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I AM Series Participant Workbook 2: The Good Shepherd

I AM Participant Workbook

Title:  I AM Session 2: I AM the Good Shepherd

Age:  8 to 12 years

Liturgical Time:  Any

Doctrinal Content: Christ is the Good Shepherd, and we are His flock.

Direct Aims:  The I AM series aims to help young people understand their relationship to Christ and to others based on the I AM statements.

Indirect Aims:  An additional aim is for young people to understand specific ways that they may emulate Christ.

Materials for the Lesson Plan:
I AM Participant Workbook
Orthodox Study Bible Bible
No Man Ever Spoke as This Man: The Great I AM’s of Jesus by Fr. Anthony Coniaris

Lesson Plan:
What is a shepherd and what does it take to be a good one?
How is Christ the Good Shepherd and who is His flock?

Luke 15: 3-7
So He spoke this parable to them saying: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

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John 10: 3- 5
“To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for the do not know the voice of strangers.”
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John 10:11-15
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

A good shepherd: _____________________________________________________________________
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John 10:27
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

A good shepherd: _____________________________________________________________________
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After reading Concern for the Lost, let’s think about the idea of getting lost. Most people think of getting lost as a bad or scary thing. Getting lost “in the moment” might mean you get behind on a task because you are daydreaming. Getting lost when we are traveling to a new place can be frustrating.  You might be late or end up unable to make it at all. Getting lost or separated from your family at a store or amusement park might be scary because you don’t know where to go next. But we don’t usually try to get lost, it’s something that happens because we are distracted or aren’t paying attention. Think about a time when you got lost while you were traveling, separated from your group, or distracted while working on a project. Describe the situation here. You can take notes about the ideas your classmates bring up too.
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I Know My Own
As you have learned, a good shepherd keeps track of every member of the flock for which he is responsible. He also makes sure that others know that his sheep belong to him. In what ways do we show others that we are part of Christ’s flock?
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Written by Natalie Kapeluck-Nixon and Kira Senadak
Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA
2014

Below is a link to access the complete I AM Participant Workbook and Leader's Edition, sessions 1-10 for ages 8 to 12 years.