SundayMAXleaders
Sunday School Resource
Produced by Jane Tibbs—Children’s Adviser
12 March 2017, the second Sunday of Lent
Introduction
Anyone who believes in Jesus can know his power to save
and set us free.
Game
Readings
Genesis 12:1-4a
Psalm 121
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
John 3:1-17
Where is it?
Hide a packet of sweets (with enough in it to share with everyone!) somewhere in the room.
The children can only find it by asking questions, in turn, about where it might be. For example
– is it on the floor? Is it under a chair?
Discussion
Nicodemus asked questions to help him understand what Jesus was saying.
Have you ever asked a question and got a surprising answer? Have you ever asked a question
and got a strange answer? What questions would you like to discuss with Jesus? How might
you find out what Jesus would say?
Nicodemus was a well respected Pharisee and teacher. Telling Jesus that he didn’t understand needed a huge amount of bravery and honesty.
It’s OK not to know it all!
What questions would you like to ask Christian leaders – perhaps from your own church or
different churches.
Songs
Shining with God’s Love
Sung to the tune of Jesus Loves Me
Look at me, you’ll see God’s light
shining in my eyes so bright.
Look at me, you’ll see God live
in all the love that I can give.
God’s light is in me.
God’s light is in me.
God’s light is in me,
For all the world to see.
Father hear the prayer we offer
For God so loved the world
Give thanks with a grateful heart
God forgave my sin in Jesus’ name
God’s love is deeper
He came down that we may have love
What a friend we have in Jesus
Will you come and follow me?
Hymns Old and New 120
Kidsource 464
Kidsource 68
Mission Praise 181
Kidsource 84
Sing Glory 116
Junior Praise 273
Hymns Old and New 560
Craft Activity
Night art
Make a picture of Nicodemus creeping through the streets at night
You will need
Black backing paper for each child
Paper for drawing on
Pencils and dark coloured crayons
Sticky stars
Glue
Scissors
Gold or silver pens
Encourage the children to draw Nicodemus and some houses (you could use
templates), colour them in dark colours and cut them out. One window in a house
could be yellow to show a light inside. Stick these onto the bottom of the black paper
and stick stars in the sky at the top.
Write in gold or silver pen, “Nicodemus came to ask Jesus questions at night”.
The Education Department, The Old Deanery, Wells BA5 2UG
Tel:01749 685134 email:[email protected]
Prayers
Always
Jesus promised to be with us always, by his Spirit. This prayer is about that. It’s an old
Celtic prayer attributed to St Patrick whose saint’s day is 17 March, last Thursday.
Christ be with me
Christ be beside me
Christ be before me
Christ be behind me
Christ at my right hand
Christ at my left hand
Christ be with me, everywhere I go.
Christ be my friend for ever and ever.
Amen
Bubble prayers
You will need pots of bubble mixture and wands
Read John 3:8. We can’t see the wind, but we can see what it does, and it’s the same
with the Spirit.
Spend some time playing with the bubbles, outside if possible. Watch where the wind
carries the bubble. When you blow a bubble you have no way of knowing where it will end
up.
Pray some simple prayers as you blow bubbles, that God will bless people and help them
to understand more. As you watch the bubbles float away, think about God’s blessing
being carried to others.
The Education Department, The Old Deanery, Wells BA5 2UG
Tel:01749 685134 email:[email protected]
SundayMAXkids
Sunday 12 March 2017
Today is the second Sunday of Lent
Nicodemus visited Jesus at night. Can
you count the stars in the sky?
Unscramble these anagrams to find out some ways we can find answers to our questions about
God.
Draw a picture to show yourself doing each of these things.
yrpa
ot
dGo
____ __ ___
dare
eth
Bbeli
ksa na
____ ___ _____
dtlua
___ __ _____
Use the name Nicodemus to make an acrostic poem about the story
N ____________________________
C ____________________________
O ____________________________
D ____________________________
E ____________________________
M ____________________________
U ____________________________
S ____________________________
An acrostic poem is
a series of lines
where the first letter
in each lines forms a
name or message
I _____________________________
Questions! Questions!
Lots to think about.
Lots to talk about.
Lord, I am ready to find out more
about you
And to help others discover you, too.
Amen
SundayMAX
story
Sunday 12 March 2017
Nicodemus
Before you start the story, practise the actions with the children. Every time you say confused they make
a face, crept they pretend to creep, and wind they blow like the wind.
Nicodemus was a religious teacher. He had heard what Jesus had been saying and
wanted to know more, but he didn’t want anyone to see him talking to Jesus. So he
waited until it was dark, and crept off to find Jesus.
Nicodemus was confused and had lots of questions for Jesus. He wanted to know if Jesus
came from God. Jesus said something strange – he said the only way to see God’s
kingdom was to be born again.
Nicodemus was very confused. What did Jesus mean? Jesus said if you want to be in
God’s kingdom you have to start a new life, with the Holy Spirit to help you. Then he said
something else strange. “The wind blows wherever it wants, you can hear it but you don’t
know where it comes from or where it is going.”
Nicodemus was confused again. Jesus said the Holy Spirit is like that too, you can’t see
him or understand him, but you can see the difference he makes.
Nicodemus was still confused. He was a clever man, a teacher, but there was so much
Jesus said that he didn’t understand. Jesus said that there were lots of things that are
hard to understand, but that he had come to help. God didn’t send Jesus into the world to
tell people off for doing wrong things. Jesus came to save the whole world and help
everyone to be part of God’s kingdom.
When Nicodemus crept back to his house, he was still very confused. But every time he
heard the wind blow he remembered what Jesus said – we don’t always understand but
the Holy Spirit can help us.