The Baptist of Jesus

Art Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Students make a dipped tissue collage and oragami.

Scripture Reference:

Luke 3:1-22

Supplies List: 

• Scraps of colored tissue paper
• Diluted (half water, half glue) white school glue in shallow containers
• Background paper; you could use cream colored or light blue 8 ½ in. X 11in. construction paper.
• Scissors for everyone
• Pencils and plain paper for drawing figures to cut out and glued on the collage
• Old lesson papers (see Resource Room) could provide an alternative source of figures to cut and paste
• Thin white printer paper 
• Direction sheets for oragami

Leader Preparation:

• Gather the materials.
• Make sample projects.
• Read the scripture ahead of time.

Presentation

Opening-Welcome and Lesson Introduction:

Welcome the children and their guide(s) to the workshop, introduce yourself, and open in prayer. Please try to start on time and end on time, and focus your attention on the children.

Post the Bible memory verses, Matthew 3:17 and the bonus verse, Proverbs 28:13. (“Bonus” means that after a child has learned Matthew 3:17, he or she may try to learn Proverbs 28: 13 also.)

Dig-Main Content and Reflection:

Teach the lesson. You could introduce the lesson simply by reading Luke 3:1- 22 from the Living Bible, a version that is easier for children to understand. Or you could summarize the story in your own words. Older children could help by reading out loud from their Bible. If the group has already been to the storyteller, ask them to tell you what they’ve learned. If you think the children can quietly work on the art project during the teaching, have them start before you do in depth teaching.

Art Project Suggestions:

1. Make a dipped tissue collage of the scene of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus and the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus. Students could copy Matthew 3:17 into their journal and answer the journal question with it.

2. If dipped tissue doesn’t work for you, you can also try dipping colored chalk into a small dish of liquid starch and drawing the scene with chalks. The liquid starch enhances the color and staying power of the chalk. Various color background sheets could be offered as choices.

3. For grade 5 & 6: Provide the students with copies and an example of the winged bird, and provide them with paper so they can try to make an origami dove. It’s actually pretty complicated, and probably too difficult for the younger grades. They might also like to do the collage, or might choose to do the collage instead. These are both things they can do quietly as you and they discuss the lesson, if necessary.

Procedure for dipped tissue collage:
Pass out the background papers. Students should write their names on the back in pencil. Have available the other supplies: tissue, thinned glue, paper, scissors, old lessons. Tell the students they may, if absolutely necessary, sketch their scene lightly on the background in pencil. They will want an area for the sky, maybe with sun or clouds, an area for grass and trees and for a crowd, a river with a place for John and Jesus to stand, maybe a few rocks, and some way of showing “the Holy Spirit descending like a dove” on Jesus. Explain that people didn’t all just SEE a bird-like thing landing on Jesus, but that it was John’s awareness of God’s Holy Spirit coming on Jesus; it was something sensed spiritually by John.

Procedure for oragami:

1. Make a sample yourself so you will be able to demonstrate the procedure and help students.

2. Allow the students to follow along with your instructions and the direction sheet to try to be successful.

Discussion Questions: (Tell students they may use their Bibles in Matthew 3 or Luke 3 to help them answer questions.)

1. What are some things that John the Baptist did or said that tell you that he wasn’t afraid of what anyone but God thought of him? (ANS: He called the Sadducees and Pharisees “vipers” (or snakes). He told them to “produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8). He said their unrepentant religion was about to be cut down at the roots like a bad tree.)

2. What might give you a clue that John often prayed and listened to God? (ANS: He said he saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove on Jesus.)

3. Why were people coming to John to be baptized? (ANS: They heard him preach that they should repent – “turn away from” – their sinful ways and obey God. Baptism showed they had done this.)

4. Since Jesus did not need to repent, why did He ask John to baptize him? (ANS: Jesus was showing that he was willing to bear our sins on the cross; he was willing to become one of us, even though he was sinless.)

Journal: Write Matthew 3:17 in your journal. What three aspects of God are shown in this verse? In other words, who was speaking, who was he speaking about, and who came and filled the Lord Jesus? (ANS: Father, Son and Holy Spirit)

Closing:

End with a circle of prayer. Allow children to confess sin if they want to, to pray for one another or to praise and thank God. Then remind them to come to their next workshop next Sunday with their Bible and a friend.

Editors added the following links to explain the art projects:

This site gives fairly good instructions for the collage (BTW, I'd use heavier paper than construction paper, like watercolor paper or card stock.): http://www.ehow.com/how_471916...per-collage-art.html.

The post refers to direction sheets for the origami doves, but doesn't give it. These are good. http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-dove.html

A lesson posted by Silverdale United Methodist Church (SUMC)

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.