FAITH QUEST
The Last Supper (Revised)
March 12-April 9, 2006
Creation Station
Scripture: Luke 22:7-23 or Mark:14:12-26
Key Scripture Verses: Luke
22:19-20 “Jesus took some bread in his
hands and gave thanks for it. He broke
the bread and handed it to his apostles.
Then he said, ‘ This is my body which is given for you. Eat this as a way of remembering me.’ After the meal he took another cup of wine in
his hands. Then he said, ‘This is my
blood. It is poured out for you.’” (Contemporary English Version)
Memory Verse: Luke 22:19 Jesus said, “Do this
in remembrance of me.” (NIV)
Offering: One Great
Hour
Concepts:
·
Jesus taught us
to celebrate the Lord’s Supper and wants us to do it to remember him.
·
The Holy Spirit
is with us in Communion.
·
Celebrating
Communion is one way to give thanks to God..
·
We treat the
bread and wine with respect because they are special symbols of God’s love.
Objectives:
1. Learn that Jesus first
thanked God and then shared the bread and wine.
2. Understand that the bread
and wine are symbols of the body and blood of Jesus.
3. Recognize that Jesus used
this meal to help us to remember him.
4. Children will create a stained glass picture
of the Communion elements.
Procedure:
Welcome and Introductions:
1. Welcome the children and introduce
yourself. Wear your name tag. Make sure
that everyone is in the right classroom!
Children will either already have name tags on, or will get a name tag
from their shepherd. Make sure that you know everyone’s name and greet the
students individually. Remember you are interacting with a different group of
students each week that may not know you.
2. Start the “lesson time”
with prayer. Perhaps: Spirit of Jesus, be with us as we learn more about the
meaning of your words. Amen.
Bible Lesson:
1. Today’s story takes place on the Thursday
after Palm Sunday. Jesus was with his
apostles for a Passover meal in
2. Jesus knew that this supper would be his last
meal with his close friends. Many of
these friends had been traveling with him learning and teaching God’s word for
the past three years. Jesus knew that he
was going to be betrayed by Judas, who was there at the meal. He knew that by the next night his body would
be put on a cross and he would be dead and buried. He also knew that through God’s power, he
would come alive again on Easter Sunday.
He was sad, but he didn’t cry or yell at Judas. Instead, he used the bread and the wine from
the meal to remind his disciples about who he was and how he should be
remembered. Today, churches all over the
world remember Jesus at this meal as they celebrate Communion. They use Jesus’ same words as they pass out
bread and wine or grape juice. Wine is
made from grapes, so either drink is used.
When these elements are shared, they are no longer just food and
drink. They become a symbol of Jesus’
life and teachings and a reminder of the presence of the Holy Spirit. They also become a way for us to thank God
for sending Jesus.
3. Can you picture Jesus and his friends at this
last meal? They were in an upstairs
room, most likely sitting on cushions on the floor. A low table would have been spread with the
special foods, arranged on clay dishes.
The wine was probably in a clay pitcher and people drank it from clay
cups that did not have stems or handles.
The bread would have been flat or unleavened to remember the people
escaping from
4. But, the
important thing about Communion is not to copy it exactly, but to receive the
spirit of God by listening to Jesus’ words while receiving the bread and grape
juice. These words from your Bibles
describe the event: “Jesus took some bread in his hands and gave thanks for
it. He broke the bread and handed it to
his apostles. Then he said, ‘ This is my
body which is given for you. Eat this as
a way of remembering me.’ After the meal
he took another cup of wine in his hands.
Then he said, ‘This is my blood.
It is poured out for you.’”
Application:
1. Create!
READ the Bible lesson (1-4 above) with expression.
2. Tell the children that they will create a
picture of the Communion elements imitating the stained glass technique. Show them reproductions of stained glass
windows. Note how the windows are
divided into a grid with metal bars for strength. Within each grid section, pieces of colored
glass are held together with thinner pieces of metal. Point out the arrangement of clay dishes, grapes
and bread. Ask the children to study the
arrangement so that they can include all that is necessary in a picture of
Communion.
3. Have children put on smocks and tell them
that because they will be using permanent markers they should be careful not to
mark their clothes. Pass out pieces of
transparent film and markers.
Steps: Use black to draw outlines
of the elements. Pretend that the lines
are strips of metal that hold the glass together (It would be more authentic if
they draw a simple grid, but this is not essential). Fill colors in after these outlines are
completed. Yellow or brown can be used
for the bread and clay, red or purple for the grapes. Blue or green would make a nice background.
4. Clean up!
Involve everyone in cleaning up so that you will have time to share
together in the closing. You may want to have a pre-arranged signal for clean
up and tell them at beginning of art project what that will be - perhaps giving
them a 5 minute warning and then the final clean up notice to allow those who
need a bit more warning that they need to complete whatever they are working
on.
5. Turn out lights and lock the classroom door
when leaving.
Reflection Time:
1. Ask the shepherds to pass out journal pages
and pencils/markers. The children should
spend a few minutes reflecting upon the morning's lesson – Before Jesus shared
the bread, what did he do? Why did Jesus
share the bread and wine in this way on that night? What does the bread stand for? What does the wine represent? The Communion service is a formal way for
people to gather together to remember Jesus.
In our every day lives, what other things do we remember about
Jesus?
2. At 10:40 ask the kids to put away their
pencils/markers and prepare for the closing prayer.
Closing:
1. Encourage the children to show their “window”
and share their thoughts about what Jesus means to them.
2. Tell them where their Pennies will be
given.
3. Say the Key Memory Verse together (see
above). You may want to have this verse printed on a banner and hung in the
room, write it on the white board in the room, or have it on slips of paper
that each child can take home.
4. Pray! Ask the children if they have any
prayer requests. Prayer (suggestion):
Lord Jesus, who gave your life so that we may know God better, thank you for
teaching us how to celebrate your memory in the Communion service. Be with us during the week reminding us to
share our love with others as you do with us.
Amen
Teacher preparation in advance:
1. Read the scripture passage
and attend the Faith Quest Leaders Workshop.
2. Practice reading the Bible story (above) with
expression.
3. Prepare an opening prayer in case nobody
volunteers to pray.
4. Experiment with what the children will be
doing.
5. Set up the display. Prepare all the materials you will need for
the creation process. Have the materials
ready to go. There will be limited time
for the creation process, so do everything you can to conserve time.
6. Decide how you want to close the lesson. Prepare a prayer, ask for suggestions, or use
suggestion provided.
Materials:
Props – plain clay pitcher,
plate and cup (possibly borrow Communion pieces from
Worship Committee)
Dark pita bread
Red grapes on stem – real or
artificial
8 x 10 transparent film (type
used for overhead projection will work) – may be halved
Permanent markers – Sharpie
and broader ones
Examples of stained glass
windows (supplied in office file)