===================================================================== Title: Primary Sabbath School Program, March 6, 1999 From: NAD Children's Ministries (author: Lisa Seeders) Date: January 31, 1999 Abstract: Activities to use in place of program helps to teach the lesson, THE FAITH OF TWO MOTHERS ===================================================================== Lesson Aim: God loves to reward my faith in Him. Memory Verse: "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." I John 3:18, NIV GETTING THEIR ATTENTION - YEAST OBJECT LESSON Materials needed: The following materials are enough for a small group of six. If your Sabbath school is larger, buy more ingredients accordingly. 2 gallon size Ziplock bags 2 packages of dry yeast 1 set up measuring cups 2 sugar cookies Permanent marking pen A timing device 2 Plastic buckets or pails (big enough for the gallon Ziplock bag to fit inside) WHAT THE TEACHER DOES: (To prepare ahead) Assemble all the materials on a flat work surface where children can easily reach. WHAT THE STUDENTS DO: 1. Have a child label one Ziplock bag, FAITH and the other FAITH + ACTIONS using the permanent marker. 2. Have a child pour one yeast package into the bag labeled FAITH. 3. Run tap water until it feels comfortable on your wrist. Have a child add 2/3 cup of warm water to the FAITH bag. Make sure there is no excess air in the bag, then seal it shut. Give that bag to a child to jiggle and shake around. Lay it in one of the baking dishes and fill the dish with warm water. Set aside. 4. Have a child pour the other yeast package into the bag labeled FAITH + ACTIONS. 5. Have a child break up the 2 cookies into eight pieces and add to the bag. Again add 2/3 cup of warm water. Seal the bag shut and jiggle and squash the mixture inside until everything is mixed well. Place it in the other baking dish and fill dish with warm water. Set aside. 6. Set a timer or confirm « hour on the clock then return to the bags to check for results. What is faith? It is believing and trusting even though you can't see what might happen. Let's pretend the yeast is faith. We added faith to both bags, didn't we? That is good. We will need faith or yeast in order for something to happen. We are going to learn in our story today, however, that we need more than just faith. The women in our Bible story had faith + actions. They believed something would happen and they did what was necessary to show they trusted and believed. In a little while we will check to see what happened to our faith bags. GO STRAIGHT INTO THE BIBLE STORY. DON'T FORGET TO CHECK THE EXPERIMENT WHEN THE TIMER RINGS. THE FAITH + ACTIONS BAG SHOULD BE CONSIDERABLY MORE PUFFED UP THEN THE PLAIN FAITH BAG. EXPLAIN TO THE CHILDREN THAT THE SUGAR IN THE COOKIES HELPED THE YEAST TO WORK FASTER. WHEN WE SAY WE BELIEVE AND TRUST JESUS AND THEN SHOW IT BY OUR ACTIONS OUR FAITH GROWS AND WE LEARN TO TRUST JESUS EVEN MORE. GETTING INTO SCRIPTURE - FILLING THE PITCHER Materials needed: 16 styro foam cups Permanent marker A clear pitcher or container Water Bibles WHAT THE TEACHER DOES: There are no advance preparations necessary WHAT THE STUDENTS DO: Have the children look up the verse in their Bibles. Using an NIV Bible, assign each child a word to copy onto a styro foam cup using the permanent marker. Arrange the cups in a mixed up fashion on a table. Fill each cup half full with water. Set the empty clear pitcher at the other end of the table. The object of the activity is for the water in the cups to be emptied into the clear pitcher in the correct order as the verse is read. For example the first child will come to the front and look for the cup with the word "dear" on it. Coaching on how it is spelled is fine. He pours the water from that cup into the clear pitcher and returns to his seat. The next child looks for the cup with the word, "children" on it and repeats the procedure. Continue in this manner until the clear pitcher is filled. (Experiment ahead of time to see how much water is needed in each cup to make a full pitcher. You may need more or less than a half a cup.) Once the children have learned the verse well, you can time them as they complete the activity to add excitement and suspense. Explain that the verse means we need to do more than just say we love or believe. If we say, "Mommy, I love you", we need to follow up with some actions that show our love, such as a hug, obeying her etc. If we say we have faith in Jesus, we need to show by the things we say and do that we believe He will care for us and do what is best for us. ACTING ON SCRIPTURE - Materials needed: Construction paper (pastel colors) Pictures of different types of jugs or pitchers Scissors Rulers Pencils WHAT THE TEACHER DOES: (To prepare ahead) There are no advance preparations necessary. WHAT THE STUDENTS DO: Show the children some different types of jugs or pitchers. Help them select a color of construction paper to draw a jug on. (Give assistance in drawing where needed) Cut the jugs out. Using the rulers, draw lines horizontally across the jug from the bottom to the top about 1" apart. Turn the jugs over and have the children write down some things they have faith about. (You may need to do some of the writing for younger children) Some examples: I have faith that Jesus will hear my prayers. I have faith that Jesus will help me make a good choice this week. I have faith that Jesus will provide the things I need this week. Tack the jugs up on a bulletin board or wall. Tell the children to be on the alert this week for specific times when Jesus does the things they have faith in Him to do. If He answers a specific prayer, they will report that at Sabbath school next week. If he provides them with a new garment or something else they need, they will report that next week. For every way they can remember that Jesus rewards their faith, they are to color a 1" portion of their jug. Continue referring to this activity before your prayer time for several weeks. Help the children see that their trust in Jesus grows as they actually see and remember all the things He has been faithful in doing for them. ACTING ON SCRIPTURE - Materials needed: 5 pieces of colored construction paper 1 bean bag WHAT THE TEACHER DOES: (To prepare ahead) Write one letter from the word, FAITH on each of the five pieces of construction paper. Place the papers approximately 4-5 feet apart in random fashion around the room. WHAT THE STUDENTS DO: All students line up about 3 feet from the construction paper with the letter "F" on it. Help the children figure out the word that the letters on the construction papers spell. The object of the game is for them to throw the bean bag to each letter as they occur in the word, FAITH. When the bean bag lands on or touches the paper of the letter they need, they must think of someone in the Bible who showed faith in God. (The stories from the Bible story today may be used) They then may stand at that letter and wait for their next turn. The goal is for everyone to land on all the letters of the word faith and make it to the end.