Scripture: Luke 8:22-25 or page 398 in The Golden Children’s Bible
Target Age Group: 1st through 6th grade
Welcome the children to the classroom and chat with them about their week as they gather around the table.
Pray and ask God to teach the children not just head knowledge, but also heart knowledge.
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Bible Lesson:
Introduction: Have you ever been in a really bad storm? Were you scared? (Let the children tell you about times that they were scared of a storm.) Well, in today’s lesson we’re going to learn about a time when Jesus and the disciples were in a very bad storm and they were very scared…
Have the children open their Bibles to Luke 8:22 or pages 398 in The Golden Children’s Bible.
(Read the story to the children because at this age some of the children do not read smoothly, which hinders comprehension for the whole class.)
Discussion:
- Where were Jesus and his disciples? In a sail boat on the lake
- What happened while they were sailing? A bad storm came up and the boat was being swamped.
- What was Jesus doing at the time? Sleeping
- Why do you think Jesus was able to sleep in bad storm like that? He knew that nothing would happen to him that wasn’t God’s will, so He had perfect peace.
- What did the disciples do? They woke Jesus and told him that they were about to drown.
- What did Jesus do then? He rebuked the wind and water. (rebuke means to reprimand or scold. In Mark 4:39 it says he said, “Quiet! Be still!”)
- What happened then? The wind and water became calm.
- How do you think that the disciples felt after that?
- The disciples were terrified (Mark 4:41) “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” Why do you think that they were terrified? They realized that Jesus was no ordinary man, and He had great power.
- What does this passage tell you about Jesus? He is God. He is all powerful.
- What do you think that Jesus wants you to do when you are afraid? Pray and ask Him to protect me.
- Let’s pray and thank Jesus for protecting us every day. And let’s ask Him to help us to not be afraid because we know that He is in control…
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During the remaining class time do activities that help to reinforce what the children have learned. Here are some suggestions…
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Memorize the verse.
“Even the winds and the waves obey him!” Matthew 8:27b
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Have the children use colors or pastels to draw their own vision of the story on a sketch pad page. Color page #1 from sermons4kids Color page #2 from What’s in the Bible? Or have them color a color page related to the story. An excellent color page book is “Through-the-Bible Coloring Pages For Ages 4-8” by Janet Skiles. The pages are reproducible.
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Show a video of this story:
Video #4 This is a music video for the teacher to enjoy.
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Here is a fantastic way to get the kids involved as you read the story. This idea is from Children’s Ministry.
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Share this children’s sermon from sermons4kids. Don’t forget the activities at the bottom of the page!
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The new Calvary Curriculum has worksheets and a fantastic color page for this lesson!
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This lesson plan from Mission Bible Class has some great activity ideas.
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I’ve seen several versions of this craft, which is very cute. This one by grandmother wren has patterns for the pieces. Or you might like this sailboat pattern from enchanted learning. I used this origami sailboat from fpb crafts for mine. The boat was attached to the page with a paper fastener so that it could be tossed back and forth by the waves.
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Have the children make this boat from a sea shell from Christian Games and Crafts. This boat craft from Enchanted Learning would also be a hit.
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Older kids would enjoy this craft from Sunday School Kids.
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There are several craft ideas here by e-how, and here from flame creative kids.
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Have the children make the booklet, “Jesus Calms the Storm” from Lambsongs. Scroll Down.
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Here are some ideas for activities for older kids from ehow.
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Sing “The Wind and Waves Obey Him” by the Wonder Kids
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For snacks try these ideas from Bible School Teachers blogspot.
Or you might even bake a sailboat cake by Betty Crocker.
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Evaluate what the children have learned. While they are coloring or crafting ask each one what they learned today.
Send each child’s parent an e-mail (or a hard copy) of the Parents’ Page.
Children's Church 