Follow In His Footsteps

Transcription

1 2 nd /3 rd Grade Feb 25 Follow In His Footsteps Bible Verse When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the crippled man, My friend, your sins are forgiven. (Mark 2:5) Teacher Enrichment This is the eighth and final lesson in the Life of Jesus series which examines how Jesus is our best example for inclusion. Jesus included everyone in his ministry from simple fishermen, to government leaders and kings; from devout followers to those considered sinners; and from old to young. Each week will explore the various ways and people Jesus chose to serve and teach. Have you ever gone to extreme lengths to see someone or obtain something? Camped out for concert tickets? Pushed through a crowd on Black Friday? Flew half way around the world to visit a friend? We go the extra mile in these situations because the person or experience is important to us. Do you do the same for Jesus? Do you go to extremes to be near Him and to follow in His footsteps? Do you allow others to see your pursuit of Jesus? In Mark 2, a group of men are so determined to bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus that they carry him on a mat, up to the top of the crowded house Jesus is in and lower him through the roof. They did not let people or physical obstacles get in their way and they did not care what others thought. They were unrelenting in their desire to be in Jesus presence. The Life of Jesus series has encouraged us to walk in Jesus footsteps and follow His example. It is not always easy to love our enemies, to forgive, or to include those who are different from us. It is not always easy to pursue Jesus when others are not. This scripture lesson helps us understand we should follow Jesus no matter the obstacles. This lesson will teach children to discern Jesus example and remind them of ways to follow in Jesus footsteps.

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, Paralyzed Man activity sheet 1 per child Blank paper 2 sheets per child Paralyzed Man craft sheets 1 per child Yarn 1 piece 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, Paralyzed Man activity sheet, pencils/pens 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 their Paralyzed Man 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 Arrive at 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 105. The Lesson SUPPLIES: Blank square paper, Paralyzed man craft sheets, glue, yarn, tape, crayons/markers/colored pencils SAY: Today we learned about following Jesus example even when there are obstacles in your way and it s hard. I want to try an experiment and see how well you guys are able to follow directions. You are each going to get a sheet of paper and I m going to give you directions on what to draw. You should not look at each other s papers and you should do your best to follow all the steps. Don t worry about doing it wrong. If you don t understand a certain step, just do it to the best of your ability. Give each child a blank sheet of paper. Read the steps listed in Following Directions Teacher s Guide. You can repeat a direction once or twice, but DO NOT give additional directions or explanation! The idea is this will be difficult and they will have trouble following all the directions. Each child s drawing may look different at the end and they will likely NOT look like the example. After all directions have been given, show children the example. ASK: Here is what you should have drawn. How many of yours look like this? (Probably not too many) Why did yours come out differently? (I didn t understand the directions, it was too complicated, I couldn t follow along, I got confused and gave up, I copied my neighbor s but they were doing it wrong)

4 SAY: Let s try again. I m going to read the directions again, but this time you will be able to look at the example. Hang the example on the wall or white board. Give each child a new blank sheet of paper. Read the steps listed in Following Directions Teacher s Guide. ASK: Did you do better this time? SAY: None of us are perfect. None of us completely understand God s words. We all read the same words in the Bible, but we all understand them a little differently. It s a lot like the pictures you drew. If you didn t understand some of the directions, you probably didn t get the picture quite right. You may have gotten frustrated and given up. You may have copied off your neighbor, but they were doing it wrong too! The more of the words you knew the closer your picture is to my picture. The same is true for following Jesus example. The more you study the Bible and learn and follow Jesus steps, the closer you will be to becoming like Jesus. SAY: Just like with the paralyzed man in today s scripture, it can be hard to get near Jesus and to follow Him. It can be hard to love our enemies, forgive people and include people who are different from us. It can be hard to follow Jesus when others are not. SAY: We are going to do a craft today to help us remember to follow Jesus even when it s hard. This craft depicts the man being lowered from the roof that was a hard task! Show children the sample Paralyzed Man craft. Give each child a Paralyzed Man craft sheet and a piece of yarn. Direct children to color the Paralyzed Man craft sheet. Direct the children to assemble the craft Cut out the crowd shape and glue the edges into a box. Cut out the scripture verse rectangle and tape the piece of yarn ABOVE the writing, leaving the ends hanging down. Tape the scripture verse rectangle to the top of the box, creating a hinge and leaving the yarn hanging into the box. Cut out the paralyzed man and tape him to the ends of the yarn.

5 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 providing Jesus s example for how to live our life. Help us to follow Him even when it is hard. Amen If time remains before parents arrive, encourage children to return to their Paralyzed Man 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!

6 Paralyzed Man Craft Follow Directions Teacher Guide 1. Draw a medium-sized circle in the middle of your paper. 2. Draw a medium-sized square below the circle but have the top of it touch the bottom of the circle. 3. Draw a heart in the square. 4. Draw two smaller rectangles, one on each side of the square. They should go the wide way not the tall way and they should touch the sides of the square. 5. Draw a medium-sized triangle above the circle. The bottom of the triangle should touch the top of the circle. 6. Draw three small stars anywhere inside the triangle. 7. Draw a small triangle in the center of the circle. 8. Draw an arc which curves up below the small triangle. 9. Draw two small circles above the small triangle, one slightly to the right and one slightly to the left.

7 Paralyzed Man Craft

8 Paralyzed Man Craft