FAITH CHALLENGE

1 John

April 18 –May 16, 2004

Week 2: Children of God

Scripture: 1 John 2:28-3:3

Memory Verse: “God loves us so much that he lets us be called his children, as we truly are. 1 John 3:1

Concepts:

· Through Jesus, we are children of God, and we are called to act as Jesus acts.

· Sometimes the world expects us to be things we are not. God invites us to be who we truly are.

· We are not perfect, but because we are children of God, we can be confident that God will help us become more like Jesus.

Objectives:

· Students and visiting adults/older youth will play a game “Who am I?” and consider the idea of faith stories.

· Visiting adults and older youth will share their faith stories.

· Students will consider how their own faith story is developing.

Gathering Time: (Guide and Coach)

1. NOTE: Several adults and older youth have been invited to attend this class. Have name tags available for all students and visitors. Encourage visitors to join in for snacks, writing prayer concerns, introductions, and conversation before class.

2. At the beginning of each class, the Coach greets arriving students and supervises snacks.

3. The Guide and Coach remind students to write prayer joys and concerns on the Prayer Wall and to place their offering in the offering jars.

Workshop Lesson Procedure: (Guide takes over from here)

Application/Scripture:

1. Call the group to order. Ask each attendee to introduce themselves and to name a church they have attended (even visited once) other than the Kirk.

2. Ask the group to number off 1, 2, 1, 2, etc to form two teams. Ask team members to move so the teams are sitting together.

3. Explain the following rules for the game “Who am I?” .

· Purpose: To correctly name the Bible character about whom clues are read

· The guide will read one clue at a time. Team members may confer and offer a team answer. Clues will be read to the same team until they correctly name the Bible character. Then the second team begins on clues for a new character.

· Scoring: If the team guesses correctly after the first clue—5 points. After the second clue—4 points, etc.

· Ask a coach to serve as score keeper on chart paper or the white board.

· Team with the highest score after at least two turns per team, wins. (Enough clues are provided for each team to have three turns.)

4. Play the game (see attached for clues) and award small candies such as Hershey kisses to the winning team.

5. Ask the students and visitors what each of the people in the game had in common. Answers may vary and there are many similarities—Bible characters, all loved God, were all studied in Faith Challenge this year. However, the point to be made here is that each person had a relationship with God and there is a story about that relationship. The story might be called the person’s faith story or faith journey. Write the words “faith story” on the white board or chart paper for emphasis.

6. Ask the class who has a faith story. Again—answers will vary—but encourage students to realize that every person who has a relationship with God has a story about that relationship. How it started, what happened next, what they are doing now, etc.

7. Explain that the today’s visitors will share their faith stories and to help students consider their own faith journey/story.

8. Dependent on the number of students and adults, faith story sharing can be done as one large group or several smaller groups. Questions that visitors might want to answer as they share their stories are provided at the end of the lesson. If sharing is done in small groups, provide a copy of the questions to each group.

9. If small group sharing has been done, call the groups together and ask a student from each group to give a brief summary of the story their visitor shared. Allow plenty of time for the stories to be shared and appreciated by all. This can continue until 10:25 if that much time is needed.

10. After all stories have been shared, pass out Bibles and ask students and visitors to find 1 John 2:28-3:3. Remind students this is not the gospel of John but instead from a group of letters said to be written by John, one of Jesus’ disciples and are labeled 1, 2, and 3 John. They are after Paul’s letters. Ask a visitor to read the passage aloud.

11. Direct attention to the chart paper from last week’s lesson with ideas about what the world says we should be and who we are as children of God. Ask students who attended last week to summarize last week’s lesson.

12. Ask students and visitors how the Bible passage relates to what happened in class today. If this is difficult to answer, direct attention to 1 John 3:2. Suggest this verse says we are not always the same people but change to become more like God. We grow and change—we move along in our faith story.

13. Label a new piece of chart paper, “Class Faith Story”. Ask for ideas about a generic faith story that could summarize the individual stories of many students. Ideas might include: being born in a Christian home; being raised by Christian parents; being baptized; attending church, SS, church camp, VBS, youth group. Ask what a next step might be. If it is not mentioned, suggest that for the seventh graders, it may be to attend confirmation class. NOTE: Confirmation Sunday this year is May 16. Encourage all students and visitors to share in this special day at the Kirk. Remind them this is a significant step in the faith story of each confirmand.

14. Conclude by asking all to consider how, where, under what circumstances they will be serving God and being more like a child of God in the future.

15. If additional time remains, “Who am I?” could be continued if all the clues were not used before.

Wrap-up:

1. Direct attention to the memory verse for this lesson posted on the wall. Ask students and visitors to recite this aloud once or twice.

Closing (Coach):

1. The Coach conducts the closing prayer time. All students and visitors gather around the prayer chain. The Coach begins and ends the prayer. The Coach asks each student to contribute a joy, thanksgiving or concern in turn.

2. Close/lock the door and turn off the lights.

Guide preparation in advance:

1. For questions on this lesson plan, call Nancy Stokes or email at ncstokes@aol.com

2. The country room should be set up with chairs or stools.

3. Be sure the memory verse and chart paper labeled “world” and “God” are still posted from last week.

4. Make approximately five copies of the Sharing Faith Stories questions.

5. If desired, purchase small candies as treats for the winning team of Who am I?

Supply List

1. I was the youngest son.

2. I lived in Jerusalem as an adult.

3. I wrote poems.

4. I was a king.

5. I killed a giant.

DAVID

1. I was born a Gentile.

2. I was baptized by Paul.

3. I prayed with Jews.

4. I made purple cloth.

5. My name starts with an “L”.

LYDIA

1. I was a prophet.

2. I lived during a drought.

3. I prayed faithfully to God.

4. I had a contest with the priests of Baal.

5. God sent fire to my altar.

ELIJAH

1. I was born a Jew.

2. I was a Pharisee.

3. I traveled.

4. I baptized many people.

5. I used to persecute Christians.

PAUL

1. I became king at age eight.

2. I was a good king.

3. I found scrolls in the temple.

4. I tried to do follow God’s laws.

5. My name starts with a “J”.

JOSIAH

1. I was a friend of Paul’s

2. I sang songs

3. I traveled with Paul

4. An earthquake came to my jail.

5. My name starts with an “S”.

SILAS