Scripture:
Matthew 26:31-35 and 57-75
Memory
Verse:
“All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s
glory.” Romans 3:23 CEV
Offering: One Great Hour
of Sharing
Concepts:
Objectives:
1. Older children will locate the story of Peter’s denial
in their Bibles. Younger children will learn that the story is in Matthew.
2. The children will play a game to reinforce their
knowledge of the details of the story.
3. The class will discuss the story in light of the
concepts above.
Procedure:
Welcome and Introductions:
1. Greet the children and introduce yourself. Wear your name-tag. Make sure the children
are wearing name-tags. If not, ask the shepherd to supply a temporary badge.
Remember you are interacting with a different group of students each week who
may not know you.
2.
Open with a brief
prayer (optional, as they have just prayed in Great Hall).
3. Explain the purpose of this workshop. Today we’re going to play a game that will
show how well you know the story of Peter’s denial.
Scripture/Bible Story:
1.
Grades 1-2 will
not use Bibles, but do open yours to show them where the story is. For grades
3-5, make sure everybody has a Bible. Help the students to find the book of Matthew.
(Get the shepherds to go around the room and help with this.)
After
they’ve found Matthew, help them find chapter 26, then verses 31-35 and 57-75. Some
of the children will confuse chapters and verses. Show them that chapter
numbers are the big ones, and also are at top of every page.
3.
Read the story from
the CEV or review it using the summary below as a guide. Either way, be
dramatic! 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. Other ideas for reviewing the story in later weeks:
Grades 3-5:
After reviewing the story, play a few rounds of "who can find the passage
first." Call out verses for the students to search and read when they find
them -- do this in pairs if you wish. Suggestions:
The
other gospel accounts of Peter’s denial: Mark
14.27-31, Luke 22.31-34, John 13.36-38.
The
scripture Jesus quotes: Zechariah 13:7
Story Summary
After Jesus and his disciples had the Last
Supper, Jesus said to his disciples, "This very night, all of you will
reject me. The Scriptures say, `I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep
will be scattered.' (Ask the class: Who
is the shepherd? Who are the sheep? ) But after I am raised to life, I will
go to
Peter spoke up, "Even if all the others
reject you, I never will!"
Jesus answered, "I promise you that
before a rooster crows tonight, you will say three times that you don't know
me."
But Peter said, "Even if I have to die
with you, I will never say I don't know you." All the others said the same thing.
Later that night, Jesus was arrested, and was taken to the house of
Caiaphas the high priest. The nation's leaders and the teachers of the Law of
Moses were meeting there. Peter followed along at a distance and went into the
courtyard of the high priest's palace. He sat down with the guards and waited to
see what was going to happen.
While Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, a servant girl came up to
him and said, "You were with Jesus from
But Peter said, "That isn't so! I don't know what you are talking
about!"
Then Peter went out to the gate, where another servant girl saw him and
said to some people there, "This man was with Jesus from
Again Peter denied it, and this time he swore, "I don't even know
that man!"
A little while later some people standing there walked over to Peter
and said, "We know that you are one of them, because you talk like someone
from
Peter began to curse and swear, "I don't know that man!"
Right then a rooster crowed, and Peter remembered that Jesus had said,
"Before a rooster crows, you will say three times that you don't know
me." Then Peter went out and cried.
Application:
1.
Divide the class into several teams of three to five players (you might
call them the Priests, the Guards, the Disciples, etc.). The teams will take
turns spinning the game wheel and answering questions about the scripture. Have
the shepherd keep score on the white board.
2.
Line the teams up and let the first person in line for the team spin and
answer a question. Let him consult his team if needed, but he is the only one
who can give the answer. If he answers correctly, award his team the number of
points he spun for. No points for a wrong answer.
Grades 1-2: Use the multiple-choice
answers provided with the questions.
Grades 3-5: Give the team a chance to
answer the question, but offer multiple choices if they’re stumped.
3.
After his turn, the player goes to the end of his team’s line. Go to the
next team and continue until everyone has had a turn. Use the answers to
emphasize the concepts at the beginning of the lesson plan.
4. Alternatives:
Reflection Time: (10:30)
Gather the children into a
circle and discuss:
Who did Jesus predict would
deny knowing him? All the disciples, not
just Peter. Well, we’re disciples of Jesus, too, so I wonder what that
means for us? It means that Jesus knows we
will sometimes fail him, too. But he will never fail us.
I wonder why Peter denied
knowing Jesus? He was afraid of what would happen to him. We don’t put our lives
at risk by following Jesus. Is it ever scary for us to follow Jesus? Sometimes
it takes courage to be different from others around you.
What are some ways in which
we deny Jesus? Going along with a group
that is doing something wrong, worrying about what others think instead of what
Jesus would want us to do, being too embarrassed to invite a friend to church,
not helping someone who needs help, doing things that hurt someone
else…..accept all answers.
Do you think it’s strange
that Peter didn’t realize what he’d done until he heard the rooster crow? Have
you ever done something and only realized later that it was wrong? How did
Peter feel when that happened to him? Terrible,
he went out and cried.
The good news is that’s not
the end of Peter’s story. He went on to be a leader of the early church and
spread the word of Jesus to many places. The book of Acts tells us how he
risked his life time and again by sharing his faith in Jesus.
Let’s say the Bible memory verse: “All of us have sinned and fallen short of
God’s glory.”
So Peter failed sometimes, and we
will sometimes fail, too. But Peter recognized his mistake; what does that mean
for us? We can recognize our mistakes,
too.
After his mistake, Peter didn’t
give up; he kept trying to follow Jesus. What does that mean for us? We can keep trying to follow Jesus, too.
In spite of his mistakes, Peter did
great things to honor God. What does that mean for us? We can do great things to honor God, too.
At 10:35 a.m. pass out the journal pages and ask the shepherds to
pass out pencils/markers. Optional: Give the children a sticker or some other
memento to paste in their journal as a reminder of the workshop. Read the
prompt out loud and offer suggestions if needed. If they don’t know how to
spell a word, write it on the white board. Those who finish early can turn the
page over and do the activity on the back.
At 10:45 ask the students to close their journals and sit quietly.
Encourage the children to bring an offering next week. Remind them that
the offering from this rotation will go to One Great Hour of Sharing.
Prayer: Close with a brief prayer. Suggestion: Jesus,
we know that we will sometimes fail you. Thank you for always loving us in
spite of our mistakes. Help us to learn from our mistakes and be your faithful
disciples. Amen.
Tidy and Dismissal: Ask children to help collect papers, pencils, Bibles,
etc. When the room is tidy, dismiss the class.
Teacher preparation in
advance:
1. Read the scripture passages and attend the
Faith Quest Leaders Bible Study.
2. Prepare opening and closing prayers.
3. Room set-up (must wait until after
4. Find the small blue fold-up table, stored
behind the puppet stage. It is handy for organizing all your supplies. 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.
5.
Display the
memory verse in the room (not on the white board — you’ll need that for keeping
score).
6.
GAME WHEEL: The
game wheel is kept in the main room of the activity building. You will need to
move it into the
7. Practice reading or telling the story.
Supply List
Extra Bibles
Pencils (in supply bin; the
shepherds also have pencils)
Journal pages
Dry-erase marker (in supply
bin)
References
Storytelling ideas:
http://www.dennisdewey.org/Dennis8.htm
Questions
for Game
True or false: Jesus predicted that of all the disciples, only Peter would
reject him.
False — He predicted that all of them
would reject him.
When Jesus predicted that the disciples would reject him, he quoted
scripture. What was the scripture?
a. The shepherd will strike down the sheep, and they will
be scattered.
b.
“I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep will
be scattered.”
c. “I will strike down the sheep, and the shepherds will
be scattered.”
In the scripture, who do you think the shepherd is?
Jesus
Peter
Caiaphas
In the scripture, who are the sheep?
The guards
The teachers of the law
The disciples
True or false: Jesus said, “After I am raised to life, I will go to
False —
Which disciple objected that he would never betray Jesus?
Matthew
Peter
John
How many times did Jesus say Peter would deny knowing him?
Three
Jesus said Peter would deny him three times before what happened?
The rooster crowed.
The sun came up.
He was crucified.
Which of these statements did Peter make?
If I say I don’t know you, it will just be to keep myself out of
trouble.
Even if they put me in jail, I will never say I don’t know you.
Even if I have to die with you, I will
never say I don’t know you.
How many of the other disciples said the same thing as Peter?
All of them.
After Jesus was arrested, where was he taken?
To the house of Caiaphas, the high
priest.
To the house of Caiaphas, the Roman governor.
To the temple.
When Jesus was taken to the high priest’s house, what did Peter do?
Followed along and demanded that the guards let Jesus go.
Followed along and sat down in the
courtyard to see what would happen.
Followed along and went into the high priest’s house to see what would
happen.
Who was in the courtyard with Peter?
The guards
The other disciples
The chief priest and scribes
While Peter was sitting in the courtyard, who recognized him as being a
follower of Jesus?
One of the guards
The high priest
A servant girl
How did Peter respond?
He said, “Maybe I am and Maybe not. You can’t prove it.”
He said, “That isn’t so! I don’t know
what you are talking about!”
He said, “Yes, I was with Jesus from
Who was the second person to accuse Peter of being with Jesus?
Another servant girl
One of the guards
The high priest
What did Peter say the second time?
I wouldn’t hang out with that crazy man!
Yes, I’m with Jesus.
“I don’t even know that man!”
The third time, some people said they knew Peter was a follower of
Jesus. What was their evidence?
He looked like the people from
He talked like the people from
He dressed like the people from
How did Peter respond the third time?
He cursed and swore, “I don’t know that
man!”
He cursed and swore, “Leave me alone.”
He cursed and said, “Yes, I am with Jesus.”
After Peter denied Jesus the third time, what happened?
The rooster crowed.
The sun came up.
Jesus was sentenced to death.
What did Peter do when he heard the rooster crow?
He remembered what Jesus had said, and he went back and told the people
that he did know Jesus.
He remembered what Jesus had said, and he went home to bed.
He remembered what Jesus had said, and
he went out and cried.