Bible Lesson Plans Presented at NEST

The Near East School of Theology

PR216 Teaching the Bible N.T

Facilitator: Shake' Geotcherian

Spring 2009-04-02

Lesson plan Age: 4-5 (Pre-KG)

Duration 20 min.

Presented by: Silva Chilingirain

Talk to God

Bible passage: Mark 1: 35, Matthew 14:22-23.

Main point: God hears us when we pray

Objectives: by the end of this unit the children will:

·         Know that God hears us when we pray.

·         The children will be willing and eager to talk to God.

·         Pray in many situations.

Materials: Radio Cd, Puppet, Picture cards of the story, crayons, Photocopied papers.

What does it mean?

Prayer is essential in the life of children. Children will learn that talking to God is very important because Jesus also talked to God i.e. his father often. Preschoolers can understand that this type of communication is called prayer. This lesson will be a good encouragement for some of them if they are not yet in the habit of prayer. And it will also give children confidence that they can pray to God.

Getting Started: ( 3 min)

Gather children on the floor; let them sit in a semi circle position so that everyone can see you. Tell them that today we have a guest with us; show them the puppet that you have already with you. Play the puppet by telling Jesus liked to pray he prayed to God a lot; let's find out when Jesus liked to pray.

Puppet:  I'm going to do some actions that describe when Jesus liked to pray.

The puppet will Yawn and stretch as if it is just getting out of bed in the morning.

Ask: what time of day do people usually yawn and stretch? (Let children respond – in the morning)

Next step- the puppet puts the palms of the hands together and place hands against cheek as if sleeping.

Ask: what time of day do people sleep? (Let children respond – in the night)

Now you know what time of day Jesus like to pray (talk to God), whenever you hear the word morning I want you to yawn and stretch, when you hear night pretend that you are sleeping.

Lesson: Bible story ( 5 min.)

Jesus liked the morning time it was a good time to pray to God. One day Jesus got up before the sun was up he walked from the house to find a very quiet place outside; he talked to god in the morning.

Jesus also liked the night time, Jesus talked to God. One night Jesus told his friends to get into their boat and go across the lake. He told other people to go home. He did this because it was time for him to pray and talk to God. Jesus climbed up a mountain and talked to God. Sometimes he prayed by himself, sometimes with his friends, Jesus prayed in the morning and at night.

(While you tell the story show them pictures of Jesus praying in different places, alone and with friends.)

Ask: What did Jesus talk to God about?  Let them discuss and share their opinions.

• He prayed for many things, he prayed for himself, asked God to help him
• He prayed for his friends, he asked God to take care of his friends and watch over them.
• He asked God to help everyone even you and me!

Jesus talked to God and God wants us to pray and talk to Him like Jesus.

We can talk to God about anything because we know that God hears us when we pray.

We can say "Thank you" God for the pretty flowers, for the food, for our friends,

Please help us, our friends…

Questions: ( 3 min)

• When did Jesus pray?
• Why did Jesus pray?
• How can you be like Jesus?
• What do you say when you pray?
• Does God hear you when you pray?

Activities: (7-10 min)

·         After the lesson let them sit their places. Distribute the photocopied paper (Jesus Talking to God) and let them color with crayons.

·         Put the Story pictures on the bulletin board; so that they can remember.

·         Play the Cd and let them to sing "Wisper a prayer in the morning..":or any other song about prayer like "Hayr yergnavor, park goudam vor ardoo me aghvor devir mez nor ov der hisous toun mezi louis ais aravod ellas mer mod, ellas mer mod Aaaamen.

What should I Do? ( 2 min)

After coloring and singing gather them and pray the following prayer.

Father I thank you for everything that you have given us. Thank you for caring us. Thank you for hearing us when we pray.

Also give their class works to take home, this will help them to share what they have learned and remember during the week that it is important to talk to God!

The Near East School of Theology

PR216 Teaching the Bible N.T

Facilitator: Shake' Geotcherian

Spring 2009-04-30

Lesson plan Age: 8-9

Duration 50 min. it may be divided into 2 sessions because the activities would take much time in this case.

Presented by: Silva Chilingirain

Walking with Jesus

Bible passage: Matthew 4:18-22.

Main point: walking with Jesus brings joy and peace.

Objectives: by the end of this unit the children will:

·         Know the names of the disciples and list at list 4 of them.

·         Learn about ways that they can be fishers of men by learning about God and telling others about Him.

Materials: Radio CD, markers, construction papers, scissors, glue, paints and paint brushes, flannel graphs of the lesson, clothes and material for the Acting.

What does it mean?

Following and walking with Jesus everyday is a challenging for us as adults and even for children because as humans it is easier to follow and obey someone we can see. This lesson will teach them to trust Jesus, and walk with him and follow him gives us joy and peace.

Getting Started: (2-5 min)

Ask the following question:  Have you ever experienced fishing? Let them share their experience if any. I think there will be some student who will say, yes sometimes I go fishing with my dad… once I went with my uncle, big brother…after this question directly tell the story using flannel graphs. This age still enjoys listening and watching to some pictures at the same time. Also they like acting!

Lesson: Bible story (10-12 min.) use flannel Graphs

One day Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee.  It was big beautiful lake and many men used to go and try to catch fish there. They were fishermen! 

There were lots of boats, and they were working hard emptying their nets to go back fishing, or gathering all their fish together so they could take them to the store to sell them.

Jesus walked by many boats but stopped and watched some men at a particular boat.  These men were Simon (whose nickname was Peter) and his brother Andrew.  They were working very hard and he said unto them, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. They immediately left their nets and followed him. When they were going on they saw other two brothers James the son of Zebedee and John in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, Jesus called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him. And they became his disciples.

Well these men immediately left everything they were doing and went with Jesus.  They left their boat, their nets, and all the fish they caught.  They left without a worry in the world; they somehow knew they could trust Jesus.

All together Jesus asked twelve men to be His disciples to follow Him and all twelve men agreed.  All these men believed what Jesus said and followed His example.  They helped Jesus tell others about God - they were fishers of men.

These are the names of the twelve disciples: Simon (who Jesus liked to call Peter, which means rock), his brother Andrew; brothers James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James and Thaddeus; Simon and Judas Iscariot, who would later betray him.

These men were not all fishermen before they became disciples.  They all did many different things and came from different types of families.  They were not perfect either, they just wanted to try to be like Jesus and spread the good news about who Jesus was.

Ask: What do you think you would do if Jesus said that to you? Maybe instead of fishing- you're playing with a friend.  Jesus comes to you and says, "Come, follow me."  Maybe you would say, "Just a minute, we're not quite done playing yet."  Or maybe you would walk your friend home, tell your parents you're leaving, clean up your toys...

Jesus would like us to be His disciples too.  Some people do leave their families when they're older and become missionaries or they help in church or tell their friends about Jesus. And there is a way you can be a disciple right now, right where you are. You can tell your friends how Jesus loves us all and wants us to follow him or walk with him.

Questions and discussion: (7-10 min)

·         List the names of the first four fishermen whom followed Jesus.

·         What does it means to be fishers of men?

·         What do you think a disciple is?  Can they be a disciple? 

·         What are some ways that help us to be fishers of men by learning about God and telling others about Him? (Reading the Bible, memorize the Bible, be a good example, don't be afraid to tell.)

Activities: ( 20 min)

·         Let them act out the story, and this will help them to remember and at the same time sing together the song "I will make you fishers of men".

·         Prepare together a bulletin board as below. This will help them to remember that they will follow Jesus wherever they are. At home at the school at the church at the playground. This activity will be fun because each student will trace his /her footstep by a pencil on the construction paper and cut at the end they will some pictures. It may be even fun during a summer camp because may print their footsteps with colorful paints.

What should I Do? (5 min)

Tell them that they have mission to do, they are called fishers of men too! Let them think about someone they will tell about Jesus the following week.