1

2

Jesus All About Life - What did Jesus say about life?

UNIT INTRO

Some children have only heard the name ‘Jesus’ as a swear word, others

as the subject in myth-like stories. Others are used to Scripture lessons

in school but don’t see the relevance to their lives. These lessons are not

just about more ‘Jesus information’ but rather are about engaging the

children.

The way Jesus lived and what he said was radical. When he said ‘I came so

that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest’, he wasn’t talking

about individuals having a higher standard of living or even adding a

spiritual dimension to their current life. He proposed a complete new way

of living. He came to announce that his kingdom (The kingdom of God/

heaven) was beginning and everyone was invited to be a part of it. But

it would mean turning away from self-interest, from working for wealth,

power and privilege - all the things so many people spend their life doing

- and living for God’s kingdom instead.

The Jesus All About Life campaign has produced five memorable

animations that go with these lessons. While the lessons work without

them, it’s worth arranging the equipment to show them (Smartboard,

DVD player or computer and data projector) particularly for older classes.

There are also children’s magazines available.

CONTENTS page

Lesson 1 3Who's Jesus

Lesson 2 6What he said about life

Lesson 3 9Life from death

Lesson 4 13Life in its fullness

11

LESSON 1 UPPER PRIMARY

START

MIDDLE

Who’s Jesus? Luke 1:26-2:19

The emphasis in this lesson is about giving the children different ways (speaking, discussing with a classmate, writing a question, completing an activity sheet) of dealing with information about Jesus so they understand that Jesus is all about life – their life.

YOU WILL NEED

• Animation 1 The Birth of Jesus and player - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7OoeMicRjs

• Scrap paper and pencils

• Upper Primary Activity Sheet 1

Ask: Has anyone seen ads for the Jesus All About Life Campaign?

Discuss what’s been seen or suggest people watch out for them.

True/False Quiz

Read the statements one at a time asking the class to stand if it’s true and sit if it’s false.

1. Jesus was a real person who lived on earth 2000 years ago.2. Millions of people all over the world live by what Jesus taught.3. There are four different accounts of Jesus’ life in the Bible.4. According to the Bible, Jesus was there when God made the world.5. Jesus went to heaven but he said he’s coming back.6. Christians are named after Jesus, because Jesus is also called Jesus Christ.

(They are all true.) Invite the children to say which one they find the hardest to decide.

What do you know about Jesus?Challenge everyone to finish the sentences at the top of their activity sheet.

Explain that over the next 4 weeks these lessons will help us think about what Jesus has to do with our life. To do that we’ll need to think about the real Jesus who lived and died 2000 years ago who the Bible says is alive forever. Millions of people all over the world say they live their lives with Jesus every day. We’ll explore more about that. Encourage the group to be honest with their doubts and questions.

What is it really like?If you have a group that is unfamiliar with the story…With an open Bible, present the story about the events surrounding the birth of Jesus coming into the world, encouraging the group to imagine they were there and to listen out for something they didn’t know before.Luke 1:26-38, Luke 2:1-38 and Matthew 2:1-11.

If you have a group that knows the story wellStop at various points during the telling and invite someone else to continue.

Show Animation 1 The Birth of Jesus.

Discuss what the class liked/disliked about the animation, if it helped them think about Jesus differently and in what way.

12

If we believe that these events happened just as the Bible recorded them, what things would point to Jesus being more than an ordinary baby? (angels, star, Simeon and Anna’s understanding)

Say: Some people say these things don’t usually happen, so it couldn’t have happened the way the Bible said. The other option is that these things really did happen, and they happened like that because Jesus is so unusual. That’s for you to ponder.

Discuss: If these things really happened, what might it mean for our life? (Accept answers such as ‘If Jesus was really sent from God, we should find out what he said,’ ‘It means people are important to God – they matter’)

Say: When Jesus grew up one of the things he said was that he had come to bring everyone life, life in its fullest. We’ll find out over the next few weeks what he meant by that.

Like to know More?In pairs, give the class 2 minutes to think about what they’d like to know about Jesus and life and write their questions on scrap paper. Collect the papers and read a few or invite the children to read their own questions. Refrain from trying to give an answer to each one immediately.

Explain that over the coming weeks the Jesus All About Life campaign will cause people to think about Jesus and their life. Encourage them to read about Jesus in the Bible and talk with their parents about him.

Prayer If appropriate, pray that each person will come to experience the full life that Jesus said he came to bring to everyone.

END

LESSON 1 UPPER PRIMARY

13

LESSON 1 UPPER PRIMARY - Activity Sheet

Draw yourself in this space and complete the sentences

I think the most interesting thing about Jesus is…

What I wonder most about Jesus is…

What I’d really like to know about Jesus is…

I think about Jesus often / sometimes / hardly ever .

Write about or draw 4 things that showed Jesus was no ordinary baby.

Check your answers with the code

_n_el c_me

to __ry

_n_el_

telling the __ep_erd_

_is_m_n

and __ar

_im_o_

a_d ___a

John 10:10 (Jesus) _ _ _ _ so _ _ _ _

every_ _ _ would have _ _ _ _, and

_ _ _ _ it in its _ _ _ _ _ _ _.

THINK ABOUT ITSome people say these things don’t usually

happen, so it couldn’t have happened the way the Bible

said. BUT maybe these things really did happen, and they happened like that because

Jesus is so unusual.

L T+

KN

w

+H

tafu+

code

a E G h M n S t W

20

LESSON 2 UPPER PRIMARY

START

MIDDLE

Jesus said there’s Another Dimension to life and he’s it - life in its fullest. Jesus announced a new way of living and invited everyone to be part of it by turning away from selfishness and working towards a better world, going after the kingdom of heaven.

Pages 10-12 of the Magazine are about loving God and walking in the light.

YOU WILL NEED

• An Upper Primary Activity Sheet 2 for each child

When You Grow Up

Invite children to share what they want to do when they grow up and why.

Explain that true followers of Jesus are out to make a difference in the world like Jesus, rather than just make themselves rich or famous or get a good life for themselves.

Jesus: Light of the World

Revise Jesus’ words from last lesson ‘I came so that everyone would have life and have it in its fullest.’ John 10:10

Introduce the new words of Jesus ‘While I am in the world, I am the light for the world.’ John 9:5

Ask: If we talk about the world in terms of light and darkness, what would be the dark side? (Accept answers. Things that are bad, wrong, or evil like war, sickness, abuse, poverty)

When Jesus said he was the light for the world what do you think he meant? (Accept answers. He would stand up to the ‘dark’ things of life and promote all that’s good – the ‘light’ side)

Explain that Jesus wasn’t focussed on looking after himself or getting power or money. He had a bigger mission and it’s a mission he calls everyone else to be part of.

Us: Lights for the World

Ask the group to look at their Activity sheets and see if they can work out what else Jesus said about light OR use sign language and ask them to work out what you are saying. Just use 3 symbols 1. Point to the children (you) 2. Hold hands up with palms facing them and close fingers to thumbs on each hand and open several times, like a flashing light (light) 3. Hold hands as if on the top of a large ball in front of your chest and bring them round andunderneath both sides of the ‘ball’ (world)

Say: Jesus’ invitation is to live for him and others, rather than for ourselves. That’s living for goodness, for God’s kingdom.

21

LESSON 2 UPPER PRIMARY

MIDDLEcontinued

Discuss what that might look like - doing things that would make the world a better place where Jesus’ light shines. Accept suggestions perhaps adding some of your own like spending time or money on community projects here or in poor neighbourhoods, choosing a career that will make a difference to disadvantaged people in the world.

Watch Animation 3 ‘Healing the Blind Man’Ask everyone to watch out for how Jesus brought light into one man’s life. Or read the Bible story from John 9: 1-11.

Discuss: What difference did Jesus make to the blind man? What difference would Jesus make if he brought his light into every part of your life?

END

22

Living God, Help me to seek Jesus and his light and goodness. Give me power to turn away from all that’s dark and live in the light of Jesus.

If you dare, pray a prayer like this…

SHiNE the LiGHT

Draw or write about what you could do to ‘shine the light’.

What do you want to do when you grow up?

S lf shn ss h s n p rt n G d’s l ght.

To b p rt f th l ght m ns t l v

f r G d nd th rs n t f r y rs lf.

Think of one thing there wouldn’t be room for if your life

was totally lived in the light.

Jesus is the

Colour the shapes with an ‘X’

of the world. Those who follow Jesus are like light too.

CODE:

A E I O U

LESSON 2 UPPER PRIMARY - Activity Sheet

32

START

LESSON 3 UPPER PRIMARY

MIDDLE

YOU WILL NEED

• Animations 4 The Death of Jesus and 5 The Resurrection of Jesus - CLICK on the 4 and 5• 4 copies of script What’s It Got to Do With Us?• An Upper Primary Activity Sheet Lesson 3 for each child

Word AssociationExplain to the group that you will call out some words one at a time and each time you say a word they need to write the first word they think of on their activity sheet.Use the words: Light, darkness, Bible, Jesus, life, money, career, mission, shepherds, world.Work quickly through your list and then find out which words the children wrote in response, taking the chance to refer to the previous lessons.The Mission and UsSay: Jesus calls us to join him in his mission to bring the best life to everyone, but not everyone joins him.Ask: What stops people from joining Jesus’ mission and giving their whole life to it? (Accept answers. Answers might include the fact that people want their own way, they’d rather do what they want to do, they don’t feel good enough to do something so important, they don’t believe in the mission, they don’t think Jesus is important enough to decide their life.)Explain that unlike most people, Jesus’ whole life was committed to the mission. He always put it first. He never put it on hold while he did something just for himself. For him the mission included dying, but he didn’t avoid it, he faced death full on with the most amazing result!

What Happened?

Briefly tell the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection from this outline asking the children to contribute what they remember about it.

• The authorities were worried that Jesus’ popularity could cause trouble.• They planned to have Jesus put to death.• Jesus knew about it, but didn’t use his power to escape death.• Roman soldiers put Jesus to death on a cross.• Jesus prayed that God would forgive them.• Jesus died and it looked as if his mission was a failure.

Show Animations 4 The Death of Jesus

• His body was put in a tomb.• On the third day Jesus came out alive!• His own friends and many others saw him alive.• He proved he was more powerful than death and so his mission will succeed in theend.

Show Animation 5 The Resurrection of Jesus.

33

MIDDLEcontinued

Colour the Story

To help you understand the children’s response to this key Christian teaching, suggest they do the colour activity on the sheet, either writing the colour they would use or colouring each box. If you have time put them in groups and ask them to come to a group decision for each moment. Use the time to talk with individuals or groups about their choices.

Script: What’s It Got To Do With Us?

Choose four volunteers to present this drama. If possible let them read it beforehand.

BEN That’s some story!

JEN About Jesus? It’s a bit sad really.

BLUE I think it’s cool. Jesus beat death. No one does that.

JEN But he didn’t deserve it. It’s wrong that they killed him!

SUE Of course it’s wrong, but that’s sort of what it’s about.

BEN, JEN BLUE

(together) Huh?

SUE You know. It was his mission.

BEN Coming to bring life?

JEN In its fullest?

BLUE And being the Light for the World?

SUE All that. Jesus said he came to bring life in its fullest. There’s nothing that wrecks life more than death.

BEN (hesitantly) I think I get it. And there’s nothing darker than death, so it makes sense that the light of the world would go through death to bring light to everyone.

JEN It’s still sad.

BEN But it’s finished. Get over it Jen! He won! It hasn’t done his reputation any harm. He’s worshipped all over the world!

BLUE That’s right, besides, if what they say is true, it was worth it – at least for us.

JEN What’s it got to do with us? It was a million years ago.

BLUE Not quite, just a couple of thousand. But Christians believe it affects everyone who ever lived.

JEN Even us?

BLUE If you’re part of everyone.

BEN (to Blue) Do you mean what we learned at holiday club?

BLUE (nodding) They said when Jesus died it did something that nobody could see. It was about us becoming friends with the God who made the universe.

BEN Blue’s right. That’s what they said. It’s in the Bible. Because Jesus died, we can be God’s friends – forever.

SUE Is that true?

BEN I think so. If you believe it.

SUE That’s brilliant then!

END

34

BEN, JEN BLUE

(together) Huh?

SUE Have any of you thought about joining the mission with Jesus?

JEN Why?

BLUE I did.

BEN I’ve thought about it couple of times.

SUE Well, I thought it would be fabulous to live for something like that but I wasn’t sure I could do it.

BEN I know what you mean. It was OK for Jesus. He was… you know… like no-one else.

BLUE And I thought I was probably a bit too selfish to live for a better world for everyone else. (Head down) Even though I wish I wasn’t.

SUE (excited) But if we can be friends with God, that changes everything! With God nothing would be too hard. Not even living your whole life for the mission.

Talk About It

Ask: Who has thought like one of the people in the drama about Jesus and his mission? Ask for show of hands. Encourage discussion that involves honest responses without being intrusive. Share your own response if you identify with one of the characters.

Jesus is all about life. Is there something from this we should think about more for our life? (Accept responses)

ENDcontinued

35

P L E V I G R O F T ZA I E L B I B C C S BR G H M B P L H R E VT H O S P I B R O L CN T U W D C S I S L BE D A R K N E S S U JR E P A C S E T O F FS A M O D G N I K P JP O W E R E Y A R P HF M I S S I O N W F MN A M O R E F I L E V

BIBLECHRISTIANCROSSDARKNESSESCAPEFORGIVEFRIENDSFRIENDSHIPFULLESTKINGDOM

LIFELIGHTMISSIONPARTNERSPOSSIBLEPOWERPRAYERROMANTOMB

LIFEFROMDEATH

Jesus deciding not to escape.

Jesus praying for God to forgive those who were killing him.

The moment Jesus died.

Jesus body being put in the tomb.

Jesus coming out of the tomb.

Jesus appearing to those who thought he was dead.

What colour would you use for your life now?

What colour would be right for a life with Jesus?

Talk about why you chose these colours.

When you think of Jesus dying and being brought back to life, think COLOURS. What colours would you use for these moments?

LESSON 3 UPPER PRIMARY - Activity Sheet

FiND-a-WORD

45

LESSON 4 UPPER PRIMARY

START

MIDDLE

YOU WILL NEED

• microphone (pretend or real)• Exploring Life According to Jesus sheet for each group of 4• Sign ‘Can Jesus really give us all we need?’• Animation 2 Feeding the 5000 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-XfZiP03Gs

• One Upper Primary Activity Sheet Lesson 4 for each child

Life: What’s it All About?Read the border of the activity sheet together.

Get a rhythm going, perhaps with a conductor.

Ask: Is this what life is about – and then you die? (Accept answers.)

Give the class 1 minute to complete the sentence ‘I think the meaning of life is …’ (They can write their answer on the activity sheet.) Choose someone to be a roving reporter with a microphone asking as many as possible to share their answers. Be prepared to offer your own sentence. You may like to take a class vote for the most popular answer. Say: It’s hard when you’ve only lived 10 or 12 years to answer a question like that, but some people who have nearly lived their whole life still don’t know the meaning of life. Jesus said he was the light for the world so perhaps he can shed light on what life is all about.

Jesus’ Alternative

For Good ReadersForm small groups and give each one an Exploring Life According to Jesus sheetInstruct them to read the boxed passages aloud first and work through the questions as a group. Share findings together as a class.

For Classes Where Reading is a ProblemWork quickly through the sheet together with a competent reader reading the passages aloud. Come to group decisions on the questions. The aim is not for them to simply hear the words but think about how it fits with their life.

So, Who wants to be a Millionaire?

Display sign Can Jesus really give us all we need?

Say: Jesus said you can’t live for God and money. A lot of people think it would be good to live for God and a better world, they’d like to spend their lives helping the poor or working for peace or making things fair, but they’re worried that without a good job they might not have the things they need. What did Jesus say about that? (Put his kingdom first and don’t worry about getting what you need.)

Introduce the animation by asking them to think about what it’s got to do with God giving us what we need. Show Animation 2 Feeding the 5000 or if that’s impractical, read the passage on which it is based (Luke 9:10-17).

END

46

Say: The people there that day probably never wondered if Jesus could meet the needs of those who were part of his kingdom! Money and investments don’t give absolute security, and plenty of millionaires worry about their stocks and shares but when we choose God’s kingdom and live for a better world, God will give us all we need. Jesus proved that he could when he fed all those people.

Alternative Chant

Get small groups to work on a chant to replace the one on the activity sheet. Eg. I give all to God and he gives all I need.

ENDcontinued

LESSON 4 UPPER PRIMARY

47

LESSON 4 UPPER PRIMARY - Activity Sheet

food to get strength to go to work to get money to buy food to get strength to go to w

ork to get money to buy food to get strength to go to w

ork to get money to buy food to g et strength to go to work to get money to buy food to get strength to go to work to get m

oney

to b

uy fo

od

to g

et st

reng

th

to g

o to

wor

k t

o ge

t mon

ey t

o bu

y fo

od t

o ge

t str

engt

h t

o go

to w

ork

to

get m

oney to buy

THE BEST LIFE ALWAYS!Read the border – yes all of it!What do you think is the meaning of life? Draw or write your answer.

I think the meaning of life is __________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

The best life involves Jesus. Yes he’s still alive and yes he has a plan for a better world and you’re invited to join him.

What’s one thing Jesus said that kids your age should think about when planning their future?

What did Jesus say about life?

ra t+

S

have

48

LESSON 4 UPPER PRIMARY - Bible Exploration Sheet

Your mission is to look at some things Jesus said about life, work out what kids like you should take note of when planning your future. Stay focussed and make sure everyone in your group has a say.

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the side of a mountain and sat down. Jesus' disciples gathered around him, and he taught them:God blesses those people who depend only on him. They belong to the kingdom of heaven! God blesses those people who grieve. They will find comfort! God blesses those people who are humble. The earth will belong to them! God blesses those people who want to obey him more than to eat or drink. They will be given what they want! God blesses those people who are merciful. They will be treated with mercy! God blesses those people whose hearts are pure. They will see him!God blesses those people who make peace. They will be called his children!God blesses those people who are treated badly for doing right. They belong to the kingdom of heaven.

(This is still Jesus speaking) You canʼt be the slave of two masters! You will like one more than the other or be more loyal to one than the other. You canʼt serve both God and money.I tell you not to worry about your life. Don't worry about having something to eat, drink, or wear. Isn't life more than food or clothing? Look at the birds in the sky! They don't plant or harvest. They don't even store grain in barns. Yet your Father in heaven takes care of them. Aren't you worth more than birds?Can worry make you live longer? Why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow. They don't work hard to make their clothes…. God gives such beauty to everything that grows in the fields, even though it is here today and thrown into a fire tomorrow. He will surely do even more for you! Why do you have such little faith? Don't worry and ask yourselves, ʻWill we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any clothes to wear?ʼ Only people who don't know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows that you need all of these. But more than anything else, put God's work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.

• Who gave this speech?

• Who is he talking to?

• Underline the things that bring God’s blessing.

• In one sentence, write the sort of person who God blesses. (To Bless means to make joyful.)

• What does Jesus say about peace?

• Put a *star beside words or phrases that your group thinks they’d like to include in their life.

• Circle anything you’d like to find out more about.

• What two things did Jesus say people have to choose between?

• Do you think that trying to get more money could stop people from having a better life? Group decision please! YES/NO• What are some things this passage says people worry about?

• What did Jesus promise those who DON’T choose to spend their life getting money?

According to Jesus, to be satisfied at the end, what things should people aim for in life?

Group decision please!

Matthew 5:1-10

Matthew 6:24-33