Rebecca S. Ramsey's Blog, page 21

The Parable of The Good Shepherd

Welcome to our lesson for June 30, the Parable of The Good Shepherd.

What a beautiful story that so perfectly depicts Jesus–the one who would (and did) lay down his life for his sheep! The parable is full of so much meaning, so many layers that the children can explore. I’m sure they’ll be ready to talk about their own times when they’ve “found the good grass” as well as times where they’ve felt that they (or others they know) have been through places of danger. It’s a great time to share our own such experiences and how our faith in God helped us make it through. Most every child has a story to share about being lost and found. I’m hoping you’ll enjoy lots of discussion with this lesson!

There are wondering questions within the story script for this lesson. I’ll have them in the classrooms for you to write in their responses.

Idea Sparkers for our Create a Gift for God time:

There are two ways to go here. The children can either reproduce the parable in some way, or they can explore their own experiences with what the parable talks about: being lost and found, their own faith in the Good Shepherd, their own times of good grass and cool water or times of danger and faith.

Ideas for reproducing the parable:

1. Let the children make their own miniature parable boxes with this week’s parable inside. If you want to buy small boxes, just purchase them, give me a receipt and I’ll reimburse you. We have green felt in the resource room. The kids could use fun foam for the pen and the water and the dangerous places, and could make the sheep however they want, with clothespins and cotton balls or their own ideas. Some links for sheep are here and here.

They could draw and cut out a wolf and the shepherd.

2. They could make their own sheep and shepherd puppets at the links above. (in #1)

Ideas for exploring the parable in terms of their own experiences:

1. The children could make a class mural/picture of how it feels to be lost (on one side) and found (on the other side). The title could be something like The Good Shepherd Takes Care of the Sheep or something like that.

2. They could illustrate My Good Shepherd Calls My Name, drawing the Good Shepherd and themselves.

3. This would be a perfect time to study and illustrate the 23rd Psalm!

Check out more art response ideas on my Pinterest page, here.

Enjoy!

Paul’s Discovery

Welcome to our lesson for June 23, the story of Paul’s Discovery.

 Before we dive into a series of Jesus’ parables this summer, we have one more Sunday to continue our previous timeline: Jesus has been crucified, then resurrected. Jesus spent 40 days appearing to his disciples and letting them begin to know him in a new way until finally that time was over. He ascended into heaven. The Holy Spirit arrived and we celebrated it first with Pentecost Sunday, then, last week, Trinity Sunday. Now we continue the story with Paul’s amazing transformation and work. It’s a wonderful example of the power of the Holy Spirit to change us in profound ways!

What a rich story of Saul/Paul, from birth to death! You’ll find the script in the yellow (Spring) book, p.126-135. The wondering questions are listed at the end.

Idea Sparkers for our Gift to God Time:

1. Paul’s life is so exciting. It would be fun to divide up the group and have the children act out scenes. Even our youngest kids could do it!

Scenes they may choose to act out:

1. Making tents with his father (bring a sheet from home and drape it over a table or rope) Pretend to hammer down stakes.

2. Waving goodbye to his family and traveling to Jerusalem (bring a suitcase)

3. Worshiping in the temple (Gather candlesticks, make a big scroll to read)

4. Saul trying to catch people who followed Jesus to bring them back for punishment.

5. Saul’s experience on the road to Damascus. (Maybe bring a lamp for a great light. )

Act out being led to Damascus and staying in the house, where the scales fall from his eyes.

6. Saul’s telling the good news of his transformation at the synagogue and then how Jesus’ followers hid him when people grew angry.

7.Paul’s escape over the city wall in a basket. (A laundry basket and rope would be perfect for this!)

8. Paul’s traveling and writing letters.

9. Paul kept as a prisoner in his own house.

2. Let the children work in pairs or alone to illustrate their favorite scene from the story. Have an “art show” at the end to look at everyone’s work and put the works in chronological order.

3. Examine the scrolls to see which books of the Bible do we think Paul wrote. Children could make bookmarks for their Bibles illustrated with scenes from Paul’s life.

For more art response ideas, check out my Pinterest page, here.

Enjoy, everyone!

Trinity Sunday

Welcome to our lesson for Trinity Sunday, June 16.

 Today we celebrate the trinity, which is perfect timing, considering we just welcomed the arrival of the Holy Spirit last Sunday.

For this Sunday, we’ll use Lesson 6: Holy Baptism from the Winter (purple) book, p. 70-76.

The lesson is on baptism but it’s perfect for Trinity Sunday since a major component of the lesson is the Trinity. At the beginning of the script, it refers to “the Creator, the Redeemer, the Sustainer.” Do use those words, but add in an explanation of what they mean. Redeemer and Sustainer will be unfamiliar words to most children.

I would suggest that you modify the part of the script on baptism, fitting it to the way we do baptism in our church. Each of you should have in your classroom a bowl in which to pour the water, a pitcher, and a person (doll) to be baptized. I would encourage you to talk about the baptismal statement that baptismal candidates write (and a person special to them reads) expressing why they want to be baptized and what baptism means to them. I’ll have a copy of a baptismal statement that one of our children recently wrote in your rooms to share. (With permission, of course!) You might also talk about Discipleship Class, which our 4th and 5th graders can take in the fall and spring to learn more about baptism and being a disciple of Christ, before they are candidates for baptism.

The children would certainly enjoy the candle lighting part of the lesson. I hope you’ll feel brave enough. You might use tea candles (I’ll make sure there are plenty in your rooms.) For safety’s sake, you might have them sit on the carpet for this lesson and put the tea candle on the carpet in front of them, asking them to keep their hands in their laps at all times, assuring them that they will each have a chance to “change their own light.”  I’ll make sure you have a candle snuffer in your room-so the children won’t blow out the candle, spattering wax on the carpet. If you choose to do this part of the lesson, I’m confident they will always remember it!

Here are some wondering questions for this lesson:

1. I wonder what was your favorite part of this lesson.

2. Today we heard more about the Trinity. We poured the water and talked about the water of creation. I wonder if God the Father is still creating today.

3. We also lit the big candle and talked about Jesus, the light of the world. I wonder how Jesus is a light. I wonder why we call him that.

4. We also remembered the Holy Spirit with the dove and the perfume. I wonder why we use perfume and a dove to remind us of the Holy Spirit.

5. I wonder what baptism means to you.

 Idea Sparkers for your Gift to God time:

Focus on the Trinity

1. Your class could make a larger mural illustrating the three parts of the trinity, showing them intersecting like the circles of felt we used in the lesson. You could add illustrations to each circle. For God the Father, the children could draw creation in action, or their favorite old testament stories. For God the Son, the children could add drawings of their favorite Jesus stories, and for the Holy Spirit, the children could draw ways the Holy Spirit helps us–knowing right from wrong, giving us strength in times of trouble, helping us tell others about God, helping us understand the Bible, etc.

Each child could do this individually, but it could be more fun doing it together.

2. You could make simple trinity decorations, like this one from a blog with lots of great ideas,here. It’s simple, but the kids would enjoy making it. (Yey! A chance to use the glue gun!)

You can also glue on some symbols. This idea comes from this site.

3. You could talk about how the shamrock or 3 leafed clover is often used to explain the trinity- one plant, with a leaf for each of the three parts. Then go clover hunting around the church. The children could pick a clover, bring it back, draw it big sized, and label each leaf with part of the trinity.

Found here

The fourth graders made something like this during our Easter lessons.

Found here.









Found here.

Find some more art response ideas to get the kids started, go here to my Pinterest page.

Enjoy!

Love, Becky

Knowing Jesus in a New Way 7: Known by the Holy Spirit

Welcome to Knowing Jesus in a New Way 7: Known by the Holy Spirit, our lesson for June 9.

This week we get to share with the children the story of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost as told in Acts 2:1-21.

What a perfect time to not only share the story of the events of Acts 2:1-21, but to lead the children DURING the Godly Play lesson into an exploration of what the Holy Spirit is, what it did for the disciples and what it does for us today. A good time in the script to insert this is after you relay what Peter said, quoting Joel.

Here’s the part of the script as I would amend it:

(original script)

Peter stepped into this chaos with a confidence                  

and calm that the disciples had never seen before.

“These people are not drunk, like you think.  After

all, it is only morning. What has happened is what               

the prophet Joel wrote about. He said that God will

pour out God’s spirit on us so that our sons and 

daughters will prophesy, the young will see visions,

and the old will dream dreams. 

(Now, here’s the section you might add to help children get the concept of the Holy Spirit…)

The pouring out of God’s spirit was God’s gift of the

Holy Spirit. But was the Holy Spirit? Jesus had talked

about the Holy Spirit and when he did, he called it the

Comforter. He had told the disciples that it would come

after He left them. And now it was here! But what would

it do? Jesus had talked about that too and we can find it in the

book of John. Jesus had said that the Holy Spirit …

1. helps people see what they’ve done wrong and points

them to God

2. helps people do what is right

3. helps us understand the Bible

4. prays for us-the Bible says that He prays to God when

we sometimes don’t know how or what to pray. Helps us

through our hard times

5. helps us find out what our special gifts are so we can use

them to help others

The Holy Spirit had come! It had happened!

(The original script picks back up here…)

Many passed on by to keep their great traditions and live         

good lives. Others listened and became baptized…..                     

(Continue with rest of the script.)

You can see that I’ve included questions about the Holy Spirit in my wondering questions.

Wondering Questions

1. I wonder what is your favorite part of this story.

2. I wonder what the disciples thought was happening when the mighty wind filled the house and bits of fire began to dance around each person.

3. I wonder how it felt to have God’s spirit poured out on you.

4. I wonder what you would have thought if you were on the streets when the disciples ran out, overjoyed, telling everyone what happened in different languages.

5. Before Pentecost the disciples felt the love from Jesus. At Pentecost the holy spirit helped the disciples feel the love inside them.  I wonder how the love helped the disciples do their work.

6. I wonder how the holy spirit can help you.

7. When we celebrate Pentecost, we call it the day the church was born-it’s birthday.  I wonder why that might be.

I really hope that if you’re in a room where the children have access to Godly Play materials, that after the story is shared, you’ll try letting the children select something to bring to the circle that helps tell the story.  Those connections can be so meaningful.

IDEA SPARKERS FOR OUR GIFT TO GOD TIME

1. Flame hats or headbands

In some Christian churches church officials wear flame shaped hats to remind us of the flames seen over Christ’s followers on the day of the first Pentecost.

Why not show a picture of such a hat and let the kids design how they want to do their own. It doesn’t have to look like that one. Have fun foam or cardboard or fabric on hand- and long strips of large construction paper for the band part.

2. Flame portrait

As followers of Christ, let each child draw themselves as a disciple, with flames at the top of their heads. These flames could be added with tissue paper or paint or whatever they choose.

3. Make pinwheels or kites or windsocks to remind us of the mighty wind that filled the house.

There are great instructions for making a pinwheel here. If the kids want to make a kite, you can find instructions for making a real working one here, or just cut a kite shape out of paper and kids can decorate it as they want, hopefully with the story of Pentecost in mind.

Or make a Pentecost windsock, as shown here.

4. Doves

Since the symbol of the holy spirit is the dove, why not make flame colored doves (yellow, orange, red) and hang them from the ceiling to remind us of Pentecost. There are directions for doves here. Or make an origami one as shown in the video below.

Amazing Origami Flying Dove

Creative commons licensed photo by upsidedownapril

5. Birthday Cake-Since we celebrate the birthday of the church as we remember Pentecost, you could bring plain cupcakes to Sunday school and allow time for the kids to frost them and decorate them. If you’re feeling brave, you could have each child light a candle for their cupcake and remember the gift of the spirit, which looked like flames above each follower’s head.

See more art response ideas at my Pinterest page, here.

Enjoy the story!

Love, Becky

Blessing of Listening Ears

This children’s sermon was written to accompany a sermon based on the story from Acts 16 in which Paul talks with Lydia, the seller of purple cloth. I found the main idea of blessing listening ears in Carolyn Browns blogpost about this scripture, here. She’s a great source for speaking with children about scripture. Thank you, Carolyn!

Good morning girls and boys. I have a question for you. Are you a good listener? I wonder if you’ve ever had to ask someone to listen to you- or if anyone has ever had to ask you to listen.

In today’s scripture there are several people who listen and their listening turned out to be really important! I’m going to tell you the story, and as I do, I bet you can figure out who’s doing the listening. When you hear that someone is listening, point to your ear like this.

Paul went to sleep and he had a dream of a man in Macedonia begging Paul to come help them- to preach to him. Paul listened to the man, and when he woke up he realized that this wasn’t a crazy dream- that the dream was actually God telling him to go and he listened. So he and his friends got in a boat and went!

When he got there and it was the sabbath, he went to a river to pray– to talk to and listen to God. But there were women there, and so we told them about Jesus, and they listened. One was Lydia, a lady who sold purple cloth. God opened her heart to really hear who he was. She and her family were baptized and she said, if you think I’m enough of a believer, come and stay at my house. They heard her, and so Paul and his friends did just that!

I wonder who were the listeners?

I wonder if you think Paul expected to hear from God? Or if Lydia expected to change her life when she went to the river?

Listening is so important! When we really listen to whatever is around us- dreams,  other people, we sometimes get a chance to know what God wants us to do!

I’d like to give you a blessing, put my hands on each of your ears and ask God to help you be a good listener like Paul and Lydia- but that would take too long. So I’m going to ask you to help me. If you would like to, let someone sitting close to you put their hands on your ears- either both hands or one hand. Or if you don’t feel comfortable doing that, you can put your own hands on your ears like this.

“Blessings on your listening ears. May God help you listen to dreams and ideas that God sends us in all sorts of ways –and may God help you figure out what to do with them.”

Let’s pray: Dear God, thank you for speaking to us in all sorts of ways. Help us listen to those around us, even in unexpected places for messages from you. We love you, God. Amen.

 

 

*Many thanks to Shai Barzilay for his flickr photo shared here, through Creative Commons.

Knowing Jesus in a New Way 6: Known in Waiting

Welcome to , our lesson for June 2, Knowing Jesus in a New Way 6: Known in Waiting.

This week we get to share with the children the story of Jesus’ ascension as told in Luke 24:50-53 and chapter 1 of Acts.

What a wonderful opportunity to again talk about the disciples’ experience with having  Jesus right beside them and then having to learn to live with him in a completely different way. The children  have not witnessed this event of course, but most know what it feels like to be left or abandoned-even temporarily-by someone they love- or to feel afraid of what that might be like. For modern Christians whom have never had the joy of having Jesus physically with us, it takes some thinking to imagine what that must have been like, and then to have it taken away.

In addition to discussing the story itself, this Sunday is a good time to talk about the idea that feelings are not always the truth of what is really happening. When bad things happen we may feel abandoned by God, but that is not the truth. God never abandons. So what do we do when we have these feelings and fears? What did the disciples do? They did what Jesus told them to do.They waited and prayed and obeyed Jesus’ commands until they would be with Jesus again in heaven. As in the sermon last Sunday, they did the ordinary things of living as they waited on God. They chose a replacement for Judas. They went on with life, holding onto each other and to prayer.

I hope that if you’re in a room where the children have access to Godly Play materials, that after the story is shared, you’ll try letting the children select something to bring to the circle that helps tell the story.  Those connections can be so meaningful.

Here are the wondering questions for Sunday.

1. I wonder what is your favorite part of today’s story.

2. I wonder if you’ve ever been left behind. I wonder how that feels.

3. Before Jesus disappeared he told the disciples that they would be baptized in the Holy Spirit. I wonder what they thought would happen. I wonder what they thought the Holy Spirit was. I wonder what you think the Holy Spirit is.

4. When Jesus vanished, I wonder if he was really gone. I wonder how he was still with the disciples.

5. I wonder where you are in this story. I wonder what part of this story is about you?

Ideas for Our Gift to God Time

1.Today would be a great time for children to put all the Eastertide stories together in one project. They could do this as a class with a mural, with pairs of children working on a single story of this series, or they could put it together in a little booklet like the one below.

For the example I made here I took 12″ x18″ pieces of construction paper from the paper closet, cut each of them into 3 long strips of 4″x 18″ and folded each accordion-style into 6 sections.

I went ahead and labeled each section with the story title: Known at the empty tomb, Known on a walk and at the inn, Known by his scars, Known at Breakfast, Known at the Great Commission, and Known on the hillside. You could also add where each scripture is found in the Bible. Then children can illustrate each block.

2. Another idea is to celebrate the ascension story on its own by making your own Ascending Jesus, as shown in this kit from Oriental Trading.

You don’t need a kit to make this- just a solo cup and string and paper. It would be much more meaningful for the children to make it their own way, drawing their own Jesus and constructing it as they want, like the children here have done. (Scroll down and see below.)

 

3. Why not show the children images that artists have created showing the ascension and ask them to do their own watercolors or drawings of how they think it might have happened? It’s a mystery, so it would be interesting to see how they picture it. Find artwork to share with the children on my Pinterest page of ascension artwork here.

See some more art response ideas on my Pinterest page, here.

Enjoy the story!

Love, Becky

Knowing Jesus in a New Way 5: Known in Making Him Known

Welcome to Knowing Jesus in a New Way 5: Known in Making Him Known, our lesson for May 26.

 What an important lesson this is, the scripture from Matthew 28:16-20 in which Jesus tells his disciples to go everywhere and tell His story, teach people to be disciples, and baptize them. As the story script says, the disciples had been followers and now they had to be leaders. They had been sheep and now it was time to be shepherds. But they didn’t need to be afraid, because Jesus says he will be with them always, to the end of the age.

There are several different aspects of the story that you may choose to emphasize:

1. The meeting itself of Jesus with the disciples on the mountain.

2. Jesus’ command to go to people everywhere and make them disciples, baptize them, and teach them to obey his commands.

3. Jesus’ assurance that He will always be with us.

You may want to try letting the children gather items from the materials that help to tell the story this week.

Here are some wondering questions to also use:

1. I wonder what was your favorite part of today’s story is.

2. I wonder how the disciples felt about Jesus telling them to go everywhere and tell Jesus’ story.

3. I wonder how you would feel if Jesus asked you to go to a new place and tell Jesus’ story.

4. I wonder where we are in Jesus’ story. I wonder how we become part of it.

5. Jesus said he would be with disciples forever. I wonder how he was with them. I wonder how we find him with us.

6. I wonder how you and I can share Jesus’ story with others.

Ideas for Our Gift to God Time

The more they make their own ideas into their projects, the more ownership they have, and the more excited they will be about their work. [image error]

When EVERYONE Came to My Yard

A couple of nights ago I went for a walk and when I returned, everyone had showed up in my yard.

Literally.

An index card with the word “everyone” neatly written in marker was nestled in the grass in front of my dogwood tree. A tiny ant was making a journey across it, almost reaching the tail end of the y.

Maybe it was a spelling flashcard or part of a sentence from a class project, blown by the wind out of my neighbor’s trash can. Or maybe it was an answer to a question. What could that question be?

Because my weird brain LOVES looking for meaning in happenstance things, it started tumbling the card around.

What is true about everyone? EVERYONE? Every person on this planet?

I thought about it as I opened the front door to my house and noticed Ben’s graduation cap on the coffee table. Then I laughed at a memory.

Just last week our son Ben graduated from medical school. On Friday’s ceremony, we sat in the balcony of the Koger Center in Columbia, South Carolina, as a couple hundred soon-to-be physicians marched in and took their seats at the front near the stage. Even from a distance I could see the happiness and relief on their faces, and of course I picked my child out of the crowd, the three year old who used to run around with a blanket on his head “because it’s so exciting before you hit something”, the mischievous boy we drove to emergency rooms all across the southeastern United States and France because of his daredevil antics, and for a couple seconds, I let the choppy river of memories rush over me. But then I looked at the seats beside me and behind me and below me and saw something hilarious.

I don’t know if you can tell it from this photo, but it felt as if I’d been transported back in time into the audience of Ben’s preschool Christmas program, with all the mommies and daddies standing up to wave at their children, and the kids waving back at them. For the next two or three minutes, I watched hundreds of parents (me included) waving like crazy people at their adult kids, as if to say, “I SEE YOU!” “I’M HERE FOR YOU HONEY!” “YOU DID IT AND I’M SO PROUD!” “YOU’RE A TREASURE TO ME, BABY!”

It didn’t matter if they were 2 or 12 or 26 or 40 years old. They were somebody’s baby, and that baby needed waving! And all the babies waved back. Or at least they smiled.

Everybody needs a cheerleader.

EVERYBODY.

Everybody is loved and treasured by God, NO MATTER WHAT, of course! But everybody also needs a taste of that loving and treasuring by some humans around them.

EVERYBODY!

And what a fun thing it is to be that cheerleader for others.

I thought about my EVERYONE card again on Tuesday night. My first grade friend, Riley, had a soccer game, and since his daddy had told me the place and time, I made a little cheerleading field trip to watch Riley play. It’s now one of my favorite parts of my job–  I wish I had discovered earlier how much joy cheering on kids brings me! And how much they seem to like it too.

So we pulled up to the field and once again I was transported back in time, this time to the days when my three kids started playing soccer. Before I had even made it over to Riley’s team, I saw them, the cheerleader parents, clapping and waving as some kids raced after the ball and others picked clover or did cartwheels or played with their goalie gloves.

“YOU’VE COME JUST TO SEE ME PLAY?” Riley said, and I nodded.

“WOW!” he said and clapped his hands!

It was a fun game. Every time Riley looked over at me, I’d wave or give the thumbs up signal or shrug my shoulders and clap, as if to say, “IT’S OKAY!” “I SEE YOU!” “I’M HERE FOR YOU HONEY!” “YOU’RE A TREASURE TO ME, BABY!”

I was never a cheerleader in school. I was awkward and had no sense of rhythm or gymnastic ability. I was too shy to say a word in front of a crowd.

But now, I’m letting loose! And I can’t believe I’ve waited so long to discover how fun it is!

Are you a cheerleader, too?

I highly recommend it!

You don’t need gymnastic ability or rhythm and you can even stay your shy self! All it takes is to show up and clap a little. It won’t matter if the one you’re cheering on is 2 or 12 or 26 or 40 or 80 years old. They’re all somebody’s baby, and those babies- all of us- needed clapping for our efforts in this world!

And I bet you one thing. They’ll wave or smile or wink back at you. I promise.

Seeing Is Believing – Doubts and Thomas

This children’s sermon was written to accompany a sermon about seeing God around us. The senior minister asked me to talk about how it’s hard to trust what we cannot see. This particular Sunday, the children remembered the story about Thomas and his interaction with the risen Lord in a room with the disciples in Sunday school. We also enjoyed a baby dedication earlier in the worship service.

Did you enjoy our dedication of Baby Wilder to God this morning? Even though he’s just a few months old, he’s already learning like crazy. He learns about love by looking into the faces of his parents and his sister, and he’s learning about the world around him by watching. As he gets a little older he’ll continue learning more and more- even about things in life that are kind of hard to imagine because they’re invisible, like gravity. Have you learned about gravity at school? His parents could tell him, “Baby Wilder, gravity is an invisible force pulling towards the center of the earth.” But would he understand that? No, he learns by seeing. He drops his sippy cup and watches it fall, and his mind starts stretching. When I drop things, they fall down and not up. As he gets older, like your age, he might notice that when he drops two things, like this ping pong ball and a basketball, what happens? (A child says that they both hit the ground at the same time. There is some argument there.) I’ll let you experiment at home and see what you think. I can see your minds stretching! It’s hard to learn about invisible things without seeing. We listen, watch, we ask questions and our minds stretch!

It reminds me of what we talked about in Sunday school today- when the disciples told Thomas about what had happened the night before when they were in a room with the door shut and Jesus had appeared with them. Thomas said he couldn’t believe them unless he saw for himself- unless he could touch the wounds! Of course he couldn’t! Their minds were stretching to know Jesus in this new way. Eight days later he appeared again and went straight to Thomas and said, Touch me. Thomas fell on his knees and knew who he was.

Did Jesus say, “You should have believed your friends!” “You were wrong not to have faith in what they said!”  NO. He walked right up to Thomas and showed him what he needed to see.

As our minds stretch to know Jesus, we will have lots of questions. We will want to see him and we will wish we could. But we can still ask those questions. We can ask our teachers and parents and ministers and we can read the Bible and other books. WE CAN ASK GOD. We can also ask ourselves what we think because the Holy Spirit can help us. Sometimes the answers will come and sometimes we’ll need to think about our questions and ask God- pray- a long time. And that’s good. Those questions will bring us closer to God. We will learn about God and about ourselves as we wonder about things.

I’m so glad we have a God who doesn’t expect us just to believe everything without asking questions. Aren’t you?

Dear God, we want to be close to you, to understand you, to know you. We have so many questions. Help us stretch our minds and hearts to ask our questions and then be patient and watch and listen for the answers. We love you, God. Amen.

Knowing Jesus in a New Way 4: Known in the Morning

Welcome to Knowing Jesus in a New Way 4: Known in the Morning, our lesson for May 19.

This week we enjoy yet another goose-bump raising story, that of Jesus’ appearance to seven disciples at the sea of Galilee, as told in John 21:1-24.

There are several different things you may choose to emphasize to the children:

1. The miracle in the boat. The men had caught nothing on their own. But when Jesus was in charge, “they could feel all the fish moving into the nets.” They were shocked to find that the man on the shore was Jesus, sitting by a campfire, cooking fish for their breakfast. With Jesus’ direction, there were fish. Without it, no fish. What does this say to us?

2. Jesus’ words of direction to Peter when Peter said he loved Jesus: “Feed my lambs.” If we do love Jesus, we have our work cut out for us. Our job is to take care of each other. How would Jesus have us do that?

3. All through this story, Peter hasn’t taken his eyes off of Jesus. But as he walks with Jesus, he turns around, sees John following them, and says, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answers with,”If I want him to live until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!” To me, this is Jesus saying,”Keep your eyes on your own paper!” or don’t worry about others and their relationships to me. Instead, think about your relationship to me.

4. Another thing that strikes me in this story is that Peter so often messes up, right after discovering some profound truth! He promises that he will never deny his Lord, and then denies him three times. He says, Yes I’ll do your will, I’ll feed your sheep…and then gets concerned about what John is doing. Yet Jesus loves and accepts him and even sees him as a leader, as fault-filled as he is. This gives me hope!

Wondering Questions:

1.I wonder what your favorite part of this story is.

2. Jesus tells the men what to do in the boat and they listen and suddenly they start catching fish. I wonder what we can learn from that.

3.   I wonder how it felt to sit down for breakfast with Jesus. I wonder what you would have said to Jesus if you were sitting there.

4. Jesus tells Peter if he loves him to feed his lambs. I wonder what this means.  I wonder who are the lambs. I wonder what we do to take care of them.

5. When Jesus and Peter are walking together, Peter notices that John is following them. When Peter asks Jesus about what will happen with John, Jesus tells him not to worry about John or others , but to concentrate on following Him. I wonder what we can learn from that.

Idea Starters for the Children’s Make a Gift for God Time 

Here’s some ideas to get the kids started thinking about the work they choose to do around this story. 

1. Retell the story through art.

*Could your class make a 3D scene of the story? Could someone build a boat out of clay or pieces of wood? Could someone else make a Jesus figure to sit or stand by a campfire on the shore? You’ll need figures of the other disciples too. Kids could make these out of clothespins or paper. Could you use felt or paper to make the sea and the shore?

Or tell it through a video! Watch three of our girls tell the story, here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExexTHL9PTI

2. Make a Breakfast with Jesus mural/drawing/painting. What it you had been with Peter that morning? Could your kids draw themselves and their friends or family at the breakfast?

Here’s how artist Karen Lucci imagines Jesus cooking breakfast.

How do your children imagine it? Paint or watercolor or draw the scene.

3. Who are Jesus’ Lambs? Children could draw or make a collage from magazine photos of pictures of Jesus’ lambs (people of all different ages and races)

4. How Do We Feed His Lambs? Kids could draw or make a collage about all the ways we can feed his lambs-ways we help each other.

5. Jesus Loves Me-Jesus shows Peter how much he loves him in this story, in spite of the 3 times he denied him, in spite of anything. The children could draw themselves with Jesus, writing or drawing what Jesus loves about them.

6. Kids could make “Fish stick” bible bookmarks-rectangular pieces of fun foam, with whatever scripture  you choose. Have decorations on hand-stickers, sequins, markers, etc. Or how about beaded fish?

For more ideas to get the children started, see my Pinterest page, here.

Enjoy the lesson!

Love, Becky