This topic is collecting ideas for Rev 1:9-20 -- John's vision of Christ and the seven churches as lampstands.
The Cosmic Christ
a lesson set submitted by member "Rotation Friend"
Scripture Reference:
Revelation 1:9-20
12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man,dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
...and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Overview of all workshops in this Rotation:
- Poster workshop - create a poster of 7 churches in your area.
- Crafts - create candles.
- Art (and Games) - create a flash card game; play it; and make a picture of Jesus
- Games - play Postman's Knock.
Memory Verse:
Rev 1:17-18
Jesus said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One. I was dead and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
Poster Workshop
Christ in the Churches
Summary:
Students will create a poster of 7 churches in your area.
Purpose:
- To help the children to understand that Church is God’s idea and that his Church - seen on earth as many churches - is very precious to him, and therefore should be precious to all his people.
- To make children aware of other churches/congregations in the world around them.
- To provide encouragement, not only to the children of our own congregation, but also to the children in other churches (and their teachers).
Supplies:
- Digital Photos & notes of encouragement from other churches.
- Photo of your immediate family.
- Photos of family members family who live in other cities or countries.
- Digital Camera
- Bibles
- Map which shows region of Asia minor that shows the location of the 7 churches.
- Map to show locations of churches you received pictures from.
- 7 pre-cut orange flames.
Preparation:
- Prior to this presenting this lesson, write to 6 other Churches and request a photo of their congregation, or their Sunday School group, which you can present to in your lesson. (A digital photo is best, if possible, as it can be easily reproduced for each time the lesson is presented.) Ask if they are able to send a short letter of encouragement which will be read to your children.
Alternatively, simply drive past local churches in your area and take a photo of the building where they meet. - Also, take a photo of the children of your own church to include in the lesson. (Check with parents that they are OK with the idea.)
Lesson Plan:
Opening:
Greet the children and introduce yourself.
Open with a prayer.
Dig:
Start this lesson by talking about families. Show a photo of the people in your immediate family. Ask the children about who lives with them in their family. We each live with other people in our home - but is that all that there is to family?
Talk about some other family members who live away from you. Show some photos of family who live in other places - some nearby and some far away. Ask children about their extended families.
God is growing a family. It is made up of all the Christians in the world. It is called the Church.
Ask the children what they know about ‘the Church’. You will probably get comments about your own church.
Take the older children a little further and ask them what they know about other churches - either neighbouring, or elsewhere in the country or in the world. (Young children will have insufficient experience to answer this question.)
Discuss with them how other churches, like our own, all belong to God. Everyone who loves Jesus is part of God’s family.
Ask the children to find the Book of Revelation in their Bibles. Read the Scripture passage. Focus their attention on image of Jesus standing in the middle of the 7 candle stands with the 7 stars. (Other details of the story will be dealt with other lessons). Verse 20 explains that the candle stands represent the churches. The stars are identified as angels of each of the churches. The scholars debate on how exactly to understand this reference - at the very least, it shows that Jesus ensures that each church is specially cared for and protected.
There were many churches at the time when John recorded his vision, but 7 churches in the region of Asia minor were specifically addressed. If you have a map, show the children where these churches were.
There are many more churches in the world than we can know, but today’s lesson will consider our own church and 6 others.
Present the children with the photos and letters you have gathered. Show them a map/s which show where the churches are found in relation to our own church.
Create a poster with the photos. Glue seven flames with the photos in a large circle on the poster. Write the memory verse in the centre.
Pray for the other churches represented on the poster and get the children to write a letter of encouragement to the other churches. (Younger children might simply draw a picture.) Take a photo of the children and poster and send it with the letters back to the churches which have contributed to the class.
Reflection:
Revise the memory verse and send the children home with a copy of the memory verse. Display the poster to the whole of the church at a suitable occasion.
(POST SCRIPT: Cards were sent to local churches and they were delighted and encouraged by the children’s work. Some have sent replies to the children to thank and encourage them. – Brilliant!!!)
Craft Workshop
Christ in our Church
Summary:
Students will be making candles.
Memory Verse:
Rev 1:17-18
Jesus said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One. I was dead and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
Purpose:
- To teach the children that Christ needs to be at the centre of our church.
- To help the children to consider the purpose of the church as a light shining for Jesus.
- To encourage the children to pray for our church.
Supplies:
- Dip tray material (or glass candlestick holders)
- Paraffin Wax, coloring (dye), cups, wicks. Stove, pot.
OR
- sheets of beeswax, wicks.
Lesson Plan
Opening:
Greet the children and introduce yourself.
Open with a prayer.
Dig:
Encourage the children to consider how important is to have a shining light. (What would happen without the sun/light bulbs/candles? How important is it to have a light? What does light do for us?)
In this passage, churches are thought of as shining lights - as candles/lamps burning. What does it mean if our church is thought of as a shining light? (- help people who are lost. - show others what Jesus is like.)
Ask the children to consider how they can be lights shining for Jesus (- live as Jesus wants, being honest, loving, caring - invite others to Sunday school. - be friends to lonely people)
The reason we are to shine is Jesus - the great King.
Review the memory verse.
Candle Activity:
Help the children to make candles. There are different ways this can be done:
Reflection:
Write out the memory verse and either stick it around the base of the candle, or write it out around a circle of card, or other material, to create a candle ‘drip tray’.
(Moderator wondering if it would be better to buy glass candle stick holders that children could write a shortened memory verse in permanent marker (example: Do not be afraid).
Encourage the children to pray for our church.
Art Workshop
Christ in the World
Summary:
Students will create a flash card game; play it; and then make a picture of Jesus.
Purpose:
- To give the children a new and mighty picture of Jesus beyond what they would have from the Christmas story, and other Biblical stories. (The glory of Jesus as God is implicit in the Gospel accounts, but here in the book of Revelation the glory has been unveiled.)
- To help the children understand that Jesus is ruler of the world.
- To inspire the children to look to Jesus as God and king and to commit their lives to him.
Supplies:
- Bibles
- Bible Picture Book
- white cardstock
- pictures representing the glorified Christ descriptions and applications
- black cardboard (A4 size)
- pencils or coloured chalks
- pieces of cut-out coloured paper and cotton wool, etc.
- glue sticks
Preparation:
- Create Flash Cards on cardstock:
To help explain the various parts of the description of the glorified Christ, make up flash cards from the list, at end of lesson.
Each description card should have a corresponding application card.
Adaption Younger Children: Suggestion by Moderator - find pictures (or graphics) on the internet to create your "Flash Cards - descriptions & matching application cards". For the teachers benefit still write the descriptions on the bottom of each.
Lesson Plan
Opening:
Tell the children we are going to read about Jesus from a part of the Bible that they might not have read much. Help them find Revelation in their Bibles and read the Scripture.
There is a lot of description of Jesus here which may seem very unusual.
Adaptions:
Younger Children: For younger children, show them a picture Bible picture book and talk to them about some of the pictures of Jesus.
Older Children: explain that this image of the glory of Christ is related to the vision of Daniel (Daniel 7 & 10).
Dig:
Activity Flash Card Match Games:
- Mix up to the groups of cards and ask the children if they can guess which application goes with description.
- Have them keep guessing until they have correctly match all the descriptions to its correct application.
- If time permits, do a memory match game.
- Take the cards mix them all up and turned upside down - the children then take turns choosing 2 cards, if they get a match they keep the pair, if not a match turn back over and next child goes.
- Play until all cards are matched.
Activity create a Jesus' Glory picture:
- Give the children a piece of black cardboard (A4 size) and some pencils or coloured chalks
- Have them to draw a picture of Jesus based on the description in Rev 1.
For younger children it may be better to have some pieces of cut-out coloured paper and cotton wool, etc. which they can glue onto the black page to illustrate this picture of Jesus’ glory. - Review the memory verse with the children. Have them write it on the black cardboard.
Pray with them. Help them to give praise to Jesus who is mighty and loving. Be sensitive in asking them about giving their hearts to Jesus as their Saviour and King.
Flash Cards "Description" and "Application" List
Games Workshop
Christ in my Life
Summary:
Students will play Postman's Knock and ends with a game of Stuck in the Mud.
Purpose:
- To assist the children in understanding the significance of Jesus’ statement in Rev 1:17-18 (used as the memory verse for this rotation.)
- To encourage the children to trust in Jesus when it comes to scary, painful and sinful things
Supplies:
- set of keys
Lesson Plan
Opening:
Greet the children and introduce yourself.
Open with a prayer.
Dig:
Play 'Postman’s Knock', but instead of dropping a handkerchief, use a set of keys.
When the keys have been dropped, the person with the keys gets up and chases the other person back to their seat.
Help the children find Revelation in their Bible and read through the Scripture together. Remind them of the memory verse and review it with the class.
Focus on the part of the memory verse where Jesus speaks about holding ‘the keys of death and Hades‘ - where he claims power over the enemies of mankind. Before explaining this more to the children, ask them why Jesus is holding the keys? Accept suggestions.
Help them to think about who holds keys in our society? Who holds the keys for the school? (The headmaster and staff) Who holds the keys to the bank vault? (The bank manager) etc…
Discuss with them how the person who holds the keys is someone in authority, who is trusted. Ask again why Jesus holds keys?
What does it mean that he holds keys to Death and Hades? These are the enemies of mankind - but Jesus, as risen and glorified Christ has authority over everything - he can lock up death and sickness and evil.
This passage in Revelation is about the high authority of Jesus Christ. Discuss with the children what they face which might need to entrusted to Jesus to lock up.
Reflection:
Pray with the children, claiming Jesus’ authority to defeat and lock up the things that need to be dealt with.
Conclude with a game of ‘Stuck in the Mud’.
Have one person do the chasing and another to hold the keys. When the key holder comes and tips the people who have been stuck in the mud, they are freed.
