Psalm 100

Games Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Play games to help children learn Psalm 100 – set up an obstacle course to be driven by remote control cars.

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:

• A variety of Bibles: NRSV, CEV, NIV, TEV, and MSG (for older students)
• One purple Adventure Bible with tabs (Law, History, etc.)
• Remote control cars, with their controllers (at least two)
• Extra batteries
• Copy paper (8.5 x 11")

Before Start of Class:

• Fold the paper in half lengthwise. Write the psalm in large letters on one half of the paper, breaking the psalm into portions. Example: Shout for joy/ to the LORD/ all the earth/ etc. (You are making little tents.) Make two copies.

Presentation

Opening- Welcome and Lesson Introduction:
Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the Games Workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults. Pass around a basket to collect any offering.

Say: Let’s begin with prayer. 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. A suggestion: “Dear God, we are thankful to be here to learn about your word. Help us today to listen, to participate, and to rejoice. Amen.”

Say: Today we are learning Psalm 100. This psalm includes the line: “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.” Because this is the beginning of a new school year, lets take a few moments to learn each other’s names by using that line from the psalm. [For 1st grade shorten this to just “Enter his gates with thanksgiving.”]

Instruct each person to think of something they would want to be thankful for. Have each person say their name and “I'm going to enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise, and I'm going to be thankful for  _______ .” For example, someone might say good health or another my family (repeats are ok).

Say: Now you know part of Psalm 100! “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.” Let’s hear the rest of the psalm.

Dig- Main Content and Reflection:

For 1st and 2nd graders:
Hold the purple Adventure Bible.
Say: The Bible is our guide for how we should live. That's why it is important to read and study the Bible. Today I will read to you from the Old Testament of the Bible. These are words that Jesus would have heard when he was your age. I will read from the book of Psalms. Today we are learning Psalm 100.
Slowly read Psalm 100.

3rd grade and up:
Distribute Bibles. [Make sure that students have different versions of Bibles – at least one person with a CEV, one with an NIV, etc.]
Say: Today we are studying Psalm 100. The psalms were written many years before Jesus was born.
Ask: Where do you suppose would we find this book in the Bible? (old testament) Will someone explain why the Bible is divided into two testaments? (New Testament was written after Jesus was on earth; the Old Testament is the Hebrew Bible that Jesus learned when he was a child)
Say: It’s easy to find the book of Psalms. If you open your Bible about in the middle you will probably open it right at the book of Psalms, or very close.
Help the children locate Psalm 100 in their Bibles.
Say: Besides being divided into two testaments, the 66 books in the Bible are further divided into collections. We say that the book of Psalms is part of a collection of Bible books called “Poetry”. Poetry books include: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs.
Say: If you have your own Bible today, be sure you receive a tab for the poetry section of your Bible. [Show the classroom Bible with tabs.]
Have students take turns reading out loud, Psalm 100.
Ask: Did you notice when we were reading Psalm 100 that sometimes the words in your Bible were different than what someone else was reading?
What language was the Bible originally written in? (Hebrew, Greek, some Aramaic)
Say: There are many different versions of the Bible. Some (like NRSV & NIV) are translations written to stick as closely as possible to the original Hebrew and Greek words. Other translations (like TEV & CEV) stay close to the ideas expressed but don’t always follow the exact original wording or word order. Paraphrases (like the Message) reword scripture into everyday language with a goal of ease of understanding. You can read different versions of the Bible on the Internet.

For all students:
Say: This psalm is telling us how and why we worship God. Psalm 100 is in fact a collection of commands.
Ask: Did anyone hear any commands in this psalm?

Guide the students to see that we are instructed to: [from an NIV Bible]

• Shout for joy
• Worship the Lord
• Come before him
• Know that the LORD is God
• Enter his gates
• Give thanks
• and Praise his name

Ask: How do you suppose the psalmist is feeling as he writes these words?
What is his emotion?
Have you ever had a similar emotion or feeling?

Say: There is a challenge during this Rotation to see who can learn Psalm 100 – not to memorize it like you would learn facts for a test; this is a different sort of learning. We say we are keeping God’s word in our heart. There may come a time when you are feeling low, like you’re nobody special, and then from your heart come the words from Psalm 100: “we are his people, the sheep of his pasture”. And you’ll say, oh, yeah – I am God’s sheep. God is taking care of me! Let’s play a game that will help us to learn Psalm 100.

Play the Game
Set out the folded paper sheets. Start with just the three papers that include the first verse: “Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.” Set them up a distance away from each other.

Instruct the students to use the remote control car to try to run over (or knock into) the pieces of paper – in order! As the student drives into the sheets of paper, instruct the whole class to say the words of the verse. Give everyone a chance to try driving the “obstacle course.” As each person drives the course, the entire class says the verse.

When you deem it appropriate, add the next verses and/or add another car and papers, separating the class into two groups. [Have the Shepherd stay with the other group to lead the reading of the verses out loud.]

Alternative game: have the two teams race their cars against each other.

As you add the various verses make the following comments/questions:

• Worship the LORD with gladness:
  Ask: What does worshipping the Lord with gladness look like?
  What is worship?
  Say: This psalm was originally written in Hebrew. The Hebrew word used for “worship” means to work or to serve. We might think of the word worship as what happens for an hour once a week, but in reality this word worship includes what we may do at any time – experiencing joy in serving the Lord.
  
  
• Come before him with joyful songs:
  Ask: Why do we come before God with joyful songs?
  
  
• We are his people, the sheep of his pasture:
  Say: We are told in this psalm that God is our creator and that we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Sheep easily get lost. Admitting that God is our shepherd means acknowledging our weakness. God is in charge, not us.
  
  
• Enter his gates with thanksgiving:

Ask: How often do we try to enter God's gates with demands, or complaints, or something other than glad worship?

Closing:
Say: When we figure out that God is our creator and our shepherd, then we are invited to step into his presence. We do so, entering our worship with praise and gladness, our joy bubbling out of us in shouts. For we recognize that we serve a God who is good, shows us enduring love and is perpetually faithful.

Resources:

• Corey UMC. Posting at rotation.org: Obstacle course idea with remote control cars. Oct. 20, 2003. https://www.rotation.org/topic...0#295011598215931940
• Wezeman, Phyllis. “Psalm 100: Teaching Suggestions.” (idea for opening name game)
  https://www.rotation.org/topic...omplete-lesson-plans
• Scripture quoted is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

A lesson written by Carol Hulbert from: First UMC
Ann Arbor, MI

If you use this material, even in a modified form, please include the following reference:
Hulbert,Carol. “Psalm 100: Games Workshop."  Place URL where lesson found inside angle brackets<>.

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

Psalm 100

Photography Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Discuss and take photos to ultimately create a photo collage of the seven imperatives in this Psalm – MAKE, WORSHIP, COME, KNOW, ENTER, GIVE, BLESS.

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:

• Digital camera or smart phone
• Bibles [Note: This room is equipped with NRSV Bibles. Thus this is a different version than the Bible Overview material, which is for the NIV.]
• One purple Adventure Bible with tabs (Law, History, etc.)
• Easel paper; marker
• Paper to write upon; appropriate writing tool
• Card stock (or other heavy paper) – seven sheets 8.5 x 5.5”
  
  Note: only readers are attending this class.

Before Start of Class:

• Print the seven imperatives on card stock - MAKE, WORSHIP, COME, KNOW, ENTER, GIVE, BLESS
• On the easel paper draw a large bulls-eye made up of four circles

Presentation

Opening- Welcome and Lesson Introduction:
Greet your students warmly, introducing yourself and any other adults. Pass around a basket to collect any offering.

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. A suggestion: “Dear God, we are thankful to be here to learn about your word. Help us today to listen, to participate, and to rejoice in our learning. Amen.”

Dig- Main Content and Reflection:
Say: This month we are studying Psalm 100. Part of the last verse in this psalm includes the words: “For the Lord is good.”
As an introduction, let’s all go around the room say your name and one experience you have had that shows you the Lord is good. [Repeats are ok.]

Say: God is an amazing God. You have listed praises to God. A long, long time ago, before Jesus was born, the Hebrew people wrote their praises down and used them in worship. These special praise songs or poems are called “psalms”. Many of them are collected together in one book in the Bible, the Book of Psalms. We are going to look at one of these psalms today – Psalm 100.

Distribute Bibles.

Ask: The psalms were written many years before Jesus was born. Where do you suppose would we find this book in the Bible? (old testament)
Will someone explain why the Bible is divided into two testaments? (New Testament was written after Jesus was on earth; the Old Testament is the Bible that Jesus learned when he was a child)

Say: It’s easy to find the book of Psalms. If you open your Bible about in the middle you will probably open it right at the book of Psalms, or very close.

Help the students locate Psalm 100 in their Bibles.

Say: Besides being divided into two testaments, the 66 books in the Bible are further divided into collections. We say that the book of Psalms is part of a collection of Bible books called “Poetry”. Poetry books include: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs.
Say: If you have your own Bible today, be sure you receive a tab for the poetry section of your Bible. [Show the classroom Bible with tabs.] (See Carol Hulbert for tabs.)
The writer of Psalm 100 is not known. Notice that at the top of this psalm, are the words: “a psalm of thanksgiving.” This is the only psalm out of the 150 psalms that receives this title. It is a song of thanks! As we read, let’s think about putting thanksgiving into our voices. Also, listen for what this psalm is commanding us to do.

Have students take turns reading out loud, Psalm 100.

Ask: What is this psalm telling us to do?

Say: We are commanded to worship God with loud, vocal praise – MAKE a joyful noise,
WORSHIP with gladness, COME singing... notice how there is almost a list of commands.

Go through each imperative, asking the students to refer to their Bibles for the next “command”. (Show the imperatives written on card stock.)

Say: We will be going out of the classroom to take photos to represent this psalm, and the photos will later be made into a collage. Think for a moment about seeing this psalm represented in photographs. Let’s talk about these commands and what we could photograph.

On the easel paper write “MAKE” in the outer circle of the bulls-eye.
Ask: What could be photographed for the command to MAKE a joyful noise? [Take notes or ask a student to take notes.]

Write “WORSHIP” in the next inner circle.
Ask: What could be photographed for the command to WORSHIP the Lord with gladness?
What is worship?
Say: This psalm was originally written in Hebrew. The Hebrew word used for “worship” means to work or to serve. We might think of the word worship as what happens for an hour once a week, but in reality this word worship includes what we may do at any time – experiencing joy in serving the Lord.
Ask: Are there any different ideas about photos, since we now have a different understanding of what worship means in this case?

Write “COME” in the next inner circle.
Ask: What could be photographed for the command to COME into his presence with singing?

Write “KNOW” in the center of the bulls-eye.
Ask: What could be photographed for the command to KNOW that the Lord is God?
Who is our God that we worship? (accept any answers)
Say: We are told in this psalm that God is our creator and that we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Admitting that God is our shepherd means acknowledging our weaknesses. God is in charge, not us.
Ask: How does that thought change your view of God?

Say: I’ve been writing on a bulls-eye. We are at the center of this psalm; the rest of the commands sort of match up with the ones that I’ve already written.

Write “ENTER” in the next outer circle.
Say: Come and Enter…We are directed to enter the open gates with thanksgiving.
Ask: What could be photographed for the command to ENTER?

Write “GIVE” in the next outer circle.
Say: Recall that worship meant to serve; we were to worship with gladness, to experience joy in serving the Lord. According to the Psalmist this joy is to be expressed with thanksgiving – Give thanks to him.
Ask: What could be photographed for the command to GIVE thanks?

Write “BLESS” in the outermost circle.
Say: This circle in our bulls-eye includes the words Make a joyful noise and Bless his name. This sums up how we should worship – with enthusiasm.
Ask: What could be photographed for the command to BLESS his name?

Ask: Why should we obey these rings of commands?
Say: We are left with verse 5, a final verse stating three reasons as to why we would sing Psalm 100.

Write “FOR THE LORD IS GOOD” at the bottom of the bulls-eye.

Have a brief discussion about how students should act while you are out and about – stay together, be quiet, stay focused on the lesson.
Go about the church (and outside, weather permitting) to take photos. (See this lesson posting for some ideas.) Be open to suggestions for new photo taking ideas.

Return to the classroom after picture taking, if you have time.

Closing:
Say: When we figure out that God is our creator and our shepherd, then we are invited to step into his presence. We do so, entering our worship with praise and gladness, our joy bubbling out of us in shouts. For we recognize that we serve a God who is good, shows us enduring love and is perpetually faithful.

Resources:

• Sigurdson, W. “Psalm 100 Photography Lesson Sketch.” 2003. https://www.rotation.org/topic/psalm-100-lesson-set
• The scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

A lesson written by Carol Hulbert from: First UMC
Ann Arbor, MI

If you use this material, even in a modified form, please include the following reference:
Hulbert,Carol. Lesson set posted at rotation.org:"Psalm 100: Photography Workshop."  Place URL where lesson found inside angle brackets<>.

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

Psalm 100

Missions Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Learn that the word worship isn’t just what happens for an hour once a week. This word worship includes what we may do at any time – experience joy in serving the Lord.

Workshop Objectives: Children will:

• Find Psalm 100 in the Old Testament
• Memorize a portion of Psalm 100
• Explore why we worship God and that worship can also mean ‘to serve’.

Leader Preparation:

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

Supplies List:

• Bibles
• VBS CD and CD player (option to pick one song to play, like “Yes, Lord!")
• Plastic grocery bags and throw-away gloves for trash pick up

Before Start of Class:

• Have the key verse written out on a large sheet of paper for them to read

Presentation

Opening- Welcome and Lesson Introduction:
Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the Mission Workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults. Pass around a basket to collect any offering.

Say: We are learning (continuing to learn) Psalm 100 this month and what it means to worship. First, let’s begin with prayer.

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. A suggestion: (After prayer requests), Help us to worship you Lord today and keep our minds and hearts open to learning about you. Amen.”

Dig- Main Content and Reflection:
Ask: Did you know Psalm 100 is a song of thanks? This psalm is telling us why and how we worship God. Psalm 100 is a collection of commands. Let’s see if we can hear these commands as we read it.

Read Psalm 100 to the students.
[You may consider underlining the commands on the paper copy as they “find” (hear) them.]

• Shout for Joy
• Worship the Lord
• Come before Him
• Know the LORD is God
• Enter His gates
• Give thanks
• Praise His name

Say: Let’s memorize two lines of it today. [Work on this together. See end of lesson for ideas.]

Distribute Bibles.
Say: I want you to know where you can find Psalm 100 so you can go home and find it in your Bible. Pick up any Bible (maybe while you are in a church worship service!) and find Psalms in the middle. Can you all find Psalm 100 in these Bibles?

Help the children open their Bible in the middle to find Psalms. Point out that the large numbers at the top indicate the chapters. Have them find Psalm 100.

Say: It might have different words than what is up on my paper here. Psalms will always be in the Old Testament. The Old Testament is the Hebrew Bible that Jesus learned when he was a child. The New Testament was written after Jesus was on earth.

Ask: Okay, let’s close our Bibles and I want to ask you a question. When someone says, “Let’s worship God,” what do you think of? Let’s think of all the ways we worship God.
(Some answers might be: people in church in the big sanctuary, people singing around a campfire or at VBS under the tent – here you could play a song from VBS or wait til the end to see if you have enough time – college students singing praise songs with a band, families around a dinner table saying/singing their prayers)

Discussion:
Say: The Bible is a very old book. This copy of the Bible is not that old, but the Bible was first written down more than 3000 years ago. So when this psalm was originally written, it was written in a language called Hebrew. The Bible has been translated from Hebrew to English so that we can read it.
Ask: I just asked you what worship was. Do you know what the word worship is in Hebrew?
Say: The Hebrew word used for “worship” means to work or to serve. We might think of the word worship as what happens for an hour once a week, but in reality this word worship includes what we may do at any time – experiencing joy in serving the Lord.

Ask: If the Hebrew word for worship means to work or serve, how do we work for God during the week? (Mission trips – will probably have to explain the word ‘mission’, helping a neighbor or at Alpha House, doing a chore for parents.

Say: Well, we are going to worship God this morning by serving the church. We are going to clean up some trash in the church yard without ANYONE ASKING US TO! We will be ‘secret agents for God’. We might even find some weeds to pull to help the flowers grow better, but ask an adult before you pull anything! ☺ You might even find a garden in our church yard where people worship God outside. You let me know if you find it. So, everyone gets a pair of gloves and a plastic bag and we will stay together as a group outside as we go on our mission. (If there isn’t much trash in our yard, you could go help our neighbors at the Baptist church.)

[Keep an eye on your watch and return to the classroom at the end.]

Closing:
Say: Let’s close by saying the Lord’s Prayer.
Lord, it was fun worshipping you today outside! Help us to remember to serve you with love. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Resources:

• The Big Book of Bible Games. Ventura, CA: Gospel Light, 1996. (for suggestions on practicing verses)
• Scripture quoted is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Attachment: suggestions for practicing the key verse

• Plan with the students, a way to say/act out each verse.

For example:
1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Have the students shout out the first part and put their arms in a circle to represent the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Have them put their hands in a praying mode then dance joyfully.

• Start out by introducing a rhythm – for example: slapping legs twice and clapping hands twice. When students have the rhythm down, have them say the verses with one word on each beat.
• Divide the class into four groups. Assign a portion of each verse to each group. (Shout for joy to the LORD/ all the earth. / Worship the LORD with gladness/ come before him with joyful songs.) Point to each group and have them stand and say their portion of the verse then sit down. Repeat, increasing speed.

A lesson written by Carol Teener and Carol Hulbert from: First UMC

Ann Arbor, MI

If you use this material, even in a modified form, please include the following reference:
Teener,Carol and Carol Hulbert. “Psalm 100: Missions Workshop."  Place URL where lesson found inside angle brackets<>.

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

Psalm 100

Audio Visual Workshop (Movement)

Summary of Lesson Activities:

The children will begin to learn Psalm 100 by learning and applying the verses of the psalm to a praise song. They will also learn about different approaches to the use of song and dance in worship, by seeing a video with different approaches to worship and creating their own worship to a praise song by dancing in Body Sox™.

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:

• CD player
• Bibles (for 3rd grade and up)
• Flip chart, appropriate markers
• TV/DVD player
• One copy of Sister Act (DVD)
• Body Sox™ (tubes made of a very stretchy Lycra material)
• Sheet music to Come into God’s Presence Singing
• Words and sign language to use for Come into God’s Presence Singing (see attached)
• Dance song Lovely Noise – see link in lesson

Before Start of Class:

• Watch the DVD “Sister Act” before class to pinpoint pause places in the clip. [The clip begins right at the beginning of scene 17, "Hail, Holy Queen"]
• On the flip chart write the words to be used with the song Come into God’s Presence Singing. You may wish to write the words to be signed in a different color marker.
• Make a space big enough for the kids to move with the Body Sox™.
• Set up the DVD player so that the “Sister Act” clip is easily accessible.
• Place the Body Sox™ in a place that is easily accessible. [Notice that there are different sizes. You may wish to organize them by size.]
• Arrange Bibles in a circle (where students will sit - for 3rd grade and up).

Presentation

Opening- Welcome and Lesson Introduction:
Greet your students warmly, introducing yourself and any other adults. Welcome everyone to the Audio Visual Workshop.

Say: (Showing the flip chart, the “Sister Act” DVD box and one of the body sox to the kids) What do you think these things have in common – words to a psalm, a movie and this piece of fabric – with the sanctuary of our church? They all show different ways we can worship God! Before we get started, let’s begin with prayer.

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. A suggestion: “Dear God, Thank you for bringing us all here together to learn about worshiping you. (End with with the Lord’s Prayer) Amen”.

Pass around a basket to collect any offering.

Dig- Main Content and Reflection:
Ask: In this rotation we are studying Psalm 100.
Where do we find Psalms?
Say: Psalms is easy to find because it is right in the middle of the Bible.
What part of the Bible contains Psalms? (The Old Testament)

For 3rd grade and up:
Have the kids find Psalm 100 and read the passage.

For 1st and 2nd grade:
Read the passage to the kids.

For all students:
Ask: What is this psalm telling us to do? What are some of the actions? (Shout for joy, worship with gladness, come before the Lord with joyful songs, enter his gates with thanksgiving, give thanks to him, praise his name)

Ask: Is the author of this psalm asking us politely to do these things, or is he TELLING us to do them firmly? (There should be no politeness about this – these are imperative commands! The author wants us to experience the joy and passion of worship)
Can we do these things without being in the sanctuary?

Say: There are many, many ways to worship and sitting in the sanctuary on Sunday is only one way….we are going to experience some other ways to worship today. The first one uses a song about Psalm 100 – we are going to learn the sign language for the song as a way to learn Psalm 100. Learning this psalm is a great way to remind us how and when to worship.

See attached words to song with the corresponding sign language for the song “Come into God’s Presence Singing”. Try to encourage the kids to sing the song from memory if they can. After about 10 minutes of learning the signs and singing, have the kids sit down and watch the “Sister Act” clip. This clip is about 5 minutes long. Give the kids the following information about the clip:

Say: We are going to watch a scene from the movie “Sister Act” – this is a movie about learning how to worship God with joy and excitement! In the first part of this scene you will hear the nuns sing a song during church – as you listen to this, think about these questions:

• Are the nuns worshiping God?
• Watch how they sing.
• How does the Mother Superior look after she hears this song?

Show the first part of the clip. [The clip begins right at the beginning of scene 17, "Hail, Holy Queen"] Then stop before the second rendition of the song, when it becomes more upbeat. Talk about the questions:

• Are the nuns worshiping God? (This is certainly one way to worship God – be sure to emphasize with the kids that this is not wrong – it simply follows a more traditional mode of worship singing.)
• Do they sing as you expected them to – formally and with little movement?
• How does the Mother Superior (the nun in the congregation) look after she hears this hymn? (Make sure you include the shot of the Mother Superior before pausing the clip – she is very pleased about this kind of worship.)

Prepare to show the second part of the clip and ask the kids to think about these questions:

• Watch for the changes in singing – what happens to the tempo?
• How are the nuns moving?
• Who comes into the service? And why?
• How does the Mother Superior look after this version of the hymn?

(If time is running short – consider only showing a portion of this 2nd clip, long enough for the students to see the difference.)
Watch the second clip and discuss the questions:

• What happened to the tempo of the song? (It becomes very upbeat and more Motown in flavor)
• How are the nuns moving differently? (They are swinging with the music, clapping their hands, maybe even dancing a little! It is important to point out to the kids, though, that the nuns also looked very happy and worshipful in the first part of the clip – again it was not a wrong way to worship, just more traditional)
• Who comes into the church service? (Teenagers from the street who hear singing)
• Why do you suppose they came in? (Answers vary – maybe they were curious about the music)
• How does the Mother Superior look after this version of the song? (She is not very pleased!)
• Why do you suppose she looked this way? (Answers vary)
• Do you suppose the second way was a wrong way to worship? (Allow all answers)

Ask: Think about Psalm 100 and the actions we find in the Psalm: SHOUT for JOY, WORSHIP with GLADNESS, come with JOYFUL SONGS. Did we see the nuns following these directions?
Say: Now you are going to get your own chance to follow Psalm 100. We are going to make up a dance to a song we learned in vacation Bible camp a couple of years ago. We are going to dance in a special way, though – with Body Sox!

Have the kids listen to the song once through, then talk about different actions they could perform – there are ideas below. Next, explain how the body sox work – help the kids put them on.
Important: have them take off their shoes first!

Body Sox (Movement)

Rules for wearing body sox:

• move safely so you and others don't get hurt and
• no talking (use your body to show your feelings).

Try the different motions with the music.

Actions to go with “Lovely Noise”:

• Stretching up arms and reaching from side to side
• Jumping jacks inside the body sox
• Bending and touching toes
• Performing a “wave” motion – one kid starts an action and the others follow, one by one – this can work with many kinds of motions

This song has several pairings of words in the lyrics: rich/poor, weak/strong, short/long, up/down, square/round – these could easily be translated into motions

Let the kids enjoy the Body Sox. Leave time for closing.

Closing:
Ask:

• What were some of the ways we worshiped God today?
• Which ones did you like best and why?
• Why do you think we worship God in these ways?
• What are some ways to worship God that we didn’t explore?
• What DID we do in class today that was pleasing to God?

Say: Let’s close with a prayer: Dear God, we love you and want to worship you in ways that are joyful and exciting – help us to remember that you are good all the time. Watch over this week as we work, play and worship you. Amen.

Ask the kids to help clean up, putting away any supplies.
Attachment: Words and sign language to use for Come into God’s Presence Singing
(bold words are signed)

Shout for joy to the Lord,
All the earth,
All the earth,
All the earth.

Signs for:
Shout – curl one hand in a megaphone shape and extend the hand from the mouth to fully straight arm.
Lord – the L sign is moved diagonally across the body from shoulder to hip
Earth – the thumb and middle finger pinch the side of the opposite wrist

Poster’s note: just the first verse of the song is included here due to copyright issues. There are five verses. Just teach younger kids two verses.

Resources:

• “Sister Act” DVD Copyright 1992, Walt Disney Video
• “Come into God’s Presence Singing” Words:Anonymous, Music:Anonymous – arr. By John D. Horman. Copyright 2003, Abingdon Press
• “Lovely Noise” by Gregg and Rebecca Sparks. Copyright 1999, worshiptogether.com Songs/ASCAP. Administered by EMI CMG Publishing

A lesson written by Debbie Houghton and Carol Hulbert from: First UMC

Ann Arbor, MI

If you use this material, even in a modified form, please include the following reference:
Houghton, Debbie and Carol Hulbert. “Psalm 100: Audio Visual Workshop."  Place URL where lesson found inside angle brackets<>.

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

Video Option

There is a great video on You Tube of an actual nuns' choir doing the same piece as in the Sister Act film.  It has great shots both of crowd reactions and the musicians as well as the singers, so you really get a sense of how the music is affecting everyone (and they're not actors!).  You can find it at: link removed no longer available due to copyright violation

Moderator update: found this video on YouTube, it's not nuns singing, instead it's André Rieu & His Johann Strauss Orchestra performing "I Will Follow Him" live with the Maastricht choir (I believe).  But it does definitely show the audience's reactions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqN9aS2S3L0