December 16, 2018 Third Sunday of Advent Zeph. 3:14 20 Isa. 12:2 6 Phil. 4:4 7 Luke 3:7 18 Goal for the Session Third- and fourth-graders will answer John the Baptist s challenge to repent with examples of selfless giving. n PREPARING FOR THE SESSION Focus on Luke 3:7 18 WHAT is important to know? From Exegetical Perspective, Mariam J. Kamell Ultimately, Luke summarizes John s message as good news (euangelizo ), thereby including it within the good news of Jesus life, death, and resurrection. Indeed, John s is not a separate message from that which Christ preached. Before one can receive the Spirit, before one can understand that Christ is Messiah, one must repent from self-sufficiency. Repentance is defined as humble obedience, the natural result of meeting with God and accepting the truth of the gospel. Consistently throughout Scripture, God called his people to repent, a call still resonating. John, as prophet to Jesus, teaches that repentance entails a life characterized by honesty and concern for those in need. WHERE is God in these words? From Theological Perspective, Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen The Advent passage reminds us of the strange figure of the Baptist, who took the advent of the Messiah so dead seriously that nothing less than complete metanoia with an ethical U-turn was required. At the same time, the Advent passage presents to us the desert preacher who tied the advent of the Messiah to the eschatological advent of God. To that context belongs the promise of the baptism with the Spirit and fire. It is going to be an eschatological Spirit baptism. Whatever else the Spirit baptism may mean, in this passage it is a judging and cleansing act. SO WHAT does this mean for our lives? From Pastoral Perspective, Wesley D. Avram John calls the good works that make hearers worthy of their baptism fruit borne from the tree of their lives. It is not enough lazily to claim oneself the fruit of Abraham (or of the Roman army). It is not enough to presume that because one is a child of the church, a good citizen, or a person of status one is secure before God. Don t confuse sitting on the limb with being either the tree or its fruit. For the tree might not be so strong or fruitful as one thinks. NOW WHAT is God s word calling us to do? From Homiletical Perspective, Kathy Beach-Verhey The preacher might ask fellow worshipers, Can anyone tell, by observing our lives, that we bear the mark of Christ and are living as his faithful disciples? We must, according to John, live the faith we claim to possess. Authentic Christian living always has that challenge. It s your life that must change, not your skin.... What counts is your life (vv. 8 9, The Message). While this may not be the challenge worshipers have come to hear in Advent worship, it is what John the Baptist offers. 1
FOCUS SCRIPTURE Luke 3:7 18 Focus on Your Teaching Third- and fourth-graders are eager to help people in need. Like John the Baptist, they are ready for action. However, in our consumer culture, it s easy for children to be distracted from giving to those in need at Christmas so many things tempt them to focus more on the gifts they want to receive. Your leadership can help learners reclaim an eagerness to give. Each act of selfless love recalled and enacted makes Christ s love visible in your church school and in the world. Jesus, my rock and my redeemer, lead me in the path of selfless giving this week and always. Amen. YOU WILL NEED blue or purple cloth 4 battery-powered votive candles Color Pack 2, 5, 27 figures from Color Pack 4 Bibles marker Singing the Feast, 2018 2019; CD player For Responding option 1: copies of Resource Sheet 1 made on card stock, scissors, fine-tipped markers, envelopes option 2: Resource Sheet 2, Internetconnected device option 3: Color Pack 6, basket, small stones of identical color and size, permanent markers n LEADING THE SESSION GATHERING Before the session, if you plan to use option 2 in Responding, read through Resource Sheet 2 (Spare Change in Action) and decide how you will proceed; plan a way to show the YouTube video to the group. Greet children by name as they arrive. If necessary, ask volunteers to arrange the blue or purple cloth in the center of your meeting space, place Color Pack 2 on top of the cloth, and put the votive candles on top of the candles in the picture. Work together to arrange the manger scene figures from Color Pack 4 prepared in the December 9 session near the wreath. Gather around the wreath. Ask the group to recall the names of the two candles lit on previous Sundays (Hope, Peace). Have a child light these candles. Explain that today is the third Sunday in Advent, and the candle is called Love. Jesus gave the world the gift of hope and a vision of peace. Jesus also taught us that loving God and loving our neighbors are the greatest things his followers can do. Light the Love candle. Offer this prayer: Jesus, be with us as we learn from the Bible today. Amen. Invite learners to tell stories about times they have given a gift. Ask: What is easy about giving a gift to someone? What is challenging about giving a gift? EXPLORING Remind learners that they met John the Baptist in last Sunday s Bible story. They heard John telling people to turn from doing wrong things and to live in God s ways. Today s focus scripture continues the story. Distribute Bibles and work together to locate Luke 3:7 18. Read aloud Luke 3:7 9 as children follow along in their Bibles. Invite them to demonstrate how John might have looked and sounded while speaking these words. 2
Luke 3:7 18 may be easier for children to understand if you read it from a contemporary version of the Bible such as The Message, the Contemporary English Version, or the Common English Bible. Explain that verse 9 is written in poetic language. Not bearing good fruit means not living in God s ways. Ask: P How do you think people who are like trees that do not bear good fruit might act? How might they treat other people? P Why do you think John says that people who do not bear good fruit need to repent, to change? Ask two volunteers to read aloud Luke 3:10 14, alternating verses. Encourage learners to use their Bibles to help in answering these questions: P What does John tell people who have plenty of food and clothing to do? P What does John tell tax collectors to do? P What does John tell soldiers to do? P What do you think John s words are telling Christians today to do? Read aloud Luke 3:15 18 as learners follow along. Ask: P Who is John talking about in verse 16? (Jesus) P Who might think that John the Baptist s words are good news? Review Luke 3:10 14, asking a volunteer to read these verses again. Challenge learners to state verse 11 in their own words. Discuss: P If you had two coats and gave one to a person who needed it, how many coats would you have? How many people would be warm because you gave a coat? Explain that this is an example of selfless giving. Selfless giving means giving something without expecting something in return. Selfless giving is one of the ways that we can love one another just as Jesus loves us. Show Color Pack 5. Work together to brainstorm more examples of selfless giving. Use a marker to write these examples on the signboards on Color Pack 5. Post the completed picture in your meeting space. Ask each child to name one way of selfless giving he or she will try in the week to come. EASY PREP RESPONDING Mark the options you will use. 1. Giving Certificates Children can give gifts of themselves to friends and family members. Distribute copies of Resource Sheet 1 (Giving Certificates). Brainstorm examples of selfless gifts of time and energy that children can give, such as doing specific household or yard-work chores, doing siblings chores, phoning an elderly relative regularly, reading to a younger child, or teaching a skill to someone. Have children cut out the certificates and complete them with fine-tipped markers. Invite each child to tell what he or she wrote on one of the certificates. Distribute envelopes for children to use to take the certificates home for Christmas giving. 3
2. Spare Change Offering, Part 1 This project offers a hands-on experience of selfless giving; it will be completed on December 23. See Resource Sheet 2 for instructions. Help children learn about Heifer International. Show the video about this organization at https://www.heifer.org/. Tell what you have learned about this organization. Explain how your group will take part in this project. Distribute the note to take home, and read it together. Answer any questions the children have. End with a prayer of encouragement: God of all creation, thank you for the opportunity to help other people. Give us willing hearts and strong hands as we gather spare change for our project. Amen. 3. Mark of Discipleship In this activity, children imagine a response to John s challenge. Pass around a basket of stones, and ask each child to take one and examine it carefully. Collect the stones and mix them up in the basket. Discuss together the challenge of telling the stones apart. Display Color Pack 6. Challenge learners to identify which stone is different from the others. Ask: If all the stones in the picture were mixed up in a basket, how could we tell which one had a cross on it? Recall that John the Baptist called on God s people to be different to stand out from the other stones. Ask: What are some ways a person would be able to tell you are a Christian? What might you do or say to show that you are Jesus follower, to mark you as a Christian? (Examples include going to church, reading the Bible, celebrating Jesus birth, praying, being kind and loving, inviting others to church school.) Have each child choose a rock from the basket and draw a cross on it, using a permanent marker. Have learners take these stones home as a reminder to live as a disciple of Jesus. CLOSING Gather around the Advent wreath. Recall that Emmanuel is one of the names for Jesus. It means God is with us. Sing the traditional Advent hymn O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Color Pack 27; track 13 on Singing the Feast, 2018 2019). Invite learners to tell what they liked best about the session today. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appears. Offer this prayer: God, thank you for the opportunity to serve you and our neighbors. Be with us as we practice selfless giving, so that many people will know your love. In Jesus name. Amen. As the children leave, offer a blessing to each one: (Name), may God bless you with a spirit of caring and kindness this week. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel! 4
December 16, 2018 Grades 3 4 Resource Sheet 1 Giving Certificates 2018 Westminster John Knox Press
December 16, 2018 Grades 3 4 Resource Sheet 2 Spare Change in Action Directions for the teacher: 1. Before you begin this project, check with your church leaders. You may want to substitute a giving project that your church already has in place for Advent. 2. Learn more about Heifer International. The animals that are purchased provide food such as eggs or milk. Some can be sheared, with the wool made into yarn for making clothes. When the animals have babies, the first family gives one of the young animals to another family. Eventually, one gift can help an entire village have food, clothes, and products to sell to earn a living. Learn more at www.heifer.org. Plan a way to show the video on the Web site to the children. 3. Make copies of the note below. Sign each one with your name and phone number. Send a note home with each child on December 16. 4. Plan to contact families on December 20 or 21 to remind them of the project. 5. Before December 23, gather your own spare change. Perhaps friends or coworkers might contribute, as well. Dear Families of Third- and Fourth-Graders, On December 23, our Sunday school class will be gathering a spare change offering to benefit Heifer International. You and your child can learn more about this organization, which helps families and communities around the world, at www.heifer.org. Perhaps you can give your child some chores to do to earn change for this offering. Or you might invite your child to look for spare change around your home. Please remind your child to bring the change to class next Sunday. The children will add up the offering and then choose an animal from Heifer International to buy for a family in need. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Sincerely, 2018 Westminster John Knox Press