Unit 1: God Reveals a Plan of Love

Goals

• The students will grow in love for God through a deeper understanding of God's plan of salvation. They will come to appreciate the Old Testament.

Chapter 1: The Bible Reveals God's Saving Love
The students are reminded that the Bible is one of the chief means of discovering God's love for them and of learning how they can deepen their relationship with God. They learn that through Scripture, God reveals himself and the divine plan for our happiness. They see that the Old Testament helps us to understand Jesus.

Chapter 2: Scripture Is God's Saving Word
The students learn that God reveals himself and calls us to an intimate relationship through Sacred Scripture as well as through Sacred Tradition. They come to understand that God desires to speak to them through Scripture. They are introduced to the Bible as a collection of various kinds of inspired writings and learn the major categories of books in the Old Testament. They review how to locate passages.

Chapter 3: Everything God Created Is Good
The students learn not only of the original creation of all things but of God's continual act of creation, which includes creating new beings and keeping all things in existence. They are made aware of God's special creation of people and are led to realize that people are more important than things. Responding to their call as stewards of the earth, they consider ways of protecting and caring for human life and for all the gifts of the earth.

Chapter 4: God Offers Love and Mercy
Through a study of the first stories in Genesis, the students ponder the entrance of sin into our world and its effect on our relationship with God and others. They see how God revealed the depth of divine love and mercy in promising a redeemer, and they discover in this promise the basis for Christian hope. They are given opportunities to grow in the Christlike response of peace and forgiveness.

Chapter 5: Unit 1 Review
The students review the terms, people, and events, as well as the concept of salvation history, presented in Unit 1. In the context of a celebration, the Scripture prayer booklet “God's Word Is Alive in ____” is provided for them from the back of the students' book. It may be used in class or assigned as a home project to lead the students to scriptural prayer.