Lesson Note on Christian Religious Studies (CRS) JSS1 First Term
SCHEME OF WORK
WEEK 1 CONSEQUENCES OF DISOBEDIENCE – KING SAUL
WEEK 2 MAN’S POWER IN CREATION
WEEK 3 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
WEEK 4 THE DESTINY OF MAN IN GOD’S CREATION
WEEK 5 MARRIAGE
WEEK 6 PROBLEMS IN MARRIAGE E.G. DIVORCE
WEEK 7THE CREATION
WEEK 8 THE CREATOR
WEEK 9 THE DIGNITY OF MAN IN GOD’S CREATION
WEEK 10 THE VIEW OF SCIENCE ABOUT CREATION
WEEK 11 THE BIBLE: GOD’S REVELATION OF HIMSELF
WEEEK 12 THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
WEEK 13 BIBLICAL ACCOUNT OF FIRST HUMAN DISOBEDIENCE
WEEK 14 RECONCILIATION AND THE LAWS OF CHRIST
Week 1
Topic: Consequences of disobedience – King Saul
- Moses: Leads the people of God out of Egypt and Slavery
- Joshua: Military general who leads them into the Promised Land
- Judges: Gideon (Judges 2:11-12 – Read) “The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. They abandoned the Lord….instead they went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them.” **They preferred to follow the ways of the world around them rather than be Obedient to God. **This disobedience set up a sad spiral which ended: Judges 21:25 – “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
So – When you turn from Judges to Samuel (the last Judge), you could say Israel was looking for a leader. The leader they chose, was Saul. To learn more, click here
Week 2
TOPIC: Man’s power in creation
Introduction
How excellent is the name of our God! His glory is set in the heavens. When we consider the universe: the stars, the sun, and the moon. When we consider that they are but the work of God’s fingers; that God merely said a word and they all stood fast, then we stand in awe before Him. When we compare man in his highest state to God, then we can only utter the question: “What is man that Thou art mindful of him?” We are so puny and insignificant in the sight of the all-glorious and all-powerful God who reigns over heaven and earth. There is none like Him in majesty and might. He alone is Creator, and man is but a creature of His hands. God rules over all in His majesty, and man, just as every other creature, is governed by His hand. We cannot so much as move without the will of the sovereign God of heaven and earth. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth! Psalm 8 makes this comparison of man to God and brings us to our knees in humble adoration of His great name. To learn more, click here
Week 3
TOPIC: THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
Sovereignty is the ability to do whatever you want without consulting or taking permission from anybody. It is the ability to independently do all things. God made the whole universe from His volition and power.
God the Creator
Before creation happened, the world was without form and darkness was everywhere. And then God created everything, using just the words of his mouth. Below is the creation account from day one to the day God rested from his creative activities.
1. Day One: God created light because without light there will be no order. He separated the light from dark and the light was named day while the dark was named night.
2. Day Two: God created the firmament with mass of water. Firmament means the sky and the heaven. To learn more, click here
Week 4
TOPIC: The destiny of man in GOD’s creation
The Bible portrays man as a carefully designed creation (not a chance product of an evolution). He is distinct from the rest of creation, the pinnacle of God’s creation with a unique destiny above other creatures. Much of this original purpose has been marred by sin, but God’s plan remains intact.
Man is primarily a spiritual being, slowly unfolding from sense consciousness to spiritual awareness to a higher expression of manifestation. “In the beginning” man was created by God, in His “Image and Likeness,” and from a state of innocent unawareness of any thought outside of God’s Perfection, it would seem that he was, one might say, cruelly, placed in a position where he might be tempted from this innocent expression. There is scarcely anyone who has not looked back wistfully on days of happiness in the Garden of Eden and regretted Eve’s surrender to the wiles of the “serpent,” with its disastrous results, so far as her progeny is concerned. To learn more, click here
Week 5
Topic: MARRIAGE
Bible Reference: Genesis 2:18-24
Then the Lord God said it is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him “Verse 2:18”
Marriage is the coming together of a man and a woman into matrimony. It only way God permits human beings to give birth to children. It was God that created marriage because in Genesis 2:18 and 21-25 God said “it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” So God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep and from his side he took out one rib from Adam’s body with which he created the woman called Eve. When Adam woke up he saw Eve and was happy. He exclaimed- “This at last is the bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man”. So as we can see from the foregoing, the first marriage on earth was between Adam and Eve. Marriage can be defined as the lawful or legal joining of a man and a woman to become husband and wife.
Marriage can also be explained as an agreement by which a man and woman become husband and wife. This is a union of a man and a woman as husband and wife. To learn more, click here
Week 6
Topic: Problems in Marriage e.g. Divorce
Divorce, also known as dissolution of marriage, is the termination of a marriage or marital union, the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the bonds of matrimony between a married couple under the rule of law of the particular country or state. Divorce laws vary considerably around the world, but in most countries divorce requires the sanction of a court or other authority in a legal process, which may involve issues of alimony (spousal support), child custody, child visitation / access, parenting time, child support, distribution of property, and division of debt. In most countries, monogamy is required by law, so divorce allows each former partner to marry another person; where polygyny is legal but polyandry is not, divorce allows the woman to marry another person. To learn more, click here
Week 7
Topic: THE CREATION
Contents:
Bible Account of Creation
Why did God create Human Beings?
INTRODUCTION
Bible Reference: Genesis 1
Prayer: Oh Lord Reveal yourself to us so that we may know you better.
Creation: This is the act making something to exist, a way of bringing out or doing something new, Christians, Muslims and followers of Africa traditional Religion believe in the existence of a supreme being who created all human beings and things.
BIBLE ACCOUNT OF THE CREATION
The Bible tells us how God created the world (Gen 1). The story in the Bible about creation of the world is not based on history, it is a story with a deeper meaning and message.
First day: In the beginning God created Heaven and earth, the world was empty and shapeless and that the sea was covered by darkness, then God said let there be light and there was light which he separated from darkness and gave them names, He called the light day and the darkness He called night. (verse 1-5) To learn more, click here
Week 8
Prayer: Oh God, you are our creator, reveal yourself to us so that we may know you better (amen)
Bible Text: Genesis 1:27-29, John 3:16
WHO IS GOD?
As we interact with members of our community, we understand the better, and we also gradually develop an understanding of our own relationship with GOD, what we now call religion. Religion is a belief in the worship of and obedience to a supernatural power considered to be divine or to have control over human life and destiny this supernatural is God, he is all powerful, all knowing, all wise, he is the king and judge of all, he is immortal, holy and loving. GOD cannot be known in his entirety by humans but as we walk with him, we get to know more about him and his existence. To learn more, click here
Week 9
Topic: THE DIGNITY OF MAN IN GOD’S CREATION
THE SUPREMACY OF MAN OVER OTHER CREATIONS
PRAYER: Oh Lord make me a useful instrument in the house of the Lord.
Bible Reference: (Genesis 1:26 31, 12:18 – 24) “Be Fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have 1dominion over the birds of the air and every living thing that moves upon the earth” Genesis (1:28b)
Man was greatly favored in God’s creative activities. God created him in a better form and gave him authority, power, and control over the entire animals and birds.
God gave man the ability to procreate or bring new life into being. In order for this to be possible, God created man and woman, blessed them gave the man the ability and power to multiply and flourish. To learn more, click here
Week 10
Topic: EVOLUTION
PRAYER: OH LORD RENEW ME
EVOLUTION
The evolution of a living organism is known as organic evolution. It is broadly the sum total of adaptive changes that have taken place over a long period of time. It leads to the development of new species. Evolution is the change in heritable traits of biological populations over successive generations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organization, including the level of species, individual organisms, and at the level of molecular evolution. To learn more, click here
Week 11
Topic: GOD’S REVELATION OF HIMSELF
1. GOD’S REVELATION OF HIMSELF
PRAYER: O LORD REVEAL YOURSELF TO ME THROUGH THY WORD
THE BIBLE
The bible is made up of 66 Old Testament Books and 27 New Testament Books. It contains the word of God and the message of the Christian religion.
The Old Testament amongst other things contains the story of the creation, Abraham and the fathers of Israel, Judges, Kings, Prophets of Israel, Book of wisdom, Proverb and Psalms.
The New Testament contains the Life and teaching of Christ, stories of the early teaching of the church, the letter of Paul, the pastoral letters and revelation. To learn more, click here
Week 12
Topic: THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
The bible is made up of 66 Old Testament Books and 27 New Testament Books. It contains the word of God and the message of the Christian religion.
The Old Testament amongst other things contains the story of the creation, Abraham and the fathers of Israel, Judges, Kings, Prophets of Israel, Book of wisdom, Proverb and Psalms.
The New Testament contains the Life and teaching of Christ, stories of the early teaching of the church, the letter of Paul, the pastoral letters and revelation. To learn more, click here
Week 13
Topic: Disobedience: FIRST DISOBEDIENCE
Prayer: O Lord forgive all my sins and cleanse me with your blood
BIBLE REFERENCE: Genesis 3: 1-19, James 1: 13 – 14
“If we are tempted by such trials, we must not say, “This temptation comes from God.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. But we are tempted when we are drawn away and trapped by our own evil desires”. James 1:13 – 14(Good news translation).
Before Adam and Eve submitted to the temptation of sin, they had lived happily together in the Garden of Eden. God instructed them never to touch or eat any of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden. If they did, they would die.
But the serpent tempted and encouraged Eve to do so. It told her that she would not die but that her eyes would be open and she would be like God and know the difference between good and evil.
The tree itself looked good and tempting, so eve ate some of its fruit and gave some to it to Adam, her husband who also ate and immediately the eyes of both of them were opened and they discovered that they were naked. To learn more, click here
Topic: RECONCILIATION AND THE LAWS OF CHRIST
LESSON 1
RECONCILIATION
Reconciliation is defined as the act of finding a satisfactory way of dealing with or settling an argument or disagreement. The ultimate aim of reconciliation is to make people become friends again after an argument, disagreement or quarrel.
Conditions Necessary for Reconciliation
Before reconciliation can take place successfully, people must observe the following.
Sincerity: Those people involved in an argument must be very sincere with each other. They should be ready to accept their wrongs
Humility: The people involved should be humble, the offender should humbly tender his apology while the offended should be ready to forgive and forget.
There should be three parties on the reconciliation table; The offender, The offended and The settling party.
Impartiality: There should be total avoidance of partiality. The people involved in settling the dispute or disagreement must play fair. They should be men or women of integrity, honesty and must possess strong moral principles. To learn more, click here
