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I AM Series Participant Workbook 5: The Door

I AM Participant Workbook

Title:  I AM Session 5:  I AM the Door

Age:  8 to 12 years

Liturgical Time:  Any

Doctrinal Content:  “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”  John 10:9

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 do doors provide for us? How is Christ a door in our lives?

Ways to use doors
It might seem like a pretty simple question, but how do we use doors? Make a list of the ways we can use a door and what doors help us to do.
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John 10:9
I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

The Door of the Sheep
The Door of the Sheep explains that being the door between the sheep and their pen isn’t just about keeping them inside at night. The door is the way to get into the pen, and the shepherd acts as the door to protect the sheep from any danger. As the good shepherd who watches over us, His flock, Christ acts as both the door that opens up for us and closes to protect us from danger.

Christ the Door
What is opened to us by passing through Christ the door?
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What does Christ protect us from by closing the door?
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THE Door
Jesus Christ is the Door, not just any door to heaven. There are lots of people and things that try to distract us in life, but we need to make sure we are paying attention to the choices we make and the directions we go. If we pick the wrong door it might not lead us where we want to go, or maybe it won’t even open. We also have to make sure we are ready to enter the door. The door to heaven, Jesus, is always open, but we need to live the life He asks us to and follow His directions so that we fit His size and shape of the door.
 

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.