Banquet with Simon. Large Group Openings. Banquet with Simon 147

Large Group Openings Banquet with Simon Large Group Openings, Banquet with Simon Rotation Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2009 Banquet with Simon 147

LARGE GROUP OPENINGS Banquet with Simon (Luke 7:36-50) Large Group Opening 1 Welcome to Large Group Openings for the Banquet with Simon Rotation. Enjoy your time (about 10 minutes) with kids as you sing, learn, and pray together. Choose a song or two to get things started, move into the object lesson that introduces kids to the story, invite kids to discuss a question with their Shepherds, and finish up your time with a prayer. Spark Songs Use one or more of the following Spark Songs during your Large Group Opening. Use them in the order that suits your group s size, format, and time frame. Go, Tell It on the Mountain (Track 6, Songbook page 32): Sing the song through as written first, and then replace the last line of the song with the following phrases:... that Jesus Christ is Lord!... that Jesus cares for me!... that Jesus forgives you! Spark Song CD Spark Songbook Spark Song Lyrics Sheets or Slides CD player Deep and Wide (Track 12, Songbook page 66): Use these words to remind kids of the story: Deep and wide, deep and wide, God s forgiveness reaches deep and wide. (Repeat) Challenge kids to think of alternative actions for the song. Books of the New Testament (Track 3, Songbook page 18): Explain to the kids that the story of the Banquet with Simon is a story about Jesus, which means that we find it in the New Testament of the Bible. Use this song to help kids (and leaders) learn all of the books of the New Testament. Introduce the Story Set Up: Recruit a special guest from your congregation to visit your Large Group Opening today. Ask a member of your congregation who prepares the communion table for worship to come and talk to the kids. Our story today is about a very special meal called a banquet. This banquet is at Simon s house, and Simon invites a really important guest Jesus! But there is another surprise guest that shows up at Simon s house, as well. We have a surprise guest here with us today! Let s welcome him/her with applause. Invite your guest forward and introduce him or her. Ask these questions. None Special guest Large Group Openings, Banquet with Simon Rotation Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2009 Banquet with Simon 149

A banquet is the special meal in our story. We have a special meal at church, too. It s called communion. What s your role in communion at our church? What do you do to get the table ready for communion? How do you prepare the communion food? What special communion traditions does our church have? Why is communion special? Thanks for being our surprise guest today! Let s give our guest a round of applause. Allow time. The banquet in today s story is a very important meal. Listen for when the surprise guest shows up, why he or she comes to see Jesus, and how Jesus treats this guest. See if you can figure out the lesson Jesus teaches us! Shepherd Questions Pose one or more of these questions to the large group and invite the Shepherds to discuss them with the kids in their small groups. If your group is already small, choose one of the questions and ask the whole group to discuss it together. What kinds of surprises do you like? What was the most interesting thing you heard our guest say? If you could help with one part of communion, what would it be? Closing Prayer Say this prayer aloud while kids pray along silently. Loving God, Thank you for sending Jesus to teach us. Help us love all the guests in our lives, even surprising ones. We remember Jesus love for us in communion and in every meal we eat. In your name we pray, Amen. Visit www.sparksundayschool.org for more Spark content. Watch a short Lesson Prep Video that will prepare you and give you confidence to introduce this Bible story to the kids you are leading. You will also find downloadable Spark Song Lyrics Sheets and Slides for all the Spark Songs! 150 Large Group Openings Large Group Openings, Banquet with Simon Rotation Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2009

LARGE GROUP OPENINGS Banquet with Simon (Luke 7:36-50) Large Group Opening 2 Welcome to Large Group Openings for the Banquet with Simon Rotation. Enjoy your time (about 10 minutes) with kids as you sing, learn, and pray together. Choose a song or two to get things started, move into the object lesson that introduces kids to the story, invite kids to discuss a question with their Shepherds, and finish up your time with a prayer. Spark Songs Use one or more of the following Spark Songs during your Large Group Opening. Use them in the order that suits your group s size, format, and time frame. He s Got the Whole World in His Hands (Track 7, Songbook page 39): Use these words to create a strong connection to the story of the Banquet with Simon: God loves the whole world and forgives our sin (3x), God loves us all and forgives sin. Substitute other phrases for the whole world as you would with the traditional words. Spark Song CD Spark Songbook Spark Song Lyrics Sheets or Slides CD player Deep and Wide (Track 12, Songbook page 66): Use these words to remind kids of the story: Deep and wide, deep and wide, God s forgiveness reaches deep and wide. (Repeat) Challenge kids to think of alternative actions for the song. I Am a C(H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N) (Track 9, Songbook page 50): Explain to the kids that accepting God s forgiveness is part of being a Christian and living with Jesus in your heart. Distribute various rhythm instruments, and encourage the kids to sing with a fun and festive voice. Introduce the Story Set Up: Write each of the letters in the word forgiveness on a separate piece of paper. Make the letters large and bold enough to fill the entire piece of paper so they will and be easily visible from a distance. Play Spark Words to introduce the word forgiveness. Ask for 11 volunteers to come to the front. Give each volunteer one of the pieces of paper with a letter on it. Have the volunteers hold the paper so that the letter is facing their chest. Put the volunteers in order, left to right for the large group so that, when their letters are revealed, they will correctly spell out the word. The object of the game is for the rest of the kids to guess the letters, and eventually to figure out the word. None Paper Marker Large Group Openings, Banquet with Simon Rotation Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2009 Banquet with Simon 151

Ask kids in the large group to raise their hand to guess a letter. If a guessed letter is one that is in the word, the volunteer with that letter turns it around. (If there is more than one of that letter, all volunteers with that letter should turn it around.) If an incorrect letter is guessed, move on to another guesser. Once the word has been figured out, give your volunteers a round of applause for helping and send them back to sit with their Shepherd groups. The Bible story that we are learning is about forgiveness. Jesus tried to teach Simon what it means to forgive someone by forgiving the woman. Shepherd Questions Pose one or more of these questions to the large group and invite the Shepherds to discuss them with the kids in their small groups. If your group is already small, choose one of the questions and ask the whole group to discuss it together. Tell about a time when you or someone you know needed to be forgiven. Jesus promises that he will forgive you when you say, I m sorry. When is it easy to say, I m sorry? When is it hard? Why do you think Jesus wants you to say, I m sorry? Closing Prayer Pray the Lord s Prayer together. Speak in regular tones through most of the prayer, but on the fifth petition ( Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us ), instruct the group to speak loudly or yell the words. Visit www.sparksundayschool.org for more Spark content. Watch a short Lesson Prep Video that will prepare you and give you confidence to introduce this Bible story to the kids you are leading. You will also find downloadable Spark Song Lyrics Sheets and Slides for all the Spark Songs! 152 Large Group Openings Large Group Openings, Banquet with Simon Rotation Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2009

LARGE GROUP OPENINGS Banquet with Simon (Luke 7:36-50) Large Group Opening 3 Welcome to Large Group Openings for the Banquet with Simon Rotation. Enjoy your time (about 10 minutes) with kids as you sing, learn, and pray together. Choose a song or two to get things started, move into the object lesson that introduces kids to the story, invite kids to discuss a question with their Shepherds, and finish up your time with a prayer. Spark Songs Use one or more of the following Spark Songs during your Large Group Opening. Use them in the order that suits your group s size, format, and time frame. I Am a C(H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N) (Track 9, Songbook page 50): Explain to the kids that accepting God s forgiveness is part of being a Christian and living with Jesus in your heart. Distribute various rhythm instruments, and encourage the kids to sing with a fun and festive voice. Jesus Loves Me (Track 14, Songbook page 76): Jesus love for us is what causes Jesus to offer forgiveness for our sins. Substitute the words forgives and saves for the word love in the second and third verses. Spark Song CD Spark Songbook Spark Song Lyrics Sheets or Slides CD player Books of the New Testament (Track 3, Songbook page 18): Explain to the kids that the story of the Banquet with Simon is a story about Jesus, which means that we find it in the New Testament of the Bible. Use this song to help kids (and leaders) learn all of the books of the New Testament. Introduce the Story Set Up: Dip each cotton ball in a small amount of baby oil and place in one of the small cups. Prepare enough so that each Shepherd group has one. In our story Jesus is invited to the house of Simon for dinner. To invite someone to dinner was a sign of respect in Bible times. Usually when guests arrived the host would show hospitality to the guests by washing their feet. Simon did not wash Jesus feet when Jesus arrived. But later a woman came by and she washed Jesus feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. Then she rubbed perfumed oil on his feet. By rubbing perfume on his feet, the woman showed that she respected and loved Jesus. Spark Song CD Cotton balls and small cups (enough so every Shepherd group has one of each) Baby oil CD player Did you know that your Shepherds love and respect you? They do! To show their respect and love for you, your Shepherds are going to anoint your hand with some perfumed oil. Distribute cups of baby oil and cotton balls to each Shepherd group. While I play some quiet music, your Shepherd is going to rub a little Large Group Openings, Banquet with Simon Rotation Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2009 Banquet with Simon 153

baby oil on the back of your hand. Shepherds, when you do this, give each kid a special blessing by saying something like, You are a beloved child of God. Play the instrumental version of Jesus Loves the Little Children (Track 28) while Shepherds are anointing their groups. Later today you can smell the back of your hand where your Shepherd rubbed the oil and you can remember that you are loved! Shepherd Questions Pose one or more of these questions to the large group and invite the Shepherds to discuss them with the kids in their small groups. If your group is already small, choose one of the questions and ask the whole group to discuss it together. How did you feel when I rubbed the oil on your hand? Who do you think loved and respected Jesus more Simon or the woman? Why? How can you show Jesus that you love and respect him? Closing Prayer Have the group repeat each phrase after you. Jesus, I love you! Help me to show my love for you by showing love to everyone I meet. When I smell my hand today help me to remember that I am your beloved child. Amen. Visit www.sparksundayschool.org for more Spark content. Watch a short Lesson Prep Video that will prepare you and give you confidence to introduce this Bible story to the kids you are leading. You will also find downloadable Spark Song Lyrics Sheets and Slides for all the Spark Songs! 154 Large Group Openings Large Group Openings, Banquet with Simon Rotation Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2009

LARGE GROUP OPENINGS Banquet with Simon (Luke 7:36-50) Large Group Opening 4 Welcome to Large Group Openings for the Banquet with Simon Rotation. Enjoy your time (about 10 minutes) with kids as you sing, learn, and pray together. Choose a song or two to get things started, move into the object lesson that introduces kids to the story, invite kids to discuss a question with their Shepherds, and finish up your time with a prayer. Spark Songs Use one or more of the following Spark Songs during your Large Group Opening. Use them in the order that suits your group s size, format, and time frame. Go, Tell It on the Mountain (Track 6, Songbook page 32): Sing the song through as written first, and then replace the last line of the song with the following phrases:... that Jesus Christ is Lord!... that Jesus cares for me!... that Jesus forgives you! Spark Song CD Spark Songbook Spark Song Lyrics Sheets or Slides CD player Jesus Loves Me (Track 14, Songbook page 76): Jesus love for us is what causes Jesus to offer forgiveness for our sins. Substitute the words forgives and saves for the word love in the second and third verses. He s Got the Whole World in His Hands (Track 7, Songbook page 39): Use these words to create a strong connection to the story of the Banquet with Simon: God loves the whole world and forgives our sin (3x), God loves us all and forgives sin. Substitute other phrases for whole world as you would with the traditional words. Introduce the Story Set Up: Collect enough supplies so each Shepherd group will have one of everything. Jesus showed love and forgiveness to all people. Let s do an experiment today to help us understand forgiveness a little bit better. Give each Shepherd group its supplies. Follow my directions for this experiment. First shake a little bit of salt onto your paper plate. Each grain of salt represents the good and regular things we do each day get out of bed, eat breakfast, go to school, etc. Allow time for the groups to do so. Now shake a bit of pepper into the salt. The pepper is the stuff we do every day for which we need forgiveness disobeying our parents, thinking bad things about other kids, hurting someone, etc. Allow time for the groups to do so. Mix the salt and pepper together with a finger. Our day None Paper (not foam) plates Plastic spoons 4 inch (10 cm) square pieces of fleece Salt Pepper Large Group Openings, Banquet with Simon Rotation Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2009 Banquet with Simon 155

is a mixture of good and bad things. Allow time for the groups to do so. Now hold up the spoon. The spoon is like Jesus. Rub the fleece on the spoon for a few seconds. Allow time for the groups to do so. While you re rubbing the spoon, your whole group should say together, I m sorry, God! Hold the spoon about an inch over the mixture of salt and pepper and watch what happens. Allow time for the groups to do so. What happened? (The pepper will jump off the plate and attach to the spoon.) When we confess our sins to Jesus, he takes them all away, just like the spoon took the pepper away from our plates. Shepherd Questions Pose one or more of these questions to the large group and invite the Shepherds to discuss them with the kids in their small groups. If your group is already small, choose one of the questions and ask the whole group to discuss it together. Why do you think the pepper jumped off the plate and attached to the spoon? Does your day have more grains of salt in it or more grains of pepper? Does it matter? How is this experiment like Jesus forgiveness in our lives? Closing Prayer Pray this prayer aloud as kids pray along silently. Loving God, Every day is full of a little bit of salt and a little bit of pepper. I m sorry for all of the things I do each day that hurt you and that hurt other people. Thank you for your gift of forgiveness and for taking away my sins when I say, I m sorry. Amen. Visit www.sparksundayschool.org for more Spark content. Watch a short Lesson Prep Video that will prepare you and give you confidence to introduce this Bible story to the kids you are leading. You will also find downloadable Spark Song Lyrics Sheets and Slides for all the Spark Songs! 156 Large Group Openings Large Group Openings, Banquet with Simon Rotation Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2009

LARGE GROUP OPENINGS Banquet with Simon (Luke 7:36-50) Large Group Opening 5 Welcome to Large Group Openings for the Banquet with Simon Rotation. Enjoy your time (about 10 minutes) with kids as you sing, learn, and pray together. Choose a song or two to get things started, move into the object lesson that introduces kids to the story, invite kids to discuss a question with their Shepherds, and finish up your time with a prayer. Spark Songs Use one or more of the following Spark Songs during your Large Group Opening. Use them in the order that suits your group s size, format, and time frame. I Am a C(H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N) (Track 9, Songbook page 50): Explain to the kids that accepting God s forgiveness is part of being a Christian and living with Jesus in your heart. Distribute various rhythm instruments, and encourage the kids to sing with a fun and festive voice. Deep and Wide (Track 12, Songbook page 66): Use these words, in order for the song to serve as a reminder of the story: Spark Song CD Spark Songbook Spark Song Lyrics Sheets or Slides CD player Deep and wide, deep and wide, God s forgiveness reaches deep and wide. (Repeat) Challenge kids to think of alternative actions for the song. He s Got the Whole World in His Hands (Track 7, Songbook page 39): Use these words to create a strong connection to the story of the Banquet with Simon: God loves the whole world and forgives our sin (3x), God loves us all and forgives sin. Substitute other phrases for whole world as you would with the traditional words. Introduce the Story We are going to play a little game show today... Welcome to The Price Is Correct! To play, I ll need three contestants. Choose three volunteers to be contestants. Let s welcome our contestants to the stage! Volunteers come to the front. I m going to give each of you some money. I will give $5 to the first contestant, $50 to the second contestant, and $500 to the third contestant. Distribute money. Now, the amount of money I have given you is equal to the number of sins you have committed today. Contestant number 1, that means that you need forgiveness for just five sins! Way to go! Contestant number 2, you need to be forgiven for 50 sins you are about average, I suppose. Contestant number 3, well, what can I say? You need a lot of forgiveness, don t you? None Play money Game show host jacket Pretend microphone Large Group Openings, Banquet with Simon Rotation Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2009 Banquet with Simon 157

Now, the way you can be forgiven is by paying me one dollar for each of your sins. And your prize will be a clear conscience and right relationship with God. So, contestant number 1, you have five sins. How much would need to pay me to be forgiven? Allow contestant number 1 to answer. And contestant number 2? Allow contestant number 2 to answer. Number 3? Allow contestant number 3 to answer. Wow! That s a lot of money, contestant number 3! Well, guess what? There s another way! Instead of paying me $1 for each of your sins, you can just say, I m sorry, God, and God will forgive your sins. So, what s it going to be? Are you going to say, I m sorry, or are you going to pay me? Let s get some help from the audience what should they do, audience? Ask each contestant what they are going to do. Have them say, I m sorry, God. Announce that their sins are forgiven and that they can also keep their pretend money. Let s give our contestants a big round of applause and thank them for playing The Price Is Correct! Invite the volunteers to sit back down with their Shepherd groups. The good news is that we can t really buy our forgiveness from God God forgives us freely when we confess our sins. It doesn t matter how many sins or how big they are, God forgives each person and loves us each the same. Shepherd Questions Pose one or more of these questions to the large group and invite the Shepherds to discuss them with the kids in their small groups. If your group is already small, choose one of the questions and ask the whole group to discuss it together. Which contestant do you think will love God more the one with just a few sins that are forgiven, or the one with a lot of sins that are forgiven? Why? Which contestant was more like Simon in the game? Which contestant was more like the woman? Closing Prayer Have kids repeat each phrase after you. God, We are so thankful that you forgive us when we sin. We know that we can t earn your forgiveness, and that you give it to us freely. Help us to forgive others as freely and completely as you forgive us. Amen. Visit www.sparksundayschool.org for more Spark content. Watch a short Lesson Prep Video that will prepare you and give you confidence to introduce this Bible story to the kids you are leading. You will also find downloadable Spark Song Lyrics Sheets and Slides for all the Spark Songs! 158 Large Group Openings Large Group Openings, Banquet with Simon Rotation Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2009

LARGE GROUP OPENINGS Banquet with Simon (Luke 7:36-50) Large Group Opening 6 Welcome to Large Group Openings for the Banquet with Simon Rotation. Enjoy your time (about 10 minutes) with kids as you sing, learn, and pray together. Choose a song or two to get things started, move into the object lesson that introduces kids to the story, invite kids to discuss a question with their Shepherds, and finish up your time with a prayer. Spark Songs Use one or more of the following Spark Songs during your Large Group Opening. Use them in the order that suits your group s size, format, and time frame. Go, Tell It on the Mountain (Track 6, Songbook page 32): Sing the song through as written first, and then replace the last line of the song with the following phrases:... that Jesus Christ is Lord!... that Jesus cares for me!... that Jesus forgives you! Spark Song CD Spark Songbook Spark Song Lyrics Sheets or Slides CD player Jesus Loves Me (Track 14, Songbook page 76): Jesus love for us is what causes Jesus to offer forgiveness for our sins. Substitute the words forgives and saves for the word love in the second and third verses. Books of the New Testament (Track 3, Songbook page 18): Explain to the kids that the story of the Banquet with Simon is a story about Jesus, which means that we find it in the New Testament of the Bible. Use this song to help kids (and leaders) learn all of the books of the New Testament. Introduce the Story Set Up: Recruit a volunteer to read the Confession aloud to the group. You ll want to choose an older kid, and perhaps give him/her a copy of the words prior to the opening, to allow for practice time. Forgiveness is something we hear a lot about at Sunday school. It s a really important gift that God gives to us. In fact, when we come together to worship in church we often say some words together that are called the Confession and Forgiveness. Usually all of the people in the congregation say the Confession together. Today I m going to have my volunteer read the Confession aloud to all of you. Listen carefully to what she/he is saying. None A copy of the Confession and Forgiveness from your worship liturgy Invite your volunteer to the front and have him/her read the Confession loudly and slowly so that all can hear and understand the words. Large Group Openings, Banquet with Simon Rotation Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2009 Banquet with Simon 159

What words did you hear in the Confession that stood out to you? Accept answers from the large group. Now I will read what the pastor says in response to the Confession. Listen carefully again. Read the Forgiveness. What words did you hear that stood out to you? Accept answers again. We believe that Confession and Forgiveness are so important that we make them part of our regular worship. Forgiveness is a gift that we need to receive again and again and God is pleased to forgive us when we confess our sins. Shepherd Questions Pose one or more of these questions to the large group and invite the Shepherds to discuss them with the kids in their small groups. If your group is already small, choose one of the questions and ask the whole group to discuss it together. What does it mean to confess to something? Why do you think God wants to hear our confessions? How often do you think you need to be forgiven? Closing Prayer Some churches have a tradition of kneeling while they are confessing to God. Let s kneel while we pray the Lord s Prayer together. Invite the kids to kneel, and lead the group in saying the Lord s Prayer. Visit www.sparksundayschool.org for more Spark content. Watch a short Lesson Prep Video that will prepare you and give you confidence to introduce this Bible story to the kids you are leading. You will also find downloadable Spark Song Lyrics Sheets and Slides for all the Spark Songs! 160 Large Group Openings Large Group Openings, Banquet with Simon Rotation Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2009