WEEK 1 How We Know God

(1 John 1:1 - 4)

Main Point – We get to know God through Jesus. We get to know Jesus because Jesus' twelve followers saw, heard and touched him, and then they wrote it all down. That’s how we know God.

Lesson Plan: 1. Kids Talk Video – 2. Memory Verse – 3. Activities – 4. Story & Discuss – 5. Pray – 6. Craft

1. Kids Talk Video

Watch the Kid’s Talk video on the church’s website. https://wollongongbaptist.org/

2. Memory Verse This week’s memory verse is 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. There is an song recording of this memory verse that is attached to the email sent to you. This is the memory verse for the whole term. So you can take your time learning these wonderful verses. Here is a summary for the memory verses that you can talk about with your children throughout the term. Introduction: - The book of 1 John talks a lot about love. - God's love for us and our love for others. - We're going to learn these verses that remind us what love is and what love is not.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

3. Activities

Activity 1

Seen, Heard, Touched:

You will Need: - A clear, open space.

Parent to read aloud:

- Jesus’ disciples wrote down what they saw Jesus do, heard Jesus say and that they touched him when he rose from the dead.

- They knew that if you know Jesus, then you know God. - This is the good news that they wanted to make sure we heard about!

Instructions:

1. Hand a pencil and one copy of the “Seen, Heard, Touched” grid (See Appendix below) to each child.

2. Set a time limit of 4 minutes. 3. Each child must find one name of someone in the family for each box. 4. They are not allowed to write their own name in any box on the sheet.

Activity 2

Good News!

You will Need:

- Clear, open space.

Instructions: 1. As a group: think of some occasions where you would hear about ‘Good News!’. (e.g.

I’m getting married! I won the race! My Mum had a baby! We won the grand final!) 2. Individually, or in pairs each person has to create a mime titled, ‘Good news!’ from

the list you made. 3. Each person/pair acts out their mime and the other people guess what the good

news is. Parent to read aloud:

- Jesus’ disciples wanted everyone to know the good news about Jesus. - That if you know Jesus, then you know God - So they wrote down what they saw Jesus do, heard Jesus say and that they touched

him when he rose from the dead.

4. Story & Discussion Story: Tell the story using the script below (See Appendix) titled ‘How We Know God’. You can either use the pictures provided in the ‘Appendix’ below for the story; or you/your children can draw the pictures for the story. Preschool to Year 2 Discussion Icebreaker:

- What’s one thing you know about your best friend? - How did you get to know that about him/her?

Discuss:

- What were some of the things Jesus did? (made sick people well, calmed a storm, made people come back from the dead…)

- What were some of the things Jesus said? (that he could forgive sins, that if you

know him you know God, that if you believe in him he will save you…)

- Who touched Jesus after he came back from the dead? (Jesus’ followers, disciples)

- Jesus became a man so that we could know God. Who wrote down what Jesus said and did? (Jesus’ followers, his disciples)

- Why did they write it all down for us? (so that we could know God) Parent to read aloud:

- If we know Jesus, we know God. - In fact the Bible says the only way we can know God, is if we know Jesus. - This is the good news at the beginning of John's book, 1 John. - The good news that if we know Jesus we God know.

School Years 3 – 5 Discussion Need:

- A Bible. - Set of coloured pencils or markers - Blank sheet of paper per child

Discuss: Read 1 John 1:1

- One of Jesus’ disciples, John, wrote this book. When John writes the ‘Word of life’, he is talking about Jesus. What does verse 1 mean when it says, the ‘Word of life was from the beginning’? (Jesus was with God the Father from the beginning of time)

- Have children write God the Father and Jesus at the top of the page. Read 1 John 1:2

- What does John mean by the ‘life appeared’? (it’s talking about Jesus coming down to earth and becoming a man)

- Have the children draw an arrow from the word Jesus down to the centre of the page and then draw an outline of Jesus.

Read 1 John 1:3

- What are some of the things John and the other disciples would have seen Jesus do and heard Jesus say? (calm a storm, heal people, forgive sins, believe in me and I’ll save you, know me and you know God the Father…)

- Have the children draw some of the suggestions around the figure of Jesus. Parent to read aloud:

- Jesus' followers wanted us to know Jesus. - Because if we know Jesus, then we know God the Father. - That's why they wrote down what they heard and saw and touched.

Application:

- Do you know God? - How can you be sure you know God?

5. Prayer There are two options for praying below, please just pick something that suits your family situation. Repeated Prayer Father God, – thank you that Jesus' 12 followers – saw what Jesus did, – heard what Jesus said – and touched Jesus, – then wrote it all down for us. – Father God, – thank you that if we know Jesus – we know you. – Amen

Individual Prayer

- Encourage the children to thank God for Jesus’ followers who told us what they saw, heard and touched, so that we can know God.

- Show the children photographs of missionaries the church supports and encourage the children to pray for them as they share the message of Jesus with others all around the world so that people can know God.

5. Craft There are 3 separate options for craft this week. All of the craft pages can be found in the ‘1 John Stencils’ PDF that was attached to the email sent to you.

I See: Need:

- Download the file titled, ‘1 John Stencils’. - Find the stencil of a cardboard eye mask. - Copy and cut one per child from cardboard. - Collage material (glitter, stickers, mosaic shapes)

Instructions:

- Use collage material to decorate masks. - Talk to the children about how Jesus' 12 followers saw Jesus heal the sick, saw him

die on a cross and saw him rise from the dead. They saw everything that Jesus did. Then wrote it all down for us.

I Hear: Need:

- Download the file titled, ‘1 John Stencils’. - Find the stencil of ears. Copy and cut one set of ears per child from cardboard. - Cut a headband from cardboard, one per child. Write across the middle of the

headband, Jesus' disciples heard what Jesus said. They then wrote it all done for us. - Pink pencils - Stapler

Instructions:

- Colour both ears and headband. - Staple the ears to the headband and the headband to fit the child's head. - Talk to the children about how Jesus' disciples heard Jesus say many, many things.

One thing they heard him say was, ‘If you know me, then you know God the Father’. Then they wrote what Jesus said down for us in the Bible.

I Touch: ** If you don’t want to use paint in this craft you can simply trace around your child’s hand instead of painting it. ** Need:

- Download the file titled, ‘1 John Stencils’. - Find the stencil titled, Jesus' disciples touched Jesus when he came back to life again.

Jesus is alive! Copy one per child. - Paint - Paint shirts, one per child - Paint brush or roller.

Instructions:

- Use rollers/paint brush to paint a thin layer of paint over each child's hand and have them print handprints all over the page.

Appendix

Scroll down to see the script for the story.

Scroll down to see the pictures for the story

Jesu

s' d

isci

ples

touc

hed

Jesu

s w

hen

he c

ame

back

to li

fe a

gain

.

Jesu

s is

aliv

e!

fold

Kin

g N

ebuc

hadn

ezza

r bra

gged

abo

ut w

hat h

e ha

d do

ne a

nd w

hat h

e ow

ned.

He

wen

t mad

and

live

d w

ith th

e w

ild a

nim

als

until

the

day

he s

aid

that

G

od, t

he K

ing

of K

ings

, is

in c

harg

e of

eve

ryth

ing.

Dan

iel 4

Kin

g N

ebuc

hadn

ezza

r bra

gged

abo

ut w

hat h

e ha

d do

ne a

nd w

hat h

e ow

ned.

He

left

the

cast

le a

nd w

ent t

o liv

e w

ith th

e w

ild a

nim

als

until

the

day

he

said

that

God

, the

Kin

g of

Kin

gs, i

s in

cha

rge

of e

very

thin

g. D

anie

l 4

Dea

r God

, ple

ase

help

me

to b

ecom

e m

ore

like

you.

..

kind

patient

loving

caring

slow

to ge

t ang

rygentle

not b

oastf

ul

not p

roud

not

enviou

s

good

We

need

to b

e lik

e ou

r hea

venl

y Fa

ther

. 1 J

ohn

2:28

-3:1

0

Chr

istia

ns in

the

first

chu

rch

shar

ed w

hat t

hey

had,

so

that

eve

ryon

e ha

d en

ough

.Th

ey lo

ved

each

oth

er a

nd to

ok c

are

of e

ach

othe

r. Ac

ts 2