A voice from heaven said, This is my Son whom I dearly love; I find happiness in him. (Matthew 3:17) banner. Bless: scarves and streamers

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1 PLAN Supplies Deep Blue Resources: One Room Sunday School Kit: CD-ROM Leader Guide Reproducible Book Resource Pak Additional Deep Blue Resources: Deep Blue CEB Kids Bible Deep Blue Bible Storybook Deep Blue Adventure DVD Deep Blue Bible Dictionary Gather: posterboard cupcake mix cream cheese icing multicolored sprinkles Explore: large beach ball Respond: long piece of butcher paper for banner Bless: scarves and streamers Before You Teach M atthew was concerned with the place of children in church life. In contrast to contemporary Jewish and pagan religious life, the Christian community encouraged participation by the whole family. Placed his hands on them and touched them were the typical acts of blessing by a revered teacher. It may have been the practice of the Matthean church reflected here, in which children were welcomed into the community with an act of blessing. This practice had some opposition though. The disciples told the children not to bother Jesus. They thought his time was too important for the children. Children were not merely tolerated, but regarded as models of how the kingdom of God is received. Providing hospitality for children or other marginalized people is how you welcome God s kingdom. The kingdom belongs not only to the children but also to all who receive it in childlike faith. Including the children also made it possible for the women who had the responsibility of caring for them to hear Jesus teaching. Children had no status or power; yet, Jesus insisted that God s kingdom existed for the lowly. The child in biblical times was completely dependent on the father. The father decided whether the child would even be accepted into the family. Children belonged to their father and remained subject to his authority even as adults. Jesus reminded the disciples that they, like children, are totally dependent on God s grace. Fall deepbluekids.com

2 GATHER Greeting Before class: Display the Attendance Chart (Resource Pak pp. 2 and 23). Play Tell Me the Stories of Jesus (CD-ROM), as you welcome each child. Show the children where to place their offerings on the worship table. Have each child mark the Attendance Chart. (more text will be added when we decide on type of attendance chart) ASK: What people do you like to visit you? Are they children or adults? Why do you like their visits? Can you remember a time when the disciples tried to stop some people from visiting Jesus? Find the Hearts Puzzle (Preschool) Before class: Photocopy Reproducible 5b for each preschool child. SAY: Jesus welcomed the crowd. Some of the parents brought their children to be blessed by Jesus. Find the five hidden hearts in the picture of Jesus and the children. Circle and color your hearts and the rest of the picture. Find the Hidden Objects Puzzle (Younger Elementary) Before class: Photocopy Reproducible 5c for each younger elementary child. SAY: The disciples told the children, Stop! Don t bother Jesus. Jesus told the disciples, Let the children come to me. Find the hidden objects in the picture of Jesus and the children. Six different objects are hidden in the picture. Icons of the objects are shown at the top of the page. Find the Missing Items Puzzle (Older Elementary) Before class: Photocopy Reproducible 5d for each older elementary child. SAY: Jesus loves children, all the children in the world, and he welcomes them. Find the hidden objects in the picture of Jesus and the children. You will find twelve different objects hidden in the picture. The list of words naming the hidden objects will help you find the objects. Fall deepbluekids.com

3 GATHER Sign Boards Craft Before class: Cut posterboards, two for each child, one to cover the chest and one to cover the back. Invite the children to write on one posterboard: Jesus Loves Children, and on the second board: Jesus Loves Me. Provide helpers for the youngest children in your group. Allow the children to decorate their signs. Punch single holes in the top two corners of the signs. Tie yarn through the holes connecting the two boards with the words on both signs facing out. Make the tie long enough to fit over a child s shoulders. With the children in line wearing their sign boards, parade around the room or down the hall. Have them call out, Jesus Loves Children! Jesus Loves Me! Stop/Come Game ASK: Who brought the children to Jesus? What did the disciples say to Jesus? What did Jesus say about the children? Ask for volunteers to be Stop and Come. They will stand at one wall. Come will stand facing the children, and Stop will face the wall. Have the rest of the children stand shoulder-to-shoulder on the opposite wall. SAY: When Come says, Let the children come to Jesus, join arms and start tiptoeing towards Come. When Stop says, Don t bother Jesus, and turns around, the line has to freeze in place. If Stop sees someone moving, the whole line has to go back to the wall. When the line reaches Come, celebrate with a snack. Cupcakes Snack Before class: Bake the cupcakes before class for the children to decorate. ASK: How do you think Jesus feels about children? SAY: Jesus loves all the children of the world, all nationalities, all colors, all ages. Spread the cream cheese icing on your cupcake to show God s love. Then sprinkle the multi-colored sprinkles on top to show all the children of the world. Enjoy eating your cupcake. Transition to Explore Sacred Conversations ASK: I wonder how it felt to be blessed by Jesus. What do you think you would say to Jesus if you met him in person? Fall deepbluekids.com

4 EXPLORE Read the Bible Story Ask the children to find Matthew 19:13-15 in their Bibles. You may have an older child or a leader read the Scripture from the CEB Kids Bible. You may also ask a younger child to read the story from the Deep Blue Bible Storybook. Encourage them to bring their own Bibles and learn how to use them. See the Bible Story SAY: As Abuela is making enchiladas for the Deep Blue Kids, she tells them the story of how much Jesus loves children. Watch today s episode from the Adventure DVD. ASK: Whom do you think Jesus cares about more, children or adults? Interact with the Bible Story Before class: Photocopy Reproducible 5a for each child. Give each child a copy of the Bible story. Assign parts for the drama: younger children as the children, older children as the disciples and parents, older child as Jesus and narrator, mixed ages for the crowd. Set the stage: Jesus sitting by himself, disciples together close to Jesus, crowd walking together to Jesus, a few parents and children walking at the front of the crowd, narrator standing at the side, close to where Jesus is sitting. SAY: As (Name) narrates the story, listen for your character. Act out what the narrator says about your character. Have the narrator begin reading the story pausing to allow the actors to play their parts. As time allows, repeat the drama with children playing different parts. ASK: Why do you think Jesus said the kingdom of heaven belongs to the children? What traits do you have that adults need to be part of the kingdom? ASK: Do you think the following traits of most children belong in the kingdom? Why or why not? Children believe in God. Children are willing to learn how to pray. Children are eager to learn. Children love stories. Children respond to love. Fall deepbluekids.com

5 EXPLORE Bible Verse Activity Our verse for Unit 1 is Matthew 3:17. Say the verse without looking at the Bible verse poster. Go over the Sign Language for the Bible verse. Encourage all the children to sign and say the Bible verse with you. Invite the children to form a circle. Ask for a volunteer to start the game. Give the volunteer a beach ball. SAY: (Name) will start by throwing the beach ball to someone else in the circle. That person will say the first word of the Bible verse, and then throw the ball to another person in the circle. Each new person will say the next word in our Bible verse. When we have completed saying the verse and the Scripture reference, we will start over at the beginning of the verse. See if you can throw the ball and say the verse faster the second time. ASK: Who is speaking in this verse? What do you think the verse means to you? Journal Activity Before Class: Photocopy Reproducible 5e for each child. SAY: It s journal time! Writing or drawing in your journal helps you remember what you learned from the lesson and allows you to show how you feel about what you learned. You can write, draw, or do both on your journal page. Write a story about Jesus blessing children. You are one of the children whom Jesus blesses. Tell about why you are in the crowd. Include the conversation between you and Jesus. Draw a picture of you being blessed by Jesus. Allow the children to take their journal pages home and add them to their journal notebooks. Transition to Respond ASK: How can you show Jesus you love him? (come to church, pray, listen to Bible stories, sing, love others, be kind, help someone in need, and so forth) Fall deepbluekids.com

6 RESPOND Faith Family Missions Before class: Ask if the children can sing a song in the nursery during Sunday school. Photocopy Reproducible 5f for each child. SAY: Jesus love for us is so wonderful, we have to share it with others. Teach the younger children the song, Jesus Loves the Little Ones. Jesus loves the little ones like me, me, me. Jesus loves the bigger ones like you, you, you. Jesus loves the little ones like me, me, me. Jesus loves the bigger ones like you, you, you. Little ones like me sat upon his knee. Bigger ones like you, Jesus loves you, too. Jesus loves the little ones like me, me, me. Jesus loves the bigger ones like you, you, you. Movements: Place your hands over your heart on the word loves. Point to yourself on the word me. Pat your knees on the word knee. Point outward on the word you. Allow the younger children to sing the song for the older children in your group. Then take the whole group to the nursery to sing the song. Make a Banner Group Activity Before Class: Cut a piece of butcher paper long enough for a banner. Find a place in the room where you can stretch the paper out for the children to work on it. SAY: One of Jesus most-remembered statements is Let the Children Come to Me. Jesus invites children from every country and time to come to him. Let s make a banner with Jesus words to hang outside our room. Invite the older children to make the letters on the banner and sign it Jesus. The younger children can color in the letters and everyone can decorate the banner. Allow each child to paint her or his hand and press it on the banner. Position the handprints around the outside edges of the banner. When everything is dry, hang the banner in the hall outside of the room. ASK: How can we follow Jesus example and invite the children to come? Transition to Bless Gather the children around the Family Wall of Pictures. Fall deepbluekids.com

7 BLESS Inviting Before class: Post Family Wall of Pictures (Resource Pak pp. 6 and 19 ) on a wall or bulletin board. Invite a child to tape the family picture of Jesus with the children (Resource Pak p. 15) to the Family Wall of Pictures. ASK: Why do you think this picture belongs on the Family Wall of Pictures? What kind of family do you see in this picture? What other types of families do you see on the wall? Praising Before class: Gather different-colored scarves and streamers. SAY: Our song this month is Tell Me the Stories of Jesus. Hand out the songbooks and have the children find the song. Allow each child to choose a scarf or streamer. Play this month s song and encourage the children to sing and dance using their scarves or streamers. Blessing Point to each child s family portrait on the wall (the craft from Session 1 displayed along with the Family Wall of Pictures ). If you have a child who has not made a family portrait, allow him or her to do this at the beginning of class. SAY: (Child s name), God loves you and your family. PRAY: Dear God, thank you for loving and welcoming all the children and their families; in Jesus name, we pray. Amen. At Home with God Before class: Make copies of Reproducible 5g for each child. SAY: At Home with God is a family devotional for you and your family to use at home. ASK: Can you share what you have learned today with your family? Send home with each child. Fall deepbluekids.com