Teaching John 3

John 3 for 3-5s

Theme: You can’t get into Jesus’ Kingdom by following rules, you can only get in by trusting Him.

Intro: Jesus says (variation on Simon Says)

If you had to do everything right to be Jesus’ friend, could you? None of us did just then. None of us could be Jesus’ friend by doing everything right. We’re not good enough. But we’re going to meet a man who thought he could.

[Use pictures on lollypop sticks]

This is Nicodemus [hold up]. He was a very important man. He was a Jewish teacher, and the best in the land. He knew all of God’s rules and how to keep them, and he worked very hard at doing that. So when God said ‘Don’t tell lies,’ Nicodemus was very careful not to tell lies. When God said, ‘Do not steal’ Nicodemus made sure that he didn’t steal. If anyone could be in Jesus’ kingdom by being good, it would be Nicodemus. If anyone could understand how to get into Jesus’ kingdom, it would be Nicodemus.

One day Nicodemus came to visit Jesus. But he came at night so no-one would know [turn off lights and introduce Jesus].

He started by telling Jesus how brilliant he is, ‘Good teacher, you do amazing things so God must be with you.’

But Jesus wasn’t having any of it! He said, ‘To get into my kingdom you have to be born again, you have to get a new life from God.’

For such a clever man, Nicodemus couldn’t understand it! He thought Jesus was telling him to become a baby again! Could you become a baby again? No, of course not.

But what Jesus meant was, no matter how many rules you try to keep you won’t be good enough to be His friend, to be in His Kingdom. Nicodemus couldn’t be Jesus’ friend just by saying, ‘Look how good I am!’ Nicodemus needed God to give Him a new life, inside! [Put heart on Nicodemus].

And Jesus is able to give us new life, too. By dying on the cross and rising again from the dead, he can give us new life so we can be His friends. But we can never become His friends by being good, only by trusting Him. Isn’t Jesus amazing?

Craft:

Nicodemus puppet with stick on ‘new life’ heart

Stick and colour a large red heart with ‘Jesus gives me new life’ and stick it on the children

(Butterfly sticking - new life)

Songs:

1,2,3,4,5 Jesus Christ is now alive

There’s a way back to God

I can talk to Jesus (from J is for Jesus)

John 3 for 5-11s

Theme: You can’t get into Jesus’ Kingdom by following rules, you can only get in by trusting Him.

Intro:

Game with lots of rules. Only people allowed a sweet are those who play it perfectly. Make sure no-one does, then give them a sweet anyway.

Story:

Recap – last week saw how great Jesus’ kingdom is. This week we need to ask: ‘How do we get in?’

Introduce Nicodemus (either picture or dress up) – Pharisee: knew the bible, kept all the rules. If anyone was in Jesus’ kingdom it would be him.

He’s respectful to Jesus – ‘Good teacher’. Jesus says something very strange in reply – ‘You must be born again!’

What does Jesus mean? Could any of you climb into your mum’s tummy? That’s what Nicodemus thought. [make a big deal of this, make it funny]

What Jesus meant was that Nicodemus had to be born on the inside. [Stick large heart with ‘new life’ on Nicodemus]. The bible says we are spiritually dead inside, we can’t naturally be God’s friends because of our sin. Keeping all the rules won’t make us God’s friends. We need to be wiped clean and made alive inside, in our Spirit.

But Nicodemus is Israel’s best bible teacher, how could he not be in Jesus’ kingdom? No matter how good or great you think you are, to be Jesus’ friend you need new life.

How do we get new life? Through Jesus’ death. Read John 3:16 together. What an amazing thing – God the Father loves you so much that He would send Jesus to give you new life inside!

Nicodemus came to understand this and became a follower of Jesus. Will you? Are you? Have you come and trusted in Him and received new life?

Funsheet

Learn John 3:16 together

Questions:

Knowledge

• Who came to see Jesus?
• When did he come to see Jesus?

• What did Jesus say was the only way to be in His kingdom?

Understanding

• What does it mean to be born again?
• How can we be born again?
• How do can we be sure of God’s love

Application

• Do you think you are good?
• Do you think God has give you new life?
• Have you trusted in Jesus’ death for you?

Teaching John 2

John 2 for 3-5s

Theme: Jesus turned water into wine because He is God

Story:

[You’ll need a glass jug of water, another jug, non-see through, with a little undiluted squash and a glass]

[Have a jug of water] Who can turn this water into juice? Let’s give it a go. [do all sorts of abracadabra attempts] Why can we not do it? We can’t do it because we are not God.

Tell story either from reliable children’s bible (eg Beginner’s Bible) or using flannelgraph.

What did Jesus do that was amazing when he was at the wedding? [take answers]

[Act it out] He got the servants to pour the water into these stone jars. And when they went to pour it out into glasses, amazingly it had turned into wine.

When I did it just then, it was a trick. I’d put squash in the bottom of our jug secretly. But Jesus hadn’t. He turned the water into wine. No tricks. No magic. And he can do it because He is the God who made the whole world.

Say it with me: Jesus turned water into wine because He is God.

Pray

Songs:

Stick with Jesus

Follow, follow

Jesus is the boss (from J is for Jesus)

Craft:

Stick pictures of jars and people onto wedding scene

Stick red paper onto wine glass

John 2 for 5-11s

Theme: Jesus has come to bring an amazing new way

Aim: So follow Him!

Intro:

Old and New – hide some old things and some new things around the room. They need to find and pair.

Story:

Imagine you’ve gone to a wedding or a party. How would you feel if you they say, ‘there’s no cake and there are no fizzy drinks. All we have is stale bread and water.’

Would that be a good party?

The next thing John tells us in his book is that Jesus went to a wedding.

Read passage/Dramatize/use powerpoint visuals

Ask: What amazing thing did Jesus do? How was He able to do that?

            What’s better: a wedding party with water, or a wedding party with brilliant wine?

So, Jesus is saying, ‘The old way of following God was like water. Now, following me is like wine; it’s brilliant, it’s fantastic. So follow me!

But then Jesus went to the temple. This was meant to be a holy place to meet with God but people were buying and selling stuff. Jesus was really angry!

Read 2:14-17. He kicked over the tables scattering money and animals. [It would be very memorable to do this in front of them, however make sure you kick away from them.]

The old way of sacrifices and buildings was to end. Now people were to come to Jesus to meet with God. The Jews didn’t believe Him, so he calls Himself the temple and says he will die and rise again. Read 2:18-21.

So Jesus has come to bring a brilliant new way. Are you going to be like the Jewish leaders saying, ‘No thank you!’ Or are you going to be like Jesus’ disciples who believed in Him and followed Him?

Table time questions:

Knowledge

• What amazing thing did Jesus do at the wedding?
• What amazing thing did Jesus do at the temple?

Understanding

• What do we learn about Jesus from the first ‘sign’ (miracle)?
• Why was Jesus’ new way better than the old way?

Application

• How did the Jews respond? Are you tempted to respond like that?
• How did the disciple respond? Have you followed Jesus?
• What difference does it make to believe and follow Jesus?

Funsheet

Church is like a ...Body

[This is the first part of our series for mid-week club on what the church is]

Intro: Would you mind if I cut off your hand? How would the rest of your body feel? What couldn’t you do? What about foot? Head? Thumbs?

We’re looking this term at different pictures the bible uses for God’s people. ‘Church is like a …’

This week: Church is like a body (unveil a picture of body in parts)

a)     Read 1 Cor 12:12-13 – lots of different parts in a body. Head is Jesus (mark on body)

b)    Read 1 Cor 12:14-20 – each person being different can do different things – some preach, some play music, some cook for others, some particularly pray. Like a body different people have different parts to play.

c)     Read 1 Cor 12:21-23 – each part is needed. One part hurts, all parts hurt. Look after each other. Try taking away a part of the body.

Conclusion – cannot say you’re a Christian and not need the rest of the body. Church family is a great gift from God.

Assembly: The Church Sings

[This is the first part of a series of school assemblies about what we do in church]

Sing: Hebrews 10:24-25

Photo of our church. What goes on in this building? What do Christians do when they meet together? Whether that’s in a building like this, in someone’s house, or under a tree.

I want you to know what happens so if you come to visit us, it won’t be completely strange.

Intro: Gerald the Monkey (puppet) is thinking of going on X Factor. Not much use as he can’t do any more than whisper in my ear.

Bible:

            Ephesians 5:19-20 – sing to each other

                        Name the next line of the song – point we remember what we sing.

                        It encourages us about what’s true

            Col 3:16 – sing to God

                                  Football match – praising your team

                                  God is so much better so we’re going to sing to Him

Conclusion – if you came to church you’d find us singing. But it’s a special sort of singing. It’s important to us, different to what we do here in assembly.