Gather, Grow, & Go! Gloria Dei s Mission and Vision: What does this mean?

Gather, Grow, & Go! Gloria Dei s Mission and Vision: What does this mean? : Moved by the Spirit Copyright 2004 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Olympia, WA Permission to copy materials granted for non-commercial use provided credit is given and all cited references remain with this material. Written by Justin Snider and Beth Tobin for Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 1515 Harrison Ave. NW, Olympia, WA 98502, 2004. Updated by Beth Tobin for Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Olympia, WA, 2015. Mission Statement: We are called by God to share the Love of Jesus Christ. Vision Statement: A community where all can Gather in Worship and Fellowship, Grow in Christ, and Go in Witness and Service. Bible Study Text: Acts 2:42-47 (NIV) 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Goals and Objectives: Students will develop an awareness of our church Mission and Vision Statement in the following ways: Students will compare the activities of the early church to our activities today. Students will be able to recall examples of how and why we Gather as God s people, how and why we Grow in Christ, and ways we can Go in witness and service. Students will memorize our Mission and Vision Statement catch words: Gather, Grow, and Go. Students will be able to locate the book of Acts in the Bible. Students will learn that the Book of Acts is: In the New Testament About Early Christian Life Takes place following Jesus Ascension and Pentecost Students will play games from the early 1900s and today as they learn about each other, the Early Christian Church, and the history of Gloria Dei. 1

Supplies: Ball Historical Photos: First Members in Homes, First Building, Second Building, Brick Sanctuary, Office/Classroom Addition Washable Markers Four sheets of Chart Paper - Prepped (See Below.) Bibles For Week Two Mission Statement on cards, written one word per card. Advanced Preparation: Read and be familiar with the Bible text, our Mission and Vision Statements, and how the two are related. Watch the Video Bible study: www.gloriadeikids.org Pray for the children you will work with each week. Prepare Chart Paper as follows: Sheet One: Title it The Early Christian Church and list: Teaching, Fellowship, Sharing, Breaking Bread, Gave To Those In Need, Prayer, Praising God, and Growing In Number. Sheets Two - Four are for the Introduction to the lesson: In small print, in the top right hand corner label each chart with the date of the workshop and the grade level of students who will attend. Title Chart One: Church; Title Chart Two: Questions about Church; and Title Chart Three: What We Learned about Church. For the Remaining Weeks: Shepherds will bring the chart paper to the class. Set it up. Sunday school begins at 10:00. Workshop time is from 10:00 10:40 a.m. This workshop meets in the Choir Room. Closing is in the Choir Room from 10:45 10:55. Arrive early and wear your name badge so that when students arrive you are ready to greet them warmly and let them know you are glad to see them. Be aware that students from other workshops will start arriving for Closing Time around 10:45. 10:00 a.m. Lesson Opener Welcome students as they arrive. Shepherds will help everyone to get a name tag. This is the first Rotation of the fall so it is very important that students get to know each other, their shepherd, and you! 2

Gather students in a circle and toss a ball to one of them as you say his or her name. That student then tosses the ball to another student as they say his or her name. The group repeats all names in order. Keep going until all students have been named. Then start back at the beginning and see if students can toss the ball to each student - again, in the same order. Time them. How fast can they do it without dropping the ball? After introductions, pray: Dear Lord, Thank you for this time of fellowship, fun, and learning together. Help us to learn more about our church, each other, and the importance of gathering with others in our community of faith. Amen. 10:10 Generate Flip Chart (Week One) Say: Games are a fun way to build community and to get to know other people. Our church is a faith community. This year Gloria Dei is 110 years old, but it all started long before that. Ask: What is church? Have your helper or shepherd write down student responses on Chart One. Other questions might be: What is the purpose of church? What do people do at church? What do you do at church? Or What does your family do at church? And Why is church important? Thank the children for their responses. Say: You know a lot about church! What questions do you have about church? Write responses on Chart Two. Again, thank the children for their responses. Say: You ve asked some great questions here. Our third chart is where we will write down things we learn over the next several weeks. Today we are going to learn about the purpose of our church and worship. 10:15 Bible Study Say: The book of Acts was written after Jesus was born. Will we find it in the Old or the New Testament? (New) The Bible is made up of books. We are going to open the Bibles to the book of Acts. Let s say the books of the NT to help us remember where Acts is found: Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and John, Acts! Great! [Help students as needed.] Now find chapter two, verse 42. Remember the chapter numbers are the large numbers. Read the passage from the Bible v.42-47. The book of Acts was written soon after Jesus rose up to heaven and the flames of Pentecost came from the Holy Spirit so that all of the disciples could tell everyone about God! This period of time is called The Early Christian Church and helps us know how churches began. 3

Ask: What are some things the Bibles says that these Early Christians did? (Accept answers.) Share The Early Christian Church chart and compare responses. How did we do as a group? Did we get them all? Teaching, Fellowship, Sharing, Breaking Bread, Gave To Those In Need, Prayer, Praising God, and Growing In Number. Ask: Which, if any, of these things does our church do today? [Students could take turns circling or marking each thing that we do. Keep an eye on the time.] 10:20 From the Early Church to Today: Say: These are things Jesus taught people to do so that they would grow stronger in their faith and others might get to know God too. Jesus knew that sometimes it would be hard to do these things and that being part of a community would help them - and us. Jesus wants us to do these same things today. Our church has a mission statement. A statement that helps us know what to do. This statement came from Jesus teaching, We are called by God to share the Love of Jesus Christ. Look over the chart from the Early Church. Point to some of the words as you help make the connection between Jesus teaching on our Mission statement. Say: Say the Mission Statement with me: We are called by God to share the Love of Jesus Christ. People at Gloria Dei came up with three words that describe how we share the Love of Jesus Christ : Gather, Grow, and Go! 10:22 Community Fellowship Then and Now Say: Let s look at how we share the Love of Jesus Christ through Gathering for fellowship. Ask: Where did people gather together at the time of the Early Church in Acts? (Homes) Say: Gloria Dei started out in the same way. Olympia was a small town with about 5,000 people in 1905. People wanted a church community so they started gathering in homes. Show a photo of first group of people. Say: More and more people came. Ask: What do you think they did? (saved money and built a church building that could hold more people) Show a photo of the church downtown. 4

Ask: More and more people came. What do you suppose the people did? (saved money and built another building) This time they moved sites. Show a photo of the 1950 s building. Say: Still more people came. That s when the brick sanctuary was built. Show photo, and more people came. And we built the new classroom spaces. Guess what? More people are coming. Ask: What do you think we should do? Please write down their responses. 10:25 10:35 Games 1905 Style to Now Many families in 1905 spent their evenings together playing games. Snakes and ladders was already a popular board game; Monopoly was invented in 1903 and a version of the game "Life" had just been invented. Many outdoor games, such as baseball, had companion board games for indoor use. Chess and checkers were popular with both young and old players. Jigsaw puzzles were often made from old maps stuck to cardboard. Card games and guessing games were popular in 1905. Children would play simple games such as "Old Maid" and "Snap." A precursor to "20 Questions" was "What Am I Thinking Of" and tag, "Hide and Seek," charades and "Musical Chairs" were active games for indoor play. With no television or radio, children were adept at making up their own parlor games and activities. Girls would also play with dolls -- china for those with money, rag or paper dolls for the rest. Street games such as hopscotch and skipping were mainly girls games. Both sexes played with wooden or metal hoops, which they propelled with hooked poles, but only boys could ride bicycles. Street games of baseball and touch football were also popular with boys. Girls were discouraged from such rough and dirty play, and were expected to spend much of their day inside with their mothers learning how to cook and clean. Rich and Poor The divisions between rich and poor were much wider than today, and many poor children would have had little time for play. They were expected to work on the farm or in factories. The children of the rising middle class had the most freedom to play street games. Upper-class children played inside and had governesses and scheduled activities. When permitted, they could play games like croquet and cricket on their own estates, but had little interaction with children outside their immediate family or set. Come with Me Children in the early 1900s got plenty of exercise as many of their games involved playing outdoors. Children who lived in the countryside would fish and swim, while 5

groups of kids would gather to play tag, leapfrog, hopscotch and games like "Come With Me." To play, the children formed a circle. The person who was "it" ran around the circle. He/she touched someone on the back and said: "Come with me!" The two then ran in opposite directions around the circle. When they met, they clasped hands, swung their arms in the air once and raced for the vacant space. The child who got there first stayed put while the other became it." Let s try it out! 10:35 Close by having students share what they learned about church and fellowship today. Write down responses on Chart Three. Shepherds keep the charts for the following week. If there is time, play the Introductory Name game tossing the ball again. Can they remember who stood where and pass the ball in the same order again? Have fun! Recall how the early Christian church grew through fellowship, and that this fellowship was people meeting in each other s homes and sharing a meal together and praying a prayer of thanks before each meal. Early Christians also shared fellowship by being in worship together. What does Gathering mean to you? How is this related to Fellowship? In what ways do you experience Fellowship at church? Stress the importance of Christian fellowship as supportive of our faith and our learning more (growing) about Christ in community. When we are learning and growing together it s easier than when we are alone. Christians provide help and comfort in times of need and celebrate with us good news! 10:40 Shepherds lead students to Closing in the Choir Room. (Weeks 2-4 only.) Week 1, we are assuming will go longer, or start late and need more time. Use this time to help students build community and get to know each other. The follow pages contain tips for weeks 2-4. WEEK TWO: Follow the lesson plan Week One. Use these tips for reviewing and adding information to what students are learning. 6

10:10 (Week Two) Following Introductions and the prayer Display the charts that this group of students created last week. If the group can read, have them read what they wrote. If not, acknowledge their learning by reading the charts for them and praising them for what they knew and the questions they asked. Check to see if some of their questions had been answered, and review what they learned the previous week. Add any additional information that is appropriate. 10:15 Review of Bible Study Ask, Where do we find Acts in the Bible? Turn to Acts 2:42-47. When was the book of Acts written? (The book of Acts was written soon after Jesus rose up to heaven and the flames of Pentecost came from the Holy Spirit so that all of the disciples could tell everyone about God! This period of time is called The Early Christian Church and helps us know how churches began.) Say: Last week we learned about some of Jesus teachings and and what the people of the Early Christian church did. What are some things you remember these people in the Early Church did? Prompt as necessary display chart with this list: Teaching, Fellowship, Sharing, Breaking Bread, Gave To Those In Need, Prayer, Praising God, And Growing In Number. Congratulate students on remembering so well. 10:20 From the Early Church to Today: Let s review our Mission Statement. Have someone read the whole thing. Have the group recall the three catch words: Gather, Grow, and Go. Say: Today we re going to focus on the Gathering part of our ministry here. Go back to Week One: Community Fellowship Then and Now WEEKS THREE and FOUR: Follow the lesson plan for Week One. Use these tips for reviewing and adding information to what students are learning. 10:10 (Weeks Three and Four) Following the Introductions and prayer Display the charts that this new group of students worked on the last two weeks. If the group can read, have them read what they wrote. If not, acknowledge their learning by reading the charts for them and praising them for what they knew and the questions they asked. Check to see if some of their questions had been answered, and review what they learned the previous week. Add any additional information they would like added that is appropriate. 7

10:15 Bible Study Say: What is the book of Acts about? (Early Christian Church) Is it in the Old or the New Testament? (New) Find Acts chapter two, verse 42. What is this text talking about? (The people living and learning the way Jesus taught them too.) When were these things taking place? (Soon after Jesus rose up to heaven and the flames of Pentecost came from the Holy Spirit so that all of the disciples could tell everyone about God!) What happened because these people were living and learning the way Jesus taught them to? (They grew in numbers.) Will we grow in numbers too if we at live and learn in these ways? Review the Early Church Chart: For several weeks now we ve been looking at this list of Jesus teachings and the things the people in the Early Christian Church did. What do you think is most important? Why? Prompt as necessary display chart with this list: Teaching, Fellowship, Sharing, Breaking Bread, Gave To Those In Need, Prayer, Praising God, And Growing In Number. These are things Jesus taught people to do so that they would grow stronger in their faith and others might get to know Jesus too. Jesus wants us to do these same things today. Ask: Why do you think being part of a church community would make it easier to do these things? Be sure to write down answers. 10:20 From the Early Church to Today: Ask: What do you remember about what a mission statement is? (A statement that helps us know what to do.) Our mission statement came from Jesus teaching. How are you doing with memorizing our Mission Statement? Let s say it together. (For the classes that can read and if you have extra time) Say: I ve got the Mission Statement written out one word at a time on these cards. Work with friends to put our Mission Statement in the correct order. Have kids work together to arrange the words in the correct order. Say: Whenever you are ready you can say the Mission Statement for your shepherd or for me and we ll sign off on your Memory Work Chart. Say: There are three words that describe how we do this at Gloria Dei who remembers what they are? (Gather, Grow, and Go! ) Awesome! Go back to Week One: Community Fellowship Then and Now 8