6.2 Large Group Lesson Elementary

Transcription

1 January 13 th, 2019 Live Out Loud Jesus is Baptized BIG IDEA: Baptism gives us a picture of Jesus amazing sacrifice. BIBLE BASIS: Luke 3; Matthew 3; Mark 1:29-34 KEY VERSE: By being baptized, we were buried with Christ into his death. Christ has been raised from the dead by the Father s glory. And like Christ we also can have a new life. Romans 6:4 (NIrV) 7 15 minutes minutes 7 15 minutes minutes Scripture marked NIV is taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of Biblica. Scripture marked NIrV is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Reader s Version, Copyright 1995, 1996, 1998 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. All scripture references are taken from NIrV unless otherwise stated Mooblio. All rights reserved. 1

2 User Agreement: The GO! curriculum by Mooblio is intended for download and print by subscribing entities only. It may not be transferred electronically to or duplicated by other non-subscribing entities. If the GO! curriculum is cost prohibitive for your organization, please contact us about assistance. We are awesomely generous! All use must be in accordance with the Terms of Use agreement as described on the website It was late November 1952 and the Swanson Company was sitting on a huge problem too many turkeys! Due to a stocking error, Swanson was up to their gizzards in leftover turkey. The story of who exactly solved the problem is a bit contentious, but most accounts hand it to Swanson employee Gerry Thomas. Mr. Thomas had just returned on a Pan American Airways flight and took note of the 3- compartment, aluminum tray the airline had recently begun using to serve their in-flight dinners. Eureka! Mr. Thomas brought the idea back to the Swanson brothers in Nebraska and shortly afterward, the first TV dinner rolled out of the factory. That next year, 25 million people flocked to grocery stores and gobbled up the 98 cent Swanson TV dinners and a new no preparation industry was born. Almost 2,000 years earlier, there was this wild man who literally walked out of the desert one day wearing camel s hair clothes and trying to sell people a very different message. His name was John the Baptist and like Jesus, his coming had been foretold. According to Luke 1:16, John s job was fairly straight forward to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him, John says in Matthew 3:3. Prepare? That s probably not what the Israelites wanted to hear. They had first been told by the prophets about the coming of this savior quite some time ago. That turkey had been in the oven for over 400 years by then and they wanted the feast NOW! But John knew then what we ve all figured out by now TV dinners stink! The Swanson Company certainly tapped into a human need for speed, but they made a huge sacrifice in doing so. If you ve ever had a TV dinner, you know they re not going to win any awards for taste. The turkey is rubbery, the gravy is watery, and the corn bread is crumbly. It turns out that instant gratification isn t very gratifying. The best things take time and preparation. When John said to prepare the way, it was for Jesus actual first coming, but his command still applies to us today. Are you prepared to encounter Jesus today? Jesus desires to make an appearance in every facet of your life, but are you ready? If you re not, you ll probably miss it. So what is John the Baptist s prescription for preparation? In short, be generous, be honest, be content and repent. (Read Luke 3:11-14 to hear it straight from J. the B. himself.) There s no getting around it, preparation takes time; and when it comes to encountering Christ in our lives, there s no better way to spend it. David Rausch Mooblio President 2017 Mooblio. All rights reserved. 2

3 Brevity it s Your Friend The belated comedian, George Burns, once said that the secret to a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible. Can I get an amen? Brevity is the art of saying much in few words. It isn t something talked about a lot. What a shame! Brevity is one of the most powerful tools that a communicator has in his or her tool belt! Isn t that ironic? Sometimes there s as much or more power in the words you choose not to say. Here are a few things to consider on your journey to brevity: You re taking longer than you think. Repeat after me I m a word-aholic. The first step to recovery is recognizing you have a problem. Time flies when you re on the stage, but not when you re in the audience. What feels like a minute to you is probably closer to 3 minutes. If you feel like you re flying through your message too fast, don t worry you re not. Brevity keeps your message from getting lost in clutter. Have you ever tried to find something in a sea of clutter? It s frustratingly difficult! Brevity cleans the clutter of words up and allows your audience to find the ones that are most important. Memorization and brevity are best friends. The more memorized and on script you are, the briefer you ll be. When people wing it, they tend to use more words than necessary way more words! Make brain space for brevity. The next time you teach a lesson, keep brevity in the back of your mind. Don t be afraid to expound on things or to say them in your own way, with your own words. Just keep in mind that you need to get into and out of a thought efficiently. You re robbing your small group leaders. In short, the more time you spend talking, the less time the small group leaders get to build community and invest in their kids. Remember the golden rule of brevity. When you ve run out of things to say, stop talking! 2017 Mooblio. All rights reserved. 3

4 Squish, boing, chomp, splat! The only thing better than hearing these sounds is making them yourself! Telling a great story is exciting, but when you get to add your own noises, things get well (insert Kaboom sound) explosively fun! That s exactly what kids will be doing during the Live Out Loud series. Using their mouths, bodies, and just about anything else they can find, kids will help make the early stories of Jesus life come alive with sound effects. The sounds of the story won t be the only thing making noise, though. As kids hear about the wisdom, love and compassion that Jesus showed, they ll learn that following his example will help them to Live Out Loud so that other people take notice and wonder who or what made them so extraordinary. (Optional) Place the metal sheet and the hammer near the teaching area. Find a volunteer ahead of time to create the sound of thunder by striking the metal sheet with the hammer. (Optional) Find another volunteer to turn the lights on and off to create the effect of lightning. Print out the Big Bible Story Sound Effect Signs and place them in the order they ll be used: o Wind blowing o Crunchy chewing o Feet walking o Snake hissing o Splashing water o Wings flapping Fill the clear plastic bin with water. It must be deep enough to submerge the glass jar. Place the bin somewhere in the teaching area where the kids will be able to clearly see it. Place a hand towel near the bin of water for drying hands. Place the clear glass Mason jar, washable black marker, and small cross near the bin of water. Check to make sure the marker is in working condition. (Optional) Obtain a video of baptisms being performed at your church. Load it into the media presentation along with the provided GO! media. Choose which of the Reflect and Respond stations you would like to make available. Set out the appropriate materials for each of those stations Mooblio. All rights reserved. 4

5 Sound: Live Out Loud title graphic PLAY upbeat music as kids move to large group area LIVE OUT LOUD INTRO Large Group Leader: Welcome back to another incredible week of Live Out Loud. Does anyone remember what it means to Live Out Loud? (Take answer from a kid.) You got it! Living out loud means to live your life in a way that s big and bold and pleasing to God. When you do that, the people around you will notice and want to follow Jesus too. During the Live Out Loud series, we ll be hearing some of the earliest stories of Jesus life and we ll be learning that when we follow His example, we live out loud! That s not the only thing we ll be doing out loud today. Just like last week, I need you to do sound effects for the story. A sound effect is when you create a noise using your mouth, your body or something around you. Here, let me show you. Let s create a sound effect for a passing thunderstorm. Tell the kids to follow your lead. Begin by gently rubbing your palms together back and forth. Collectively, this will produce the sound of a light rain. After a short time, begin repeatedly snapping your fingers to produce the sound of a heavier rain. Then, slap your hands on your legs at in an irregular cadence. Next, stomp your feet on the floor. Finally, reverse the entire process until the room has returned to a light rain and then stop. Wasn t that so cool! Sound effects make great stories even better! And the stories we re telling during the Live Out Loud series are not only great they re true! In fact, let s jump into today s part of the Big Bible story right now. The Big Bible Story graphic THE BIG BIBLE STORY JESUS IS BAPTIZED In our story last week, Jesus was a 12-year-old boy, but in today s story, He s a 30-year-old man. In those days, Jesus had a cousin named John the Baptist who traveled through the dry, windy desert. (Hold up Wind blowing sign and prompt kids to make the sound of the wind.) The prophets from long ago had actually talked about John. Look at what they said: A messenger is calling out in the desert, Prepare the way for the Lord. Make straight paths for him. Isaiah 40:3 And that s exactly what John was. He was a messenger who prepared the way for Jesus by getting the people s hearts ready. There was something about John, though, that was a little bit well different! What s the grossest thing you ve ever eaten? (Take answers from kids.) That s pretty gross, but John has you beat! John the Baptist You see, John the Baptist wore clothes made out of camel s hair and he ate honey and wild locusts. Can you imagine eating locusts?! (Hold up Crunchy chewing sign.) When people heard that John was in the area, they came to him from all over Jerusalem and Judea Mooblio. All rights reserved. 5

6 (Hold up Feet walking sign and prompt kids to make a walking sound by patting the floor with their hands or feet.) When John saw the people coming, he said to them, You are like a nest of poisonous snakes. (Hold up Snake hissing sign.) He told them to stop doing wicked things and to turn away from their sins. And that s exactly what the people did; they repented of the things they had done wrong and promised not to do them anymore. After the people repented, John baptized them in the Jordan River. He would lower them into the water (Hold up Splashing water sign.) and then lift them back out. Just like water washes dirt away, baptism was a way of showing that their sins had been washed away. Shortly afterwards, Jesus came from his home in Galilee to be baptized in the Jordan River. Not to show His sins had been washed away Jesus didn t have any sins. Instead, Jesus wanted to give an example for us to follow. When John saw Jesus approaching, he said, Look! (Point into the distance.) The Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world. Jesus asked John to baptize Him, but John tried to stop Jesus. Why do you think John tried to stop Jesus from being baptized? (Take answers from kids.) Let s take a look at what the Bible says. (Turn in your Bible to Matthew 3:14-15 and read.) [John said,] I need to be baptized by you. So why do you come to me? Jesus replied, Let it be this way for now. It is right for us to do this. It carries out God s holy plan. Then John agreed. Jesus being baptized And then, the most amazing thing happened! As soon as John lifted Jesus up out of the water, the Holy Spirit came down on him like a dove. (Hold up Wings flapping sign.) Then, a voice from heaven spoke and said, SFX: PLAY This is My Son voice over (Transcript of voice over: This is my Son, and I love him. I am very pleased with him. ) Big Bible Story Questions graphic BIG BIBLE STORY QUESTIONS At the end of the Bible story have the kids turn briefly to their small groups and discuss the following questions: For Younger Kids: What did you find interesting about this story? Why do you think baptism takes place in the water? After a few minutes, draw their attention back to the teaching area. You may want to ask the kids for some of their answers to hear what they were thinking. Live Out Loud title graphic PICTURE #1: WASHING When you first think about it, baptism might seem kind of strange, but it s not! Actually, baptism gives us some really cool pictures of what following Jesus looks like. Let me show you. Hold up a glass Mason jar for the kids to see. Tell them that the jar is kind of like us. Ask everyone what kinds of sins a kid might commit. As they give you answers, write them down on the jar using a black washable marker. Next, take the lid off of the jar, put a small cross inside and replace the lid. When John baptized people, he would lower them into the water like this. (Hold the glass jar under the water in the plastic bin for a short time.) And then he would bring them back up. (Bring the jar back out. The writing should wash off.) Do you see what happened? The sins have been washed away. Take a 2017 Mooblio. All rights reserved. 6

7 look at the cross inside of the jar. When we have Jesus in our heart, His forgiveness washes the sin away. Baptism isn t what washes our sins away, Jesus death and resurrection does. But baptism gives us a picture of what that looks like. PICTURE #2: RESURRECTION There s one more picture that Jesus gave us when He was baptized. Take a look at this. (Hold up the glass Mason jar again.) Imagine now that the jar is Jesus. Jesus lived a perfect life. He never sinned or did anything wrong. But because He loves us, He died for our sins. (Write the words Our Sins on the jar using the black washable marker). Then he was buried in a tomb. (Hold the jar under water.) But three days later, He was resurrected. That means He was raised from the dead. (Bring the jar back out of the water so that the words wash away.) And for those people who follow Jesus, their sins are washed away. They can have a new life free from the punishment of sin. In fact, that s what our verse for today tells us. Let s take a look at it. (Encourage kids to open their Bibles to Romans 6:4. Be prepared to give younger kids more time and assistance in finding the verse. When ready, choose a kid to read it aloud or read it aloud yourself while the kids follow along.) By being baptized, we were buried with Christ into his death. Christ has been raised from the dead by the Father s glory. And like Christ we also can have a new life. Romans 6:4 LIVING OUT LOUD THROUGH BAPTISM When Jesus was baptized, he gave us an example that we can still follow today. In fact, Jesus calls each one of His followers to be baptized. Being baptized is a big and bold way for Christians to obey Jesus and to Live Out Loud! It s a way for us to show the world that Jesus death and resurrection has washed away our sins and gives us a new and never-ending life. Close the Large group time by praying for the kids in whatever way the Holy Spirit prompts you. Following the prayer, explain to the kids which of the Reflect and Respond Stations will be available. Remind them to move about the stations very quietly. Tell them they are free to respond to God in whatever way the Holy Spirit leads them, but if they need suggestions, some of the stations will give them ideas for how to pray, write, or draw. Give each child one GO! Home sheet and instruct them to take it with them to the stations. Place small group leaders at the different stations to quietly help the kids. The stations listed below are just the ones that have prompts that are specific to today s lesson. For more instructions on how the Reflect and Respond Stations work as well as a full list of possible stations, see the GO! Guide. Music: Live Out Loud title graphic (Optional) Play quiet instrumental music 2017 Mooblio. All rights reserved. 7

8 Prayer Station prompt: Baptism is a picture of forgiveness. Write a prayer to God asking Him to forgive you for your sins. Art Station prompt: Draw a picture of water washing your sins away Mooblio. All rights reserved. 8