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Competency Explain the Christians’ contributions

4 in the continuing spiritual and moral
growth of the Church.

The learners in the long run and on their own will be able to commit to live out the
values of the disciples as members of the Church.

At the end of this module, you will be able to:

a. explain why Paul was called the apostle to the Gentiles
b. identify the significant contributions of the early Christians to the growth and
spread of the Church.

Initial Task

Direction: Scramble the letters below the box and form a new word or phrase:

HALAQ-QAHAL
IKLEESKA - EKKLASIA
REABINGK FO TEH BDRAE- BREAKING OF BREAD
0UNMCIOMN FO THIAF - COMMUNION OF FAITH
SCATS FO HTE SSOEATLP- ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

Unlocking of Difficulties

Matyr- a person who is killed because of their religious or other beliefs.

"saints, martyrs, and witnesses to the faith"
Pagans- refers to those who do not believe in the God of the Jews or sometimes it referred to as non
Christians
Gentiles- (from Latin gentilis 'of or belonging to the same people or nation', from gēns
'clan; tribe; people, family') is a term that usually means 'someone who is not a
Jew'. Other groups that claim Israelite heritage sometimes use the term to
describe outsiders.
persecution - hostility and ill-treatment, especially because of race or political or religious
beliefs.

Activating Prior Knowledge

What is your opinion about Martyrdom?

Person who voluntarily accepts death rather than renouncing faith. A human who is put
to death or who endures great suffering for some religion, theory or reason

Scripture reading: (Acts 11: 19-26)

THE CHURCH AT ANTIOCH

Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that arose because of Stephen went as far as
Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the words to no one but Jews. There were some Cypriots and
Cyrenians among them, however who came to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks as well,
proclaiming the Lord Jesus. The hand of the Lord was with them and a great number who believed
turned to the Lord. The news about them reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem, and they sent
Barnabas to go to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged
them all to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart for he saw the good man filled with the Holy
Spirit in faith and a large number of people was added to the Lord, then he went to Tarsus to look for
Saul and when he had found Him he brought him to Antioch.. for the whole year they met with the
Church and taught a large number of people and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called
Christians.
 Assessment

1. What marked the beginning of the persecution of the early Christians?

Suffering in the hands of the Romans just to gather people and future

generations that jesus is real and his return

2. According to the letter of St. Paul to the Romans, how will we withstand persecution?
In the way of writing about what jesus did here on earth when he was alive,
activities that people should believe about jesus
3. In today’s modern Church, do we still experience persecutions?
Persecutions remain, because of the problems we face, people who give a
problem rather than a solution, killing other people, war, misunderstanding, as
long as there is a problem the persecution will never end until Jesus arrives we
will still endure revealing his name even if the replacement is alive because we
know he will repay that when the judgment comes.
 Lecturette

Christ Jesus left the Holy Spirit to His disciples with the mandate that they have
to go and make disciples to all nations. As members of the Church we too are given the
same mission of following His way. The Church reinforces what has been written in the
Sacred Scriptures regarding our faith response and our steadfast love for God in spite
of hardships in life.
Holy Spirit Leads The Church’s Mission
The Holy Spirit is the protagonist, “the principal agent of the whole of the church’s
mission.” It is he who leads the Church on her missionary paths. “This mission
continues and, in the course of history, unfolds the mission of Christ, who was sent to
evangelize the poor; so the church, urged on by the spirit of Christ, must walk the road
Christ himself walked, a way of poverty and obedience, of service and self sacrifice
even to death, a death from which he emerged victorious by his resurrection” So it is
that “the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians.

Assessment

1. What is true, good, and beautiful about the Holy Spirit that you can find in the Catechism of
the Catholic Church? Write your answer on the box provided below.

TRUE GOOD BEAUTIFUL

Through the Holy Spirit

we are restored to By this power of the
We live by the Spirit” Spirit, God's children
the more we renounce paradise, led back to the
Kingdom of heaven, and can bear much fruit. He
ourselves, the more we who has grafted us onto
"walk by the Spirit. adopted as children,
given confidence to call the true vine will make
God "Father" and to us bear "the fruit of the
share in Christ's grace, Spirit. love, joy, peace,
called children of light patience, kindness,
and given a share in goodness, faithfulness,
eternal glory. gentleness, self-control.
2. What way did Christ walk? How can we walk this road today? Conceptualize your answer.
Write it on the space provided below.

Continue what he started and praise him as a god, gather knowledge of the world

about his return and salvation, and what will happen in the present, gather the

knowledge that god has given us about him and his father as taught we have the

right to reject what is wrong, let us know the new testament about eternal life and the

new Jerusalem promised to us by the Lord

Criteria:
Content …………………………………. 5 pts.
Connection to readings …....….. (3 pts.)
Connection to self experience… (4 pts.
Neatness ………………………………… 2 pts.
Conciseness ………………………………… 3 pts.
10 pts.

Trivia

Did you know that the first martyr of the Catholic Church was St. Stephen? Yes
he is the first one to die by stoning to death during the time of the early Christians. Now,
If St. Stephen is the first martyr who is the first Saint? Saint Stephen.

Lecturette

The act of the Apostles contains neither the history of Paul nor the Apostles but
of the Holy Spirit and the Church althrough Jesus commissioned his apostles to make
disciples to all nations (Mt 28:19) Acts makes it clear that the disciples at that time had
no intention of going to any group except the Jews. But in a vision, Peter was instructed
to eat certain foods which were forbidden by Mosaic Law,
God has shown Peter that pagans should be received into the Church without
constraint in the observance of the law, From then on there was the admission of the
first non-circumcised Gentiles into the Church (Acts 10).
 Meanwhile, other Jews thought that they had exclusive rights and access to God;
they thought they had a monopoly of God’s power and grace. This belief started to
crack when one of the Churches’ chosen deacon by the name of Stephen challenged
the Pharisees in their belief that God lives in the temple and attacked council leaders of
disobeying the law of Moses which eventually changed many Jewish customs such as
sacrificial system in the temple (Acts 6:8). Because of the encouragement he gave the
Hellenists ( Jews of Diaspora who lived outside Palestine), he was stoned outside the
city with the consent of Saul. This marked the first episode of violent persecutions on
the part of the Jews which dispersed the missionary activity outside Jerusalem.
Saul, who was known by his roman name Paul, was a Jew from the tribe of
Benjamin, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, of jewish parents who were both Roman
citizen. He was a Pharisee who thought the Christians were a threat to the law of Moses
and that they corrupted the Jewish religion, therefore, had to be persecuted.
On his way to Damascus, he met Jesus in a form of a very bright light who told
him: “ I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting”. It is then very clear that what happen to
the Church happens to Christ. Upon Paul’s convertion, not long after he was officially
recognized as the Apostle to the Gentiles (Gal. 2:7-9).
On the first decade after Pentecost, the Church was established in a
predominantly gentile city of Antioch where the disciples were first called “Christians.”
The seven authentic letters of Paul, the six letters of writers looking up to the authority
of Paul and the seven catholic letters, give us a picture of the early Christian
communities outside Jerusalem.
Persecution started when Rome saw Christianity as a threat to its power and
rule. There were beliefs and practices that were in conflict with pagan Rome. Some of
the conflicts that ensued , were are the following:
 the beliefs of the Romans that Christians were engaged in some form of
cannibalism in their Eucharistic rites
 The Christians condemned the bloody and inhuman Roman games like gladiatorial
contest
 Christians also refused to worship pagan gods and pay the temple tax
 Natural disasters and catastrophes were blamed on the Christians.
The severest of persecutions under the Roman Empire were with Nero and
Diocletian. Christians were subjected to various ways of persecution such as using
them as human torches, gouging out their eyes and tongues, throwing them to wild
beast, starving them to death, throwing them into dungeon, and sawing them in half. To
protect themselves against Roman spies, Christian gathered together often in
catacombs to hear the word of God and used the fish as their symbol to recognize one
another.
Persecutions under the Roman Empire ended with Constantine the Great with
his issuance of the Edict of Milan granting Christians complete tolerance. There was
union of Church and state under his leadership.
The age of martyrs showed that the Church, like her founder, could turn suffering
and defeat into victories.
Indeed, even now, persecutions in the Church still take place in various forms
and in various places. Missionaries, priests, religious and lay people are harassed,
sometimes murdered to silence them and to frustrate the missionary and liberating
mission of the Church. Where the faithful are persecuted and suppressed, the faith
tends to become even more alive and aflame.
On His way to Calvary, Jesus Himself taught us that for every fall we should
always stand up and move on. Indeed, the Pentecost Spirit of God is the source of
strength to endure persecutions and is the force in the missionary efforts to spread the
Gospel

Insights for Integration

 Ignacian Core/Related Value: Faith / Strong Faith to God

 Social Issues: The whole world is now suffering brought about by

COVID 19
o Like the early Christians, the people of God, our Church is also experiencing
hardships and difficulties in any form, but let us not bother about this because
God is assuring us that no one or nothing could separate us from His love.

 Lesson Across Discipline: Araling Panlipunan: Contemporary Issues

o As the Church journeys in this changing world, her goodness and beauty have
been deeply wounded by sins (corruption, scandals, pride, technological
advancement and among others)

 Faith / Biblical Reflection: Romans 8:37-39

Assessment

A. Direction: On the blank before the number, write the concept refered to in this item.

Paulos 1. The Roman name of Saul

St. Stephen 2. The first martyr of persecution.
emperors Constantine 3. He issued the Edict of Milan.
Jerusalem 4. The first center of Christianity.
Damascus 5. The place where Saul met Jesus.

Pharisees 6. Believed that God lives in the temple.

Antioch 7. The place where the disciples first called
Christians.
Fish 8. The symbol used by the Christians for them to
recognize one another.
 Apostles 9. Jesus commissioned them to make more
disciples to all nations.
Eucharistic 10. By engaging this rite, Christians were accused of
cannibalism.

B. Explain the following in three sentences only. Write your answer on the space
provided below:

1. The blood of the Martyrs is the seed of Christian

The martyrs gain through losing their lives in bearing witness to Jesus , they gain
eternal life. But this is also positive for the Church, which receives new believers,
encouraged to convert thanks to the example set by the martyrs, and they also
sees a renewal in existing believers.
2. Paul the apostle to the Gentiles
Saint Paul along with Saint Peter, the first pope, is one of the church's two pillars.
While in jail, Paul wrote to Timothy to express his steadfastness in faith even in
adverse situations, to the end he fought the good fight. I've run that race to the end,
I've kept my faith. Good is an understatement, for, after his conversion, Paul lived his
life only for Christ.
 Final Task:

Direction: Identify and write the words that gives inspiration and assurance based on the
Sacred Scripture and Church teaching of this lesson and your response to this on the box
provided below.

Criteria: Content Organization – 5pts; Clarity – 5pts;

Words of assurance and inspiration Your response to this assurance

No matter how hard you try, still fight,

because we know that there is also a

day, which is for us.

no matter how hard Christians suffer,
because there is no quick way to good
they do not regret sharing the name of
intentions in the future, if there is a god
Jesus with the whole world, because
no matter how hard you try to carry it
they know that every suffering has an
you can get it, do you secretly call on
end, just trust in God's plan because
god? That's okay, he can just see that
suffering will bring eternal life
you're pushing? nothing is impossible

and you can get that.

References:
References / Instructional Materials: Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)
Kenosis: The life-Giving Sacrifice of Jesus Del Castillo et al, Catechism for the Filipino
Catholic (CFC), Holy Bible, Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP-II), Enjoying our
Life in the Church Bocar et al, Jesus Christ Roawie Quimba et al.

ONLINE SOURCES:
rnace_01.jpg Retrieved 07/25/2020
https://www.google.com/search?q=Life+of+the+early+christians+images&rlz Retrieved
07/26/2020
https://www.google.com/search?q=power+of+seeds&tbm=isch&ved Retrieved
07/28/2020
Prepared by:

EVELINDA B. LAZAGA, LPT. MARE ED

Instructor

Checked by:

Raymond W. Dela Cuesta, LPT. MAED

SHS Academic Coordinator

Noted by:

Eleanor C. Aguillon, MAED

SHS Focal Person