Matt. 5; Luke 6 (Feb. 18- 24th)

Blessed are Ye

The object of this lesson is to teach the children about Beatitudes. This lesson focuses primarily on being a peacemaker, loving one another and being a light to others.

Invite Sharing:

We will pass out our "Wanted Posters" and ask them if they know what it means to be a Peacemaker.
After they answer, we will ask them to draw a scenario on their poster that represents someone being a peacemaker.

*Our Wanted posters are just a simple paper that says,
"Wanted: Peacemakers!"
across the top, and then a box that they can draw their photo.

Teach the Doctrine:

Brian and I are at an advantage this year that we are teaching children 7-8 year olds which means that we can really pick and choose activities from both the "younger children" and the "older children" sections.

Beforehand, gather together:

 1. Wanted Posters
2. Skittles and slips of paper with "jobs" on them
3. Download the movie in activity 3 (about 2 minutes long)
4. 8 Bees and the printout of the scriptures, cut out.
5. 1 bag of low sodium chips and 1 bag of regular.
6. Plastic Eggs (most grocery stores are already putting out their Easter merchandise) and glow sticks with the scenarios tucked in as well. A basket or bucket to store your glow eggs and a thick towel or cloth to hide the glow of the eggs.
7. Draw a giant lightbulb on the board.

Some Activities We Plan to Do:

1. After the Invite Sharing activity, we will tell the children about the Law of Moses and how it differs from the higher law that Christ taught when he was among the people. We will give some examples of each. We will then play a game with skittles and slips of paper that we will have written different "jobs" on.
Examples:
Paying Bills
Sweeping
Setting the table
Brushing our teeth
Cleaning our rooms
Doing our homework
Change diapers
etc. etc.

We will sit the kids (and ourselves) in a circle. In the middle of the circle there will be a bowl of skittles and a cup filled with the slips of paper. One at a time the children will pick a slip of paper and read it aloud to the class. If anyone in the circle is expected to do that task, they get to take a skittle from the bowl. If it doesn't apply to you, you don't take a skittle. At the end of the game we can see how even among ourselves, different people have different "rules" to follow. 7 year olds don't have to pay bills and we don't have to do homework anymore. As we grow, we are given more and different responsibilities because we are better able to handle them. This was a lesson I really needed to hear this week. I have been pondering this idea so much lately of why it is that we are given line upon line and why people from the past were given different commandments. I am grateful to know that we are growing and that God continues to parent and guide us. He caters to his children uniquely as a generation and on an individual and personal level.

2. Play the movie, Sermon on the Mount: Beatitudes (It is about 2 minutes long.) Beforehand ask the children to try to remember at least 2 characteristics of True Christians that Christ mentions in his sermon. Afterwards, we will play the beatitudes matching game that we will prepare earlier. The children will match up bees that have the name of the characteristic across it with a statement that talks about that characteristic. I just found a bee clipart from the internet, printed them out and wrote the characteristic on the back. Then I wrote up the corresponding statements and printed them and cut them. You will need: 8 Bees and to print the following corresponding statements.

Scriptures that correspond:
1. Poor in Spirit: Theirs is the kingdom of heaven
2. Mourn: They shall be comforted
3. Meek: They shall inherit the Earth
4. Hunger and Thirst: They shall be filled
5. Merciful: They will obtain mercy
6. Pure in Heart: They will see God
7. Peacemakers: They will be called the children of God
8. Persecuted: Theirs is the kingdom of Heaven

3. Christ compares us to salt. We are the salt of the Earth, but if we have lost our savor- it is useless but to be cast out and trodden under the foot of men. We are probably going to bring in 2 bags of chips- one low sodium and one regular and ask them to tell us which one tastes better and why they think so. (Personally I prefer the low sodium- but I'm guessing kids won't?)

4. Christ compares us to a candle (light). We need to shine as examples to others to truly teach others about Christ. It isn't useful to anyone to just tell someone how to do something. The most effective way to be an example to others is to believe in it ourselves enough to live it- everyday even when no one else is watching. To explain this, beforehand we will put glow sticks in giant eggs and put them in a basket with a blanket or cloth on top. When the lights are on- we're hoping the kids won't be able to tell. We will turn the lights off and let each child pick an egg and read the slip of paper that is inside. Inside will be papers with scenarios that are in need of a peacemaker. Each child will read the scenario aloud and then give a suggestion as to how to fix the problem.

Some Examples:
-You race home from school to eat a cookie you have been saving all day. As you walk in the door, you catch your younger sister eating it.
-Your mom asks you to watch your 2 younger siblings so she can get ready for the day. As soon as she gets in the shower, your 2 siblings start hitting and biting each other.
-You are waiting your turn in line for the swings when another kid cuts in front of you.
-You worked really hard on a project for school. In the morning you come down and your dog has torn the project to shreds.
-You and your friend disagree on which game to play first.
- While you are playing at recess, you hear someone crying from a distance. You leave your friends to figure out who it could be. Underneath the stairs, you see the girl in your class who doesn't have any friends.

At our home (as this would be a difficult one to do in a classroom setting.) We are going to hide a picture of Christ and do a glow in the dark scavenger hunt with a flashlight.

5. On the board, we will draw a giant lightbulb. We will ask the children to come up one at a time and write a way that they can be an example to others.

6. Treat- we'll probably just give the kids some of the extra skittles from the game earlier.

I hope this has been helpful to you. See you next week!