Scripture: Luke 22:7-23 and Mark 14:12-26
Memory
Verse: “Jesus
said, ‘Do this in remembrance of me.’ ”
—
Luke 22:19 (NRSV)
Offering: One Great Hour
Concepts:
Objectives:
1. Older children will locate the passages in their
Bibles. Younger children will learn that the story of the Last Supper is told
in Luke, Mark, and Matthew.
2. The class
will play a game to reinforce their knowledge of events as recorded in Luke.
3. The children
will relate the biblical account to how we celebrate Communion today.
Procedure:
Welcome and Introductions: (10:00)
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’ll talk about the Last Supper and
play a game to see how well you know the story.
Scripture/Bible Story (10:05):
1.
Tell the class:
The story of the Last Supper is told in three books of the Bible: Luke, Mark
and Matthew. Today we’ll hear the story as Luke tells it.
2.
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. Extra Bibles are in the room. Help the students to find the book of Luke.
(Get the shepherds to go around the room and help with this.)
3.
If necessary,
review the organization of the Bible: The Bible is divided into two parts, the
Old and New Testaments. Each part is made up of books, which are divided into
chapters and verses. Remind them that the first four books of the NT are the
Gospels — Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. 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 in the Gospels. From there they can find Luke.
After
they’ve found Luke, help them find chapter 22, then verse 7. 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.
Tell the story
using the summary below as a guide. Be dramatic! 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,
you can 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:
Story Summary
Jesus and
his disciples were in
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.
Tell 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
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.)
Application: (10:15)
1.
Line
the children up into four lines at a table holding the buzzer box (one of the
round tables from the main room is good for this). Give the player at the head
of each line a buzzer. There are two buzzers for each color, (red, orange,
green, purple) and all 8 must be plugged in, but make sure only one buzzer of
each color is used.
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. If you don’t know who buzzed first, look for the color
with both lights on.
See end of lesson
plan for questions; feel free to add some of your own. Early in the rotation,
ask the questions in the order given to reinforce the sequence of events. If
it’s later in the rotation, the kids might know the story well enough to mix
the questions up.
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. See end of lesson plan for word list
and clues. Feel free to add to it or improve it. (If the kids don’t “get” this
game, you can switch to the younger children’s questions.)
2.
After
each question, the player at the head of each line moves to the end, and the
next people in line take a turn. Make sure everybody gets to play.
Grades 1-2: Don’t keep score. Just keep the game moving. First
graders sometimes take a while to master the mechanics of operating the
buzzers – they especially get confused
about turning off the sound. You can turn the sound off entirely if you prefer.
Grades 3-5: I prefer not to keep score, but if you want to you can
do so with the older kids. Each line is a team. 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.
Tips: Try
not to let one knowledgeable or fast-fingered child dominate the game. If one
child is answering every time, mix up the lines so that he/she doesn’t play
against the same group every time. Or, announce that anybody who answers three
questions correctly will be retired as permanent champion (with a big round of
applause) to give everybody else a chance to compete. Also, don’t let
nonplaying 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).
Reflection Time: (10:30)
Gather
the class in a circle and recite the Bible memory verse. "Jesus said, ‘Do this in remembrance of me.’”
Discuss:
Jesus
said “do this in remembrance of me.” I wonder how we do that today? (Communion service).
What
things do we have in the Communion service that were also in the Last Supper? Bread, wine (grape juice), cup, table.
What do
we do to the bread? (The minister breaks
it and the people share it.)
I wonder
why we have bread. It represents Jesus’
body. At the Kirk as we pass the bread, we say, “The body of Christ, broken for
you.”
I wonder why we have wine or grape juice? It represents Jesus’ blood. As we pass the grape juice, we say, “The
blood of Christ, shed for you.”
I wonder why we have symbols for Jesus’ body and blood? To remember that Jesus died for us.
Since the bread and wine are special symbols, we
need to treat them with respect. I wonder how we can do that. 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 Holy
Spirit to be with us. Communion
is one way of giving thanks to God, remembering Jesus, and being with the Holy
Spirit.
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. Do you know what it is? Sacrament. 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.)
Journals (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.
Ask the students to close put away their pencils/markers 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
(suggestion): Close with a brief prayer. Suggestion: Use a litany.
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 Communion,
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 Holy
Spirit, which guides us and helps us.
Thank you, God.
Amen.
Tidy and Dismissal: Ask the children to help collect Bibles, pencils, etc.
When the room is tidy, dismiss the class.
Extra Activity if time
permits:
Grades 3-5:
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.
Teacher preparation in
advance:
1.
Read the
scripture passages and familiarize yourself with the details of the story. Practice telling the story.
2. Attend the Faith Quest Leaders Bible Study.
3. Prepare opening and closing prayers.
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.
5.
Display the
memory verse somewhere in the room.
Supply List
Extra Bibles
Pencils (in supply bin; the
shepherds also have pencils)
Journal pages
Dry-erase marker (in supply
bin)
Buzzer box and wires
References
Storytelling ideas:
http://www.dennisdewey.org/Dennis8.htm
Grades 3-5 Words
for Game (clues in parentheses)
|
TABLE (furniture ) DISCIPLES (followers, apostles) PASSOVER (thanksgiving meal) ISRAELITES (ancestors) 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) 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) LUKE (book of Bible with this story) |
Grades 1-2 Questions
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
In what city did
the Last Supper take place?
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
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
What book of the Bible tells the story of the Last
Supper? Luke — but also accept Mark and
Matthew.