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What Is It Like To Follow Jesus

Unit 4 / Lesson 2

What Is It Like To Follow Jesus

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Teacher's Prep

  • Games

    • Three-Legged Race

      • A roll of duct tape and a roll of toilet paper (the toilet paper can act as a barrier to prevent the duct tape from damaging clothing or skin)

      • Scissors to cut the duct tape at the end of the race

      • If unfamiliar with the game, you can watch this video to see what it is like:

      • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XHQ4XPsmJI&ab_channel=PMXLab

    • Scoop the Snowballs Challenge

      • Watch this video to see what it is like

      • For every group of four:

        • 1 bowl

        • 1 scoop

        • 1 table

        • About 50 cotton balls

        • A blindfold 

        • Note: have some tongs available in case some children have trouble with the scoop. Younger children can use the tongs, or their hands.

    • Donut on a String Challenge

      • Watch this video to see what this game is like

      • Materials:

        • One donut per child

        • Note: Mini donuts will work well, or even Timbits, though Timbits would require some skill in order to attach them to strings.

        • A table

        • A bowl

        • A scoop

        • About 50 cotton balls

        • A blindfold

        • One length of string per child (approximately 1 metre long should be sufficient)

        • One chair per two children

        • Cover a portion of the floor with kraft paper or a plastic tablecloth to prevent donuts from dropping directly on the floor.

      • In the video, donuts are tied to a high-up bar. In this case, we will have someone hold on to the top end of the string. 

      • Be prepared to play two rounds of the game so that children can take turns eating the donut and holding the string.

  • Tie-Dye T-shirts (Main Activity)


    Intro

    SLIDE 1

  • Gathering

    • How was your week?

    SLIDE 2

  • Intro Activity: Three Legged Race

    • Instructions

      • We'll start our time with the three-legged race! All of you will have a partner, and one of your legs will be taped to your partner's leg, so that you can only move that leg together if you want to walk forward.

      • Everyone, find a partner and then we'll tape your legs so you can walk together. You can practice a bit. Once we're all ready, we'll all try to walk across the room, and then we'll try to do another race where we go around the room.

      • Instructions for Teacher:

        • Fasten legs together as seen in the video at the top of this lesson plan. In the absence of special velcro bands, you can use duct tape in multiple layers, and for sensitive clothing or skin, you can put tissue paper as a barrier to prevent damage. Give them some time to practice walking. 

        • Line everyone up and have them race from one wall to the other. 

        • Then, have them do a relay race around the room where they start off touching a chair. Their goal is to touch the three other chairs and come back to the chair where they started. For the relay race, you can start up to four pairs at a time in different corners, and they can all move in one direction around the room

        • At the end of the game, praise them for their efforts, cut up their duct tape bands and have them sit back in a circle.

    SLIDE 3

    • Debrief

      • Did anyone get really stuck? 

      • Did anyone figure out a way to go really fast?

      • We played this game because it helps us understand what it’s like to follow Jesus.

    SLIDE 4

  • Big Question

    • Our big question today is: what is it like to follow Jesus?

  • Relevance

    • It's an important question because a lot of people think everything is going to be easy when they follow Jesus. Once it becomes hard though, they give up.

    • Other people think it's going to only be hard, and they think God is going to ruin their lives so they don't even try. If we do follow Him though, we can be surprised by how good God is to us.

    SLIDE 5

  • Big Idea

    • Our Bible story reminds us, 

      • 1. Sometimes it's no fun to follow Jesus, but 

      • 2. Sometimes it's awesome to follow Jesus

    SLIDE 6

  • Bible Reference


    Point 1

    SLIDE 7

  • Our first point is, sometimes it's no fun to follow Jesus.

    SLIDE 8

  • Activity: Scoop the Snowballs Challenge

    • Instructions

      • Setup

        • For every group of four, set up

        • A table

        • A bowl

        • A scoop

        • About 50 cotton balls

        • A blindfold

      • We’ll start this point with a game! It's the Scoop the Snowballs challenge!

      • Let's watch a video to see what it is like:

      • Here's how it works. You will be in teams of 4. In each of your teams, you will gather around a table, and you will take turns being blindfolded and scooping the snowballs into a bowl.

      • Each of you will have two minutes to scoop as many snowballs as you can. Help each other out! If you're really struggling with the scoop, maybe you can switch to tongs.

      • Teacher: run four rounds of the game so that each one can have a turn. Each child will have two minutes to get as many snowballs as they can into their bowl.

    SLIDE 9

    • Debrief

      • Let's come back together.

      • The game we played is pretty hard, because we can't see what we are doing. It can be confusing and frustrating!

      • As Christians, sometimes it’s confusing and frustrating to follow Jesus. Sometimes we are following God's instructions in the Bible and doing our best for people, and things just don’t seem to be working out.

    SLIDE 10

  • Bible Reference

    • That's what it was like in our Bible story. Let's read from the Bible.

    • Matthew 14:22-26 (CEV)

      • 22 At once, Jesus made his disciples get into a boat and start back across the lake. But he stayed until he had sent the crowds away. 23 Then he went up on a mountain where he could be alone and pray. Later in the evening, he was still there.

    SLIDE 11

    • 24 By this time the boat was a long way from the shore. It was going against the wind and was being tossed around by the waves. 25 A little while before morning, Jesus came walking on the water toward his disciples. 26 When they saw him, they thought he was a ghost. They were terrified and started screaming.

    SLIDE 12

  • Explanation

    • In our story, the disciples had a night of no fun. Jesus made them get onto a boat without Him, and He told them to travel across the lake. It was a very windy night, and they were being tossed around by the waves for hours. It must have been very scary. If one of the waves was just a little bit too big, maybe the boat would have flipped over, and everyone would have drowned.

    • The disciples must have been cold, wet, scared and tired. After they had spent the whole night just trying to stay alive, they saw someone walking on the water. They thought it was a ghost! It turns out it was Jesus, but for a moment, they were really scared.

    SLIDE 13

  • Application

    • Sometimes it's no fun following Jesus. Sometimes we are just trying to do the right thing, but Jesus leads us straight into trouble, even though He always has a good reason for it.

    SLIDE 14

  • Discussion Questions

    • Now let’s break for some discussion questions.

      • 1. Have you ever gotten into trouble for doing the right thing?

      • 2. Why do you think God lets us go through trouble?


    Point 2

    SLIDE 15

  • Our second point is, sometimes it's awesome to follow Jesus.

    SLIDE 16

  • Activity: Donut on a String Challenge

    • Instructions

      • Teacher’s setup

        • Set up one chair per two children. One of the children will be standing on the chair.

        • Have one donut ready per child, tied to a string that is about one metre long.

      • We'll start this point with a fun game. It's the Donut on a String challenge!

      • Let's watch a video to see what it's like:

      • Today we don't have a bar to hold up the donuts, but that's alright, because we have chairs, and we have people.

      • We will form pairs, and we will take turns. Half of us will try to eat the donut with no hands, and the other half will stand on a chair and hold the top of the string. Then we'll switch.

      • We'll have something to cover the ground in case the donut falls down.

      • Teacher: run two rounds of the game so that each child has a chance to hold the string on one round and eat the donut on the other round.

    SLIDE 17

    • Debrief

      • We played this game because it's a lot of fun. It's a little bit challenging, but we know we're getting a sweet treat, so the trouble almost doesn't matter.

      • When we are following Jesus, sometimes it's so awesome it's worth the trouble.

    SLIDE 18

  • Bible Reference

    • That's what it was like for the disciples at the end of the story.

    • Let's read the second half of the story.

      • Matthew 14:27-33 (CEV)

        • 27 At once, Jesus said to them, “Don't worry! I am Jesus. Don't be afraid.”

          28 Peter replied, “Lord, if it really is you, tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come on!” Jesus said. Peter then got out of the boat and started walking on the water toward him. 30 But when Peter saw how strong the wind was, he was afraid and started sinking. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.

    SLIDE 19

    • 31 At once, Jesus reached out his hand. He helped Peter up and said, “You surely don't have much faith. Why do you doubt?”32 When Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the wind died down. 33 The men in the boat worshiped Jesus and said, “You really are the Son of God!”

    SLIDE 20

  • Explanation

    • The end of the story is nice. Jesus told them not to worry and not to be afraid. Peter realized it was Jesus, and he knew that everything was okay. Peter knew Jesus could walk on water. Jesus could give Peter power to walk on water too, so Peter walked on the water! He began to fall, but Jesus picked him up. The storm went away soon after and they all knew that Jesus was God's Son.

    • It was so awesome that it was worth being scared and wet and tired for the whole night.

    SLIDE 21

  • Application

    • That's how it's like for us too. God might take us through trouble, but He always makes the trouble worth it. 

    • If we follow Jesus, we can expect that not only will there be trouble, but there also will be awesome moments when we see God working. Sometimes we just know that God is with us and everything is good, and there is nothing to worry about. Those times encourage us to keep following Jesus.

  • Discussion Question (optional)

    • Let’s break for a discussion question:

    • The Bible tells us when we join God in His work, He will be with us in a special way. He will give us what we need, and our prayers will be powerful. What is a way that you can join God in His work?


    Conclusion

    SLIDE 22

  • Let's wrap up this lesson.

  • Our big question today was: what is it like to follow Jesus?

  • Our Bible story reminds us, sometimes it's no fun to follow Jesus, and sometimes it's awesome.

  • If you know these things, you'll be ready to follow Jesus through the hard times, and you'll know it's worth it.


    Main Activity: Tie-Dye T-Shirts

    SLIDE 23

  • Now it’s time for a craft! For our craft today we are making tie dye t-shirts!

  • Teacher: play a bit of this YouTube to introduce the craft:

  • Tie-dye t-shirts are made with water, and they can remind us that the disciples got their shirts wet. But, tie-dye t-shirts also look awesome, and they remind us that even in hard times God is doing something awesome.

  • Teacher: make tie-dye t-shirts

  • Note: the t-shirts will not be dry when the lesson time is over, so you can send them home in a plastic bag to protect other things from getting wet. 

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