Exchange Volunteer notes: This post on the vine and the branches was moved here to combine it with this topic. It was originally posted in response to the following question:

quote:

 Originally posted by bloomingidiot:
We are doing the Rotation for the vine and branches and need lesson material for art, cooking, movie, drama etc. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 
Resulting Brainstorms:

1. Game/Computer
Memory verse work can be done as a game of unscrambling the words. Write them on 4x6 cards and have teams compete for quickness. You can also do this as a computer game using Cal & Marty's Scripture Memory Game. This software is FREE to supporting members!
Check it out.

2. Science
I'm brainstorming here an idea that gets to the concept of the "connectedness" of vines and branches, and demonstrating how something withers when it's cut off.

I'm thinking science experiment using simple green bell wire, switches, batteries, and various bells, buzzers and small lights and fans. All of this electrical kit stuff can be found online (or radioshack). What happens when we're not connected? When we're burnt out? When someone cuts us off from the source?

For even more memorable fun, you could do this with other types of "vines" too.... such as a water hose. What in your life might "kink" that line you are trying to keep with God? 

You can also reverse the process and show how to "make connections to God" (using a battery/bell or water). 

Important theological point: Jesus is the one who first makes the connection to us. We are called to respond. So for example, in your demonstration you could "have Jesus make the connection from the battery to the bell" ....but then discuss how we "mute" the response of our bell that Jesus has wired us to. How do we not share? All sorts of potential discussion with all these connections and bells!

This is all analogy-led demonstration that the teacher and kids do to "make some connections." Teacher talks about various life scenarios and demonstrates them ...how certain things cut us off or connect us to God. 

Then the kids can make their own "take home" device hooked to a battery and showing the verse "cut off from me you can do nothing." I love this idea and project!

"I Am"

Here's the 8 "I Am's" we focused on each week:

I Am the Good Shepherd (March)
I Am the True Vine (March)
I Am the Way, Truth, and the Life (March)
I Am the Bread of Life (March)

I Am the Light of the World (April)
I Am the Living Water (April)
I Am the Resurrection and the Life (April)
I Am the Giver of Life (April)

Ashley of zoarmb.org

To see Ashley's lessons, she has posted them over here.

"I Am" Video

"I Am" new poetry by David Bowden - done in rap style - view it here on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYTypUb_Jc4.   Released April 4, 2014.  (6:16 mins.)

Below is an excerpt from an article (review) written by Tim Kimberley called “I Am” Statements in a Fresh Format" I found on the Credo House Ministries website - article link.  I've included these as they would be helpful in creating a lesson using the video and I was especially moved with the comments regarding David's grandfather's involvement in the video.  Read excerpt below:

Each short story is an abstract embodiment of the “I Am” statement in which they are located.

For example, during the stanza discussing “I Am the gate,” which talks about the distance placed between us and God, we see a man and a woman running towards each other through a parking structure only to be separated by a vast divide.

The most significant vignette however is one of an elderly man during the stanza on “I Am the resurrection and the life.”  This man, Earl Jones, was David’s grandfather who died just a few days after the shoot. Jones said to his grandson David that it would be an honor to let his pain represent the promise of Jesus’s resurrection. In fact, David has stated elsewhere that the nighttime shoot on which the video opens was shot the very night his granddad Earl died. Suffice it to say, getting through the stanza dedicated to his grandfather was difficult and moving. But David hopes his listeners will find comfort in the same thing that gave him comfort that night: “I Am the resurrection and the life.”

Loved the video!

Luanne

Who is Jesus?

We are doing a rotation called "Who is Jesus?"  Much of the focus is on the "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life."  But I ran across this and thought it was a great way to explore further with the older kids to really answer the question "Who is Jesus?" - he tells us!

It is the 7 statements Jesus makes in the book of John.  It isn't really a lesson for kids but more of background for the leaders and perhaps a springboard for ideas.

http://gracethrufaith.com/topi...-statements-in-john/

"I AM more than you think I am."

Here's a great contemplative video on the subject of I am more than you think I am --set to the song by Christian contemporary artist, Danny Gokey.   The lyrics are including on the screen.

One of the reasons Jesus described himself using many different "I am" statements, is that Jesus knew he was more than just a man, or a leader, or a teacher. God doesn't fit neatly in a box. Like the disciples on the Road to Emmaus, as we walk with and serve him, we learn more about him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea-TRh5RYCY

John 15:1-17
I am the vine; you are the branches.
Love each other as I have loved you
This is my command: Love each other.

In addition to using the free Cal and Marty's Scripture Memory Game software to learn the "I am" sayings that Jesus used to describe himself, there is a lesson presentation in the SunScool Bible App for Kids.

A lesson presentation about John 15:1-15 "I am the Vine..." is located in the "Christian Life" section of the app when you select Level 4 (grades 4 and up).

• A8-3 : Living for God
  John 15:1-17; Galatians 5:16-24; Romans 6:20-23; 2 Timothy 3:16

This App is free, ecumenical, and can be downloaded for use on tablets, smartphones, Windows, and Mac!    Get the download link and look up the story you need in our Outline of all 170+ stories in SunScool. That page also includes app helps.