We all need to realize that God has a special plan for our lives too. This story calls for some great visual, tactile and tasty experiences; otherwise known as hands-on, interactive learning! The fruit of repentance is understanding in your heart, not just in your head, that you are a sinner and that you deserve to be cut down and thrown into the fire (Romans 6:23). He sounds pretty strange doesnt he? What message did John the Baptist preach in the wilderness? We The name John in Hebrew means God is gracious or God is a gracious giver. God would graciously give Zacharias and Elizabethand the worlda wonderful gift in sending John. Use this simple lesson to teach Matthew 3:1-12 to your childrens church. touched? those that want to to pray out loud, I praise You, God, because, Pray for others Please use our childrens ministry curriculum and Sunday School material for any purpose that brings honor to Jesus. Object Lesson on John the Baptist Use this Matthew 3:1-12 children's sermon to add a creative object lesson to your Sunday School class time. Say: The fact that John preached out in the wilderness was important, because the desert symbolized what the peoples hearts were like. Open your Bibles to the first book in the New Testament This week's Gospel reading (Sunday December 15, 2019) is from Matthew 11 verses 2-11 where John the Baptist sends messengers to Jesus and asks if he is the Messiah. Good News found in Jesus! John the Baptist is Born! The neighbours had been puzzled by Zechariah's inability to speak. He motioned for them to bring him a tablet and Zacharias wrote, "His name is John." Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, Zacharias's mouth was opened and he began to speak and praise God. His formal introduction in Luke is similar to the formal introductions of other prophets in the Old Testament. If time allows, ask campers to share one or two things that before He was even born! It may have been But John was pretty different from most people. Learn about priorities with this This picture of Jesus in the water, with the Holy Spirit like a dove upon Him, and Gods voice coming from heaven shows us THREE parts of God. 2023 Ministry-To-Children.com | Bible Lessons for Kids, Activities for Sunday School, Free Resources for Children's Ministry Leaders. For the kingdom of heaven is at hand! Their eyes and hearts were being turned as in Elijahs day when God used Elijah to turn the people back to God. Jesus as our Redeemer. John did not fit the mold of the priesthood. 2. Some of the key points we will look at are- John came to prepare the way for Jesus. It is little wonder why Jesus said of this great man, Among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist With all the miracles that had surrounded his birth and with the thousands who now listened to him and responded to the call to repent, it might have been easy to allow such notoriety to make him proud and boastful. candy bars with no help from any furniture or another person. Too often children are not taught about the meaning of repentance and baptism. Jesus cleaned you up and right now youre not living your life to please John is one of the Apostles who was named as Boanerges, which means The Sons of Thunder. Now use soap and immersion to get rid of the dirt on the item. When she saw Mary, the infant John leaped in her womb because Mary was pregnant with Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Buy Now $35 . With the message he taught, the way he taught it, and where he taught, the Jews eyes were being turned away from the temple and its priesthood. Have you signed up to receive the free eBook, The Religion Teachers Guide to Lesson Planning. so that everyone has one. The main focus of Johns responsibility would be to make ready a people prepared for theLord.. Has anyone ever heard of him? The shepherds found The message he spoke, one of living repentantly and rightly, is one the world still needs to hear. this week. Read (and summarize) Matthew 3:1-12. heard? Preparing our hearts for Jesus that doesnt mean that we have to be perfect before we can begin following Jesus. specialincredible and has a special plan and purpose for them to fit Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Dead Sea Scrolls were made 1,000 years earlier! Zacharias and Elizabeth were very careful to be obedient to God and followed His law carefully. The following collection of activities will help you teach about the life and message of John the Baptist: Easy Ways to Celebrate Saint John the Baptist (Real Life at Home), John the Baptist Lesson, Videos, and Activities (Sunday School Works), John the Baptist Lesson Plan and Printables (Sunday School Zone), John the Baptist Bible Lesson (Creative Bible Study), John the Baptist Notebook Coloring Page (Catholic Icing), John the Baptist Coloring Pages (Crafting the Word of God). even as I go home from camp. ReadMore>. I want you stand up if you think this is a story of true repentance, if not cross your arms and stay seated. Flesh out the following ideas in ways that relate to your children. John the Baptist may have looked and sounded strange, but he was When he finally appeared, he had a look that seemed to combine fear, concern and elation! Him and invite Him into our lives as LORD & Savior. Our, New American Standard Bible Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. Our website has teaching material for children of all aged starting with the church nursery (age 0-1 years old), toddlers (age 2-3 years old), preschool (age 4-5 years old), young elementary (age 6-8 years old), older elementary (age 9-10 years old), and preteen youth ministry groups (age 11-12 years old). God had a plan & purpose for Johns life & ours, John the Baptist answered Gods call in his life. long. var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; what you spy, Hear blindfold them have everyone clap their hands & from Bible study, Rec time, Family Group time, Bunk time, or just a But it is one of those facts about God that we can accept with faith because God is so much bigger than what our minds can understand. Because of his own sin, John was expressing that he was not worthy to untie Jesus dirty, yucky shoes. Tell the Story: Many years before John the Baptist was born, God promised that there would be a special messenger who would announce the coming of the long-awaited Messiah (or Savior) for Gods people. What is the witness 1 Cor.15:6), the last words He spoke before ascending Weve included a creative object lesson to help communicate the role of John in pointing people to Christ. was a prophet of God and God had him write about John the Baptist almost 700 years before If the desert symbolized the peoples hearts, what do you think their hearts were like toward God? We've included a creative object lesson to help communicate the role of John in pointing people to Christ. He gave them specific things to do, such as: share with those who have none, tax collectors should only tax what they ought to, soldiers should not force people to pay them money and falsely accuse people. These activities will help you teach about the birth of John the Baptist as it is told in Luke 1: Crafts for Zechariah and Elizabeth (Bible Crafts & Activities), Birth of John the Baptist Activities & Worksheets (Bible Fun for Kids), The Birth of John the Baptist Games and Printables (Sunday School Zone), The Birth of John the Baptist Worksheet (The Religion Teacher Members). Our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers or affiliate partnerships. It was not an easy thing for John the Baptist to do. Even a permanent marker can be used to draw facial features. Can you tell when someone is truly sorry for something bad he did to you? We are called to tell what we have seen, what we have heard, Ask: So how can we prepare our hearts for Jesus? the way; we are not alone! At that moment, God gave an obvious, public display to confirm that Jesus was in fact the one John had been predicting. says, Now He uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a He ate locusts and honey. John himself was not Hell is a real place. (66). The dancer (who had actually become his step-daughter through his illegal marriage) asked her mother what she should ask for. Many thought he Tell the Story: John the Baptist was the messenger God promised. Briefly share the story of Dead Sea Scrolls or in your own When everyone is sitting again, have She serves an astounding God that radically saved her. God (His way). tray & guess, Smell have them smell one of the items each and guess, Touch have them touch one of the items and guess. This purpose for his life just like he does for our lives! John was sent to prepare people for the coming of Jesus. You can use a children's bible or just tell it in such a way that this age group can understand. The Holy Spirit, in the visible form of a dove, descended from heaven and rested on Jesus. Then there was almost silence until Jesus appeared at the Jordan River to meet His cousin. "Our website may contain affiliate marketing links, which means we may get paid commission on sales of those products or services we write about. The discovery of the scrolls prove that what was written in special plan for his life. No matter how good we try to be, we still need Jesus to save us, and we must prepare our hearts for Jesus. Hi! Some of the key points we will examine are- God proclaimed that Jesus was His Son and He was pleased with Him (Matthew 3:17) Jesus is the lamb who take away our sins (John 1:29) write your own for them to repeat). (repent And he had an important job: to prepare the way for Jesus to come! etc. Rather than serving in the temple with its corruption and misdirection, he taught in the wilderness. The Pharisees and Sadducees cared a lot about the way they looked on the outside but they didnt really know God or love Him. Share the Gospel with a fun Easter object lesson using Easter eggs! John said this to show that we must prepare our hearts for Jesus. We can be tempted to test God for our own purposes. John made it clear that he was simply a messenger, a voice of one crying in the wilderness You can also find many Bible crafts online. used for the plans & purpose He has for us! (These were the exchange tables Jesus would later overturn in righteous anger.). Download this biography worksheet about the life of John the Baptist. The whole Bible, both Old Birth of John the Baptist (Elementary Lesson) Mikal Keefer, The Ministry Spark Team Lessons 8 Minutes Celebrate how great God is at the impossible in this grab-and-go lesson for kids. But understanding human frailty, God patiently dealt with Zacharias in a way that would correct him for his lack of belief, as well as draw attention to the miraculous birth of John: Zacharias would become muteunable to speak a word out loud until after the birth of the baby. He kept preaching the same message to those whom would listen. from sin that leads to death and turn to Jesus Who is THE Life! The priesthood as a whole had become self-serving, arrogant and corrupt. witnesses, telling people about me everywhere in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, Home Categories Jesus' Ministry Life of Jesus. Our editorial One day Jesus showed up at the Jordan River to be baptized. Where might John the Baptist actually have done these baptisms? ReadMore>, Elizabeth, a descendant of Aaron, was selected by God to be the mother of John the Baptist, the great prophet who would prepare the way before Jesus Christ. God would use John to begin to turn His people away from the temple and toward Him. See if anyone can guess who this is. He blames the teacher for picking on him. We use our senses to know the world around us. If time allows, go through the activity a second time to see if they can go faster. (Isaiah). He pays back but only because his mom makes him. All three are God, but they are separate persons of God. Its not automatic though. The child with the first card (Matthew) will read it out loud (ex: I have Matthew, who has Mark?) The child with the second card will stand up and read theirs, (ex: I have Mark, who has Luke?) Continue this way till all the cards have been read. Get a free copy of The Religion Teacher's Guide to Lesson Planning and join more than 85,000 subscribers to The Religion Teacher. Until then, the oldest copies of the Hebrew Scriptures We need to turn from doing life our own way and walk on Jesus path of life instead. Thank you, Jesus, that you are always with me and I am never alone. Sign up below for three lessons from the Victory in Jesus book you can use now to jump start your object lesson Bible teaching plan. John helped them see that we must prepare our hearts for Jesus. Place a layer of rocks in the bottom for drainage, then fill with dirt and a small plant for them to take home. An interactive Easter story with Bible verses to go along with Resurrection Eggs or objects!! We all need to realize that God has a He also would identify Jesus as the Messiah. John the Baptist was given the great task of announcing the coming of Jesus. He is not engineering a struggle, army or fight. John the Baptist was a prophet who preached the coming of the Messiah and the Kingdom of God in the wilderness. groups of two or three to help each other. John appeared in public first. Jesus! John didnt clear a physical road for Jesus. Say: The people werent really ready for Jesus because their hearts were dry and dead, much like a desert! seen? Jared Dees is the creator of The Religion Teacher and the author of 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator, To Heal, Proclaim, and Teach, Beatitales, and Christ in the Classroom. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Ministry-To-Children.com helps you tell kids about Jesus by providing age-appropriate Bible study material and Sunday School curriculum all 100% free online. Memory Work - Luke 1:76; Scripture Reading and Discussion - Luke 1:11-25, 57-66. They needed to hear that Jesus was coming to forgive their sins and bring their hearts back to life with the Holy Spirit. What does the fruit of repentance look like? If we are willing to cultivate those qualities that John displayed, God will give us places to speak our Savior's name and His truths. Find chapter 40:3; what Praise ask for Every kids church ministry deserves the very best resources for teaching Gods Word, even when they dont have the financial resources.