Thou
shalt do!
The Ten Commandments
Edge Night Outline
SCRIPTURE
Exodus 20:1-17
Deuteronomy 5:6-21
John 14:21-24
John 15:9-17
Catechism
# 2052-2055
# 2056
# 2084-2094
# 2142-2149
# 2168-2174
# 2197-2200
# 2258-2262
# 2331-2336
# 2401-2407
# 2464-2470
# 2514-2516
# 2534
# 348-351
# 352-468
outline
The goal of this Edge Night is to help the youth
understand God’s purpose and design in giving
us the Ten Commandments – not simply as a set
of rules, but as a way one should live his/her life.
THOU SHALT DO!
• Ten Commandment Posters
• Poster board
• Markers
• Pens/Pencils
• Sticky Notes
• Handout: "Commandments
and Love" (page 51)
YouCat
Goal
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Supplies Needed
Edge night at a glance
The Ten Commandments are the most
recognizable form of laws throughout the world.
For centuries, these have been seen as laws or
rules one should abide by in order to be obedient
to God. Some, however, struggle that perhaps
the Ten Commandments are outdated or no
longer apply to our current life/situation. The new
YOUCAT tells us: “No, the Ten Commandments are
by no means the product of a particular time.
They express man’s fundamental obligation
toward God and neighbor, which are always and
everywhere valid [2070-2072]” (351). The Ten
Commandments are also not to be lived simply out
of an obligation, but serve as a way to know and
love God more deeply. The Ten Commandments
established a covenantal relationship with His
people. As a note, in the Catechism of the Catholic
Church and in the YOUCAT, the sections on the Ten
Commandments are rather extensive. We have
placed where to find the Commandments in the
reference section for the Edge Night – take time
to read through at least one to two paragraphs
on each Commandment. This will help you to
understand the depth of each and our call to live
them more faithfully.
This Edge Night will start with a fun game
called, “Do This, Do That” to illustrate how we
sometimes perceive the Ten Commandments are
Edge Semester planning guide
just a bunch of rules. This will be processed and
followed up by an “interactive” talk that helps the
youth to understand the reason God gave us the
Ten Commandments and how we can live them
out. During small group, the youth discuss the
Ten Commandments and come up with a creative
rap to share what they have learned. The night
will close with a prayer service and the youth
taking time to pray through how to live out the
Ten Commandments.
Using large poster board or butcher paper,
create your Edge Commandments for this night.
Hang the posters around the room and consider
handing out a set of the Edge Commandments
to the youth as they walk in the door. Examples
of what could be in your Edge Commandments:
Thou shall not talk during prayer. Thou shall not
tap your pen/pencil while someone is talking.
Honor your Core Members. You shall love your
youth minister. Have fun!
Before The Night
Media Suggestions
You will need to create posters for the Closing
Prayer ahead of time. On each poster, write one
of the Ten Commandments large enough for the
youth to see from where they are sitting. You will
also need either Sticky Notes® or small squares
of papers of similar size and tape. Have about five
per youth.
Song: “When You Believe” by Mariah Carey and
Whitney Houston (Prince of Egypt Sountrack,
Dreamworks SKG)
Video: “When You Believe” from the Prince of
Egypt, Dreamworks SKG (http://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=zYqBeC5-xdQ&feature=related)
Environment
You’ve always wanted to create an Edge
Commandments, right? Here is your chance.
GATHER
(10 min)
As the youth enter, have fun upbeat music playing
in the background.
The youth minister should gather all the youth
together, welcome them to Edge Night, and lead
an opening prayer. He or she should introduce
any youth at Edge Night for the first time and
present a brief overview of the session.
Do This, Do That!
(10 min)
To really complicate matters and for the skillful
try the following:
If you are familiar with “Simon Says,” then this
game should look familiar. However, those
playing the game will have to listen carefully to
“Do This” – yes and copy the action; “Do That” –
do not copy the action; “Don’t Do That” – yes and
edge semester planning guide
THOU SHALT DO!
Welcome & Introductions
Invite the youth to all stand up and play from
where they are. The leader will explain that the
youth are to follow along and when he/she says,
“Do This,” and does a corresponding action,
the youth should copy and do that action. For
instance, if the leader says, “Do This” and puts
his/her hands on his/her head, the youth should
copy and also put their hands on their heads.
However, if the leader says, “Do That” and does
an action, the youth should not copy that action.
“Do This” – yes and copy the action; “Do That” –
no and do not copy the action. Have fun until you
are down to one youth – the winner!
outline
your instruction to ensure they move or do not
move at the appropriate time.
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copy the action; “Don’t Do This” – do not copy the
action.
Proclaim
SCRIPTURE PROCLAMATION
(5 min)
John 15:9-17
Video Intro
(5 min)
If you have video capabilities, consider showing
the last five minutes from the movie Prince of
Egypt. This clip shows the Israelites leaving Egypt
and a view of Moses coming down the mountain
with the tablets on which the Ten Commandments
were written.
“Thou Shalt DO!” Teaching
(10 min)
THOU SHALT DO!
outline
The Great Ten Commandments
How many of you can name the Ten
Commandments? How many can name them in
order? What are the Ten Commandments and
why do we have them? And what do they mean
for us? These are all important questions we
should ask because they are an important part of
our past, present, and future.
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Listen again to John 15:10, “If you keep my
commandments, you will abide in my love, just
as I have kept my Father’s commandments and
abide in his love.” God’s commandments are not
just suggestions, but rather, they are a way we
can experience God’s love.
The Ten Commandments were given to Moses –
several thousand years before the birth of Christ.
The Israelites, God’s chosen people, had fallen
into slavery and over several generations, began
to believe in the gods and ways of the Egyptians
– they had forgotten who the One, True God is.
Along came Moses and he led the people out of
slavery and into the desert. God saved His people!
God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments
as a way for them to know and understand God’s
great love and how to live their lives. The Ten
Commandments weren’t given as punishment,
but rather as a part of a covenant: a way for God’s
people to turn away from sin and to live a life of
holiness.
The Ten Commandments Today
The same commandments that God gave to
the Israelites are still prevalent in our society, in
fact in many countries around the world, today.
There are few places you can go where stealing
is okay/acceptable or killing someone is allowed.
However, the Ten Commandments are not meant
to be simply a set of rules or laws that we try to
obey so that we don’t get into trouble. God was
not interested in simply giving us a list of “Do’s
and Don’ts.” And following and living out the
Ten Commandments is not some cruel way of
making life “not fun” anymore. The truth is, these
commands are actually written on our heart –
the Ten Commandments are an outward sign of
what God has placed within us. St. Augustine, a
saint considered a Doctor of the Church because
of his wisdom and his writings on the Catholic
faith stated that each of us have a “God-shaped
hole” in our hearts that can only be filled by
God. This makes sense when we look at the first
three Commandments: love God, keep holy the
Sabbath, and do not take His name in vain. Our
hearts long to know God already even if there is
sometimes too much noise in our lives to hear
Him.
Listen also to what the Catechism of the
Catholic Church says, “What God commands he
makes possible by his grace” (2082). The Ten
Commandments are not a burden, but rather,
with the grace of God, become a way we can grow
in our relationship with Christ.
Honoring Mom and Dad
We hear this as part of the Ten Commandments,
but St. Paul tells us again in the New Testament,
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this
is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’ (this is
the first commandment with a promise), ‘that it
may be well with you and you may live long on
the earth’” (Ephesians 6:1-3). Now, this doesn’t
mean that if you honor your mother and father
you are guaranteed to live to be 1,000 years old.
What this commandment is saying, is that if we
love and honor our parents, we will experience
joy and peace. Think about in your own home –
Edge Semester planning guide
How can you live out these commandments in
your life? As we said before, God will give you the
grace to live them out. If you struggle to make it
to Mass every Sunday, ask God for the grace to
help you get there. If you struggle to honor or
respect your parents, ask God for the grace to
change your heart so that you can experience
that peace. The same is true with all of the Ten
Commandments – they are not meant to be just
read and memorized, but truly lived!
Break
Small Group Discussion
(10 min)
As your small group begins, say a prayer for the
group and the activities for that session.
Have your group take a moment and review the
Ten Commandments. See the "Commandments
and Love" handout on page 51 for a guide.
Discuss the following questions:
• Why are the Ten Commandments so important
to us as Christians – even though they were
written so long ago?
• What is the importance of the first three
Commandments?
• Why is one of the Commandments to love and
honor our parents?
• How can the other Commandments help you to
love “your neighbor” as God wants us to?
Commandments and Love
(10 min)
Be sure each youth has a pen/pencil. On the
sheet, "Commandments and Love," that you
handed out for the small group discussion,
have the youth write each “Thou Shalt Not”
commandments as a “Thou shall do (write the
rest of the commandment).
Commandments and Rap
(10 min)
As a small group, write a 30-60 second rap about
the Ten Commandments. You can either do a rap
that lists the Ten Commandments or do a rap that
helps the youth to understand what they have
learned about the Ten Commandments during
the session. Practice your rap a few times.
send
Large Group Process
(10 min)
As time permits, have small groups share their rap
about the Ten Commandments. It helps to have
one group on stage and the next group on “stand
by” next to the stage to help make transitions
smoother!
• Are there any Commandments that seem
difficult to live out right now? Why?
edge semester planning guide
outline
God, Family, Community
The rest of the commandments help us to know
how to live in community, “Love does no wrong to
a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the
law” (Romans 8:10). For us to love our neighbor,
we should not steal, kill, lie, or always want what
other people have. For us to love our neighbor,
we must follow the law of God and the law of love
– to love, honor, and respect all others (do not
steal, lie), respect human life (do not kill), and be
charitable and giving (this helps us not to covet or
desire things or people).
• What does it mean that God will give us the
grace to live out the Ten Commandments?
THOU SHALT DO!
when you respect your parents, you experience
peace (no one is yelling). However, when there is
dishonor, mistrust, and disrespect, there is often
no peace (lots of yelling).
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CLOSING PRAYER
(10min)
(While the youth are in small group, place the posters
with the Ten Commandments around the room.)
Invite the youth to enter into a time of prayer. You
may want to dim the lights and have some softer,
instrumental music playing. Ask the small group
leaders to pass out the Sticky Notes and pens/
pencils to the youth.
Do a quick recap of the Proclaim and God’s plan
and design for giving us the Ten Commandments.
Then explain the prayer service to the youth
and allow them time to write out some of their
prayers.
The prayer service: On each of the Sticky
Notes, ask the youth to write a short prayer of
how he/she wants to start living out the Ten
Commandments. Since the youth have five Sticky
Notes, each youth will write five prayers for five
of the Ten Commandments. Examples: Lord help
me to respect my parents and not yell at them;
Lord help me not to be jealous when other people
get clothes or things I want; Lord, help me to be
honest with others; Lord help me to love you
more and get to Mass every Sunday.
When the youth are ready, have
his/her Sticky Note Prayers on the
commandment that corresponds
prayer. This will help them connect
and the Commandment.
them place
appropriate
to his/her
their prayer
SUMMARY CHALLENGE
THOU SHALT DO!
outline
Before the middle school youth are sent home,
they will be challenged to remember:
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• God gave Moses the Ten Commandments as a
part of His covenant with the Israelites.
• These commandments are written on our hearts
so that we continue to know how to love God
more.
• The Ten Commandments are not simply a set of
“Do This” and “Do That,” but rather they are a
way to live our lives to experience peace and joy.
• This week, you are challenged to remember
the prayers you wrote and placed on the Ten
Commandment posters. Ask God to help you to
live these out.
TO THE PARENTS OF
During tonight’s Edge session, we discussed the
Ten Commandments – not simply as a set of “do’s”
and “don’ts” but as a way we can understand how
to love God more. The Ten Commandments have
been around for centuries and are still a part
many societies today. Why? Because these laws
were not just written on tablets, but God has also
written them on our hearts. As St. Augustine said,
“Our hearts are restless until they rest in you O
Lord.” The first three commandments remind us
that our hearts are restless and only find peace
when we keep God first in our lives, attend Mass
every week, and honor and respect His name. The
rest of the commandments teach us that we are
restless and if we try to find peace in other things
(coveting other people’s goods or relationships)
or lying, killing, or stealing. We find our peace
when we follow God’s law.
Here are some questions to help start a
conversation with your youth about what he/she
learned during Edge:
• What did you
Commandments?
learn
about
the
Ten
• Why are the Ten Commandments so important
to us?
• Which of the Ten Commandments seem the
hardest to understand/follow? The easiest?
ADAPTATION IDEAS
• Make the opening game/activity a grade
competition and then have the winner from
each grade compete at the front.
• Instead of the Small Group Rap, your small group
could also come up with a skit about how they
live out at least one of the Ten Commandments
in their every day lives. Assign small groups one
of the commandments ahead of time so that
you have a nice variety of skits based on all of
the Commandments.
Edge Semester planning guide
Thou Shalt Do! handout
Commandments and Love
Instructions:
Below are the Ten Commandments as listed in the Catechism of the
Catholic Church. On the lines provided, re-write the “You shall not”
commandments as a “I will…” Note: do not simply take the word “not”
out – you have to re-write it as a positive statement – a couple of the
commandments have been done for you as examples.
1. I am the Lord your God, you shall not have strange gods before me.
I will love God and keep Him first in my life.
2. You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain.
___________________________________________________________________________
3. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s day.
___________________________________________________________________________
4. Honor your father and your mother.
___________________________________________________________________________
5. You shall not kill.
___________________________________________________________________________
6. You shall not commit adultery.
___________________________________________________________________________
7. You shall not steal.
___________________________________________________________________________
9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
I will keep my heart pure when thinking about members of the opposite sex.
10.You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
___________________________________________________________________________
edge semester planning guide
THOU SHALT DO!
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
HANDOUT
___________________________________________________________________________
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Thou Shalt Do! Checklist
EDGE night Checklist
Core Planning Team:
Two Weeks Prior to Edge Night:
____________________________________________
⃞⃞ Turn in your notes for the Edge Night to the
youth minister. Allow the youth minister to
give feedback and make necessary changes.
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
Date of Life Night:
____________________________________________
One month prior to the Night:
⃞⃞ Give copes of the Edge Night to each of the
members of the planning team. Each person
should read the Scripture, Catechism, and
YOUCAT references as well as review the
planning guide before the brainstorming
meeting.
⃞⃞ Have the planning team meet for a
brainstorming meeting (this should last no
longer than 1 hour). The team prays and
discusses where the youth are in their faith
journey in relation to this topic. Using this
planning guide as a starting point, the team
adapts the Edge Night to meet the needs of the
youth and the parish.
⃞⃞ Assign the person responsible for the following:
THOU SHALT DO!
CHECKLIST
Environment ________________________________
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Before the Night (when needed) _______________
Audio/Visual Needs __________________________
Opening Prayer ______________________________
⃞⃞ Create a list of needed supplies and materials.
Assign a person to be responsible for collecting
and/or purchasing the items needed.
⃞⃞ Discuss with the youth minister who will be
giving the Proclaim/witness for the Edge Night.
Be sure that this person is given the script and/
or teaching. Inform them of any practices, time
limits, and/or deadlines.
Week of the Edge Night:
⃞⃞ Person giving Proclaim checks in with youth
minister.
⃞⃞ Check that all supplies have been obtained/
purchased.
⃞⃞ Create/collect items for environment. Have
volunteers ready to help if needed.
⃞⃞ Email Core Team an overview of the Edge Night.
Day of the Edge Night:
⃞⃞ Set up the environment. Make sure the room is
clean and presentable.
⃞⃞ If needed, set up audio/visual equipment. Test
the video clips to make sure both picture and
sound work.
⃞⃞ Pray! Pray for the youth attending the Edge
Night. Pray for God’s will to be done through
the night. Pray over those involved.
Scripture Proclamation ________________________
Proclaim (discuss with YM) ____________________
Summary Challenge __________________________
Edge Semester planning guide
Thou Shalt Do! EVALUATION
EDGE night evaluation
1. On a scale of 1-10, how well did this Edge
Night accomplish the goal we set? Explain.
2. What was the strongest aspect of this Edge
Night?
2. What was the strongest aspect of this Edge
Night?
3. What kind of follow-up do we need to do
after this Edge Night?
3. What kind of follow-up do we need to do
after this Edge Night?
4. What can we improve for future Edge Nights?
How can we accomplish this?
4. What can we improve for future Edge Nights?
How can we accomplish this?
1. On a scale of 1-10, how well did this Edge
Night accomplish the goal we set? Explain.
1. On a scale of 1-10, how well did this Edge
Night accomplish the goal we set? Explain.
2. What was the strongest aspect of this Edge
Night?
2. What was the strongest aspect of this Edge
Night?
3. What kind of follow-up do we need to do
after this Edge Night?
3. What kind of follow-up do we need to do
after this Edge Night?
4. What can we improve for future Edge Nights?
How can we accomplish this?
4. What can we improve for future Edge Nights?
How can we accomplish this?
edge semester planning guide
THOU SHALT DO!
1. On a scale of 1-10, how well did this Edge
Night accomplish the goal we set? Explain.
EVALUATION
Instructions:
Use the following questions to discuss and evaluate your Edge Night.
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