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Whose Rules Should We Follow?

Unit 3 / Lesson 1

Whose Rules Should We Follow?

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Teacher's Prep

  • Games

    • Origami Butterflies

    • Deal or No Deal

      • You can play the game at this website: https://kbhgames.com/game/deal-or-no-deal

      • If you have a PC with PowerPoint and not a Mac, you may want to download a different version of the game at the link below and get familiar with it. The downloaded version is better than the online version, but it is harder to use. Note, the PC version of the game works on PowerPoint but not on Google Slides.

      • https://www.rusnakcreative.com/gameshows

      • Whichever version of the game you choose, you will want to be familiar with the controls of the game before the lesson starts.

    • Marshmallow and Toothpick Tower

      • You will need roughly 100 toothpicks and 100 mini marshmallows per child.

      • Have tables available for children to build on. Alternatively, they can build on the floor.

  • Main Activity (Photo Booth):

    • Gather various materials that can be used for a photo booth and for props. For ideas, you can search Google Images for "Pinterest photo booth."

    • Possible materials for backgrounds

      • Big sheets of cloth are ideal, especially if they have patterns or graphics on them (hang these on the wall) Large paper rolls taped to the walls will work as well. 

    • Gather the following materials for the children to work with:

      • Construction paper

      • Markers

      • Scissors

      • Lots of tape

      • Props for various shots

      • Under the Sea

      • Superheroes

      • Funny Hats

    Intro

    SLIDE 1

  • Gathering

    • How was your week?

    SLIDE 2

  • Intro Activity: Origami Butterflies

    • Instructions

      • We'll start this lesson with some origami! Today we will be folding paper into butterflies!

      • We’ll watch a short video first, and then follow it step by step.

      • Teacher: play the YouTube video:

      • Now let’s follow the video step by step. Let’s all go to a table and try to make it for ourselves.

      • Teacher: play the video again, pausing at every important step and checking that each child has caught up.

    SLIDE 3

  • Debrief and Relevance

    • We started with this craft because it reminds us there are some things we would never figure out by ourselves unless someone gave us the instructions.

    • We can make some really neat stuff if we follow the rules that someone else made.

    • The problem is, a lot of people out there want to tell us what to do. There are so many people who want to tell us what to do that we can’t listen to everyone. 

    SLIDE 4

  • Big Question

    • Our big question is: whose rules should we follow?

    SLIDE 5

  • Big Idea

    • We’ll see from our Bible story that:

      • 1. We should follow God’s rules first, and 

      • 2. We should follow our parents’ rules

    SLIDE 6

  • Bible Reference


SLIDE 7

Point 1

  • Our first point is, we should follow God’s rules

    SLIDE 8

  • Game: Deal or No Deal

    • Instructions

      • We'll start this point with a game of Deal or No Deal! In this game we have a whole bunch of suitcases, and each case has a different amount of money in it. We play the game by eliminating some suitcases. Every time we eliminate some suitcases, the bank will call and offer us money instead of a suitcase.

      • The goal is to walk away with an amount of money that you'd be really happy to have. We probably can't expect to end up with a million dollars, but hopefully you won't end up with too little.

      • Teacher: Play the game. (Two rounds or three rounds would be good, depending on the time available). Refer to the instructions at the beginning of the video.

    SLIDE 9

    • Debrief

      • We played this game because it reminds us that there are some things that we can't know. We can't know what's in each suitcase, we can only take a guess. But God knows what is in each suitcase, and He knows everything. If He tells us to do something, we know we can follow His rules, because He knows more than us, and He loves us, so we can trust Him.

    SLIDE 10

  • Bible Reference

    • Now, let's read the first half of our story from the Bible

    • Luke 2:41-52 (CEV)

      • 41  Every year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for Passover. 42 And when Jesus was twelve years old, they all went there as usual for the celebration. 43 After Passover his parents left, but they did not know that Jesus had stayed on in the city. 44 They thought he was traveling with some other people, and they went a whole day before they started looking for him. 45 When they could not find him with their relatives and friends, they went back to Jerusalem and started looking for him there.

        46 Three days later they found Jesus sitting in the temple, listening to the teachers and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was surprised at how much he knew and at the answers he gave.

        48 When his parents found him, they were amazed. His mother said, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been very worried, and we have been searching for you!”

        49 Jesus answered, “Why did you have to look for me? Didn't you know that I would be in my Father's house?” 50 But they did not understand what he meant.

    SLIDE 11

  • Explanation

    • These verses tell us that even when Jesus was a boy, He knew that God was His father. He went to the temple which was God's house, and He spent His time talking to the teachers at the temple. He listened to the teachers and asked them questions. Maybe He was learning things. The end of our passage tells us that He grew in wisdom, which meant that Jesus still had things to learn. 

    • Maybe He wasn’t just learning though. Maybe He was also asking questions because He wanted to make the teachers think. Often the best way to teach someone is to ask good questions. Later on in the story of Jesus, we find out that He liked to ask questions to make people think. Whether He was learning or teaching, He was doing God's work. 

    • The problem was, God’s work had taken Him away from His parents.

    • He must have known that His parents missed Him, but He needed to be in God's house, doing God's work. Doing what God wanted was even more important to Him than doing what His parents wanted.

    SLIDE 12

  • Application

    • Maybe you're more like Jesus than you might realize. If you're a Christian, you are God's son or daughter. That is the most important thing about you. God has also given you important work to do. He wants you to learn about Him and to help people know Him better. Even when you're young, you can do this work, and there's nothing more important to do than God’s work.

    SLIDE 13

  • Discussion Question

    • Let’s break for some discussion questions:

      • What is a question about God that you'd like an answer to?

      • What is something about God that you would love to teach to other people?


    Point 2

    SLIDE 14

  • Our second point is: after we finish following God’s rules, we should follow our parents’ rules

    SLIDE 15

  • Activity: Marshmallow Toothpick Tower

    • Instructions

      • We'll start this point with another game! We'll be making towers out of marshmallows and toothpicks. Your goal in this game is to build the highest tower you can in 10 minutes.

      • Let's get back into our groups of 2 or 3, and you'll all get some toothpicks and marshmallows. Work together as a team to build a tall tower.

      • Teacher: put toothpicks and marshmallows at each table for easy access. Give them ten minutes to build, using discretion to shorten or lengthen the construction time as necessary.

    SLIDE 16

    • Debrief

      • We played this game because it's really hard. If we're going to do well, we need advice, and we need other people to show us the way.

      • Now, you can get advice from a lot of people, but the best advice comes from people who know a lot of things and who care about you a lot.

      • That's why God has given us parents and guardians. Our parents and guardians are older than us, they have seen a lot and they care about us deeply. So, it makes sense to listen to them. That's what Jesus did.

    SLIDE 17

  • Bible Reference

    • Let's read the second half of our Bible passage

      • 51 Jesus went back to Nazareth with his parents and obeyed them. His mother kept on thinking about all that had happened.

      • 52  Jesus became wise, and He grew strong. God was pleased with Him and so were the people.


    SLIDE 18

  • Explanation

    • These verses tell us that Jesus obeyed His parents, and He became wise. In the original language, it says Jesus grew in wisdom. He still had things to learn.

    • He still had room to grow. His parents had things to teach Him, and they could help Him grow.

    SLIDE 19

  • Application

    • When we see that Jesus obeyed His parents, that's a clue to us that it's normally a good idea to obey our parents. This is because they are helping us to grow, and they have a lot of things to teach us.

    • The more we grow, the better we will be at doing God's work and making a difference.

    SLIDE 20

  • Discussion Question

    • Let’s break for a discussion question:

      • What is something you'd like to learn from your parents?


SLIDE 21

Conclusion

  • Let's end our lesson by going over the big ideas again.

  • Our big question today was: whose rules should we follow?

  • Our Bible story today reminded us there are people in our lives who are worth obeying, because they know a lot and they love us.

  • First, we should follow God's rules. We should always do what God wants us to do. So let’s keep learning about Him and teaching others about Him, because He wants us to do those things.

  • Second, after we finish following God’s rules, we should follow our parents’ rules. God gave us parents to teach us and to help us grow so that we become strong. If we listen to the grown-ups who take care of us, we can be better at doing God's work and making a difference.


    SLIDE 22

Main Activity: Photo Booth

  • For our ending activity, we will do a photo booth!

  • We'll be making props for three things, and then we'll all take pictures together.

  • Making these props reminds us we still have room to grow.

  • As we make the props we'll get a chance to think about all the ways we are growing and getting better, and how it helps to listen to God and our parents.

  • We will make props for three scenes:

    • Under the Sea: you might want to make some starfish, or some fish, or jellyfish, or maybe some waves.

    • Superheroes: you might want to make a mask or a magic wand or something like that.

    • Funny hats: try to make a fancy hat that you can wear.

  • When we're all done making our props, we can take pictures!

  • Teacher: while the children are setting up the crafts, you may want to set up the background, then help the children with their props. At the end, take lots of pictures together.

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