This is one of the lessons we had on Wednesday night for our 3 year old class. We reviewed the Disciples and discussed Matthew, with the emphasis on Jesus loves everyone. I included the songs that we have been singing this quarter also.
We begin the
class with a prayer. Then, sing a couple of songs. So many lessons reinforce
that Jesus loves them, so we sing Jesus loves Me and Jesus Loves the Little
Children (we use these finger puppets). For this lesson we sang the Disciples Song also. I divided this
lesson into parts so I could insert some hands on ideas.
I began with
showing them the Bible, they told me the two parts: Old and New Testament. The
first book is Genesis and the very first thing we learn in Genesis 1:1 is: In
the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. They say it with me and
we talk about God creating everything. We also sang God Makes Rainbows and I ask
them to tell me something God made from the colors on the rainbow. They love it
and it helps them think about everything being from God.
Our Bible
lesson is in the book of Matthew (9:9-13)
and Luke (5:27-32), the first book of the New Testament. The
first four books are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and they tell us about Jesus
and His life on earth. They are called the Gospels.
Jesus picked
12 men to follow Him. They were called Disciples. They stayed with Jesus and
saw all the wonderful things He did. The Disciples saw all the people that
Jesus healed. They heard all the new
teachings that Jesus preached.
Jesus taught
all the different people. Jesus loves everyone! Remember, we talked about 4 who
were fishermen. Peter and Andrew were brothers. James and John were brothers. Let’s
talk about one of the men that Jesus picked to be a Disciple.
[I took the
kids over to this table that I set up to be a Tax Collector Booth. (My
granddaughter saw it and said “Nana, we are going to have too much fun tonight!”
☺)
Anyway, I gave them each a net of fish and 3 coins. I told them to pretend they
were fishermen, like Peter, Andrew, James and John. They had to take their fish
to the Tax Collector and pay taxes. They took turns handing me their catch of
fish. I weighed it, adding and changing the rocks. I said the taxes cost them their 3
coins, then I gave them the one big coin as their change. They kept the big
coin and net of fish.]
One day,
Jesus met a man sitting at his tax booth. His name was Matthew. Tax collectors
took money from the people and gave it to the Roman government. People didn’t
like the tax collectors because they cheated the people and charged more for
their taxes and kept the extra money. Jesus knew that most people didn’t like
the tax collectors.
But Jesus
loved Matthew! Jesus loves everyone! Jesus went to the tax booth and told
Matthew to “Follow Me.” What do you think Matthew did? Matthew got right up and
left his tax booth to follow Jesus. Matthew left right away to be with Jesus!
[I paused
here to hand out a snack]
Matthew invited
Jesus and the other disciples to go home with him to eat a great feast. Matthew
also invited some of his friends to his house. Some of the people that saw
Jesus with Matthew and his friends couldn’t believe Jesus was with Matthew! They
asked the Disciples why Jesus eating with people like Matthew? He is a tax
collector and a sinner! But, Jesus heard them and said that He came to help the
sinners. Jesus loves everyone!
We made this simple project because, well, I had made something different and didn't like it when I was getting everything together and needed something different quick! I used blue paper plates (to give the resemblance of the world). I printed these hearts for them to glue and they added these stickers. We talked more about Jesus loves them, even Matthew the Tax Collector that not too many people even liked. They added the smiley stickers because they are happy that Jesus loves them.
We finished the lesson with this badge. I reviewed the Disciples of Jesus, asked about the fishermen, etc. We talked about Matthew leaving everything NOW to be a helper for Jesus. I asked the students to tell us something they can do to be a helper.
Download the heart & Jesus here. (Color and black & white included)
Click here to print pictures to color.
Hurray! I had difficulty posting a comment in Naboth and Elijah. This one is beautiful too. God's grace with the great work you're doing.
ReplyDeletethank you!
ReplyDelete