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This thread is for posting Game workshop lessons and ideas for teaching the Baptism of Jesus or John the Baptist.

At least one post below also includes the Temptation of Jesus, as some rotation churches combine Baptism of Jesus with Temptation of Jesus.


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John the Baptist

Game Workshop

 

Summary of Lesson Activities:

A Jesus jeapardy game.


Materials List:

  • Jeopardy Game Board set up with game pieces
  • Flip chart and marker to record scores
  • Bibles

Leader Preparation:

  • Read the scripture ahead of time.
  • Gather the materials.


 

Presentation

 

Opening-Welcome and Lesson Introduction:

Begin class by taking attendance and introducing yourselves.
Begin with this prayer or one of your own:
Dear God, We thank you for the wonderful story of John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus. Help us to be witnesses of your mercy and grace. Amen.

 

Dig-Main Content and Reflection:

Lesson:
SAY: We’ve been studying the story of John the Baptist and the Baptism of Jesus. Today we are going to play the John the Baptist Jeopardy Game. In a minute I am going to divide you into two teams. Each team will take turns choosing and answering questions. You will take turns answering for your team, but the team must come up with an answer together. For each correct answer your team will get the points for that question. If you answer incorrectly, points will not be taken away, but the other team will have an opportunity to answer. Teams will take turns whether you answer correctly or not. (Instead of keeping going as long as you answer correctly.)


Divide the class into two groups, being sure each team includes kids from all 3 age groups. Have teams sit together. The team on your right begins.

SAY: The categories are:
1. What?
2. Where?
3. Who Said It?
4. Who?
5. True or False? (double points if you can state a false statement correctly)
Now let’s begin John the Baptist Jeopardy!
[The answers for each question are in ( ) below.] Keep score on the chart.

John the Baptist and The Baptism of Jesus Jeopardy Game

  • Who? 100 Who was Zacharias? (The father of John the Baptist)
  • Who? 200 Who was Elisabeth? (The mother of John the Baptist, or cousin of Mary the mother of Jesus)
  • Who? 300 Who was Gabriel? (The angel who announced to Zacharias that he and Elisabeth would have a son.)
  • Who? 400 Who was Herodius? (King Herod’s wife)
  • Who? 500 Who spied on John the Baptist? (Pharisees)


What?

  • What 100 What did Zacharias and Elisabeth long for? (A child)
  • What 200 What happened to Zacharias when he did not believe the angel? (Couldn’t speak)
  • What 300 What did the Holy Spirit come down as at the baptism of Jesus? (a dove)
  • What 400 What did Jesus want John to do for him? (Baptize him)
  • What 500 What did Gabriel tell Zacharias to name his son? (John)

Where?

  • Where? 100 Where did Zacharias see the angel? (The temple.)
  • Where? 200 Where did John the Baptist baptize Jesus? (Jordan River)
  • Where? 300 Where did John the Baptist live? (In the wilderness)
  • Where? 400 Where did Zacharias go to burn incense? (The temple)
  • Where? 500 Where did a voice come from after Jesus was baptized? (heaven)

Who said it?

  • Who said it? 100 “Behold, the Lamb of God! He takes away the sin of the world.” (John the Baptist)
  • Who said it? 200 “You will be silent and unable to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words.” (The Angel Gabriel)
  • Who said it? 300 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to.” (John the Baptist)
  • Who said it? 400 “You brood of vipers!” (John the Baptist)
  • Who said it? 500 “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (God)

True or false?

  • True or false? 100 The angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias in the temple. (T)
  • True or false? 200 John only preached about Jesus in the city. (F—he preached in all the country around the Jordan)
  • True or false? 300 Jesus baptized John. (F—John baptized Jesus)
  • True or false? 400 Elisabeth went to visit Mary before John was born. (F—Mary went to see Elisabeth.)
  • True or false? 500 Zacharias could not see when he left the temple. (F—he couldn’t speak)

Closing:

End with a prayer.

 


 

A lesson written by Mary Ann Bethea from: Joy Lutheran Church

Moore, SC

 

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.

 

Last edited by Rotation.org Lesson Forma-teer

Jesus' Baptism and Temptation

Bible Skills & Games

Grades 1st, 6th, 5th, 4th

 

Summary of Lesson Activities:

This story covers both the promise of baptism and the fighting of temptation. The activity portion of this lesson will focus on making the right choices by playing the board game "The New Kid's Choices Game".

 

The memory verse reminds us that God sent us Jesus to be with us and help us through temptation and make the right choices. This is a great lesson to have a meaningful discussion on what is right and wrong



This Workshop's Focus:
This classroom will focus on developing Bible skills (Exploring God’s Word). Every rotation will include Hands-on Bible time, a memory verse/Bible story game and a short quiz at the end to receive a special item from the treasure chest. The goal is for the students to learn about God’s word and have a lot of fun doing that. We will be using the Good News Bible in the classroom (which is the same version of the Bible they receive in 3rd grade). Please use the Good News Bible to read the chosen Bible story from. Using the Bible and learning to listen to the Bible is key to this classroom. The classroom also has a copy of the Children’s Bible for a different way to enhance the story time. The Children’s Bible provides the text in more of a condensed, story-telling method.

Over the course of the Church School year, we want the students to learn about the importance of the Bible (it is God’s words and teachings to us), how the Bible can help us be better Christians (by following his directions), and about the different books in the Bible. For an outline of the Bible learning objectives by grade, please refer to last page of this lesson plan. By understanding these objectives, it will allow you to tailor your lessons for the individual grades. Please share your own experience and habits about using the Bible with the class. Thank you for being part of sharing and teaching the Bible to the students.



Scripture Reference:

Matthew 3:13-4:11


Memory Verse:

Matthew 3:17 (Good News Bible)
Then a voice said from heaven, “This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased.”

Lesson Objectives: (What you want the kids to learn)

  • For the students to understand that baptism is the sign and seal of God’s grace and covenant in Christ.
  • For the students to know that God calls them to turn away from dishonest, disobedient and sinful lives.
  • For the students to be able to retell the major points of the story.
  • For the students to learn the memory verse.
  • For the students to learn where Matthew is in the Bible.


Lesson Activities: (Brief description of what will be done)

  • Temptation in the room
  • Memory verse in sign language
  • Hands-on Bible time
  • Making choices game
  • Journaling
  • Class quiz

 

Supplies provided and located in room: (What teacher needs for lesson)

  • Good News Bible for students
  • Treasure chest (actually just a basket)

Leader Preparation:

  • Bring out a Good News Bible for every student for the Hands-on Bible time (from the Church School cabinet in the room).
  • Bring out the Treasure Chest (basket from the Church School cabinet in the room), so the students can choose an item after the short class quiz, right before the end of the class.
  • Set up “temptations” in the room. Bring in cookies for the class.
  •  Review the memory verse game and learn it in sign language.
  • Purchase The Kid’s Choices game. Review the instructions and become familiar with the game. Determine if certain dilemma cards are more appropriate for different age groups. Choose what type of game board you will use (either make an overhead or squares out of construction paper for the floor).


Presentation


Opening- Welcome and Lesson Introduction:


Welcome: Welcome the children and introduce yourself. Call the children by name. Have them wear their nametags. Nametags are located in the tote box and the shepherds are responsible for giving them out.

Set up temptation in the room…

  • table set with cookies and a sign, “Please do not eat”
  • cover something with a sheet and have a sign, “Please do not peek”
  • on the white board write, “Please do not erase or write on this board”
  • or come up with a few of your own

 

Introduction: (What teacher says to class to frame the lesson)
(Pass out the cookies to eat while you sit and talk.) What is temptation – testing, trying, enticing to evil. How did they handle the temptations in the room? How can we rely on God to help us through life’s temptations (the memory verse)? What promise is made when you are baptized? These are the different items to discuss and look at today when reviewing the Bible story.

Memory Verse: Matthew 3:17 (Good News Bible)
Then a voice said from heaven, “This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased.

Spend a few minutes and teach the class the memory verse in sign language. The sign language instructions are included in this folder. If you would like someone to review the signs with you before class, please contact Linda Klug.

Worship Time (we do a short worship in this workshop)

Light a candle: We will now enter into our Worship Time. This candle that I light represents the light of Christ who is always in our midst. This is a quiet time for us to focus on the Word of God.

Opening Prayer:
Heavenly Father, at Jesus’ baptism we heard you tell the world that he is your beloved child. Lord God, help us to live as your children, too. Amen.”

Collect Offering: Now we will pass the basket to collect the offering. Don’t worry if you don’t have anything for the basket today. Whatever is given helps the church in many ways, including helping to buy things to make BLAST happen as well as helping others in our community and around the world.

Hands-on Bible time in Worship
Make sure every student has a Good News Bible to use for this exercise. Before you open up the Bible, explain about the difference between the Old and New Testament sections. Show how the Bible starts back at page number 1 for the New Testament section. Review the Books of the New Testament, by either the Table of Contents, Books of the Bible poster or The Books of the Bible song on the We Sing CD.

The book of Matthew is one of the four books of Gospel. The word Gospel means “good news”. The Gospels tell the good news about Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection that provides eternal life to everyone who will believe. Some of the stories are the same in these four books of Gospel.

After you read the story, talk about Jesus’ baptism and how God offers us a picture of His love for all his children. Baptism is a time for declaring and renewing our faith in God and our commitment as the church of God to care for all people. The symbol of the water is the sacramental sign of God’s grace making all things new.

 

Dig-Main Content and Reflection:

Bible Story Time:
With their Bibles open to Matthew, start the story:

Matthew chapter 3:13-4:11 (Good News Bible)
Children’s Bible 250 & 252 (reference)

For the younger grades, read them the story. The older students can read the story to themselves.

Closing Prayer: Dear Lord, as we enter into our activity time, please keep our hearts and minds open to hear you speaking to us. Amen.

Extinguish the candle

The Making Choices game:


Pick up the Kid’s Choices game from the Church School office. To expand the game so that all students can play, break the class into teams (between 3 to 6 teams). Each student on the team will take a turn being the captain and answering the question for the team. You can expand the board by either putting it on an overhead or making it out of construction paper on the floor of the room. (Putting the board on the floor would be a lot of fun for the younger grades). One player at a time will pick a dilemma card and answer it with one of the twenty principles. Then all players can discuss what principle fits the best and then call for a vote. (There is no right or wrong answer).

Complete instructions and all the cards are in the game box.


Description: OK, you find your sister's diary unlocked. Are you going to read it? This situation and other updated dilemmas and questions will help your 6- to 12-year-olds deal with challenging real-life issues and apply biblical principles to everyday situations. Designed for 3 to 10 players.


Journaling
Ask the students to journal about something they found meaningful, surprising or interesting in today’s class or pose a reflective question as a journaling topic. (Journals are kept in the shepherd’s box.)

Reflective Questions:

  • Where were you baptized?
  • What does baptism mean to you?
  • How do you handle temptation?


Class quiz:
To review with the class some of the major points they learned, have the class answer the questions listed below. This will be the last activity before the students leave the classroom. After they have answered the questions, have each student pick an item from the treasure chest.

  • Who can recite the memory verse?
  • Where is the memory verse found in the Bible?
  • Tell me about the story.
  • Where is story found in the Bible?
  • What type of book is the story found in? (Gospel)

Additional Activities:

  • reading books (in the Church School cabinet)
  • games/puzzles (in the Church School cabinet)
  • activity sheets (in the shepherd’s box)
  • plan a game of hang man with words from lesson

Closing:

In closing, express how you enjoyed being with their class today and you hope they can come back to BLAST next week.

 

Resources:

  • The New Kid's Choices Game, Cook Communications, ISBN: 9789834500894.

A lesson posted by Sunnyvale Presbyterian - Sunnyvale, CA, 

 

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.

 

Last edited by Rotation.org Moderator

John the Baptist Baptizes Jesus

Games Workshop

 

Summary of Lesson Activities:
The children will play a game that will help them understand what it means to repent and will then “meet” John the Baptist.

Note:  this lesson plans uses the storyteller script for John from "Surprising Stories from People Jesus Met" -- now out of print -- see note at end of lesson plan to help you get started to create your own script for John the Baptist.


Scripture Reference:

Matthew 3:1-17; Mark 1:1-11; Luke 3:1-22

Memory Verse:

Matthew 3:17(NLT)

Objectives for the rotation
(see listing in background, above)

Additional objectives for the games workshop
At the end of the session, the students will

  • know that ‘to repent’ means to change direction
  • identify something God may be telling them they need repent of

 

Teacher preparation in advance:

  • Read the scripture passages and lesson plan and attend the Bible Study, ....
  • Prepare a closing prayer.
  • Learn the memory verse.
  • Consider the age level adjustments needed each week (those included in the lesson plan and your own). Confer with the Shepherd on “Stretchers” to use, especially with the youngest children.
  • To our teachers at RCC: The design of this workshop is very intentional. The activities and discussion questions for this workshop were designed to meet the goals of the entire rotation and the educational objectives of the Rotation Model (tm) at River Community Church. While we feel it is important to follow the serendipitous leading of the Holy Spirit, please do not change the lesson plan without consulting a Curriculum Planning and Writing Team member.
  • Check out the room before your first Sunday workshop so that you know where everything is located.
  • The bin with supplies is located in the Sunday School room. Purchase or request additional supplies ...
  • Recruit someone to visit the class as John the Baptist. The volunteer who has agreed to be John must know the information in the script and have learned the memory verse. Make sure he knows to cover the information in the script, as it is the basis for the lesson that follows. (Give him copies of the appropriate pages in Surprising Stories from People Jesus Met.)

Room set-up:

  • Set up an obstacle course with three chairs in a zig-zag pattern.

Supply List:

  • Bibles
  • Blindfolds
  • Chairs for obstacle course
  • Honey
  • Crackers
  • Napkins
  • Plastic spoons
  • Wet wipes
  • script from Surprising Stories from People Jesus Met
  • Costume for John the Baptist (see script and costume suggestions in Surprising Stories from People Jesus Met )
  • Memento: arrow stickers
  • Shepherd Time: plain white or lined paper


 

Presentation

 

Opening-Welcome and Lesson Introduction: 
Greet the children and introduce yourself. Wear your name-tag. (Remember, you are interacting with a different group of students each week who may not know you.) Make sure the children are wearing name-tags.

We had an opening prayer during the gathering time, but you may open with prayer if you feel led to do so.

Explain the purpose of this workshop: We are going to be meeting a very interesting person who urges others to repent---to change their ways and live better lives. He tells people about Jesus! First we will read the about this person in the Bible and play a game that will help us understand what repent means.

 

Dig-Main Content and Reflection:

Scripture/Bible Story:
Read Mark 1:1-11.
Have the children locate Mark 1:1-11 in their Bibles. Review the organization of the Bible as they locate the passage:

  • The Bible is divided into two big parts, the Old and New Testaments.
  • Each part is a collection of books.
  • Each book is divided into chapters and verses.
  • Show them that if they open their Bible in the middle, they will usually land in the book of Psalms in the OT.
  • The book name is at the top of each page.
  • Mark is the second book of the New Testament and it comes after Matthew.
  • Remind them that the order of the first four books of the New Testament is Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These are the Gospels.

For classes composed primarily of pre-readers, show the children how to find the passage in the Bible and then have them do it. After everyone has found the passage, have them close their Bibles and set them aside and listen while you read.

Application:

Explain that you will blindfold one of the class members and they will walk a simple obstacle course around three chairs while blindfolded. Ask for a volunteer to go first and blindfold the child. Instruct the remaining class members to call out “Repent” every time the blindfolded child is about to run into something or is going the wrong direction. This is their clue to turn around. Repeat this activity until each class member has had a chance to be blindfolded.

After everyone has had a turn, you take a turn to be blindfolded. When the children call out “Repent”, tell them “I don’t need to repent!” Continue on your way, banging into walls and chairs. Be sure to be easy on yourself, but the kids will get a kick out of your hamming it up with your injuries.

Have the children sit down and tell them they are going to meet someone who urges others to repent---to change their ways and live better lives. Ask “John” to come in. (See monologue from Surprising Stories from People Jesus Met for John.)

Reflect:
While the children are finishing the snack John shared with them, ask the following questions:

  • Who did John want everyone to know?
  • I wonder why he wanted everyone to know Jesus?
  • I wonder what the difference is between saying “I’m sorry” when you do something wrong and repenting?
  • I wonder why God wants us to change our ways and live better lives?

Review the memory verse.
Play a version of the popular children’s game “Duck, Duck, Goose.” Instruct the children to sit in a circle. Choose a child to be “It.” “It” will walk around the outside of the circle saying the Bible verse. As “It” says each word, they tap a child in the circle on the head. Everyone in the circle says the Bible verse with the child who is “It.” The child who is tapped on the head as “It” says the address of the memory verse, is the child who jumps up and chases “It” around the circle trying to tag them before “It” gets back to the empty spot in the circle. Play the game three to five times to reinforce the memory verse.

By 11:45 a.m. ask the Shepherd to pass out the journal pages and pencils/markers. Suggestion: You may wish to give the children a sticker or some memento to paste in their journal as a reminder of the story or activity – perhaps arrow stickers.

Shepherd Time:
For the younger children: Ask the children to draw a picture of something they think God wants them to repent of---change their way and do better.
For the older children: Have the children write about something they think God wants them to repent of---change their way and do better. Have them write a prayer to God asking him to give them the ability to change their way and show them how to do better.

This is meant to be a time of reflection and introspection. Writing about faith helps clarify lessons. In addition to the suggested activity, children may draw pictures relating to today’s scripture or memory verse, list highlights of the day’s activities, or rephrase the memory verse. The journal pages will be saved and given to the children at the end of the school year.

You may want to provide an extra activity or worksheet for children who finish their journals quickly, such as coloring sheets, crossword puzzles, word searches, games. See the Workshop Leader’s Background Notes and rotation.org for ideas.

Before noon, ask the students to stop journaling for a moment and sit quietly for prayer so they can leave when their parents arrive. Allow them to finish journaling afterwards.

Closing: 
Pray for God to enable the children to repent of the things they drew or wrote about in their journal and thank God for people like John the Baptist who tell us about Jesus and how Jesus wants us to live.

Tidy and Dismissal:

  • Ask children to help tidy the room. Give any specific instructions for clearing the workshop room.
  • Collect the journal pages before they leave. Make sure their names and the date are on them.
  • Give everyone the parent take-home flyer the first week of the rotation; give it only to children who were absent and have not yet received it the other weeks of the rotation.

Additional Suggestions:
See age-level suggestions included in the lesson plan.


Resources:

  • Keefer, Mikal and John Cutshall. Surprising Stories from People Jesus Met. Loveland, Colorado: Group, 1998.
  • Weidmann, Jim and Kurt Bruner. Family Night Tool Chest Book 2: Basic Christian Beliefs. Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor Publishing,, 1997.
  • Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

 


Field Test Notes:

I am so sorry to say that the book we used, Surprising Stories from People Jesus Met, is no longer in print.

Try to borrow the book from another church.
And maybe if enough of us complain, Group will republish it -- it is an excellent book:
Keefer, Mikal and John Cutshall. Surprising Stories from People Jesus Met. Loveland, Colorado: Group, 1998.

A brief summary (since copyright laws still apply to books even after they are out of print):
John talks about how he helps people find something. He asks "where is a water fountain?" and the children point the way and then he explains that his job is to point the way to Jesus.
He tells a bit about the miracles his cousin Jesus did.
He explains what a prophet is -- he tells people what God wants them to know. He also admits that being a prophet isn't easy, because what God has him share sometimes makes people angry.
He talks about living in the wilderness and how people come to hear him talk about repentance. He explains what repentance means. Only Jesus can forgive your sins.
He concludes by sharing a snack. "Oops, I can't find any locusts, but here is some honey" -- teacher "happens" to have some crackers to serve it on.
As he leaves, says one thing he wants everyone to remember is not him or the honey, but that Jesus is God's son, the savior!

If your person knows the story well and is quick on his feet, he can answer questions, but the questions will probably be about locusts and honey, so it may be best to skip the Q&A.

Basically, your classroom guest tells about John the Baptist in the first person. It is probably better to give your guest an outline so he won't feel compelled to memorize it word for word and so that he will remember and include all the important points to tie in with your objectives.

Hope this gets you started!
Amy Smile

 


This lesson was written by Jamie Senyard for River Community Church in Prairieville, Louisiana. 


Copyright 2003 Jamie Senyard. Permission granted to freely distribute and use, provided the copyright message is included.

 

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.

 

Last edited by Luanne Payne

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