This lesson is designed to help students understand the great need and hunger we all have for a relationship with God.
Activity I
Bring a small marinated or well seasoned steak and an indoor table grill to class. (You want the steak to have a mouth watering aroma while it cooks) You will also need to bring enough bottled water for everyone in the class. (Buy a top brand of water for this exercise) and some toothpicks.
As the student’s come in have the steak cooking on the grill. You won’t need to say anything. The smell alone should cause a lot of discussion and questions.
When the steak is done, cut it into very small pieces. They should each get just a tiny piece on a toothpick. Make sure you barely have enough steak for everyone, but no more.
After they’ve eaten their tiny piece, ask them if they’re still hungry for more. They should respond with an energetic “yes”.
Teaching & Scripture
Have the student’s take turns reading these verses from the bible.
Psalm 42:1
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you O God.
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you O God.
Deuteronomy 8:3
He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Matthew 5:5-7
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Revelation 7:16
Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.
Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.
· Ask several of the students to explain what the relationship between these verses and the
piece of steak are.
· Share a time in your life when you hungered /thirsted for God and how you dealt with the
· Share a time in your life when you hungered /thirsted for God and how you dealt with the
hunger.
Activity II
Hand out the bottles of clean cold water. Encourage the students to each take a drink from their bottles. Ask them to share with you a time when they needed a drink , were thirsty for a period of time and were finally able to quench their thirst. Have the students read and share these verses out loud.
Activity II
Hand out the bottles of clean cold water. Encourage the students to each take a drink from their bottles. Ask them to share with you a time when they needed a drink , were thirsty for a period of time and were finally able to quench their thirst. Have the students read and share these verses out loud.
Psalm 42:2
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
Psalm 107:9
For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
Isaiah 55:1
Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!
Psalm 63:1
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Share with your students a little about the history of the region Jesus was from.
Jesus lived in a desert region where water was precious. So, when He tells us that he is “Living Water” His words were extremely meaningful to the people of that time.
In the middle of the Judean desert by the Dead Sea there is a canyon called En Gedi. A spring runs out of the rocks, creating a beautiful waterfall, making its way down into a pool of fresh water.
In the Old Testament, David was hiding from King Saul. He was running for his life and hiding in the desert. Close your eyes and try to feel the burning of the sun day after day. Then image that you stumble across a real live waterfall just as David did. An oasis in the middle of the desert.
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Share with your students a little about the history of the region Jesus was from.
Jesus lived in a desert region where water was precious. So, when He tells us that he is “Living Water” His words were extremely meaningful to the people of that time.
In the middle of the Judean desert by the Dead Sea there is a canyon called En Gedi. A spring runs out of the rocks, creating a beautiful waterfall, making its way down into a pool of fresh water.
In the Old Testament, David was hiding from King Saul. He was running for his life and hiding in the desert. Close your eyes and try to feel the burning of the sun day after day. Then image that you stumble across a real live waterfall just as David did. An oasis in the middle of the desert.
Psalm 63:1.
My soul thirsts for you in a dry and barren land. Then Psalm 42. My soul thirsts for God, the living God.
In David and then Jesus’ time there were different kinds of water the people relied upon. There was cistern water that the people saved and used. It was sometimes referred to as “dead” water because it was stagnant and stale. It was often, very dirty, but many times it was all they had. Running water was called “living” water. It’s fresh, clean, pure and life giving. Jewish tradition taught the people that they needed to be pure when they went to the temple and they had to be clean from living water. To them, water equaled purity.
Our own lives can be likened to the wilderness. We have a job and/or attend school. We can begin to view our lives as tiring and drab.
Jesus constantly calls us back to our baptismal waters…back to the living water. We are asked to come away from the water of the cistern, (the stale stagnant things) and refresh our lives with the living water God offers us.
Each of us need to spend time at our own En Gedi. We have to go to the living water. It’s only then that we can share the spring of life, the living water, within ourselves. When we continually drink from cistern water, we are trusting our own strength, and possibly saying “we don’t need God”. This kind of thinking insures we will never be living water for other people. We have to drink from the living water to be filled and refreshed ourselves before we can share the love of God with other people. Sharing God is what each of us are called to do. Our heavenly father is there today just as he has always been…waiting for us to come to him and be filled with living water. Just as David rejoiced in the living water at En Gedi 3000 years ago, we still need to be refreshed, even today.
In David and then Jesus’ time there were different kinds of water the people relied upon. There was cistern water that the people saved and used. It was sometimes referred to as “dead” water because it was stagnant and stale. It was often, very dirty, but many times it was all they had. Running water was called “living” water. It’s fresh, clean, pure and life giving. Jewish tradition taught the people that they needed to be pure when they went to the temple and they had to be clean from living water. To them, water equaled purity.
Our own lives can be likened to the wilderness. We have a job and/or attend school. We can begin to view our lives as tiring and drab.
Jesus constantly calls us back to our baptismal waters…back to the living water. We are asked to come away from the water of the cistern, (the stale stagnant things) and refresh our lives with the living water God offers us.
Each of us need to spend time at our own En Gedi. We have to go to the living water. It’s only then that we can share the spring of life, the living water, within ourselves. When we continually drink from cistern water, we are trusting our own strength, and possibly saying “we don’t need God”. This kind of thinking insures we will never be living water for other people. We have to drink from the living water to be filled and refreshed ourselves before we can share the love of God with other people. Sharing God is what each of us are called to do. Our heavenly father is there today just as he has always been…waiting for us to come to him and be filled with living water. Just as David rejoiced in the living water at En Gedi 3000 years ago, we still need to be refreshed, even today.
CCC #1179
The worship "in Spirit and in truth “of the New Covenant is not tied exclusively to any one place. The whole earth is sacred and entrusted to the children of men. What matters above all is that, when the faithful assemble in the same place, they are the "living stones," gathered to be "built into a spiritual house." For the Body of the risen Christ is the spiritual temple from which the source of living water springs forth: incorporated into Christ by the Holy Spirit, "we are the temple of the living God.”
CCC # 1011
In death, God calls man to himself. Therefore the Christian can experience a desire for death like St. Paul's: "My desire is to depart and be with Christ." He can transform his own death into an act of obedience and love towards the Father, after the example of Christ: My earthly desire has been crucified; . . . there is living water in me, water that murmurs and says within me: Come to the Father.
Songs
“I Am” by Mark Schultz
“Dive” by Steven Curtis Chapman
“More of You” by Ross Parsely
The worship "in Spirit and in truth “of the New Covenant is not tied exclusively to any one place. The whole earth is sacred and entrusted to the children of men. What matters above all is that, when the faithful assemble in the same place, they are the "living stones," gathered to be "built into a spiritual house." For the Body of the risen Christ is the spiritual temple from which the source of living water springs forth: incorporated into Christ by the Holy Spirit, "we are the temple of the living God.”
CCC # 1011
In death, God calls man to himself. Therefore the Christian can experience a desire for death like St. Paul's: "My desire is to depart and be with Christ." He can transform his own death into an act of obedience and love towards the Father, after the example of Christ: My earthly desire has been crucified; . . . there is living water in me, water that murmurs and says within me: Come to the Father.
Songs
“I Am” by Mark Schultz
“Dive” by Steven Curtis Chapman
“More of You” by Ross Parsely
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