LESSON SNAPSHOT · 2019-01-16 · LESSON SNAPSHOT ST PATRICK’S DAY LESSON BOTTOM LINE: The gospel...

LESSON SNAPSHOT

ST PATRICK’S DAY LESSON

BOTTOM LINE: The gospel is for everyone, and it’s up to us to share it with everyone.

OBJECTIVE: Through the story of St Patrick, kids will learn the importance of evangelizing.

KEY PASSAGE: Acts 10. God tells Peter to witness to Cornelius. MEMORY VERSE: “He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’” - Mark 16:15 (NIV)

SUMMARY: St. Patrick was a slave who not only forgave his slave masters but took the gospel to them. His life is a reminder that the gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone. As Christ’s followers, we need to be willing to share the gospel with everyone we meet. SIMPLE PRAYER: Dear God,

Thank you for the story of St. Patrick. Help us to have courage to share the gospel with everyone we meet, just as he did.

In Jesus’ name, Amen

MEMORY VERSE


“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’” - Mark 16:15 (NIV)

“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world. Preach the good news to everyone.’” - Mark 16:15 (NIrV)

LARGE GROUP: Divide the room in half. Pick one side to start and have them all shout the first word, then the other side shouts the second word, and so on until they finish the verse.

SMALL GROUP: Play the telephone game with the memory verse.

For younger children, you may need to break the verse up into shorter sections and play several rounds.

MEMORY VERSE


“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’” - Mark 16:15 (NIV)

“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world. Preach the good news to everyone.’” - Mark 16:15 (NIrV)

LARGE GROUP: Divide the room in half. Pick one side to start and have them all shout the first word, then the other side shouts the second word, and so on until they finish the verse.

SMALL GROUP: Play the telephone game with the memory verse.

For younger children, you may need to break the verse up into shorter sections and play several rounds.

SKIT


THE BEARD

ITEM NEEDED: A backpack

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN: 2M

CHARACTERS: Kenny- A boyVoice - God

Kenny runs on, wearing his backpack. He’s out of breath and stops to catch his breath at center stage.

VOICE: Rough day?

KENNY: You know it!

VOICE: That bully’s after you again, huh?

KENNY: He’s always after me.

VOICE: He’s a mean kid.

KENNY: He’s a monster! I heard he eats puppies for breakfast!

VOICE: I’m not sure I believe that story.

KENNY: I can believe it. He can give two kids a swirly at one time!

VOICE: Wow!

SKIT


KENNY: He’s bigger, stronger, faster than any kid in this school.

VOICE: Well, he did repeat the third grade four times.

KENNY: Really? That explains the beard.

VOICE: Glad to get away?

KENNY: Oh yeah. I fear the Beard!

VOICE: I know you do.

KENNY: Everybody does.

VOICE: Kenny?

KENNY: Yes?

VOICE: I want you to sit at his table at lunch.

Long pause.

KENNY: I’m sorry, what did you say?


KENNY: You want me to sit at the Beard’s table?

VOICE: His name is Alex.

KENNY: I know what his real name is. You want me to sit at his table?

VOICE: With him.

KENNY: With him?

VOICE: Yes.

KENNY: Today?

VOICE: Not just today. Every day.

KENNY: I’m sorry, am I talking to the same guy I was just talking to?

SKIT


KENNY: He’s bigger, stronger, faster than any kid in this school.

VOICE: Well, he did repeat the third grade four times.

KENNY: Really? That explains the beard.

VOICE: Glad to get away?

KENNY: Oh yeah. I fear the Beard!

VOICE: I know you do.

KENNY: Everybody does.

VOICE: Kenny?

KENNY: Yes?


Long pause.

KENNY: I’m sorry, what did you say?


KENNY: You want me to sit at the Beard’s table?

VOICE: His name is Alex.

KENNY: I know what his real name is. You want me to sit at his table?

VOICE: With him.

KENNY: With him?

VOICE: Yes.

KENNY: Today?

VOICE: Not just today. Every day.

KENNY: I’m sorry, am I talking to the same guy I was just talking to?

SKIT


VOICE: The same.

KENNY: You remember all that stuff about the puppies and the swirlies?

VOICE: I do.

KENNY: Then why in the world would you ask me to sit with him?

VOICE: Because I love him.

KENNY: (short pause) You do?

VOICE: The same as I love you.

KENNY: So why do I have to sit with him?

VOICE: You know him better than anyone.

KENNY: I wouldn’t say that.

VOICE: You’re the one he’ll listen to.

KENNY: I doubt that very much.

VOICE: He needs me, Kenny.

KENNY: Then send someone to tell him!

VOICE: I’m sending you.

KENNY: Someone besides me!

VOICE: Kenny, you know all about me because a long time ago someone shared the good news with your great grandparents. I needed that someone to reach you. I need you to reach him. Will you go?

OBJECT LESSON OR KIDS SERMON


ITEM NEEDED: A toy snake When most people think of St. Patrick, they think of snakes. Does anyone know why? The legend of St. Patrick is that he removed all the snakes from the nation of Ireland. It’s only a myth, of course, but it’s a myth rooted in the real story of St. Patrick. In his time, Ireland was a nation of barbarians. When he was just a boy, St. Patrick was kid-napped and taken to Ireland, where he lived as a slave for 6 years. After St Patrick escaped to his home in England, God called him to become a mission-ary to the Irish people. St. Patrick endured many years of persecution and hardship, but in the end, his efforts were successful. St. Patrick led the Irish people to accept Christi-anity. It was a snake in the Garden of Eden who first tempted Adam and Eve to sin, and when St. Patrick freed the people from their pagan religion, he symbolically drove the snake from the island. St. Patrick’s story is a reminder that the gospel is for everyone. We need to share the good news of Jesus with all people, no matter how sinful they appear to be. Not every-one will accept the gospel, but if we let God lead the way, we will find hearts ready and willing to embrace the good news that transformed Ireland. One day, God will chase the snakes from this world and create a new kingdom without sin. Until then, it’s up to us to follow St. Patrick’s footsteps and share the gospel with whoever will listen!

OBJECT LESSON OR KIDS SERMON


ITEM NEEDED: A toy snake When most people think of St. Patrick, they think of snakes. Does anyone know why? The legend of St. Patrick is that he removed all the snakes from the nation of Ireland. It’s only a myth, of course, but it’s a myth rooted in the real story of St. Patrick. In his time, Ireland was a nation of barbarians. When he was just a boy, St. Patrick was kid-napped and taken to Ireland, where he lived as a slave for 6 years. After St Patrick escaped to his home in England, God called him to become a mission-ary to the Irish people. St. Patrick endured many years of persecution and hardship, but in the end, his efforts were successful. St. Patrick led the Irish people to accept Christi-anity. It was a snake in the Garden of Eden who first tempted Adam and Eve to sin, and when St. Patrick freed the people from their pagan religion, he symbolically drove the snake from the island. St. Patrick’s story is a reminder that the gospel is for everyone. We need to share the good news of Jesus with all people, no matter how sinful they appear to be. Not every-one will accept the gospel, but if we let God lead the way, we will find hearts ready and willing to embrace the good news that transformed Ireland. One day, God will chase the snakes from this world and create a new kingdom without sin. Until then, it’s up to us to follow St. Patrick’s footsteps and share the gospel with whoever will listen!

LARGE GROUP GAME


POT O’ GOLD

ITEMS NEEDED: Toy gold coinsA toy cauldron

INSTRUCTIONS: Set the cauldron on stage. Choose one contestant and have them stand several feet away from the cauldron. The contestant has one minute to bounce four coins off the floor and into the bucket - one for every leaf of a lucky clover. If they get four coins into the cauldron before a minute expires, they win a prize.

VARIATION: For younger kids, you can have them stand on a chair or small stool and try to drop a certain number of coins into a small cup or bucket.

LARGE GROUP LESSON



OBJECTIVE: Kids will learn the importance of evangelizing through the story of St. Patrick. KEY PASSAGE: Acts 10. God tells Peter to witness to Cornelius.

INTROImagine that you were kidnapped as a small child. Imagine that you were taken from a clean, secure home and drug away to a third world country. Imagine being forced to work as a slave for the same cruel barbarians who kidnapped you. For six years you ate garbage and worked long hours for a savage people. Then one night, God tells you to run for it. You run and run and find a boat that takes you back home to the safety of the place you grew up. After all that, how many of you, if asked, would willingly return to the same land where you were once a prisoner and a slave? Believe it or not, that’s the story of St Patrick! St. Patrick was an English boy who was kidnapped by Irish pirates. After six years of slavery, he escaped back to England. But when he got there, a recurring dream kept calling him back to Ireland. St. Patrick knew that God wanted him to take the gospel to his former captors. After becoming a priest, St. Patrick had to fight for the chance to return to Ireland. The church did not want him taking the gospel outside the Roman Empire, but eventually, they gave in. Patrick faced a great deal of persecution, but he eventually won the entire nation to Christianity. If he had not done so, Christianity might not have survived the Middle Ages. When the Roman Empire fell and many of the early Christian writings van-ished, an order of Irish Monks established by St. Patrick was ready to take the Bible to the world, just as St. Patrick had done for them.

LARGE GROUP LESSON



OBJECTIVE: Kids will learn the importance of evangelizing through the story of St. Patrick.

KEY PASSAGE: Acts 10. God tells Peter to witness to Cornelius.

INTROImagine that you were kidnapped as a small child. Imagine that you were taken from a clean, secure home and drug away to a third world country. Imagine being forced to work as a slave for the same cruel barbarians who kidnapped you. For six years you ate garbage and worked long hours for a savage people. Then one night, God tells you to run for it. You run and run and find a boat that takes you back home to the safety of the place you grew up.

After all that, how many of you, if asked, would willingly return to the same land where you were once a prisoner and a slave? Believe it or not, that’s the story of St Patrick!

St. Patrick was an English boy who was kidnapped by Irish pirates. After six years of slavery, he escaped back to England. But when he got there, a recurring dream kept calling him back to Ireland. St. Patrick knew that God wanted him to take the gospel to his former captors. After becoming a priest, St. Patrick had to fight for the chanceto return to Ireland. The church did not want him taking the gospel outside the RomanEmpire, but eventually, they gave in.

Patrick faced a great deal of persecution, but he eventually won the entire nation to Christianity. If he had not done so, Christianity might not have survived the Middle Ages. When the Roman Empire fell and many of the early Christian writings van-ished, an order of Irish Monks established by St. Patrick was ready to take the Bible to the world, just as St. Patrick had done for them.

LARGE GROUP LESSON


St. Patrick’s life is a reminder that the good news of Jesus is for everyone. Like the English bishops who forbade St. Patrick from going to Ireland, many in the early church believed the gospel was for the Jews only. God sent a vision to one of Jesus’ disciples that changed all that.

READ Acts 10:9-28

MAIN POINTIf you know your Bible, you know this isn’t the first time God asked someone to preach to a people who didn’t know God. God asked Jonah to take the gospel to Nineveh, a city that hated and persecuted the Jews. Jonah didn’t want to go because of his hatred for Nineveh. But when he did, the people received the message as eagerly as the bar-barians of Ireland.

All three of these stories - St. Patrick, Peter, and Jonah - have the same message for us: go and preach the gospel to all nations. The good news of Jesus is for people of every language, every nationality, and every culture. It’s for young and old, rich and poor, good and evil. We are all sinners in the eyes of God, and when Jesus died on the cross, he died for all of us. It takes great courage to speak up for Jesus, but when we do, God can transform entire nations - just as he did in Ireland.

DRIVE IT HOMEThe gospel of Jesus is life changing. Because of Christ, an English boy who was forced into slavery was able to not only forgive his captors, but share the same good news that changed his life with them. Because of Christ, a man named Chuck Colson, who went from an office in the White House to a prison, not only became a Christian, but creat-ed a ministry that still reaches out to prisoners and their families. Because of Christ, a missionary named Jim Eliot and four other men lost their lives trying to share that gospel with an uncivilized people. Because of Christ, Jim Eliot’s wife and the widows of his compatriots followed in their husband’s footsteps and converted that same tribe - in-cluding the men who killed their husbands.

The gospel is for everyone, and there is no one in this world Jesus cannot forgive. Thats why we have to do more than just sit in our churches and never take that mes-sage to the world. It's too good to keep a secret!

One day God may call you to the ministry. He may call some of you to missions. Most of you will probably go to school, choose a vocation, and go to work outside the church. Whatever path your life takes, God will put people around you who need Jesus. If you’re in school, God’s already done that! The question is, will you answer the call to share Jesus?

LARGE GROUP LESSON


St. Patrick couldn’t ignore the call. He forgave his captors, he shared the gospel with them, and he changed the world. When God calls you, be ready to say yes. That’s the first step to change our world!

CLOSE WITH A SIMPLE PRAYERDear God,

Thank you for the story of St. Patrick. Help us to have courage to share the gospel with everyone we meet, just as he did.


SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION (K-2ND)


ICEBREAKERWhat does your family do for St. Patrick’s Day?

MEMORY VERSE ACTIVITYMark 16:15Play the telephone game with the memory verse. For younger children, you may need to break the verse up into shorter sections and play several rounds.

SMALL GROUP GAME/ACTIVITYHave the kids act out the story of St. Patrick from the lesson.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONSWho was St. Patrick? What did St. Patrick do for the people of Ireland? Read Acts 10:9-28 What did God ask Peter to do? How was the story of St. Patrick similar to Peter’s story in this scripture? To whom does God want us to teach the good news of Jesus? SIMPLE PRAYERDear God,Thank you for sending Jesus to die for us. Help us remember that the gospel is for ev-eryone and help us to share it with anyone you put in our path. In Jesus’ name, Amen

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION (3-5TH)


ICEBREAKERWhat does your family do for St. Patrick’s Day?

MEMORY VERSE ACTIVITYMark 16:15Play the telephone game with the memory verse.

SMALL GROUP GAME/ACTIVITYHave the kids act out the story from today’s scripture.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONSWho was St. Patrick? Why did St. Patrick go to Ireland as a missionary? Read Acts 10:9-28 What was similar about Peter’s story and St. Patrick’s story? What is God telling us through both of these stories?

How can we follow in the footsteps of Peter and St. Patrick?

SIMPLE PRAYERDear God,

Thank you for sending Jesus to die for us. Help us remember that the gospel is for ev-eryone and help us to share it with anyone you put in our path.


POWERPOINT REVIEW GAME


St. Patrick is famous for driving the snakes out of Ireland.FALSE St. Patrick was a slave in Ireland who returned to share Christianity.TRUE In a dream, God told Paul to witness to the Gentiles.FALSE Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, not just some.TRUE There is no one too sinful that God can’t change his heart.TRUE

5 Simple Ways You Can Make This Lesson Stick With Your Kids

THIS WEEK’S LESSON: ST PATRICK’S DAY


IN THE CAR:Today we learned the story of St. Patrick. St. Patrick was from England, and he spent six years as a slave in Ireland before escaping. When God called him to go back to Ireland, he went as a missionary and converted the nation to Christ. St. Patrick’s life is a reminder that we need to take the gospel to the whole world, and that God can trans-form anyone who accepts that good news for himself.

HANGING OUT:Make this week’s lesson real:This week, take notice of all the decorations and symbols related to St. Patrick. How might they remind us of the real story of St. Patrick? AT DINNER:Here are some great discussion starters:- What did God tell Peter in his dream?- What did the dream mean?- Do you think there’s any sin or person God can’t forgive? AT BEDTIME:Quiz your child on this week’s memory verse:“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’” - Mark 16:15 (NIV) PARENT TIME:What you need to know:

It’s hard to fathom how God can forgive some people, but we must learn to forgive our-selves so God can use us to reach them. If there’s a person in your life you are strug-gling with, ask God to give you a forgiving heart and use you to shine the light of Christ on that person.

5 Simple Ways You Can Make This Lesson Stick With Your Kids

THIS WEEK’S LESSON: ST PATRICK’S DAY


IN THE CAR:Today we learned the story of St. Patrick. St. Patrick was from England, and he spent six years as a slave in Ireland before escaping. When God called him to go back to Ireland, he went as a missionary and converted the nation to Christ. St. Patrick’s life is a reminder that we need to take the gospel to the whole world, and that God can trans-form anyone who accepts that good news for himself.

HANGING OUT:Make this week’s lesson real:This week, take notice of all the decorations and symbols related to St. Patrick. How might they remind us of the real story of St. Patrick? AT DINNER:Here are some great discussion starters:- What did God tell Peter in his dream?- What did the dream mean?- Do you think there’s any sin or person God can’t forgive? AT BEDTIME:Quiz your child on this week’s memory verse:“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’” - Mark 16:15 (NIV) PARENT TIME:What you need to know:

It’s hard to fathom how God can forgive some people, but we must learn to forgive our-selves so God can use us to reach them. If there’s a person in your life you are strug-gling with, ask God to give you a forgiving heart and use you to shine the light of Christ on that person.

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“He said to them

, ‘Go into all the w

orld and preach the gospel to all creation.’”

- Mark 16:15 (N

IV)

“He said to them



- Mark 16:15 (N

IV)

“He said to them



- Mark 16:15 (N

IV)

“He said to them



- Mark 16:15 (N

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St. Patrick's Day

The gospel is for everyone.

ACROSS

1 Preach the gospel to all_______.

4 How God spoke to Peter.5 Died on the cross for

the sins of the world.

DOWN

1 Roman soldier whowanted to hear thegospel.

2 St. Patrick's homecountry.

3 Country where St.Patrick was a slave andthen a missionary.

6 How many years St.Patrick was a slave.

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St. Patrick's Day

The gospel is for everyone.

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LESSON SNAPSHOT · 2019-01-16 · LESSON SNAPSHOT ST PATRICK’S DAY LESSON BOTTOM LINE: The gospel...

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