Unit 2: Lesson 3 JOHN THE BAPTIST

1) Welcome Activity:

2) Songs: Start the Story Hour with the learning our names song. Go around the circle or table and introduce each child.

3) Prayer... pray that the Lord would prepare our hearts to recieve his word.

4) Theme: Remind the children of the theme of the unit: God sends his greatest gift, Jesus Christ our Saviour. John 1:14 “we beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father”
Tell them that they are going to hear a Bible Story again today that shows the glory of God in preparing the way for his Son. God sent John to preach repentance and to baptize. Before Jesus began his earthly ministry, he too was baptized by John.


5) Bible Story: Today’s Story is about "Jesus and John the Baptist" . Read pages 273-278 (R278-284) from the Read and Learn Bible (Scholastic).



6) Text: Today’s Text is:
“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I…He will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Matthew 3: 11



7) Craft:

• Dove Craft… Have children glue white (or colored) feathers to the large picture of the dove. Bulk packages of feathers are available cheaply at dollar stores and craft stores. Children enjoy this craft, though it is very simple, because it is so tactile. You could color the beak yellow or orange and glue on a googly eye to provide a bit more challenge for older children. Here is a nice dove: http://www.first-school.ws/activities/alpha/d/dove.htm
  
• See Lesson #17 (Ascension) for other dove crafts.
  
• Tactile picture… choose one of the pictures of John baptizing Jesus and use your imagination to provide the children with tactile things to glue on the picture. Example: small feathers on dove, scrap of fake fur for John’s coat, squares or waves of blue cellophane for water, yarn for hair and cotton balls for clouds. You may want to trim the picture and glue it to a sheet of construction paper when you are done to provide some stability.

8) Closing Prayer... say the Lord's Prayer together with the children

9) Going Home: Sing the closing together. Then, check to see if all the children have collected their crafts and coloring sheets before they go home. Say goodbye and tell them that you enjoyed learning about God together and were happy to have them today! You were, weren’t you?

10) Optional Coloring Pages:

http://www.coloring.ws/t.asp?b=m&t=http://www.coloring.ws/bible/jesus/baptism.gif