Lesso 3 31 Jesus Explais Eteral Life to Nicodemus Joh 3:1-17 Jesus told Nicodemus that o oe ca see the kigdom of God uless he is bor agai. Whe it comes to teachig abstract cocepts to cocrete thikers, the best place to begi is with what s already uderstood. Your kids uderstad that they re bor ito this world ad become part of their families. Whe you help your childre believe i Jesus, you ll help them lear that they, too, will be accepted, loved, ad bor ito God s heavely family to live forever with him ad with everyoe who loves ad believes i Jesus. Thak you for givig your childre the opportuity to hear this woderful message! LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started about 10 mi. 2 Key Verse Activity about 10 mi. 3 Bible Exploratio about 15 mi. Welcomig Sog Sig or liste to praises for God. The Whole World Do actios as they lear the Key Verse. Theo s News Fid out what a birthday cadle has to do with the Bible. Bible Time: Jesus ad Nicodemus Watch ad liste as Jesus talks to Nicodemus. CD player Teacher Pack: CD, iflatable globe Bible Surprise Box (ay box will do), CD player, Theo puppet, birthday cadle Teacher Pack: CD Bible, CD player, tape, scissors, 2 craft sticks, 1 sticky ote per child, pe Teacher Pack: CD, Jesus ad Nicodemus puppets, Jesus ad Nicodemus script, Jesus ad Nicodemus poster (from the Big Bible Poster Pack) Put the ulit birthday cadle iside the Surprise Box, ad hide the box where it s easily accessible. Cut out the Jesus ad Nicodemus puppets ad tape them to the craft sticks. Bible Poit Jesus gives us life i heave. Key Verse For God so loved the world that he gave his oe ad oly So, that whoever believes i him shall ot perish but have eteral life (Joh 3:16). Weavig Faith Ito Life Childre will thak Jesus for comig to give them life i heave. Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6 Lesso 3
32 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP Ceter 1: Heave Glue glitter to birthday cadles o their pages. My Bible Playgroud, glue, glitter, washable markers Remove the Lesso 3 pages from each My Bible Playgroud studet book. 4 Weavig Faith Ito Life about 20 mi. (Choose 2 ceters.) Ceter 2: New Birth Celebratio Sacks Decorate miiature birthday cakes. Ceter 3: Puppet Play Liste to the CD, ad use puppets to retell the Bible passage. paper plates, plastic kives, apkis, cupcakes, frostig, cady sprikles, atibacterial gel (optioal) CD player, small paper bags, markers, table, butcher paper or poster board (optioal) Teacher Pack: CD Make a puppet stage by turig a table o its side or by tapig a sheet of butcher paper or poster board over the lower part of a doorway. Ceter 4: A Chaged Creature Make a caterpillar that turs ito a butterfly. For each child: 1 clothespi, 3 craft pompoms, two 3-ich pieces of cheille wire, ad three 3-ich squares of tissue paper i differet colors; white glue Daily Challeges Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. My Bible Playgroud 5 Lastig Impressios about 10 mi. Live Forever Prayer Say a actio prayer. Weavig Faith at Home Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Lesso 3 Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6
33 Jesus Explais Eteral Life to Nicodemus Joh 3:1-17 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS A Night Visit This passage tells of Nicodemus ighttime visit to Jesus. Why did Nicodemus come at ight? It may have bee difficult to get time aloe with Jesus durig the day because of all the people followig him. Or Nicodemus may have come at ight because as a member of the Sahedri, the rulig coucil of the Jews, he did t wat to be see. Nicodemus opeig commets idicated respect for Jesus, but he stopped short of sayig that Jesus was the log-awaited Messiah. Nicodemus was curious because of the miracles Jesus had performed ad ackowledged that Jesus could have doe them oly through God s power. Rescued From Death Jesus referred to Numbers 21, where poisoous sakes ivaded the Hebrews camp as a puishmet for their complaiig. Whe the people cried out i aguish ad repetace, God told Moses to make a sake of broze ad lift it high o a pole. All who looked upo the sake would be saved from death. Jesus explaied that, i the same way, he would be lifted up so that all could look o him ad be saved from eteral sufferig ad death. Ad he helped take Jesus dow from the cross ad bury him (Joh 19:39). At some poit, Nicodemus apparetly looked o the oe who was lifted up o the cross ad believed. The Jesus Coectio Jesus did t come to make you a more religious perso, but rather a ew perso oe capable of respodig to a life-givig friedship with him. Reread Joh 3:1-17 ad imagie how disorietig Jesus words soud. Nicodemus was a professioally religious perso with a early perfect spiritual pedigree. However, that was t importat to Jesus. Take a quick persoal ivetory. Whe evaluatig yourself spiritually, do you rely o beig religious or o beig i a relatioship with a lovig God? Talk to God about what really matters i your relatioship with him. You ca write your prayer here. Believig i Jesus Joh 3:16 is probably the most frequetly quoted verse i the Bible, ad for good reaso: It s a cocise statemet of the good ews of Jesus Christ. But the verse that follows is early as importat. Jesus missio is ot to codem the siful world but to provide eteral life for all who believe i him. We do t kow if Nicodemus chose to accept Jesus teachigs that ight. We do kow that he later stood up for Jesus i a meetig of the Sahedri (Joh 7:50). Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6 Lesso 3
34 GETTING STARTED Welcomig Sog CD player Teacher Pack CD: Come With Me (track 20), God So Loved the World (Joh 3:16) (track 6) iflatable globe Welcomig Sog Tip Cosistetly use the same sigal to aouce a trasitio to the ext activity. You could flip the lights off ad o, use a trai whistle, have a puppet rustlig iside a bag, or sig cleaup sogs. Keep it simple, cosistet, ad fu. As the childre arrive, greet each oe with a smile. Whe it s time to begi, use your sigal to brig the childre together i a circle. Ask two childre to stad facig each other, hold hads, ad form a arch with their arms. Have the other childre pass uder the arch sigle file as they sig. Begi the CD, ad lead kids i sigig Come With Me (track 20 o the CD) to the tue of The Bear Wet Over the Moutai. Come with me to God s house. Come with me to God s house. Come with me to God s house. We ll lear ad sig ad pray. We ll lear ad sig ad pray. We ll lear ad sig ad pray. Come with me to God s house. Come with me to God s house. Come with me to God s house. We ll lear ad sig ad pray. (Repeat.) Say: I m so glad you re here! Today, we re goig to lear that JESUS GIVES US LIFE IN HEAVEN. What good ews! Show kids the iflatable globe. Say: This is a map of the whole world. It shows us all the places that people live ad ay place they ca go. Our Key Verse tells us that God loves the whole world ad wats everyoe i it to believe i Jesus. JESUS GIVES US LIFE IN HEAVEN. Thikig about heave makes me happy! Let s sig our Key Verse sog ad pass this globe aroud our circle. Lesso 3 Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6
35 Play God So Loved the World (Joh 3:16) (track 6 o the CD), ad lead kids i sigig the sog joyfully as they pass the iflatable globe from child to child aroud the circle. I believe i God, Cause what he says is true. I believe that Jesus died To save me ad save you. I believe i God Ad all that he came to do. I believe that Jesus died, Because he loved both me ad you. (Chorus) For God so loved the world He gave his oe ad oly So, That whoever believes i him Shall ot perish. For God so loved the world He gave his oe ad oly So That whoever believes i him Will have eteral life. (Repeat from the begiig; repeat chorus.) God So Loved the World (Joh 3:16) by Be Glover. 2005 Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved. Say: This globe represets the whole world. God loves everyoe o earth so much, he set his So, Jesus. JESUS GIVES US LIFE IN HEAVEN. 2 KEY VERSE ACTIVITY The Whole World Have the childre sit i a circle. Ope your Bible to Joh 3:16, ad show childre the words. The Whole World Bible Say: Our Key Verse from the Bible says, For God so loved the world that he gave his oe ad oly So, that whoever believes i him shall ot perish but have eteral life (Joh 3:16). This verse meas that God gave us Jesus so we ca live forever i heave! Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6 Lesso 3
36 Lead the childre i repeatig the simplified versio of the Key Verse with you: God loved the world so much that he gave his So, Jesus, so we ca live forever (Joh 3:16). Say: Let s say the words ad do motios to help remember our Key Verse. Repeat the words ad actios with me. God loved the world so much (hug self) That he gave his So, Jesus, (hold out arms) So we ca live forever (raise hads high ad look up) (Joh 3:16). Say: You ca use these motios to help you remember our Key Verse ad how JESUS GIVES US LIFE IN HEAVEN. 3 BIBLE EXPLORATION Theo s News Surprise Box (ay box will do) CD player Theo puppet birthday cadle Teacher Pack CD: Here, Theo (track 2) Theo s News Easy Prep Put the ulit birthday cadle iside the Surprise Box, ad hide the box where it s easily accessible. Theo s News Say: Frieds, it s time for Theo s News! Have the childre sit i a circle, ad begi Here, Theo (track 2 o the CD). Whe the CD segmet eds, brig out the Surprise Box, ad put the Theophilus the FaithRetriever puppet o your had. The follow alog with the script. Theo: Hi, everybody! Teacher: Hello, Theo! Tell us what iterestig ews you ve dug up about the Bible today. Theo: I hid it i the Surprise Box. Teacher: Let s look iside to see what Theo dug up for us today. (Ask a child to ope the Surprise Box, ad have the kids pass the cadle aroud the circle so the rest of the childre ca see it up close. Give childre time to guess what they might lear i the Bible today.) Teacher: Theo, why did you hide this birthday cadle i the Surprise Box? Theo: Well, i the Bible, Jesus tells about a ma beig bor agai. Teacher: Frieds, what do you thik of whe you see a birthday cadle? (Pause for kids to aswer your questio.) Theo: Each year, we celebrate the day we were bor ito our families. We might have a birthday cake, blow out cadles, sig, ad ope gifts. Teacher: You kow, Theo, i the Bible, Jesus talks to a ma amed Nicodemus about beig bor ito God s heavely family ad livig forever with him. Theo: Wow! Did he get a big party? Teacher: Eve better, Theo! Let s fid out how Jesus gave this ma life i heave! Theo: Have fu, boys ad girls! Teacher: Say goodbye to Theo. Lesso 3 Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6
37 Ecourage the childre to wave or say goodbye to Theo. The put Theo away i a safe place for ext week s use. Bible Time: Jesus ad Nicodemus Set the Jesus ad Nicodemus poster o the floor. Gather the childre i a circle aroud the poster ad have them sit dow. Ope your Bible to Joh 3, ad show the childre the words. Tell childre that the Bible is God s special book. Say: The Bible tells us that JESUS GIVES US LIFE IN HEAVEN. Jesus did may miracles to show people that he was God s So. Some people believed i Jesus, but others did ot. Nicodemus was a Jewish leader who wated to kow more about Jesus. Nicodemus wated to ask Jesus a importat questio; he wated to ask Jesus about life i heave. Nicodemus wet to Jesus to ask him his questio. Poit to the poster. Ask: If you could ask Jesus a questio, what would you ask him? Give each child a chace to aswer your questio. Write each child s questio o a sticky ote ad the had the sticky ote to the child. Ecourage the childre to stick their otes o the poster. Say: You ca ask Jesus your questios whe you pray to him. You ca also ask adults your questios ad they might be able to help you fid the aswer i your Bible. Well, Nicodemus was able to go see Jesus ad ask his questio. But, Nicodemus wet at ight to talk to Jesus, because he did t wat to be see by others. Itroduce the childre to the Jesus ad Nicodemus puppets. Play Jesus ad Nicodemus (track 19 o the CD). You ca refer to the script if you would like. Have kids say goodbye to the puppets. Bible Time: Jesus ad Nicodemus Bible CD player tape scissors 2 craft sticks 1 sticky ote per child pe Teacher Pack CD: Jesus ad Nicodemus (track 19) Jesus ad Nicodemus puppets Jesus ad Nicodemus script Jesus ad Nicodemus poster (from the Big Bible Poster Pack) Jesus ad Nicodemus Easy Prep Cut out the Jesus ad Nicodemus puppets ad tape them to the craft sticks. Say: God loves the whole world, so he gave us his So, Jesus. Whe we believe i Jesus, we ca live forever i heave. God wats us to tell family, frieds, ad everyoe about Jesus so that we ca live together i heave forever! Talk With Kids Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What ca you do whe you have questios about God? What ca you tell someoe who wats to kow about Jesus ad heave? Say: Whe we believe i Jesus, we become part of God s family, ad we ll live forever i heave. I m so glad that JESUS GIVES US LIFE IN HEAVEN! Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6 Lesso 3
38 4 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Choose at least two of the learig ceters to help reiforce today s Bible lesso. Gather the eeded materials, ad put the supplies i a out-of-sight area util you re ready for them. Allow the childre to choose which ceter they d like to explore first. The circulate amog the childre as they create ad explore. Ecourage them to make coectios betwee their activities ad the Bible by askig them the questios icluded with each ceter s descriptio. Ceter 1: Heave My Bible Playgroud glue glitter washable markers Ceter 1: Heave Easy Prep Remove the Lesso 3 pages from each My Bible Playgroud studet book. CENTER 1: Heave Set out glue ad glitter. Distribute the Lesso 3 pages from My Bible Playgroud, ad have kids write their ames o their papers. Say: Whe we believe i Jesus, we re bor ito God s heavely family to live forever with him ad with everyoe else who believes i Jesus. What a great ew birth we have to celebrate! Have kids each add a drop of glue to the top of the cadles o their pages, ad the let kids sprikle glitter over the glue to light the birthday cadles. For each cadle they decorate, have kids take turs sayig oe thig they thik heave might be like. Talk With Kids Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: Tell about a birthday party you ve had. Heave will be like a big party. What do you hope will be i heave? Say: Whe we believe i Jesus, JESUS GIVES US LIFE IN HEAVEN! What good ews! We ca be really happy ad celebrate that Jesus loves us so much that he wats us to be with him forever. Lesso 3 Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6
39 CENTER 2: New Birth Celebratio Sacks Set out the supplies. Have kids clea their hads. Say: Whe we believe i Jesus, we re bor ito God s heavely family to live forever. JESUS GIVES US LIFE IN HEAVEN! What a great ew birth we have to celebrate! Have kids use the frostig ad sprikles to decorate their cupcakes. Tell kids they ca have the cupcakes to celebrate that we ca be bor ito God s family i heave. Say a prayer thakig God for the sacks, sig Happy Birthday [to us], ad eat ad ejoy the treats! CENTER 3: Puppet Play Form pairs (joi i if there is a ueve umber) ad have pairs create two puppets to represet Jesus ad Nicodemus usig the paper bags ad markers. Whe pairs have fiished, have the childre liste to Jesus ad Nicodemus (track 19 o the CD). Ecourage pairs to act alog with the CD usig the puppets they just made. Talk With Kids Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: Nicodemus had questios about Jesus. What questios do you have about Jesus? How would Nicodemus life have bee differet if he had t goe to ask Jesus his questios? Who are people you ca talk to whe you have questios about Jesus? Say: It s okay to have questios about how JESUS GIVES US LIFE IN HEAVEN. Remember that you ca ask your parets or Suday school teachers about ay questios you might have. Ceter 2: New Birth Celebratio Sacks paper plates plastic kives apkis cupcakes frostig cady sprikles atibacterial gel (optioal)! ALLERGY ALERT Ceter 3: Puppet Play CD player small paper bags markers table poster board or butcher paper (optioal) Teacher Pack CD: Jesus ad Nicodemus (track 19) Ceter 3: Puppet Play Easy Prep Make a puppet stage by turig a table o its side or by tapig a sheet of poster board or butcher paper over the lower part of a doorway. Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6 Lesso 3
40 CENTER 4: A Chaged Creature Ceter 4: A Chaged Creature For each child: 1 clothespi, 3 craft pompoms, two 3-ich pieces of cheille wire, three 3-ich squares of tissue paper i differet colors white glue Gather the childre i your craft area. Give each child three pompoms, oe clothespi, ad two of the cheille wire pieces. Direct the childre to glue the pompoms i a row alog the top of the clothespi. The have them glue the two pieces of cheille wire oto the frot pompom; these will be the ateae of the caterpillar ad butterfly. Poit out that the ew creatios look like fuzzy caterpillars. Ecourage them to make their caterpillars crawl aroud o differet surfaces i the room. Say: Durig their life, caterpillars become butterflies! They make a cocoo, kid of like a shell, aroud their bodies, ad while they are i that shell, they tur ito butterflies! It s like caterpillars have a brad ew life whe they become butterflies, just as we ca have ew life whe we believe i Jesus. Let s tur our caterpillars ito butterflies. Give each child three differet colors of the tissue paper. Show the kids how to stack the pieces o top of each other ad the pich them all together i the middle. The, help them place the middle of the tissue paper stack ito the opeig of the clothespi. Say: Look, ow our caterpillars have wigs; they are all beautiful butterflies! Havig ew life i heave is like caterpillars turig ito butterflies. Whe we trust Jesus, he makes us ew ad gives us life i heave. Talk With Kids Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: How ca butterflies remid us of life i heave? What kid of chages i our lives does God help us make? Who i your life eeds to kow about God s love? Lesso 3 Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6
41 Say: God loved us so much he gave a special gift: his So, Jesus. Just like Jesus told Nicodemus about ew life i heave, you ca use your butterfly to share with your parets or a fried that JESUS GIVES US LIFE IN HEAVEN. 5 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges After the childre have cleaed up the ceters, brig everyoe back to the circle area o the floor. Review the lesso activities ad the Bible Poit, ad the ecourage the childre to share what they leared from the Bible today. Daily Challeges My Bible Playgroud Also use this time to challege kids i their faith. Ecourage them to choose a Daily Challege for applyig today s lesso to their lives this week. Use this challege for ecouragig your childre s growig relatioships with Jesus. Talk With Kids Say: Today we leared that JESUS GIVES US LIFE IN HEAVEN. I d like each of you to choose a way you ca thak Jesus for givig you life i heave this week. Give kids these three Daily Challege ideas to choose from: Wheever you see the color blue, thak Jesus for givig you life i heave. Tell someoe about what you leared, ad ask what he or she thiks heave will be like. Thik about what food you hope will be i heave. Ask your mom or dad to make that food for dier. Have kids each whisper i your ear to tell you which idea they ve chose, ad the circle it o each child s My Bible Playgroud page. Make sure you choose a challege as well ad tell kids which challege you chose. Your commitmet will ispire childre ad will give them a ew opportuity to see God at work i your life as well as theirs! Live Forever Prayer Go aroud the circle ad have kids repeat the Bible Poit, replacig the word us with childre s ames. Say: Jesus gives [child s ame] life i heave. Cotiue by havig the childre say the followig prayer ad do the motios. Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6 Lesso 3
42 God loved the world so much (hug four people oe perso for each word) That he gave his So, Jesus, (form a cross by stadig ad holdig arms out) So we ca live forever. (raise hads high ad look up) Thak you, God, for Jesus. I Jesus ame, ame. (fold hads i prayer ad bow head) Weavig Faith at Home Have childre take home their My Bible Playgroud pages whether they worked o them or ot. Have the childre tell their parets the challege they committed to i the Daily Challeges activity. Ecourage parets to help their kids fulfill this commitmet throughout the week. By workig together ad focusig o the same goals, you ad parets ca help childre weave faith ito their lives! Talk to your Director about emailig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Lesso 3 Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6