4. Jesus Creates a Family

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Isaac Moore
5 years ago
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1 Basic Supplies CEB Bibles Diver s Logs DVD Navigation Guide Submerge magazines candle and lighter device for playing music drama costumes and props unused lip balm stick colored pens, pencils, and colored pencils Additional Supplies jute twine (or other type of string) paper (cut into 5-by-1 strips) paper punch tape scissors ruler yardstick Before You Teach J esus was born into a family; and, as an adult, he created a family. Jesus did not create a family by marrying and having children, but by calling disciples. Jesus disciples lived together, traveled together, and ate together. They were a family. Some say the disciples became a part of Jesus family by forsaking their own. After all, James and John left their father, Zebedee, in the boat. But that is only one interpretation. Another possibility is that discipleship was always a family affair. Jesus called two sets of brothers as his first disciples. One of those disciples, Simon Peter, was married and living with his mother-inlaw. He may have had children. Simon s house became a home base from which Jesus performed his ministry. Archaeological sites in Capernaum, where Simon lived, reveal that homes were clustered together around common courtyards, suggesting that extended families may have lived together in adjoining houses. The whole family was affected by Jesus ministry. Simon s mother-in-law was healed. The sudden change in the disciples occupations would have required their families to work together to find a new way to provide for themselves. The familial quality of the group of disciples was revealed in a striking way at Jesus death. As Jesus was dying on the cross, he gave the responsibility of caring for his mother to one of his disciples, saying, Here is your mother (John 19:27). The disciples and their families relied on one another for their survival. American tweens are growing up in a very different culture than the disciples. Most faith communities no longer function as second families. When they do, they mirror the love and care of Jesus family of disciples. When they don t, it s easier for children s needs to fall through the cracks. Even the best family cannot provide a tween with everything she or he needs to thrive. Families under pressure and stress are even less capable of providing that love and support. Faith communities are essential for filling in the gaps of care that nuclear families cannot provide. How does your faith community provide for its members? How can your faith community support your tweens? How can your tweens support others in their faith family? Consider these questions and be prepared to discuss them with your students this week. Fall deepbluekids.com/submerge

2 GATHER Greeting Welcome students to the space as they arrive. Check in with them about how they re doing. Invite the students to silence their electronic devices. Light a candle and invite the students to begin to turn their minds and hearts toward God. Diver s Log Make colored pens, pencils, and colored pencils available. Invite each student to retrieve their Diver s Log (or take a new one and write their name on it). Encourage them to respond to the prompts on pages 8 and 9. You may want to play quiet music during this time. After some time, invite your students to share their responses as they are comfortable. Game Fishnet Tag Before class: Make sure there is adequate room for this activity. Gather with your students in a large, open space. Choose one student to be the Net. At the start of play, the Net s goal is to tag one of the other students. When a student is tagged, he or she becomes part of the Net by linking arms or joining hands with the Net. Play resumes with the multi-person Net attempting to catch the other students. The game ends when every student is part of the Net. Play the game as long as time and interest allow, giving other students the opportunity to be the first person of the Net. SAY: As the Net got bigger, it became harder to avoid being caught. There are two kinds of nets in today s story. Pay attention to find out more about these nets. Fall deepbluekids.com/submerge

3 EXPLORE Bible Reading Invite your students to look up and to take turns reading. Navigation Guide Invite your students to watch today s DVD segment together. Discuss the questions at the end. Bible Improv Before class: Photocopy page 24, one for each student. Invite the students to choose roles. Have the students choose props and/or costumes to use during the skit. Option 1: Read through the script as a group. Where indicated, invite the students to say what they think the character(s) would say. Option 2: Divide the students into groups. Give each group about 5 minutes to read through the script and to write in lines, where indicated. Invite the students to perform their completed script and to explain why they chose those lines for the character(s). TIP: Speaking as a character in the story is a fun, improvisational way to explore the story. Encourage various students to share an answer from the character s perspective. It s okay for students answers to conflict. Each student will enter the story differently. Discussion Choose one or both of these topics to discuss with the students. Allow the students interests and questions to guide you. SAY: Look up the story of Elisha s call in 1 Kings 19: What s similar about Elisha s call and the disciples calls? What s different? If the disciples are like Elisha, then Jesus is like Elijah in the story. What similarities do you notice between Jesus and Elijah? SAY: The disciples whole families would have been affected by their decision to follow Jesus. The disciples fishing businesses would have been their families major source of income. In order for the disciples to leave and follow Jesus, their families would have had to work together to find a new way to provide for themselves. How do you think the disciples family members felt about their decision? Do you think they considered themselves followers of Jesus as well? How does your family work together to follow Jesus? How is your family affected by your call? TIP: If you have enough leaders, discuss these questions in small groups. Fall deepbluekids.com/submerge

4 RESPOND Creative Expression Faith Family Net TIP: An instructional video for this activity is at deepbluekids.com/resources. SAY: The disciples left their fishing nets and followed Jesus to fish for people. They formed a community (a net-work ), which acted as a safety net for people in need. Jesus followers everywhere are called to form networks of care for those around them. We re going to make an artistic representation of our faith family s network of care. Invite the students to write on 5-by-1 paper strips the names of people in their faith community who care for them or for others. Students may decorate their strips, if desired. Remind them to leave about an inch at the end of each strip and to punch a hole when the strip is complete. Cut about three feet of jute twine or another type of string and hang it horizontally. (You can tape it at each end to a wall.) Invite students to help you cut fourteen lengths of string, each five feet long. Have them fold the five-foot lengths in half and knot them by the folded end along the horizontal string, about three inches apart. There should now be a total of twenty-eight strings hanging from the fourteen lengths. They should be about two-and-a-half feet long. Have the students form triangles by taking the second string from the first length and the first string from the second length and knotting them together, about five inches down. They should continue in this way with the next set. There will be an untied string hanging at each end of the row. Have the students repeat the same process for the next row, starting with an end string. This time, diamonds will be formed, and the single string on each end will be incorporated into the pattern. Invite the students to repeat the process until they are out of string. As they create the net, they may slide their decorated slips of paper onto the string between the knots so that the names of their faith community members are incorporated into the net. ASK: How do these people show you love and care? How do they show love and care to the community? What s one thing you can do this week to show love and care to another person? Magazine Discussion Invite each student to retrieve their copy of the Submerge magazine (or take a new one and write their name on it). Option 1: Encourage the students to read the article on pages and to reply to any prompts. Play quiet music during this individual time to encourage a reflective atmosphere. When the students finish the article, invite them to share their thoughts and responses. Option 2: Invite the students to take turns reading the article out loud. Invite them to respond to any prompts as a group. Fall deepbluekids.com/submerge

5 BLESS Gathering Together Invite your students to gather in a circle and to share their responses to these questions: 1. What brought you joy during the past week? 2. What brought you sadness? 3. How can we pray for you during the coming week? TIP: Use mutual invitation to answer these questions. Invite a student to respond to the question. After responding, that student may invite another student to answer the question. Students continue inviting one another until everyone has had a chance to respond. Any student may pass. Prayer and Blessing Invite the students to join hands in a circle. Share a brief prayer, then squeeze the hand of the student to your right. Invite each student to offer a prayer, silently or aloud, before squeezing the hand of the next person. Students may pray about concerns just shared or about anything on their hearts. When the prayer comes back to you, say, Amen. Using a stick of unused lip balm, draw the shape of a cross on the hand of the person next to you. As you draw, SAY: You are blessed by God to be a blessing to others. Pass the lip balm around the circle, allowing students to bless the person to their right. Fall deepbluekids.com/submerge

6 Bible Improv Script STORYTELLER: Jesus was passing along the Galilee Sea. He looked out over the rocky beach and saw a boat. Fishermen were throwing their nets. He called out to them. JESUS: Come, follow me, and I ll show you how to fish for people. STORYTELLER: The fishermen looked up from their work. SIMON AND ANDREW: (Say what you think these characters would think and say.) STORYTELLER: Right away, Simon and Andrew left their nets and followed Jesus. They walked along the shore a little farther and saw another boat. It belonged to James and John, who were with their father, Zebedee. They were repairing their nets. At that very moment, Jesus called to them. JESUS: Come, follow me, and I ll show you how to fish for people. STORYTELLER: James and John followed Jesus, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired workers. JAMES AND JOHN: (Say what you think these characters would say to their father.) ZEBEDEE: (Say what you think this character would say.) HIRED HANDS: (Say what you think these characters would think or say.) STORYTELLER: From that day on, James, John, Simon, and Andrew fished for people. Fall deepbluekids.com/submerge

The First Disciples. Lesson Plan

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