Preschool: Jesus calls the disciples

We heard the story of Jesus calling the disciples to follow him.

We asked, have you ever been fishing? We pretend to go fishing today! We played follow the leader to the fishing spot. Then we heard the story of Jesus asking all kinds of people to follow him: from poor fishermen to tax collectors. He asked for their help in spreading the message of God's love: that He is the Rescuer. In this way, the would be fishers of men.

For our craft, we made colorful fish to remember that we can be the Rescuer's helpers too, as fishers of men.

Thanks again to Jesse for taking over next week!

Preschool: Baptism of Jesus

Glad to be back after a long week of snow!

We heard the story of John baptizing Jesus.  This is a cool story that reminds us how clearly God tells us that Jesus is the Rescuer.

We began by thinking about water, how it washes us.  We heard about how water is special in the Bible.  It's used to baptize people.  We baptize in our church just like in the bible (put water on our heads to remember how God says I am with you, you are my child).

Next, we thought about birds, especially a bird called a dove.  A dove is a special bird in the Bible.  It is one way God shows He is with us: he sends a Dove.

Finally, we remembered John, the Prophet.  He lived in the desert and ate crickets and honey, he would shout: THE RESCUER IS COMING! Now we know that the Rescuer is Jesus.  He came as a baby and was growing up.  He came to see John the Prophet at the Jordan River to be baptized.

In the story, Jesus asked John to baptize him, like he was baptizing the other believers of his message that the Rescuer was coming.  When John saw Jesus, he said to the crowd, this is the Rescuer!   After John baptized Jesus, God sent a dove to fly down near Jesus to show that God was with them.  Then, the voice of God said: THIS IS THE RESCUER and I AM PROUD OF HIM!

What a cool story.

We made doves to remind us that God is with us in baptism AND that because he has sent the Rescuer, we are washed by grace.

Next week is my last week teaching and Jesse Diaz will take over as the lead teacher-- thank you Jesse!!

Preschool: Anna and Simeon

This week in Preschool we thought about waiting.  Waiting is hard!  Sometimes, we are waiting for presents, waiting for our birthday, waiting for grandparents to come.  In advent, we were waiting for the Rescuer.  We weren't the only ones waiting for the Rescuer... two people named Anna & Simeon were waiting too.  Their people, God's people, had been waiting for the promised Rescuer for many years.  Anna and Simeon both went to the temple (like church) every day hoping to see the Rescuer.  The day that Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple, both Anna and Simeon were overjoyed.  They prayed to God thanking him for sending the Rescuer and letting them live to see that baby, Jesus.

Our music, with Mark (thanks Mark!), was Go Tell It On The Mountain and He Came Down That We May Have Love. We used shakers and other rhythm instruments to show how joyful Simeon and Anna were to have seen Jesus.

For craft, we decorated a simplified version of Simeon's prayer to remind us to thank God for sending the Rescuer: Jesus.

Next week, Lydia will lead Sunday School in the story of Jesus returning to the temple, now as a grown boy.