Unit 11 / Lesson 8
The Promised King
Slides for the Lesson
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Teacher's Prep
Games
Not In My Backyard
Materials:
Four sheets of paper per child. (Example: a class of 25 should have about 100 pieces of paper in total)
Split the paper into two even piles, one per team. These will be made into paper snowballs to be thrown back and forth.
Hula Hoop Pass
Watch this video
Materials:
One hula hoop for each team (suggested: have two teams, depending on the size of your group)
Two loops of rope around the size of a hula hoop. Alternatively, you could just get more hula hoops.
Ideally you would have hula hoops of varying sizes, to adjust the difficulty of the game.
Breakfast Scramble
See this YouTube video to see how the game works
Find one cereal box per 8-10 children. Note: you can make two puzzles out of one cereal box, because a cereal box normally has two usable sides (the largest faces of the box with pictures on them)
If you don't have a cereal box, any colorful picture will do, e.g. from a magazine. You can also print something out. A cereal box has the benefit of heavier paper, vivid colors, and a familiar picture.
Make a reasonable number of puzzle pieces, e.g. a 6x6 grid. Pieces do not have to be perfectly rectangular. You can cut pieces freely without worrying about their exact size and shape. Between 35-40 pieces per puzzle should be good.
Set up tables so that each table can have 4-5 children working on a single puzzle. In the absence of tables, this game can also be played on the floor.
Main Activity: Slime Making
Note: it should take an adult several minutes to make slime once the ingredients are assembled. Children would take longer.
Watch this video beforehand, which will be shown to the class:
HOW TO MAKE SLIME For Beginners! NO FAIL Easy DIY Slime Recipe! By Gillian Bower Slime
Make a sample of your own slime to bring to class. The experience of making your own slime will help you immensely as you guide the children in their activity.
Materials:
Water in pitchers
Borax (each child could use up to one teaspoon)
Bowls
Spoons to stir ingredients
PVA glue, e.g. Elmer's school glue, or another school glue-one bottle per one or two children
Food dye or acrylic paint
An airtight container to store the slime
Sparkles (optional) for mixing into the slime.
Intro
SLIDE 1
Gathering
How was your week?
SLIDE 2
Game: Not In My Backyard
Instructions
Teacher: make a "fence" out of chairs to divide the room in half. On each side of the room, make a pile of paper for teams to make into paper snowballs.
We'll start this point with a game, called "Not in my backyard." We're going to form two teams, and each team will stay on one side of the room. We'll split this room into two halves using chairs.
Each team will have a stack of paper, to scrunch into balls to throw.
Your goal will be to get as much paper as you can on the other side of the fence by throwing it over the fence. You want as little paper as possible on your side of the fence. You can't cross the fence, but you can throw the paper over the fence.
After two minutes, we'll see which team has less paper on their side!
Teacher: play two rounds of this game. In the second round, you may want to re-balance the teams (perhaps add an adult on one side), and you may want to give them a moment to discuss strategy. After you are finished with the game, put the fence away, and gather the children together for the next bit of teaching.
Debrief
In this game we played, the paper goes back and forth and we're not sure if we can get all the paper to the other side. We can just be sure that there will be a big mess afterwards!
SLIDE 3
Relevance
Life is like that for some people. Some people spend their lives fighting. They spend a lot of time trying to win, trying to be better than someone else, or they spend all their time trying to have what someone else has.
It can feel like we're not getting anywhere, and in the end there's just a big mess. It’s not hard to see the mess if you’re looking for it.
Maybe the mess is outside of you, with people who don't like you, or problems that you think you shouldn't have to deal with. This world has a lot of problems, but there’s also a mess inside every one of us. We all need to deal with terrible thoughts and memories and fears and sins.
SLIDE 4
Big Question
Our big question today is: Who will fix the mess in our lives?
Big Idea
Our big idea today is: we all live in a mess, but Jesus can fix everything if we let Him
Bible Reference
SLIDE 5
We’ll see this in our Bible story today. Let’s watch a video first. The video is about where we are in the Bible’s story.
Teacher: play this YouTube video:
Isaiah | God's Story, by Crossroads Kids' Club
SLIDE 6
Now let's read our main Bible passage for today
Isaiah 9:2-7 (International Children's Bible)
2 Now those people live in darkness.
But they will see a great light.
They live in a place that is very dark.
But a light will shine on them.
SLIDE 7
3 God, you will cause the nation to grow.
You will make the people happy.
And they will show their happiness to you.
It will be like the joy during harvest time.
It will be like the joy of people
taking what they have won in war.
SLIDE 8
4 Like the time you defeated Midian,
you will take away their heavy load.
You will take away the heavy pole from their backs.
You will take away the rod the enemy uses to punish your people.
SLIDE 9
5 Every boot that marched in battle will be destroyed.
Every uniform stained with blood will be destroyed.
They will be thrown into the fire.
SLIDE 10
6 A child will be born to us.
God will give a son to us.
He will be responsible for leading the people.
His name will be Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God,
Father Who Lives Forever, Prince of Peace.
SLIDE 11
7 Power and peace will be in his kingdom.
It will continue to grow.
He will rule as king on David’s throne
and over David’s kingdom.
He will make it strong,
by ruling with goodness and fair judgment.
He will rule it forever and ever.
The Lord of heaven’s armies will do this
because of his strong love for his people.
Point 1
Our first point is, we all live in a mess.
SLIDE 12
Game: Hula Hoop Pass
Instructions
We will start this point with a game! It's called the Hula Hoop pass. Let's watch this video to see how it works.
Video: Team Building Activity - Hula Hoop Pass, by ultimatecampresource
Today, we are going to form two groups, and each group is going to pass the hula hoop to as many people as possible in three minutes! If the hoop makes its way to the end, you can bring it back to the beginning and keep going for another round.
Teacher: form two groups, and play two rounds. If there are not many children, you can just have one group.
Debrief
We played this game because it helps us understand where we are in the Bible's story.
SLIDE 13
You can think of the hoop as the crown that kings war. There was one bad king after another, and the crown kept going from one person to the next. There seemed to be no end in sight. All the kings were doing a bad job, and none of them could fix the mess that God's people had to live in.
Bible Reference
SLIDE 14
Let's read a bit about the mess:
Isaiah 9:2-5 (International Children's Bible)
2 Now those people live in darkness.
But they will see a great light.
They live in a place that is very dark.
But a light will shine on them.
SLIDE 15
3 God, you will cause the nation to grow.
You will make the people happy.
And they will show their happiness to you.
It will be like the joy during harvest time.
It will be like the joy of people
taking what they have won in war.
SLIDE 16
4 Like the time you defeated Midian,
you will take away their heavy load.
You will take away the heavy pole from their backs.
You will take away the rod the enemy uses to punish your people.
SLIDE 17
5 Every boot that marched in battle will be destroyed.
Every uniform stained with blood will be destroyed.
They will be thrown into the fire.
Explanation
These verses tell us about how God's people lived when Isaiah wrote these words.
SLIDE 18
The people lived in darkness, which is a way of saying they were confused, and they didn't know what was going on.
SLIDE 19
And verse 4 tells us that they carried a heavy load. Another country had come to fight against them, to take all of their stuff and all of their money. God's people needed to work so hard just to stay alive. Their enemies would even hit them with a rod, or a stick.
God's people had gone to war, and their clothes had blood on them.
In other words, they lived in a big mess, but these verses tell us there was hope that the mess would be taken away.
Application
That's how it works for us too. We all live in a big mess. The Bible tells us we all have a problem with sin.
SLIDE 20
Let's read what the Bible says about our sin.
1 John 1:8 (International Children's Bible)
If we say that we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
The Bible also says that all of us were in a mess before we knew Jesus.
Titus 3:3 (International Children's Bible)
In the past we were foolish people, too. We did not obey, we were wrong, and we were slaves to many things our bodies wanted and enjoyed. We lived doing evil and being jealous. People hated us and we hated each other.
SLIDE 21
Sin makes all kinds of problems for us. The first step to solve the problem is to be honest about the mess we are in. Then, we can ask God to save us from the mess.
Discussion Question
SLIDE 22
Let's pause our lesson for a discussion question:
What is one thing in your life that you wish was better and not broken?
Point 2
Our second point is, Jesus can fix everything if we let Him
SLIDE 23
Game: Breakfast Scramble
Instructions
Teacher: you may want to set up tables with a puzzle on each one, so that each group of 4-5 can access their puzzle.
We'll start this point with a game! It's called Breakfast Scramble. We'll form teams of 4 people, and your team will put a puzzle together. We'll see how quickly you can finish the puzzle.
Teacher: you may want to play multiple rounds, with the children switching stations each round so that they have a fresh picture to work with.
Debrief
In this game we played, we knew that the picture was broken when it started. In the end, every piece fit together beautifully, and we knew that everything was right again.
That's what God wants to do with us and our world, and that's why He sent Jesus for us.
Bible Reference
SLIDE 24
Let's read the last part of our Bible passage.
Isaiah 9:6-7 (International Children's Bible)
6 A child will be born to us.
God will give a son to us.
He will be responsible for leading the people.
His name will be Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God,
Father Who Lives Forever, Prince of Peace.
SLIDE 25
7 Power and peace will be in his kingdom.
It will continue to grow.
He will rule as king on David’s throne
and over David’s kingdom.
He will make it strong,
by ruling with goodness and fair judgment.
He will rule it forever and ever.
The Lord of heaven’s armies will do this
because of his strong love for his people.
Explanation
SLIDE 27
Let's focus on some key words that describe Jesus.
Wonderful Counselor: that means when we are lost and confused and in the dark, He will show us the way to go.
Powerful God and Everlasting Father: that means He will rescue us from every problem that is truly bad for us. He might leave some problems for us so that we can learn and grow, because that's what good fathers do.
Prince of Peace: that means He will someday put an end to all the fighting in the world. Everyone will be friends, and everything will fit together again.
That is the promise. We can see that we are broken, but Jesus will someday fix all the things that are broken.
Application
Sometimes people who study the Bible say that God's kingdom is "already" but also "not yet." That means, God has already done some things for us, and we are supposed to feel His goodness even today.
Even today, He will guide you with His words if you let Him. He will take care of you and teach you, and he will take away the need to fight so much.
God’s kingdom is also “not yet.” The world is still broken, so
SLIDE 28
He wants us to join Him in His work. We can help other people in the same way that God helps us. We can help others find the right way, we can help save people from problems, we can show them love, and we can help people to be friends and not fight. That’s what God has done for us.
SLIDE 29
When we help others in the same way, we are doing God’s work, and God is with us.
Discussion Question
SLIDE 30
Let's pause for two discussion questions:
Think about the key words that describe Jesus: Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God, Father Who Lives Forever, and Prince of Peace. Which word is the most interesting to you?
How can you work with God to help other people the same way that He has helped you?
Conclusion
SLIDE 31
Let’s wrap up our lesson by going over the big ideas again.
Our big question today was: Who will fix the mess in our lives?
Our big idea today was: we all live in a mess, but Jesus can fix everything if we let Him
SLIDE 32
Main Activity: Slime Making
Our main activity today is making slime!
Instructions
Let's watch this video for how to make slime:
HOW TO MAKE SLIME For Beginners! NO FAIL Easy DIY Slime Recipe! By Gillian Bower Slime
Devotional Reflection
This video helps us to understand our lesson a bit better, because it's about putting the right ingredients together. If you just had glue and you had to stir it around, you would probably make a big mess. But if you add the activator and the food coloring, and follow the instructions just right, you will end up with something really fun.
That's what happens when Jesus comes into our lives. Jesus is like the activator that makes everything good again.
Further Instructions
Now let's get some materials, and then we'll follow the steps in the video again!
Teacher: set up materials on tables. When everyone is ready to start, walk them through the video step by step.
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