Unit 4 / Lesson 3
How Can We Know What To Do?
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Teacher's Prep
Games
Speed Play-Doh Modeling
One container of Play-Doh for every group of two (can be found at the dollar store)
Set up one table for every 4-6 children
Oven Mitt Race
Two tables
Two pairs of oven mitts
Hershey Kisses -- at least one per child.
Please watch this video for a minute starting at the 2:00 mark to see what the game is like:
Bubble Tea (Main Activity)
Supplies and instructions for bubble tea
Teacher’s Bible Study
You may see the link below for an analysis of our Bible passage in its context. It turns out, our main Bible passage is part of a sandwich structure, or as scholars call it, a “chiasm.” The structure of the passage gives emphasis to our big ideas:
1. That it is natural to misunderstand Jesus and to have concerns that are different from the concerns of God. But,
2. If we take the time to listen to Jesus and submit to him, we will experience the greatness of God’s plan.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mD1O8DfIfMfhJ0Gx2urQ_WuFQ_kxx3XK6u-ZJ2qiOSw/edit?usp=sharing
Intro
SLIDE 1
Gathering
How was your week?
SLIDE 2
Game: Speed Play-Doh Modeling
Instructions
Let's start our lesson with a game: Speed Play-Doh Modeling! Everyone please go to a table.
We'll all get a bit of Play-Doh. Then in a moment, I'll tell you some things to make out of it, and you’ll have one minute to make each of those things. Ready? Make…
Things to model
A car
A Christmas tree
A park
A fancy chair
SLIDE 3
Debrief
In this game, I told you what to make, and then you made it. As long as you were trying your best, you knew you were on the right track.
But, it was really important to know in the beginning what you were supposed to make!
SLIDE 4
Relevance
Life is a bit like Play-Doh in the way that you could do a lot of things with it. So, it’s important to know what to do.
We need to know what to do with our free time, and who to spend time with. We need to try hard at school, and we need to know what to do when we disagree with people.
We will find that if we have the right plan, we can help people, and we can do amazing things.
SLIDE 5
Big Question
Our big question today is: How can we know what to do?
Big Idea
Our big idea today is: We need to follow Jesus' plan.
As it turns out, we can all know Jesus' plan for us.
However, His plan is probably different from our plan.
SLIDE 6
Bible Reference
We'll see this from our Bible story.
We'll listen to the Bible story first, and then later we'll read it for ourselves.
Teacher, play this YouTube video:
Point 1
SLIDE 7
Our first point is, Jesus' plan is probably different from ours
SLIDE 8
Game: Telephone
Instructions
Let’s start with a game! It's called Telephone!
To play everyone gets in a circle.
Teacher: have students form a circle
Everyone, take one step back so there's a bit of space. This is so you can’t hear each other.
I'll whisper some words to one person. You can only hear it one time, you can't ask for a repeat. That person will pass it on to the next person, until everyone in the circle has heard the message.Then the last person will say what they heard out loud to the group.
Telephone phrases
The shark has shiny shoes
Dozens of diving dolphins
My favorite food is roasted slugs
The blue bluebird blinks
SLIDE 9
Debrief
We played this game because it reminds us that sometimes people can make mistakes, and we can get all kinds of wrong ideas from people. We can even get wrong ideas from ourselves.
SLIDE 10
Bible Reference
In our Bible story, Peter made a mistake because he had the wrong idea in his mind. Let's read the first half of our story again.
Matthew 16:21-23 (CEV)
21 From then on, Jesus began telling his disciples what would happen to him. He said, “I must go to Jerusalem. There the nation's leaders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law of Moses will make me suffer terribly. I will be killed, but three days later I will rise to life.” 22 Peter took Jesus aside and told him to stop talking like that. He said, “God would never let this happen to you, Lord!” 23 Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Satan, get away from me! You're in my way because you think like everyone else and not like God.”
SLIDE 11
Explanation
In our story, Jesus was telling His disciples His plan. Jesus was going to Jerusalem, and His enemies would make Him suffer terribly, and they would kill him. Afterwards He would come back to life.
That is what Jesus needed to do in order to save the world.
Peter thought it was a terrible plan. He didn't want Jesus to be killed. Peter pulled Jesus aside and told Him there was no way this could happen, and Jesus should stop talking like that.
Peter thought he was just being a good friend. But, Peter wasn't thinking like God. Peter was just thinking like everyone else.
SLIDE 12
Application
A lot of times, people think differently from God. God cares about the things that last forever, and He cares a lot about the things that will make us happy forever. But, normal people don't care much about things that last forever. Normal people care a lot about how we feel right now, and what will make us happy right away.
If that’s how we think, we will be like Peter, and we will get in the way of what Jesus is trying to do, because it will make no sense to us.
We need to think hard about the Bible and what it says, and we need to learn from people who love God and are doing His work. Then, we will not just think like everyone else, but we will have an idea of what is really important.
SLIDE 13
Discussion Question
Let's break for a discussion question.
Who is your favorite character from TV or the movies? Why?
Do you think this character loves the things that last forever?
Point 2
SLIDE 14
Our second point is, we should follow Jesus' plan
SLIDE 15
Activity: Oven Mitt Race
Instructions
Teacher's setup:
Set up two tables
Provide a pair of oven mitts for each table
Provide one or two Hershey Kisses per child
Let's start this point with a game! It's called the Oven Mitt Race!
Let's see how it works
Teacher: play this YouTube video from 2:00 to about 3:00 in the video.
In this game we'll have two teams, and each team will have one table and two oven mitts. The goal of this game is to have everyone on your team unwrap a Hershey Kiss using the oven mitts. You will unwrap one, and then pass the oven mitts to someone else.
If you get really stuck, you can pass your mitts to someone else.
When you have unwrapped all the Hershey kisses, you win! Your team can share the candy as a snack.
SLIDE 16
Debrief
We played this game because it's a simple game: we get the idea right away. It's also a tricky game because it's not really clear how we're going to unwrap the candy through the oven mitts.
That's how it's like when we're following Jesus. Normally the big idea is clear, but there are all kinds of little details that we need to work through.
SLIDE 17
Bible Reference
Let's read the next few verses in our passage.
Matthew 16:24-27 (CEV)
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples: If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross and follow me. 25 If you want to save your life, you will destroy it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find it.
SLIDE 18
Explanation
In Bible times, people were sometimes nailed to a cross to be killed. When it was time for someone to die, they would carry their cross to the right place, and then the Roman soldiers would nail them to their cross. When Jesus told His disciples to take up their cross, it was His way of saying they were going to die. In return, Jesus promised to give them a new life that is better.
SLIDE 19
Application
Even now, whenever a person wants to follow Jesus, they need to expect that it's going to cost them their life. It’s unlikely someone will kill us, but we will spend all of our time and all of our energy doing what God wants. He wants us to follow Him like that all the days of our lives. It’s called dying to ourselves, because we are doing what God wants first, rather than only what we want. That's really hard, but if we give Him our life, He will give us a better life.
The key is to chase after the things that last forever.
What does it actually look like to chase after the things that last forever?
A lot of times, it looks like being kind to people even when we don't feel like it, because that's what God wants.
It also looks like training our minds and our bodies so that we can be strong in every way to do whatever God wants us to do.
Every day, we can build good habits, and try to be kinder and stronger and smarter so that we can do God's work.
We can remember that if we try for God, He will take care of us, and He will reward us.
SLIDE 20
Discussion Question
Let's pause for a discussion question:
Do you have any ideas for how to get kinder, stronger, or smarter?
Conclusion
SLIDE 21
Let’s wrap up this lesson by going over the big ideas again!
Our big question was: how can we know what to do?
Our answer was: we need to follow Jesus' plan.
As it turns out, Jesus' plan is probably different from ours, because most people think too much about being happy right now, and they don’t think enough about being happy forever.
If we want to follow Jesus' plan, we need to give up everything we have and live for Him, choosing Him first rather than ourselves.
Every day, we try to be kinder, stronger, and smarter, so that we can do God's work, and in the end God will reward us.
Main Activity: Bubble Tea
SLIDE 22
Let's end this lesson by making bubble tea!
One interesting thing about bubble tea is that we need to follow instructions to get it just right. We can't just do whatever feels good; someone has to tell us what to do, and we need to try our best to do it the way they tell us to.
That's how it's like with God's plan. He tells us what to do, and we try our best. If we do that, our story will end well.