Session 2 Session 3 SAMPLE… · · 2017-10-24Bible passage: Genesis 45:1–13 ... Xstream_JM18_Series1_v4.indd 11 24/05/2017 15:38:27 SAMPLE. 12 Session 2 ... Xstream 2 1 Read

for Leaders

Meeting Jesus 10

Session 2 Being accepted 12 Bible passage: Matthew 9:9–13 Session 3 Being included 17 Bible passage: Matthew 15:21–28 Session 4 Given the choice 22 Bible passage: Mark 10:17–31 Session 5 Time to be wise 27 Bible passage: Psalm 119:9–16; Proverbs 10

Isaac and his family 32

Session 6 Isaac is born 34 Bible passage: Genesis 18:1–15; 21:1–8 Session 7 Abraham passes the test 39 Bible passage: Genesis 22:1–19 Session 8 Isaac’s children 44 Bible passage: Genesis 25:19–34; 27:1–45

God is with Jacob 49

Session 9 God’s promises to Jacob 51 Bible passage: Genesis 28:10–22 Session 10 Jacob gets married 56 Bible passage: Genesis 29–31 Session 11 Jacob goes home 61 Bible passage: Genesis 32,33 Session 12 God blesses Jacob 66 Bible passage: Genesis 35:1–15 Session 13 God at work 71 Bible passage: Genesis 45:1–13

Songs and Web resources for this issue 76 and 77 How to plan your session and Session planning template 78 and 79 Leading Xstream children – January to March 80 Syllabus preview – April to June 2018 81 Light Order form 82

Children and the Bible

Explore Together Session 1 Explore Together: In all you say or do 5 Bible passage: Acts 18:1–3; Colossians 3:12–17

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for Leaders

Worship

Meeting Jesus Being accepted

Aim: To be challenged by seeing that Jesus chooses to be with people despised by the community Bible passage: Matthew 9:9–13

Being included Aim: To be inspired by the brave actions of a foreigner with faith Bible passage: Matthew 15:21–28

Given the choice Aim: To show that God offers us eternal life if we choose to follow Jesus Bible passage: Mark 10:17–31

Time to be wise Aim: To learn respect for the wisdom that is in the Bible Bible passage: Psalm 119:9–16; Proverbs 10

All-age service: Xstream recommends using Session 1 as the All-Age service for this series.All-age service starters: free service starter downloads are available at www.lightlive.org or www.scriptureunion.org.uk/light. These are designed for the beginning or end of the service, to allow the whole congregation to share in the themes the children will be covering in their groups.

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None of the Bible passages in this series is easy. The call of Matthew may not trouble us much, but the incident would have disturbed any onlooker. What on earth was Jesus thinking of, including in his band of disciples one of the hated tax collectors, despised as rip-off merchants and collaborators with the occupying Romans. The meeting with the Canaanite woman is even more surprising, for here Jesus seems harsh and exclusive – except that by the end he isn’t! If we had Jesus’ tone of voice and facial expression it might look different. It seems that he is not pushing her away but drawing out deeper faith and understanding. God had always intended to bless the whole of humanity and to do it through his chosen people, Israel (Genesis 12:1–3), and that only happens through Jesus, the Messiah.

The rich young ruler is problematic because wealth was seen as a sign of God’s blessing and here Jesus says that it is a barrier to faith. That is still challenging today especially when most users of Light are wealthy in world terms. For this man the challenge was too much. As we see in Psalm 119, God expects certain standards of behaviour and doing things his way isn’t easy, but is always rewarding. Like the young man, we all have choices to make.

How far have we understood, and to what extent do we demonstrate the inclusive nature of God’s love? How will we help our groups to see that for themselves? And how will we help them to know that it is faith, denying ourselves and obedience that brings us to God?

Through Jesus’ meeting with different people, we see how God loves and offers forgiveness to each one of us

Bible Timeline – New Testament Here is where this series fits into the big story of the Bible, shown here on the new SU Bible Timeline.

Series 1 | Meeting Jesus | Introduction 11

1 Gather together the following basic kit of items that are regularly used in Xstream sessions: Xstream for Children, Bibles, SU Bible Timeline, paper, cardboard or stiff paper, glue sticks, sticky tape, sticky notes, scissors, pencils, crayons, colouring pencils, pencil sharpener, eraser, or felt-tip pens.

2 A list of songs used in the sessions, and where to obtain them, is given on page 76.3 Web resources for the sessions are listed on page 77 and are available from

www.scriptureunion.org.uk/light.4 The SU Bible Timeline is available from Christian bookshops and Scripture Union mail order

and website (see page 82) ISBN 978 1 84427 643 1.5 More resources to help you to explore and enjoy the Bible with your group are introduced

on pages 82 and 83.6 Find out more about our Bible-based syllabus on pages 80 and 81.


SAMPLE

12 Session 2 | 7 January | Being accepted | Matthew 9:9–13 | Starting activities

Active gameActivity time: 5–10 minutes Aim: to fi nd out about a tax-collector’s job You will need: two buckets, chocolate coins1 Label both buckets ‘Tax’.2 Place the buckets at the far end of

the room and divide the children into two teams.

3 Give each child their ‘pay’ – two chocolate coins – explaining that they can’t eat both of them because they have to pay one back as tax. Tax is money people pay to the government so they can afford to run the country. In Bible times, tax collectors often took too much money and kept some for themselves, so they were not popular.

4 Challenge the teams to see which can pay their tax the fastest. Invite each team member to run in turn, put their tax into the bucket and run back, before the next team member runs. When they have all paid up, allow everyone to eat their remaining coin (be aware of allergies and hygiene).

5 At the end of the session, after the children have heard how Matthew left everything to follow Jesus, the children can have an unexpected ‘Tax refund’ when you share out the coins left in the buckets!

PuzzleActivity time: 5–10 minutes Aim: to understand what it means to belong You will need: Xstream 21 Look together at ‘Who belongs?’

on page 1 of Xstream 2. Invite the children to vote for each with a show of hands, and then reveal the answers. (‘W’ – the rest look the same upside down; gloves – the rest are worn on feet; grandma – the rest are male; dog – the rest are the cat family.)

2 Challenge the children to come up with new categories so that everything belongs! (All are letters of the alphabet, or things we wear, or members of a family, or animals.)

3 Ask the children to rearrange the red letters to fi nd out who does not belong in today’s story (Matthew).

Sign gameActivity time: 5–10 minutes Aim: to recognise words that welcome and words that excludeYou will need: word cards from page 161 Form two teams and challenge

each team to create a set of signs. One team should create signs to welcome people and the other team to create signs that keep people out. Give or show the word cards from page 16 as prompts.

2 Look together at the signs, then talk with the children about how some of the negative signs make them feel. What’s it like to be told you are not wanted?

3 Say that today’s story is about someone who was left out by most people, but was welcomed by Jesus.

Matthew 9:9–13

To be challenged by seeing that Jesus chooses to be with people despised by

the community

Being acceptedWhile 8 to 11s probably don’t know much about taxes or tax collectors, they do understand what it means to be unpopular. Help the children to understand that even when others reject, God loves and accepts them. Encourage them, within their friendship groups, to make special efforts to include and accept those who are left out.

Choose a selection of Starting, Into the Bible and Living the life activities to make your session fun and memorable. You may like to use the Session plan, on page 79, to help in your preparation.


SAMPLE

Bible storyActivity time: 15–20 minutes Aim: to be challenged by seeing that Jesus chose to be with people despised by the communityYou will need: Xstream 2

1 Read the Bible verses Read the story of Jesus calling Matthew to follow him from Matthew 9:9–13 and invite the children to follow in their Bibles. Choose someone to read the words that Jesus said in verses 9, 12 and 13. Several children could read what the Pharisees said (v 11).

2 Background and Timeline Give each child a copy of Xstream 2 and ask them to look at ‘Hey, it’s Matthew!’ on pages 2 and 3. Challenge them to fi nd two reasons why Matthew was not popular. Invite the children to name other instances when Jesus reached out to people despised or left out by others. Use the Bible Timeline to talk about how today’s story fi ts into God’s big plan – God created the world, but his people sinned and turned away from him. God sent Jesus so that they could be forgiven and become his friends.

3 Retell the story Divide the children into groups and give each group a Bible. Explain that they need to imagine they are journalists, presenting a TV news bulletin live from Lake Galilee. They should explain what has happened and what other peoples’ reactions were. They might even include an interview with Matthew himself, or some eyewitness accounts from bystanders. Perhaps they could also ask for a statement from Matthew’s employers – the Tax Department of the Roman government (who would not have been very happy that Matthew walked off and left his job to follow Jesus!). Encourage them to emphasise that Jesus spent time with people no one else liked, and even asked them to follow him. Make sure the children refer to the Bible text. If possible, allocate a leader to each group. Allow a few minutes for them to prepare this and then give each ‘crew’ a chance to present their TV broadcast.

4 Challenge Explain that, in Bible times, sharing a meal with someone was one way of showing friendship (another word for that is ‘fellowship’). You may point out that even today food features largely in our friendships and celebrations (for example, at a wedding, birthday party or inviting someone home for a meal). In today’s story, Jesus and his disciples ate with Matthew, as well as with several other tax collectors and people no one else liked. This showed that Jesus was ready to be friends with these people, even though others looked down on them and didn’t want to have anything to do with them. Encourage the children to think of times when this might happen at school or at home. What about break times at school, meals, parties, hanging around with friends and so on? Invite the children to think of people they know who are not popular and who are often left out. How could they be kind and friendly to these people, like Jesus would be?

5 Prayer Say that, by inviting Matthew to be his friend and spending time with him, Jesus accepted Matthew and showed him love and kindness. Pray for your group, thanking Jesus that he loves each one of them (name each child), whatever they have done ( just like Matthew), and will forgive them and give them a new start ( just like Matthew). Ask Jesus to help them be like him and accept others, particularly people who are not popular.

Session 2 | 7 January | Being accepted | Matthew 9:9–13 | Into the Bible 13

If you are short of planning time, choose to include one of the Ready to use activity options for part of your session.


SAMPLE

Role playActivity time: 15 minutes Aim: to be challenged by seeing that Jesus chose to be with people despised by the communityYou will need: Xstream 2; plates, cups, a tablecloth, snacks (optional)

1 Bible story with background Read Matthew 9:9–13 and encourage the children to follow in their Bibles as you read the verses.

2 Xstream 2 Help the children learn more about Matthew, about tax collectors in general and about Pharisees, by looking at ‘Hey, it’s Matthew!’ on pages 2 and 3 of Xstream 2. Invite several volunteers to read aloud the information.

3 Table talk Form small groups and allocate either ‘Tax collectors and sinners’ or ‘Pharisees’ to each group. Make sure each group has a Bible to refer to and ask them to imagine that they are at the meal at Matthew’s house. Encourage them to imagine what their characters would be talking about as they ate the meal. Give the groups time to discuss this and decide what the tax collectors and sinners, or the Pharisees, might have been saying to each other. Encourage the children to use their imagination as they try to put themselves in the shoes of the characters they are representing. They should think what their thoughts and feelings would be about the following: What had happened during the day (Matthew 9:1–8).What had happened to Matthew (Matthew 9:9). Who else was at the meal (Matthew 9:10). Eating a meal in Matthew’s house (Matthew 9:11).What Jesus said and did (Matthew 9:12,13).

4 Be there! Invite everyone to sit around a ‘table’ (real or imaginary) and arrange the props, if available. Remember, that in Bible times, the table would have been a low one, around which everyone reclined, so a tablecloth on the floor would work well. If you are providing snacks, the children could eat at this point (remember hygiene and allergies). The children representing the Pharisees should sit slightly apart from the others. Take it in turns for the children representing the different groups to say what they think. Encourage them to speak as if they are those particular people, actually eating a meal at Matthew’s house with Jesus. If the children are hesitant initially, try to draw out what their character would have said.

5 Bible Timeline Invite the children to name other instances where Jesus reached out to people who were disliked or left out. Use the Bible Timeline to talk about how today’s story fits into God’s big plan: God created the world, and loved everyone; but people sinned and turned away from God. God sent Jesus to remind everyone that he loves them, and to make it possible for them to be forgiven and to be his friends again.

6 Prayer Emphasise that each child is accepted and loved in your Xstream group – by the leaders, by each other and by God. Because of that they should be ready to follow Jesus’ example and be kind and caring to people others reject. Encourage the children to pray about this. They may like to think of people they know who are not popular or left out, and pray for them silently.

14 Session 2 | 7 January | Being accepted | Matthew 9:9–13 | Into the Bible

‘Come back to the Lord your God. He is kind and full of mercy; he is patient and keeps his promise; he is always ready to forgive and not punish.’ Joel 2:13 Say the verse with actions: ‘Come back’ – beckon with hand; ‘to the Lord your God’ – point upwards; ‘He is kind and full of mercy’ – thumbs up sign; ‘he is patient’ – finger on lip; ‘and keeps his promise’ – hand on heart; ‘he is always ready to forgive and not punish.’ – make a cross with two fingers. Cards and a PowerPoint for this verse are available at Web resources. It is also in the song ‘Come back’ on the Bitesize Bible Songs 2 CD.


SAMPLE

for Leaders

Compare today’s Bible story with the story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1–10).

Action planActivity time: 5–10 minutes Aim: to help people who are left out and unpopularYou will need: a large sheet of paper, a thick felt-tip pen (both optional)1 Ask the children to think of

people in 2018 who are left out, badly treated or looked down on by others, for example, the elderly, the homeless, drug addicts, poor people, people with disabilities, refugees, people in Third World countries. Write the suggestions down.

2 Suggest that the children choose one of these groups to investigate.

3 Together, draw up an action plan of ways to help and get involved, such as praying and fundraising. It may be appropriate to make contact in some way, for example arranging a visit to an old people’s home to spend time chatting with the residents.

4 Make sure your action plan involves action and not just good ideas!

Sing and prayActivity time: 5–10 minutes Aim: to respond to God’s deep, forgiving, accepting love for each one of us You will need: Light for Everyone CD or lyrics and music from Web resources1 Listen to ‘Deep love’ on the Light for

Everyone CD, if you have it.2 Stress that Jesus loved Matthew,

although Matthew had done wrong. God’s love for us does not change depending on how good or bad we are. Jesus came to help everyone, because everyone does wrong sometimes. God wants us to love others and forgive them, just as he loves and forgives us.

3 Encourage everyone to get into a circle and sing along to ‘Deep love’.

4 Change the lyrics as follows: ‘God loves you and you.’ (Point to person on right, then left.)

‘He loves me too.’ (Point to self.)

Puzzle and discussionActivity time: 5–10 minutes Aim: to challenge the children to reach out to those who are despised, unpopular or left outYou will need: Xstream 21 Invite the children to do the puzzle

on page 4 of Xstream 2 and see who can collect the most smiley faces!

2 Encourage the children to think about real people in their neighbourhood, school or church who don’t have smiley faces because they feel like they don’t belong. How might such people feel? (Sad, angry, bitter, frustrated, hopeless.) How might we make someone feel welcomed, wanted or cared for?

3 Say that, because God accepts everyone, not just ‘respectable’ people, we should be like Jesus and be ready to do the same, and not worry about what others think.

4 Encourage the children to think of ways to put a smile on someone’s face. They could write down their ideas in the space on page 4 of Xstream 2.

Session 2 | 7 January | Being accepted | Matthew 9:9–13 | Living the life 15


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for Leaders January to March 2018 Session 2

16 Session 2 | 7 January | Being accepted | Matthew 9:9–13 | Photocopiable resource

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Session 2 Session 3 SAMPLE… · · 2017-10-24Bible passage: Genesis 45:1–13 ... Xstream_JM18_Series1_v4.indd 11 24/05/2017 15:38:27 SAMPLE. 12 Session 2 ... Xstream 2 1 Read

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