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    Today's Theme:

     

     

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    Today's Story:

    		Jesus sends the Holy Spirit
    Acts 2, Luke 24, John 16  
    Optional Memory verse: 
    		"When the Son of Man comes, he will be seen by
    everyone.  It will be like lightening flashing in the 
    sky that can be seen everywhere." Matt 24: 27 
    International Children's Bible, New Century Version
     
    The Holy Spirit gives us the power to live for Jesus.
    • Materials Needed:
    		Promised Land mat
    Children's Bible
    Flashlight and batteries (with the batteries taken out)
    electric hair dryer
    play dough
    masking tape
    For the action game:
    		Fill a baggie for each child with the same number of pennies in each. The bag of pennies will represent gas for a car.
    To determine the number of pennies:
    		In the action game you will put a row of X's, 2 to 3 ft. apart, (1 meter), on the floor from one end of the room to the other.
    Estimate how many X's will you need to cross the room.
    Divide that number in half and put that many pennies in each baggie.

     

    • Introductory Craft:  Play dough crowd
    		As the kids arrive, have each child make 2 or 3 people from play dough to be used later in the story:
    		Have them roll a barrel for a body and add a round head.
    Or, if you have gingerbread boy and girl cookie cutters, they can make people with play dough from those.
    Set the play dough people aside to be used during the story.

     

    • Action Game: Out of Gas

    This is a relay race between 2 teams.

    The kids will be cars running out of gas.

    		Divide each team in half:
    		Designate one half as cars and have them line up at one end of the room.
    The other half will be tow trucks and will line up at the other end of the room.
    Put a row of masking tape X's on the floor between each team half. 
    		Make each X about 2 or 3 ft.  (1 meter) apart.
    Make an even number of X's.
    Line the 2'nd team up the same as the first with the same number of masking tape X's between their team halves. 
    Give each "car" a bag of gas (a baggie with half the number of pennies for each X their team has).
    The first "car" in line from each team must run to the tow trucks on the other side of the room, 
    		But along the way he must put a penny on every X he comes to.
    When he runs out of pennies he is out of gas.
    He must stay at the X where he placed the last penny until  a tow truck brings him gas.
    The first in line from the tow trucks on his team must run to him and bring him enough gas (his bag of pennies) to get him to the other side of the room. 
    		The tow truck driver does not stop to put pennies on the X's.
    After the tow truck driver brings him gas, he continues to the other side of the room where he goes to the end of the line and becomes a car.
    The car continues with his "refill" to the tow trucks, goes to the end of the line, and becomes a tow truck.
    Continue until all the cars become tow trucks and vice versa.
    Then gather up the pennies and repeat so the tow trucks get a chance to be cars, etc.

     

    • Lay out the Promised Land mat

    • Closing Discussion:

    • Close in Prayer: 

    • Telling the Story: 
    		Can a car run without gas?
    What does the gas do for the car?
    		It gives it power so it will run
    What about this?
    		Hold up the hair dryer and turn it on (unplugged)
    Why isn't it working?
    		Because it's not plugged in.
    What does it need to run?
    		electricity
    I brought something else, too.
    		Hold up the flashlight (without the batteries)
    See if you can make it work for me.
    		Pass around the flashlight without the batteries.
    Why isn't it working?
    		It doesn't have any batteries in it.
    Let's put some batteries in it and see if it will work then.
    		Add batteries and show the kids that it works.
    Do you know what we call the thing that makes things work, like gas for our cars and batteries for our flashlights and electricity for hairdryers?
    		Power
    We call that power. 
    Well today's story is about power.
    Jesus wanted his disciples to tell everyone about Him so that they could know and love God, too.
    But he told them they had to wait before they could tell others about Jesus.
    Do you know why Jesus told them to wait?
    He told them to wait because they didn't have the power to live for Him or to tell others about God.
    So Jesus told his disciples to wait for Him to give them power first.
    Do you think the power that Jesus gave His disciples was gas or electricity?
    Listen carefully to find out about the power that Jesus gave his disciples.  
    After Jesus went to heaven, his disciples were all staying together in a house.
    		Build a rectangle with some blocks to represent a house.
    Put 4 or 5 Fisher Price or similar type men inside.
    Jesus had told them to stay in the city of Jerusalem and wait until they had received power from heaven.
    It was a special holiday that day so there were lots of people in town.
    		Have the kids put their play dough people outside the house.
    Many of the people were from far away lands.
    So the disciples were all waiting in a house for Jesus to send the power from heaven that He had promised them.
    Suddenly they heard a noise from heaven!
    It sounded like a strong wind blowing.
    Will you use your mouths and make the sound of wind for me?
    Very good.  All of you are great wind makers. 
    Then Jesus' disciples saw something that looked like flames of fire standing on top of each other's heads.
    		Rub your hands together over top of the heads of the Fisher Price type figures to represent fire.
    God had sent his Holy Spirit down from heaven to live inside of each one of them.
    The Holy Spirit gives us the power to live for God and to tell others about Jesus.
    Then the disciples started talking in languages that they didn't even know.
    It was so noisy in the house with the wind blowing and the disciples talking in different languages that the people outside heard all the noise.
    They came running to find out what was going on.
    		Bring the play dough people into the house.
    Many of them were from far away lands.
    They didn't speak the same language that the disciples spoke.
    But they heard the disciples talking in their own languages!
    They were amazed! 
    "How can this be!" they asked each other. "These men don't know our languages!"
    "Yet they are telling about the great things that God has done in the languages that we speak in our lands far away from here!"
    They were a little scared.
    "What does this mean?" they asked.
    Some people thought they were drunk.
    But then the disciple Peter stood up in front of the whole crowd.
    		Put one of the Fisher Price type men in front of all the others, and gather the play dough people around facing him.
    Peter talked in a loud voice.
    He said to the crowd,  "We're not drunk!  It's too early in the morning to be drunk.
    Long ago in the Bible, God had promised that He would send the Holy Spirit from heaven to live in all the people who believe in Him.
    Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit.  
    You have seen it and heard it happen here today".
    Then Peter told the crowd all about Jesus.
    He told them that Jesus died on the cross for all the wrong things that we do.
    And He told them that Jesus came alive again and went back to heaven to live with God the Father.
    The crowd was sick at heart and wanted to know what to do.
    Peter told them to turn to God and ask Jesus to forgive them for all the wrong things they'd done.
    And about 3000 people believed in Jesus that very day and were baptized.
    What power did Jesus send from heaven?
    		The Holy Spirit
    Why did Jesus send the Holy Spirit from heaven.
    		To live inside everyone who believes in Jesus.
    Why do we need the Holy Spirit to live inside of us?
    		To give us the power to live for God.
    Without the Holy Spirit we're like a car without gas or a flashlight without batteries.
    We don't have any power to live for God.
    Without the Holy Spirit we don't even want to live for God.
    We're only interested in living for ourselves.
    		You may want to share what things were important to you before you trusted in Jesus and were filled with the Holy Spirit.
    Without the Holy Spirit we don't have any power to tell others about Jesus.
    The Holy Spirit gives us the power to live for God and to tell others about Jesus.
    How do we get the Holy Spirit to live inside of us?
    		All we have to do is to ask Jesus to forgive us for our sins and to give us the Holy Spirit.
    Start with silent prayer to give the children who want to, an opportunity to trust Jesus and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
    Thank God that Jesus gives us the power to live for God since we can't love God on our own.
    Ask God to help us to trust Jesus to forgive us and to fill us with His Spirit.
    Optional Snack:  Leftover bonanza

     

    Supplemental Bible Readings:  Also available as a take home paper. 
    Click     The Home Sower  to access it.

    (Suggested daily readings)

     

    • Materials Needed for Next Week:  
    		Paul figure
    		Suggestion: If you're making a homemade cloth Paul, make him as a flip figure who flips from an evil man to a good man.
    Bible Story mat
    Priest figure
    horse figure, (optional)
    5 or 6 Fisher Price or similar type men figures,
    blocks
    Optional Mother's Day Crafts:
    		Option 1: Baby food jar candle holders:
    		Materials Needed:
    		1 baby food jar per child
    scraps of assorted colors of tissue paper
    Elmer's glue
    paint brushes
    containers to mix glue with water (such as margarine tubs)
    1 votive candle per child
    Option 2: Hand print banners
    Materials Needed: 
    		Plain fabric, 
    (Note: next week we will be doing the story of Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. You may want to make the banner with purple cloth to coincide with the lesson.
    Fabric paint in a coordinating color, 
    Dowel rods, (one per child 11"-12" long (about 30 cm long),
    Ribbon or string to hang each banner,
    Paint brushes, 
    Wash basins and old towels, 
    Paint shirts
    Pre make a banner for each child by cutting fabric to about 10" X 10", (26 cm square),
    Sew a casing across one end to fit a dowel rod through,
    Option 3: Cross shaped Stained Glass light catchers
    		Materials Needed:
    		Cut 2 construction Paper crosses for each child,  
    		Overall cross should be about 10" X 8" (20 cm X 25 cm)
    Make the cross pieces about 3", (8 cm), wide, 
    Cut the middle out of each cross
    wax paper,
    scraps of different colors of tissue paper,
    glue sticks,
    scissors,
    stapler

     

    © 2000 Linda Lawler.  
    Permission granted to copy for personal use only.  Not for resale.

    Home Sower 46      Lesson 41    Home Sower 41    Lesson 42    

    Home Sower 42    Lesson 43    Home Sower 43     Lesson 44   

      Home Sower 44    Lesson 45    Home Sower 45    Lesson 47    

    Home Sower 47    Lesson 48    Home Sower 48   Lesson 49    

    Home Sower 49   Lesson 50    Home Sower 50 

    Lesson 51   Home Sower 51    Lesson 52    Home Sower 52   

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