The School of the Prophets 2 Kings 4:38-44, 6:1-7 August 12, 2012 ON OUR PLATE TODAY Kids will understand: Three miracles that God performed through Elisha. That Elisha s students faith increased by witnessing the miracles. That our faith can be strengthened when we see how God still performs miracles today. Using a school classroom setting will be a fun way to approach the lesson today, especially since the children are probably getting ready to go back to school very soon. ACTIVITY - MATH CLASS A prearranged volunteer will wait outside the classroom to deliver the blocks after a secret signal is given from the leader. The entire lesson today will be taught in a school setting, since the sons of the prophets in today s Bible account were taught about God by the prophet Elisha. The leader will dress up as a school teacher, wearing glasses and holding a pointer stick. The lesson area should be set up like a classroom with a white board at the front. The leader will be seated behind a desk in the front of the room, with an apple, a hand bell, and a stack papers on the desk. If your church has access to enough tables, seat the children in chairs at tables. In a back corner, create a reading area by placing a large rug or carpet squares near the teacher s reading chair. The teacher will call kids church into session by ringing the bell, welcoming the children to school, and taking attendance. white board dry erase marker basket of apples teacher costume classroom decorations Announce that the students will be studying math first. Set a basket of 7 apples on the teacher s desk that the students will be using during this activity. Write 3 very easy math facts on the white board (1+2=, 3+4=, and 3+3=). Call on a student to complete the first problem on the board, and then the student must prove that his answer is correct by adding 1 apple plus 2 apples. The other two math facts will be completed in the same manner. Copyright 2010 KidzMatter Ministries Inc. All Rights Reserved. 1 www.kidzmatter.com
Well done, students! By using the apples, you proved that 1 plus 2 equals 3! We are going to move over to the reading rug for a story about a teacher named Elisha. Elisha led a class of 100 students. In our reading lesson today, Elisha proved to his students God s mighty power! BIBLE ACCOUNT - READING CLASS The children will gather around the teacher s reading chair to hear the Bible account. One child will be needed to hold a visual for each miracle. For the first miracle, a child will stand next to the teacher, put a gourd in the pot and pretend to stir a pot of stew. During the reading of the second miracle, a child will hold a plate of bread and 2 apples. During the reading of the last miracle, a child will hold the toy ax or hammer. The teacher will read the following accounts of the three miracles from the Message Bible by Eugene H. Peterson. During the reading, the teacher will use the word flour instead of the word meal in 2 Kings 4:41. The teacher will set up the reading account by introducing Elisha. Elisha was a prophet of God, and he was a teacher to the sons of the prophets. God taught the young prophets by letting them watch the miracles that Elijah was part of. Message Bible cooking pot wooden spoon gourd 20 pieces of bread 2 apples plate toy ax or hammer Miracle #1 2 Kings 4:38-41, Elisha went back down to Gilgal. There was a famine there. While he was consulting with the guild of prophets, he told his servant, Put a large pot on the fire and cook up some stew for the prophets. One of the men went out into the field to get some herbs; he came across a wild vine and picked gourds from it, filling his gunnysack. He brought them back, sliced them up, and put them in the stew, even though no one knew what kind of plant it was. The stew was then served up for the men to eat. They started to eat and then exclaimed, Death in the pot, O man of God! Death in the pot! Nobody could eat it. Elisha ordered, Get me some flour. Then he sprinkled it into the stew pot. Now serve it up to the men, he said. They ate it, and it was just fine nothing wrong with that stew! Miracle #2 2 Kings 4:42-44, One day a man arrived from Baal Shalishah. He brought the man of God twenty loaves of fresh baked bread from the early harvest, along with a few apples from the orchard. Elisha said, Pass it around to the people to eat. His servant said, For a hundred men? There s not nearly enough! Elisha said, Just go ahead and do it. GOD says there s plenty. And sure enough, there was. He passed around what he had. They not only ate, but had leftovers. Miracle #3 2 Kings 6:1-7, One day the guild of prophets came to Elisha and said, You can see that this place where we re living under your leadership is getting cramped we have no elbow room. Give us permission to go down to the Jordan where each of us will get a log. We ll build a roomier place. Elisha said, Go ahead. 2 www.kidzmatter.com
One of them then said, Please! Come along with us! He said, Certainly. He went with them. They came to the Jordan and started chopping down trees. As one of them was felling a timber, his axe head flew off and sank in the river. Oh no, master! he cried out. And it was borrowed! The Holy Man said, Where did it sink? The man showed him the place. He cut off a branch and tossed it at the spot. The axe head floated up. Grab it, he said. The man reached out and took it. ACTIVITY - DRAMA CLASS Write these scriptures of the Bible story on the whiteboard where everyone can see: 2 Kings 4:38-41 2 Kings 4:42-44 2 Kings 6:1-7 The kids should be in groups of 5-7. Assign each group one of these scriptures that depict one of the miracles. It s okay that groups have the same scripture. The groups will act out the miracle they have been given. After each miracle is acted out, ask the group to answer a few questions. How do you think you would ve felt if you had been one of the young prophets watching this? How would this miracle have affected your faith in God? What s the difference between this miracle and magic? What was the purpose of God doing this miracle? GAME - RECESS Beforehand, untwist wire hangers to make some large croquet wickets. These wickets need to be big enough for a playground ball (or soccer ball) to go through easily. Each team will need 3 wickets. This is an outside game, so you ll need a large open area. Write 1, 2, and 3 on separate small pieces of paper and label the wickets for each team. Stick each team s 3 wickets in the ground in a fairly straight line, leaving as much space between them as possible. The kids will get in teams of any size that you prefer. The smaller the teams, the more each person will get to play. At the signal, the first person will kick the ball until he gets it to go through his team s first wicket. Before going on, he has to identify the first miracle the student prophets saw God do through Elisha. (Kept the stew from being poisonous.) Once they describe that in a phrase or sentence, they kick the ball to the second wicket. When it goes through, they describe the second miracle. (Made a little bread feed 100 men.) Then, they kick it through the third wicket where they describe the third miracle. (Raised the ax head to the surface of the water.) As soon as the third miracle is described, the player grabs the ball and runs it back to the next member of his team. Continue doing this as long as time allows. playground balls wire hangers tape small pieces of paper marker 3 www.kidzmatter.com
ACTIVITY - TEST TIME Beforehand, run a copy of the 1, 2, 3 Cards (from the back of the lesson) for each child. Okay, boys and girls, clear your desks! It s time to take a test! We re having a surprise quiz to see how well you listened to the Bible account during reading class. (Hopefully, you will have many oohs and aahs to react to!) Give each student a set of cards 1, 2, 3. Show the appropriate slide for each question. The teacher will read each question and the 3 multiple-choice answers. At the signal, the kids will indicate their answer by raising the appropriate card. copies of the 1, 2, 3 cards PowerPoint slides of multiple-choice questions SCIENCE EXPERIMENT - SCIENCE CLASS Now, it s time for a crazy science teacher to take over the classroom. This can be the classroom teacher or another kids church leader. The science teacher will wear goggles and a lab coat. Three science stations will be set up at the front of the lesson area. One station will need a blender, ingredients, and flour. The second station will need 20 pieces of candy. The third station will need a clear storage tub full of water and an ax. As a science teacher, I was listening to the Bible account of Elisha and the sons of the prophets, and I thought there must be scientific reasons for the three miracles that took place through Elisha. We re going to go to the lab today to do three experiments to prove how the deadly soup could turn into healthy soup, how the 20 loaves of bread could feed 100 men, and how a stick could make an axe head float! The science teacher will start by making a disgusting blend of foods and water in a blender. This could include hot sauce, sour cream, dog food, and/or kitty litter. Would any of you like to try some of this? NO! Next, the teacher will sprinkle flour over the disgusting mix. According to the Bible account today, all I have to do to make this drink healthy and delicious is to sprinkle flour over the mixture. Does anyone want to try a taste now? No? Why not? So scientifically, I can t make this drink healthy and delicious! Hmmm blender disgusting ingredients flour 20 pieces of candy clear storage tub water ax tree stick goggles lab coat On to the next science experiment! According to the Bible account, I can pass out these 20 pieces of candy, and all of you will get a piece! (The leader will pass out 20 pieces of candy to 20 kids. If you don t have 20 kids, pass out fewer pieces of candy than you have kids. The children who did not get a piece of candy will start to grumble.) But, according to the Bible account I should be able to feed all of you with only 20 pieces of candy! Again, science cannot explain how 100 men ate on 20 loaves of bread! Hmm Experiment number 3! I have a tub full of water, and I m going to scientifically prove that a stick can make an axe head float to the top of the water! The teacher will place the axe in the tub of water and watch it sink. Then, the teacher will throw a stick on top of the water. What s happening? Why isn t the axe floating? Again, science cannot prove how this miracle happened! Hmmm, again Science can t explain these three miracles. They seem impossible to me! I don t understand how these things could have really happened! CRAFT - ART CLASS Play dough is a universal medium that just about everybody loves. There s something soothing about mushing around the soft colorful dough. Give each child a piece of waxed paper and access to several containers of play dough. They are to create something out of their play dough that depicts one of the miracles. Make sure you give the kids time to look at what others have created and to share what theirs is about. play dough waxed paper 4 www.kidzmatter.com
GAME - PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASS Clear the area of all obstacles for P.E. The gym teacher should be dressed in aerobic attire for this portion of school and should act like a drill sergeant. The children will spread out around the room while the teacher leads them in a variety of stretches. While stretching, the students can repeat the following familiar army chant: I don t know, but I ve been told (I don t know, but I ve been told) God can work a miracle! (God can work a miracle!) The students saw amazing things (The students saw amazing things) They were sure God was their king! (They were sure God was their king!) God is (God is) Migh-ty (Migh-ty) God is (God is) SO GOOD! (SO GOOD!) We re going to do some strengthening exercises today in gym class. We want to strengthen our body muscles. The teacher will gruffly lead the class in push-ups, sit-ups, and other strengthening exercises. After a few exercises, the class will sit down and participate in some cool down stretches and some questions. We worked on strengthening our bodies today. It s important to keep our bodies strong, but it s even more important to strengthen our faith! Why do you think God chose to perform the three miracles in front of Elisha s students? When we see God at work in somebody s life, our faith is strengthened! How have you seen God at work in somebody else s life? Was your wonder and awe of God strengthened by watching Him work in that person s life? Have you ever thought, I m amazed at how God is helping them through their situation? Did that situation make you think that God can work in your own life? How else can you strengthen your faith? ACTIVITY - HISTORY It s time for our History lesson. Watching God work miracles in Elisha s life strengthened the faith of Elisha s students! In church history, many people s faiths were strengthened in 1906 in a movement known as The Azusa Street Revival. The Azusa Street Revival began in 1906, which was a time when people of different races did not mix together. It was very uncommon for people with different colors of skin to spend any time together. Well, God showed up performing miracles on a street named Azusa in Los Angeles. Show slide #1. This photo is very old and in black and white. Because of these miracles and the outpouring of God s love, people with different skin colors began worshiping the Lord together! For a time, whites, blacks, Latinos and Native Americans met together and witnessed the work of GOD! 2 PowerPoint slides Show slide #2. This historical church revival was led by William J. Seymour, an African American preacher. It began with a meeting on April 14, 1906 and continued until 1915 that s 9 years! Some of the miracles reported in church history include fire coming up out of the roof that the people were meeting under. Only this fire did not burn the building! The town fire department even received a bunch of phone calls about this fire that didn t burn the building! Another miracle reported during the Azusa Street Revival is about a man s arm that had been completely cut off in an accident, and people watched this man grow a new arm back in about 2 seconds! 5 www.kidzmatter.com
People witnessed many miracles during these meetings. Their faith in God was strengthened, just like the faith of Elisha s students was strengthened when they witnessed the miracles that God performed through Elisha! God performed the miracles through Elisha hundreds of years before Jesus lived on the earth. God performed the miracles on Azusa Street in the early 1900s. And God is still performing miracles today! ACTIVITY - SUBSTITUTE TEACHER Form groups of two or three kids. Each group will look up Matthew 18:20 and read it together in their groups. Matthew 18:20 (NLT), For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them. guest to give their testimony It s great for the children to hear about God s miracles in Elisha s day and the Azusa Street miracles, but they also need to see how God is working miracles in the lives of people today especially in the life of someone they know from their own church! Ask a member of your church who has experienced a mighty work of God to speak to the children and to share his/her testimony. If a person doesn t come to mind, contact your pastor for help. God is always working in people s lives, and your pastor will have heard of some of the remarkable ways God has worked in the members of the congregation. PRAYER I just love hearing about miracles that God has performed! I love it when my faith is strengthened by others miraculous stories! Has your faith been strengthened today after hearing about God s great works? Maybe you have a need in your life, and you want to see a miracle in your life. Well, did you know that miracles come in cans? The teacher will hold up the empty coffee can. It s true! Miracles come in cans! What I mean is that miracles CAN happen! We are going to end our school day by praying for something that God has put on your mind. God CAN and does still perform miracles! The children will write their prayer requests on a slip of paper. If a child cannot write words yet, encourage them to draw a picture of their prayer request. God will know what they are talking about! The teacher will pass around the can, and the children will place their requests in the can before going to the Lord in prayer. empty coffee can slips of paper pencils Dear God, We believe in Your miracles, and we thank You for them. Our faith has been strengthened today by learning how You worked miracles for others! Lord, we believe that You are the same today as You were in the days of Elisha. We know that You still work miracles and that miracles come in CANS. We lift this can of prayer requests to You, and we ask for a mighty miracle in each situation. We love You, God, and we ask for these miracles in Jesus name. Amen! BLESSING May God strengthen your faith as you watch His miraculous deeds. 6 www.kidzmatter.com
EXTRA ACTIVITIES SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION - SPELLING Psalm 34:8-9 (NLT) Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! Fear the Lord, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need. Show the PowerPoint slide of the scripture. Form groups of 4-6 kids. Each group will need a large piece of paper that will be taped to the wall (or lying on the floor), across the room. They will also need one crayon. At the signal, the first person from each group will run to their paper and write Taste on the paper the first word of the verse. They will say the word out loud so their group can hear. Once the word is written and they have said it, that player will run back to their team and hand off the crayon to the next player. The next player will go to their team s paper and write the next word, and. That player will say Taste and. Continue doing this until the verses are completed on the papers. Each time a word is added, though, the player must say the entire verse up to the point of the word they wrote. PowerPoint scripture slide large pieces of paper crayons tape MUSIC You are provided with some great Yancy songs for this quarter: All I Need is You and Every Good and Perfect Thing. For more information about Yancy, go to her website at yancynotnancy.com. DVD music downloads TAKE HOME REMINDER All day today, the kids have pretended to be in a unique school. The Bible story was about how Elisha, through miracles, taught the young men in the school for prophets. Their faith was strengthened by what they experienced in this special school. Give the kids some kind of school supply: bottle of glue, ruler, markers. You may even want to give them a choice, and put the assortment in a backpack. school supplies backpack SNACK Prepare a hearty vegetable soup beforehand. You ll also need some kind of pull-apart bread (some people call it monkey bread), but something the kids can tear a piece from. Give each child a small cup of soup, and then they can pull a piece of bread from the loaf. While they are eating, talk about the miracle that had to do with the soup and the miracle that had to do with the bread. soup pull-apart bread small cups napkins spoons 7 www.kidzmatter.com
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