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Reply to "GAMES Workshop Lessons & Ideas about Peter and Cornelius, Peter's Rooftop Vision"

Peter and Cornelius

GAMES Workshop


Summary of Lesson Activities:

Children will have an exercise with the parachute, play Blob Tag, and work on their memory verse.

Bible Background:

is found in the Bible Background forum.

Lesson Objectives:

  1. Children can locate Acts 10 in their Bibles.
  2. Children understand that God loves and includes everyone and so should we.
  3. Children understand baptism as becoming part of the church.
  4. Children can recite the memory verse from Acts 10:28b

Supplies Needed:

  • Extra people – the parachute game and blob tag both require a minimum of 6 people, with a group of 10 or more even better. Ask a few youth or adults to join you if needed.
  • Parachute
  • Bibles for each student
  • Post-It Notes
  • Pens, markers, pencils
  • Memory Game prepared: red, yellow, blue, green paper, and masking tape.

Advance Preparation:

  • Read the biblical background notes and answer the questions raised in the “themes” section to figure out what this story means to you.
  • Read through the lesson and decide how best to manage your time through all three games.
  • Prepare the Scripture Memory Game as follows:
    Get four pieces of construction paper (11X17 if you have it) and write in large letters the following parts of the memory verse on the appropriate color.
    RED: “God has shown me
    BLUE: that I should not call
    GREEN: anyone profane
    YELLOW: or unclean.” – Acts 10:28b
    Tape the four pieces of paper on the wall (use masking tape – clear tape will take off the paint!) in the correct order.
  • Take the parachute out of the bag and spread it flat so that the wrinkles relax


Lesson Plan

Opening:

Time: – about 10 minutes
Sit around the outside of the parachute so that children and helpers are evenly distributed around the edges. Give each child a Bible.
Practice raising and lowering the parachute
Explain that your are going to act out Peter’s vision today.
On the post it notes write names of foods the kids don’t like to eat.
Help the children find Acts 10:11-16. Read it together (summarize for non-readers)
As you read about the sheet coming down from heaven, you can raise and lower your parachute.

Raise the parachute up high and say “[name of child], eat [name a food].”
Lower the parachute to the ground and allow the child to answer/react.
The child whose name was called can now pick another child “[name of child], eat [name a food].”

Explain that God wasn’t just talking about food. God was also talking about the way we treat people. Find Acts 10:28 and read it together.

Use the post-it notes again and write down the names of individual people, or groups of people, that the children don’t like or don’t get along with.

Raise the parachute up high and say, “[name of child], love your enemy.”
Lower the parachute to the ground, and give the child a chance to react.
The child whose name was called can now pick another child “[name of child], love your enemy.”

Dig:

Time: about 30 minutes (15 minutes to play round 1 and 2; 15 minutes for discussion)

Blob Tag – 2/3 of the children and adults hold hands in a circle to form the blob; the other 1/3 are freebies who can run about at will. (Note: this works best in a space that gives some room to move about, but not so large that freebies are impossible to catch in game 2)

Game 1
It is the freebies job to try and get into the middle of the blob. The blob is supposed to try and block the freebies and if a freebie does get in, move around to try and get them back out.

Game 2
It is the blob’s job to try and capture the freebies and keep them inside. The freebies are supposed to stay away from the blob and if caught are supposed to try and escape.

Which version of the game did you like better?
Which was harder?
Is it more fun to be the blob or the freebie? Why?

Life Application

Play Game 1 and 2 of the Blob again, only this time, re-label them. The “Blob” is the church and the freebies are people who don’t go to church, or unbelievers.

  • Is our church more like Game 1 or Game 2?
  • Do we try and “catch” people who don’t believe?
  • Do we try and “keep out” people who want to be part of the church?
  • Do we try and keep people in or do we let them leave?


Summarize together what happens after Peter meets Cornelius.
In the beginning of the story of Peter and Cornelius, was the church (Peter) more like Blob game 1 or 2? Explain.
By the end of the story, how was the church (Peter) behaving?

How does God want us to behave?
Are Christians supposed to “trap” unbelievers the way we did in game 2 and not let them out even if they want to get out? Why or why not?

Walk through a final version of the Blob game. The Blob tries to catch the freebies, but when they are caught, the freebies join the blob circle and are part of catching the next freebie.

Explain that this more closely explains what the church is supposed to be. The church tries to reach out to and bring in unbelievers, but then when they are baptized they become part of the church.

Discuss baptism:

  • Do any of you remember your baptism?
  • Do you have any pictures of your baptism?
  • Do you remember seeing other children/adults being baptized?


Explain that with baptism, we all become part of the “blob”. In our baptism service, after the act of baptism, the pastor says “The Holy Spirit be upon __, child of God, disciple of Christ, member of the church.”

When did Cornelius become a member of the church (part of the blob)? (An argument can be made that he became a member of the church when the Holy Spirit descended upon him – which was before Peter performed the baptism.)

Reflection:

Memory Verse Game
Time: about 10 minutes
Spread out the parachute again and have children stand (IN STOCKING FEET!) on a triangle, making sure they are evenly divided between all four colors.

Have everyone squat down. When it is your color, stand and read your part of the memory verse, then squat back down. Work this through several times until all groups have their part down well. Then walk forward one triangle so that you have a new part of the verse to say/stand for. Continue until all children have stood on all colors at least once.

Play it again, this time, removing one or more of the pieces of paper, so that children have to say the verse from memory as they continue to stand/sit through the memory verse.

For later weeks, when the children might already have the verse well memorized, make the focus building speed. For instance, how many times can you stand/sit/say your verse in one minute.

To take home
Baptism Maze (not attached, do an online search for a take home activity sheet).

Adjustments for age levels and abilities
Younger children will have a harder time applying the metaphor in the Blob game. To compensate, play only Game 2 version where the blob captures the freebies and lead directly into a conversation about evangelism and bringing others into the church. End with the parachute again, this time lifting it up and everyone moving to the inside when it is quickly brought down (makes a sort of tent if done correctly). Use this as a discussion of how God wants us to include everybody.

For the memory game, point to the colors as you say your verse. The children will not be able to read what is written, but they can stand with their color and will learn their words. You can also begin by everyone standing on red, everyone standing on blue, etc.



A lesson written by Lisa Martin from: Trinity UCC
Pottstown, PA

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

Last edited by Luanne Payne
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