The Early Church: the “Body” of Christ

Art Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Create self-portraits with drawing pencils and oil pastels. Discuss how we are all individuals, but need to think of ourselves as working together as the “Body” of Christ. [Note: 4th – 6th graders visited this workshop.]

For scripture and background - see above.

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture for this lesson.
• Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
• Gather the materials.
• Write the key verse on the easel.
• Distribute Bibles.
• Have art supplies close at hand.

Supplies List:

• Easel; appropriate marker
• Bibles; one purple Adventure Bible with tabs
• Paraphrase of the Bible story (see below)
• Mirrors (try for at least 5 x 7)
• A school photo (request ahead of time)
• Pencils: should be soft, 4B or 6B would be best
• Erasers: white plastic/vinyl type - cut them in half and share (NOT the erasers on the end of pencils)
• Tissues: Kleenex™ or store brand (not with lotion!)
• Oil Pastels – used Craypas
• Drawing Paper
  
  

Lesson Plan

Opening:

Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the Art Workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults.

[Note: The Shepherd will be taking care of attendance while you are starting your lesson.]

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 stories in the Bible that teach us so much about you. Thank you for stories about how churches were started long ago. Thank you for our church today, where we can come, as individuals and work together to learn to be followers of Jesus. Amen. (End with everyone joining in on the Lord’s Prayer.) Amen.”

Ask: How many eyes do you have?
Do you know where your eyes are located on your face, in relation to your mouth?
What do you think: Are your eyes more important than your mouth?

Say: Thankfully we don’t have to make a choice between keeping our eyes or our mouth! They are both important to our well-being. We are going to be studying a Bible story that refers to parts of a body as being equally important – a foot, a hand, an ear and an eye. Let’s look up our story in the Bible and talk about the analogy of body parts to people.

Dig:

Ask: If I told you that today’s Bible story took place after Jesus’ death and resurrection, in what part of the Bible would we find our story? (new testament)

Say: Our Bible story is from a letter written way back in Bible times by Paul. Paul wrote to a church that he had started in Corinth.
Ask: Does anyone know what book in the Bible is a letter written by Paul to the church in Corinth? (two answers: 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians - Read as First Corinthians and Second Corinthians.)

Have everyone find 1 Corinthians 12:12 in the Bible.
Remind students of the quick way to find the New Testament – dividing the Bible in half gets them near Psalms. Dividing the back half in half again gets them near the Gospels in the New Testament. Dividing this back quarter in half again gets them close to First Corinthians. [Go over the order: Gospels, Acts, Romans, and Corinthians]

Say: Because we have a First and a Second Corinthians, Paul obviously wrote them at least twice. It’s quite possible he wrote them more than that – Paul wrote a lot of letters. We have a whole section of the New Testament that we can call “Letters.” [Show the purple Adventure Bible with tabs. Point out the collection known as “Letters.”] It’s all the books from Romans to Philemon, that’s 13 books of the Bible.

If this is a week early in the Rotation…
Say: I wanted you to find this passage in your Bible so that you could go home and read it with your family. It’s the kind of scripture that you need to read over a couple of times to understand what it’s saying. Since we don’t have time to read this passage over and over again, I will read you what is called a “paraphrase” – it’s the scripture re-written to be more understandable.
Read to them the attached paraphrase.
When you are finished reading…
Say: For the Word of God in Scripture, for the Word of God among us, for the
Word of God within us…
The class says: Thanks be to God!
Remind the class that those are the words that are spoken in the worship service after the Bible is read. We say those words in class so that we will be used to saying them when we hear a Bible story read in the worship service.

In later weeks of the Rotation (On weeks two and three of the Rotation, see if the kids know the story. If they don’t, then follow the lesson as if this were an “early” week in the Rotation.)…
Ask: Ask the students if they can tell you about the story. [Have them check their Bibles for accuracy.]

Ask: Who knows what a metaphor is? (a symbol; a way of describing something; a word picture).
What sort of metaphor does Paul use? (a human body to describe the church)
Say: Paul compares the church to the way a body works.
Ask: How can the parts of our bodies be compared to the work of the church?
Say: Paul uses the human body to describe how different people bring different skills to the church. A body needs ears and eyes. They are both equally important. In the same way a church needs both teachers and administrators; it needs janitors and ushers. It needs people who have lots of different talents. Today we are going to create self-portraits illustrating us as individuals, but all of our portraits will be displayed in the glass case outside the sanctuary to show that together we make up the “Body of Christ.”

Start the art project:
Distribute art materials. Make sure students write their full name and grade level on the back of their paper. Guide students in their drawing, demonstrating different techniques on the easel as needed – for example: how to blend oil pastels.

Some notes about the drawing process: (see resource for Linda Woods)

• Work with mirrors or school pictures.
• Start with the eyes and measured the whole face proportionally from the eyes - figure out proportions on the photo and transfer the info to their drawing.
• To draw the nose, measure how many eyes long it is and make a mark. Site which part of the eye the widest part of each nostril falls directly underneath. 

• Drawing the mouth: see how many eye widths it would take to place the middle lip line, lower lip line, dimples, etc. from their noses. 

• Once the facial features are completed, measure to see how many eye widths (or any other measuring stick they select at this point) the chin was from the mouth, the face width from the mouth and nose, eyes, etc.

• Mark the midline of the face and measure how tall the head needs to be, how wide the shoulders should be, and so on. 


Discussion: (while the students are working)
Say: A face has proportions; there is a relationship of all the parts of our face to each other and the whole design. Your drawing wouldn’t look like you if you drew yourself with only one eye.
Ask: How can the parts of our bodies be compared to the work of the church?
What body part do you suppose someone is if they are a good listener? (an ear)
Compassionate? (a heart)
Observant? (an eye)
What personality do you suppose someone is if they are an elbow? (helpful)
A funny bone?

Ask: Using the body parts analogy, what sort of body parts are needed in this church this morning? (voice boxes – to sing & to say the spoken parts of the worship service; legs to walk cookies out to lemonade on the lawn, arms to do self-portraits to display in the art case, etc.)

Say: Drawing a self-portrait is like exploring yourself. You are asking yourself what colors, or shading, or what textures can I use, that will authentically depict me. All the parts of your drawing contribute to the whole picture.
Ask: What are the ways that you see yourself as a part of this church?
What are ways that you’d like to see yourself as a part of the body of Christ?

Ask: How would you feel if a member of the class refused to participate in today’s art project?
How would you feel if a member of the class weren’t allowed to participate?
Say: Everyone has something important to contribute in some way. We all need to work together to be the complete “body of Christ.”

Ask: Who can tell us something about Paul? (refer to Bible overview materials)
Why do you suppose Paul would write letters to the churches that he had started?

Say: Paul had heard that there was trouble with the church in Corinth – people were arguing. It sounded like they had an “I’m better than you are” attitude.
Ask: Do you suppose that that happens in the church today?

Extra Activities (For those who finish early)

• Encourage that they add details to their picture; perhaps a background that helps tell something about themselves.
• Give the early finisher a purple Adventure Bible . Have them find Corinth on the map of Paul’s missionary journeys in the back of this Bible. Have them look up “Corinth” in the Index – it refers them to page 1276 where there is a Life in Bible Times note. Have them report to the class what they found out about Corinth.
• Have an early to finish student write a short explanation about their portrait – something that will help others to know who he/she is.

Reflection:

Say: We all need each other. Every person in this room has something that they can contribute to this church.

Have everyone read the key Bible verse from the easel. (Include the reference.)

Make sure everyone takes their photograph if they brought one. Save the pictures for display next month in the art cases.

Resources:
Woods, Linda. “Lesson Plan: Funny Face Self Portraits.” Incredible Art Department. 2008.

Suggested readings for proportion of the human face: http://goldennumber.net/face.htm

After the fact notes:
We found the perfect person to lead this lesson - someone who as a child had drawn a self-portrait and kept it! She brought it in to show the students. I am certain that part of her enthusiasm lead this lesson - the kids created awesome works of art! Yet another example of finding someone who has a passion, to lead your workshops.

Paraphrase of the story - from a variety of sources, including The Message.
This Bible story takes place after Jesus had died and was resurrected; at a time when lots of people were hearing stories about Jesus from people like Paul. Paul started a church in Corinth; in fact he lived in Corinth for 18 months. After he had left Corinth, the people started having difficulties getting along. They were arguing about what group of people were most important in the church. Paul wrote a letter to the people of Corinth to help them. In his letter Paul described the church as being like a human body; In fact he calls it the “body of Christ.” Listen to Paul’s words…

You are part of the body of Christ. You can see easily enough how this works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, and cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you're still one body. It's exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized. God's Spirit baptized each of us and made us part of the body of Christ.

A body isn't just a single part blown up into something huge. It's all the different parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, "I'm not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don't belong to this body," would that make it less a part of the body?
Different jobs in a human body are all important, and this is also true in the church.

The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
[end]

Written by Carol Hulbert for First United Methodist Church
Ann Arbor, MI 

Copyright 2008 First United Methodist Church, Ann Arbor, MI.
Permission to copy materials granted for non-commercial use provided credit is given and all cited references remain with this material.

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

The Early Church: the “Body” of Christ

Video Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Students will see what can be accomplished when people (or bugs) work together by watching a clip from A Bug’s Life. [Note: 4th – 6th graders visited this workshop.]

For scripture and background - see above.

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture for this lesson.
• Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
• Gather the materials.
• In the kitchen, fill a pitcher with ice and water. Gather enough plastic cups – the washable type – to serve water and Goldfish crackers.
• Upstairs, prepare snack by pouring Goldfish crackers into cups. Pour cups of water.
• Make sure you know how to use the TV/DVD Player.
• Insert the DVD. Fast-forward to 55:20 where Flick is telling the “circus bugs” about the plan to build a bird. This is where this video will be started.
• Write the key Bible verse on the easel. Using a different colored marker, write the word “Corinth.”

Supplies List:

• Video: Pixar, A Bug’s Life. Disney, 1997. [total viewing time: 9 minutes, 16 seconds]
• The TV/DVD Plaer will have been reserved for your workshop.
• Snack items: goldfish crackers, cups, napkins, water pitcher
• Easel with paper; appropriate markers in two different colors
• Purple Adventure Bibles; One purple Adventure Bible with tabs (Law, History, etc.)
• Bible tab writing kit: tabs, fine-line Sharpie pen

Lesson Plan

Opening:

Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the video workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults.

[Note: The Shepherd will quietly take attendance, etc. while you are starting your lesson.]

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. Use the Lord’s Prayer as the ending. A suggestion: “Dear Jesus, thank you for all who help us towards becoming your disciples. Help us to work together, accepting everyone’s differences, to be your hands and feet and ears in the church. (End with the Lord’s Prayer) Amen.”

Show the cover of the video.
Ask: How many of you have seen this movie?
Say: Today we are going to see a clip from the movie, A Bug’s Life. We are going to watch for how the ants work together. Along the way we’ll talk about what can happen when people work together.

Dig:

Point out the key verse written on the easel. Have the students say the verse together.

If this is the first week in the Rotation…
Say: This is something that Paul wrote in a letter to a church that he had started, in a city called Corinth.

In later weeks of the Rotation…
Ask: Who said these words? (Paul)

Say: Let’s look up in the Bible to see what we can learn about Paul.
Distribute Bibles. Have them look in the Dictionary/Concordance in the back of the purple Adventure Bibles, looking for “Paul.”

Discuss some facts about Paul. [Use also what you’ve learned in the Bible overview materials]
Point out that the word “apostle” means someone who received a direct call from Jesus to go out into the world to teach the gospel.

Have students look at the map in the back of the purple Bibles, “Paul’s Missionary Journeys.” Point out Jerusalem. Have the students trace along the green line (Paul’s 2nd journey) to Corinth. [Refer to the word “Corinth” written on the easel.]

Ask: Why do you suppose Paul would write a letter to the church in Corinth?
Say: Paul had started the church in Corinth. He had heard that there was trouble with this church – people were arguing about who was more important. Paul told them… [refer to the easel and the Key Bible verse.]

Ask: What do you suppose the “body of Christ” is?
I wonder what it feels like to be a part of the body of Christ…

Say: Let’s further investigate our story.

Have them find the story in First Corinthians, chapter 12 verse 12.

Ask: In what Testament would we find the book of First Corinthians?
Say: This is a story that takes place after Jesus died and was resurrected, so we find our story in the New Testament. Besides being divided into two testaments, the 66 books in the Bible are further divided into collections. We call this collection of Bible books, the “Letters.” If you have your own Bible today, be sure you receive a tab for the Letters section of your Bible. [Show the classroom Bible with tabs. Have the Shepherd do tabs for students who bring their Bibles. Use the classroom Bible with tabs as an example.]

Say: This is a Bible passage that can be hard to understand. In order to have enough time to watch our video, I’m going to read you parts of this scripture. The practice you just had in finding the story was important. I encourage all of you to read this story at home this week. Our story goes from verse 12 to verse 27. Verse 27 was the key Bible verse that we read earlier.

Have the students follow along as you read. Read to them (slowly) verse 12 and the first part of verse 13. [Stop at “baptized by one spirit into one body.”]

Say: Paul is using the metaphor of a body to describe the church. Let me read this again, and in place of the word “body” I’ll insert the word “church.”

Re-read it as: The church is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one church…For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one church.

Ask: When we talk about “the church” what are we talking about? Are we talking about a building?
Say: A church is more than a building. The church is a community of people working together to do as Jesus taught us.

Tell the students you are skipping to verse 17. Read 17-21.
Then skip to verse 24b – starting with “But God has combined the members of…”
Read 24b-27.

When you are finished reading…
Say: For the Word of God in Scripture, for the Word of God among us, for the
Word of God within us…
The class says: Thanks be to God!

Remind the class that those are the words that are spoken in the worship service after the Bible is read. We say those words in class so that we will be used to saying them when we hear a Bible story read in the worship service.

Ask: How is it that our body parts can be compared to the work of the church?
Can individual parts of the body exist independently?
Are some parts less important than others? Are some parts more important?
Say: So all of our body parts (and everyone in the church) needs to work together to accomplish great things. Let’s watch a video and see what message it has for us.

Show the Video:
Have the Shepherd distribute the snack.

From this point on there is no sense taking up space to repeat a fine lesson that is here at this site. See the following resource by Tanja Rouintree: https://www.rotation.org/topic...9#295011598215976949
Used from: “Fast-forward the tape to 55:20.”
Up until: “10:20 Reflection time–led by the SHEPHERD.”

(Note: If you really want my lesson, email me.)

Reflection:

Say: The church in Corinth was trying to dismiss people who didn’t have certain types gifts or talents. They were the eye saying to the hand, “I don’t need you!”
Ask: If our church were an ant colony- what are some things that we are working on?
What are some ways that you can contribute to this body of Christ – our church?
Say: Every member of the body has an important role to play in the body.

If you have extra time:
Go out and visit the banner that is hanging in the back entryway. (Go to the first landing on the steps.) Ask what this banner has to do with our Bible story. (It depicts lots of hands building up the church)
Wonder about what skills were needed to create this banner.

Visit the Bible timeline. Point out the receipt of the Holy Spirit in the Pentecost scene.
Remind the class that Paul mentioned the Holy Spirit in his letter to Corinth: “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body.” Our membership into the body of Christ – the church – is really the work of the Holy Spirit.
Point out at the Creation portion of the timeline how three hands reach down. They depict the work of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

Why are we sending kids out to look at our timeline? Well, we are mighty proud of our time line! It is a work of art! For pictures view the artist's web site.

Resources:

• Rouintree, Tanja. “Body of Christ: Video Workshop.” Rotation.org Lesson Exchange. 2006. https://www.rotation.org/topic...9#295011598215976949
• MacQueen, Neil. "Manual for the Video Workshop. https://www.rotation.org/topic...-video--a-v-workshop

Written by Carol Hulbert for First United Methodist Church
Ann Arbor, MI

Copyright 2008 First United Methodist Church, Ann Arbor, MI.
Permission to copy materials granted for non-commercial use provided credit is given and all cited references remain with this material

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

The Early Church: the “Body” of Christ

Movement Workshop:

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Use gestures to interpret the hymn One Bread, One Body. [Note: 1st – 3rd graders visited this workshop.] This workshop makes use of a collection of materials known as Worship for Life. 

For scripture and background - see above.

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture for this lesson.
• Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
• Gather the materials
• For classes with readers, write the key Bible verse on the easel.

Supplies List:

• Easel; appropriate marker
• Bibles; one purple Adventure Bible with tabs
• Paraphrase of the Bible story (see end of lesson)
• Bible tab writing kit: tabs, fine-line Sharpie pen
• Body Sox (optional)

Pages 45-48 from Worship for Life material, unit 11 (showing dance movements)

Lesson Plan

Opening:

Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the Movement Workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults.

[Note: The Shepherd will be taking care of attendance while you are starting your lesson.]

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. Use the Lord’s Prayer as the ending. A suggestion: “Dear Jesus, thank you for all who help us towards becoming your disciples. Help us to work together, accepting everyone’s differences, to be your hands and feet and ears in the church. (End with the Lord’s Prayer) Amen.”

Dig:

For Readers:
Point out the key verse written on the easel. Have the students say the verse together.

For Non-readers:
Hold a purple Adventure Bible open to 1 Corinthians 12:27 and read the key verse to the students. Read it to them again in sections, asking them to repeat each section after you.

Ask: Who said these words?
Say: This is something that Paul wrote in a letter to a church that he had started, in a city called Corinth.
Ask: Who was Paul?

Give some background on Paul.

• Was a great missionary of the early Church, not long after Jesus lived.
• He traveled all around to different countries in the Roman Empire, telling people about Jesus.
• Because of Paul, many people came to believe in Jesus and formed churches in the places where they lived. 



Say: Many of the books of the New Testament are letters that Paul wrote to the churches he had helped start. One of those letters was to the Christians in Corinth.

Ask: Why do you suppose Paul would write a letter to the church in Corinth?
Say: Paul had started the church in Corinth. He had heard that there was trouble with this church – people were arguing about who was more important. Paul told them… [refer to the easel and the Key Bible verse.]

Ask: What is the “body of Christ” referring to? (accept a few answers)
How is it that we can each be a part of this body?
Say: Let’s take a closer look at this letter in the Bible.
Ask: In what Testament would we find the book of First Corinthians?
Say: This is a story that takes place after Jesus died and was resurrected, so we find our story in the New Testament.

For 3rd graders:
Distribute Bibles.
Say: Besides being divided into two testaments, the 66 books in the Bible are further divided into collections. We call this collection of Bible books, the “Letters.” If you have your own Bible today, be sure you receive a tab for the Letters section of your Bible.
Show the classroom Bible with tabs. Have the Shepherd do tabs for students who bring their Bibles. Use the classroom Bible with tabs as an example.
Have them find the story in First Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 12.
Remind students of the quick way to find the New Testament – dividing the Bible in half gets them near Psalms. Dividing the back half in half again gets them near the Gospels in the New Testament. Dividing this back quarter in half again gets them close to First Corinthians. [Go over the order: Gospels, Acts, Romans, and Corinthians]
Say: I wanted you to find this passage in your Bible so that you could go home and read it with your family. It’s the kind of scripture that you need to read over a couple of times to understand what it’s saying. Since we don’t have time to read this passage over and over again, I will read you what is called a “paraphrase” – it’s the scripture re-written to be more understandable.
Read to them the attached paraphrase (see end of lesson).
When you are finished reading…
Say: For the Word of God in Scripture, for the Word of God among us, for the
Word of God within us…
The class says: Thanks be to God!
Remind the class that those are the words that are spoken in the worship service after the Bible is read. We say those words in class so that we will be used to saying them when we hear a Bible story read in the worship service.

For 1st and 2nd graders – who visit later in the Rotation:
Ask the students if they can tell you what Paul wrote in his letter.
If they can… ask them to tell you the story.
If they can’t… read to them the attached paraphrase.
When you are finished reading…
Say: For the Word of God in Scripture, for the Word of God among us, for the
Word of God within us…
The class says: Thanks be to God!
Remind the class that those are the words that are spoken in the worship service after the Bible is read. We say those words in class so that we will be used to saying them when we hear a Bible story read in the worship service.

Discussion:
Ask: How is it that our body parts can be compared to the work of the church?
Can individual parts of the body exist independently? Can the eye say to the hand, “I don’t need you?”
Are some parts less important than others? Are some parts more important?

Say: So all of our body parts (and everyone in the church) need to work together to accomplish great things. Let’s express this thought through motion.

Movement Activity:
Refer to the choreography for One Bread, One Body on pages 45-48 in the Worship for Life Resource Collection.
If desired, use body sox.

Reflection:

Paraphrase 1 Corinthians 12:12-24 (From a combination of sources including The Message)
Paul wrote a letter to the people of Corinth to help them. In his letter Paul described the church as being like a human body. Because we are baptized in Christ, Paul refers to this body as the “body of Christ.” Listen to Paul’s words…

You are part of the body of Christ. You can easily see how this works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, and cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you are still one body.

We are all different. But God's Spirit baptized each of us and made us part of the body of Christ. This happened through the Holy Spirit.

A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, “I’m not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don’t belong to this body,” would that make it less a part of the body? No!

Different jobs in a human body are all important, and this is also true in the church.
The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the excitement.

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
[the end]

Resources:

• “Body of Christ Lesson Set: Food Workshop.” Rotation.org Lesson Exchange. 2002. Kirk of Kildaire Presbyterian Church.
• Branigan, Rosalie Bent. “Dance/Gesture/Movement.” Worship for Life: Equipping Children to Grow in the Community of Faith. Unit 11: Sacrament of Communion. Eds. Wezeman, Phyllis Vos, Patricia E. Janssen, and Anna L. Liechty. Inver Grove Heights, MN: Logos Productions, 2008. 42-48.

Written by Carol Hulbert for First United Methodist Church
Ann Arbor, MI 

Copyright 2008 First United Methodist Church, Ann Arbor, MI.
Permission to copy materials granted for non-commercial use provided credit is given and all cited references remain with this material

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

The Early Church: the “Body” of Christ

Cooking Workshop:

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Cooperatively create cinnamon-raisin rolls. Discover that all the different tasks towards a goal are important. [Note: 1st – 3rd graders visited this workshop.]

For scripture and background - see above.

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture for this lesson.
• Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
• Gather the materials
• Make sure the bread dough and the butter are at room temperature.
• Wash one metal table.
• Prepare a pitcher of ice water (Ice machine is under counter just to the left of door from hall. Pitchers are in cabinet above this counter.) Place it and cups out on the cooking cart.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Turn on vent fan (switch is to right of refrigerator).
• Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
• Have the Swiss Army knife close at hand while in the Social Hall with the kids.

Supplies List:

• Parchment paper,
• cookie sheets,
• table knifes,
• serving spatula,
• Clean-up supplies
• Items in pantry closet: Napkins, cups, serving tray
• Thawed frozen bread dough (one pound loaf for every 10 kids) have at room temperature for at least one half hour before class
• Softened butter
• Aprons
• Bibles; one with tabs (Law, History, etc.)
• Swiss Army knife
• Raisins
• Cinnamon-sugar
• Tubes of white frosting
• Job cards: six 3 by 5 index cards labeled with the following jobs – Separators, Shapers, Spreaders, Sprinklers, Scoopers, Setters. (There are actually three other jobs- Sign Makers, Sprucer-uppers (cleanup!) and Servers but everyone will help with these jobs.)
• Paper and markers
• Zipper sandwich size bags
• Pad of sketching paper; marker (optional)

Lesson Plan

Opening:

Gather everyone around the tables in the Social Hall. Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the Cooking Workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults.

[Note: The Shepherd will quietly take attendance, etc. while you are starting your lesson.]

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, You offer each of us so many gifts. Mention a few – like beautiful day, children here to participate in this cooking workshop… Thank you for choosing us to be your helpers, to share your love. Thank you for giving each of us a special job to do. Amen. (End with everyone joining in on the Lord’s Prayer.) Amen.

Dig:

Ask: What happens if a part of your body stops working? (accept a few answers)
Say: Sometimes we can do things to cover for a missing body part – like getting a seeing-eye dog if we go blind. But sometimes we can’t – like if someone’s heart stops beating. Today we are going to hear a story about how Paul wrote a letter to a church he had started. In this letter Paul referred to body parts and how they are all needed. But Paul wasn’t just talking about body parts; Paul was using the example of body parts to talk about something else; Paul was using a metaphor.
Ask: Who knows what a metaphor is? (a symbol; a way of describing something; a word picture).
Say: Let me show you what a metaphor is using this Swiss Army knife as a word picture to describe this church. [Show the Swiss Army knife, closed.]

Ask: Does this look like the church?
Say: No, but I’m going to describe how this knife is like the church.
Ask: Do you know what makes it different from an ordinary pocketknife? (is special because of all the different tools you find inside it)

Say: Each of the tools has a special use that is different from the others. For example this one (show the bottle opener) is no good for cutting with, but it's great for removing bottle tops. The scissors (show them) are good for cutting paper, but they wouldn't be any use for opening a can - you'd need this one (show can opener) to do that. They are all useful, all important, and all different. But the really great thing is that all those tools are joined together in one small device that you can keep in your pocket, to use whenever you need it.

Say: This knife reminds me of what the Bible says about a church like ours. A church isn’t a building – a church is people. [You could do that thing with your hands – here is the church, here is the steeple, open the doors and see all the people.] All the people that make up a church are all different, like the tools on this knife. Each person is able to serve God in a special way because God has given us all different gifts – different abilities for serving God and helping others. Let’s go to the kitchen now to see how different gifts –different abilities—can create something wonderful.

Have everyone go to the kitchen to wash hands and put on aprons.

In the Kitchen:
Ask: When have you worked together with someone on a project?
Why is it a good idea to work cooperatively with others?

Say: Let’s cooperate with each other to make a yummy snack for us, and to make some to share with people who come to Lemonade on the Lawn after church.

Assign the six jobs, passing out the job cards. (More than one person can share a job.) Describe the job of the “Separators” and have them get started. As they work, use one piece of dough to demonstrate the other jobs.

The Cooperative Jobs:
Separators: Divide each one-pound loaf of bread into 20 pieces. (You might wish to
have a short group discussion about the best way to do this.)
Shapers: Take pieces of dough, flatten and shape them like pancakes.
Spreaders: Spread butter on the flattened dough.
Sprinklers: Sprinkle raisins (max 10-12) and cinnamon-sugar on top (about 1/4 tsp).
Suggest do raisins first; they stick better.
Scoopers: Scoop up the edges of the dough and pinch the edges together to seal the
contents inside the roll.
Setters: Set the dough balls on the parchment covered cookie sheets. Slightly flatten each roll.

Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Ask the Shepherd to time them.

Note: Depending on the number of kids you have, you may need to switch jobs around. For example: to have more Shapers at the beginning, then switch some to another job. Kids can always start to be “Sprucer-uppers” by washing the table. [Place dirty dishes used over by the dishwasher.] Or, if you have time, have the kids be Sign Makers: make a sign advertising that their class made these treats while learning about working together as the body of Christ.

While the rolls are baking, have everyone help cleanup. Then gather the kids again in the Social Hall and while waiting for rolls to finish baking and/or cool slightly, tell them today’s Bible story.

Back out in the Social Hall:
Say: Our Bible story for this lesson is found in 1 Corinthians (read as “First Corinthians”). 1 Corinthians is in the New Testament, in what can be called the “letters” section of the Bible.

Just for 3rd graders:
Distribute Bibles.
Have them find the story in First Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 12.
Remind students of the quick way to find the New Testament – dividing the Bible in half gets them near Psalms. Dividing the back half in half again gets them near the Gospels in the New Testament. Dividing this back quarter in half again gets them close to First Corinthians. [Go over the order: Gospels, Acts, Romans, and Corinthians. (Romans is the start of the “letters from Paul” section, which goes through Philemon, in case anyone asks.]
Say: I wanted you to find this passage in your Bible so that you could go home and read it with your family. It’s the kind of scripture that you need to read over a couple of times to understand what it’s saying. Since we don’t have time to read this passage over and over again, I will tell you this story.

For all students:
Say: Paul wrote this letter.
Ask: Who remembers who Paul was?

Give some background on Paul.

• Was a great missionary of the early Church – when churches were just being started.
• Traveled all around to different countries, telling people about Jesus.
• Because of Paul, many people came to believe in Jesus.
• Paul started churches in the places where he visited. 



Say: Our story takes place at a time when the early church was growing very quickly.
Ask: Why do you think we call it the “early church”? (because this story is from the time of the start of the church as we know it today)
Say: This story takes place after Jesus was crucified and resurrected; at a time when lots of people were hearing stories about Jesus from people like Paul.

Tell the story: (In later weeks of the Rotation, consider asking the students if they can tell you the story. Fill in any missing info.)
Paul started a church in Corinth; in fact he lived in Corinth for 18 months. After he left, the people started having difficulties getting along. They were arguing about what group of people was most important in the church. Paul wrote a letter to the people of Corinth to help them.
In his letter Paul described the church as being like a human body. A human body can’t be all ears, or all eyes. In fact Paul said: “if the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be” (verse 17). Paul was saying that different jobs in a human body are all important, and this is also true in the church. We can’t all be acolytes. We can’t all be down by the back door greeting people as they come in. We can’t all sing in the choir. Paul goes on to say that all the parts, of the body or the church, need to work together. The whole body needs the eyes and the ears to do their jobs.
Ask: Why do you think God wants us to work together?
How was making these rolls a good example of working together as one?
How can the parts of our bodies be compared to the work of the church?
What body part do you suppose someone is if they are a good listener? (an ear)
Caring? (a heart)
Observant? (an eye)
What personality do you suppose someone is, if they are an elbow? (helpful)
A funny bone?

Say: The church is the people in the church and we can think of all those eyes and ears and elbows as the “body of Christ.” Not Jesus’ actual physical body but it’s another metaphor – a body of different people working together.

Ask: Using the body parts metaphor, what sort of body parts are needed in this church this morning? (voice boxes – to sing & to say the spoken parts of the worship service; legs to walk cookies out to lemonade on the lawn, etc.)

Ask: How would you feel if a member of the class refused to participate in today’s cooking project?
How would you feel if a member of the class weren’t allowed to participate?
Say: Everyone has something important to contribute in some way. We all need to work together to be the complete “body of Christ.”

When rolls are done and have cooled a bit, have kids use the tube of frosting to place a cross on each roll. Arrange some of the rolls on a serving plate to share with Lemonade on the Lawn; distribute 2 or 3 rolls to each child using the zipper sandwich bags.

Reflection:

Say: In closing, remember that we are all important to Christ. He needs us to work together to be his hands, eyes and feet in the world today. You have helped fulfill this today in helping to make rolls to share now with others.

Extra Activities (if you finish early)
Quickly draw a person that is all feet – i.e., has a foot for a head and a foot where hands and legs would be. Show the sketch to the class. Ask them how such a body would eat (no mouth!), shake hands, etc. Ask them to envision how a church would operate if everyone were “feet.”

Resources:

• Lingo, Susan L. (ed). The Children’s Worker’s Encyclopedia of Bible Teaching Ideas: New Testament. Group Publishing, Inc, 1997.
• Swiss Army knife object lesson) – I tried to track down the source of this idea as the web site I originally got it from is no longer functioning, but I had no luck. It wasn't my idea.

Written by Carol Hulbert for First United Methodist Church
120 S. State Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48104

Copyright 2008 First United Methodist Church, Ann Arbor, MI.
Permission to copy materials granted for non-commercial use provided credit is given and all cited references remain with this material

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

The Early Church: The Body of Christ

Games Workshop 

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Experience the inter-connectedness of each part of the “body of Christ” through a variety of games. [Note: 1st – 6th graders visited this workshop.] This workshop makes use of Cornerstone curriculum for the actual game instructions. See resources for info. 

Scripture Reference & Key Bible Verse & Objectives: 
Refer to first post in this lesson set.

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture for this lesson.
• Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
• Gather the materials
• Write the following on index cards: on three cards write “foot.” On three cards write, “eye.” On three write: “hand.” On three write: “ear.” Have a few blank cards and a pen available in case more need to be written (i.e. there are more than 12 students).
• Write the key Bible verse on the easel. Also write “helps your overall body?” and “helps the church?”
• Set up the goal, or chairs to make a goal, at one end of the room.
• Using masking tape, place small X’s on the floor in a pattern that marks a spot for every student in front of the goal.

Supplies List:

Lesson Plan

Opening:

As the students enter the room, pass out one index card to each student asking that they not show their cards to anyone else and that they remain standing.

Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the Games Workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults.

[Note: The Shepherd will be taking care of attendance while you are starting your lesson.]

Say: Written on the card I gave you, is a body part. When I say GO, I would like you to let the other people in the room know what is written on your card. BUT you can’t make any sound and you can’t point to the body part. Find others with the same body part and form a group. GO.

Allow a couple of minutes for everyone to find each other. Encourage creativity in finding their partner body parts. When everyone has been found, have everyone sit down in their group.

Say: Talk amongst your group to answer two questions. [Refer to the easel]
1. What is one way your body part helps your overall body?
2. What is one way your body part helps the church?

Allow two minutes for groups to talk. Call for everyone’s attention and have the groups briefly report on their findings.

Say: The parts of our body are very useful to our overall self and they are very busy around church! Today’s Bible story makes reference to parts of the body. Let’s read about our story.

Dig:

Ask: If I told you that today’s Bible story took place after Jesus’ death and resurrection, in what part of the Bible would we find our story? (new testament)

Say: Our Bible story is from a letter written way back in Bible times by Paul. Paul wrote to a church that he had started in Corinth.

For 3rd grade and up: 

Distribute Bibles. 

Ask: What book in the Bible is a letter written by Paul to the church in Corinth? (if necessary – have them look in the Table of Contents. There are two answers: 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians) 

Have everyone find 1 Corinthians 12:12 in the Bible. 

Say: Because we have a First and a Second Corinthians, Paul obviously wrote the people at Corinth at least twice. It’s quite possible he wrote them more than that – Paul wrote a lot of letters. We have a whole section of the New Testament that we can call “Letters.” 

Show the Adventure Bible with tabs. Point out the collection known as “Letters.” 

Say: There are 13 books of the Bible in the Letters collection.

For all students:
Ask the students if they can tell you what Paul wrote in his letter.

If they can… ask them to tell you the story.

If they can’t… read to them the paraphrase. 

When you are finished reading…
Say: For the Word of God in Scripture, for the Word of God among us, for the
Word of God within us…
The class says: Thanks be to God!

Remind the class that those are the words that are spoken in the worship service after the Bible is read. We say those words in class so that we will be used to saying them when we hear a Bible story read in the worship service.

Say: Let’s play a game.

Play Games: 

We played the games “Body Die” and “Body Pinball” from the Cornerstones lesson that are unfortunately now out of print, the lesson was called “Early Church as Body of Christ: Moved by the Spirit.” 

Ask the Discussion questions from this lesson.

Reflection:

Say: Let’s close in prayer.
Ask for any prayer requests. Ask if anyone would like to lead the group in prayer. Use the Lord’s Prayer as the ending. A suggestion: “God, thank you for creating us each unique and wonderful. Help us to realize that we each bring something special to the life of our church family. As we grow and learn, keep us aware of the diversity of our gifts and the blessings. Keep us from shunning one gift in favor of another. Thank you for these gifts, given by you, our awesome God. (End with the Lord’s Prayer) Amen.”

If you have time: 

Play more rounds of Body Pinball using other body part restrictions.

Resources:

• Hansen, Cindy S. ed. The Humongous Book of Games for Children’s Ministry. Loveland, CO: Group Publishing, 2002. (idea for opening activity, rewritten in my own words)
• Rouintree, Tanja. “Body of Christ: Art Workshop.” Rotation.org Lesson Exchange. 2006. https://www.rotation.org/topic...7#295011598215976937
• “The Covenant: The Early Church as the Body of Christ—Moved by the Spirit”. Glenview, IL: Cornerstones Publishing, 1999.
  
  

A lesson written by Carol Hulbert from:
First United Methodist Church
120 S. State Street Ann Arbor, MI 48104

Copyright 2008 First United Methodist Church, Ann Arbor, MI. Permission to copy materials granted for non-commercial use provided credit is given and all cited references remain with this material.

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

If you have found these workshops useful it would make my day if you let me know about it. (And/or please make a contribution to rotation.org - see here for details. Thanks