Reply to "BIBLE SKILLS & GAMES Workshop Lessons and Ideas for Baptism of Jesus / John the Baptist"

John the Baptist Baptizes Jesus

Games Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:
The children will play a game that will help them understand what it means to repent and will then “meet” John the Baptist.

Note: this lesson plans uses the storyteller script for John from "Surprising Stories from People Jesus Met" -- now out of print -- see note at end of lesson plan to help you get started to create your own script for John the Baptist.

Scripture Reference:

Matthew 3:1-17; Mark 1:1-11; Luke 3:1-22

Memory Verse:

Matthew 3:17(NLT)

Objectives for the rotation
(see listing in background, above)

Additional objectives for the games workshop
At the end of the session, the students will

know that ‘to repent’ means to change direction
identify something God may be telling them they need repent of

Teacher preparation in advance:

Read the scripture passages and lesson plan and attend the Bible Study, ....
Prepare a closing prayer.
Learn the memory verse.
Consider the age level adjustments needed each week (those included in the lesson plan and your own). Confer with the Shepherd on “Stretchers” to use, especially with the youngest children.
To our teachers at RCC: The design of this workshop is very intentional. The activities and discussion questions for this workshop were designed to meet the goals of the entire rotation and the educational objectives of the Rotation Model (tm) at River Community Church. While we feel it is important to follow the serendipitous leading of the Holy Spirit, please do not change the lesson plan without consulting a Curriculum Planning and Writing Team member.
Check out the room before your first Sunday workshop so that you know where everything is located.
The bin with supplies is located in the Sunday School room. Purchase or request additional supplies ...
Recruit someone to visit the class as John the Baptist. The volunteer who has agreed to be John must know the information in the script and have learned the memory verse. Make sure he knows to cover the information in the script, as it is the basis for the lesson that follows. (Give him copies of the appropriate pages in Surprising Stories from People Jesus Met.)

Room set-up:

Set up an obstacle course with three chairs in a zig-zag pattern.

Supply List:

Bibles
Blindfolds
Chairs for obstacle course
Honey
Crackers
Napkins
Plastic spoons
Wet wipes
script from Surprising Stories from People Jesus Met
Costume for John the Baptist (see script and costume suggestions in Surprising Stories from People Jesus Met )
Memento: arrow stickers
Shepherd Time: plain white or lined paper

Presentation

Opening-Welcome and Lesson Introduction:
Greet the children and introduce yourself. Wear your name-tag. (Remember, you are interacting with a different group of students each week who may not know you.) Make sure the children are wearing name-tags.

We had an opening prayer during the gathering time, but you may open with prayer if you feel led to do so.

Explain the purpose of this workshop: We are going to be meeting a very interesting person who urges others to repent---to change their ways and live better lives. He tells people about Jesus! First we will read the about this person in the Bible and play a game that will help us understand what repent means.

Dig-Main Content and Reflection:

Scripture/Bible Story:
Read Mark 1:1-11.
Have the children locate Mark 1:1-11 in their Bibles. Review the organization of the Bible as they locate the passage:

The Bible is divided into two big parts, the Old and New Testaments.
Each part is a collection of books.
Each book is divided into chapters and verses.
Show them that if they open their Bible in the middle, they will usually land in the book of Psalms in the OT.
The book name is at the top of each page.
Mark is the second book of the New Testament and it comes after Matthew.
Remind them that the order of the first four books of the New Testament is Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These are the Gospels.

For classes composed primarily of pre-readers, show the children how to find the passage in the Bible and then have them do it. After everyone has found the passage, have them close their Bibles and set them aside and listen while you read.

Application:
Explain that you will blindfold one of the class members and they will walk a simple obstacle course around three chairs while blindfolded. Ask for a volunteer to go first and blindfold the child. Instruct the remaining class members to call out “Repent” every time the blindfolded child is about to run into something or is going the wrong direction. This is their clue to turn around. Repeat this activity until each class member has had a chance to be blindfolded.

After everyone has had a turn, you take a turn to be blindfolded. When the children call out “Repent”, tell them “I don’t need to repent!” Continue on your way, banging into walls and chairs. Be sure to be easy on yourself, but the kids will get a kick out of your hamming it up with your injuries.

Have the children sit down and tell them they are going to meet someone who urges others to repent---to change their ways and live better lives. Ask “John” to come in. (See monologue from Surprising Stories from People Jesus Met for John.)

Reflect:
While the children are finishing the snack John shared with them, ask the following questions:

Who did John want everyone to know?
I wonder why he wanted everyone to know Jesus?
I wonder what the difference is between saying “I’m sorry” when you do something wrong and repenting?
I wonder why God wants us to change our ways and live better lives?

Review the memory verse.
Play a version of the popular children’s game “Duck, Duck, Goose.” Instruct the children to sit in a circle. Choose a child to be “It.” “It” will walk around the outside of the circle saying the Bible verse. As “It” says each word, they tap a child in the circle on the head. Everyone in the circle says the Bible verse with the child who is “It.” The child who is tapped on the head as “It” says the address of the memory verse, is the child who jumps up and chases “It” around the circle trying to tag them before “It” gets back to the empty spot in the circle. Play the game three to five times to reinforce the memory verse.

By 11:45 a.m. ask the Shepherd to pass out the journal pages and pencils/markers. Suggestion: You may wish to give the children a sticker or some memento to paste in their journal as a reminder of the story or activity – perhaps arrow stickers.

Shepherd Time:
For the younger children: Ask the children to draw a picture of something they think God wants them to repent of---change their way and do better.
For the older children: Have the children write about something they think God wants them to repent of---change their way and do better. Have them write a prayer to God asking him to give them the ability to change their way and show them how to do better.

This is meant to be a time of reflection and introspection. Writing about faith helps clarify lessons. In addition to the suggested activity, children may draw pictures relating to today’s scripture or memory verse, list highlights of the day’s activities, or rephrase the memory verse. The journal pages will be saved and given to the children at the end of the school year.

You may want to provide an extra activity or worksheet for children who finish their journals quickly, such as coloring sheets, crossword puzzles, word searches, games. See the Workshop Leader’s Background Notes and rotation.org for ideas.

Before noon, ask the students to stop journaling for a moment and sit quietly for prayer so they can leave when their parents arrive. Allow them to finish journaling afterwards.

Closing:
Pray for God to enable the children to repent of the things they drew or wrote about in their journal and thank God for people like John the Baptist who tell us about Jesus and how Jesus wants us to live.

Tidy and Dismissal:

Ask children to help tidy the room. Give any specific instructions for clearing the workshop room.
Collect the journal pages before they leave. Make sure their names and the date are on them.
Give everyone the parent take-home flyer the first week of the rotation; give it only to children who were absent and have not yet received it the other weeks of the rotation.

Additional Suggestions:
See age-level suggestions included in the lesson plan.

Resources:

Keefer, Mikal and John Cutshall. Surprising Stories from People Jesus Met. Loveland, Colorado: Group, 1998.
Weidmann, Jim and Kurt Bruner. Family Night Tool Chest Book 2: Basic Christian Beliefs. Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor Publishing,, 1997.

Field Test Notes:

I am so sorry to say that the book we used, Surprising Stories from People Jesus Met, is no longer in print.

Try to borrow the book from another church.
And maybe if enough of us complain, Group will republish it -- it is an excellent book:
Keefer, Mikal and John Cutshall. Surprising Stories from People Jesus Met. Loveland, Colorado: Group, 1998.

A brief summary (since copyright laws still apply to books even after they are out of print):
John talks about how he helps people find something. He asks "where is a water fountain?" and the children point the way and then he explains that his job is to point the way to Jesus.
He tells a bit about the miracles his cousin Jesus did.
He explains what a prophet is -- he tells people what God wants them to know. He also admits that being a prophet isn't easy, because what God has him share sometimes makes people angry.
He talks about living in the wilderness and how people come to hear him talk about repentance. He explains what repentance means. Only Jesus can forgive your sins.
He concludes by sharing a snack. "Oops, I can't find any locusts, but here is some honey" -- teacher "happens" to have some crackers to serve it on.
As he leaves, says one thing he wants everyone to remember is not him or the honey, but that Jesus is God's son, the savior!

If your person knows the story well and is quick on his feet, he can answer questions, but the questions will probably be about locusts and honey, so it may be best to skip the Q&A.

Basically, your classroom guest tells about John the Baptist in the first person. It is probably better to give your guest an outline so he won't feel compelled to memorize it word for word and so that he will remember and include all the important points to tie in with your objectives.

Hope this gets you started!
Amy