UNIT 6#2 THE EPHESIAN CHURCH K/1 ST GRADE UNITED WE STAND

UNIT 6#2 THE EPHESIAN CHURCH K/1 ST GRADE UNITED WE STAND CONCEPT Christians are all ONE in Christ Jesus. GOAL Christian students will learn that they are united with other believers in Christ and are to move toward each other in love. Non-Christian students will learn that when people are in Christ they become one new people. PASSAGE: Ephesians 2:11-19 Key verse: "Jesus has united us by breaking down the wall of hatred that separated us. Ephesians 2:14 PLANNING AHEAD Lesson Supplies Lesson: 8 length of butcher paper 10 length of butcher paper Pictures of temple Learning Activity #2: Sylvester the Jester, Michael P. Waite Learning Activity #4: Weave a Wall Instructions, 5 copies/room Chenille Stems, 30/room Craft Supplies Activity Station: B stickers 2 balls /class 2 plastic baskets or pitchers /class Two 3 lengths of Velcro or Masking tape Paper people pattern, 1/child Yarn Scissors Markers/Crayons Teachers please note: For clarity, the shaded areas in the Planning Ahead section indicate supplies that are in and should be returned to your classroom SHARED SUPPLY bag. Items followed by an asterisk* are to be supplied by the teaching team. XENOS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP, 1-800-698-7884, www.xenos.org K/1 st Unit 6#2 Page 1

BACKGROUND INFORMATION / TEACHER HELPS Because we are so fallen, it is very much within our nature, even as Christians, to compare ourselves with others for the purpose of building ourselves up. We begin very early in life to label each other. Titles such as ugly/pretty, athletic/clumsy, poor/rich or men/women, as well as differences in social status, color of skin and nationality, influence the way we view others and ourselves. That is why it is essential that children understand Paul's teaching regarding unity between the Christian Jews and Christian Gentiles in Ephesians 2. Christ brought about the reconciliation of Jew and Gentile to Himself and to each other when He died on the cross. At the cross He made the two, i.e., Jew and Gentile, into one, i.e., Christian. This is not two groups now made equal, but one new group that is greater than either of the two. "For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall... that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross" (Eph. 2:14-16, NASB). The issue in Ephesians 2 is between two races of people. Two thousand years later, we still have racial wars. Where but in the body of Christ is it possible to experience unity and love between people of very diverse backgrounds and interests?! A unified body of believers is an amazing witness to the world that Christ is real. "The purpose of Christ's work for man's salvation is not limited to the giving of new life to individual men and women, previously dead in sin... it goes beyond this... it involves the bringing of those individuals, whatever their race or background, into unity in the people of God... Not only can it be said that Christ brings peace. He is our peace. As men are brought to be in Him, and continue to live in Him, they find peace with God, and so also a meeting-place and concord with one another, whatever may have been their divisions of race, colour, class or creed before. He came for this purpose (Lk. 2:14), to be the Prince of peace... By His coming, and supremely by His cross, He has made both one. The Greek says literally that He has made both things into one thing... Divisions and distinctions no longer exist as far as the standing of any before God is concerned. God has made a way for the divided to become one." 1 "To quote John Perkins, 'Blacks love to talk about what's wrong with white folks and want to remove racial discrimination, but are reluctant to forgive and learn to trust sometimes we even use race as a weapon to keep our distance.' We who are white, on the other hand, out of ignorance or avoidance have no idea about the problems that exist, and that only serves to put distance between the two people groups. "Our North American cities are in desperate need of a new voice, a new spirit, to speak to the race issues of the day. When Jesus prayed that believers in him might be one (Jn 17:20-21), it was 'so that the world may believe that you [the Father] have sent me.' The credibility of the Lord Jesus is at stake. Our latent as well as overt racism and separatism diminish the authority of the gospel message, even within our own racial groups. "One thing is clear. If the church of Jesus Christ in any city ever decides to come together and transcend its racial and denominational differences, there is hope that that city will be transformed drugs out of the schools, stark poverty eradicated, and a gospel with authority which speaks to the realities of city life." 2 ADDITIONAL READING: John 17:23; I Corinthians 12:12-27; Romans 12:9-21; Ephesians 4:3, 16, 32; Colossians 3:14 1 Francis Foulkes, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, Ephesians, 1983, Inter-varsity Press, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan, pp. 78, 81. 2 Perkins & Rice, More Than Equals, 1993 by Spencer Perkins and Chris Rice, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, "Forward II," John Guest, pp. 9, 10. XENOS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP, 1-800-698-7884, www.xenos.org K/1 st Unit 6#2 Page 2

LESSON PLAN SET UP INCORPORATION 15-20 MIN Goal: Children will experience partiality through observation or experience. Goal: Children will experience prejudice through observation or experience. INSTRUCTION/ INTRODUCTION XENOS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP, 1-800-698-7884, www.xenos.org K/1 st Unit 6#2 Page 3 Before class: Fold the paper people craft sheets for the kids, so that they will be ready to cut out. Activity Stations: Craft / Object Lesson: Paper People Set up room with one or two tables in the back for the blond-haired kids. The other table/s will be in front for the other kids. As children enter the room, direct them to a table according to the color of their hair. Give the blond kids a sticker with a "B" (for Blond) on it to wear and send them back to the "boring" table. The children with any other color hair will go to the "fun" table. The blond table should be instructed to be quiet while they work on their paper people and should be somewhat ignored. The other table/s should be greatly encouraged and helped in any way needed. NOTE: Hopefully you will all struggle with this object lesson since it is very unloving and contrary to our desire for the children to experience God s love through us. However, the idea is that it is just that an object lesson to help the children experience what it is like to be rejected, THEN be able to process it and experience the love and grace that is Christ s. A kindergarten child was so impacted by this a few years ago that she was later able to transfer the principle and application as she watched a TV documentary about Martin Luther King. Please don t underestimate the ability of the children to learn this deep truth. * Blond tables: Paper pattern, pencils and scissors * Other tables: Paper pattern, scissors, markers, crayons, yarn Instructions: Fold paper accordion fashion along dotted lines with printed pattern on top. Cut only along the solid lines. When you open the paper you will have 2 whole people holding hands. Color the people. Game Instructions: Divide children into 2 teams with the blonds on one team and all of the other children on the other team. Place one strip of Velcro 3' from one basket or pitcher and the other strip of Velcro 5' from the other basket or pitcher. Put the "blond" team at the 5' line. Each child stands at the line, shoots the ball into the basket, runs to retrieve it and runs it back to the next person in line. The object of the game is for the teams to make as many baskets as possible in a three-minute time period. Missions Prayer Instructions: Talk about and pray for Oasis Giving campaign and adopted missionary child. Debrief of Activity Stations Instructions: Have those who made the paper people bring them to the group. Have children gather in a large group with the blonds in the back. Ask everyone to hold up their people as a group. Greatly praise the colorful people of the "non-blonds" and make few remarks about the blonds' people. This class has been very hard for some of you so far. Would anyone like to tell me what you're thinking? (The blonds should have plenty to say. The other children may have noticed and may comment also. Give them time to air their grievances, which hopefully they will feel free to do. Don't comment; just listen.) These activities were to help you know what it feels and looks like when people are treated unfairly just because of the way they look. Have any of you heard the word prejudice? We are prejudiced when we think wrongly about others because of the way they look, where they live or what we've heard about them. We know that people with blond hair are just as valuable as people with red hair, brown hair or black hair. We're all part of this class and every person is important.

TRANSITION 2 MIN #1 LG GROUP TRANSITION 2 MIN #2 LG GROUP TRANSITION 2 MIN LESSON LG GROUP Goal: To illustrate through involvement that the wall of separation between Jews and Gentiles has been torn down through the cross. The Puppet Team is going to present a puppet show for us now about two people who hated each other for silly reasons. Drama -- "All for One & One for All" puppet show presented by Puppet Team Let s return to our classroom to read a story about some people who thought they were better than others. Story Sylvester the Jester Discussion following the story: Who did Sylvester decide were the strange ones? (The orange-spotted Bingles.) Who did he think were odd? (The curly-headed Bingles.) So would you say that he was prejudiced against these Bingles? Sylvester was left out because the King decided that stout and skinny Bingles were odd and unhealthy. But when the king and queen were in danger, who wanted to help them? (Sylvester did.) Why did he want to help them? (He realized he had been wrong.) He knew it was better to join together to save the king and queen. After all, the Bingles were all Bingles. They were all a part of the same family. Let's try something to learn about how the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians hated each other until they realized they were one group. Instructions: Divide class into 2 groups; one will be the Jews and one will be the Gentiles. Lay the 10-foot butcher paper in the middle of the room and have the children sit on either side of the paper. While one teacher tells the story, the other teachers will have various tasks to perform at the directed times in the script. Our lesson this week is from the book of Ephesians in the Bible. This book is a letter that Paul wrote to the people in a city called Ephesus. Paul told the Jews and the Gentiles that they were no longer two groups of people, but one group. Back in the days of the early church there were only two groups of people, the Jews and the Gentiles. The Jewish people were God s chosen people. God had told them that He would send a savior to pay for the sin of all people. Jesus, God s Son, was the promised Savior. Gentiles are all people who are not Jews. Even though the Gentiles were not in the chosen people, many of the Gentiles wanted to know and follow God. Many Gentiles believed that Jesus was the Savior and asked Him to forgive their sin. There was a problem in the early church between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians. When Jesus came to earth He told the Jewish people and the Gentile people that God loves everyone. But some of the people thought they were better and believed God loved them more than the other people. Just like George and Brenda grew up hating groups of people who lived in different parts of town, the Jews and Gentiles generally hated each other. When George and Brenda were put on the same soccer team, they were no longer Northsiders or Southsiders but Bobcats. In the same way, when the Jewish people and the Gentile people received Jesus forgiveness, they were no longer Jews and Gentiles but Christians. Paul told the Jewish and Gentile Christians that the dividing wall of hate had been torn down by Jesus. Paul said they could now love and accept each other because they were now Christians, all in the same family. Paul told the Gentiles they were not born Jewish and did not know God. They had been separated from the Jews. As a matter of fact, there was a real wall built in the temple that the Gentiles were not allowed to go past. (Hold up picture of the temple and show the wall.) Imagine a tall, thick, high wall that you can't see over or go through. The Gentiles were not allowed past this wall in the temple. This wall was not only a real wall in the temple that they could XENOS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP, 1-800-698-7884, www.xenos.org K/1 st Unit 6#2 Page 4

see, but an invisible wall in their hearts or attitudes. It was a wall of hate that kept them from loving each other. But when Jesus came to earth and died on the cross, He brought the Gentiles and Jews together and made them one family. He broke down that wall of hate by dying on the cross to pay for their sins. Our key verse is, "Jesus has united us by breaking down the wall of hatred that separated us (Ephesians 2:14). Let s let our walls of hatred drop! Jesus came to earth to end the hatred between the Jews and Gentiles, to bring them back to God and to make the two groups of people become one new family in Him. He was their peace peace with God and with each other. "Jesus has united us by breaking down the wall of hatred that separated us (Ephesians 2:14). Jesus broke this wall down when He died on the cross. So, because these Jewish and Gentile people had Jesus in their hearts, they were now all in the same family God's. Instructions: Have the children stand. Lay the 8' length of paper across the 10' to make a cross. All you Jews and Gentiles find a place to stand on the cross. The cross reminds us that Jesus' death can make two people groups one. You guys standing on the cross are a picture of the Jews and Gentiles standing together in God's family. Everyone sit down. GOOD NEWS Since Jesus has died for everyone, is everyone in God's family? (No.) What does the Bible tell us we need to do to become a member of God's family? (We need to ask Jesus to forgive our sin.) Why do we need to do that? (We all sin, but God is perfect. To be in God's family, we have to be forgiven for our sin. Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins. If we tell Him we want His punishment to pay for our sin, He will forgive us and we become God's child.) The Bible tells us that the only way we can love one another, especially when we are different, is to first ask Jesus to forgive us. TRANSITION 2 MIN #3 SM GROUPS But even though we are part of God's family it doesn't mean that we automatically love each other. Just because the Jews and Gentiles were made one family, it didn't mean they automatically loved each other. We make the same mistake that Sylvester and the people in the churches in Ephesus made. Because people are different from us we choose not to love them. God wants His children to learn to love each other and work together so the rest of the people in the world who don't know Jesus will know that only He can make two groups of people one group. "Jesus has united us by breaking down the wall of hatred that separated us (Ephesians 2:14). Jesus has made Christians one family and broken down the hate that separates us. (Pull out one of the Activity Station paper people chains.) Let's get into small groups to talk more about this and to pray. What are some reasons we keep ourselves separate from others who aren t like us? Why are we afraid of others who are different? Why do you think Paul called the separation a wall of hatred? Those are strong words, but we do hate others when we refuse to be their friend either because we think we re better than they are or are afraid to get to know them. How do you think it would different if we really believed that Jesus has made us one group with each other? Let's pray now that we will remember that, "Jesus has united us by breaking down the wall of hatred that separated us (Ephesians 2:14). Let's thank Jesus that He came to XENOS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP, 1-800-698-7884, www.xenos.org K/1 st Unit 6#2 Page 5

TRANSITION 2 MIN #4 LG GROUP earth to forgive our sins. Let's ask God to help us think about one thing we can do this week to love people from other groups. If you have never accepted God's gift of love and forgiveness for you, you can do that aloud or silently as we pray. Let's do an activity now to remind us that when we are in God's family we can work together even though we are different. Object Lesson Weaving a Wall Goal: Children will experience the unity that results from working with someone with different interests. Instructions: All those who like to read or be read to go to one side of the room. All those who like to make things go to the other side of the room. One teacher go to each group and help match children from one group with children of another group. The groups may not be equal in number, so you may have to match more from one group with one from another, e.g., 2 makers with 1 reader. Give instructions and materials to children. The one who likes to read or be read to will explain the instructions to the one who likes to make things. If necessary, a teacher can read the instructions. Debrief: Even though you were different, you were able to weave something by working together. This is what happens when people in God's family love each other and work together. XENOS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP, 1-800-698-7884, www.xenos.org K/1 st Unit 6#2 Page 6