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(WT) The Great Commission and Ascension of Jesus ~ The Great Bible Board Game Workshop

Rotation.org Writing Team

The Great Commission and Ascension of Jesus

The Great Bible Board Game Workshop 


Summary of Activities

Students will play a giant board game all about Jesus' Great Commission and Ascension, that focuses on key verses and their life application.

Scripture for the Lesson

Matthew 28:16-20 and Acts 1:1-11

Key/Memory Verse:  18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Lesson Objectives

See the Bible Background at rotation.org for this set's complete list of objectives. 

About the Game Board in the Great Bible Game Workshop

  • The recommended gameboard in this lesson is one you create on the wall for all to see. You can paint or draw it on a large bed sheet, or a large area of butcher paper. See the graphic below and instructions handout for board layout and suggestions. Add your own design to make it visually fun.
  • The game "cards" your student draw as they land on various squares take your students through the Great Commission and Ascension scriptures and reward their responses to each card's life application question. The teacher awards 1 or 2 points for each answer based on the answer. The game is "over" when they accumulate 20 points (or however many you want to set). If they finish early, mix up the teams and start the game again!

Preparation and Materials

  • lecternRead the Bible Background and scripture.
  • Print the attached Game Instructions and Cards (attached)
  • Create the dice to throw. (See description below and on the handout.)
  • Create the giant game board on a wall. See suggestions below.
  • Position a lectern next to the gameboard for players to step forward (and up to) to read the Bible verses as directed by the cards they draw. Have the two Bible story passages pre-printed in large print in the translation of your choice, or opened and bookmarked.
  • Position a "scoreboard" next to the gameboard to keep track of how many points each team is accumulating. The scoreboard can also be incorporated into the gameboard.

Lesson Plan

The game features the reading and discussion of most of the verses in the Great Commission (in Matthew) and Ascension scriptures (from Acts). Thus, prior to playing, you only need to read through the scriptures in their entirety. The "cards" in the game will provide the discussion.

Open

Looking at the gameboard...   

Ask: Most games go in one direction. Does this game look like it has an ending or a goal?  What is the ending or goal of being a Disciple of Jesus?  (They will most likely say "heaven" but that's not really our goal. Heaven is not a reward for doing good --that would be "works." Our goal is to please or glorify God*, ...to be faithful no matter where life takes us.)

Invite students to step forward to the lectern and take turns reading the Matthew 28 and Acts 1 stories. Provide a little bit of context to each before reading. (Who, What, Where, and where we are in the Gospel story.)

Let's Play!

  1. Divide into teams of two or three students each.
  2. Have students sit together in front of the gameboard, leaving room for players to step forward. Teammates work together to answer questions.
  3. Assign game markers and explain the game play. (see the handout)
  4. As suggested in the handout, the teacher can adjust game play and game speed by adjusting the points they award, and introducing additional bonus cards if needed.
  5. If you get done early, mix up the teams and play again!

Reflect

What is the most important question or point you learned in our game? To answer that, select three or four of the game cards and pass them out to your teams. Have them read the card aloud, including the verse. Once all the cards have been read, ask students to vote on which single card they think sounds like the most important verse and question/answer they learned today. This is entirely debatable, and students may have different answers. 

Suggested cards to vote on:  

Read Matthew 28:19 and answer:  Name one way to NOT "make" (help) someone want to be a disciple of Jesus.

Read Matthew 28:19 and answer:  Name one way to “make” (help) someone want to be a disciple of Jesus.

Read Acts 1:8 and answer:  The term “ends of the earth” can mean far away and all places, but it can also mean “difficult” or challenging places and situations. Name a difficult or challenging place or time to be a follower of Jesus.

Read Acts 1:10 and answer:  What’s wrong with a disciple who just sits or “stands around” at church? And what should you do to help them not do that?


Describing the Giant Gameboard   

GameBoardGraphic

The dice, markers, gameboard, and gameplay are described in the attached Game Instructions.

diceThe Dice (1):  Cover a square box (approx 10x10x10) with white paper and write the following on its six sides: 1, 2, 3, “Go Back 2 Spaces,” “Bonus Card,” “Caught Standing Around.”

The Game Board:  Draw/paint the game board on a large white bed sheet or large sheets of butcher paper so that it can hang on a wall. Tip: You can hang a bed sheet using removable “Command strip” wall clips. Hanging the gameboard on the wall makes it more visible to everyone and provides a focal point (as opposed to a "floor" gameboard often seen in Game Workshops which require more work to make, and from which the kids sometimes wander). See the handout for gameboard and game play instructions.

pinnable-team-markerThe Game Markers (one per team): If you're using a bedsheet to make your gameboard, you can create fun game markers small stuffed animals by tieing a string around the marker and a safety pin, then using the pointy end of the pin to hang the marker on the sheet and move it from square to square.  If you're using butcher paper, make fun markers ahead of time using lightweight foam paper, and then use fun-tack putty to stick the markers on the sheet. 




Adaptations

For Younger Students:  Have a teacher read the card verses and questions. Simplify some of the questions. Make adjustments to the gameplay to avoid frustration. For example, add another Bonus card that saves them from having to go back to the beginning, and add another "hint" bonus card they can use to get help with a response.

*Re: the Game's Goal. It's not heaven. According to the famous question from Protestantism's famous Westminster Catechism, "the chief end of man is to glorify God." That is, to worship, honor, and point to God in all we do.

Written by the Rotation.org Writing Team
With contributions from Carol Hulbert, Sheila Butler, and Neil MacQueen
Copyright 2018, Rotation.org Inc.

Attachments

Last edited by Neil MacQueen
Original Post
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