
Unit 19 / Lesson 2
The Holy Spirit
Slides for the Lesson
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Teacher's Prep
Games
The Shoe Game
No preparation needed!
Drawing With Limited Crayons
Materials:
Two crayons per child
Two sheets of paper per child
Traffic Yam
Get a bag of large marshmallows -- enough for each child to have two (one to put on the floor, and one to eat as a prize).
This game is based off of a Minute To Win It game called Traffic Yam. Normally, it is a relay race between two teams in which teams need to move a yam across the floor of the room using only their noses. Seeing that we have kids and don't want to hurt anyone's nose, we can replace the yam with a marshmallow.
Alternatively, you can have them move a gummy bear across a table.
For reference, watch this video:
Traffic Yam! By Tyler Lowden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qncKeCAPGOk&ab_channel=TylerLowden
Fairy Bread (Main Activity)
Watch this video to see how fairy bread is made:
How To Make Fairy Bread | Australia Day Recipe
Materials:
Ingredients
White bread
Margarine or butter
Sprinkles
Other materials
Butter knives
Plates
Hand sanitizer
Optional Lesson Prop
The first teaching point uses chocolate milk as a metaphor for our relationship with the Holy Spirit. It would help the lesson if you brought milk and chocolate powder or chocolate syrup, and you actually made a cup of chocolate milk in front of the children. Physical props are memorable in a way that a picture on a screen is not.
Intro
SLIDE 1
Gathering
SLIDE 2
How was your week?
SLIDE 3
Intro Game: The Shoe Game
Instructions
We'll start our lesson with The Shoe Game!
We will have two teams, and each team will line up on an opposite wall.
Teacher: form two teams, and line them up on opposite walls.
Now everyone on your team needs to take off ONE shoe and we'll make a pile of shoes in the middle of the room. You should only take off one shoe, and keep the other shoe on your foot.
Teacher: have them each take off a shoe, and make a pile in the middle of the room. Then, have them line up on their opposite walls again.
So you'll all have one shoe on your foot, and one shoe in that pile. Now, take a look at the shoes that your teammates are wearing, and try to remember what their shoes look like, because maybe you can help out your teammates by helping them find their shoes.
When I say “go,” the two teams will race to see who can put on all their shoes first, and touch their wall again. You win if everyone puts on their shoes and they're touching the wall.
Ready? Go.
Teacher: you may want to play multiple rounds of this game if time and interest allow.
SLIDE 4
Debrief
This game reminded us that we all need TWO shoes. Two shoes is way better than one shoe! Have you ever tried hopping on one foot? It's way harder than walking!
But, you can't just grab any shoe from the pile. There's a shoe that is just right for you. And, if you grab the right shoe, you will be able to go places and do things that you could never do with just one shoe.
Relevance
SLIDE 5
And there's something like that in real life. Each of us is like one shoe. One shoe is good, but it's not supposed to be alone. But, the Bible tells us who the other shoe is. It's God, the Holy Spirit! So, today's story is about the Holy Spirit and what He does for us.
Big Question
SLIDE 6
Our big question today is: what does the Holy Spirit want to do with us?
Big Idea
Our big idea is:
He wants to help us love people in a big way.
1. The Holy Spirit wants to give us power to talk about Jesus, and
2. The Holy Spirit wants to give us power to love each other.
Bible Reference
SLIDE 7
For the next few weeks, our lessons will be in the book of Acts. It's a book about what the Holy Spirit did for the first Christians. Let's watch a video about the whole book of Acts.
Teacher: play this video:
God's Story: Acts, by Crossroads Kids' Club
Now, let's read about a time when the first Christians were in trouble, and they needed God's help, so they prayed.
Acts 4:31-37 (ICB)
31 After they had prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke God’s word without fear.
32 The group of believers were joined in their hearts, and they had the same spirit. No person in the group said that the things he had were his own. Instead, they shared everything. 33 With great power the apostles were telling people that the Lord Jesus was truly raised from death. And God blessed all the believers very much. 34 They all received the things they needed. Everyone that owned fields or houses sold them. They brought the money 35 and gave it to the apostles. Then each person was given the things he needed.
36 One of the believers was named Joseph. The apostles called him Barnabas. (This name means “one who encourages.”) He was a Levite, born in Cyprus. 37 Joseph owned a field. He sold it, brought the money, and gave it to the apostles.
Point 1
SLIDE 8
The first thing we learn from our story is:
The Holy Spirit wants to give us power to talk about Jesus.
SLIDE 9
Game: Drawing With Limited Crayons
Instructions
We'll start our point with a game! It's a drawing game. Each of you will get two crayons, and a couple pieces of paper. I'll tell you what to draw, and you'll have two minutes to draw each picture. Make the picture as nice as you can in two minutes. And then, we'll share the pictures that we drew.
Our first picture is: A playground
Teacher: wait two minutes for them to draw. If they look like they need more time, you can extend the time by a bit
Time's up! Let's see what we all drew.
Alright, let's draw a couple more pictures.
Please flip over the page that you drew on, so we'll draw on the backside.
Our second picture is: a fancy lunch
Teacher: for each picture, give the class two minutes to draw, and then have them show each other what they drew. For the third and fourth pictures, you can draw things like: your family, and people praying. Note, if they are losing interest or if you are low on time, you can cut the game short.
SLIDE 10
Debrief
We played this game because it reminds us, we can't do everything. If we only have a couple of crayons, we can't draw everything in this room, and we can't draw a rainbow.
SLIDE 11
But, if we live with the Holy Spirit, it's like someone comes along with a whole box of crayons and you can draw things that you could never draw on your own. And, He will draw with you, so you can make even better pictures together.
That's what it's like when we do God's work.
Bible Reference
SLIDE 12
Let's read the first half of our Bible story again.
Acts 4:31-33 (ICB)
31 After they had prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke God’s word without fear.
SLIDE 13
32 The group of believers were joined in their hearts, and they had the same spirit. No person in the group said that the things he had were his own. Instead, they shared everything.
SLIDE 14
33 With great power the apostles were telling people that the Lord Jesus was truly raised from death. And God blessed all the believers very much.
Explanation
SLIDE 15
So, this is what the first Christians did when they were in trouble. They prayed. And then God showed up. And it says they were all filled with God, the Holy Spirit.
You might be wondering, what does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
SLIDE 16
It's like this. Most of you have made chocolate milk before. You get some milk, and you add some chocolate powder, or chocolate syrup. But what do you need to do next? You have to stir it!
If you don't stir it, the chocolate is still there, but the milk tastes like ordinary milk. But, if you stir it really well, you can taste the milk and the chocolate at the same time. You could say the milk is full of chocolate.
SLIDE 17
That's what it's like to be filled with the Holy Spirit. If you're a Christian, the Bible says that God's Holy Spirit lives in you. But, we need to invite Him in every part of our lives. We need to let Him do whatever He wants, no matter what we are doing. Then, we will be filled with the Spirit, because God is in every part of our lives, and He makes everything better.
SLIDE 18
And that's what happened with the first Christians. They let God do whatever He wanted with them. And, the Holy Spirit made them brave and powerful so they could tell everyone about Jesus. And, He wants to help us in the same way.
Application
So, remember you're like milk and the Holy Spirit is like chocolate. You want God to be in every part of your life, in the good times and the bad times.
And there’s another way the Holy Spirit is like the chocolate in the milk. In chocolate milk, you need to keep stirring it, or else the chocolate will just go to the bottom and the milk will become normal milk again. And, it's like that with us and God too. We need to keep asking God to be part of everything we do. And, we need to keep checking that He is part of everything we do. Then, He will make us brave and He will make us powerful, and we will be able to help people to know Jesus.
SLIDE 19
Discussion Question
SLIDE 20
Let's pause for a discussion question.
What is a part of your life where you want more of God?
Point 2
SLIDE 21
Moving on, our second point is:
The Holy Spirit wants to give us power to love each other.
SLIDE 22
Game: Traffic Yam
Instructions
We'll start our time with a game! It’s called Traffic Yam, because sometimes it’s played with yams. It's a relay race, so we will have two teams. Everyone on your team will take a turn moving a marshmallow across the floor of the room with just their nose! When it's your turn, you'll start touching the wall, and then you'll roll the marshmallow to the other side of the room, touch the far wall while your nose is still on the marshmallow, then roll the marshmallow back with your nose and touch the wall where you came from. Then the next person on your team will go. If you finish, you get a new, clean marshmallow to eat for all of your effort.
Teacher: you will want to demonstrate how to play, at least at key parts of the relay, e.g. how to begin, how to roll, how to touch the far wall while your nose is on the marshmallow, and how to end one's turn at the near wall.
SLIDE 23
Debrief
We played this game because it's about working as a team. If your teammate is fast, your whole team is fast. If your teammate is slow, your whole team is slow.
SLIDE 24
So, you share advice, and you make space for each other, and you help each other in every way that you can.
And it's like that for every Christian too. God made us all into one team, so it makes sense to take care of each other.
Bible Reference
SLIDE 25
The first Christians really knew how to take care of each other. Let's read a few verses from our Bible passage again.
Acts 4:32 (ICB)
32 The group of believers were joined in their hearts, and they had the same spirit. No person in the group said that the things he had were his own. Instead, they shared everything.
SLIDE 26
Acts 4:36-37 (ICB)
36 One of the believers was named Joseph. The apostles called him Barnabas. (This name means “one who encourages.”) He was a Levite, born in Cyprus.
SLIDE 27
37 Joseph owned a field. He sold it, brought the money, and gave it to the apostles.
Explanation
SLIDE 28
The first Christians had to share because a lot of them were really poor. They were so poor that many of them were hungry because they couldn't buy food to eat.
SLIDE 29
But, they had the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit was working in their hearts. The Holy Spirit gave them so much love for each other that they took care of each other.
They shared everything. And sometimes Christians would sell a house or a piece of land, and they would use the money to help the poor Christians.
And, that way, they could take care of everyone.
Application
SLIDE 30
The Bible is teaching us, that's what it's like when we love each other. We share with each other, and we help each other. And, the more things we have, the more we use those things to help other people.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a group of friends like that? Well, the Holy Spirit wants to make each of us into that kind of friend. So, if you let the Holy Spirit into every part of your life, you will become an awesome friend -- because the Holy Spirit will fill you with love for other people. And you'll meet other people like yourself, and you will become friends, because God puts love in your hearts, and He gives us power to love each other.
Discussion Question
SLIDE 31
Let's pause for a discussion question.
What is something you can share with a friend?
Conclusion
SLIDE 32
Let's wrap up this lesson by going over the big ideas again!
Our big question today was: what does the Holy Spirit want to do with us?
Our big idea was: The Holy Spirit wants us to love people in a big way. We learned that:
1. The Holy Spirit wants to give us power to talk about Jesus, and
2. The Holy Spirit wants to give us power to love each other.
So, if we just let the Holy Spirit do what He wants, it will be awesome.
Main Activity: Fairy Bread
SLIDE 33
And that brings us to our main activity today. Today, we are making fairy bread! Let's watch a video to see how to make it:
Teacher: show this video:
How To Make Fairy Bread | Australia Day Recipe
So, with fairy bread, the butter goes onto the bread, and some of it goes into the bread. And, the butter makes it so that you can put sprinkles on the bread. You might not be able to see the butter in the end, but the butter is what holds everything together and makes everything work.
That's what the Holy Spirit is like. We can't see Him, but He is with us, and He is in us. And He helps us to do things that we could never do by ourselves. And, because of the Holy Spirit, we can stick together and be better together.
Now, let's make some fairy bread for ourselves!
Teacher: have the children wash their hands. Then, make fairy bread with them.
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