Free Children's Ministry Curriculum Written by Sheryl Coats
Bugs Bugs and More Bugs
Hillbilly Days
Wonderfair
The Wacky Worship Workshop
The Celebration Medical Centre
The Celebration City Courthouse
Growing in God's Garden
The Armour of God
The Wild Wild West
God's Grace
God's Miraculous Protection--Daniel the lion tamer God's Miraculous Strength--Samson the strongest man on earth God's Miraculous Provision-- Elijah and the widows never ending oil and flour...magically appearing out of thin air. God's Miraculous Healing Power--Elijah raises the widows son from the dead. Power unmatched by any other. God's Grace--the greatest miracle of all-- the death and resurrection of Jesus God's Grand Finale--the great disappearing act--Elijah taken to heaven
Set up the room like a circus. Make a big top out of crete paper on the ceiling. Hand balloons all over the room. Make a back drop of a ticket booth, animal train, circus acts, etc. Use your creativity to make the room as bright and lively as possible.
This week: We will discover Gods miraculous power over death and sin.
To teach the children that:
It sometimes seems to get old to review the rules week after week, but it is very important to do it anyways. Find creative ways to review the rules...bring someone in to tell them in another language and allow the kids to "interpret" or make a rebus, etc.
1. No illegal movement: wild animals need to be caged but boys are girls need to behave...stay in your seat and keep your hands and feet to yourself. 2. No interference: clowns are crazy but boys and girls can have fun without misbehaving...don't interrupt like the clowns or cause a commotion. 3. Go for the touch down: Lets have fun praising the Lord as we discover some of the magnificent miracles of God.
Remember to spend time in prayer this week for the children in our service. God is able to do great and powerful things when we seek his face. God has great things in store for us this week. Have you been faithful to seek his anointing and leading?
Ring master, Sammy the sharpshooter, two clowns, Bible man (Bible man wears a pair of red leggins or tights with a pair of blue shorts on top and a red t-shirt that has a superman type logo painted on it with a large B inside of it. His job is to use the Bible to help save people who are in trouble) and two mimes (the rest of the crew will be made up of puppets)
Clown skit. The two clowns enter fighting. They are arguing over who is the strongest, bravest, and has the greatest act of all. "I am so strong that I can tie an elephants nose in a knot!" "Oh yeah? Well, I am so brave I can ride an ostrich blindfolded" "well, I got to sing in church the other day so I am greater than you." Once they have listed a ton of absurdities the ring master can intervene and tell them that neither of them is the greatest, but if they will sit down and behave they will soon discover who has the greatest act of all".
Ring master can then introduce the worlds greatest sharpshooter. All the way from Tinbucktwo, here is Sammy the great sharpshooter. He will attempt to knock this apple off of the clowns head at a distance of 10 feet with this super soaker (water gun). Let me remind you that you should not try this at home. He is a trained professional. This is a feat that requires great concentration and great skill, perhaps one of the greatest acts you will ever see with your very own eyes. The clown doesn't like the idea of having an apple sprayed off of her head but finally consents.
Ring master: There you have it ladies and gentlemen! You have seen with your very own eyes the great Sammy Sharpshooter perform this great feat. Perhaps you are thinking that this is the greatest act you have ever seen, but You are WRONG!!! There is an act that is far greater than this one. One unmatched by any other. That's right boys and girls, many years ago a man named Jesus performed the greatest act of all time. And here to tell you about it is none other than our very own super hero Bible Man! (Bible man soars in. He can tell of terrible things happening to people...about how they were trapped in a terrible fire, burning but never being consumed, grinding their teeth in torment. He tried his best but he could not help them for they were trapped in sin and death. Then he can tell the story of how Jesus came and conquered sin and death by dieing on the cross and coming to life again so that we could have eternal life instead of eternal torture.)
(John 3:16) put actions to it to aid the kids in remembering it. The clowns can mess up on the actions and the memory verse until the kids finally teach them how it goes.
Bobo the clown comes up with boxing gloves on. Ring master: I hear Bobo back there again today. She is making a lot of noise. I wonder what she is doing.
Bobo: (comes up punching, and jabbing and talking loudly) All right I'll give you the old one two. And a left hook. Boom!
Ring master: Whoa there Bobo. What's going on here?
Bobo: I'm going to beat that old devil once and for all. Why I'm going to make mashed bananas out of him. I'm going to crush him and smush him.
Ring master: Hang on here Bobo. I think you have forgotten something.
Bobo: Oh no I haven't! I am ready to take him on. I have my boxing gloves and I have been practicing all morning...well, for a few minutes at least. I am ready for him.
Ring master: Bobo, you have definitely forgotten something.
Bobo: Oh yeah, well smarty I think you are just jealous because you are too afraid to fight him.
Ring master: Bobo, settle down a little. Did you know that we don't have to conquer sin and death because Jesus already did it for us?
Bobo: Say what?!? You mean he beat me to it?
Ring master: You see Bobo, you and I couldn't conquer sin and death because we were once sinners. Only Jesus could do it for us because he lived a sinless life and so he became a sacrifice for our sin.
Bobo: You mean Jesus never did anything wrong?
Ring master: that is right Bobo. Jesus was perfect and because of that he could take our punishment for us. He suffered so that we wouldn't have to.
Bobo: Whew! Am I glad to hear that. I was pretty scared about fighting the devil.
Ring master: God loves us so much that he was willing to allow his son to suffer in our place. Jesus paid the price and he defeated the devil.
Bobo: Boy am I glad for that. Well, I guess I can go put these boxing gloves away.
Use the Big green book to tell the story of salvation. The first page is gray. Talk about how sin makes us dirty on the inside. The gray represents the dirt of sin. Then the red page represents the blood that Jesus spilled on Calvary. The white represents the clean heart that we have when Jesus washes away our sin. The green page represents our growing in our relationship with Jesus and the yellow page shows that someday Jesus will take us to heaven to live with him where there are streets of gold.
(this is a good spot for the clowns to ad lib into the lesson) Have a large white heart cut from a piece of cloth. Begin by allowing the kids to name sins. As they do you can either write them on the heart with a washable marker or allow the kids to come up and write them on. As the heart begins to fill up with filth notice that the heart is no longer pretty and clean. Try wiping away the stains, try brushing away the stains, try hiding the stains by turning it around. Nothing works to get rid of this sin. Ah but wait a minute. (Have a bucket of bleach water..strong dilution) This bucket represents Jesus. Dip the heart in the bucket and wash it. The marker should wash right out. Pull out the clean heart. Tell the children that the only way to get rid of sin is through Jesus.
Have two people mime a boxing scene as Jesus and the devil. The devil thinks he has won when Jesus is crucified and then Jesus rises from the dead and Satan is crushed. Act it out to Carmen's song the Champion.
Boys an girls today you have learned about the greatest act ever performed. Jesus gave his life so that you and I could have eternal life. He suffered and died for you and for me. He didn't have to do it, but chose to out of his love for you and me. He is here today asking you to give him your heart so he can wash it white as snow. He wants to become the boss of your life and share his love with you. The choice is yours. You can choose to accept his love and his gift of salvation or you can choose to reject him. If you are ready to make Jesus the Lord of your life I want you to come forward and find a place to pray. I want you to tell Jesus how sorry you are for sinning and ask him to come in and clean your heart.
Copyright 1998, Sheryl Coats
