CHILDREN – 2nd Sunday of Year B

OBJECTS: None

Did you know that Christian churches can be found in almost every country in the world? Jesus started with twelve men­­––the ones wesee Jesus inviting to join him in this week’s Scripture. Just twelve people! Do you know how many there are in the world today who say they follow Jesus? Well over 2 BILLION! Do you know how many a billion is? If a billion kids stood on each other’s’ shoulders, they could reach the moon. If you had a billion goldfish, you would need a fish tank the size of a great big football stadium.

How did the church get to be two billion people big? Well, remember our Scripture this morning? John the Baptizer told two of his disciples that Jesus was God’s Son, so they followed Jesus and started learning from him. One of those two disciples was Andrew. He told his brother, Simon Peter. Jesus invited Philip and Philip invited Nathanael. And it’s been going on like that for over 2000 years. One person invites another and on and on it goes.

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SOURCE: Sermon Writer

OBJECT:  Print copies of an invitation to Sunday school and Church to give to each child at the end of this lesson. 

The story from the Bible today tells about the time when Jesus was just starting to teach the people that God loves them and wants to be their friend. Not many people knew who Jesus was. Some people found out about Jesus because they happened to hear him give a speech. Or Jesus would sometimes walk around with a group of people who wanted to hear what he had to say and they would start walking around with him too. Sometimes Jesus would walk around teaching his followers­––the disciples––and other people would hear and listen in. Many of the people who heard Jesus, decided to become his disciples.

That’s the way many teachers taught grown-ups in ancient times: the teacher would go to the center of town and start teaching. His disciples would be with him and other people would become interested and join in, or the disciples would invite others to come and listen. I wonder what that must have looked like.

Let’s try it. I’ll be the teacher and I’ll start walking around up here in the front. Two of you can be my disciples and walk with me

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OBJECT: Picture of a dove

We recognize people in many ways. Our family members are easy to recognize. We are familiar with their faces and certain items of clothes that they wear. We recognize the way they comb their hair, the way they walk and motion with their hands, the way their voice sounds. People we feel close to may even have a distinctive fragrance, like special cologne, or the smells that come from cooking or working in the garden.

Sometimes we are given clues that help us recognize people who are not familiar to us. These clues may tell us something about who a particular person is or what he or she does.

If you see a young person carrying a backpack near a school there is a pretty good chance that person is a student.

You can recognize a fireman or a policeman by the uniform he or she wears.

A man or woman with a stethoscope around the neck is likely to be a doctor or a nurse.

A person carrying a musical instrument is probably a musician.

Can you think of other ways you recognize people?

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SOURCE: Sermon Writer