10/15/2014 - DP - Session 4 - The Prayer Process

Bible Reading: Mark 1:35

Catechism Reading: Paragraph #2744 

Review, Link & Introduce: 

In the last few weeks we have discussed decision making (how important it is and ways to make better decisions).  Last week I talked to you about how the use of drugs leads to a life of slavery where every decision you make is geared around the next opportunity to use the drug.  We also learned that all of our sins lead us to slavery and away from the freedom that God wants for us.  Fortunately, we also learned last week that through Jesus's life, death and resurrection we can be reconciled and forgiven by God if we are willing to make the biggest decision of our life to follow Jesus. 

This week we will learn what the four most important questions are that we all must answer and how to use the best tool God has given us to answer those questions.  The questions are: Who are you? What are you here for? What matters Most? and What matters Least?  The tool we will learn to use better is: Prayer.

The key to using any good tool is to START using it and then PERSEVERE through the struggles of learning to use the tool and the challenges to turning its use into a habit.

Decision Point - Session 4 - The Prayer Process   
                                          (Student Workbook Link)

Decision Point Opening Prayer:







Decision Point Closing Prayer

Other Discussion Items
  • Service Hours
    • What did you do this week to help someone else?
Open Q&A

Action Items
  • Did you load the Decision Point App on your Phone or iPod Touch?
    • Show how to download the audio portion of the "4.4 - The Best Way to Learn" video to a mobile device so you can pray with this audio any time and any place.
  • Re-watch the videos from session 4
  • Accept the challenge to set aside a time and place to pray everyday for the next 30 days.
    • Use the "4.4 - The Best Way to Learn" video to guide you through that prayer time.
  • To Pray or not to Pray...that is the Decision this week that will help you answer the questions below:
    • Who are you? 
    • What are you here for? 
    • What matters Most? 
    • What matters Least?
Announcements
  • Parent Session (sponsors also invited) next week - 10/22.
  • Need your sponsor names.


Class Closing Prayer

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10/8/2014 - DP - Session 3 - The Jesus Question

Bible Reading: Matthew 9:9

Catechism Reading: Paragraph #2232

Review, Link & Introduce: 

In the first class this year we talked about how you have all matured physically and mentally.  You are not the same person you were when you were 5.  You expect to be treated differently and the people closest to you expect more from you. One thing that is expected of you is to start making a few more decisions on your own. This is why the first two weeks were focused on the importance of the decisions you make and some "Stinking Thinking" that will lead you to decisions that do not help you become the best version of yourself. More and more of the decisions you make will impact who your become as you move through high school and into college.

You are also expected to mature spiritually as well throughout your lifetime. Confirmation is a major milestone on your Christian spiritual growth. To reach that milestone you need to be prepared to answer "YES" in a bigger way than you ever have to the biggest question you will ever be asked to make. "Will you follow Jesus by making him a daily part of your life and doing what He expects of you? Tonight's session will help you see who Jesus is, why following Jesus gives you the best answers to problems that will help you become the best version of yourself, and how the grace you receive from God through Jesus allows you to return to God through reconciliation when you struggle to follow Jesus by not making the best decisions for your life.

Decision Point - Session 3 - The Jesus Question   
                                           (Student Workbook Link)

Decision Point Opening Prayer:







Decision Point Closing Prayer

Other Discussion Items
  • Service Hours
    • What did you do this week to help someone else?
Open Q&A

Action Items
  • Did you load the Decision Point App on your Phone or iPod Touch?
  • Re-watch the videos from session 3
  • Watch the Videos for session 4 that we will be discussing next week
  • Consider your relationship with Jesus this week...
    • Are you allowing Jesus to be part of your life by choosing to follow him and making him part of your life outside CCD class and Mass?
    • Are you thinking about what Jesus wants for you in the simple decisions you make everyday? 
      • Should I spend another 15 minutes texting friends rather than reading a book or the Bible that will help me be a better ME?
      • Should I spend another 15 minutes watching TV or playing video games rather than doing something that will help Mom/Dad, other relative, or a neighbor?


Class Closing Prayer
 
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10/1/2014 - NO CLASS

Enjoy the night off!

Surprise a friend or family member...do something for them they would not expect you to do!


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9/24/2014 - DP - Session 2 - What's Holding You Back?

Bible Reading: Romans 7:19

Catechism Reading: Paragraph #1733

                            & "Lord, I need You" (Behind the Song)


Decision Point Opening Prayer:







Decision Point Closing Prayer

Other Discussion Items
  • Service Hours
    • What did you do this week to help someone else?
Open Q&A

Action Items
  • Did you load the Decision Point App on your Phone or iPod Touch?
  • Re-watch the videos from session 2
  • Watch the Videos for session 3 that we will be discussing in two weeks - 10/8 (No Class Next Week - 10/1)
  • Consider all of the decisions you make this week...
    • Which choice will help you become the best version of yourself & lead to a lifetime of HAPPINESS and which choice will only lead to a short-term pleasure?

                        & "Thrive" (Official Lyric Video)

Class Closing Prayer
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9/17/2014 - DP - Session 1 - Life is Choices

Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:9

Catechism Reading: Paragraph #27

Class Opening Prayer

Welcome

Thank You for making the CHOICE to attend tonight.  Hopefully you will see from tonight's class that this will be different than any of your previous CCD Classes.

Leaders introduce themselves: Name, Parent of, Favorite Restaurant Meal (Mr. Lauderbaugh, Mrs. Gies, Mrs. Beer, and Mr. Krystofik)

Students introduce themselves:  Name & Favorite Restaurant Meal


What did you think about the Veggie Tales video?

We grow and mature physically; God also calls us to grow spiritually. 

Confirmation is a significant milestone on our spiritual growth journey that began at our Baptism and does not end until we die. So, just as you prepare for this milestone of confirmation in your spiritual growth, you have also reached a milestone, called Middle School, in your physical growth and maturity. 

This is why you do not react to the Veggie Tales video now in the same way you did when you were five. You are not the same person you were when you were five. You expect to be treated and talked to differently than you were when you were five. At the same time...parents, teachers, and other friends and family members expect more from you now than they did when you were five. 

That is why we, your leaders, will be expecting more from you in terms of your behavior.  We don't have a lot of rules but we do have a few very important ones: 
1) No phone or electronics use in class unless it is to answer a call from your parents. Your phone may set where you can see it but you are not to be using it unless it is your parents contacting you or we are on break. 
2) We will respect everyone by giving our attention to the leaders and fellow students when they are talking to the group and will not be having private conversations with other classmates. 
3) We will respect others by not making fun of questions or answers that others ask or give.

As long as everyone follows these few important rules we will all have fun while we are studying, learning, and preparing for your confirmation.

Introduce the Decision Point program

Will prepare you for confirmation and guide you to be the best person you can be.

App for your Android, iPhone or iPod Touch

Decision Point - Session 1 - Life is Choices

Decision Point Opening Prayer:







Decision Point Closing Prayer

Other Discussion Items
  • Service Hours
    • What did you do this week to help someone else?
Open Q&A

Action Items
  • Load the Decision Point App on your Phone or iPod Touch
  • Re-watch the videos from session 1
  • Watch the Videos from session 2 that we will be discussing next week
  • Consider all of the decisions you make this week...Did each of your decisions help to "make you a better you"?


Class Closing Prayer
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9/10/2014 - Parent Session

Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:9

Catechism Reading: Paragraph #27

Opening Prayer:


Welcome and Purpose of Opening Video

Sherry's Announcements

Upcoming Student Session Titles (with links to selected videos)

Decision Point - Session 1 - Life is Choices
The best version of yourself
Virtue is at the heart of the best way to live
The opposite of self control is slavery
Relativism is a lie
You may know about God; now it is time to get to KNOW God
1.3 - God's Dream for You (7 min 10 sec)
Be a Rebel
Do you want to be a child of God or a slave to this world

Decision Point - Session 2 - What's Holding You Back
Not everything we Desire is Good
The Quest for Happiness
How to be Happy forever
Don't be a slave to Pleasure
Pleasure cannot be sustained beyond the activity producing it.
Happiness is Sustainable
Do the next Right Thing
There is Truth (There is right and wrong)
Life Requires Courage

Decision Point - Session 3 - The Jesus Question
In each of us there is a Jesus and a Judas
     A Best version and a worst version of ourselves
Jesus was a Radical
Second Chances (reconciliation)

Decision Point - Session 4 - The Prayer Process
Who am I, What am I here for? What matters most?, and what matters least?
Learn to say NO
Why Pray?
The hard part is getting started
This process will make it easier to get started
Practice the Prayer Process

Other Discussion Items
  • Service Hours
    • Goal: We want to make service hours a "want to" task and not a "have to" task
    • Will bring it up each week to help the students see that they are likely already helping others 
    • Will be making forms available for the students to complete 
    • Consider a family service project
Open Q&A

Action Items


Closing Prayer
 
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Parent Letter #1



Hello Middle School CCD Parents!

Myself and the three co-leaders, Mike Krystofik, Cheryl Gies, & Michelle Beer are all excited about this coming year and the two great programs we will be leading your children through this coming year in preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation!

All sacraments are special but Confirmation is special in one way because it completes the Sacraments of Christian Initiation.  Baptism and the Eucharist are the other two.   The Catechism of the Catholic Church in paragraphs1302 through 1305 teaches the effects of Confirmation. The foundation of all those effects is that Confirmation roots us more deeply with the Father as a “Child of God”. Truly understanding and believing we are Children of God is an important underlying foundational point we will be stressing all year. We will be opening and closing many of the sessions with music videos that are available on the Internet and one of my favorite songs is by Third Day and is titled “Children of God”. I had the opportunity to attend an outdoor concert this summer where Third Day performed this song live and the songs words make a pretty power statement when you have 30,000+ people singing along with this song claiming “We are Children of God”.

We have a Blog (website) setup for this class that will be used along with parent emails to keep parents, sponsors, and students informed.  The Blog site can be found at mphmmsccd.blogspot.com so share this site with your child’s sponsor or anyone else who is interested in what is going on in the Middles School CCD class. Please bookmark this site and check it out weekly to see the new information that is posted.  This site is also mobile friendly so it can also be viewed on a smart phone or tablet.

In the opening paragraph I mentioned we are excited about the two programs we will be using this year to guide us through this year of preparation for receiving the sacrament of Confirmation. They are “DecisionPoint” by Matthew Kelly and the group at Dynamic Catholic and “TOB for Teens” by Jason Evert and several other well-known teen chastity speakers. I would encourage you to use the links in the prior sentence or the links on the right-hand side of the class blog site to preview the programs.  Both of the programs have short videos on the pages the links point to that introduce the programs. I am confident you will see these two programs are much more dynamic and engaging for the students (and the leaders for that matter) than the programs that have been available to us in the past.

At this point in time, the most important piece of information you can find on the blog site is the class calendar.  Because we have changed from 1-1/2 hour class sessions to  2 hours session (7:00pm – 9:00pm), the students will not be meeting every week.  The class calendar, which is linked on the right-hand side of the main home page, contains the schedule of days the students will be meeting in what was the library in St Mary’s School. Parent sessions have also been added to this year’s schedule and these dates can also be found on the class calendar.  The parent sessions will only last 1 hour from 7:00pm to 8:00pm.  Sponsors are also invited and encouraged to attend the parent sessions when they can.  There are also a few special dates included in the calendar you will want to note.

The first session will be a one hour parent only session on Wednesday, September, 10 from 7:00pm to 8:00pm.  If you have not turned in the registration form before that session, please bring the completed form with you to this parent session.  If you need a registration form, please contact the Parish office.

I tried to be brief but there is a lot of information I wanted to share with you before we kick-off the new year.  If you have any questions regarding the content of this letter or anything else related to the Middle School CCD classes, please contact me using the contact information I included in the email I sent to you.


God Bless!

Gary Lauderbaugh

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