MIRACLES OF JESUS

Holywood #1

This lesson plan is copyrighted and belongs to the Kirk of Kildaire Presbyterian,

Cary North Carolina. It may be used for non-profit uses only.

HOLYWOOD This workshop will last 45 minutes.

SCRIPTURE: Healing a crippled boy (Luke 9:37-43) Memory Verse: Luke 9:43a”And all were astounded at the greatness of God.” (See also Matt. 17:14-21 and Mark 9:14-29)

OBJECTIVES: The children will understand God’s and Jesus’ compassion.

The children will grow in understanding that Jesus did not his own work,

but God’s.

The children will be able to retell the story of this miracle of Jesus.

CONCEPT: Define “miracle” for children (miracle - a wonderful event which shows us the power of God, or an especially vivid moment when as a result of an unexpected and surprising event, one becomes aware of the presence and power or God at work).

The children will enjoy the movie and the snack and visually see the “miracle” as well as hearing the story. For visual learners, this is a very concrete way to relate a difficult story from Luke.

PROCEDURE:

1. Welcome the kids. Open the time with prayer. In your prayer, thank Godfor each person gathered there and ask God to open your ears and eyes that you might all see/hear/experience God’s awesome power. If you are not comfortable using your own prayer, find one in a resource book in library, ask someone to write one for you to use.

2. Make sure you know each child’s name and use their names when speaking with them. You may want to have each child introduce themselves in a game appropriate for HOLYWOOD.

For example: Hi, my name is ______________and my favorite TV character is _____________.

3. Introduce the bible lesson. You may choose to tell the story, read the scripture from your bible, have kids find bible passage and you read it, have kids find it and volunteer to read it, have it written on scroll and read it, have it printed out in large print for all to read together - you choose how you feel is best for you and your teaching style. What method best suits the story? How old are the kids? You will probably need two different versions/styles - one for younger kids and one for older kids.

Whatever method of introducing the bible lesson you choose, it is recommended that you use either the New Revised Standard Version or Contemporary English Version.

4. Go over theater behavior. How do we act at the movies? What do we like to eat at the movies? Devise best method for handing out popcorn. (small bags filled with individual portions, reusable plastic containers that can be filled and washed, paper cups filled with popcorn..) You may have time to have kids watch you make popcorn and pop it, or you may not! It depends on what sort of popcorn machine we have and how long it takes. This will need to be worked out once we have the equipment in house!

5. Show the video ‘Miracles of Jesus’ video from Nest Entertainment - the portion that has this story. You will need to preview the video and have it preset to this story.

6. Discuss the video. Ask questions like the ones below. Be sure to include both fact recall type questions and questions that ask the kids what they think (higher level thinking type questions). There are no “right” answers to those questions, but there are to most fact recall questions.

a. What was wrong with the boy? (fact - he was convulsing and foaming)

b. Who had the father asked to help him first? (fact -Jesus’ disciples)

c. What did Jesus do to heal the boy? (fact - rebuked the demon)

d. Sequence questions - What happened first, what happened next, last, etc.

e. How do you think the father felt when Jesus gave him his son? (higher level)

f. Do miracles happen today? (This one could be tricky!)

Questions will need to be tailored to the age of children you will have. More fact recall questions for younger kids and more higher level thinking questions for older kids. HOWEVER, be sure to ask each group BOTH types of questions. You will need to preview the video section on the healing of the crippled boy to write the best fact recall questions.

7. Review the memory verse and point out how it states “at the greatness of God”. Remind kids that Jesus was doing God’s work. Jesus was special in that Jesus shows us what God is like and what God wants us to do. We are called to take our example from Jesus and do God’s work.

8. Clean up popcorn containers and have kids pick up popcorn that might be on the floor.

9. Have kids put either a stamp from your workshop, a sticker or a small item (popcorn kernel?) in their journal to help them remember where they went and what the workshop was about. This is to help them when they do their journal writing at the end of the day.

CLOSING:

Close with a prayer. For example: Loving God, we thank you for stories of Jesus, for his teaching and ministry. We especially thank you that Jesus is our savior. Help us to learn more about You and your son and to practice being a follower of Jesus in our daily lives. Amen.

You might also want to close with the memory verse or have kids state something that makes them “astounded at the greatness of God.” For example, a sunset, a very happy occasion in their lives, beautiful snow scenes, nights together with their families, etc.

TEACHER PREP IN ADVANCE:

1. Preview video and have it at right place for this particular story.

2. Figure out how popcorn machine works and how you want to handle making popcorn (ahead of time, with kids’ help, have kids watching and smelling, etc.) and handing out popcorn.

3. Write opening prayer or “get” one you like.

4. Decide how you want to present the bible lesson and practice whatever method you choose. Practice telling the story and get any props you might wish to use (nothing to elaborate for props!)

5. Write questions for discussion. Be sure to include both fact recall questions and “thinking” questions. Be prepared to answer questions kids might have. For example, why was the boy sick? Why didn’t they take him to a doctor? What sort of demon did he have? What is a demon?

(Be careful talking about demons - we don’t want nightmares. If kids ask, answer in a simple way - Joan will address this in her Sunday School class to help you prepare for VBS.)

6. Decide what you want to use to ‘mark’ kids’ journals. This sticker/stamp/item is to help them remember what they saw, did, learned in your workshop to help them at journal writing at the end of the day. It is NOT to be a craft they do, just a small item you have for them to place in their Daily Journal to encourage them to respond to what they have experienced.

7. Decide how you want to close. Have prayer written - are you going to read it, have kids read it together, one kid read, etc. What if you have extra time? Are there other activities you could do? (develop a cross word puzzle about story, do word search using words from story, replay part of the video to help kids answer hard questions, etc.

MATERIALS:

*Video - “Miracles of Jesus” from Nest Entertainment (can order on Internet for 19.95 + shipping)

*Popcorn supplies

*Item for journals

*Possible puzzle sheet or activity for extra time (see attached)

REFERENCES:

“Jesus’ Miracles”, J. Nowak, Memorial Presbyterian Church, Xenia, OH