Why are stories so important for understanding who Jesus is?

Name 3/4 School Why are stories so important for understanding who Jesus is? This term you are going to: Think about why the Gospel writers chose the stories that they included in the Gospels. Investigate why John wrote his Gospel. Research one Gospel story in depth. Make a product that retells your researched Gospel story. Identify how knowing Jesus can change people s lives. How many stories or events in Jesus life can you think of? 1

Matthew s Gospel Matthew tells the good news that Jesus is the promised Saviour that God promised in the Old Testament. Matthew was a tax collector who left his job to follow Jesus. He writes about how Jesus teaches about God s kingdom. Matthew tells his readers that God sent Jesus for everyone in the world. Write down the first nine words in Matthew s Gospel. Mark s Gospel Mark s Gospel is the shortest of the four gospels. Mark s Gospel starts with John the Baptist teaching people about God and baptising Jesus. Mark presents Jesus as a man of action. He emphasises what Jesus did more than his words and teaching. Write down the first twelve words of Mark s Gospel. 2

Luke s Gospel Luke talked to lots of people about Jesus and then wrote down what he learned. Luke wrote about how Jesus was called by the Holy Spirit to preach the good news to the poor. Luke also wrote Acts, the book after the four gospels. Write down the first fifteen words of Luke s Gospel. John s Gospel John s Gospel presents Jesus as the eternal Word of God, who became a human and lived with us. John was one of Jesus disciples, he was a witness to everything he wrote about in his Gospel. John describes many miracles of Jesus and explains that they teach us about how Jesus is the Son of God. Write the first eleven words of John s Gospel. 3

Why are there only four Gospels? Why did Matthew, Mark, Luke and John write the Gospels? Design a cover for one of the Gospels. 4

A life story What important things should be written in someone s life story? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Interview a friend in the class to find out as many of these important things about them as you can. 5

The story of Jesus Complete the next two pages as you watch the DVD of Jesus life. Miracles What miracles did Jesus do? Teaching What things did Jesus teach about? 6

Who is Jesus? What did people say about Him? Interesting things in the DVD 7

8 Jesus Life Glue the pictures in the correct order on the time line

John 20:30-31 Write out the words of John 20:30-31 Make a word find puzzle using words from John 20:30-31. Give it to a friend to do. 9

Stories about Jesus Read six of the following stories in the Bible. Write a heading for the story and write one sentence to explain what it shows us about who Jesus is. 1. Mark 1:9-11 2. Mark 2:1-12 3. Mark 4:35-41 4. Mark 5:21-43 5. Mark 6:30-44 6. Mark 9:2-13 7. Mark 10:13-16 8. Mark 11:1-11 9. Mark 12:41-44 10. Mark 14:3-9 11. Mark 14:32-42 12. Mark 16:1-8 10

Choose the story you are going to research. Why have you chosen this story? Think back to John 20:30-31. How could this story help someone put their faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. Write 5 clues about your Bible passage. You will read them out to the class for them to guess the story you are going to research. 1. 2. 3. 4.. 5. Write down your guesses for other groups clues. 11

Scripture Probe Bible Passage 1. Who are the main characters in this story? 2. What event comes before this story in the Bible? 3. What event comes after this story in the Bible? 4. What is the story s setting? (time of day, day of the week, what was happening at the time?) 5. What does this story teach us about Jesus? 6. What do you think about what happens in this story? 12

13 5 Questions You be the teacher. Write down five questions (and their answers) that a teacher might ask about this Bible passage. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Read a children s Bible story of your chosen Bible story. Draw your favourite picture from the story. 14

Class Brainstorm Write down all the ideas for a project you could do to tell your story. For example: make a model Circle the way you are going to tell your story in your project. What extra information will you need to find out to retell your story? How will you answer the following question in your project? Why are stories in the Gospels so important for understanding who Jesus is? 15

Your plan.. METHOD What project are you going to do? MAIN POINTS What main points of the Bible passage do you need to make in your project? RESOURCES What resources do you need to do your project? STEPS What steps will you need to take to do your project? TEACHER S ASSESSMENT 16

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Marks 1 2-3 4-5 TOTAL MARKS How well my project told the points of the story. How well the project kept me interested. How well I made my project. How well I answered the question: Why are Gospel stories so important for understanding who Jesus is? Lots of the main points of the story were missing from the project. There was not a lot to keep me interested in the project. The project was not very well made. The question was not answered. There were some main points of the story missing from the project. The project wasn t always interesting. The project was well made. The answer to the question was okay. All the main points of the story were in the project. The project was really interesting. The project was really well made. The answer to the question was clear and well answered. /20 18

Marks 1 2-3 4-5 TOTAL MARKS How well my project told the points of the story. How well the project kept me interested. How well I made my project. How well I answered the question: Why are Gospel stories so important for understanding who Jesus is? Lots of the main points of the story were missing from the project. There was not a lot to keep me interested in the project. The project was not very well made. The question was not answered. There were some main points of the story missing from the project. The project wasn t always interesting. The project was well made. The answer to the question was okay. All the main points of the story were in the project. The project was really interesting. The project was really well made. The answer to the question was clear and well answered. /20 19

How could meeting Jesus in person or reading about Him in the Gospels change someone s life? Why did Matthew, Mark, Luke and John write the Gospels? Who do you think Jesus is? 20

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