Mary and Martha

Art Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:
Create a symbol from clay using “rock art” techniques (carving in “rock") to remind us to balance our busy lives to include spending time with God.

Scripture Reference:
Luke 10:38-42

Key/Memory Verse:
“Be still and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10a (NIV)

For objectives and background - see here.

Supplies List:

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture for this lesson.
• Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
• Gather the supplies.

Preparation Ahead of Time:

From the smaller end of the clay, slice off a ¼” thick slab. Cut into four pieces. Continue cutting slabs/pieces to have one per student plus extras. Form each piece of clay into a flattened rock shape. Allow pieces to air-dry. When dry, paint the “rock” a Burnt Umber color. Before this paint dries use the stencil brush to firmly stipple the rock so that small specks of the white clay show through the paint thus creating a rough-textured rock lock.

Note: keep unused clay tightly sealed!

Presentation

Opening - Welcome and Lesson Introduction:
Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the Art Workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults.

Pass around a basket to collect any offering.

Ask for any prayer requests. Ask if anyone would like to lead the group in prayer. Be prepared to say a prayer yourself, working in prayer requests. A suggestion: “Dear God, we are thankful to be here today among friends. We are thankful we can hear Bible stories that teach us about Jesus. After we have listened with our ears, we are thankful for the chance to be creative with our hands – to create art that we carry home with us, to remind us what we learn about you. Amen”

Dig - Main Content and Reflection:
Ask them about being busy in their lives – school, what other activities are they involved in (sports, scouts, clubs, etc.) Ask if they take time to relax. Mention that Jesus scheduled downtime into his life. He taught and healed but then took time out to pray to God. He also spent time with friends.

Say: Let’s read about a Bible story that describes a time Jesus spent with some friends.

[Review the organization of the Bible]

Ask: The Bible is divided into two sections, what are they? (Old & New Testament)

If we want to read a story about Jesus, where would we find it – in the Old Testament or the New Testament of the Bible? (NT)

What do we call these first four books of the New Testament? (the Gospels)

Say: The word Gospel means “good news.” Jesus teaches us the good news. Part of that good news is that Jesus wants to be a part of our lives – it’s like he wants us to be a part of his loving family. When we read the Gospels we learn about what sort of a relationship we can have with Jesus. In this story we learn about how Jesus wants us to spend time with him.

For 1st and 2nd graders:
Say: We find our story in the New Testament of the Bible, in the Gospel of Luke.

Use a purple Adventure Bible to read Luke 10:38-42.

For 3rd grade and up:
Distribute Bibles. [Praise those who have brought their own Bibles.]

Have everyone find Luke, chapter 10, verse 38 in his or her Bible.

[Remind them of the quick way to find the New Testament.]

Have everyone take turns reading verses 38-42.

For all students:
Say: Our story starts off with Jesus and his disciples traveling on their way to Jerusalem. It is time for the Jewish festival called the “Feast of the Tabernacles.”

Ask: Has anyone every heard of the Feast of the Tabernacles?

Say: The Feast of the Tabernacles (also called Sukkot - Pronounced “sue-coat" was a harvest celebration and a time to remember their ancestors wandering in the desert for 40 years after the exodus from Egypt. Sukkot is still observed by Jews today; in fact it was last month (Oct).

Say: Martha welcomes Jesus into her home. From other stories in the Bible we know that Mary and Martha live with their brother Lazarus in the town of Bethany. Bethany was not too far from Jerusalem. Showing hospitality, or welcoming people into your home, was very important in Old Testament times and during Jesus’ time. It wasn’t done just to show good manners, it was considered a sacred duty that everyone was expected to follow.

Ask:

• Martha has company coming to visit. What is Martha’s priority; what does Martha choose to do when Jesus visits? (verse 40: “many tasks,” cooking, serving)
• What is Mary’s priority? (v. 39: sat at Jesus’ feet, listening)
• Do these two different choices cause a problem? (Martha gets upset)
• Then what happens? (v. 41-42)
• What was Jesus trying to teach Martha? (is important to serve others – as Martha did, but listening to Jesus and learning from him was the most important thing)

Say: Martha was performing an important task, taking care of her guests but she was missing out on spending time with Jesus.

Ask:

• Do you sometimes find yourself busy, upset, and troubled like Martha?
• What would help you remember to be more like Mary?

Say: Sometimes we need a reminder to stop our busy lives, and take time to spend with Jesus. Today’s art project can serve as a reminder to take that important time to be with God.

Introduce the art project:
Say: We are going to use an ancient art form, and carve in rock to create a petroglyph. In this country Native Americans created petroglyphs by scratching or “pecking” onto rock formations. The process was called pecking because it chipped away the surface of the rock to create a design. The images were very simple because it’s hard to chip rock. It’s been reported that some designs have 25 to 100 dents per inch. That’s very careful carving!

Say: [Show a “rock.”] We are going to be making our petroglyphs on these rocks, which are really dried clay that has been painted. Since this isn’t real rock it will be easier to carve a design. There are two sides to these rocks so you have a chance to create two designs. For your first design, create a symbol that will remind you to take time to sit at the feet of Jesus.

Pass out scratch paper and pencils and encourage everyone to plan their symbol. [Avoid “wasting” rocks!] Remind them that symbols need to be simple.

Help with symbol creation:
Avoid telling students what symbol to create. Brainstorm as a group with the easel. Try these questions:

• How would we spend time with Jesus? (reading Bible, praying, etc.)
• What are you doing when you are spending time with God?
• Where are you?
• What sound(s) do you hear?
• What represents making a space for God? (Physical space? Making time in your day?)

Draw on the easel, an example of a Native American symbol from the sheet provided (one of the easy ones - water, or journey). Point out how these are very simple. Think stick figures or geometric shapes. [This will admittedly be harder for the younger students. The older students visiting early may help give you ideas.]

When students get to the point where they want to create a second symbol on the other side of their “rock” have them create a symbol that shows something they do that’s important to them or something they spend a lot of time doing.

Discussion: (while the kids are working)
Ask: [If it didn’t get discussed when talking about symbols.]

• How would we spend time with Jesus? (reading the Bible, praying, worshipping, etc.)
• What does it mean for you to listen to Jesus?
• What helps you listen?
• What can distract you?

Say: Your rock will help you to remember to push aside those distractions and spend time with God.

Ask:

• Why should we spend time with God?
• When you spend time with friends does that help you to get to know them better?
• In the process do you also learn something about yourself?
• Do you suppose the same things happen if you spend more time with God?

Say: Jesus’ story teaches us to spend more time with God so as to have a close, loving relationship with him and discover God’s plan for us. God wants to bless us.

Say: On one side of your stone is a symbol of spending time with Jesus. On the other side could be a symbol of other important parts of your life. Having these two types of symbols on opposite sides of the stone helps us think that to do one, you can’t also be doing the other. It’s really a balancing act – making time for the important things we have to do in life and also having time for God. [Could explain this using the wooden balance.]

Petroglyph factoids to share:

• The word petroglyph comes from the Latin word for rock, “petro” and the Greek word “glyph,” for carved work.
• Sometimes called “rock art.”
• Why was it created? Could be to leave messages for others, or as a “memory trigger” to remember details of a story, or could be like graffiti.
• Petroglyphs created in rock required the use of a pointed shaped rock (a primitive tool) to “peck” away the surface of a rock.
• Petroglyphs can be found in many areas of the United States. Petroglyphs were also created by other cultures in other parts of the world.

Say: Our key Bible verse for this month is from Psalm 46 verse 10, “Be still and know that I am God.”

Ask:

• How does this verse tie into our lesson on the importance of taking time to sit at the feet of Jesus?
• We can be still, by sitting still. Is that all that is required, to be still and not move?
• What about getting our mind to be still – to keep our thoughts on Jesus? (not easy!)

Closing:
Say: We learn Bible stories not just to learn about people or events that happened. We also learn Bible stories because they teach us how we should live today! This story tells us that we need to remember to make time for God. We have many busy things to do, some of them are important; some may seem to be important. Use your rock art to remind you to take time to be still and learn from God.

If you have extra time:

• Have students share their rock art, explaining a bit about their symbols.
• Make more rocks:

Have 5th and 6th grades (who visit early in the Rotation) form the clay into rock shapes for the younger students. Have them do this on pieces of wax paper. Ask them to wipe as much of the clay off their hands with paper towel before washing their hands. Have each group make at least 12 “rocks.”

• Breath prayer:

Talk about breathing: how we breathe without even thinking about it. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Ask the children to blow on their hands to see if they can feel their breath.

Say: Even though we can’t see God, he promises to always be with us, as close to you as your own breath. God is always with you.

Say: A “breath prayer” is a very simple prayer that is repeated over and over as you breathe in and breathe out. Say, “God is” as you breathe in and “with me” as you breathe out. Say it very quietly while you breathe. It will take some practice to talk quietly as you breathe.

Remind the children that they can say this prayer anytime and anywhere and it will help them remember that God is always with them.

Resources:

• G.R.E.A.T. Adventure Dream Team at State Street United Methodist Church, Bristol, VA. “Mary and Martha – Finding the Balance! Overview and Background Information.” 2002.
• Stokes, William Michael and William Lee Stokes. Messages on Stone. Salt Lake City: Starstone Publishing, 1980.
• “Talking Rocks.” 2005 Lesson Plans. 2005.
• Native American symbol sheet found at: http://www.artsconnected.org/a...rocks/symdet2ko.html
• Sites that describe “rock art” and petroglyphs:
  “About the Art.” http://www.artsconnected.org/a.../identity/white.html
  “Carve a Petroglyph.”
• Scripture quoted is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

A Lesson Set written by Carol Hulbert
First United Methodist Church
120 S. State Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48104

Copyright 2005 First United Methodist Church, Ann Arbor, MI.
Permission to copy materials granted for non-commercial use provided credit is given and all cited references remain with this material

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