BIG IDEA: OUR GOD IS THE GREATEST GOD
AIM: The aim of ‘The Greatest God’ childrens lesson on the Resurrection of Christ is to help the children to see how God sent his One and only Son Jesus – who died and defeated death for us. He is therefore the greatest God because He has rescued us.
GAME IDEAS:
- The Greatest Tower. (regular/widescreen) Using marshmallows and dried spaghetti children must try and build the tallest tower together in teams. The team that builds the highest tower will be named the Greatest team with the Greatest Tower.
- The Greatest Egg. (regular/widescreen) Like pass the parcel, fill some plastic eggs with different contents such as candy and have kids pass them around one at a time when the music plays. When the music stops whoever is holding the egg can open it and eat the contents. Then start all over again with the next egg. If you have big chocolate eggs available in your country you could also use these.
- The Mummy Game. (regular/widescreen) Wrap a child up in toilet roll in their teams. The team with the best wrapped mummy is the winning team. Application: They wrapped Jesus in linen when he was buried.
BIG VERSE: Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.” Luke 9:48
Shorten this to: “It is the one who is least that shall be the greatest” Luke 9:48.
SET the Scene:
Read John 20:1-18. You could also use the Greatest God Sensory Story to communicate the story to the children.
VIDEO IDEAS:
- ‘The Story of the Resurrection’ by Kids on the Move
- ‘He’s Alive’ by Gracelink
- ‘The Resurrection’ by SaddleBack Kids
REVIEW QUESTIONS:
- How did Jesus die?
- Who went to the tomb?
- What had happened to the stone?
- Who did Mary tell?
- What was in the tomb when the ‘One Jesus loved’ looked?
- How many angels did Mary see?
- Who did Mary think Jesus was?
- What did Mary call Jesus when she finally recognised him?
- Who did Mary tell that she had seen the Lord?
SPOT the Simple Meaning:
1) JESUS IS GOD
Use pictures of your favorite sports stars. You could use this picture of Kobe Bryant and explain how people looked up to him. (regular/widescreen). You could always wear your favorite sports top too.
Say: When people talk about sports players they really admire and respect they may even sometimes call them gods. That’s because they look up to them so much and wish they could be like them.
Sports players fail. They mess up. They get things wrong. They miss the ball or the net. Yet our God never fails. He never makes a wrong move.
God’s greatest move was to send his Son Jesus to the world. He sent His Son out of love for us. He wants us to be His friend. Yet we turned our backs on God. People refused to listen to God. Doing these things separated us from Him.
Yet God wanted relationship with us. So He sent His only Son Jesus to bring back relationship. When Jesus lived in the world some people hated him, yet others grew to love and admire him. He showed them how to love others.
Jesus knew he was going to die.
2) JESUS IS THE GREATEST GOD BECAUSE HE DEFEATED DEATH
Visual: Have a trophy or a medal with the words ‘defeated death’ written on it. You could just stick it on top of the trophy. Or simply use this Defeated Death Trophy Picture instead.
Say: Jesus’ resurrection shows us who he truly is. Jesus isn’t just a good teacher, a moral person or a good example to follow; He is God. In John 10:30 Jesus says; “I and [my] Father are one.”
The resurrection shows us that Jesus defeated death! Death could not hold him back. Jesus overcame it! There was no magic involved, it was simply by the power of God through the Holy Spirit that Jesus was raised back to life. Acts 2:32 says; “God has raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses.”
Jesus is the greatest God because He came back to life – He rose from the dead! Mary never expected to see Jesus after he had died. She thought he was the gardener. Yet she believed when she saw him. She realised who he was at that moment. She told everyone that she had seen the ‘Lord’. He was no longer just a teacher in her eyes, he was the Lord.
SEARCH the Scriptures:
Team Challenge. (regular/widescreen) Print out one set of the Bible verse trophies 1 and 2.
Split your group into teams and give them a challenge.
- See how many cups they can stack in one minute.
- See who can throw a paper airplane the furthest
- See who can throw a straw (javelin) the furthest
- See who can jump the greatest distance
- See who can jump and tap a post it note up on the highest part of a wall
- See who can score the most goals in the net
Once they win the challenge they get given one Bible verse trophy. The team with the most Bible verse trophies printed out is the winning team.
Find and discuss the Bible verses printed on the trophies.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- Do you believe in God? Why/why not?
- Do you think God cares about you? Why/why not?
- What is God like?
- Do you believe Jesus is God? Why/why not?
- If Jesus is God, what does this mean for the world?
- If Jesus is God, what does this mean for you?
- Have you accepted Jesus into your life? Do you want to right now?
SENSE How You Feel
Encourage the children to imagine seeing Jesus dying and then raised to life.
How does it make you feel to know Jesus is alive?
As the children think about this invite them to do one or more of the activities below.
- Create a ‘Jesus is Alive’ paper plate craft using the template Printable available Jesus is Alive Printable and the Stone Rolled Away Printable.
- Fill/color the activity sheets for 5-7s and 8-11s.
- Sensory: Place different types of crosses on the table. Put the Order the Story printables in amidst some paper/feathers or colored rice.
- Build: Create a cross or an empty tomb out of Lego or building bricks.
- Mould: a cross or empty tomb out of playdough or clay.
- Visit our Pinterest page for more ideas.
SEEK God
- Is Jesus God over your life? Have you asked Jesus to be Your God and Your Lord?
- Is there someone or something that you are putting in God’s place? Something that you are making number 1 in your life? Give it to God.
Click here for ‘The Greatest God’ PowerPoint image
Click here for ‘The Greatest God’ widescreen image
Click here for ‘The Greatest God’ social media image
