Lessons Archives - Page 7 of 112 - Jesus Without Language

The body of believers is a great lesson in including all, valuing all, accepting all, and working together to build a community that reflects God’s heart. These lessons all tie into the passage found in 1 Corinthians 12 in slightly different ways, allowing kids to move and experience the power of Paul’s words.

This is part of a single lesson pack, all ready to print and go.

Hindered movement

All Ages

Small group

Requires setup time

Noisy game

Space needed

Get the youngsters to complete a task while hindered. Tie their leg to a partner’s then walk across the room. Tie their arms together then get them to open a packet, have them tie a shoe blindfolded. Write their name in flour using their nose.
Link: When one part of our body is hindered, it has an effect on the rest.

Building a church

All Ages

Any size group

Requires setup time

Quiet game

Can be seated

Give the children a few wooden shapes used for building patterns. Ask them to make a person from just the shapes they have. Talk about how limiting it is to work with so few shapes. Now ask the children to put all their shapes together and repeat, discuss how much easier it was with more shapes.
Link: The church grows with diversity.

Musical identification

Ages 7+

Small group

Requires setup time

Noisy game

Can be seated

Play a piece of music for the children. Get them to identify the instruments used. If you can source real instruments for props or use photo’s.
Link: Talk about how the combination of instruments makes the piece sound good.

Clay men

All Ages

Small group

Requires setup time

Quiet game

Can be seated

Take some clay and shape it into a humanoid shape. Pass the man around, getting each child to break off a small piece. As each child takes a piece, get them to tell you what the man couldn’t do now that he’s missing the piece they took.
Link: We suffer when one part is missing.

Kingship is quite a simple concept to describe to children on one level. It’s the idea that one person has the authority to make decisions for others. Like so many things, Jesus turns this Kingship idea on its head. By the time we reach the passage with Pilate, it certainly doesn’t feel like a very kingly setting. Jesus is seen at one of the weakest moments, he’s arrested, questioned like a criminal, and about to be sentenced to die by the brutal execution process of crucifixion. It may seem tempting to act out this passage, but playing the role of one who thought they had authority over Jesus, or Jesus himself, is a lot for anyone to take on. These games skit the passage, look at it sideways and spark conversations.

This is part of a single lesson pack, all ready to print and go.

Who am I?

Ages 7+

Any size group

Requires setup time

Noisy game

Can be seated

Also known as the Sticky Note game. Write the name of someone the child will know and stick it to their forehead. The child then has to guess who they are by asking questions that can only be answered with a yes or no.
Link: Pilate was trying to work out who Jesus was.

Sticky crowns

All Ages

Any size group

Requires setup time

Noisy game

Space needed

Give each team one hat and one roll of sticky tape. The “crown” must be worn by one player. The aim is to attach as many different things to the crown as possible. At the end of the game, each king or queen must walk a full circle of the room before the teams are scored.
Link: Jesus’s crown was unexpected for a king.

Card circles

All Ages

Big group

Requires setup time

Noisy game

Space needed

Mix up one suit from a pack of playing cards and have the children make a circle, so each card gets progressively bigger. (Aces beat kings but are beaten by 2s.) Do this either as a timed race or by giving each child a card and standing in a circle.
Link: The Sunday of “Christ the King” is the last Sunday in the Church year, forming a circle that never ends.

These are the Character resources provided for: Christ the King (John 18).

This is part of a single lesson pack, all ready to print and go.

For each passage, there is a collectable card alongside high-quality character images and a colouring page. All other graphics are extra’s!

Click on the images below to see a larger version. Save the images by right click + ‘save image as’ (computers) OR long press + ‘save image’ (mobile).

These images are NOT copyright free.

These resources are provided for personal/classroom use only.
Use can use them for teaching, games, publicity, decorations, big screen presentations, flannelgraphs, stickers, or any other non-commercial activity in your church, school, home, or organised group.
You may not use them in products you are going to sell (both printed and digital). Nor may you upload the original images online, on websites, social media or in YouTube videos.
Any questions, please reach out to me using the contact page link at the end of the page.

As we finish our cycle through the lectionary, it’s important to help kids learn this anchor of our year. We start with the birth of our saviour and end with the acknowledgement of his eternal kingship. This passage centres around Pilot’s question about Jesus’s earthly claim to kingship and how his divine kingship is misunderstood.

This retold version of the Bible passage is supplied for inspiration, feel free to omit or embellish to give it your personal voice.

Main Passage :John 18:33-37

Biblical retelling of Christ the King
John 18:33-37 for youngsters

This is part of a single lesson pack, all ready to print and go.

The church year isn’t the same as the usual calendar. It starts in Advent as we get ready for Jesus to be born, and this is the last week before we start that journey again. This week we look back at the whole year and remember that Jesus is, was, and will always be King.

But Jesus isn’t like the other kings, and Jesus’s kingdom isn’t like other kingdoms.

Most kings are born in palaces and sleep in grand beds; Jesus’s first bed was a feeding trough, and for many years he had no home.

Most kings are big and powerful and have armies to fight for them, but Jesus was a servant to everyone.

Most kings wear royal robes and golden crowns, but the only crown we see Jesus wear is one made of thorns.

Most kingdoms fight over land and resources; Jesus’s kingdom fights for people’s hearts.

When Jesus was arrested, a man called Pilate tried to understand what kind of king Jesus was. The Jewish leaders had called him “King of the Jews,” but the man who stood before him didn’t look like a king.

“Are you a king?” asked Pilate.

“My kingdom is not of this world,” said Jesus.

“So you are a king then?” said Pilate.

“You say that I’m a king,” Jesus replied. Then, he continued, “I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth.”

Pilate was confused. What was this truth that Jesus spoke of? But Jesus wasn’t confused. He knew that sharing the truth of God’s kingdom would end with him dying and then coming back to life.

Confused, Pilate had the crowd decide, and the crowd had Jesus killed. The king of all Heaven and Earth had a crown of thorns placed on his head and died between two thieves. But we know there is still more story to tell, and that the story of Jesus never ends. We know that the story of Jesus is still being told in the things his followers are doing today.

Next week, we will begin the story again for a new year. Jesus will be born and die and rise again; then his followers will spread the word of his Kingdom around the whole world.

Christ the King is the last Sunday in the lectionary year and is a perfect time to be thinking of the whole year in focus. This darling little calendar can be used all year and it’s bright colours reflect the liturgical colours.

(more…)

It’s easy to trivialise or minimise the importance of the temple to the people of Jerusalem. We often mistakenly consider it to be a large building and ignore the gigantic structure that it stood on. The whole setup was considered one of the wonders of the ancient world and bigger than 30 football pitches in size. The idea of it being removed or destroyed must have seemed impossible. Here are a few suggestions to get the wiggles out and learn though play as you launch into this lesson.

This is part of a single lesson pack, all ready to print and go.

Part of the picture

All Ages

Any size group

No Setup time

Quiet game

Can be seated

Give each child a piece of paper with a squiggle on it. Have them complete the picture. You could also do this with a piece of jigsaw puzzle and have them verbally describe what is missing.
Link: The disciples only saw a tiny bit of the whole picture; they couldn’t imagine the temple not playing a big role.

Don’t wobble the structure

All Ages

Any size group

Requires setup time

Noisy game

Can be seated

Play a balance/stacking game like Jenga®, bottle balance or stacking chairs. You can make your own version of many of these games if needed.
Link: The temple was impressive, but it would fall.

Lean on me

All Ages

Any size group

No Setup time

Noisy game

Space needed

Have the kids get into pairs and sit back to back. Interlock arms and push against each other to stand up. They must not use their hands. Add one person to the group each time they are successful.
Link: God asks us to lean on him, not on the things we build in this world.

These are the Character resources provided for: Destruction of the Temple (Mark 13).

This is part of a single lesson pack, all ready to print and go.

For each passage, there is a collectable card alongside high-quality character images and a colouring page. All other graphics are extra’s!

Click on the images below to see a larger version. Save the images by right click + ‘save image as’ (computers) OR long press + ‘save image’ (mobile).

These images are NOT copyright free.

These resources are provided for personal/classroom use only.
Use can use them for teaching, games, publicity, decorations, big screen presentations, flannelgraphs, stickers, or any other non-commercial activity in your church, school, home, or organised group.
You may not use them in products you are going to sell (both printed and digital). Nor may you upload the original images online, on websites, social media or in YouTube videos.
Any questions, please reach out to me using the contact page link at the end of the page.

New Testament

Old Testament

Resource Type

Season

Hindered movement

Building a church

Musical identification

Clay men

Who am I?

Sticky crowns

Card circles

These images are NOT copyright free.

Part of the picture

Don’t wobble the structure

Lean on me

These images are NOT copyright free.

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