In the Beginning... Growing into a Life of Faith LESSON 1: A Parade for Jesus Bible Summary Key Concept Jesus is the King. Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-40; John 12:12-19 The week before Jesus was to be crucified; Jesus and His disciples came near the town of Jerusalem. Before they arrived, Jesus told His disciples where to find a donkey so He could ride on it into town. After getting the donkey, the disciples put their coats on the donkey, and Jesus rode into Jerusalem. The people in town greeted Him by placing their coats on the road and by waving palm branches at Him. The people wanted to show Jesus how much they loved Him. Bible Verse Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Luke 19:38a Objectives KEY CONCEPT MOTIONS: Every time you say the key concept during the lesson, use these motions: Jesus [point up] is the King [place open hands on either side of head]. KNOW WHAT: Children will hear the true story of Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem. SO WHAT: Children will learn that Jesus is the King. NOW WHAT: Children will participate in an activity to show love to Jesus. Spiritual Formation Worship People Needed Teacher, Helper Supplies (Labeled items can be found in the Lesson 1 Visual folder on the Spring Quarter CDs.) CD player Music for singing Sound Effects CD #1 (optional) Backpack The Beginner s Bible Water bottle Snack Hiking map (Lesson 1 LG 1) Picture cards: Two disciples and a donkey (Lesson 1 LG 3) Farm mural (Lesson 1 LG 2) Jesus sitting on two coats on the donkey (Lesson 1 LG 4) People laying their coats on the road (Lesson 1 LG 5) People waving palm leaves as Jesus rides through (Lesson 1 LG 6) Donkey (Lesson 1 LG 7) Palm branch (Lesson 1 LG 8) Crown (Lesson 1 LG 9) 4-5 Child-sized chairs Crayons Bib overalls, hat, boots, and plaid shirt for Teacher (optional) For each child: Paper or real palm leaf (Lesson 1 LG 10) Key Concept sticker (Lesson 1 SG 11) Take-home coloring sheet (Lesson 1 SG 12 and Lesson 1 SG 13) Snack 1 Spring Quarter 2007 Willow Creek Community Church / Sunday School Teacher s Guidebook / Lesson 1
Notes: In Advance Recruit a Helper to operate the music CDs and the sound effects CD. Determine which songs you will use and be prepared to lead the children in singing. Song suggestions: Upbeat song for transition from Activity Stations to the Creative Bible Teaching The Happy Dance (Reach Up High CD) Jesus is the Best, Oh Yes (Touch the Sky CD) Determine whether or not you will use the sound effects CD. If you prefer not to use the sound effects, or to use only a few of them, look at each sound effect listed in the lesson and determine if you will play the sound effect from the CD, encourage the kids to make the sound effect along with you, or omit the sound effect, and then modify the lesson accordingly. Gather the supplies listed above and arrange your classroom as follows: Designate one area or corner of the room as your teaching area. Set up props that will be used during the lesson and consider covering them with a sheet or a large piece of fabric to keep them from curious kids during Activity Stations. Also consider placing a line of tape on the floor to help keep kids out of the teaching area. For the lessons in Unit 1, create Eddie the Engine in the teaching area by lining up the child-sized chairs one behind another. During the lesson, several of the kids can climb aboard and sit on the train chairs. See Unit Overview for further instructions. Each week of this unit, Eddie will take the kids on vacation to a new location. You may use the artwork provided with the lesson (Lesson 1 LG 2) to represent the farm, but you may wish to enlarge it or create your own simple farm mural on butcher paper using paint, markers, or crayons (make sure to include a chicken and a cow). Set the backpack on the floor by the train with the water, snack, map, and Bible scattered around it. Prepare the materials that will be given to each of the children. To prepare the stickers, print or copy the pages onto Avery label sheets #5294. Consider cutting the stickers apart for easier distribution. Print out the lesson and practice the teaching time. 2 Spring Quarter 2007 Willow Creek Community Church / Sunday School Teacher s Guidebook / Lesson 1
Teacher s Prep READ MATTHEW 21:1-11. is a wonderful time to rejoice and celebrate our Savior. Throughout this unit, children will hear that the Bible is true. At first glance, this may seem an odd direction to take with an unit. As the children grow older, however, they will face many people who will challenge the validity of Jesus death and resurrection. The children in your class will have to decide for themselves what is true and what is not true. By teaching them that the Bible is true in tandem with the story, you are building two strong foundations. First, you want children to hold in their hearts that every word in the Bible is historically true. Second, you want children to go to the Bible for answers to their questions about Jesus death and resurrection. Your job as a teacher is to commit yourself to prayer and careful study of the Bible. You are sharing truths children will be able to build upon for the rest of their lives! Activity Stations (20 MINUTES) Choose which Activity Stations you will use from the list provided in the Activity Stations folder. Eddie the Engine 3 Lesson 1 LG 1 1 2 Creative Bible Teaching (15 MINUTES) [Play upbeat music as children transition to the teaching area. Encourage kids to clap their hands along with you. Clap in a variety of styles like overhead, on your knees, on your belly, etc.] Hello, boys and girls! My name is, and I m so excited to see you today. And look over here! [Point to the train.] It s our friend Eddie the Engine. He s the fastest little train in all the land! Today is so special, because Eddie is going to take us on trip to a farm where we will hear a Bible story about Jesus. I m ready to go. I brought my backpack to carry all the things we ll need for our trip. [Place each item inside as you mention it.] I ve got my water, my snack, and my hiking map. Nobody likes to ride alone, so let s have a few friends join me on the train. [Invite two or three kids to come up and sit in the train.] Wait a minute, friends. You don t have your farming hat or boots for our trip. Quick! Put on your special farming boots. Hold up your foot and put on the boot. [Model for kids.] Thunk! Thunk! Hold up the other foot and put on the boot. Thunk! Thunk! I also have a straw hat to keep the sun off of my head. Pretend to put on your straw hat. [Put on hat and motion for the kids to put on a pretend hat.] Great! Looks like everyone s ready! Let s go! 3 Spring Quarter 2007 Willow Creek Community Church / Sunday School Teacher s Guidebook / Lesson 1
HELPER: [From back.] Wait! You re forgetting something. [Teacher stops, looks around, walks to Bible, still sitting by the backpack.] Uh, oh, friends. What did I forget? [Allow kids to respond.] That s right! [Hold up Bible and place in backpack.] We need our Bible because every time we go on a train trip, we get to hear a Bible story and learn about Jesus. All aboard! Don t forget to help us make the train sounds. [SFX 5: Train chugga chugga.] Here we go! Move your arms like the wheels of the train. And say, Chugga, chugga, choo, choo! [Model a train chugga chugga motion with your arms for the kids. Repeat several times.] We re almost there. Hold on! [Chugga chugga one more time and stop. Encourage the kids on the train chairs to rejoin the class. Take out the farm mural.] I love being at the farm. There are lots of animals here. What kind of animals do you see at the farm? Lesson 1 LG 2 [SFX 6: Chickens clucking.] Hey, what s that sound? [Kids respond.] Chickens! I see the chicken. [SFX 7: Cow mooing.] What s that? [Kids respond.] You re right. Cows! There are all kinds of animals at the farm. Good job, friends! Today at the farm we are going to hear a Bible story! Today is a great day! Let s stand and sing The Happy Dance! MUSIC Song Suggestion: The Happy Dance [Invite kids to sit on the count of three.] My favorite part about visiting the farm is hearing the Bible story. Let me get the Bible from the backpack! [Take out Bible.] I have a great story to tell you. It s a true story. That means it really happened. Today we are going to learn that Jesus [point up] is the King [place open hands on either side of head]. Can you say that with me? Jesus [point up] is the King [place open hands on either side of head]. Today we are going to hear a Bible story about how some people showed love to Jesus by having a parade for Him. Friends, [Helper] is going to help us by holding up some pictures that go with our story. [Helper stands where all the kids can see.] Click on your listening ears, friends. Click! Click! [Tug on each earlobe.] Now let s put on our special eyes. Shookum! Shookum! 4 Spring Quarter 2007 Willow Creek Community Church / Sunday School Teacher s Guidebook / Lesson 1
[Hold hands to eyes, one at a time, shaping glasses.] Let s hear the Bible story. It s about a parade, a parade for Jesus. [Open Bible.] Jesus was walking with His friends. They were going to visit a town. Let s pretend to walk. [Pat hands on knees.] We re walking, we re walking, we re walking to a town. And stop. Jesus told His two friends to go and find a donkey for Him to ride. See? [Helper holds up the picture of two disciples and a donkey.] When the friends found the donkey, they took it to Jesus. Jesus two friends took their coats off and put them on the donkey s back, so that it would be soft for Jesus. Look at that. [Helper holds up the picture of Jesus on a donkey.] Lesson 1 LG 3 Jesus sat on the donkey and started to ride into town. Many people heard that Jesus was coming. They knew Jesus was special. Jesus listened to them [place hands behind ears], helped them [reach out hands], and loved them [hug self]. The people wanted Jesus to be their king [place open hands on either side of head]. They wanted to show love to Jesus and tell Him how great He was. They had a parade for Jesus. First, they put their coats on the ground for King Jesus to walk on. [Helper holds up the picture of people laying coats on the ground.] Lesson 1 LG 4 See the people in the picture putting their coats on the ground? They were showing love to Jesus. Let s pretend to put our coats on the ground. [Helper and Teacher model for the kids.] Hold up your coat [raise hands high as if you re holding up a long coat] and lay it on the ground for Jesus. Whhhhhppppshhhhh. Do it again. Hold up your coat [raise hands high as if you re holding up a long coat] and lay it on the ground for Jesus. Whhhhhppppshhhhh. And one more time. Hold up your coat [raise hands high as if you re holding up a long coat] and lay it on the ground for Jesus. Whhhhhppppshhhhh. Lesson 1 LG 5 But the people didn t stop there. They wanted to show more love to Jesus. Remember, Jesus was the King [shape crown on head with hands]. They got some special palm leaves to wave at Jesus. They climbed up the tree. Let s pretend to climb a tree. [Model climbing for kids.] They pulled the palm leaves off. And in the parade, they waved their branches at Jesus. Look! [Helper holds up the picture of people waving palm leaves.] The people are showing love to Jesus. Let s wave the palm leaves like the people in the Bible story. [Teacher and Helper pass out one palm leaf to every child and each keep one for themselves.] Lesson 1 LG 6 5 Spring Quarter 2007 Willow Creek Community Church / Sunday School Teacher s Guidebook / Lesson 1
Wave your palm leaves in the air. Show Jesus that you love Him. [Model waving.] One, two, three...freeze! Hold your leaf on your tummy. The people loved Jesus so much they shouted, Hosanna! Hosanna! Say that with me. Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna! Now, I want you to stand up on the count of three. One, two, three. [Kids stand.] Let s all march in place and wave our branches [Model]. Now, let s all say together, Hosanna, Hosanna, Jesus is the King! Hosanna, Hosanna, Jesus is the King! Keep waving those branches! Let s have a parade for Jesus. [March around the room and shout as long as the music plays.] [SFX 9: Parade music.] Let s all give our branches back to [Helper]. [Wait for kids to do so.] Good job! Touch your head. Touch your tummy. Touch your knees, and sit down! The people loved Jesus so much. Wow! That was a great Bible story. We had fun, didn t we? Today we learned that Jesus [point up] is the King [place open hands on either side of head]. Say that with me. Jesus [point up] is the King [place open hands on either side of head]. Say it in your loud voice so everyone can hear you! Jesus [point up] is the King [place open hands on either side of head]. Great. Now let s say it in our quiet voices. Jesus [point up] is the King [place open hands on either side of head]. One way we can show love to Jesus is to tell Him we love Him and that He is the best. Let s all stand up and sing Jesus is the Best, Oh Yes. MUSIC Song Suggestion: Jesus is the Best, Oh Yes Life Application Activity (10 MINUTES) Great singing, everyone. On the count of three, we are going to sit down. Ready? One, two, three... sit down. Wow. Look at the time. It s time to go home to the station. Let s have a few more of you ride along with me. [Teacher and Helper invite two or three different kids to climb aboard.] Okay, Eddie! We re ready to go! [Glance at Eddie and wait a moment.] Uh, oh. I don t think Eddie remembers how to get home. Well, it s a good thing I ve got the map. [Pull out the map and study it.] See, Eddie? As we re riding back to the station, we need to look for these things we see on the map. [To kids.] We need to pass a donkey, a palm branch and a crown to get back. Let s get going! [SFX 12: Train chugga chugga.] 6 Spring Quarter 2007 Willow Creek Community Church / Sunday School Teacher s Guidebook / Lesson 1
Move your arms like the wheels on a train. And say, Chugga, chugga, choo, choo! [Model for kids.] [When the sound effect ends, the Helper holds up donkey picture. If it s too much for the Helper to run the sound effects and hold up the pictures, you can skip the train sound effects. Kids respond to the picture.] Hey, look at that! It s a donkey! Jesus rode into the town on the back of a donkey! What did we learn? Jesus [point up] is the King [place open hands on either side of head]. We re definitely going the right way! We already passed the donkey. Now we need to look for a palm branch. Let s keep going. [SFX 13: Train chugga chugga.] Lesson 1 LG 7 Move your arms like the wheels on a train. And say, Chugga, chugga, choo, choo! [Model for kids.] [When the sound effect ends, the Helper goes to a different spot and holds up palm branch picture. Kids respond.] What? You see something? Those look like the big leaves the people waved to show love to Jesus in our Bible story! What did we learn? Jesus [point up] is the King [place open hands on either side of head]. We re almost home! We passed the donkey and the palm branch. Tell me when you see the crown. Here we go. Lesson 1 LG 8 [SFX 14: Train chugga chugga.] Move your arms like the wheels on a train. And say, Chugga, chugga, choo, choo! [Model for kids.] [When the sound effect ends, the Helper moves to a third spot and holds up crown picture. Kids respond.] Lesson 1 LG 9 Hey, look at that! There s a crown! Who s the king? [Jesus.] Jesus [point up] is the King [place open hands on either side of head]! Jesus [point up] is the King [place open hands on either side of head]. Good job! That was a fun trip. I had a really good time! [Encourage kids on the train chairs to sit down with the class again.] It was great learning that Jesus is the King, and we can show love to Him. Let s show love to Jesus by praying and talking to Him. [Do Open them, close them. Children will say the finger play with you and repeat each line of the prayer after you.] 7 Spring Quarter 2007 Willow Creek Community Church / Sunday School Teacher s Guidebook / Lesson 1
Open them. [Open hands.] Close them. [Close hands.] Open them. [Open hands.] Close them. [Close hands.] Give a little clap. [Clap hands.] Open them. [Open hands.] Close them. [Close hands.] Open them. [Open hands.] Close them. [Close hands.] Fold them in your lap. [Fold hands in lap.] Dear Jesus, Thank You for the Bible story. You are the King, and we want to show love to You. Thank You for our snack. In Jesus Name, Amen. Jesus is the King. Snack and Coloring Activity (15 MINUTES) This is the time for you and the children to build community. A great way to let the kids know you care about them as individuals is to ask them questions about themselves. Lesson 1 SG 11 Jesus is the King. GIVE each child a snack to eat. GIVE each child a Key Concept sticker to put on their shirt while they are eating their snack. GIVE each child a coloring sheet to color while they are waiting to be picked up. ASK each child a question or two: Have you ever been to a parade? Do you have fun singing songs to Jesus? King (Matthew 21:1-11) Lesson 1 SG 12 8 Spring Quarter 2007 Willow Creek Community Church / Sunday School Teacher s Guidebook / Lesson 1