Water to Wine

Passage

Familiarize yourself with the following passage:

John 2: 1-11

Jesus and his new disciples were in Galilee, in a city called Cana. Jesus and his family had been invited to a wedding. The disciples were also welcomed to come to the wedding. At one point in the celebrations, the supply of wine ran out. Jesus’ mother, Mary, came and informed Jesus of the situation. Mary was hoping that Jesus would help solve the situation, but Jesus responded by saying that it was not yet his time. Mary told the servants of the wedding to do whatever Jesus told them to do. Jesus told the servants to fill 6 large stone water jars with water. After they were filled, Jesus told them to take some of it out and serve it to the one in charge of the ceremony. The water the that was tasted by the one in charge was no longer water, but wine! The man in charge was impressed with the quality of the wine that was served to him. He congratulated the groom for saving the best wine until later in the celebration, rather than serving the best first. This miracle of turning water into wine was the first of Jesus’ many miracles. After seeing this miracle, Jesus’ disciples began to believe in him.

Object Lesson

Water into Wine

Supplies Needed:
• A large, non see through pitcher
• A large clear pitcher
• Powdered drink mix
• *sugar
• Wooden spoon
• ladel
• Small paper cups
Directions:
1. Before class pour the powdered drink mix into the non see through pitcher. Fill the clear pitcher with water.  If the directions on the packet call for sugar, also add the sugar to the same pitcher and stir until dissolved.
2. As you are telling the story, use your supplies as props to help tell the story. The non see through pitcher represents one of the 6 large stone jars. When Jesus tells the servants to fill the stone jars with water, pour the water from your clear pitcher into the non see through pitcher. When Jesus tells them to serve it to the man in charge, use your ladle to pour some of the newly created drink into the small paper cups. Give the drink a slight stir before pouring to ensure everything is mixed.
3. Share your newly created drink with the kids and enjoy their reactions to the ‘miracle’. Ask the kids how the servants and disciples who saw the miracle must have felt.

Memory Verse:

John 2:11

This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

Jesus Connection

Life is full of problems that we cannot fix. When the wedding ran out of wine, this was a big problem! Mary and the servants turned to Jesus, the only one who could fix their problem.  And fix their problem he did! When we come to Jesus, and confess our sins, he can help fix what is broken and wrong in our lives. We must first come to him and share our problems with him!

Songs

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
look full in His wonderful face
and the things of earth will grow strangely dim
in the light of His glory and grace

Come to Jesus

*This is only the first two verse of the song by Christ Rice.
Weak and wounded sinner
Lost and left to die
O, raise your head for love is passing by
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus and live

Now your burden's lifted
And carried far away
And precious blood has washed away the stain
So sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus and live

Games/Activities

Here Comes the Bride!

Supplies Needed:
• Several rolls of cheap toilet paper
Directions:
1. Divide the class into teams of 3-5 kids per team. Give each team 1-2 rolls of toilet paper
2. Give the children 5-10 mins, timed, to dress one of their team members as a bride, using only the rolls of toilet paper they were given. No scissors, no tape, no glue, no staplers. Just toilet paper.
3. Encourage the children to think of everything a bride wears: the dress, shoes, a vail, flowers, necklaces, the ring…
4. At the end of their allotted time, judge the beautiful brides and pick a winner. If you want to make it a little bit more exciting, bring in an outside person to be the judge!

Jar Memory Verse Game

Supplies Needed:
• Jar templates
• Marker
• This week’s memory verse
Directions:
1. Before class, print several copies of the jar template. (Think ahead to how many teams you would like to divide your children into. I recommend no more than 4 per team. ) Write the verse out on each copy of the template, and then cut the template out and into puzzle pieces. Be sure to keep each set of puzzles separated from the others!
2. Divide the children into teams. Give each team a set of the jar puzzles.
3. Have the teams compete to complete the puzzle the fastest. The winning team is the one who completes the puzzle and jumps up and reads the revealed verse together first.
4. If you want to replay the game, mix up the teams and start again.

Crafts:

Clay Pitchers

Supplies needed:
• Air drying modeling clay
• Toothpicks
• Pictures of old water pitchers
Directions:
1. Show the children several pictures of what really old water pitchers looked like to give them inspiration before they begin creating their own.
2. Give each child a portion of modeling clay and encourage them to make their own water pitcher.
3. Give the children toothpicks to draw designs and decorations on their pitchers

Coloring Page

Sermon on the Mount: The Lord's Prayer

Passage

Familiarize yourself with the following passages:

Matthew 6:5-15; Luke 11:1-13

People were following Jesus everywhere. One day they followed him up the side of a mountain. Jesus turned to the crowd of people and began teaching them many things. At one point some of the disciples asked Jesus to teach them who to pray, just as John the baptizer had taught his disciples how to pray. So, Jesus told them to pray this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be don’t on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6: 9-13) In Luke’s account of this teaching, Jesus goes on to tell two parables to show us how we should ask for things. The first parable shows us that we should ask with persistence. The second shows us when we ask for good things, God will give us good things.

Object Lesson:

Supplies Needed:
• An assortment of random objects (rocks, sticks, crumbled paper, an empty candy wrapper…)
• A bag
Directions:
1. Before class, place all your items in a bag. Make sure you have enough items that each child can be given one.
2. As an example for the second parable in this story, instruct the children one at a time to ask you for anything they can think of that they would like to have at that moment.
3. As they ask for something, pull and item out of the bag and give it to them. Try to make it as far away from what they asked as possible.
4. Discuss how it felt for them when you gave them the things they did not like. Explain to them that God likes to give us good thing.

Memory Verse:

Luke 11:9-10
So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Jesus Connection:

In teaching the disciples to pray and sharing the parables along with it, Jesus is telling us that prayer is something that should always be on our lips. Jesus is continually demonstrating the importance of prayer. We often see him going to a lonely place to pray. The disciples understood the importance of prayer, too. That is why we are told to pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:17) It is how we stay connected with Jesus.

Songs

God is so Good

God is so good,
God is so good,
God is so good,
He’s so good to me.

He answers prayer,
He answers prayer,
He answers prayer,
He’s so good to me.

He loves us so,
He loves us so,
He loves us so,
He’s so good to me.

Games/Activities

Mother May I

Directions:
1. Choose one child to be the ‘mother’. Have that child stand at one end of the classroom, facing the wall. Have all the other children line up against the wall on the other side of the room.
2. The children will now take turns asking “Mother, may I ___?” and makes a movement suggestion.  The mother either replies “Yes, you may” or “No, you may not do that, but you may ___ instead”.
a. Take (#) steps forward
b. Take (#) giant steps forward
c. Take (#) baby steps forward
d. Hop forward like a frog (#) times
e. Run forward for (#) seconds
f. Crabwalk for (#) seconds
g. Ect….
3. The child who reaches the mother first wins and gets to be the mother for the next round.

Crafts

Prayer Journal

Supplies Needed:
• Pens
• Washi tape of different designs
• Small, cheap notebooks
• Colored Paper
• Colors
• Stick glue
• Scissors
Directions:
1. Give each child a pen and a notebook. These will be theirs to keep.
2. Use the washi tape to decorate the pens
3. Open the notebook and lay it flat on a piece of colored paper. Trace the notebook and cut it out. Close the notebook. Glue the cut out onto the outside of the closed notebook.  Decorate the outside of the notebook with colors.
4. Encourage the children to write down their prayer requests in the notebook. Also encourage them to write down when God answers those prayers.

Coloring Page

Jesus teaches Nicodemus

Passage

Familiarize yourself with the following passage:

John 3:1-21

Nicodemus, one of Israel’s religious teachers, came to Jesus at night to ask him some questions. He wanted to know how it is that Jesus does the things that he was doing. Jesus told him that he must be born again to see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus asked how one is to be born again when they are old. Jesus told him that you are born in the flesh once, and then you must be born in the Spirit. This was confusing to Nicodemus and he did not understand what Jesus was telling him. Jesus explained to Nicodemus that God sent his only Son into the world so that all might have the chance for eternal life. He also explained that some people would rather stay in the dark so that their evil deeds are not exposed, but when we come into the light our deeds are plainly seen by God and then he can extend to us his salvation.

Object Lesson

#1

Supplies needed:
• The following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhyyPPPgL_w
Directions:
1. Show this video at the beginning of class. It is a little on the long side. Pre-watch the video and make a note toward the end where you can stop it a little early. (Devin starts telling about his video sponsor.)
2. Talk to the children about the changes that the caterpillar went through to become a butterfly.
a. It was first born from an egg.
b. It created a chrysalis by shedding its old skin.
c. It was born a second time by breaking out of the chrysalis, revealing its new form, a beautiful butterfly.
3. Explain to the children that God has great things planned for our lives, but first we also must be born again. Share today’s story at this time.
4. At the end of the story reference back to the video and talk about how when we are born again of the Spirit, it is like the caterpillar being born again in the form of a butterfly. We cannot fully experience all that God has for us if we are not born again, just like the caterpillar cannot fully experience its full potential if it does not change into a butterfly.

#2

Supplies Needed:
• Large blanket
• Flashlight
Directions:
1. Gather all the children, and yourself under the blanket. (At least your heads!)
2. When everyone is under, turn on the flashlight.
3. Ask the children where the light went? Do you like the light or the dark better?
4. Tell the children that Jesus explained people love darkness when they are doing bad things and do not want to be caught. When we do things in the light we show God that we want to do good things. Even if we make a mistake, God can see it and help us do better next time.

Memory Verse:

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus Connection:

In this passage, Jesus reveals God’s mission. Through Jesus, the one and only Son of God, you can have eternal life! The only thing you have to do is believe in him! (vs. 16) This is what people have been waiting for since the fall of man, and now Jesus is telling people the time has come and the plan is simple. Is message is the same for us today. Believe in Him and you will not perish but have eternal life!

Songs

Jesus Loves Me

Jesus love me this I know,
For the bible tells me so.
Little ones to him belong,
They are weak but he is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me,
The bible tells me so.

Games/Activities

Blanket Game

Supplies Needed:
• Blanket
• Small objects, enough for one per child (I used finger puppets)
• Small pieces of paper
• Bucket
Directions:
• Before class lay out your small objects. For each object, write it down on a small piece of paper. Put all the objects in the bucket. Cover the bucket with a blanket.
• Have the children sit in a circle round the bucket. Give each child a piece of paper with the name of an object written on it. One at a time the children will reach under the blanket and try to find their object. Give them only one or two tries. See how many people grab their objects on the first try.
• Talk to the children about how difficult it was to find their objects. When we do things in the light, it is easier. Light helps is see what we are doing. Jesus is the light of the world!

Crafts

Light Shades

Supplies Needed:
• One flashlight
• Large blanket
• White paper
• Scissors
• Tape
• Multiple colors of tissue paper
• Stick glue
Directions:
1. Give each child a piece of white paper and tell them to create a colorful picture using tissue paper. They can create any scene they want using scissors and glue.
2. When they are done, roll the paper into a tube and tape together so that their image is hidden on the inside of the tube.
3. When everyone is done, gather everyone under the large blanket with their creations. One at a time put the flashlight in their paper tube and let the light shine through to reveal their colorful images.

Coloring Page

John Baptizes Jesus

Passage

Familiarize yourself with the following

Matthew 3; Mark 1:1-11; Luke 3:1-22

When John the baptizer grew up, he left the city and lived in the desert. He is described as wearing camel hair clothes and eating bugs. Many people though he was crazy, yet he attracted attention from large crowds of people. John preached a gospel message of repentance, preparing the way for the coming Messiah. For those who believed his message, John baptized them in the Jordan River. One day, while preaching and baptizing, Jesus came. Jesus requested that he should be baptized by John. At first John refused, saying that he should be baptized by Jesus, not the other way around. Jesus told John it was ok to do this because it would fulfill prophecy. So, John baptized Jesus in the Jordan. When Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens opened and the Spirit of God descended on Jesus in the form of a dove, and a voice from heaven said, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” After his baptism, the Spirit took Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

Object Lesson:

The Meaning of Baptism

Supplies Needed:
• 3 small bowls
• 1 large bowl
• Dirt
• Towel
• Soap
Directions:
1. Before class prepare your bowls by putting a small amount of dirt in each of the small bowls. Mix the dirt with a little bit of water to make mud. Fill the large bowl half way with water. Place the soap and towel beside the water bowl.
2. Ask for three volunteers. Have each volunteer stand in front of one of the bowls of mud. Explain to the children that John the baptizer was asking people to repent of their sins. Each of the bowls of mud represents sin.  These sins can be anything from cheating on a test at school, lying to your mom and dad, or stealing a toy from a friend. (Point to a bowl as you list an example sin.)
3. Explain that when we sin, it makes us dirty, as if we were covered in mud. One at a time, take the volunteer’s hands and cover them in mud). God is perfect, holy, and clean, and he can only have things that are holy and clean around him.  When we sin and cover ourselves in this mud, we have separated ourselves from God.
4. Stand by the bowl of water. Explain that when we confess our sins to God, he forgives our sin and makes us clean. When we are baptized in water we are telling God and everyone else that we are sorry for the sin we have done and we want to be clean. (As you explain this, take each child’s hand and clean them with soap and water.)

Memory Verse:

John 1:29b

“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!”

Jesus Connection:

Psalm 57: 16-17 tells us that God does not delight in our sacrifices only, but rather an obedient heart. He wants us to repent of our disobedient ways and promise to follow him obediently. So that we would know what that looks like, Jesus himself was baptized. God was pleased with Jesus when he was baptized (Luke 3:22). God is also please with us when we demonstrate our obedience to him through baptism.

Songs

Down by the Riverside

Gonna lay down my burden,
Down by the riverside,
Down by the riverside,
Down by the riverside.
Gonna lay down my burden,
Down by the riverside,
Down by the riverside.

I ain't gonna study war no more,
study war no more,
ain't gonna study war no more.
I ain't gonna study war no more,
study war no more,
ain't gonna study oh war no more.

Games/Activities

Memory Verse Bean Bag Toss

Supplies Needed:
• Small pieces of paper
• Marker
• Bean bags
Directions:
1. Before class, write out the bible verse of small pieces of paper; one word per card. On the back of each card write a number corresponding to the place that word is in the verse. For example, on the back of the word ‘Look’, write the number 1, and so on. You can make two sets of cards if you want to make this a competitive game.
2. Place all the cards words down, numbers up on the floor.
3. One at a time, have a child toss a bean bag onto the papers on the floor. When the bag lands on a card, the child picks up the card and passes the bag to the next child. Repeat this process until all the papers have been picked up.
4. Have the children work together to put the cards in the right order. When the order is achieved, turn the papers over to reveal today’s bible verse.

Crafts

Baptize Jesus

Supplies Needed:
• Small plastic cups
• Blue sharpies (or masking tape and regular blue markers)
• Popsicle sticks
• Scissors
• Glue
• Jesus doll template
• Crayons or colored pencils
Directions:
1. Before class, prep the plastic cups by cutting a slit in the bottom of each one, big enough for a popsicle stick to easily fit in.
2. Give each child a cup and a blue sharpie. (If you do not have sharpies, prep the cups by wrapping them in masking tape and then give the children regular blue markers.)
3. Give each child a Jesus doll template to color and cut out.
4. Fold the template on the dotted line and glue a stick in the middle. Make sure the stick is in the bottom half of the folded paper.
5. Put the stick inside the cup and through the slit. Move Jesus in and out of the cup by controlling the stick that comes out of the bottom of the cup.

Coloring Page

Jesus' Temptation

Passage

Familiarize yourself with the following:

Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13

As soon as Jesus had been baptized, the Spirit took Jesus into the desert, where he fasted and prayed for 40 day in preparation for his earthly ministry. One day, when Jesus was very tired and hungry, Satan came to Jesus to tempt him. Satan tempted him physically, spiritually and authoritatively. Each time he was tempted by Satan, Jesus withstood the temptation by quoting the Word of God. Jesus never sinned when he was tempted. When Satan saw that he would not be able to get Jesus to sin he left. After Satan left, angels came to attend Jesus.

Object lesson:

Balls of Temptation

Supplies Needed:
• Soft, squishy balls
• Large sheet or blanket
• Papers that say “The Word of God”
• tape
Directions:
1. On sheets of paper, write the words “The Word of God”. Tape the papers to a large bed sheet or blanket.
2. Ask for a volunteer who will walk across the room. Have him/her stand along one wall, and have all the other children stand along the opposite wall. These children have to keep one hand on the wall and hold a soft ball in their other hand.
3. When you say go, the volunteer child will walk along the wall while the other children try to hit him/her with soft balls. (Depending on time you may want to repeat this with each child taking turns being the volunteer.)
4. Explain to the children that the soft balls represent sin. It is often hard to avoid the sin that Satan throws at us.
5. Tell the children that it is your turn to be the volunteer. Ask them who thinks they can hit you will the balls. Pick up the prepped blanket and say go as you walk along the wall as you protect yourself with the blanket.
6. Explain to the children that when we use the Word of God, which is the Bible, we have protection against the sin that Satan throws at us, just as Jesus did in today’s story.

Temptation Delight

Supplies Needed:
• A specially prepared bowl of temptation
Directions:
1. Make a ‘tempting LOOKING dessert’. On the bottom of a pretty bowl put something like spinach or beets. Cover this with delicious looking cool whip, sprinkles, candies, etc.
2. Let the children see this during class and even share a little portion with those who want to try it.
3. Explain to them that sometimes things that look good, do not always end up being good. Talk about how Satan makes things look tempting, but things are not always what they appear to be.

Memory Verse:

Psalm 119:11
“I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

Jesus Connection:

Romans 5:12 tells us that sin entered the world through the sin of just one man, Adam. Because of his sin, the entire would is now trapped under the bondage of sin. In the verses that follow in this passage in Romans we see that we also have life through one, sinless man, Jesus. Just because Jesus never sinned does not mean he does not understand what we go through as we struggle to overcome sin. Hebrews 4:15 says “ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet he did not sin.” We know that Jesus cares for us as we struggle with sin, because he himself has been through these same temptations. He will make a way for us to get through these times of temptation. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Songs

The Temptation Song

(To the tune of BINGO)
When I’m tempted to do wrong
I turn and run away,
Say “NO!” and run away,
Say “NO!” and run away,
Say “NO!” and run away,
From sin I run away.

Games/Activities

Hot Potato

Supplies Needed:
• A soft ball
• Music that has a pause button
Directions:
1. Have the children sit in a circle.  Hand the soft ball to one person. Tell them that the ball represents sin, and the object of the game is to get rid of the sin as fast as they can.
2. When you start the music, have the children start passing the ball. When you stop the music, whoever has the ball is removed from the circle.
3. Repeat step 2 until there is only one person remaining, who wins the game.

Temptation Relay

Supplies Needed:
• Two equal stacks of cards
• 4 pieces of paper
Directions:
1. On small cards write down some things that people may be tempted to do that are bad (take money from mom’s purse, watch a bad TV show, cheat on a test…) and some things that are good to do (help a sibling with home work, bring a sick person a meal, shovel snow for the neighbor…) Make two sets of these cards.
2. On the top of two pieces of paper write the word ‘temptation’, and on the top of the other two pieces of paper write the words ‘good things’.
3. Divide your supplies evenly for two teams. Divide your children into two teams as well.
4. One at a time have the children run up to the table where there is a pile of cards for their team and two pieces of paper. Instruct the children to pick up one card and place it on the proper paper if it is a temptation they should avoid or something good they should do. The team that places all their cards onto the correct papers first wins.

Crafts

Pocket Heart

Supplies Needed:
• Thick, red or pink paper
• Scissors
• Ribbon or sting
• A selection of Bible verses.
• Hole punch
Directions:
1. Have the children cut out two, identical hearts.
2. Using a hole punch, punch holes on the ‘v’ edges of the heart.
3. Weave ribbon in and out of the holes to create an envelope, leaving the top of the heart open.
4. Write today’s Bible verse on the outside of the heart. (Psalm 119:11)
5. Have the children look up and write down several Bible verses about overcoming sin and temptation. ( I Cor. 10:13, Heb. 2:18, James 1: 2-3, James 1:12; I Peter 2:9, Rev. 3:10…) When they are done, they can put their verses inside their hearts.

Coloring Page

Jesus Calls the Disciples

Passage

Familiarize yourself with the following passages:

Matthew 4:18-22; 9:9; 10:1-4; Mark 1:16; Luke 5

One day, after Jesus returned from his time in the desert, he was walking along the sea of Galilee. While walking he came across some brothers, Simon (who he would later call Peter) and his brother Andrew who were in their fishing boats mending their nests. He cried out to them “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men!” Simon and Andrew left everything in their boat and followed Jesus. Soon after Jesus saw another set of brothers, James and John. They were also in their fishing boats with their father. Jesus made them the same offer. The brothers left everything they were doing with their father and followed after Jesus. Jesus called a total of 12 men to be his disciples: Simon, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, Thaddaeus, Simon and Judas. To these men Jesus gave power against unclean spirits and to heal illnesses and disease.

Object Lesson

Directions:
1. Select 2 or 3 children to be your special helpers for the day. Have these children help you pass out craft supplies, help clean up messes, or even be leaders for the games.
2. At the end of class ask the helpers how it made them feel to be selected as special helpers for the day. Tell them that the men Jesus chose to be his disciples must have felt just as special, because many of them left their jobs and homes to follow Jesus!

Memory Verse

Matthew 4:19
And he said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”

Jesus Connection

Just as Jesus called these 12 men to be his disciples, he also calls each of us to follow him. He wants us to be like Christ and to teach others to be like him as well (Matthew 28:19-20)

Songs

Fishers of Men

I will make you fishers of men,
Fishers of men, fishers of men.
I will make you fishers of men,
If you follow Me.

If you follow Me,
If you follow Me,
I will make you fishers of men,
If you follow Me.

Hear Christ calling "Come unto Me
Come unto Me, Come unto Me."
Hear Christ calling "Come unto Me
I will give you rest."

"I will give you rest.
I will give you rest.
Hear Christ calling "Come unto Me
I will give you rest."

Games/Activities

Red Rover, Red Rover

Directions:
1. Create two teams of equal size. Line up the teams opposite each other, no more than 30 feet apart. Have each line of children form a chain by holding hands with the person next to them.
2. The first team agrees to call one player from the opposite team, and chants, “Red rover, red rover, sent (child’s name) right over!”
3. The person called runs to the other line and attempts to break the chain.
4. If the person called fails to break the chain, he/she joins that team.
5. If the person is successful in breaking the chain, he/she may bring back to his/her team one of the two children whose link was broken.
6. Teams take turns calling out red rover and challenging a child from the opposite team until one team has only one child left, or the teacher calls an end to the game.

Crafts

Fishing Poles

Supplies Needed:
• Sticks or thin dowel rod poles
• String
• Foam sheets
• Sharpies
• Scissors
• Hole punch
Directions:
1. Allow the children to choose one color foam. Using a sharpie, draw an outline of a fish on the foam. Cut out the fish with scissors.
2. Use a sharpie to write today’s bible verse on the fish.
3. Punch a hole in the mouth side of the fish and tie one end of a string in the hole.
4. Tie the other end of the string to one end of the stick/pole. You now have a fishing pole!

Coloring Page

Boy Jesus

Passage

Familiarize yourself with the following:

Luke 2:41-52

Every year Mary and Joseph made a trip to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. When Jesus was 12 years old, it was no exception. After the celebrations were over, Mary and Joseph left Jerusalem to return to their home in Nazareth. They were traveling with family and friends, and they assumed that Jesus was there with the family. The group traveled for an entire day before Mary and Joseph started to look for Jesus. When they realized that he was not with their group, they returned to Jerusalem and began searching for Jesus. After 3 days they found the young boy in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening and asking questions. When questioned about his behavior, Jesus told his parents that he had to be in the Father’s house. Jesus obediently returned to Nazareth with his parents where he grew in favor with both God and man.

Object Lesson

Supplies Needed:
• A ‘Where’s Waldo’ type collage of Bible times looking characters
• A legend with several of the collage characters (Mary, Joseph, Jesus, Zechariah, Elizabeth…)
Directions:
1. Display the collage for all to see. Pass around the legend for everyone to take a close look at so they know who they will be looking for.
2. Explain to the children that Jesus and his family were traveling with many people. Mary and Joseph did not know that Jesus was not with them. Tell the children that they will help look for Jesus, as well as some of his family members who may have been traveling with them.
3. Ask the children how they think Mary and Joseph must have felt when they were not able to find Jesus right away. How would they feel if they got separated from their mom and dad? Where is a safe place they can go if they get separated from their mom and dad?

Memory Verse

Luke 2:52
And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and man.

Jesus Connection

In this story we can clearly see that Jesus is aware that he is both fully God and fully man. He was able to discuss the scriptures with the teachers (who were amazed at his understanding), and yet He was still obedient to his earthly parents and submitted himself to their parental authority. We can learn from Jesus’ example by spending time in the Bible and learning from our pastors and teachers, while also being obedient to our parents. God looks favorably on this kind of behavior and so do the people around us. (Luke 2:52)

Songs

O-B-E-Y (from the Donut Man)

O-B-E-Y obey your mom and dad
O-B-E-Y makes them very glad
Listen to the words they say
Obey your parents every day
O-B-E-Y obey your mom and dad

Games/Activities

Hide and Seek

*Use this game if you have the space available, or if you can be in a contained, outside environment.
Directions:
1. Choose one person to be it.
2. The person who is it has to close their eyes and count to 20.
3. All other students must hide themselves while the it person is counting.
4. The person who is it must search out all the other students until they are all found.

Find Jesus

Supplies Needed:
• A small toy that can represent Jesus (LEGO, Little People, Action Figure…)
Directions:
1. Before the children arrive, hide the small toy someplace in the room (so that the kids who arrive early cannot find it!)
2. Explain to the children that Jesus is someplace in the room and they must find him. (Also tell them what kind of toy it is that is representing Jesus.)
3. Allow the children to work together, or to race against each other in order to find Jesus.

Crafts

Scrolls

Supplies Needed:
• White paper, cut in half the long way
• Popsicle sticks
• Glue
• Colors
• Rubber bands
• The memory verse
Directions:
1. Explain to the children that people in Jesus time read their bible from scrolls. Today you will be making scrolls.
2. Give each child a half sheet of white paper that has been cut in half the long way.
3. Using colors, allow each child to write the memory verse on the paper, and draw any addition decorations they choose.
4. If the children are older, you can give them the suggestion to tear the edges of the paper and crumble it up to give it a more old look.
5. Give each child two popsicle sticks to glue to the short sides of their paper.
6. Roll up the scroll from both ends at the same time, until the popsicle sticks meet in the center.
7. Hold the scroll together using a rubber band.

Coloring Page