Jesus - who do you say he is? 24 April 2014

(mid week group, 8 -11 )

Intro game – Uno Spin

Opening Activity –

Pictures of famous people, covered with post its, the kids have to try and guess who they are

Q: in our day to day lives, how can we tell who people are? Seeing their face is most obvious, but we also know people by their voices, mannerisms… etc etc

my choice was... Kate & Will ; Hacker T Dog & Little Mix - they all got them pretty quickly!

Bible Story-

Kids construct a boat out of big cardboard boxes beforehand 

And given jobs to do to act out the story – Jesus , disciples, storm (making noises)

Practise storm noises/sounds.. Show Simple signs to raise volume of storm, lower it… stop completely

Luke 8:22-25

In summary – Jesus was very powerful, but the friends didn't understand who he was…

Video clip – “who was Jesus”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKo4Hsbti1E

& discussion

Sit and think

Who was Jesus, play Larry Norman, The Outlaw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKjCOOF7MMc&feature=youtu.be

(we discussed who Jesus was, looked at the lyrics below, and thought about our personal choice of what we thought he was to us.. some great conversations) 

Larry Norman - the Outlaw

Some say he was an outlaw that he roamed across the land
With a band of unschooled ruffians and few old fishermen
No one knew just where he came from or exactly what he'd done
But they said it must be something bad that kept him on the run

Some say he was a poet that he'd stand upon the hill
That his voice could calm an angry crowd and make the waves stand still
That he spoke in many parables that few could understand
But the people sat for hours just to listen to this man

Some say he was a sorcerer, a man of mystery
He could walk upon the water, he could make a blind man see
That he conjured wine at weddings and did tricks with fish and bread
That he talked of being born again and raised people from the dead

Some say a politician, who spoke of being free
He was followed by the masses on the shores of Galilee
He spoke out against corruption and he bowed to no decree
And they feared his strength and power so they nailed him to a tree

Some say he was the Son of God, a man above all men
That he came to be a servant and to set us free from sin
And that's who I believe he is 'cause that's what I believe
And I think we should get ready 'cause it's time for us to leave

13th April 2014 - Palm Sunday

Game- hit me

One child in the middle of a big circle

One child has the sponge ball. He counts loudly to 10. As he counts the rest of the children run around the room as far away as they can.

When the player with the ball reaches ten everyone has to stay where they are.

The player with the ball then chooses one of the children to throw the ball at, aiming to hit them on or below the knee. If he hits that child then the child has the ball for the next go. If he doesn't hit anyone he keeps the ball again for another try.

Growing words

Kids sit in a circle

Each child has to say a word of a certain number of letters, starting from 3. 1^st says a word starting with A, 2^nd with B etc…

If Z is ever made, increase number of letters to 4..

(this was popular!)

Enter the King

Shrek 2

Summary:

In Shrek 1 Fiona (who is an ogre by night and a princess by day) has been rescued from a tower by the ogre Shrek. She has made the choice to become an ogre like her husband. Her parents, who still think that she was rescued by Prince Charming and is a Princess 24/ 7, have invited her and her husband for a visit. In this clip Fiona and Shrek arrive ...

Start time: 11:56 - the carriage enters the castle precincts

End time: 14:13 "And this is my husband, Shrek!"

Length of clip: 2:57

Play the clip and discuss these questions:

· How were Shrek and Fiona supposed to be welcomed?

· Who was involved in the ceremony?

· What happened when Shrek got out of the carriage?

· Why did everyone stop cheering?

· What sort of people get royal welcomes today - how many can you think of?

· Why do we go out of our way to line the streets to watch royalty or pop stars go past?

· What sort of thing would make us stop welcoming people this way?

· If a large crowd welcomes someone what do we think about that person?

Puppet Palms

Equipment required: Paper, pens, scissors, glue, Bibles.

Ask the children to make the props you will need to tell the story by puppet show.

Disciples

Donkey

Colt

Jesus

Big leaves and trees

Religious leaders

Coats to be thrown onto the ground

“crowds”

Some of the children need to make disciples. Two should cut out the donkey and the colt. One child needs to make Jesus, who should have a cut between his legs so he can mount the colt later on!

Some children need to make long leaves attached to kitchen roll tube to be trees, some need to make religious leaders - dress them in robes - and some should make coats to be thrown onto the ground.

If you have a large group some can make "crowd" - a piece of paper with lots of small people drawn on them.

When the props are ready tell the story using a table as the stage.

Read it from Mark 11:1-10 and John 12:19.

On the first reading, after each verse talk about which puppets will need to be on stage and agree who is going to hold them and where they might move.

Then read the story a second time with the children moving the puppets around without prompting.

You may like to video the children's puppet show so that they can watch it a third time!!!

Ask the children why they think Jesus came into Jerusalem like that?

Do you think he wanted everyone to notice that he had arrived? Why?