Becky English. Big Idea. Action Plan. Bible Verse. Materials. Connecting You to Jesus. Dear Teacher, We follow Jesus because He is God s Son.

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1 Rejected at Nazareth Spring Lesson 6 Luke 4:14-30 Dear Teacher, Sometimes it seems hard to hear God s voice. I have been in circumstances in which I didn t know what to do or who to listen to, and I felt afraid that I might miss God s leading. But God loves us and wants to guide us. That s why He sent His Son! Jesus is gentle, like a shepherd. He leads us, His sheep, patiently and steadily, through His Word and through the people and circumstances in our lives. When we mess up, He doesn t condemn us. He draws us back to Himself with love and discipline, and He helps us get back on the right path. Sometimes, like the people of Nazareth in today s Bible story, it s easy to get stuck in our own expectations and ideas of what we want God to do. But if we remain dependent on Him, we will hear His voice and be able to follow Him. Becky English Editor Action Plan List reasons people follow Jesus, and ask God to help us follow Him. Bible Verse My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27 Connecting You to Jesus In the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus taught that He was the Messiah who fulfilled the messianic prophecy of Isaiah 61:1-2. Jesus also made clear that His ministry of preaching and healing was for ALL people, both Jew and Gentile for anyone who believed in Him as the Messiah. This made the Jews angry, because it exposed their selfish motives and their unbelief. God welcomes ALL people on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ alone. Materials The Compass basics (see contents) 57

2 Opening Music As children come into the large-group area, play Merciful Jesus (on Media DVD or track 4 on Worship CD). Lead children in singing and doing motions (see Song Motion Chart on p. 142). I m so glad that Jesus is merciful and loving toward us. Today we re talking about why we follow Him. Icebreaker When Jesus invited people to be his disciples, they left everything behind and followed Him. He just said, Come, follow Me, and they did! I wonder what would happen if someone other than Jesus tried to do that. Show Lesson 6: Come, Follow Me on Media DVD. Nobody would follow some guy just because he s out there shouting come follow me! But we follow Jesus because Bible Verse (10 minutes) Did you know that the Bible sometimes calls people sheep? It doesn t mean that we are REALLY sheep! It just means that LIKE sheep, we need to follow someone and have someone take care of us. Open your Bible to John 10:27 and read it aloud. Let s have some fun doing motions so we can memorize John 10:27. Lead students in cupping their ears for the word listen, pointing to their mouths for the word voice and marching in place for the words follow me. Then say the verse aloud while using the motions. Sheep have shepherds to follow, but we have the best shepherd of all: Jesus! Jesus wants us to spend time with Him, praying and reading the Bible, so we can know Him and follow Him. TIP Greet kids as they arrive, and ask, Who has known you your whole life? Playlist Merciful Jesus I m Keepin My Eyes on Jesus You Will Be Saved All for Jesus Tip To involve students more in the Bible verse activity, invite volunteers to suggest motions of their own for words in the Bible verse. 58

3 Optional Game or Story Starter Ahead of time, collect two hula hoops and two unopened 2-liter bottles of soda. Place soda bottles apart from each other on floor. Kids have been playing with hoops for hundreds of years! Today we need two volunteers who think they are pretty good at managing a hula hoop. When volunteers come to the front, demonstrate to them how to spin the hula hoop backwards on its rim so that it rolls toward person who spun it. Each volunteer stands about 5 feet (1.5 m) from the soda bottles and uses the backspin to attempt to land the hula hoop around one of the soda bottles. Encourage students to cheer on the two volunteers. Spinning a hula hoop backwards is not always easy. When Jesus went back to His hometown and saw the people He had grown up with, it wasn t easy for Him, either. Later we will talk about what happened to Jesus. Music (15 minutes) The message of Jesus love is amazing! God forgives us and invites us to be a part of His family. Let s keep our eyes on Him! Lead children in singing and doing motions for I m Keepin My Eyes on Jesus (on Media DVD or track 2 on Worship CD; see Song Motion Chart on p. 140). To be saved, we need to confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead. Let s sing a song about what we can do to be saved. Lead students in singing and doing motions for You Will Be Saved (on Media DVD or track 6 on Worship CD; see Song Motion Chart on p. 144). Because I know how great Jesus is, I want to follow Him with my whole life. I hope you do, too! Lead students in singing and doing motions for All for Jesus (on Media DVD or track 1 on Worship CD; see Song Motion Chart on p. 139). Story Starter A hometown is the place where someone grows up. What is something unique about the town we live in? Invite students to respond. (If students come from different areas, invite them to tell unique features of their areas.) Jesus had a hometown, too. What do you think the people in Jesus hometown did when they found out that Jesus was coming home? Let s find out. 59

4 Rejected at Nazareth (15 minutes) Luke 4:14-30 STORYTELLING IDEA Throughout the story, read questions to kids and invite them to help tell the story by giving the answers that they think are correct. How Smart Are You? Today I m going to see just how smart you are! And from what I know, you are all VERY smart! But let s put you to the test and see! From time to time throughout the story, I will ask you to choose the answer that you think makes the most sense. You will help to figure out what is happening in today s Bible story! It will be fun to see how much you know about Jesus. Jesus Goes to Nazareth Tip Invite a volunteer to read aloud the definition of the word synagogue on page 330 in What the Bible Is All About for Kids. After Jesus was baptized by John, He went back to Galilee, the area where He had grown up. He taught in the synagogues where Jewish people worshiped each week and before long, everyone was talking about Him. News about Jesus spread from town to town. Here s your first question: As Jesus spent time teaching the people about God, the people (A) praised Him, (B) laughed at Him or (C) ran away from Him? Which answer do you think is right? Shout your answer out on the count of three. Ready? 1-2-3! A! The people PRAISED Jesus! Everyone said how wonderful He was. One of the places in Galilee where Jesus went was Nazareth, His hometown. Here s your next question: When Jesus went to the synagogue in Nazareth and stood up to read, someone handed Him a scroll written by the prophet (A) Gary, (B) Isaiah or (C) Tom? Shout your answer on the count of three! Ready? 1-2-3! B! Jesus read from a scroll written by ISAIAH when He was in the synagogue in Nazareth. Isaiah the prophet had written about Jesus many, many years before Jesus came to Earth. On that day in the synagogue, Jesus read Isaiah s words about HIMSELF to the people in His hometown! Jesus read that God s Spirit was with Him. He read that He had been chosen by God to preach good news to the poor, to release prisoners, to help the blind see and to help encourage people who were beaten down Gospel Light. Permission to photocopy granted to original purchaser only. Elementary Large Group Leader Guide

5 Jesus Amazes the Crowd Tip Guide students to open their Bibles to Luke 4:28-30 and follow along as you read what happened after Jesus spoke in the synagogue. Spring Lesson 6 After reading Isaiah s words, Jesus sat down. Everyone stared at Him! Then Jesus said, Today this Scripture has come true in this place. Jesus was telling the people that HE is God s Son, the Messiah, and that He had come to preach the gospel and help people in need. The people were amazed at what Jesus said. After all, they had known Jesus and His family when Jesus was just a little boy growing up in Nazareth! Was Jesus really the Messiah? Here s your next question: People thought that Jesus was the Son of (A) Matthew, (B) Moses or (C) Joseph? Shout your answer on the count of three! Ready? 1-2-3! C! The people thought that Jesus was JOSEPH S son. Now the people had been hearing about amazing miracles that Jesus had been doing in nearby Capernaum. They figured that Jesus should PROVE that He was God s Son by doing some miracles for them, too! But instead of performing miracles, Jesus told the people that He had come to preach the good news about His Father, God, but not just to Jewish people. Jesus told them He had come to preach to ALL people! Jesus wanted the Jews in Nazareth to know that anyone who BELIEVED in Him could FOLLOW Him. The people who believed Jesus would KNOW that He really was God s Son, the Messiah, even without seeing miracles. Jesus Is Thrown Out Well, that made the people of Nazareth really mad! Jesus was telling them that they were not the only ones the Messiah was going to save. AND He was saying that He knew they didn t believe He was God s Son! These Jews decided that Jesus wasn t welcome in town anymore. Here s your next question: The people (A) threw Jesus out of the synagogue, (B) threw a party for Jesus in the synagogue or (C) threw things at Jesus in the synagogue? Shout your answer on the count of three! Ready? 1-2-3! A! The people were so mad that they THREW JESUS OUT of the synagogue! They took Him to the top of a cliff. They wanted to throw Him off the edge! But Jesus simply walked right through the angry crowd and left. Jesus knew that bringing the good news of God s love to EVERYONE would not make His fellow Jews happy! But that did not keep Him from preaching the gospel to everyone. Here s your last question: Jesus knew why He d been sent to Earth, and He was determined to (A) give up on the mission, (B) carry out the mission or (C) complain about the mission God had given Him? Shout your answer on the count of three! Ready? 1-2-3! B! Jesus wouldn t be stopped! He would CARRY OUT the mission God had sent Him to Earth to do. He would keep spreading the good news about God and inviting people to follow Him God s own Son! 2013 Gospel Light. Permission to photocopy granted to original purchaser only. Elementary Large Group Leader Guide 61

6 Wrap-Up The people in our story today wanted Jesus to do miracles, even though they didn t believe that He was God s Son. But Jesus IS God s Son, the Messiah. Jesus wanted the people in His hometown to believe in Him and follow Him, but the people did not want to listen to what He had to say. We can be like that, too. Sometimes we want to follow Jesus only if He will do what we want Him to do, like help us win a game or get us a toy or heal someone we love. But Jesus is worth following because of who He is the one and only Son of God! Show compass. A compass helps us know which way to go when we need directions. If we follow the way it points, we can get to the place we need to go. Paying attention to God s Word is like using a compass to help us follow Jesus God s Word points to Jesus! The more we read and hear about God s Word, the more we ll be able to know who Jesus is and what He is like. Read John 10:27 aloud. Jesus leads us in the very best way, just like a shepherd leads his sheep. Connecting Kids to Jesus When Jesus taught in the synagogue at Nazareth, He told the Jews that He was the Son of God, the Messiah God had promised to send. He also said that He had come to help ALL people, even people who weren t Jews, and that ANYONE who believed in Him could be saved. This made the Jews angry, because they DIDN T believe Jesus was God s Son! But God welcomes ALL people who trust Jesus to save them from their sins. Prayer The people in Jesus hometown didn t believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Let s ask Jesus to help us believe in Him and not doubt Him. Pray, Dear Jesus, thank You for being willing to share Your important message about who You really are. Help us listen to You and follow You this week and always. We love You! In Your name, amen. Dismiss to Small Groups We ve been talking about the fact that Jesus is God s Son. As you go to your small groups, think about what Jesus being God s Son means and what we can do to show Jesus that we believe in Him and want to follow Him. We ll talk more about reasons people follow Jesus when we get into our small groups. 62