Scripture: John 1:1-18
Memory Verse:
God loves us so much that he lets us be called His children, as we truly are. (1 John 3:1 CEV))
Concepts:
· God came to live among us as a person named Jesus.
· Jesus is God.
· Jesus wants us to be witnesses, like John the Baptist.
Objectives:
1. Children will see a video about people who had Faith.
2. Children will think of ways they can witness to others and let the light of Jesus shine in them.
Procedure:
Welcome and Introductions:
1. Greet the children and introduce yourself.
2. (Turn the lights off). Jesus is the light of the world. What does that mean? (Turn the lights on) What does light do for us? (we can see, we know where we are going). So, if Jesus is the light, what does he do for us? (shows us the way, opens our eyes to God, lets us see God through him). The Bible tells us about Jesus. By reading the Bible we can learn about Jesus -- about who Jesus is and how we should act.
Bible Story and Application:
1. Everyone should have a CEV Bible. Ask the children to follow along. This scripture is like a poem or hymn dedicated to Jesus. Read John 1:1a “In the beginning”. What does that phrase remind you of? (Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”) This is like the beginning for Christians – people who believe in Jesus).
Continue reading John 1: 1-5. Does this sound confusing? What is the Word? The Word describes Jesus. Read John 1:1-5 again, this time substituting “Jesus” for “the Word”. What does this passage tell us about who Jesus is? (Jesus is God, God came to live among us as a person named Jesus, Jesus is the light of the world) John 1 says Jesus is like a light, Jesus is the word of God.
Continue with John 1:6-18 substituting “Jesus” for “the Word”.
2. Discuss:
· What does v. 12 say about people who accept Jesus (they put their faith in Him, they/we are children of God) Refer to the memory verse for this unit.
· Who came into the world before Jesus to tell about the light of Jesus? (John the Baptist)
· John the Baptist had faith. He expressed his faith by being a witness to Jesus. What does it mean to be a witness? (someone who has seen something and tells others about it).
· How can we tell others the good news about Jesus? We can use words and song (the way the children will do in Good News lesson) or we can use actions to care for and be kind to others. There are lots of ways we can be witnesses for Jesus.
3. Watch the video. Listen and watch for what this story tells us about people who put their faith in God. How are they “witnesses” for God? Watch and see if you can answer 2 questions: What happened to the King after he realized that God had saved Daniel? And how was it that Harriet Tubman had the strength to keep on saving the lives of slaves?
4. Discuss: The people in the video are witnesses. Just like John the Baptist, they have seen God (Daniel) or Jesus (Harriet Tubman) at work in the world and they tell others about it using actions. What happened to the King after he realized that God saved Daniel? (He believed in God and told the whole kingdom). How was it that Harriet Tubman had the strength to keep on saving the lives of slaves? (She had faith that God would help her and she put her faith into action by helping to free slaves.) In this way, Daniel and Harriet let God’s light shine through them. We see God in their actions.
Reflection Time:
What are the actions we use to tell other people about our faith in Jesus? (We come to church, we bring Pennies for Hunger, we bring a food offering, we come play with the children of WIHN families, we are kind to others, we help our families, we work hard at school, we make goodie bags for people who donate blood in 3-4-5 Faith Alive.) When we do these things, we are witnesses to Jesus by our actions. When we do these things, we let God’s light shine in us.
(Turn the lights out for this next part as the effect of the
light bulb will be greater.)
Here is a special light bulb. (Hold it by the bulb part) Let’s pretend it is the light of Jesus. It will shine when we do things that show our love for Jesus. Others can know about Jesus by what we do. When we are witnesses to our faith in God, we let the light of Jesus shine in us.
Watch. I’ll show you. When I teach for Faith Quest, I show my faith in God. I let Jesus’ light shine in me. (Hold the bulb by the base and it will light up! Grasp it by the bulb again so the light goes out.) Who can think of something to do that will make Jesus’ light shine in you? Pass the bulb around to those who want to volunteer an idea for how to make Jesus’ light shine in their actions. Share ideas of how Jesus’ light can shine in us, how we can be witnesses to God like Daniel and Harriet and John the Baptist. Ask for the idea to make sure it is correct, then give the child the light bulb to light up.
Hand out the journal sheets. Draw a light bulb. In it, name something that you will do that will show the light of Jesus. (care for the earth, protect wildlife, take care of one another, be kind, help others, do what pleases God, help the poor, feed the hungry, come to Faith Quest, invite a friend to Faith Quest, give to our offering, etc.)
Prayer: Dear God. Thank you for sending Jesus to be the light of the world. Thank you for Daniel, Harriet Tubman and John the Baptist who shared their faith in what they did. Help us shine the light of Jesus by kind and thoughtful words and acts toward others. (Use some of the children’s suggestions). We know that God loves us so much that we are called God’s children. Amen.
Tidy and Dismissal: Ask children to help clean up popcorn as they wait for their parents to arrive. Turn out the lights and lock the doors to Holywood.
Teacher preparation in
advance:
1. Read the scripture passages and attend the Faith Quest Workshop Leaders Bible Study.
2. Preview the video and have it cued to the correct starting place. The video will be given to you at the Faith Quest Leaders Bible Study. Be sure to ask for them
3. PRACTICE OPERATING THE POPCORN MACHINE. If this is your first time in Holywood, visit the current workshop leader for instructions before your rotation begins. Be sure you have plenty of popcorn popped BEFORE the children arrive. You will need to have your attention on the children at that point. Ask the shepherds or child volunteers to help distribute it to children who are sitting quietly.
References
Faith – the Adventures from the Book of Virtues, PBS Kids. Video. 1997 Porchlight Entertainment Inc. Distributed by the www.visionvideo.com
Magic Light Bulb – www.funshop.com
Supplies
Magic light bulb
Journal sheets
Pens, pencils