Sunday School Nov 2014 – what is Church?

1         Game

Icebreaker Game – Piggy in the middle!
kids in a circle, just have to throw a ball over somebody in the middle….

 

2         What is church?

Start the session by asking the group what a church is.

 

Invite everyone to contribute their ideas but don't challenge them on them (yet!).

 

What churches do they know of in their area?

 

As a group, look at the power point presentation containing images of church buildings and church families.

 

Use the presentation to explain to the group that church really means the people, Christians, who meet together to worship God.

 

Look at the pictures of the groups of people and explain that they are the church.

 

Tell your group that some churches have their meetings in school, homes, cinemas etc.

Discuss how this challenges what they thought.

 

3         Video – what is the church

Show video  and discuss

 

 

we discussed the "Plug In", "Charge Up", "Live Out" and "Pass on" elements, and what that meant to us

4         Discussion ONE CHURCH - MANY PARTS!

 

Begin the session by setting various challenges to members of your group such as

 

1.    Tie this piece of string with no hands

2.    Get to the other side of the room without using your feet

3.    Eat chocolate without using your mouth

4.    Open this bottle without using your hands

 

Use this game to begin to talk about the many parts of our bodies and how each part does a different thing. Without one part some things can't be done or are harder to get done.

 

Ask the group "Which body part is the most important?" There may be various suggestions but actually, get the group to think about each body part being equally important.

 

Read 1 Corinthians 12:14-17.

Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, "I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand," that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, "I am  not part of the body because I am not an eye," would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?

 

Have a laugh about the last verse. Wouldn't it be strange if the whole body was one big ear!

Explain that God sees the church as a body, with many parts but that all important. Read verse 1 Corinthians 12:27:

 

All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it.

 

Discuss that everyone is needed in the church and is important to it, even if you're young.

Look at the power point presentation (outlined in first 'getting started' session)

Look at a picture of lots of people (a church) and ask the group:

What differences are there in this picture? (Different ages, men and women, boys and girls, married and single, old and young, short and tall)

 

Explain that they are all the church, one body with many part and all of them are important.

 

Each of them has their own gifts/skills/characters/personalities that are needed. Be careful not to suggest that you don't have to DO anything in church to be included. That you going to church bring something to it because everyone is unique.

 

The Point: To get the group thinking about a church being the people in it and that everyone is important and has different roles.

 

5         Video – what is church

We all  make up the church, each of us is important..

 

 

7         CHURCH WALL

Duration: 10 mins

Needed: Cut out bricks & blue tack

Description:

Ask the group to think of words to describe church? (Family, God, Worship Pray, together, Sunday meet, happy, support)

 

Write these on a brick

Build a wall up

 Use these to pray for our church, i.e the people in it

& then we ran out of time....

Harvest on 12 Oct 2014

Harvest on 12 Oct 2014

20 x  8-11 year olds

1.     Warm up game – Fruit Shakes

Suitable party music.

 

Like musical statues, when the music stops the kids become statues

 

The twist – as the music stops the leader shouts out the name of a fruit or vegetable, and the children have to make the shape of that fruit/vegetable as a statue.

 

2.     Bible Drama

Read out 1 Kings 17:8-16

This passage is an example of Gods provision and Gods abundant care for his children. God is not  a God who is mean, but a God who delights to give.

Kids in Pairs

They can act out the story – but try to convey the emotions and feelings of Elijah and the widow at different stages in the story

Exaggerate the emotions with hand and body movements.

Before we start, think how you would act it out, think of these questions

1)      How would Elijah felt when he saw the woman?

2)      Was he sure she was the woman whom God had chosen to provide for him?

3)      How do you think the woman was feeling as she replied?

4)      Do you think that the woman believed Ellijay or, do you think she thought they were going to die anyway then might as well share their last meal?

5)      How do you think that the both felt when the bowl did not run out of the flour or the oil run out?

6)      How do you think they felt each day?

7)      What difference did it make to their lives?

 

(time taken to plan it)

Read the bible verse thru so they can practise….

Does anybody want to show their drama?

 

Discuss their feelings – sadness that the widow had no food. Willingness of widow to share. Wonder that God had met their needs to miraculously

 

What do you feel like when you realise that others in the worlds have no food?

How could we share our food with them?

How do you think others would feel to know that Christians in the UK were sharing with them?

 

1 Kings 17:8-16The Voice (VOICE)

⁸ The Lord  gave him this message:

The Lord: ⁹ Get up, and travel to Zarephath. It is in the possession of Sidon, which is outside Israel. Remain there, and do not leave for any reason. There is a widow in Zarephath whom I have told to take care of you.

¹⁰ Elijah got up and immediately travelled to Zarephath. He arrived at the city gate, and at that moment, a widow was picking up sticks nearby.

Elijah: Please bring me some water in a jar to quench my thirst.

¹¹ (as she fetched the water) Also, could you please bring me a piece of bread?

Woman: ¹² As certain as The Lord, your True God lives, I don’t have any bread. In fact, I am starving. I don’t have anything except for a bit of flour in a bowl and a few drops of oil in a jar. I was gathering sticks when you arrived to make a fire so that my son and I could eat one last bite of food and then die. It’s all over for us.

Elijah: ¹³ I assure you that it’s not over for you yet. Don’t be afraid. Continue what you were doing, but make a small bread cake for me first, and bring it here to me. Then you and your son may eat your own bread cakes. ¹⁴ This is the message of the God of Israel: “The flour and the oil will not run out until the moment when the Eternal showers the earth with rain.”

¹⁵ She did exactly as Elijah had instructed her to do, and everyone who lived in her house had food for days. ¹⁶ The bowl of flour and the jar of oil did not run out, just as The Lord had said through Elijah.

Game – follow the leader

 

 

 

Ran out of time for anything else

 

 

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

2 Feb 2014: Faith: To Believe The Impossible

1         Wheelbarrow Race 

Not sure of the link, but the kids enjoyed it!

2 Quiz - blind faith

Ø  4 chairs, labelled A B C D

“Gonna read out some remedies for health problems. Historically correct, kids to chose which they think they would prefer. Gonna ask some folk why they have chosen, so listen well.”

Fever

A)     Take a spoon of treacle (made from 40 ingredients which took 12 days to make, including snake skin

B)      Have a cut made in your arm to let the bad blood out

C)      Wrap yourself in red cloth and tie red cloth to the bed you sleep in

D)     Take a cold bath several times a day

Nits

a)      Use dog shampoo, instead of normal shampoo

b)      Put Vaseline in your hair overnight, wrap it in a towel and wash it off in the morning

c)       Wash your hair with mayonnaise

d)      Shave all your hair off.

Headache

a)      Drill a hole in the skull to relieve pressure

b)      Massage your head with lavender oil

c)       Drink half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper in water

d)      Eat 2 tablespoons of honey after each meal

“each time we chose to put faith in one of these things, its putting your trust totally into someone or something”

“when we have faith in God we choose to trust him, and do what he says”

“David in todays story chose to have faith in what God said and now in what other people around him said”

3 Bible Study

“Who knows the story of David and Goliath?”

Each sentence below is in on  sheet of A4, kids have to get them in order,

Giant called Goliath challenges the Jews to  a fight.

Jews were all afraid

David, however, said he would fight and win!

Other Jews told David not to do it

David chose not to wear any armour

He took 5 small stones and a sling

1 stone hit Goliath on the head and he fell

David took his sword and cut his head off

 

Q:

a)      Why did they think that none of the rest of the Jews dared to fight Goliath

b)      What reasons would the soldiers have given for not fighting Goliath

c)       What reasons can you think of that David would have given to say he COULD fight Goliath

d)      Did others agree with David when he said he could fight Goliath

“Have any of us ever fought a giant?”

“what things do we find hard, that maybe could be represented by Goliath”?

“”
David had little faith, he had killed a lion and a bear, so the giant was the next step

And for us, if we continue to pray and know what God wants us to do, we can take little steps, but can do amazing things

4         Song: Faith as small as a mustard seed

 

 

5         Word Collage (10m)

Ø  Paper and pens out

Ø  Video set up

during this we listed/watched this animation

 

“what words come in to your mind when you think of having faith in God? What has God made, what can he do? How  big is God? What is he like?”

“write the words whilst the video is playing”

 

6         Video of what kids think  Faith is:

just to finish off we talked about Faith and what it is. Most of the kids had a good understanding, the discussin was quite wide.,,

final video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R5XYrlfx4w

 

finished off with some games

Dec 1^st Advent, Be Prepared

Game : Captains Daughter                          

List of instructions :

1. Port (run to left-hand wall)

2. Starboard (run to right-hand wall)

3. Fore (run to front)

4. Aft (run to back)

5. Climb the rigging (on the spot rope climbing actions)

6. Swab the decks (Mopping actions)

7. Cannon-ball coming (Lie flat on the floor)

8. Admiral's aboard (Stop dead, stand straight and salute at attention)

9. Captains Daughter (everybody stops and wolf whistles )

Explain that the children are all sailors on a ship, and the captain is expecting a visit from the admiral – so lots of preparations have to be made. Read out the instructions before the game begins and make sure that everyone understands what to do when each one is called.

One player is chosen as the captain and is given the list of instructions from which s/he can call at random. Once the captain calls "Admiral's aboard" the last person to obey the command is eliminated.

Play until one person is left and that person then becomes the captain & reads the list, in random order...

Question: What is Advent  

We showed the video below, then had a quick fire quiz

 

 

 

 

Questions:

1. Advent is a period lasting for how long… four Sundays
2. Advent the season of .. preparation
3. Advent the season of …. looking forward
4. Advent the season of… change
5. In the video that we saw, how many Candles did we see .. 20
6. Most common word displayed .. wait
7. Preparing for the celebration of… Jesus birth
8. In the video that we saw, how many SNOWFLAKEs did we see.. 25
9. Title of the song “I will wait for you”
10. We saw 2 people waiting and looking at a light shining down, what were they sitting on.. stairs
11. What am I waiting for?  Waiting for Jesus
12. What does advent means?  the coming of …. Something

CHRISTMAS TREE                   

Divide the children into small groups and ask them to read the Christmas story as recorded in Luke 2: 1-20.

Seek answers to the questions:

When was Jesus born (v 2)?

Why did Joseph travel to Bethlehem?(v4)

Where did Mary lay her baby? (v7)

What did the angels say to the shepherds? (v 10)

What was special about Jesus? (v 11)

Why were people amazed at what he shepherd's said ?(v 18)

What do you think Mary treasured? (v 19)

Why were the shepherds glorifying and praising God (v 19).

Ask the children to write on a blue bauble something that they have learned about Jesus' birth, that they want to remember this Christmas. If they wish they can copy a verse onto the bauble, or write something on their own. They can then go and hang their bauble on the tree.

Examples of baubles completed are below:

 

 

MEMORY VERSE  - Pass the Parcel

PASS THE PARCEL

Prep: A present with a word from the memory verse in every layer of paper & a sweet

Memory Verse: “They will call him Immanuel which means God with us" Matthew chapter 1 verse 23.”

We ran out of time for the following:

Reflection – Christmas Worship & Calendar drawing               

we were going to how the video below, the kids were then going to think  about how much God Loves them, not just at Christmas but all year. They drew a picture on some coloured card with a 2014 calendar on it.