Peter’s Denial
February 6 – March 6, 2005
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:
Ø Jesus’ prophecies always come true.
Ø We may deny our faith in Jesus, but Jesus is always faithful to us.
Ø Like Peter, we recognize our mistakes.
Ø It is better to be a follower who fails than one who fails to follow.
Ø Even though we all make mistakes, we can still do great things to honor God.
Objectives:
In the Good News Lesson we hope to:
Procedure:
Welcome and
Introductions:
Wear your nametag. Make sure the children are wearing nametags. If not, ask the shepherd to supply a temporary badge. Remember you are interacting with a different group of students each week that may not know you. Remember to that if you need the shepherds to assist you in any way do not be afraid to ask, that is why they are present with the class.
If you are going to be Peter – be dressed in a robe with sandals and/or introduce the Peter to the class that is dressed appropriately. Peter should sit on a large pillow crossed legged. The rest of the class should sit on pillows/blankets in a horse shoe shape around him.
Scripture/Bible
Story:
1. Ask them stand and
bow their heads for prayer. [Dear
Lord, who is with us everywhere we go, we thank you for your love. We pray this
morning you will help us to better understand your word and to pay attention to
what is right and wrong. Please forgive
us when we do not always obey. Amen.]
2.
Have them remain standing and say the memory
verse. (You may want to have the verse
on poster board.)
3. Once seated have them open their Bibles to
the Scripture. Ask the children to volunteer/assist in reading the
scriptures. It is not necessary to have
all children to read. If you want to
read and have them to follow along, that is your choice. Matthew
26: 32-35 (is the only scripture to
read aloud – the rest will be covered during the “interview”)
Application:
After the scripture ask the children if the know what “denial” means. Explain that in this case it means that Peter lied and said he didn’t know Jesus. Next introduce Peter once again – here is one of the 12 disciples that traveled with Jesus for the three years that he preached and ministered to children, women and men. Peter was later given the name the ROCK of the church. Meaning he was a solid foundation for the church – the church where Christians study and follow Jesus’ teachings. Each of you will be given questions to ask Peter. When you ask your question – stand, say your name and ask your question. Sit down before Peter begins his answer.
For the younger children – you may want the Shepherd(s) to assist with their reading of the questions – so they may need to go stand by the Shepherd prior to asking the question. I think all questions are necessary for all grade levels.
Provide Peter with a basket containing small rocks. After the interview – he will give each child a rock – explaining once again that he was very ashamed of how he treated Jesus the last hours of his life, but that he was forgiven and that he did continue the ministry as stated earlier. He is proud of the fact that his name became known as the Rock of the Church – a solid foundation for our faith having a place to grow.
Questions with responses are at the end of the lesson for Peter to have prior to the session. Peter needs to “act” like he was proud that he would not deny Jesus, ashamed that he did and how he later was forgiven.
Reflection Time:
Distribute the journal page making sure there are copies for each child. The Shepherd will provide pens or pencils. By 10:45 close with a prayer.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for always telling the truth. Help us all to be more like you in always telling the truth about you and Jesus. Amen.
Tidy and Dismissal: Ask children to help tidy up – replacing the pillows/blankets in the storage area where the Praising Puppets are.
Teacher preparation in advance:
1.
Read the
scripture passages and attend the Faith Quest Leaders Bible Study.
2.
Prepare
a closing prayer for your lesson.
3.
Find a
“Peter” if you do not want to be Peter and provide them with the interview
questions.
4.
Purchase
a bag of small stones to provide each child.
Suggested Supply List
Ø
Poster
paper with Bible memory verse
Ø
Small
basket for the stones that Peter will provide each child
Ø
Costume
for Peter – robe, sandals large pillow to sit on
Ø
Copy the
questions for the children, cut them out so that you can provide each child
with one or two questions – depending on the size of the class.
Ø
Pillows
for children are located in Praising Puppets room.
Reference:
Lori Houck, Kirk Faith Quest Bible Study Leader
Children’s Illustrated Bible by Parker and Dyson
Interviewing Peter – The Rock of the
Christian Church
10. Was this the first time you were ever ashamed of knowing Jesus or being with Jesus?
Interviewing Peter – The Rock of the Christian Church
1. Could you tell us once again Peter, why was Jesus arrested?
He was accused of
treason – not following the laws of the people, instead of God. One word used was blasphemy – because he said
he was the son of God – he did not deny the claim that he was the Messiah.
2. Why did you all go to a garden at night?
Jesus taught us to
pray – to pray in quiet places. We all
went to the garden to pray. We were to
keep watch because Jesus knew soldiers were looking for him.
3. When you were walking behind the soldiers who had arrested Jesus – what was going on with the rest of the crowd?
Unfortunately the
disciples began to slip away into the darkness.
Others just walked behind the small group on the way to the high priest
house. We were quiet because the guards
had spears and we were afraid we would be hurt.
4. How did you feel being left out in the night when they closed the gate to the high priest house?
I was scared, because
I did not know anyone in the court yard.
The other disciples were gone, locked out when the gate closed. I used my cloak and covered my head so no one
would recognize me. I was very nervous.
5. Who accused you of being a disciple?
I was getting cold so
I moved toward the fire – and a maid saw my face and said that I was one of the
prisoner’s followers! It made me jump
out of my skin. What would happen to
me….
6. How did you feel when you denied Jesus the first time?
My heart was beating
so fast and loud I knew the others could hear it! I yelled – Of course not, I don’t know that
man in there!
7. Why did you deny Jesus the second time, when earlier had said you would die to protect him?
I moved away from the
fire and hide in the shadows – not knowing what was going to happen next. As I sat down and began to shiver in the cold
dark night another woman came over and looked me in the face and said yes, you
do know him. She yelled at the group and
told them I was with the man of
I stood up and yelled
at all of them - No; I was never with him, this man called Jesus!
8. When you heard the rooster crow, what did you do?
It was beginning to get a little lighter as the sun began to come up
and a man walked over and said you have a different accent – you don’t talk
like we do. You speak like a Galilean –
that is where Jesus grew up and we are told he took his disciples from that
land. You must be one of his followers. I was so afraid – I lost my temper and yelled
no, I do not know this man and at that moment the rooster crowed. I felt like my heart had been ripped out.
9. Did you realize you had done wrong when the rooster crowed?
Yes, I knew I had done
wrong. I felt so alone, so bad and so
ashamed. I had promised Jesus I would
not deny him and I had done so three times – just like he said. I ran out of the court yard crying and asking
for forgiveness.
10. Was this the first time you were ever ashamed of knowing Jesus or being with Jesus?
Yes, this is the first
and only time I was ever ashamed to know Jesus.
As I worked with him and the other disciples I never felt afraid or
lost. It is the same with you all – as
long as you are with people who love you, know you and have the same beliefs as
you do – we feel safe and strong. BUT we
need to remember that Jesus is with us all the time. He is in the heart of every believer.
11. What should we do when others make us feel ashamed of trying to be more like Jesus in our every day lives?
Pause for a moment and
say a prayer that you can do what is right. Never be ashamed for loving Jesus the son of
God. Ask your parents for help if you
need more courage – they can pray with you and suggest how you might react.
12. What should we do if we have made fun of or accused others of wrong things?
We are all different –
we are all loved by Jesus – and we should never make fun of others because they
are different than we are. If you have
made fun of or caused someone to feel hurt – you should apologize to that
person and ask for forgiveness.
13. How did Jesus know you would deny him before morning?
God knows
everything. We are weak and must always
remember that we can do nothing by ourselves without the help of others and
particularly Jesus.
14. Why did the people say you spoke with an accent? Didn’t all of you talk the same?
No, we had different
ways of saying things and our accents were not all the same. Just like today – you all don’t talk the
same.
15. How were you forgiven of this wrong, denying Jesus?
I knew I had done
wrong – I asked for Jesus to forgive me.
When anyone sincerely asks for forgiveness they are forgiven. After Jesus was crucified – I continued
sharing his word, his lessons and helped to create churches all over the
counties that existed at the that time.
To remind them that Peter is called the rock of the church and that our
faith in Jesus makes us stronger – give each child a stone as a reminder.