Lesso 3 25 Jesus Explais Why God Set Him Joh 3:12-21 Third- ad fourth-graders o loger see the world i strictly egocetric terms. Ulike very youg childre, they kow that the world really does t revolve aroud them. They ve met other kids who are smarter, faster, ad more popular, ad as a result, may kids at this age already feel somewhat isecure. Use this most importat lesso to teach kids that God loves them so much ad thiks they re so importat that he was willig to sacrifice his ow So to esure them a place i heave. LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started 2 Bible Exploratio Rescue Me (about 10 mi.) Play a game about gettig saved, ad lear the Key Verse. Are You Codemed? (about 20 mi.) Act out a courtroom scee based o Joh 3:12-21. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Bible Bibles, pes, paper Set your room up like a courtroom with a judge s bech, a witess stad, a chair for the defese attorey, ad a chair for the prosecutor. Bible Poit Jesus came to save us. 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 better uderstad Jesus missio o earth ad will grow i their relatioship with him. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 3 Sprig Quarter
26 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life Scales of Justice (about 20 mi.) Use a scale to compare our good deeds with Jesus gift of love. Cross Necklace (about 10 mi.) Create a cross ecklace. Bible Truth Sleuth, pes, book, marker, lightweight rock, heavy rock, 10 or more cotto balls, CD player, copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack: CD yar, markers, hole puch, scissors Teacher Pack: crosses Tear out the Lesso 3 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. 4 Lastig Impressios Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Bible Truth Sleuth, pes Sprig Quarter Lesso 3 Grades 3 & 4
27 Jesus Explais Why God Set Him Joh 3:12-21 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS Nicodemus Sought Jesus I this passage, Jesus is talkig with Nicodemus, a Pharisee ad a member of the Sahedri, the Jewish religious rulig coucil. Jesus lauched ito the coversatio by makig it clear that ew birth is the oly way to God s kigdom. For Nicodemus, a strict follower of the Law who thought obediece to a set of rules was his ticket to heave, the cocept of a ew birth was tough to grasp. He had trouble acceptig that all his good works ad itetios would t get him ito God s kigdom. Jesus Summarized God s Pla of Salvatio Jesus referece to Moses liftig up the sake i the desert refers to a time God set poisoous sakes amog the Israelites to puish them for rebellig agaist him. Those who had bee bitte were dyig. But God i his mercy istructed Moses to make a sake of broze ad lift it up o a pole where all could see it, promisig safety to all who looked upo it. All who believed God ad looked at the sake were spared from death. I the same way, Jesus would be lifted up o the cross, ad as people looked to him i faith, they would be spared from eteral death for their sis. God has a differet pla, because all the good we ca ever do wo t wipe out a sigle si. Oly Jesus sacrifice o the cross, which paid the death pealty for us, makes it possible for us to eter heave. Ad oly our respose i faith to that gift ad to the Holy Spirit workig i our lives will seal the deal. The Jesus Coectio There are may awesome beefits of a relatioship with Jesus, but this is the ultimate oe: We ca be bor agai! A ew life, a fresh start, a clea slate! Joh 3:16 is so familiar that it s temptig to skim it without takig its full meaig to heart. So stop for a momet ad reread it. How do Jesus words impact you? What questios do you have? Pray about your thoughts ad questios. You ca write your prayer here. Why did God sed his ow So to die a agoizig death o the cross? The aswer is clear i verse 16: 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. I this setece, Jesus summarizes God s etire pla of salvatio. What amazig love! We Must Respod i Faith Jesus message for Nicodemus ad for us today is that followig religious rules wo t wi us God s favor. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 3 Sprig Quarter
28 GETTING STARTED Rescue Me Supplies Bible Rescue Me What You ll Do Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Choose oe child to be a Shark ad three kids to be Rescuers. Have the rest of the kids form a circle. Say: You re trapped i the water, ad the Rescuers are comig to save you. You ca oly move if you lik arms with a Rescuer. Oce you lik arms, the Rescuer will lead you as fast as possible to the safe area. (Desigate a part of the room as the safe area.) The Shark will be tryig to tag the rescued people before they get to the safe area. However, the Shark ca t camp out i frot of the safe area. Give kids a few miutes to play. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What made it difficult to get rescued? Tell about a real-life rescue you ve see or heard about. I those situatios, why did the people eed a rescuer? Say: We all eed a rescuer. Ad God wats to rescue us i real life, because he loves us. I fact, he loves us so much that he set his oe ad oly So, Jesus, to live ad experiece life just as we do. Our Key Verse, Joh 3:16, remids us that JESUS CAME TO SAVE US. Read Joh 3:16 aloud: 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). Let s look at the verses aroud this to uderstad more about why Jesus came to earth. Sprig Quarter Lesso 3 Grades 3 & 4
29 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION Are You Codemed? What You ll Do Have kids form groups of three, ad make sure each group has a Bible, a pe, ad paper. Say: Today we re goig to preted we re i a courtroom. I ll be the judge. I your groups, decide who will play the defedat, or the perso tryig to get ito heave. Also choose a defese attorey, who will try to persuade me that the defedat should get ito heave. The third perso will play the part of the prosecutor ad will try to persuade me that the defedat should t get ito heave. The oly witess will be the defedat. The prosecutor will have a chace to questio the defedat first, ad the the defese attorey will questio the defedat. If the defedat wishes to offer ay additioal iformatio that might help his or her case, the defedat must ask my permissio to speak. Please read Joh 3:12-21. Both sides ca choose to use aythig from this passage to build your case. Give groups a few miutes to decide who will play each part. The have groups read Joh 3:12-21 together ad write out questios they ll be askig the defedat. Ask groups to come up oe at a time to preset their cases. Allow time. Are You Codemed? Supplies Bibles pes paper Are You Codemed? Easy Prep Set your room up like a courtroom with a judge s bech, a witess stad, a chair for the defese attorey, ad a chair for the prosecutor. Say: It appears that there is a way for all of us to get ito heave eve though I do t thik ay of us deserves it! This ma, Jesus, has paid for all the sis, or the bad thigs, we have all doe. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. How are we all like the defedat i this case? If we re ot codemed, does that mea there are o cosequeces? Why or why ot? Why do you thik believig i Jesus is required for us to have eteral life? Say: It s ot my place to codem ayoe who believes i Jesus. You all ca have eteral life because of Jesus! JESUS CAME TO SAVE US. God, out of his great love for us, set Jesus to live o earth because he wated us to be able to sped eterity with him. God set Jesus to die o the cross for our sis so we would ot be codemed but have eteral life. By believig i Jesus, God s So, we have eteral life. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 3 Sprig Quarter
30 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Scales of Justice Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth pes book marker lightweight rock heavy rock 10 or more cotto balls CD player copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack CD: God So Loved the World (Joh 3:16) (track 4) Scales of Justice Easy Prep Tear out the Lesso 3 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Scales of Justice What You ll Do Say: We re goig to use a scale to weigh a few thigs. Place the marker uder the middle of the book. Take the lighter of the two rocks ad place it o oe side of the book so the book tilts at a agle. Say: This rock represets si. To get ito heave, some people thik they eed to do good thigs to outweigh their sis. Let s explore that idea. Distribute pes ad this week s Bible Truth Sleuth pages, ad have kids tur to the Scales of Justice activity. Have them fill i every blak lie with all their good deeds. These could be thigs they ve doe, thigs they wat to do, or qualities they have that they thik are good. After they re doe writig, have willig kids say some of the thigs o their lists out loud. For each thig metioed, place oe of the cotto balls o the scale. Poit out how the scale does t move. How does this activity relate to our ability to get ito heave? If we ca t get ito heave by beig good, how ca we get there? Say: Throughout his life, Jesus showed us how he wats us to live. The he gave his life for our sis so those of us who believe i him would have eteral life. That s the ultimate expressio of love to each oe of us: that JESUS CAME TO SAVE US. We ca sig the words to this verse as a sog to help us remember them. Pass out copies of the lyrics page, ad play God So Loved the World (Joh 3:16) (track 4 o the CD). Lead the childre i sigig alog with the CD several times. 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. Sprig Quarter Lesso 3 Grades 3 & 4
31 (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; the repeat chorus.) Will have eteral life, will have eteral life. God So Loved the World (Joh 3:16) by Be Glover. 2005 Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved. Have kids form pairs ad discuss their aswers to the followig questio. What does the verse Joh 3:16 really mea to you? After sharig with their parters, have kids come back together as a large group. Ask for willig kids to share their aswers. Say: No matter how may good thigs we do, it is t eough to get ito heave. Our good deeds do t take away our si. Oly Jesus ca do that, ad JESUS CAME TO SAVE US. Hold up the heavier rock. This rock represets Jesus. Let s see what happes whe we put it o the scale. Place the heavier rock o the side with the cotto balls so the weight shifts. Say: Jesus has the ability to get us ito heave. He outweighs our si, ad if we believe i him, he will pay for us to get ito heave. We ca t ever be good eough to get ito heave, but through Jesus we ca get ito heave! Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Why is si so heavy i our lives? Why are t good thigs we do good eough to tip the scales? Say: Jesus is the oly way we ca tip the scales. God kew that, ad that s why JESUS CAME TO SAVE US. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 3 Sprig Quarter
32 Cross Necklace Cross Necklace Supplies yar markers hole puch scissors Teacher Pack crosses What You ll Do Give each child a cross ad a legth of yar log eough to make a ecklace. Have childre puch a hole at the top of their crosses. Distribute markers, ad o oe side of the cross have each child write Joh 3:16. O the other side of the cross, ivite kids to write I believe i Jesus if this reflects their beliefs. Have kids decorate their crosses usig the markers. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Why is the cross such a symbol of hope for Christias? How does Jesus sacrifice o the cross affect how you see other people who are differet from you? What differece do you wat the cross to make i your life this week? Say: The cross is a symbol of death, but it s also a symbol of hope for Christias. JESUS CAME TO SAVE US by dyig o the cross, ad all we have to do is believe i him i order to be saved. 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth pes Daily Challeges What You ll Do Say: No matter how may good deeds you ve doe, it s still ot eough to get ito heave. The oly way you ca get ito heave is by believig i Jesus; it is very easy ad so simple to do. Believig that JESUS CAME TO SAVE US is all you have to do. Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o their Bible Truthå Sleuth pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Talk to a Christia adult about how he or she became a Christia. Ask a Christia leader or paret to pray with you as you ask Jesus to forgive your sis. If you ve already accepted Jesus gift of eteral life, sped some time gettig to kow Jesus better: Read the Bible or sped time i prayer. Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell the kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Sprig Quarter Lesso 3 Grades 3 & 4
33 Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Say: Take your cross with you ad wear it or hag it somewhere i your room to remid you that JESUS CAME TO SAVE US. Let s close by thakig God for eteral life through Jesus Christ. Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about Jesus gift of eteral life. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their Bible Truth Sleuth pages with their families. Talk to your Director about emailig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Have kids pray a short prayer of thaks for God s gift of eteral life. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 3 Sprig Quarter
34 Lyrics God So Loved the World (Joh 3:16) 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; the repeat chorus.) Will have eteral life, will have eteral life. God So Loved the World (Joh 3:16) by Be Glover. 2005 Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved.! OK TO COPY Sprig Quarter Lesso 3 Grades 3 & 4