For preschoolers, families are the gatekeepers of how they experience the world

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Roberta Shields
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1 Lesso 6 67 The Word Became Flesh Joh 1:1-18 For preschoolers, families are the gatekeepers of how they experiece the world aroud them. Childre lear to uderstad their emotios, roles, ad abilities withi the cotext of family. Naturally, the, family is a powerful metaphor that helps little oes uderstad how God relates to them. However, be aware of the huma families from which these childre come. Negative emotios stemmig from family experiece easily trasfer to God. Use this lesso to help childre uderstad what it meas to be a child of the God who loves perfectly ad ucoditioally. Lesso What Childre Do easy prep 1 Gettig Started about 5 mi. Welcome ad Celebrate Welcome each other, ad praise God through music. sigal, CD player Teacher Pack: CD Bible Poit We ca be God s childre. Key Verse Yet to all who received him, to those who believed i his ame, he gave the right to become childre of God (Joh 1:12). 2 Key Verse Activity about 10 mi. Family Album Lear the Key Verse, ad look at family pictures as they discover they re i God s family. Bible, family photo album If you do t have a photo album, tape some family photos ito a otebook. Weavig Faith Ito Life Childre will kow how they become God s childre. Puppy Poiters Hear how Theo eeded a flashlight to fid his family. CD player, Theo puppet, flashlight, rubber bad Teacher Pack: CD Use the rubber bad to attach the flashlight to Theo s paw. 3 Bible Exploratio about 15 mi. Bible Time: God s Big Tet Discover how Jesus is like a flashlight that helps people fid their way ito God s family. Bible, dot stickers, flashlight, large blaket Teacher Pack: Jesus Became Huma poster (from the Big Bible Poster Pack) Drape the blaket over a table i your room to make a tet. Put the dot stickers ad poster uder the table. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 6

2 68 Lesso What Childre Do Easy Prep Ceter 1: Family Camp Create a figerprit family o their studet pages. My Bible Hugs, washable markers, wet wipes Remove the Lesso 6 pages from each My Bible Hugs studet book, ad write childre s ames o them. 4 Weavig Faith Ito Life about 20 mi. (Choose 2 ceters.) 5 Lastig Impressios about 10 mi. Ceter 2: Who s Home? Make a yummy sack to remid themselves that they re i God s family. Ceter 3: Big House Play with dolls to help uderstad the Bible Poit. Ceter 4: Light Bright Make craft flashlights to remid them that Jesus lights their way ito God s family. Daily Challeges Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Actio Prayer Thak Jesus for helpig us fid the way to be i God s family. Weavig Faith at Home Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. graham crackers, whipped toppig, elf- or bearshaped cookies, spoos, paper plates, atibacterial gel (optioal) dolls or actio figures to portray a family card stock, clear tape, yellow tissue paper My Bible Hugs, pes flashlight Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Lesso 6 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4

3 69 The Word Became Flesh Joh 1:1-18 BIBLe BACKGROUND for Leaders Livig Word To avoid cofusio, it s importat to ote that the writer of Joh s Gospel was the Apostle Joh, oe of Jesus disciples who apparetly was closer to Jesus tha may of the other disciples (Joh 19:26-27). He is ot to be mistake for Joh the Baptist, who is metioed i this passage. The term repeated i this passage carried special sigificace i both Greek ad Hebrew cultures. Greek philosophers used the Greek word logos (which meas word ) to refer to the mid of god, whatever god they were referrig to. To the Jews, word carried with it the actios of God i their world, God s persoal ivolvemet. Thus, whe Joh referred to Jesus as the Word, he was clearly idetifyig him as God i actio i our world! who receives Jesus ad believes i him ca become a child of God! Absolutely ayoe ca receive the ew life Jesus offers! The Jesus Coectio A glorious beefit of puttig our belief i Christ is that we ca be childre of God. This relatioship brigs us all the advatages grated to a child of the Kig the Kig of the uiverse. Dwell o Joh 1:12. What are the implicatios i your life of beig a child of God? Live your life as if you are the child of the Kig of the uiverse. Say a prayer of thaksgivig to your heavely Father for adoptig you ito his royal family. You ca write your prayer here. Jesus Existed at Creatio Notice that i Joh 1:3, Joh emphasizes Jesus deity by poitig out that he was active i the very creatio of the world. Jesus did t come ito beig whe he was bor i the Bethlehem stable; he existed as God with the Father from the very begiig. A Sacrifice for All Joh 1:10-11 reveals the sadess Jesus must have felt whe he came to earth. The very people he had created who had bee told of his comig by Old Testamet prophets as well as by Joh the Baptist, to whom he had come to reveal God, for whom he had come to sacrifice his life did ot recogize or ackowledge him. The good ews is that Jesus loved them (ad us) ayway! He did t withdraw his offer of salvatio. I fact, he made it broader tha the Jews could have believed. Joh 1:12 declares the joyous truth: Ayoe Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 6

4 70 gettig started Welcome ad Celebrate sigal CD player Teacher Pack CD: Glad You re Here Today (track 7) Welcome ad Celebrate Tip Cosistetly use the same sigal to aouce a trasitio to the ext activity. You could flip the lights off ad o, use a trai whistle, have a puppet rustlig iside a bag, or sig cleaup sogs. Keep it simple, cosistet, ad fu. As the childre arrive, greet each oe with a smile. Whe it s time to begi, use your sigal to gather the childre together i a circle o the floor. Lead childre i sigig Glad You re Here Today (track 7 o the CD) to the tue of Te Little Idias. Ecourage childre to follow the motios i paretheses. Come sig ad play ad hear the Bible. (cup hads over mouth) Sig ad play ad hear the Bible. (tur i a circle) Sig ad play ad hear the Bible. (put had to ear) We re so glad you re here! (both thumbs up) We re so glad you re here today! (hads o hips ad shake head) We re so glad you re here today! (hads o hips ad shake head) We re so glad you re here today! (hads o hips ad shake head) Come sig ad play with us. (make come here motio) (Repeat.) Say: Today as we sig ad play, we get to lear about how we ca be God s childre. Let s lear more ow! Family Album Bible family photo album Family Album Easy Prep If you do t have a photo album, tape some family photos ito a otebook. 2 Key Verse activity Family Album Have childre form a circle ad sit dow. Ope your Bible to Joh 1:12, ad show childre the words. Tell kids the Bible is God s special book. Say: Our Key Verse tells us that we ca be God s childre. It says, Yet to all who received him, to those who believed i his ame, he gave the right to become childre of God (Joh 1:12). Let s say our Key Verse together. Lead childre i sayig the Lesso 6 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4

5 71 simplified Key Verse with you: Those who believe i Jesus ca become childre of God (Joh 1:12). Say: It s so amazig that we ca be part of God s family. Let s lear a little more about that. Show the family photo album, ad show childre the pictures. As you tur the pages, ecourage childre to discuss what kids of thigs families do together. Say: We all have families. But the best ews is that if we believe i Jesus, the we ca joi God s happy family, too! Ad his family is the best family of all we ca kow that i God s family we ll all be take care of ad loved i the best way possible. Because of Jesus, we ca be God s childre. 3 bible Exploratio Puppy Poiters Say: Liste, everyoe, Theo s comig! He has somethig to show us. Let s fid out what it is. Play Here, Theo (track 2 o the CD), ad brig out Theophilus the FaithRetriever. Theo: Hi, everybody! Teacher: Theo, why do you have a flashlight? Theo: I m returig the flashlight. Boy, did I eed it last ight! My family was campig, ad I got lost. This other dog, Ralphie, was with me. We left our campsite ad wet ito the woods to play. After a while, I realized that we could t fid our way back to our tet. I was so scared! Teacher: That s awful. What did you do? Theo: I barked ad barked util I woke up aother family that was campig. They were t too happy with my howlig. But the ma was ice ad gave me his flashlight. Teacher: That was ice of him. What happeed the? Theo: Ralphie ad I used the flashlight to fid my family. I was so happy; I thought I d lost them forever. Teacher: Well, Theo, it s ot right to wader away from home. But I m glad you foud your family agai. Our Bible Poit today tells us somethig importat about families. Frieds, let s tell Theo our Bible Poit for today. (Lead childre i sayig the Bible Poit for Theo: We ca be God s childre.) Theo: I m so glad you ca be God s childre! Ad I thik you should take my advice do t wader away from God s family like I did with mie. Well, I d better retur this flashlight ad get back to my tet before it gets dark. Teacher: That s great! Frieds, let s say goodbye to Theo. Puppy Poiters CD player Theo puppet flashlight rubber bad Teacher Pack CD: Here, Theo (track 2) Puppy Poiters Easy Prep Use the rubber bad to attach the flashlight to Theo s paw. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 6

6 72 Ecourage the childre to wave or say goodbye to Theo. The put Theo away i a safe place for ext week s use. Talk With Kids Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What do you thik about how Theo got lost? Tell about a time you or someoe you kow was lost. Why would you wat to stay close to God ad his family? Say: Theo had some good advice stay close to your family. Ad that s especially importat whe it comes to God s family. We kow that, because of Jesus, We ca be God s childre. Ad we wat to stay close to God always. Let s lear more about what it meas to be part of God s family. Bible Time: God s Big Tet Bible dot stickers flashlight large blaket Teacher Pack Jesus Became Huma poster (from the Big Bible Poster Pack) Bible Time: God s Big Tet Easy Prep Drape the blaket over a table i your room to make a tet. Put the dot stickers ad poster uder the table. Bible Time: God s Big Tet Ope your Bible to Joh 1, ad show childre the words. Tell childre that the Bible is God s special book. Say: Did you kow that the Bible says we re a lot like Theo? Do you remember how Theo lost his family s tet because it was dark? Well, the Bible says that we re like people lost i the dark, ad we ca t fid the way to God s happy family. Clear a path betwee the childre ad the covered table. Say: Let s play a game to help us thik about that. Dim the lights, ad the istruct the childre to place both hads over their eyes. Tell them to fid the tet with their eyes closed. Allow time. The gather childre together i a circle agai. Have them talk about what it was like to try to fid the tet with their eyes closed. Say: It does t feel very good whe you re aloe i the dark. Ad people feel awful whe they ca t fid their way ito God s family. God set a ma amed Joh to help people fid out how to get to God s family. Joh told people that Jesus was like a light. Tur o the flashlight, ad pass it aroud the circle. Say: A flashlight lights the way. Jesus is like a flashlight. Joh said Jesus helps people fid their way ito God s big family. Let s preted that we re usig this flashlight to fid the tet. Lead the childre udereath the tet. Show childre the Jesus Became Huma poster. Shie the flashlight o the poster. Say: Jesus is like a flashlight that shows us how to become God s childre ad be a part of God s happy family. Whe we believe i Jesus, we ca be God s childre! Lesso 6 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4

7 73 Show the childre the stickers. Say: These stickers remid me of a child s face. Preted that your sticker is like a picture of your face. Let s each place a sticker o the poster to remid us that we ca be God s childre. Give each child a sticker, ad have kids place their stickers o the poster. As childre add their stickers, ecourage them to say I ca be a child of God. Talk With Kids Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What was it like to try to fid the tet with your eyes closed? What was it like whe you could use the flashlight? What do you like about kowig that Jesus helps you fid your way ito God s family? Say: It was a little scary to try to fid our way with o lights ad our eyes closed. But the flashlight helped us. Jesus is like a flashlight because he helps us see better ad shows us which way to go. Whe we believe i Jesus, we ca be God s childre. 4 weavig faith ito life Choose at least two of the learig ceters to help reiforce today s Bible lesso. Gather the eeded materials, ad put the supplies i a out-of-sight area util you re ready for them. Allow the childre to choose which ceter they d like to explore first. The circulate amog the childre as they create ad explore. Ecourage them to make coectios betwee their activities ad the Bible by askig them the questios icluded with each ceter s descriptio. Ceter 1: Family Camp Give each child a Lesso 6 page from My Bible Hugs. Poit out the picture of the tet. Say: Today we leared that Jesus helps us fid our way to God s family. Let s fill our tets with pictures of God s kids. Demostrate by usig a washable marker to color o the pad of your poiter figer. The help childre do the same. Show them how to press the same figer iside the tet to make a figerprit head. Have childre repeat the same process util there s a family of may figerprit kids iside the tet. Give childre each a wet wipe to clea their figers. Ceter 1: Family Camp My Bible Hugs washable markers wet wipes Ceter 1: Family Camp Easy Prep Remove the Lesso 6 pages from each My Bible Hugs studet book, ad write childre s ames o them. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 6

8 74 Say: We ca be God s childre whe we believe i Jesus. God s family is big because he loves everyoe ad he wats everyoe to joi his family. God s family tet would have to be much bigger tha the tet i our pictures! Ceter 2: Who s Home? graham crackers whipped toppig elf- or bear-shaped cookies spoos paper plates atibacterial gel (optioal)! allergy alert Ceter 2: Who s Home? Have childre clea their hads ad the sit dow for the sack. Say: Today we re learig about how Jesus lights the way for us to God s family. Let s make a sack to help us thik about that. Give each child a plate with a graham cracker ad three or four elf- or bear-shaped cookies. Show the childre how to make houses full of God s kids. Istruct them to put dabs of whipped toppig o their graham crackers ad the stad their cookies upright i the whipped toppig. Talk With Kids Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What s great about kowig you ca be part of God s family? Say: God s family is the best family ever. God loves us better tha ayoe else does, ad beig God s child is really special. Let s thak Jesus for comig to earth so we ca be God s childre. Pray, ad the let childre ejoy their sacks. Big House dolls or actio figures to portray a family Ceter 3: Big House Say: We ca be God s childre. Let s thik about what it meas to be part of a family. Set out dolls or actio figures. Say: Let s use these toys to act out some thigs your families do together. Ivite idividual childre to share ideas, ad after each idea, have childre work together to act out what the child said. Let several childre give examples. As childre share examples, help childre uderstad that God s love for his family is perfect. Lesso 6 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4

9 75 Talk With Kids Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What is the best part of beig i your family? explai whether you re part of God s family. Say: Families ca be great, ad we ca be so thakful for adults who take care of us. But eve though our families are t perfect, God s family is perfect. We ca be God s childre, ad we ca kow that he ll be the perfect paret. Ceter 4: Light Bright Say: Today we leared that Jesus lights our way ito God s family. Whe we believe i him, we ca be God s childre. Let s make preted flashlights to help us remember that Jesus light helps us be part of God s family. Ceter 4: Light Bright card stock clear tape yellow tissue paper Give each child a piece of card stock. Help childre roll their card stock ad look through it. As childre play, tape their card stock rolls to hold them i place. Help the childre each buch up some tissue paper ad stuff it i oe ed of their card stock rolls so it sticks out like shiig light. Let childre preted that it s ighttime ad that they re lookig for God s tet. As they play, remid them that Jesus is like a light that helps us ito God s family. Say: Jesus came to earth because he wats us to be part of God s family. His light shows us how we ca be God s childre. 5 lastig impressios Daily Challeges After the childre have cleaed up their ceters, brig everyoe back to a circle area o the floor. Review the lesso activities ad the Bible Poit, ad the ecourage the childre to share what they remember about what they leared from the Bible today. Daily Challeges My Bible Hugs pes Also use this time to challege kids i their faith. Ecourage them to choose a Daily Challege for applyig today s lesso to their lives this week. Use this challege for ecouragig your childre s growig relatioships with Jesus. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 6

10 76 Talk With Kids Say: Today we leared that we ca be God s childre. I would like each of you to choose a way to thik about God s family this week. Give kids these two challeges to choose from: Pray with your mom or dad ad thak Jesus for makig it possible for you to be a child of God. Look through a photo album of family pictures with your dad or mom. Tell him or her that you wat to be part of God s family, too! Say: If you wat to pray, circle the choice with oe dot. If you wat to look at a photo album, circle the choice with two dots. Check that each child circled a choice o his or her My Bible Hugs page. Make sure you tell kids the challege you choose. Your commitmet will ispire childre ad will give them a opportuity to see God at work i your life as well as i theirs! Actio Prayer flashlight Actio Prayer Form a circle, ad have the childre sit dow. Tur off the lights, ad tur o the flashlight. Pass the flashlight aroud the circle. As each child holds the flashlight, have him or her say Dear Jesus, thak you for showig me how I ca be oe of God s childre. I your ame, ame. Weavig Faith at Home Have childre take home their My Bible Hugs pages whether they worked o them or ot. Have the childre tell their parets the challege they committed to i the Daily Challeges activity. Ecourage the parets to help their kids fulfill this commitmet durig the week. By workig together ad focusig o the same goals, you ad parets ca help childre weave faith ito their lives! Talk to your Director about ig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Lesso 6 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4

Your preschoolers won t understand the finality of Stephen s death or the idea

Your preschoolers won t understand the finality of Stephen s death or the idea Lesso 12 139 Stephe Forgives His Accusers as They Stoe Him Acts 6:8 7:60 Your preschoolers wo t uderstad the fiality of Stephe s death or the idea of martyrdom. However, they ll uderstad that Stephe acted