53 Jesus Grows Up Luke 2:39-52 Most first- ad secod-graders ejoy makig ew frieds. They accept ad welcome people who are differet from themselves. They are at a very lovig ad agreeable stage of life. It also makes this the perfect time to itroduce them to the greatest fried they ll ever have Jesus. Use this lesso to help childre uderstad that Jesus is special because he s both God ad their lovig fried. LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started Somethig New Charades (about 10 mi.) Act out ew skills ad resposibilities. Jesus Is Missig (about 10 mi.) Play a game to lear about the Bible. Bible, CD player, blaket, 2 chairs Teacher Pack: CD, Bible Timelie, Jesus at the Temple poster (from the Big Bible Poster Pack) Use the blaket ad chairs to set up a divider that a child ca hide behid. Bible Poit Jesus is special. Key Verse I ad the Father are oe (Joh 10:30). Weavig Faith Ito Life Kids will kow why Jesus is special. Differet but the Same (about 5 mi.) Lear from Joh 10:30 that Jesus is God. Bible 2 Bible Exploratio Ad Jesus Grew (about 15 mi.) Make shadow portraits. cardboard, differet colors of costructio paper, 1 flashlight for every 4 kids, pecils, several pairs of scissors, glue, marker, 1 copy of the Perso Patter (at the ed of the lesso) Use the Perso Patter to cut 1 cardboard perso for every 4 kids. Jesus Family Album (about 10 mi.) Create ad discuss Jesus photo album. My Bible Fu, several pairs of scissors, stapler, costructio paper, markers, Family Album template (at the ed of the lesso) Tear out the pages from each My Bible Fu studet book. Use the Family Album template to cut 2 rectagles of costructio paper per child. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text.
54 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life 4 Lastig Impressios Jesus Is Special (about 10 mi.) Discuss what s special about Jesus, ad say a cheer. Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. My Bible Fu, markers My Bible Fu, pes CD player, 1 copy per child of the lyrics page (at the ed of the lesso) Teacher Pack: CD Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text.
55 Jesus Grows Up Luke 2:39-52 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS Joseph, Mary, ad Jesus Travel to Jerusalem for Passover Almost all we kow of Jesus childhood betwee ifacy ad age 12 is the summary i Luke 2:40. It appears that eve i light of his siless perfectio, he developed as a ormal child would. All Jewish males were supposed to worship at the Temple i Jerusalem durig Passover, but ot all did. Jewish wome were ot required to go at all. Accordig to Luke 2:41, Mary ad Joseph wet every year, demostratig their faithfuless ad commitmet to God. Their faithfuless idicates the type of home Jesus grew up i. This visit to Jerusalem was sigificat because Jesus was 12 years old. He had likely bee to the Temple to worship before, but ow he was to prepare to take his place i the religious commuity, which would happe whe he tured 13. The fact that Jesus was sittig might idicate that he was already viewed as a teacher. Luke 2:47 states that the teachers i the Temple were impressed by what he uderstood ad by the aswers he gave. This implies that they were askig him questios as well as aswerig his. The Jesus Coectio Jesus statemet to Mary ad Joseph that he had to be i his Father s house is a example to us that our relatioship with Jesus has to be our mai priority i our lives. This week focuses o the fact that Jesus is special. Though he developed like a ordiary child, his experiece i the Temple proves he was t ordiary. Pray about what makes Jesus special to you. You ca write your prayer here. Missig Child Moder readers of this accout may cosider Mary ad Joseph irresposible because they left Jerusalem without kowig that Jesus was with them. However, to uderstad this evet, we must uderstad the culture. Mary ad Joseph were likely travelig i a carava with lots of other family members. It would have bee easy to assume that Jesus was with cousis or other relatives for the day. Some scholars also suggest that adult me ad wome traveled separately i that culture ad both parets could have assumed Jesus was with the other. A Youg Teacher It is sigificat that Jesus was foud sittig amog the teachers. I that culture, a rabbi sat whe he taught.
56 GETTING STARTED Somethig New Charades What You ll Do Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Gather everyoe together. Say: All of you are learig to do ew thigs maybe ew chores at home, readig all by yourself, or ridig a bike. Thik of somethig ew that you ca do, but keep it a secret for ow. Pause. I a momet, you ll act out that ew thig ad we ll all guess. Let me show you what I mea. Act out somethig ew you re learig, or would like to lear, ad have the childre guess. Ivite childre to take turs actig out their ew skills, Charades style. O each child s tur, have him or her whisper the skill ito your ear so you ca help with actig ideas. Some skills childre might be learig are writig words or seteces, tyig their shoes, i-lie skatig, foldig laudry, or makig their beds. Say: You re all learig ew thigs because you re growig up. Jesus grew up, too. He leared ew thigs, just as you are learig ew thigs. Ivite childre to share some thigs they thik Jesus could ve leared whe he was growig up. Say: Jesus dad was a carpeter, ad Jesus became a carpeter, too. If time allows, let the childre act out thigs Jesus could ve leared whe he was growig up, such as sawig wood, feedig aimals, or gettig water. Talk With Kids Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What s special about Jesus learig some of the same thigs you ve leared? How might kowig that help you feel closer to Jesus? Say: Jesus was a child at oe time just like you. He leared to do lots of differet thigs as he grew up. Eve though he is God, he kows what it s like to lear thigs. JESUS IS SPECIAL because he s God ad he uderstads what it s like to grow up. Let s lear more about whe Jesus was a child.
57 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION Jesus Is Missig What You ll Do Ope your Bible to Luke 2:39-52, ad show kids the passage. Say: Today we get to lear about Jesus as a child, ad we ll see some of the reasos JESUS IS SPECIAL. Show the Bible Timelie, ad poit out the Jesus Grows Up picture. The say: Whe Jesus was 12 years old, he traveled with his family ad their frieds ad relatives to Jerusalem for a special feast. It was a log jourey. Let s walk to Jerusalem. We ll sig a sog as we travel. Play We re Walki, Part 1 (track 9 o the CD), ad ecourage kids to sig alog as you lead them i walkig oce aroud the room. Have them walk i a cluster, like a group of people travelig together. Say: After the feast, Mary ad Joseph headed home with their frieds ad relatives. There were a lot of people walkig back home from Jerusalem together. Mary ad Joseph thought Jesus was with them, but he was t. That ight, Mary ad Joseph oticed he was goe. Let s play a game to lear what happeed. We ll walk ad sig like we did before, but while you re sigig, I ll tap oe of you o the shoulder. The child I tap will preted to be Jesus. Whe we fiish the sog, all of you will close your eyes. The perso I tapped will hide behid this divider. The we ll try to figure out who s hidig. If you have a especially small class, use a toy figure or other item from your room to hide behid the divider. Jesus Is Missig Supplies Bible CD player blaket 2 chairs Teacher Pack CD: We re Walki, Part 1 (track 9); We re Walki, Part 2 (track 10) Bible Timelie Jesus at the Temple poster (from the Big Bible Poster Pack) Jesus Is Missig Easy Prep Use the blaket ad chairs to set up a divider that a child ca hide behid. Play We re Walki, Part 2 (track 10 o the CD), ad lead the childre aroud the room agai. Icospicuously tap oe child o the shoulder. Whe the childre fiish sigig, have them close their eyes. Give the child you tapped time to hide. Have the childre try to guess who s missig. After they guess, let kids look behid the divider. Play agai if time allows. The gather kids i a circle o the floor. Say: Jesus was t really missig. Mary ad Joseph wet back to Jerusalem ad foud Jesus i the Temple, or church. He was askig questios ad learig from the teachers i the Temple. Show the Jesus at the Temple poster, ad poit out Jesus i the picture. The say: Mary asked Jesus, Why did you treat us like this? We ve bee lookig all over for you! Jesus aswered her with a questio. He asked, Why were you searchig? Did t you kow I had to be i my Father s house? Whe Jesus said that, he was talkig about the Temple, or church.
58 If time allows, play the game agai. This time, preted to be Mary whe you look behid the divider. Ask the preted Jesus why he treated you that way. Have the child respod as Jesus did. Say: Jesus was t tryig to hide. Whe his parets did fid him, he wet home with them as they told him to. Talk With Kids Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: Explai who you relate to most i this Bible passage Jesus or his parets. Tell about a time you or someoe you kow was lost. What makes Jesus situatio special or uique? Say: Jesus was a youg boy whe he wet to the Temple without his parets. Mary ad Joseph were worried about their so. They were scared that he was lost or i some kid of trouble. Beig separated from our parets ca be very scary. But Jesus was t lost, ad he was t scared. He was at the Temple learig. Eve though he was a boy, he is also God. Our Key Verse tells us more about why JESUS IS SPECIAL. Differet but the Same Supplies Bible Differet but the Same What You ll Do Ope your Bible to Joh 10:30, ad show kids the passage. Say: Today s Key Verse is from Joh 10:30, ad it s somethig Jesus said whe he was all grow up. He said, I ad the Father are oe. Have kids repeat the verse with you several times. Say: Thik about some thigs that have two parts but they re oe object. For example, a orage is oe object, but it has the peel ad the part you eat i the middle. A bicycle has a body or frame, ad it has wheels that make it go. A book has a cover ad pages i the middle. Ivite several childre to share their ideas. Say: Jesus was talkig about God whe he talked about his Father. So Jesus was sayig i this verse, God ad I are the same. That s what is so special about Jesus: Jesus is God! God wated people to be able to uderstad him ad love him, so God came to earth as a little baby amed Jesus. Jesus grew, just as a regular little boy would grow, but he was really God all the time. The whe he got older, Jesus preached to all the people so they could uderstad God, ad he told them he ad God are really oe perso. Have the childre repeat the Key Verse with you oce more. Talk With Kids Lead childre i this discussio.
59 Ask: What do you thik about Jesus ad God beig oe? Why is Jesus special to you? Say: JESUS IS SPECIAL. He was huma ad he s God. He came to earth so we could kow him better like a good fried ad to be a sacrifice for our sis. But before he died o the cross as a sacrifice, he spet some time growig up. Let s lear more about Jesus whe he was a boy. Ad Jesus Grew What You ll Do Put kids i groups of four. Give each group a flashlight, a cardboard patter, a pecil, ad sheets of differet colors of costructio paper. Say: The Bible tells us that Jesus grew up just like you re growig up, but Jesus is God ad he was God while he was growig up. That s why JESUS IS SPECIAL. Let s make pictures to remid us that Jesus, who is God, grew up. Ad Jesus Grew Supplies cardboard differet colors of costructio paper 1 flashlight for every 4 kids pecils several pairs of scissors glue marker 1 copy of the Perso Patter (at the ed of the lesso) Ad Jesus Grew Easy Prep Use the Perso Patter to cut 1 cardboard perso for every 4 kids. Use oe group to demostrate the roles. Have oe child i the group hold the flashlight about 1 foot from a wall. Have aother child hold the cardboard patter about 4 iches from the wall, betwee the wall ad the flashlight. Have a third member of the group hold a piece of costructio paper agaist the wall so the patter s shadow falls o it. Have the fourth child trace the outlie of the shadow o the costructio paper. Oce childre uderstad the process, dim the lights ad have each group perform the activity. Say: We just made represetatios of Jesus as a child. Now let s make represetatios of Jesus as a adult. Have the child holdig the patter move it a few iches closer to the flashlight. This will make the shadow bigger. Have each group repeat the same process with the larger shadow.
60 Say: We eed a child Jesus ad a adult Jesus for each perso i your group. Have the childre work together to trace oe small figure ad oe large figure for each child i their groups. After groups are doe, let kids cut out their tracigs. The have each child glue the larger tracig to a sheet of costructio paper. Fially, each child will glue the smaller tracig o top of the larger oe. After childre fiish gluig, write Jesus Grew Up! o each child s paper. Say: Look at your pictures. See how the people patters go from little to big? That s how it was with Jesus. God became baby Jesus, ad the he grew up just like you! Ad the he grew ito a ma. But JESUS IS SPECIAL there s somethig about him that s differet from every other ma. Jesus is God! Let s use our My Bible Fu pages ow to show Jesus growig up. Jesus Family Album Supplies My Bible Fu several pairs of scissors stapler costructio paper markers Family Album template (at the ed of this lesso) Jesus Family Album Easy Prep Tear out the Lesso 5 pages from each My Bible Fu studet book. Use the Family Album template to cut 2 rectagles of costructio paper per child. Jesus Family Album What You ll Do Give each child two of the costructio paper rectagles ad a My Bible Fu page. Poit out the Jesus Family Album sectio. Say: Today we re learig why JESUS IS SPECIAL because he s God ad he came to earth as a baby. The he grew up! Let s make a family album to remid us that Jesus grew up just like we did. Have childre cut out the four pictures of Jesus. Help kids stack the pictures i order with picture 1 o top. The have kids place costructio paper rectagles o the top ad bottom of their stacks as covers. Help kids staple the pictures together alog the left-had margi to make a book. The let childre use markers to decorate their covers. Say: These are special photo albums. The photos are t real, but let s preted they re pictures of Jesus growig up. Ivite a child to stad up ad show the first picture of his or her album while the other childre follow alog i their ow family albums. Say: Jesus was God, eve whe he was a baby! Have the childre repeat after you. Have aother child show the secod picture. Say: Jesus was God, eve whe he was a toddler! Have the childre repeat after you. Have aother child show the third picture. Say: Jesus was God, eve whe he was your age! Have the childre repeat after you. Have aother child show the fourth picture.
61 Say: Jesus was God, eve whe he wet to the Temple! He has always bee God, ad he will always be God. That s what he meat whe he said, I ad the Father are oe (Joh 10:30). Our Key Verse says JESUS IS SPECIAL because he s God. Have the childre repeat the Key Verse with you agai. 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Jesus Is Special What You ll Do Say: Today we leared that Jesus grew up, just like you re growig. But there s somethig special about Jesus he s God. Jesus loves us so much that he was willig to come to earth as a perso so we could uderstad what God is like. Ad because Jesus is God, he ca be with us all the time. Jesus Is Special Supplies My Bible Fu markers Direct kids attetio to the Jesus Is With Me activity o their My Bible Fu pages. Say: Thik of times you re glad Jesus is with you. The draw pictures of those times i the boxes. Kids might draw pictures of times they re afraid, such as durig storms or at bedtime. Or they might draw pictures of times they re happy, such as at Christmas or durig church camp. Whe kids fiish drawig, have them form pairs. Have parters explai their pictures to each other, ad the ivite pairs to share their pictures with the rest of the group. Gather everyoe i a circle. Say: JESUS IS SPECIAL because he s God! Let s cheer for God! Whe I say, Jesus, we love you, you say, We kow you re God! Whe I say, We kow you re God, you say, Jesus, we love you! Lead the cheer three times, softly at first ad the gradually gettig louder. Fiish the cheer by havig the childre jump up ad shout, Yay, God! Say: Today we ve leared that Jesus grew as you are growig but Jesus was ad is God. That s why he said, I ad the Father are oe. JESUS IS SPECIAL. We ca be part of his family whe we believe i him, ad we ca be his fried!
62 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges Supplies My Bible Fu pes Daily Challeges What You ll Do Say: Let s thik about how JESUS IS SPECIAL. Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o their My Bible Fu pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Teach a fried the Key Verse, ad tell him or her that Jesus is special because he s God ad he ca be our fried. Show Jesus you thik he s special by sigig a sog of praise to him. Jesus wet to the Temple to lear. This week, try to lear oe ew thig about Jesus or God each day. Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Ask: What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Say: Jesus is God, but he came to earth as a baby ad he grew up, just as you are all growig up. Let s remember that JESUS IS SPECIAL as we follow through o our Daily Challeges. Weavig Fath at Home Supplies CD player 1 copy per child of the lyrics page (at the ed of the lesso) Teacher Pack CD: Kig Jesus Is All (track 11) Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about how Jesus is special. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their My Bible Fu pages with their families. Talk to your Director about emailig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Take a couple of miutes to pray with your kids, thakig Jesus for comig to earth as a baby ad for growig up to sacrifice his life o the cross. Say: If you believe i Jesus, sig with me. Had out the lyrics page. The play Kig Jesus Is All (track 11 o the CD). Lead childre i sigig.
63 yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Kig Jesus is all, (Kig Jesus is all) My all i all. (my all i all) Ad I kow that he ll aswer (ad I kow that he ll aswer) Me whe I call. (me whe I call) Walkig by my side, (walkig by my side) I m satisfied. (I m satisfied) Kig Jesus is all, (Kig Jesus is all) My all i all. (my all i all) (Repeat from the begiig.) yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Pray: Dear God, we thak you for comig to earth as a baby, for growig up, ad for showig us the way to live. We believe i you, ad we love you, too. I Jesus ame, ame.
64 Perso Patter! OK TO COPY
65 Family Album! OK TO COPY
66 Lyrics Kig Jesus Is All yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Kig Jesus is all, (Kig Jesus is all) My all i all. (my all i all) Ad I kow that he ll aswer (ad I kow that he ll aswer) Me whe I call. (me whe I call) Walkig by my side, (walkig by my side) I m satisfied. (I m satisfied) Kig Jesus is all, (Kig Jesus is all) My all i all. (my all i all) (Repeat from the begiig.) yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.! OK TO COPY