A Good Shepherd Story of Jeu I Am the Vine Adapted by: Brenda 1. Stobbe
lliutration by: Jennifer Schoenberg & Tiffany DeGraaf Activity Sheet, Laminated Card and Art Editing by: Tiffany DeGraaf Good Shepherd, Inc. 2000 Good Shepherd, a Regitered Trademark of Good Shepherd, Inc. All Right Reerved Printed in the U.S.A.
I AM THE VINE... MATERIALS -rnediurn wicker baket to hold -wooden Jeu figure -three wooden diciple figure -laminated "vine" card
D i c i p l e J e u 2
I AM THE VINE... JOHN 15: 1-7a ACTIONS After peaking, tand and get the tory baket from the helf and return to the circle. Allow 10-15 econd of i lence a you reverently touch one or more of the wooden figure to center yourelf and the children. Place the Jeu figure toward at the center of the torytelling area. Ret your hand lightly on the Jeu figure. Place the diciple next to Jeu. Place the vine card in front of Jeu. Cover one of the branche on the card. Indicate a branch on the card with fruit. Touch each of the diciple. Touch firt a diciple, then Jeu. Touch the pot on the card where a branch i connected to the vine. WORDS Watch carefully where I go to get thi tory o you will know where to find it if you chooe to make it your work today or another day. All of the word to thi tory are inide of me. If you will make ilence with me I will find all the word to thi tory of God' people. Jeu pent much of hi time on earth helping people undertand who he wa. When they wondered if Jeu wa really the Savior, the Meiah he told them about himelfin different way. One day Jeu aid to hi diciple, "I am the true vine. The father God i the gardener. The gardener cut away every branch that doen't give any fruit. But the branche that give fruit get trimmed clean o it will give even more fruit. Like you, who are all clean becaue of what I have aid to you." A hi diciple litened Jeu told them, "Stay connected to me and I will tay connected to you. Jut like a branch can't grow any fruit if it' not connected to the vine, you cannot produce fruit unle you are joined to me. 3
Put both hand together to indicate being joined. Touch one or more diciple. Speak adly and quietly. Move the diciple cloer to Jeu. I am the vine and you are the branch. Ifwe tay joined to each other we will be able to produce a lot of fruit." Jeu reminded the one who walked with him, "If you don't tay connected to me, you will be thrown away. You will be like dry branche that are picked up and burned in a fire. So tay joined to me and let my teaching become part of you. \VONDERING QUESTIONS If Jeu i the vine, I wonder what i the oil in which Jeu grow? I wonder what kind of fruit I am? I wonder if any of the branche are connected to each other'! Place all the wooden figure in the baket one at a time. After peaking, tand and carry the baket back to it helf. Return to the circle and it down. Dimi the children when everyone ha had a chance to chooe hi/her work. Watch carefully how I put thee material away o you will know how to ue them if you chooe to make thi tory your work today or another day. Watch carefully where I return thi tory o you will know where to find it if you chooe to make thi tory your work today or another day. I wonder what you will do for your work today? Let' begin. 4
I AM THE VINE... TEACHER HELPS We are uncertain about the etting for thi dicoure from Jeu to hi diciple. In the gopel the etting occur after they have left the upper room. It make no mention of where they might have been, although, the garden i ometime aumed a their detination (New Bible Commentary: Revied: p.959). The metaphor of a vine wa well known to Jewih people from the cripture where Irael wa often referred to a the vine or vineyard. Iaiah 5: 1-7 and Ezekiel 15: 1-6 are example. With uch a familiar metaphor it would have been eay for Jeu to ay to the diciple, "Unlike thoe reference, I am the TRUE vine. I'm the one God ent." The mot important teaching from thi tory i the obviou one: we need to tay connected to Jeu if we are to bear fruit Jeu i the ource of life. The only way to have life i to know the ource and have an open connection to that ource. Jeu alo poke ome hard word in thi text. The branche that do not bear fruit are cut off Gardener know the value to cutting away thoe branche, large or mall that no longer give anything to the tree. They become a dead weight, robbing the other branche and fruit of valuable energy. In our role a branche, it i our reponibility to tay connected to the ource of life and let our live reflect that life. The ending of the tory today remind u that we mut become almot a one. The branche cannot be een a eparate from the tree. The branche and the tree mut be one and then the fruit will grow large and ripe and be a ource of life for other. The wondering quetion begin by aking who or what might be the oil in which Jeu i planted. Some of your children will ay God i the oil, while other might ay it' love or caring that grow Jeu, the vine. The econd quetion wonder about what kind of fruit each of the children and adult might be. You may need to encourage the imagination of the children by guiding them with, "1 wonder if you are ripe fruit or till growing fruit? I wonder if you are weet fruit or our fruit?" They will oon catch on and find themelve a our apple or weet orange. They may ay they are young fruit and not ready to be picked or they may believe they have grown into ripe fruit that would give life to other. The final wondering quetion about the branche being connected to each other i to remind u that we are not only connected to God, but to each other. What happen on one branch can affect another. Liten to what your children ay and enjoy thi adventure. SUGGESTED DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR OLDER CHILDREN In our tory today we hear about pruning dead branche. What part of youi' life need to be cut away? Have you already pruned away ome part? Branche are known by their fruit. What i the bet fruit you have to give? What part of your life make a difference in youi' relationhip and your larger world? Jeu i called the vine, or ource of life. How do you tay connected to the ource of life in your buy life? If you don't, how can that change? 5