Jesus as a Boy in the Temple

Transcription

1 4 th /5 th Grade Jan 6 Jesus as a Boy in the Temple Bible Verse Jesus answered, Why did you have to look for me? Didn t you know that I would be in my Father s house? (Luke 2:45) Teacher Enrichment This is the first lesson in the New School: Moments from Jesus Life series which explores scripture lessons from Jesus life on earth. As both human and divine, Jesus is our best example of what God wants us to be like as humans. This series examines how Jesus lived and the choices He made for His life. The Bible only provides two images of Jesus life as a child: His birth and a moment when He is 12 years old. When He was twelve, Jesus travelled with His parents to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival as He would have done many times before. This time, however, Jesus was left behind. Parents can surely imagine Mary and Joseph s panic when they realized Jesus was not with their group and we can all suppose the nervousness and fear a 12 year old would feel at being left alone in an unfamiliar city. However, Mary and Joseph find Jesus calmly sitting in a temple learning and listening and questioning. He assures His parents that of course he was in His father s house. We see that Jesus, as human, needed to grow and learn just as we do. Jesus shows us that we should seek to learn about God and ask questions about God. He provided the example of striving to grow spiritually. In this lesson children will learn that Jesus was a child just like them, but as God s son He provided a perfect example of how we should live. Children will understand that they should attend church and seek to learn about God.

2 Before Class Begins Place the Sign In sheet and a pen where parents can see it upon arrival. Place the Joy & Concern cards, Time & Talent cards and pens where students can see them upon arrival. Check that you have supplies for this lesson: Arrival Activity, Jesus in the Temple activity sheet 1 per child Russian nesting doll White board Growing in God worksheet 1 per child Place an arrival activity at each place on the table. Welcome SUPPLIES: Sign In sheet, Joy & Concern cards, Time & Talent cards, Attendance chart, stickers, pens, Jesus in the Temple activity sheet, pencils, markers Greet each child individually as they arrive. Introduce yourself by name. Help children find or add their name on the attendance chart. Provide each child with a sticker to place in today s column on the attendance chart. Encourage children to complete a Joy or Concern card if they have a particular joy or concern they would like to express. Collect completed Joy & Concern cards. Encourage children to complete a Time or Talent offering card if they gave their time to God or used their talents to serve God or others during the previous week. Children should keep their own completed Time and Talent cards. If children bring monetary offering, they should keep it with them. Direct children to complete Jesus in the Temple activity sheet. Encourage conversation among the children and with you! Get to know the children in your classroom by asking about their week including school, activities and families. Introduce new children to each other and encourage friendships. Children s Worship SUPPLIES: Sign In sheet, Joy & Concern cards, Time & Talent cards

3 The Children s Worship Leader will direct your class to come to Ruth Hall at 9:20 or 11:05. Bring the Sign In sheet and completed Joy & Concern cards to Ruth Hall. Hand the Joy & Concern cards to the Children s Worship leader as you arrive. Have children bring their completed Time & Talent cards and any monetary offering. If additional children arrive while in Ruth Hall, have parents complete the Sign In sheet and remind parents that pickup is in Room 105. Encourage children to participate in Children s Worship and provide re-direction if necessary. Assist the Children s Worship leader as needed. At the conclusion of Children s Worship, have children line up and return to Room 110. The Lesson SUPPLIES: Russian nesting doll, white board, Expo marker, Growing in God worksheet, pencils SAY: Today we started out talking about how Jesus is an example for us about how we should live. As we go through this series we are going to look at different times in Jesus life. At Christmas we learned about Him as a baby, today we learned about Him as a child and as we go forward we ll learn about Him as an adult. For the next portion, use the nesting doll. Start with the smallest doll and add on the next sizes as you speak. SAY: It s kind of like this nesting doll. It starts out with a tiny doll, like a baby. And then it gets a little bigger, like a child. Then a little bigger, maybe a teenager. Then a little bigger, maybe a college student or young adult. Then even bigger, like an adult. And it keeps going and going. SAY: As we go from a baby to a child to an adult we grow just like this doll. At the very end of today s scripture there is this line: Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with all the people and God. This references four ways that people grow. We re going to talk about the first three first. Create columns on the white board.

4 SAY: First is wisdom, that means our brains. We grow mentally. Write wisdom/mentally on white board SAY: The second is stature, that means physically. Write stature/physically on white board. SAY: The third is favor with people, that means socially or getting along with people. Write people/socially on white board. SAY: The Bible says Jesus grew in these three ways and so should we. Ask the next questions and record only 1-2 answers for each on the white board. You are creating a grid. An example is provided below in case the children have difficulty coming up with ideas. ASK: Let s think about a baby or toddler, like this smallest doll. What kind of wisdom do they have? How have they grown physically? How have they grown socially? ASK: How about a kid your age? Mentally? Physically? Socially? ASK: How about a teenager or college student? Mentally? Physically? Socially? ASK: What about an adult like me? Mentally? Physically? Socially? Wisdom/Mentally Stature/Physically People/Socially Baby Talk Crawl, Walk Share toys Kid Math, Spelling Run, Play sport, Climb Teenager Adult College classes, How to drive car How to do a job, track money Taller, Advanced sports Stronger Make friends, Be part of a family Dating, Be away from mom and dad Work with people, Solve disagreements SAY: Wow, as we get older we certainly grow in so many ways. And just like this doll, we keep adding on. We don t get rid of the things we ve learned. They are still inside us. We keep adding layers to our wisdom and our strength and abilities and to our social skills. (Show the nesting doll, building the layers, as you say this) When we

5 learn to run we don t forget how to crawl. When we learn to make new friends, we don t forget how to share our toys. (Use examples you have recorded) SAY: There was one more way the Bible says Jesus grew: in favor with God. This means growing in our knowledge of God, in our faith in God and our love for God. Jesus was in the temple learning about God. Jesus is our best example for how to live so if He was learning about God, we should probably learn about God too. But just like the other ways we grow physically, mentally, socially we keep adding layers to our faith as we get older. When we re little we learn that God created everything and that He loves everyone. Now that you guys are a little older, you re learning more about how God wants you to live, how He treats people, understanding Jesus and why He came to earth. As you get older, you ll learn even more about faith and trusting God to direct your life and provide help for harder decisions. But you won t forget those early things! (Continue to show nesting doll through conversation) SAY: We are going to take a few minutes to think about how we can grow in our knowledge and love of God. Provide each child with a Growing in God worksheet. Allow 5-10 minutes for children to complete the questions. Once they have completed the questions individually, allow 5-10 minutes for children to share their answers with a partner. If time allows, share a few answers with the large group. **I highly encourage that children take their worksheets home so parents can see what they have done in class. But, if children are willing, I would love to see their answers to question 4. If you are able to snap some pictures, that would be great.** Closing Lead the children in a closing prayer. You may say your own prayer, ask one of the children to say a prayer or use the one below. God, Thank you for sending Jesus to be an example for us. Help us learn about you and grow in our faith.

6 Amen If time remains before parents arrive, encourage children to return to their Jesus in the Temple activity sheet if they did not complete it. Also encourage conversation between children and with you. This is another opportunity to build relationships with the children in your classroom.

7 Growing in God 1. What are you doing now to learn more about God? 2. What can you do differently in the next year to learn more about God? 3. How can learning more about God help you in everyday life? 4. What questions do you have about God that you would like answered?