Day 4 – Thursday, August 13, 2009

Point of the Day: I am forgiven and I can live for Jesus!

Lesson Reference: Matthew 26:31-35, 69-75, Luke 22:54-62, John 21:1-17

Leader Connection! ……………………………………………………………….

Hey Leaders! Welcome to our Summer Bible Blast lessons. Just wanted to give
you a brief description of the breakdown of the lessons. First of all, let’s talk
about role of the leaders and characters.

Leader Description

Super Songs With lots of energy will lead kids in songs and motions
led by guitar or CD

Teaching Will lead kids in the teaching part of the lesson

Amazing Game Will lead kids with help of parents and group leaders
in game time, helping make the daily point

Family/ Group Time Will distribute snakcs and lead kids in a reflective
discussion on the story and point of the day

All leaders will play a role in each activity, helping one another out. For example,
the worship leader will interact with the kids, talking through and leading kids in
songs and motions. The other leaders will also help with motions. The worship
leader will also lend a hand to help with Crafts and Games…one person leading
and the rest helping.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Super Songs: 15-20 minutes
Led by Worship Leader and helpers

Note to leader – feel free to interact with kids however you feel comfortable. Your role is to get
kids excited about God, helping them realize that we have a super awesome God and He loves
us more than we know! You can use the following script to help you, but don’t feel like you have
to memorize it. You can put it in your own words.

SAY: “This is our last day together for Summer Bible Blast – it sure has been a
lot of fun singing songs with you guys and learning together. Does anyone
remember the Bible verse that we talked about yesterday? Roman 10:9
“Believe in Jesus and that He is alive!”

SAY: “That’s right – we learned that Jesus is the promised savior and that when
we believe in Him we can be part of God’s family! I don’t know about you,
but that make me want to dance…let’s sing together…

Lead kids in songs, teaching them motions before playing the song.
Play Song: Dancing Generation

SAY: “Okay, great job! Today, we’re going to learn that we can live for Jesus
every single day! He wants us to live for Him when we’re at home, when
we’re playing at the park, even if we go camping or on vacation
somewhere. Jesus is totally worth living for because He is the best friend
we’ll ever have – let’s sing it…

Lead kids in songs, teaching them motions before playing the song.
Play Song: My Best Friend

SAY: “Okay, one last song…we learned this one yesterday and it reminds us
what Jesus did for us, how he died to save us and how He loves us and
still lives!!!

Lead kids in songs, teaching them motions before playing the song.
Play Song: My Savior, My God

………………………………………………………………………………………………
Lesson: 20-25 minutes
Led by Teaching Leader

Note to leader – the teaching time consists of an object lesson (or story starter) and a
story. The object lesson will generally lead into the story and theme of the day.

One other thing to note – to prepare, be sure to read through all the info below. The
stories are pretty long. When you share the story with the kids, don’t read it from the
page…read it enough times that you can share the story in your own words or
paraphrase it. Tip: You can highlight different sections to help you remember.

Object Lesson and Story

Scripture Reference - Matthew 26:31-35, 69-75, Luke 22:54-62, John 21:1-17

Materials Needed: 10-20 water balloons

Blindfold
Posterboard with 4 blank lines on it – ex: _ _ _ _
Marker

SAY: (holding up a water balloon) I’ve gotta tell you, my most favorite thing to do
at camp is to have a water balloon fight! Now, we’re not going to have a
water balloon fight, but we are going to have fun with this water balloon.

DO: Select another leader or a willing parent to help you out.

SAY: Here’s what we’ll do. (hold up poster board with 4 blank lines on it) On
this poster board is 4 blank spaces for a word that you need to guess.
Here’s how it works…I’m going to put a blindfold on our volunteer and I’ll
stand a few feet away. I’ll toss a water balloon to him/her and he/she will
try to catch it while wearing the blindfold. If he/she drops it, then I’ll pick
one of you to guess a letter! But if he/she catches it, then they get to
throw it at all of you.

SAY: Now here’s a hint…the word that we need to guess rhymes with forgive!!!

DO: As you begin tossing water balloon, have kids guess at the letters that
make up the word LIVE.

SAY: (once kids guess word say) It’s not just by chance that the word forgive
rhymes with live! That’s what we’re talking about today at Summer Bible
Blast! Yesterday we talked about how Jesus died for us…we’ll before He
died, something really sad happened.

SAY: Peter and the other disciples went with Jesus to a place called the Mount
of Olives. They had just celebrated the Passover meal with Jesus and
Jesus had said something that upset Peter tremendously. During the
 meal, Jesus had said one of the disciples would betray Him. I can’t
believe any of us would betray Jesus, Peter must have though. We’ve all
seen the amazing things He’s done. He’s the Savior! Who would betray
the Savior?

SAY: But then Jesus said something else that upset Peter, “Friends, before
tonight is over you will all desert me. You’ll even deny that you know me.”

SAY: Peter couldn’t believe his ears! “Lord, I will NEVER say I don’t know You!
Even if everyone else leaves You, I never will,” Peter said firmly.

SAY: Jesus looked at His friend, “Peter, I’m telling you the truth. Before the
rooster crows in the morning, you will say that you don’t know me three
times.” Peter couldn’t believe what Jesus was saying. Peter loved his
friend and believed he would do anything for Him.

SAY: Peter even said he’d DIE before he’d deny knowing Jesus. The other
disciples spoke up and said they too would stand by Jesus.

SAY: But shortly after that, Jesus was arrested. And all the disciples ran away,
just like Jesus had said they would. The disciples were afraid. If Jesus
could be arrested when He hadn’t don’t anything wrong, maybe they could
be arrested for KNOWING Him!

SAY: Even though Peter was scared, he followed the soldiers who took Jesus,
but at what he thought was a safe distance. Peter watched as Jesus was
taken to the high priest’s house to be questioned. Peter couldn’t go inside,
so he waited outside.

SAY: Peter noticed some people gathered around a fire in the courtyard. It’s
awfully cold. I’ll go by the fire and wait, he thought to himself. As he
warmed himself by a fire, a servant girl looked at Peter; she studied his
face for a moment and then seemed to recognize him. She asked, “Hey
aren’t you one of the disciples that follows that man being questioned in
there?”

SAY: Everyone turned and looked at Peter. Peter froze. He was terrified! Peter
lied. “ I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Peter said sharply.

SAY: Now another person spoke up. “Yeah…Sure! I’ve seen you with Him!”
Peter was desperate. “It wasn’t me! I don’t know what you people are
talking about?”

SAY: A little while later someone else recognized Peter as one of Jesus’ friends.
“This guy was with that man. Look at him! You can tell he’s from Galilee,
same as that Jesus fellow.”
SAY: This time Peter was really mad. HE cursed and yelled, “I am NOT one of
Jesus’ friends,” Peter yelled. “I don’t know that man you are talking about!”

SAY: Just then, a rooster crowed. Suddenly, Peter remembered Jesus’ words,
“Before the rooster crows in the morning, you will cay that you don’t know
me three times.” The guilt of his denial crashed down on Peter like a
heavy hammer. Peter stumbled away from the fire. He went outside the
gates and cried bitter tears. I cant believe what I’ve done. I couldn’t even
admit that I knew Him, let alone that He is my friend and Savior. Peter felt
miserable . HE must have wondered if Jesus would ever forgive him.

SAY: The Bible tells us that after His arrest, Jesus was killed and buried in a
tomb. Peter was miserable. But on the third day after all this happened,
some women told Peter that the tomb was empty! Peter ran to see the
empty tomb. Jesus was alive! Peter actually saw Jesus several times after
He rose from the tomb.

SAY: One of those times was when Peter and several of the disciples had been
out fishing all night long. But they hadn’t caught a single fish. As they
neared shore, Peter, saw a man standing on the beach. The man called
out of them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”

SAY: “No,” the disciples answered.

SAY: Then the man said something strange. “Throw your net over the right side
of the boat. You’ll find fish there.” Peter looked at the other disciples and
shrugged. It can’t hurt to try! He may have thought. So they tossed the
net, SPALSH, into the water on the right side of the boat.

SAY: When they tried to pull the net in again, it was so heavy with fish, they
couldn’t budge it! HEY! This seems pretty familiar, Peter thought,
remembering the time when Jesus called Peter to follow Him. Peter
looked over again at the man on the beach. So did another disciple, John.
Suddenly John yelled, “It is the LORD!”

SAY: Jesus! It’s Jesus on the Shore! Peter was so happy and excited; he
jumped right into the water and swam to shore to see Jesus. The rest of
the disciples followed in the boat. When they got to the shore, they saw
that Jesus had made a fire and started cooking breakfast. “Bring in those
fish you just caught,” Jesus said. Peter climbed back on board the boat
and helped the other disciples drag the net ashore. Even though it was
loaded down with fish, the net didn’t tear. “Come and eat!” Jesus said.
Peter was thrilled to see Jesus, but he also probably still felt guilty about
having denied Jesus.
SAY: Jesus knew exactly how Peter was feeling. And he wanted Peter to know
that he was forgiven. After they had eaten, Jesus and Peter talked
together.

ASK: What do you think Peter was hoping Jesus would say?

SAY: “Peter, do you love me?” Jesus asked. Peter was glad to be able to tell
Jesus, “Yes Lord, You know that I love you.”

SAY: “Feed my sheep,” Jesus said. And he said it three times! Jesus meant that
Peter was to help his followers know more about God’s love. Jesus didn’t
give up on Peter…even when Peter sinned.

SAY: Jesus loved Peter and gave him an important job to do. Best of all, Peter
knew that Jesus had forgiven him and that he could make a fresh start
with Jesus! Jesus doesn’t give up on us either. His forgiveness is a
reliable as a big strong rock. WE can know for certain that Jesus loves us,
even when we do wrong things. And when Jesus forgives us, He wants
us to live for Him…just like He wanted Peter too!

SAY: In Psalm 86:5 our Bible says, “You are forgiving and good O lord. You
always love me.” All we have to do is ask and Jesus will forgive us.

SAY: When we ask for his forgiveness, Jesus forgives us AND gives us a fresh
start as members of God’s family. (Invite students interested in knowing
more about becoming members of God’s family to talk with you or another
teacher after class.)

………………………………………………………………………………………………
Amazing Game 10-15 minutes
Led by Game Leader and helpers

***Note to leaders*** The following supplies will not be provided to your sight. Use
whatever you or your team has for the obstacle course. You can use all of the items or
only some of them; or you can revise using items you do have.

Materials:
- Hiking boots
- Tent
- Board/log
- Blue tarp
- Sticks
- Binoculars
- Fishing pole
- Cooler
- Cups
- A few backpacks or pillow cases
- Large rocks
Preparation:
Set up an obstacle course that best suits your environment

Procedure:
This game is up to the game coordinator and/or host family. This can be set up in a
variety of ways, whatever best fits your environment. Depending on the number of
children and the time allotted for the game, you may want to have one child go at a time,
a few at a time, or all at the same time.

Camping-Themed Ideas for Obstacles:

- Put on hiking boots and take 7 steps
- Go into a tent lay down and snore 3 times
- Balance on a log/board
- “Swim” across a blue tarp
- Stack sticks for a campfire
- Look for a bird through your binoculars
- “Catch a fish”
- Drink a cup of water from the cooler

As the kids work through these obstacles, they will be required to carry a “burden”
(maybe a rock or heavy backpack or pillow case) with them. When they get to a
designated point of the obstacle course, they can drop their “burden” and shout “I AM
FORGIVEN”. After this, they will go back though the obstacle course without any
“burden”.

ASK: Was it hard for you to do the obstacle course when you had to carry
around your “burden”? How much easier was it when after you said
“I AM FORGIVEN” and dropped your burden?

SAY: Do you remember in our story how Peter felt after he said he didn’t know
Jesus? That was like a burden, kind of like a heavy bag or a big rock to
carry around. Sometimes we think we are not good enough, or that we
cannot do good things for God because sometimes we mess up. But
Jesus forgives us. When Jesus forgives us, we feel like we don’t have to
carry that heavy burden anymore. Even when we mess up really big God
forgives us and wipes away those bad things. But after he forgives us, we
have to try our best to do better and keep on living in ways that make God
happy. We cannot keep on sinning. Our memory verse for today even
talks about how we are created to do good things. It is from Ephesians
2:10 and says “God made us to do good things”.

………………………………………………………………………………………………
Family/Group Time: 10-15 minutes
Facilitated by Teaching Leader - Led by parents or group leaders
Supplies Needed: Snacks, Family Group Discussion Sheets

Note to leader – During the Family/Group time, kids will sit down with their parents or with group
leaders (which can be any of the leaders for songs, crafts, games, or ones who specifically
signed up to lead a group). Snacks will be passed out to each group. Questions sheets will be
distributed as well to review what was learned.

The following will be on the question sheets…

1. Why did Peter need to be forgiven? (Broke his promise to Jesus and said
three times that he didn’t know Jesus)

2. How did Jesus show Peter he was forgiven? (Helped him catch fish.
Asked him to feed His sheep. Didn’t give up on Peter)

3. What do you think was the most important part of this story? Why?

4. What might make it hard to make a fresh start? (Feeling like your friends
will make fun of you if you change. Feeling like you’ve done something so
bad, the situation cannot be changed)

SAY: Even though Peter had denied Him, Jesus forgave Peter and gave him a
fresh start. A fresh start doesn’t mean starting our lives over again in a
new place with a new name and with new friends. It means that Jesus will
help us start over again with new actions and attitudes. Today we are
learning at the truth that when we ask for Jesus’ forgiveness, He will
forgive us. Jesus helps us love and obey him.
SAY: Our Bible verse today is from Ephesians 2:10 and says “God made us to
do good things”.

ASK: What do you think is the main idea of this verse?

SAY: Jesus has a plan or each of us. WE were created to do good things for
Jesus and others. Everyday, Jesus will give us the strength we need to do
the good things he has planned for us.

5. What are some of the good works Jesus wants us to? (Don’t tease my
younger brother or sister. Read the Bible. Don’t swear or lie. BE honest
when parents ask you if you’ve done something or not.)

6. What are ways we can know what good works Jesus has planned for us?
(Follow the example of people in the Bible. Pay attention to the instruction
in Bible verses. Pray to Jesus. Ask parents or teachers)

SAY: Everyday Jesus will give us strength to do the good things He has planned
for us to do. All we have to do is ask for His help.

DO: Pass out snacks and camp journals. Also invite kids to Pelican Harbor
swim party – hand out invites with info for parents to see.

SAY: Take these journals home tonight and work on them tomorrow. If you visit
us on Sunday, you’ll receive a prize.