recognizable, especially when times are hard.

Explore (25 mins)

1. Show a jewelry box – explain that this is where valuables are kept.
2. Explain that the people of Israel had a very large “box” in which they kept their most valuable things: the stone tablets of God’s Law. The son of David, Solomon, built a Temple in Jerusalem, and within the Holy of Holies, the Ark was placed and above it, the mercy seat, where they believed God’s presence existed. People would travel to Jerusalem to worship God, present in the Temple.
3. Read Finding God p. 64-65 about Solomon’s Temple.
4. Reading: Jn 2:13-22 (Jesus cleanses the Temple and says “destroy this Temple and in 3 days I will raise it up.”
5. Explain that Jesus is telling us that we no longer worship God in a building but in him.
6. Jesus, in turn, gives himself to us in the Eucharist…we are now “temples of the Holy spirit.”
7. Read 1 Cor 19-20.
8. Show video: “Everyone, Everywhere” – Mother Teresa; teaches us to find God’s presence in all people.

Reflect (10 mins)

1. Sacred Space – we find God right here in the quiet of our sacred space.
2. Lead guided reflection, Finding God p. 66.

Respond (10 mins)

1. Have the students complete BLM “What’s in Your Ark?”
2. Closing Prayer

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