The Beatitudes

Video Workshop 

Summary of Lesson Activities:

View the live-action video, The Visual Bible: Matthew showing Jesus teaching the Beatitudes; discuss the relevance of the Beatitudes in our lives. [Note: 4th – 6th graders visited this workshop.]

For scripture and objectives, see above.

Leader Preparation:

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

Supplies List:

• DVD: Matthew, The Visual Bible
• TV/DVD player
• Snack items: Goldfish crackers, cups, napkins, water pitcher
• Easel; appropriate marker
• Bibles; One purple Adventure Bible with tabs (Law, History, etc.)
• Bible tab writing kit: tabs, fine-line Sharpie pen
• A crown
• Two or three beanbags (optional)

Before Start of Class:

• Listen to the provided MP3 file of the songs for this Rotation. Decide which song to incorporate into this lesson as a closing.
• Fill a pitcher with ice and water. Gather enough plastic cups to serve water and Goldfish crackers.
• Upstairs, prepare snack by pouring Goldfish crackers into cups. Pour cups of water.
• Make sure you know how to use the TV/DVD, especially how to move by chapters and scanning forward and backward within a chapter.
• Insert Disc 1 of the Visual Bible: Matthew DVD. If asked, start from the beginning of the disc. You want to be at the Main Menu. This is where this video will be started.
• On the easel list these items: Messiah/Jesus, The Sermon on the Mount, Blessings >> The Beatitudes, Matthew.

Presentation

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

[Note: The Shepherd will quietly take attendance/do nametags, while you are starting your lesson.]

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. Use the Lord’s Prayer as the ending. [You may ask one or two students to lead the Lord’s Prayer.] A suggestion: “Thank you God for giving us Jesus who showed us how we should act and how we should live. Help us to learn how to be more like Jesus – how to be loving, gentle, kind, and peaceful. (End with the Lord’s Prayer) Amen.”

Dig- Main Content and Reflection:
Put the crown on your head.
Ask:

• If I put on this crown does that make me a king?
• What do you know about kings? (rich, powerful, important)
• If I was the king of a country and some another country invaded us, what would you expect me to do? (stop them, lead the army, kick out the invaders) 

Say: That is what many Jewish people in Jesus’ time thought the Messiah would do. [Refer to the word Messiah on the easel.] They were expecting that the Messiah would be a powerful king. The people were hoping this powerful king, this Messiah, would kick out the Romans who were making them pay taxes.

• Ask: Was Jesus that kind of a king? (no)

Say: Jesus was a different kind of king. Jesus didn’t look like a king with fancy clothes and a golden crown. Jesus lived a simple life. Jesus didn’t talk about power and armies. Jesus talked about a different kind of kingdom – the kingdom of heaven. Today we are going to learn about a sermon that Jesus gave to many people – a sermon where Jesus talked about God’s kingdom.

• Ask: What is a sermon? (teaching by a religious leader)

Have a short discussion about how the ministers of our church give a sermon every week – even adults need to learn about Jesus.

Say: The sermon (or teaching) that Jesus gave is called “the Sermon on the Mount.” [Refer to the easel.]

• Ask: Do you know why it’s called the Sermon on the Mount? 

Say: We’ll watch for that in the movie – as to why it’s called the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is a collection of the teachings of Jesus. Jesus began his sermon with a description of who receives God’s blessing.

• Ask: What is a blessing? (students might be familiar with use of the word “blessing” to mean prayer before eating – as in “saying the blessing.” Are looking for an understanding that a blessing is something good – a feeling of well-being or supreme happiness – that comes from God)

Say: So Jesus started his Sermon on the Mount with a description of who receives God’s blessing. We call these blessings – the Beatitudes. There are eight Beatitudes and they all start off with the words “blessed are…” Let’s read these Beatitudes.

• Ask: Where in the Bible would we read about Jesus teaching his disciples?
• What are the first four books of the New Testament? (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)
• What do we call those first four books? (the Gospels)

Say: The word Gospel means “good news.” Jesus teaches us good news! If you have your own Bible today, be sure you receive a tab for the Gospel section of your Bible.
[Show the classroom Bible with tabs. Have the Shepherd do a Gospel tabs for students who bring their Bibles. Use the classroom Bible with tabs as an example.]

Distribute Bibles.
Have the students find the book of Mathew, chapter 5, and verse 1.
Read the scripture together (verses 1-10). [Towards the end of the Rotation, try asking the students if they know any of the Beatitudes. Have them check their Bibles for accuracy. It is not necessary for them to “memorize” the Beatitudes.]
If scripture has been read, when you are finished…
Say: For the Word of God in scripture, for the Word of God among us, for the Word of God within us…
The class says: Thanks be to God!

Say: Let’s watch our movie; then we can talk some more about what Jesus’ words meant.

Ask the Shepherd to help you distribute the snack.

Say: The person we will hear talking at the beginning of the video is Matthew.

• Ask: Who was Matthew? (disciple of Jesus, wrote the Gospel of Matthew)

Show the Video:
START the video at the beginning. (From the MAIN MENU, choose PLAY MOVIE.)
Watch about 2 minutes (Matthew explains a bit about who he is).

TURN OFF SOUND (but continue showing the video) when the “1:1” appears in the lower right hand corner.

POINT OUT Matthew, sitting on the rock.

Continue just watching with the sound off. When it shows the 2 men sitting writing (when the 1:13 appears in the lower right hand corner)….
Say: Matthew is telling stories about Jesus. These other men with him appear to be writing down what Matthew is saying. Matthew didn’t have a computer to help him write his Gospel!
Ask: Would you have liked to have been there, listening to Matthew tell his stories? (accept any answers)

WATCH another 40 seconds.
PAUSE after it shows the written page that the scribe is working on. (Matthew gets up and looks over the scribes shoulder.)

Select MENU. From MAIN MENU, choose “SEARCH BY EVENT”, choose “7-12”.

Say: We’ll watch a bit of Jesus’ work before we see the Sermon on the Mount.
Turn the sound up. Choose “THE CALLING OF THE FIRST DISCIPLES”.

WATCH about 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Jesus calls his disciples and heals a woman (Peter’s mother).

PAUSE when the people are shown sitting on a hillside.
Say: Listen as Jesus teaches what we call the Beatitudes. Imagine yourself as being there.

WATCH about 2 minutes and 45 seconds.
PAUSE after the verse number “5:12” disappears from the lower right corner (after Jesus says, “ Rejoice and be glad…in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.)

Say: We’ll stop here, but Jesus goes on to give the rest of his Sermon on the Mount. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount covers three chapters in the book of Matthew! It was a long sermon.
Ask: Who can tell me why it is called the Sermon on the Mount? (because given on the side of a mountain)

Discussion:
Have the class recall the details of the gathering crowds as they listened to Jesus.

• Ask: What age levels did the people represent? Young? Old? In between? Were they healthy? Sick?
• What did you notice about the people's faces and the reactions of the crowds as they listened to Jesus? [If necessary rewind and watch again. “Don't be afraid to view an important scene a second time. Kids (and adults) watch movies over and over all the time.” (MacQueen)]
• Why did the people come to hear Jesus? Would you have gone?
• What do you suppose it was like to be on the hill listening to Jesus?

Discuss the meaning of the Beatitudes. Cover whatever you have time for (allowing some time for “Closing.) You could ask students which of the Beatitudes they would like to better understand.

Ask questions (such as the following) to see how well they understand the Beatitudes. Use the information in the overview materials to assist in your discussion. As you talk about each Beatitude make sure the following is discussed:

• WHY did Jesus think these were such important ideas?
• WHO is someone you know that exemplifies (lives) that Beatitude?

Example questions:

• What does the word “mourn” mean? Tell about a time you were sad. What made you feel better? What are some ways to comfort someone?
• What does it mean to be “meek”?
• What does the word “mercy” mean?
• What does someone do if they are a “peacemaker”? How can you be a peacemaker?
• What is pure in heart?
• What does the word “persecution” mean? (being treated badly for what you believe)
• What does it mean to be poor in spirit?
• How does a person “see God”?
• What does it mean to be called “children of God”?
• What do the Beatitudes tell us about God’s kingdom? 

Closing:

• Ask: Do you think it is easy to live the Beatitudes? (allow all answers)

Say: Living as Jesus taught is hard! When we use these key ways of living – living the Beatitudes – we are living as disciples of Jesus.

• Ask: Do you suppose the rewards of living the Beatitudes is something you want to strive for? (allow all answers)

Say: Jesus loves you! Living the Beatitudes makes the world a better place and we receive that long-lasting happiness that Jesus spoke about!

Close by having the children sing one of the following two songs: (Note: words to songs can not be included here due to copyright reasons. The songs were: Song of Hope, a Schutmaat/Argentinian Folk Melody and Go Now in Peace by Natalie Sleeth.

If you have extra time:
Play a game with beanbags. Move to an open area of the room and stand in a circle.
Say: In this game we’ll toss a beanbag to each other. When you catch the beanbag you’ll be telling us something about a Beatitude. For example – let’s start by talking about being a peacemaker. When you catch the beanbag, tell what you think it means to be a peacemaker, show us the sign language for peacemaker, or tell us what God’s blessing will be if we’re peacemakers.
Toss the beanbag around a few times until everyone gets the hang of it, then switch to talk about a different Beatitude. To make it more interesting, add one or two more beanbags into the game so there is lots of activity and interaction!

Resources:

• Burton, Julie. Retired “Rotation.org Writing Team Lesson On The Beatitudes: Video.” 2003.
• Faith Quest Lesson Sets at Kirk of Kildaire Presbyterian Church. “The Beatitudes: Holywood.” 2002.
• MacQueen, Neil. "A Manual for the Video - A/V Workshop. https://www.rotation.org/topic...-video--a-v-workshop

A lesson written by Carol Hulbert for First United Methodist Church

Ann Arbor, MI 

Copyright 2009 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

 If you use this material, even in a modified form, please include the following reference:
Hulbert, Carol. "The Beatitudes: Video Lesson." Sept. 2009. Place URL where lesson found inside angle brackets<>.

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