Lesso 1 5 Joh the Baptist Prepares the Way for Jesus Mark 1:1-8 Most 5- ad 6-year-olds kow what it meas to get ready. They ve leared to dress themselves, brush their teeth, ad maybe fix a simple breakfast. Kids kow what it meas to get ready for the day, ad that ca help them uderstad what it meas to get ready for Jesus. They ca welcome Jesus ito their lives with prayer, praise, worship, readig the Bible, ad askig for forgiveess. They ca tell others about Jesus so others ca have Jesus i their lives, too. Use this lesso to itroduce kids to the cocept of gettig ready for Jesus. LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started about 10 mi. 2 Key Verse Activity about 10 mi. Welcomig Sog Sig or liste to praises for God. Good News Reporter Become a ews reporter ad aouce the comig of Jesus. Theo s News Fid out what a bar of soap has to do with the Bible. CD player Teacher Pack: CD Bible Surprise Box (ay box will do), Theo puppet, CD player, bar of soap Teacher Pack: CD Put the soap i the Surprise Box, ad hide the box where it s easily accessible. Bible Poit We get ready for Jesus. Key Verse Do ot be afraid. I brig you good ews of great joy that will be for all the people. Today i the tow of David a Savior has bee bor to you; he is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:10-11). Weavig Faith Ito Life Childre will discover ways they ca get their hearts ready for Jesus. 3 Bible Exploratio about 15 mi. Bible Time: A Surprise Visitor Lear about Joh the Baptist, ad prepare the room for a surprise visitor. Bible, CD player, bowl of warm water, paper towels or clea rags, poster board, washable markers, tape Teacher Pack: CD, Joh Preaches About Jesus poster (from the Big Bible Poster Pack) Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6 Lesso 1 Witer Quarter
6 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP Ceter 1: Wipe Your Heart Clea Make a heart dirty as they talk about sis i their lives, ad the clea the heart as they lear about the way Jesus wipes away our sis. My Bible Playgroud, cellophae, large bowl of dirt, washable markers Remove the Lesso 1 pages from each My Bible Playgroud studet book. 4 Weavig Faith Ito Life about 20 mi. (Choose 2 ceters.) Ceter 2: Our Hearts Are Ready! Create heart shapes from healthy sacks, ad the eat them. Ceter 3: Jesus Gift Play a relay game to demostrate that receivig Jesus gift of love is oe way to get ready for Jesus. kife, apples, orages, slices of cheese, paper plates, atibacterial gel (optioal) 2 gift-wrapped boxes, 2 chairs Cut apples ad orages ito thi, semicircle slices. The cut the cheese slices to create half of a heart shape. (See the photo i this lesso.). Put the food items o differet plates. Place the chairs at oe ed of the room, about 5 feet away from each other. Ceter 4: Joh s Focus Try to focus o Jesus despite distractios, as Joh the Baptist did. 3 lightweight balls Teacher Pack: Jesus picture Daily Challeges Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. My Bible Playgroud 5 Lastig Impressios about 10 mi. Clea My Heart Prayer Thik of a si ad the pray together. Weavig Faith at Home Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. My Bible Playgroud Remove the letter to parets from the back of each My Bible Playgroud studet book to give to parets whe they pick up their childre. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Witer Quarter Lesso 1 Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6
7 Joh the Baptist Prepares the Way for Jesus Mark 1:1-8 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS Jesus Brigs Good News Mark saw Jesus life, miistry, death, ad resurrectio as the begiig of the gospel. The word gospel, derived from the Old Eglish godspel, meas good ews. Prophets Foretold About Jesus As Mark bega his Gospel, he lauched ito a quotatio from the Old Testamet. By coectig what he was sayig about Jesus with the words of the prophets, Mark built validity for his ow message i the mids of his Jewish readers. Some questio why Mark said the quotatio is from Isaiah whe i reality the first part is from Malachi 3:1. Mark is metioig together two quotatios o the same topic, ad creditig both to Isaiah would have bee acceptable for Mark s audiece. was also that of the very poor. Joh was humblig himself, kowig how great the comig Jesus would be. I those days, it was the job of the lowest servat to utie a visitor s sadals ad wash his feet. Joh let people kow that as eloquet ad persuasive as his preachig might be, he was the lowest of the low i compariso with the glory of the comig Savior, Jesus. The Jesus Coectio At Christmas, we aticipate the birth of Jesus. His birth, death, ad resurrectio make our lives i heave possible. There is always much to do before Christmas. But Jesus cares more about our hearts tha about gifts ad decoratios. We ca prepare our hearts by turig from actios ad attitudes that distract us from Jesus. What do you eed to tur from? You ca write your prayer here. By usig the quotatio from Isaiah i Mark 1:3, Mark emphasized the kigly ature of Jesus. I those days, a servat ofte traveled ahead of a kig to alert people that the kig was comig. Joh the Baptist Comes Before Jesus The last half of this passage shows that Joh the Baptist did what was prophesied i the Old Testamet: He came to prepare the way more specifically, the people for Jesus comig. As people repeted i respose to Joh s preachig ad cofessed their sis, their hearts were prepared to accept their comig Kig. Joh the Baptist s choice of clothig was ot accidetal: He likely was idetifyig himself with the prophet Elijah, who dressed the same way (2 Kigs 1:8). His was the clothig of the poor, ad his food Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6 Lesso 1 Witer Quarter
8 GETTING STARTED Welcomig Sog CD player Teacher Pack CD: We re Glad You re Here Today (track 2), God Is the Kig (Psalm 47:7) (track 6) 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 them with a smile. Whe it s time to begi, use your sigal to brig the childre together i a circle. Begi the CD, ad lead the kids i doig the motios ad sigig We re Glad You re Here Today (track 2 o the CD) to the tue of Looby Loo. We re glad you re here today. (shake hads with others) We re glad you re here today. (shake hads with others) We re glad you re here today. (shake hads with others) Come lear about Jesus today. (motio frieds to come) We all will pray (fold hads) ad sig. (cup hads aroud mouth) We all will pray (fold hads) ad sig. (cup hads aroud mouth) We all will pray (fold hads) ad sig. (cup hads aroud mouth) We re glad that you re here today. (clap to the beat) We re glad you re here today. (give high fives to others) We re glad you re here today. (poit to others) We re glad you re here today. (clap to the beat) Come lear about Jesus today. (motio frieds to come) Say: Today we ll lear that WE GET READY FOR JESUS ad welcome him ito our lives. Jesus is the Kig of the whole world! Liste carefully to the begiig of this sog, ad tell me what you hear. Play God Is the Kig (Psalm 47:7) (track 6 o the CD) ad ecourage the childre to call out the aimals they hear at the begiig. The have them joi you i sigig ad marchig to the beat i a circle. Chage the directio you re marchig every few lies. Let s sig about the Lord, The greatess of our God, God is the Kig of everythig. We re wild about his love Ad all that he has doe, God is the Kig of everythig. Witer Quarter Lesso 1 Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6
9 I kow God; I talk about him every sigle day. I pray to him at all times; he s the oly way. I love him! He loves me o matter where I go, Ad everythig I do will be for God ad God aloe. Let s sig about the Lord, The greatess of our God, God is the Kig of everythig. We re wild about his love Ad all that he has doe, God is the Kig of everythig. Let s sig about the Lord, The greatess of our God, God is the Kig of everythig. We re wild about his love Ad all that he has doe, God is the Kig of everythig, God is the Kig of everythig, God is the Kig of everythig. God Is the Kig (Psalm 47:7) by Jay Stocker ad Be Glover. 2005, 2006 Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved. Say: Jesus is comig! We re celebratig his arrival, ad oe of the great ways WE GET READY FOR JESUS is by sigig to him. He loves to hear our voices. Let s welcome him this Christmas seaso. 2 KEY VERSE ACTIVITY Good News Reporter Have the childre sit i a circle. Ope your Bible to Luke 2:10-11, ad show childre the words. Tell kids the Bible is God s special book. Good News Reporter Bible Say: Our Key Verse from the Bible, Luke 2:10-11, says, Do ot be afraid. I brig you good ews of great joy that will be for all the people. Today i the tow of David a Savior has bee bor to you; he is Christ the Lord. This meas that the agel told the shepherds, I brig great ews; Jesus is bor! Let s say that together. Lead childre i repeatig the simplified versio of the Key Verse after you: I brig great ews; Jesus is bor! (Luke 2:10-11). Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6 Lesso 1 Witer Quarter
10 Tell about a time someoe told you good ews. Say: It s very excitig to hear good ews! The agel told the shepherds the good ews that Jesus was bor, ad the shepherds were so excited that they wet to see baby Jesus. Let s play a game right ow that ll help us share the good ews of Jesus birth. Oe way we hear ews is by watchig televisio. We re goig to preted that we re TV reporters tellig the ews that Jesus was bor. Ecourage a child to preted to hold a microphoe. The tell the child to report the ews of Jesus birth by sayig the Key Verse: I brig great ews; Jesus is bor! ad the sayig oe great thig about Jesus such as Jesus loves me or Jesus is kid. Whe the first child is fiished, have him or her joi the rest of the group, ad the ecourage the ext child to report the good ews. Have childre clap ad cheer after each child s tur. Whe all childre have had a tur, have them sit i a circle agai. Lead childre i this discussio. It was fu to preted to be a reporter! What are other ways you ca share the good ews about Jesus? What s excitig about babies beig bor? What s excitig about Jesus beig bor? Theo s News Surprise Box (ay box will do) Theo puppet CD player bar of soap Teacher Pack CD: Here, Theo (track 4) Theo s News Easy Prep Put the soap i the Surprise Box, ad hide the box where it s easily accessible. Say: Jesus birth was the best ews ayoe could ever hear because Jesus came to do may woderful thigs for all of us. WE GET READY FOR JESUS because he s so special. We ca help others get ready for Jesus, too, whe we tell the good ews about Jesus. Let s tell each other our Key Verse oe more time for practice. Ecourage childre to tur to a parter ad tell each other the Key Verse: I brig great ews; Jesus is bor! (Luke 2:10-11). 3 BIBLE EXPLORATION Theo s News Say: Frieds, it s time for Theo s News! Have the childre sit i a circle. The begi Here, Theo (track 4 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. Witer Quarter Lesso 1 Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6
11 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. (Ivite a child to ope the Surprise Box, ad have kids pass the bar of soap aroud so everyoe ca see it up close. Give kids time to guess what they ll lear from the Bible today.) Teacher: Frieds, whe do we eed soap? (Pause for kids to aswer your questio.) Teacher: Theo, why did you hide this bar of soap i the Surprise Box? Theo: I thought you could use it. Teacher: Theo, are you tryig to tell me I eed to take a bath? Theo: No, you smell just great! My dog ose kows! I put the soap i the box because we eed it to wash ourselves ad to clea our houses to get ready whe compay is comig to visit. Teacher: You picked a great day for soap, Theo. Today, we ll lear from the Bible that we ca clea up as WE GET READY FOR JESUS. Let s fid out how we ca do that! Theo: Have fu, boys ad girls! Teacher: Say goodbye to Theo. 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: A Surprise Visitor Ope your Bible to Mark 1, ad show childre the words. Tell kids the Bible is God s special book. Say: I the Bible, a ma amed Joh the Baptist worked hard to tell people about ways WE GET READY FOR JESUS. Joh the Baptist said that God wated him to prepare the way for Jesus. Joh wated people to stop doig bad thigs ad start doig good thigs! Tell about a time you ve had frieds or relatives come to visit you. What was it like as you waited for them to arrive? Tell about what you did to get ready for their visit. Say: Joh the Baptist told people to get ready for a special perso Jesus! People said they were sorry for their sis, ad Joh baptized them. That meas that Joh put the people uder water for a few secods to show everyoe that they wated to follow God ad that they were allowig God to wash them clea of their sis. Bible Time: A Surprise Visitor Bible CD player bowl of warm water paper towels or clea rags poster board washable markers tape Teacher Pack CD: God Is the Kig (Psalm 47:7) (track 6) Joh Preaches About Jesus poster (from the Big Bible Poster Pack) Set out the Joh Preaches About Jesus poster. Say: Joh lived i a hot, sady desert. He wore clothes made of camel s hair, ad he ate locusts (locusts are bugs a lot like grasshoppers). Joh lived a special life Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6 Lesso 1 Witer Quarter
12 because he kew he had a special message to give people. He wated people to get ready for Jesus! Let s help these people i the poster get ready for Jesus. Set out the bowl of water ad ecourage each child to take a paper towel or rag ad dip it i the water. Remid kids that Joh baptized people i the water to get them ready for Jesus. Ecourage kids to wipe their wet paper towels or rags o a perso i the poster to show that Joh baptized that perso. Say: Good job gettig these people ready for Jesus. Now let s use our rags to prepare our room the way we would for a special guest. Lead the kids i usig their damp paper towels or rags to wipe off tables, chairs, ad toys. The help kids decorate the room. Write Welcome o the poster board. Set out the markers ad have childre decorate the poster. Play God Is the Kig (Psalm 47:7) (track 6 o the CD) while kids work. Have kids tape the fiished poster to a wall. Lead childre i this discussio. What do you like about preparig for a special guest? What are other thigs you d do to get ready for Jesus? Say: It was excitig to get ready for a guest! I m sure Joh the Baptist must ve bee excited tellig everyoe to get ready for Jesus. We ca be happy ad excited as WE GET READY FOR JESUS, too! His comig is a time to celebrate! 4 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Ceter 1: Wipe Your Heart Clea My Bible Playgroud cellophae large bowl of dirt washable markers Ceter 1: Wipe Your Heart Clea Easy Prep Remove the Lesso 1 pages from each My Bible Playgroud studet book. 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. CENTER 1: Wipe Your Heart Clea Help kids write their ames o their My Bible Playgroud pages ad fid a parter. Say: Place your piece of cellophae over the heart side of your page. Pause. The put dirt o the heart as you tell your parter about sis i your life. Maybe you Witer Quarter Lesso 1 Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6
13 have trouble gettig alog with a brother or sister, or you told a lie. Add dirt to your heart for each si you talk about. Allow time. We all have si i our lives. It s part of beig huma. God kows si is somethig we all struggle with, so he set his So, Jesus, to wipe away our sis. Fold your piece of cellophae so the dirt stays iside ad remove the dirt from the heart o your page. Allow time. Now the hearts are clea ad ew! That s what Jesus does for our hearts he wipes away the si. Whe we allow Jesus to do that, WE GET READY FOR JESUS. Lead childre i this discussio. What were you feelig as you put the dirt o your heart? What were you feelig whe the dirt was removed? Why is si bad for us? Say: Whe we say we re sorry, Jesus forgives us ad cleas our hearts. Let s tell everyoe how much Jesus loves them ad forgives them. Let s help others as WE GET READY FOR JESUS by tellig people about him. Jesus forgiveess is for everyoe. CENTER 2: Our Hearts Are Ready! Have childre clea their hads. The gather everyoe aroud the supplies. Demostrate for kids how they ca use the fruit ad cheese slices to make heart shapes o their paper plates. Say: To make hearts with the fruit slices, take two slices ad overlap the bottoms of the slices to form the bottom part of the heart; with the cheese, put two slices side by side. Oce kids get the basic idea, ecourage them to form several hearts o their paper plates. Istruct them to call out My heart is ready! whe they re doe. Whe everyoe is doe, ivite oe child to pray ad thak God for the sacks. Ceter 2: Our Hearts Are Ready! kife apples orages slices of cheese paper plates atibacterial gel (optioal)! ALLERGY ALERT Ceter 2: Our Hearts Are Ready! Easy Prep Cut apples ad orages ito thi, semicircle slices. The cut the cheese slices to create half of a heart shape; see the photo. Put the food items each o differet plates. Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6 Lesso 1 Witer Quarter
14 Lead childre i this discussio. How did you get your hearts ready i this sack time? How ca we get our hearts ready for Jesus? Say: Whe we tell God we re sorry for thigs we ve doe wrog, he forgives us! Askig God for forgiveess helps us as WE GET READY FOR JESUS. Ceter 3: Jesus Gift 2 gift-wrapped boxes 2 chairs Ceter 3: Jesus Gift Easy Prep Place the chairs at oe ed of the room, about 5 feet away from each other. CENTER 3: Jesus Gift Have kids form two groups. The have the groups each form a lie o the side of the room opposite the chairs. Give oe of the wrapped gifts to the first child i each lie. Say: Whe I say go, the first perso i your lie will ru with the gift to the chair, go aroud it, ad ru it back to the ext perso i lie. Pause to demostrate. The that perso ca ru to the chair, go aroud it, ad the ru back to the lie to keep passig the gift. Pause to demostrate. Wheever a ew perso starts to ru, the rest of us will yell WE GET READY FOR JESUS! Ay questios about the rules? Allow time for questios. Whe everyoe o your team has had a chace to ru with the gift, sit dow i your lie. Allow time. Lead childre i this discussio. Tell about a time you received a gift. How is Jesus like a gift for us? Say: Jesus wats to give us the gift of forgiveess. WE GET READY FOR JESUS ad receive his gift of forgiveess whe we believe i him. Jesus forgives us ad loves us o matter what ad that cleas us from our sis! Ceter 4: Joh s Focus 3 lightweight balls Teacher Pack Jesus picture CENTER 4: Joh s Focus Have kids sit i a circle. Say: Joh the Baptist lived a simple life. The Bible does t tell us much about what Witer Quarter Lesso 1 Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6
15 kids of thigs he owed he probably had very little. His clothes were t facy ad he spet each day tellig people about Jesus. That s what he cared most about helpig people get ready for Jesus. WE GET READY FOR JESUS whe we pay attetio to Jesus, too. Let s practice doig that. Place the Jesus picture i the ceter of the circle. Say: Let s try to focus o this picture of Jesus as we try to toss ad catch balls i our circle. Start with oe ball, ad allow kids to toss ad catch the ball for 30 secods. How easy or difficult was it to keep your focus o Jesus while we were tossig the ball? Allow resposes. Let s try agai. Start with oe ball ad the add aother ball every 15 secods util all three are i play. Allow oe miute ad the gather the balls ad make sure everyoe is sittig i the circle agai. Lead childre i this discussio. Why was it hard for you to thik about Jesus durig our activity? How could we have made it easier to thik about Jesus? What ca you do to thik about Jesus at home? Say: Joh chose to keep his life simple so he could make Jesus the most importat thig i his life. Joh showed others, ad us, that WE GET READY FOR JESUS by makig him most importat. Sometimes it s hard to keep from beig distracted ad it s okay that we have a lot goig o i our lives. Eve whe we re busy ad doig other thigs, we ca thik about ad talk to Jesus so he stays a importat part of our lives. 5 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges After the childre have cleaed up the ceters, brig everyoe back to sit i a circle o the floor. Review the lesso activities ad the Bible Poit, ad the ecourage 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. Say: Today we leared that WE GET READY FOR JESUS. Choose oe of these Daily Challeges to get your heart ready for Jesus this week. Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6 Lesso 1 Witer Quarter
16 Give kids these three challeges to choose from: 1. If you do somethig wrog, ask Jesus for forgiveess. 2. Ask a paret to take you o a drive aroud your eighborhood to look at Christmas lights. Talk about how people decorate their houses to get ready to celebrate Jesus birth. 3. Draw a heart o paper with a pecil or o a chalkboard with chalk. Thik about some thigs you ve doe wrog, ad draw pictures or scribbles i your heart for those wrog thigs the erase them to show that Jesus ca clea your heart! Say: If you wat to ask Jesus for forgiveess, circle choice umber 1. If you wat to drive aroud your eighborhood, circle choice umber 2. If you wat to draw a heart, circle choice umber 3. Check that each child circled a choice. Make sure you tell kids the challege you choose. Your commitmet will ispire childre ad will give them a opportuity to see God at work i your life as well as i theirs! Clea My Heart Prayer Have childre sit i a circle o the floor. Tell kids to thik of oe thig they ve doe wrog ad the ivite them to repeat this prayer after you: Dear God, Please forgive me whe I do wrog; Help me get ready today. Prepare my heart for Jesus, So he ca come to stay. I Jesus ame, ame. Weavig Faith at Home My Bible Playgroud Weavig Faith at Home Easy Prep Remove the letter to parets from the back of each My Bible Playgroud studet book to give to parets whe they pick up their childre. Weavig Faith at Home Sed the letter to parets home with your kids or give it to parets whe they pick up their childre. This is a great way to show families they re importat to your church ad to support their role as spiritual leaders to their childre. Have childre take home their My Bible Playgroud pages whether they worked o them or ot. Have childre tell their parets the challege they committed to i the Daily Challeges activity. Ecourage parets to help their kids fulfill this commitmet durig 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. Witer Quarter Lesso 1 Pre-K & K/Ages 5 & 6