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.
Scripture:
Luke 22: 7-23 and Mark 14: 12-26
Key Verse: "Do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19
Concepts:
1. Communion
is giving thanks to God, remembering Jesus, and letting God's spirit make us strong.
2. The Last
Supper was a Passover meal in Jerusalem before the crucifixion.
3. The bread
and wine are special symbols and we treat them with respect.
Objectives:
1. Learn where to find the story of
the Last Supper in the Bible.
2. Learn the historical facts of the
Last Supper as recorded in Luke.
3. Relate the biblical account to how
we celebrate Communion today.
Procedure:
1. As the children come in the door, count
them off by color -- Red, Orange, Green and Purple -- and have them go to the area of the
room that is designated with their color.
2. Introduce yourself and make sure that
everyone is wearing a name tag, including you. Extra name tags can be found in the plastic
bin for your workshop or in the Shepherd’s bag.
3. Open with a brief prayer.
Scripture/Bible Story:
1. The
first-graders will not use Bibles, but do open yours to show them the story is in there.
For grades 2-5, make sure everybody has a Bible. There are extra Bibles in the cupboard of
Creation Station. Help the students to find
the book of Luke. (Get the shepherds to go around the room and help with this.)
If necessary, review the organization
of the Bible: The Bible is divided into two big parts, the Old and New Testaments. Each
part is made up of books, which are divided into chapters and verses. Old Testament books
were written before Jesus, New Testament after Jesus. The first four books of New
Testament are the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, which tell about Jesus’ life.
Show them that if they open their
Bible in the middle, they’ll usually land in the book of Psalms in the OT. Point out
that the book name is at the top of each page. After finding Psalms, if they then take the
pages on the right side and divide them in half, they’ll land somewhere near the
beginning of the New Testament. From there, they can find Luke.
After they’ve found the book of
Luke, help them find chapter 22, verses 7-23, and tell them this is where the story of the
Last Supper is told in the Bible. Some of the younger children will confuse chapters and
verses. Show them that chapter numbers are the big ones, and also are at top of every
page.
Review the story, using this summary
as a guide. Tell them they’ll need to remember the details in order to play a game
afterwards. With grades 3-5, emphasize the boldface words. Unless this is the first Sunday
of the rotation, let the children help you tell the story. This will give you an idea of
how much they already know.
Jesus and his disciples were in Jerusalem during the time that the Jews celebrated
the Passover. The Passover was a special meal when the Jews gave thanks for the time hundreds of years earlier when
their ancestors, the Israelites, escaped from slavery in Egypt.
Jesus sent Peter and John to make preparations for the group
to eat the Passover.
Jesus told
them, "As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him
to the house that he enters. Say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher wants to
know, where is your guest room, where he can eat the Passover with his disciples?'
“The owner of the house will show you a large upstairs
room, all furnished. Make preparations there." (Have you heard of “the Upper
Room”? That’s the room where the Last Supper happened.)
Peter and
John left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they got the Passover meal
ready.
On the evening of the Passover, Jesus and his disciples
gathered at the table and Jesus said to them,
"I have really been wanting to eat this Passover meal with you, because soon it will
be time for me to suffer, and this is the
last Passover I will eat until the Kingdom of God comes."
Then he took
a cup of wine,
gave a prayer of thanks for it, and told the
disciples, “Share this among yourselves,
because I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God comes."
Then Jesus
took a loaf of bread, gave thanks, and broke it into pieces, gave it to the disciples
and said, "This is my body given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me."
Then after
the supper he took the cup of wine and said, "This wine is a symbol of my blood, which is poured out for you. It represents
the new covenant.” (Remind them that they
learned from the Noah story that a covenant is a promise. The new promise is that God will
forgive our sins.)
Grades 3-5: (If you are pressed for time, skip
this and come back to it at the end of the session if you have time.) After reviewing the
story, play a few rounds of "who can find the passage first" to practice looking
up passages and also to show them where in the other gospels the story is told. Call out
verses for the students to search and read when they find them -- do this in pairs if you
wish. Have them close their Bibles between turns. Suggested verses: Luke 22:19; Luke 22:
20; Mark 14: 22; Mark 14:23; Matthew 26: 26; Matthew 26: 27-28.
Application:
1. The
children are already divided into four teams, named for the four colors on the buzzer box
– Red, Orange, Green, Purple. Have either four (one from each team) or eight players
(two from each team) gather around a table with the buzzer box in the middle (One of the
round tables from the main room is good for this). Each player holds a buzzer (the buzzer
wires are color-coded; players on the same team hold the same color wire).
2. Grades 1-2: Explain that you will call out a
question and players who think they know the answer should press their buzzer. The first
to buzz gets to give the answer.
Grades 3-5: Explain that you will call out a
clue to remind them of a word or phrase in the story (or related to the story). Most of
the clues are one or two words – not definitions but just reminders of a word or
phrase from the story. Players who think they know the word should press their buzzer. The
first to buzz gets to give the answer.
After several questions, switch to the next group of players. Make sure everybody gets to
play.
3.
Scoring: Ask the shepherd to keep
score on the white board. Award 5 points for a correct answer. No points for a wrong
answer; let anyone who knows the correct answer tell it. (You can use a different scoring
system if you prefer, but keep it simple.)
4. Tips: Try not to let one knowledgeable or fast-fingered child dominate the game. Rotating the players usually takes care of the problem, but you might run into a team that doesn’t want to rotate, wanting the sharpest member to play the whole time. In this case you might announce that anybody who answers three questions in a row will be retired as permanent champion to give everybody else a chance to compete. (You might as well make this announcement in the beginning when you have fifth-graders). Also, don’t let non-playing team members help the players; this in effect lets the fast kid answer by proxy.
Be sure they know the answer before buzzing. If
they are buzzing and then taking too long to think of the answer, use the timer in the
supply bin and give 5 seconds to answer after buzzing (this has not been a problem in the
past).
You might have to adjust the game as you go along. If it turns out that eight players make
the game chaotic, try letting just four play at a time. We’ve never tried a
word-guessing game, so we’ll be asking for feedback. With the older kids, be ready to
switch to the straight questions if the clue format isn’t working.
Note: When the buzzer system was used
for the first time, first-graders had difficulty with the mechanics of operating it –
they especially got confused about turning off the sound. It may be that with experience
they gain proficiency, or it may be that they’re just too young to get it. If
you’re willing to try the buzzers with them, please do and let us know how it goes;
it will help us in planning future workshops. If you’d rather not tackle using
buzzers with first-graders, you can just divide them into two teams and alternate asking
questions of each team. Let children take turns answering. (Or you might have a better
idea! Feel free to devise your own game for them.)
At the end of the lesson plan
you’ll find a list of words and potential clues, and a list of questions. Feel free
to improve the clues, add to the word list, and/or make up more questions. If you have the
younger kids early in the rotation, you might ask the questions in the order given to
reinforce the sequence of events. If it’s later in the rotation, they might know the
story well enough to mix the questions up.
Wrap-up:
1. Gather
on the floor and recite the Bible memory verse. "Do this in remembrance of me.”
2. Discuss: Jesus said “do this in remembrance
of me.” How do we do that today? (Communion service). What things do we have in the
Communion service that were also in the Last Supper? (bread, “wine,” cup,
table). What do we do to the bread? (The minister breaks it and the people share it). What
does the bread represent? (Jesus’ body. Remind them that at the Kirk as we pass the
bread, we say, “The body of Christ, broken for you.”) What does the wine
represent? (Jesus’ blood. As we pass the grape juice, we say, “The blood of
Christ, shed for you.”) Why do we have symbols for Jesus’ body and blood? (To
remember that Jesus died for us.) The bread and
wine are special symbols and we treat them with respect. (That means not treating them
just like any old snack, and not running into the kitchen after the service and gobbling
the leftovers.)
What was the first thing Jesus did when he picked up the bread? (Gave thanks to God.)
In our Communion service, we also thank God, not just for the bread but for all God’s
love and care. We also ask for God's spirit to be with us and make us strong. Communion is giving thanks to God, remembering Jesus, and letting God's spirit make
us strong.
Different churches have different rules for who can take the bread and wine in
Communion. Who can take the bread and wine in our Communion service? (In the Presbyterian
Church, anyone who has been baptized is welcome to take communion.) What if you were
baptized in another church? (You can still take Communion in the Presbyterian Church.)
What if you visit another church? (Find out from your parents or members of that church
what their rules are.) What if your parents say you’re too young to take communion?
(That’s OK too. In some families, the children wait until they’ve finished
confirmation class when they’re in eighth grade.
We have a special word for Communion and Baptism. Do you know what it is? (sacraments).
The word sacrament is related to the word “sacred,” which means holy and
set-apart. A sacrament is a special ceremony.
It reminds us that God is with us, and we celebrate it because Jesus told us to. Communion
is a sacrament because Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” (The other
sacrament is baptism; Jesus said to go and make disciples of people all over the world and
baptize them.)
Reflection Time:
Have the
shepherds pass out the journals. Optional: Give the children a sticker appropriate
to the story, or some other memento to put in their journals. Grades 3-5: Ask the children
to think about remembering Jesus and to write down five or more things they remember about
Jesus. Grades 1-2: Ask the children to write or draw a picture of something they remember
about Jesus.
Closing:
Prayer – Close with prayer. Suggestion: Use a
litany. (Explain what a litany is. Where have they heard a litany before? worship). Tell
the children that you will say something that we want to thank God for, and when you
pause, they are to say, “Thank you, God.” The shepherds can help them come in at
the appropriate time.
For all of
your love and care for us...
Thank
you, God.
For the Communion service, which gives us a special way to remember Jesus...
Thank
you, God.
For the new covenant, the promise that you will forgive our sins...
Thank
you, God.
For your spirit, which guides us and helps us.
Thank
you, God.
Amen.
Tidy and Dismissal – Ask the children for help with collecting extra Bibles and any other clean-up needed. The Shepherd should collect name-tags and journals.
Note: I find that the kids participate better if they get little rewards along the way. Skittles are highly motivating for some reason. For example, give them a Skittle for bringing their Bible, for finding the Bible passage, for answering a question in the game, to everybody when their turn is over (whether they buzzed or not), for participating in discussion, for writing in their journals, a Skittle to everybody on the way out the door, etc. You might have several small jars of Skittles on hand and put the shepherds in charge of distribution. (Better check with shepherds and make sure nobody is diabetic!) – Robin Morris
Teacher preparation in advance:
1. Read the Scripture to familiarize
yourself with the details of the story. Be sure you know the meaning of unusual words.
2. Make four small signs saying Red,
Green, Purple, Orange. Have questions for the game ready. You can read them off the sheet
or put them on index cards for easy mixing.
3. Check out the buzzer system BEFORE your
first Sunday.
4. Optional: Bring a CD or taped
music for background music while you are gathering, meditative music for Reflection time.
A boom box is located in the Puppet workshop cabinet. Please put away all supplies at the
end of your workshop.
You might post a map of Jerusalem in the room and point it out to the kids while reviewing
the story (but tell them we don’t know where in Jerusalem the Upper Room was).
5. Prepare an opening/closing prayer. Ask for prayer concerns.
Materials:
Extra Bibles
for those who don’t bring theirs.
Buzzer
system, Timer
Dry-erase
marker
Stickers or
other mementos for journals (optional)
Skittles
(optional)
Extra Activity:
If you have
a few minutes to fill at the end of class, use it for more practice finding Bible
passages. Or, have copies of a crossword puzzle ready to hand out to kids who finish their
journals early. You can also give the crossword to them to take home.
Words for game (possible clues in
parentheses)
TABLE (furniture )
DISCIPLES (followers, apostles)
PASSOVER (thanksgiving meal)
ISRAELITES (ancestors)
JERUSALEM (city)
KINGDOM of GOD (time of Jesus’
next Passover meal)
CUP (what held the wine)
WINE (what was in cup)
SHARE (divide)
BREAD (food)
BROKE (What Jesus did to bread)
BODY (what bread symbolizes)
REMEMBRANCE (memory)
COVENANT (promise)
BLOOD (Wine is a symbol of...)
DRINK (done to wine)
SUFFER (what Jesus expected to do soon)
EVENING (time of day)
SLAVERY (what Israelites escaped )
EGYPT (place Israelites escaped )
JESUS (whom we remember)
EAT (done to bread)
CELEBRATION (happy ceremony)
THANKS (prayer)
COMMUNION (Lord’s Supper today)
PETER AND JOHN (meal preparers)
UPSTAIRS (where room was)
SUFFER (what Jesus expected to do)
Questions (younger children)
The Last Supper was a special meal What
was it called?
Passover
Which disciples prepared the Passover
meal?
Peter
and John
Where in the house was the room
Upstairs
What did the Jews give thanks for at
Passover?
Their ancestors’ escape from
slavery in Egypt
In what city did the Last Supper take
place?
Jerusalem
What time of day was the Last Supper?
Evening
What kind of furniture did Jesus and
the disciples use at the Last Supper?
a table (and we use a table today in
our communion service)
Who was at the Last Supper?
Jesus and the 12 disciples
When did Jesus say he would eat his
next Passover meal?
When the Kingdom of God comes
What did Jesus say he would do soon?
Suffer
What kind of prayers did Jesus say
during the meal?
Thanks
What was in the cup?
Wine
What did Jesus tell the disciples to do
with the wine?
Share it, divide it among themselves
What kind of food is mentioned in the
story?
Bread
What did Jesus do to the bread?
Broke it into pieces and gave it to
the disciples
What did Jesus say the bread was a
symbol of?
His
body
What did Jesus say the wine was symbol
of?
His blood, or the new covenant
What is a covenant?
A
promise
What is the new covenant?
God’s promise that our sins will
be forgiven
Finish this verse: Do this in...
Remembrance of me (or memory of me)
What do we remember when we celebrate
the Lord’s Supper in church?
Jesus, Jesus’s death
What is another name for the
Lord’s Supper today?
Communion