Lesson Note on Christian Religious Studies (CRS) JSS2 First Term
SCHEME OF WORK
WEEK 1 THE BIRTH OF JESUS
WEEK 2 PRESENTATION OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE
WEEK 3 JESUS BAPTISM
WEEK 4 THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS CHRIST
WEEK 5 CALL FOR DISCIPLES
WEEK 6 JESUS MEETS SINNERS
WEEK 7 CHRISTIAN AS LIGHT AND SALT OF THE WORLD
WEEK 8 WORLDLY POSSESSION
WEEK 9 THE BEATITUDES
Lesson Note on Christian Religious Studies (CRS) JSS2 First term
Below are the 2022 complete JSS2 Second Term Christian Religious StudiesLesson Note
Week 1
Topic: The Birth of Jesus
A. THE EARLY LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST
Before we talk about the early life of Jesus it is important we first talk about His birth and that of John the Baptist. Let us start with birth of John.
Preparation for the Coming of Jesus
During the time when Herod was king of Judea there was a priest named Zachariah and his wife’s name is Elizabeth. Both of them were righteous but they had no child and they were old.
One day Zachariah was doing work as a priest in the temple when an angel of God appeared to him saying: “Do not be afraid Zachariah for the Lord has heard your prayer, your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you shall name him John. This child shall bring joy and happiness to you and many will rejoice at his birth for he will be great. He is not to drink wine nor strong wine, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even in his mother’s womb. He will get the Lord’s people back to Him.” To learn more, click here
Week 2
Topic: Presentation of Jesus in The Temple
Bible Passage: Luke 2:22 – 39
JESUS PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE
Luke 2:22 – 39
22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”[b]), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”[c]
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: To learn more, click here
Week 3
Topic: Jesus Baptism
Bible Passage – Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11
The Baptism of Jesus Christ
Immediately after the message of John where he told the crowd that the one coming after him was greater than him, Jesus voluntarily came forward to John to be baptised. This shows that Jesus is not a proud and egotistic person who came not to be a political conqueror but the Messiah. John was an ordinary man while Jesus is God but He went to John for baptism. This shows that Jesus is law-abiding, humble and leads by example. As Jesus was coming out of the water the sky opened and Spirit of God descended in form of a dove and a voice was heard saying: “This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.
At first glance, it seems that Jesus’ baptism has no purpose at all. John’s baptism was the baptism of repentance (Matthew 3:11), but Jesus was sinless and had no need of repentance. Even John was taken aback at Jesus’ coming to him. John recognized his own sin and was aware that he, a sinful man in need of repentance himself, was unfit to baptize the spotless Lamb of God: “I need to be baptized by You and You are coming to me?” (Matthew 3:14). Jesus replied that it should be done because “it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). To learn more, click here
Week 4
Topic: The Temptation of Jesus Christ
Bible Passage – Matthew 1:4-11
Bible Passage
1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” To learn more, click here
Week 5
Topic: Call For Disciples
Text: Matthew 4:18-22, Mark 1:14-20, Luke 5:1-11, Mark 3:13-19, Matthew 8:18-22
- JESUS CALLS THE FIRST FOUR DISCIPLES
Jesus was passing beside the Sea of Galilee when He saw Peter and His brother Andrew who were fishermen fishing on the sea at that time. Jesus told the brothers to follow Him that He would make them fishers of men. They immediately left what they were doing and followed Him.
Close by, Jesus saw James and John, sons of Zebedee also fisher men, He asked them to follow Him, they immediately left the net they were mending, left their father and followed Jesus. Later the multitude gathered and Jesus entered Peter’s boat and asked him to pull the boat a bit into the sea. There He preached to the crowd. After the preaching He asked Simon (Peter) to cast his net on the sea but Peter replied: “Master we toiled all night but nothing, but at your word I will let down the net.” Then Peter’s net caught so many fishes that he couldn’t lift it alone. He solicited for the help of other fishermen. The weight of the catch nearly sank the boat. All were marveled. Peter fell down on his kneels to Jesus saying: “Depart from me, from I am a sinful man, O Lord”. Jesus replied: “ Do not be afraid, from now on, you shall be catching men.” To learn more, click here
Week 6
Topic: Jesus Meets Sinners
Text: Luke 19:1-10
Zacchaeus the Tax Collector – Luke 19:1-10
19 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-figtree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” To learn more, click here
Week 7
Topic: The Beatitudes
Outline:
- Matt 5:1 – 12
Meaning of Beatitudes:
The Beatitudes are eight blessings recounted by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. Each is a proverb-like proclamation, without narrative. Four of the blessings also appear in the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke, followed by four woes which mirror the blessings.
In the Vulgate, each of these blessings begins with the word beati, which translates to “happiness” or “blessedness,”such that “blessed are the poor in spirit” appears in Latin as “beati pauperes spiritu”. The Latin noun beātitūdō was coined by Cicero to describe a state of blessedness, and was later incorporated within the chapter headings written for Matthew 5 in various printed versions of the Vulgate. Subsequently, the word was anglicized to beatytudes in the Great Bible of 1540, and has over time, taken on a preferred spelling of beatitudes. To learn more, click here
Week 8
Topic: Christian as light and salt of the world
Outline:
- Matt. 5: 13 – 15
“What does it mean that believers are to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16)?”
Jesus used the concepts of salt and light a number of different times to refer to the role of His followers in the world. One example is found in Matthew 5:13: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” Salt had two purposes in the Middle East of the first century. Because of the lack of refrigeration, salt was used to preserve food, especially meat which would quickly spoil in the desert environment. Believers in Christ are preservatives to the world, preserving it from the evil inherent in the society of ungodly men whose unredeemed natures are corrupted by sin (Psalm 14:3; Romans 8:8).
Second, salt was used then, as now, as a flavor enhancer. In the same way that salt enhances the flavor of the food it seasons, the followers of Christ stand out as those who “enhance” the flavor of life in this world. Christians, living under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and in obedience to Christ, will inevitably influence the world for good, as salt has a positive influence on the flavor of the food it seasons. To learn more, click here
Week 9
Topic: Worldy Possession
Text: Matthew 16:26, Luke 16:11
Matthew 16:26
What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. Luke 16:11
11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?
THE PARABLE OF THE RICH FOOL
The parable of the rich fool is found in the book of Luke 12:13-21. Jesus warned His listeners that life is not just about gathering wealth; life is so much more than abundance of possessions. Being wealthy is not just the ultimate but using the wealth to bless others and further the work of God. The man in the parable, referred to as the rich fool is interested in increasing and accumulating more wealth. The parable teaches that we shouldn’t accumulate wealth on earth and leave to accumulate wealth in heaven. We gather treasure in heaven when we help the poor, promote the gospel and work of God. We shouldn’t put all our attention and energy in earthly possession, by the way they are all vanity. To learn more, click here
