Jesus died for us and has risen from the grave. What happens now? Jesus has risen, so what do we do now? Do our kids know? We started this quarter of Oasis Kids with What Happened After Jesus Died and Rose from the Grave? Based on the book of John, then we will go into Acts.
We picked up our story line, the disciples are scared and locked in a room, and suddenly even in a locked room, Jesus appears. He reminds them "Remember, I gave you My peace." Just a few days before He was crucified, Jesus had told them what was going to happen and they were not to fear, "My peace I give you, don't let your hearts be troubled."
When Jesus visited the disciples in that locked room, one of the disciples was out,
guess who? You guessed it THOMAS. He wasn't there when Jesus suddenly appeared, and when he returned and was told by the disciples that Jesus had appeared, yep, he wouldn't believe it.
He goes so far, as to say, "Unless I see the nail prints, put my finger in them, see His side, and put my hand into it, I will not believe it."
How do you prepare a lesson for ages 3-5, and 6-10. Well, I read this story in various versions of the Bible, and then just prayed and rested in the goodness of God.
Side Note: We are teaching our 6-10 group how to use their Bibles, to become familiar and confident in their Bible skills, I created a fun Who What Where Why How Worksheet called, "Bee Lieve" Each child picked a scripture from John out of a paper bag, found the scripture in their Bible, and then completed the answers to the worksheet.
Little Trivia: Do you know in John's gospel he writes "Believe" 99 times. Do you think God is trying to get us to get it about believe? I think so.
The group loved it, they were diving in, and asking questions, "how do you spell...." it was so wonderful watching them learning about God's Word and searching the scriptures. This took some time because all children are not at the same skill level. Three of our kids finished quickly, we had planned for them to get into small groups, and share their findings with one another. Only 1 group of 3 children were able to share their answers. It was a wonderful time for them, they were hands-on working with their Bibles.
GROUP 3-5: THOMAS - WOULDN'T BEE LIEVE!
Our 3-5 gathered in their circle time, and our "Littles" teacher began to tell them the story. After they chanted 'I Am Blessed Cause I Bee Lieve". They moved to the table and they made a BEE out of the letter B, printed on yellow card stock, they glued black paper strips, added the "antennas" and the wings which have the word "Believe" on them. Our "Littles" loved it, once their "B" was done, they flew their "B's" around the room saying, "Buzzzz, buzzz. I believe In Jesus!" It was so much fun!
You can download the Believe Lesson along with craft page by clicking here.I Believe Lesson & Craft
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