Teaching John 5

John 5 for 3-5s

Theme: Jesus is God, come to show us the perfect world He will bring

Intro:

Stick some spots on a leader. Introduce them and say they’re feeling poorly. How could we make them better? Is there anyway of making them better right now? We get poorly because this world is not the way God made it in the beginning. We need God to put it right.

Bible Story:

[Needed a couple of plastic people, eg playmobile, a small mat and a bowl of water or alternatively act out with a paddling pool]

Let’s listen to our true story from the bible. It happened a long time ago, before Jesus died and rose again.

There was a pool of water in the big city of Jerusalem. And poorly people thought it might make them better to wash in it. So all around the pool there were people who couldn’t walk or couldn’t see.

One of them was a man who couldn’t walk. He had been there for 38 years! That’s a really long time. And all that time he’d been waiting to get well.

When Jesus saw him lying there he knew how long he’d been waiting. He said to him, ‘Do you want to get well?’

The man said, ‘Sir, I’ve got no one to carry me into the pool.’

Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, take up your bed and walk!’

Now, if you or I said this then nothing would happen. We don’t have that power. But because Jesus is God as soon as He had said, ‘Get up, take up your bed and walk,’ the man stood up and was made better right then!

That’s exactly what Jesus came for. He came to show us that one day He would make everything right again. No more sin, or sadness or sickness. And He has the power to do that because He is God.

Pray

Songs:

No more tears

My God is a very, very Big God

Craft:

Paper bowls, fill with blue crepe paper, and cut out man and mat to stick beside

Print out pictures of the story and cut up – they stick on in order

 

John 5 for 5-11s

Theme: Jesus is God, come to show us the perfect world He will bring

Intros:

·           Race to the pool – mark out a pool. Individuals have to get to the pool in the stated way without using their legs eg roll, squirm. Final time they have to be carried on a mat.

Bible story:

[You’ll need a mat and something representing the pool, eg a blue cloth, paddling pool]

Stick sticky dots on a child or leader. Could anyone make him better? Right now? We can’t because we‘re not God. But poorliness is a sign that this world is not the way God made it in the beginning. Sin has made it go wrong.

Let’s have a look at what Jesus did in our true story from the bible.

In the capital city of Jerusalem there was a pool. People thought that this was a special pool where they could be made better. So there were lots of people round the pool who were blind, lame and paralysed in some way.

One lame man had been waiting to get into the pool for 38 years, but people kept jumping in before him! [Act it out]

Jesus came to that pool and saw the man sitting there. He said to him:

Jesus – Do you want to get well?

Man – Sir, people keep jumping in ahead of me.

Jesus – Get up, take up your bed and walk.

Now, if you or I had said this nothing would have happened. But Jesus is God so He has all the power and to Him this is no problem. So immediately the man was made better, he could walk again. [Act out]

Not everyone was happy that Jesus had healed the man. He’d made him better on a special day called the Sabbath, and the Jewish leaders believed that you weren’t mean to do anything on that day. So they found Jesus and questioned Him.

Jesus told them that He was allowed to because He is God. You can imagine how that made them feel. They were furious! He was claiming to be God Himself.

But He was also showing how one day He would make everything right again.

Table time:

• Arrange pictures from the story in order (particularly for the younger ones)

Questions

Knowledge:

• What was wrong with the man?
• How long did it take for Jesus to make him better?
• What day did Jesus do this on?

Understanding:

• Who did Jesus claim to be?
• Why were the Jewish leaders annoyed with that?
• How was Jesus showing what He will do in the future?

Application:

• Can anyone else sort out what’s wrong with the world? You’re mum and dad, teacher, etc?

• How should we feel about Jesus?

• What should we do if Jesus is God?