SM Co-Mission Possible June 29_low res

MISSION 7: NOW WHAT? JOINING JESUS’ MISSION Preliminary Draft LESSON 3: SHOW CHRIST TO THE WORLD! M7 L3 NOTES KEY TEXT: Matthew 5:14-16 MEMORY VERSE: Matthew 5:16 CURRICULUM: M.S.2 Share the Gospel with greater detail, using key memory verses along with a visual aide; M.K.7 Articulate key aspects of the life of Paul, including his missionary heart for the world; M.K.8 Know the major worldview questions with a basic answer from a biblical perspective; M.D.10 Know the role or purpose of the church in the life of the believer TAKING AIM: APPLICATION: MY MOTIVE — Making Jesus visible in every part of my life can result in others coming to know Him too. PREPARE: a)For the opening game – Cut out five paper circles, and place them in various locations around the room. Have on hand a working flashlight and a large mirror. b) For the whole group activity – Write the provided verses on single slips of paper. c) For the concluding demonstration – Get three glasses, and do the following: In the first glass, pour a couple inches of baby oil; in the second glass, pour a couple inches of corn syrup with purple food colouring, and stir; in the third glass, fill one- third with water and add/stir in red food coloring. You will also need bleach. OPENER: Game: “Beam X-treme” – [Choose two people, one to hold a large mirror and the other to operate the flashlight. State the goal: The pair must work together to reflect light from the flashlight off the mirror so it lands on the five paper circles located in various parts of the room. Point out the five circles, then turn off the light. Time the team. Invite another pair to try to beat their time. Continue this process until all the students have had a turn or until you must move on because of time.] TRANSITION: All year, we have been learning about Jesus who declared [hold up the flashlight]: “I am the Light of the world” (Jn 8:12). He “beamed” His pure, holy light into the darkness of so many lives through His love, miracles, and teaching — but most importantly, by going to the cross to deal with our sin. Now, all who have been rescued from “the kingdom of darkness” and brought into a personal relationship with Christ, the Light, have a special call on their lives by Jesus Himself: “YOU are the light of the world” (Mt 5:14). Christ has gone back to Heaven, so how does He continue to shine His light into this dark world? …through His people. [Hold up the mirror.] If you belong to Him, you have the privilege of reflecting His light into your “circles”, which include your home, your school, your community. Why should you do this? 251

OUR KEY VERSE: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good U_ L_ NOTES works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Mt 5:16 NKJV). As Christ’s light reflects from your life, it shines into the lives of others who are still in darkness. This may result in their being saved — which grows, or expands, Jesus’ circles on Earth so they increasingly spread across the whole world. You’re going to complete an activity which looks at Jesus as THE Light [hold up the flashlight]; then we’ll return to think about [hold up the mirror] His children as lights in this world, reflecting His light. Let me read one more verse, then open in prayer. John 1:9 says that Jesus is “the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.” [Pray.] Here is your challenge: This verse says that God gives light to “every” person who comes into this world. Any thoughts on how He has done this? [Field responses.] Thank you for all these thoughts. Now I want to share four wonderful ways that God has given light to every person so that, as the Bible says, NO person has an excuse (Rom 1:20)! ACTIVITY: [Post these pictures on the board vertically, in this order: a heart, a night sky, a manger, a clock.] • I will divide you into four groups and give you each a verse to read. Decide which of these pictures goes with your verse, and how God’s light is shown through these. • In a few minutes, I’ll ask a volunteer or two from each group to come up, place your verse to the left of the picture, read the verse, and explain how God shows Himself through your picture. WHOLE GROUP: GROUP ONE: ROMANS 2:15 (HEART) [After the verse is fastened to the left of the heart, print on the right side the word HEART. Note, if aligned properly, the four “H” words you’re going to write beside each word will include the vertical acrostic REST.] TEACHER TALKING POINTS: 1. HEART: God has built into every heart a knowledge of God. Wait a minute! Doesn’t the Bible say that there are some people who do NOT know God? It says so here in 2 Thessalonians 1:8 – God is going to punish people who “do not know God”! That doesn’t sound fair at all. But there’s a very important lesson for us here. The Greek language has two different words that we translate as knowing. In English, to know describes knowledge or abil- ity. For example: I know how to play tennis. I know it’s wrong to kill. But in Greek: a) One word that we translate as knowing means “acquired knowledge — to know something through GROWTH”. This type of knowing is learned through doing, like learning to do a lay-up or learning math or learning to play an instrument or learning to ride a bicycle. (This is the Greek word ginosko.) 252

b) But the other word for knowing means “inherent knowledge — to know some- UU1_ LL5_ NOTESS thing from BIRTH”. This type of knowing is hard-wired by God into each person’s brain. (This is the Greek word oida.) We know it’s wrong to hit someone in the face, or to steal a bike.We just know, intuitively, that we should not do these things. No one has to tell us, because that knowledge is already in us. How did it get there? Not by evolution.The Bible says that God has written His law in our hearts: “They demon- strate that God's law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right” (Rom. 2:15 NLT). That’s right! WHAT CAN BE KNOWN HAS ALREADY BEEN SHOWN: “What can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them” (Rom 1:19 ESV). It’s this second word that we find in 2 Thessalonians 1:8. So this means that God is going to punish all those who choose to “unknow” what they already know — that there IS a God. They deny what every person is born knowing; they deny their God- given knowledge of a Creator-God. Paul describes this in Romans 1:28, “They did not like to retain God in their knowledge.” In other words, they opened the door of their brain and kicked God out! So what happened to their hearts when they did this? The Bible says their “foolish hearts were darkened” (Rom 1:21). It just makes sense: If you kick the Light out of your life, all you’ll have left is darkness! APPLICATION: This is serious business. So what have YOU done with this knowledge that God placed in your heart and mind? Notice, the Bible does not say that people go to Hell because they don’t believe in God. “Although they KNEW God, they did not honor Him as God” (Rom 1:21). Those who are lost for eternity are lost because they MADE THE CHOICE to reject what they knew in their hearts to be true.The Bible says they “suppress [hold down] the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom 1:18 NKJV). It’s just as foolish as saying,“I don’t believe this building exists.” If you searched your heart and were honest, you’d have to acknowl- edge that you just KNOW that God exists. But God, who is eager for us to know Him, has revealed Himself to us in even more ways. Sword drill (two verses)… GROUP 2: Psalm 19:1 / Psalm 97:6 (Night sky – Beside the picture, write HEAVENS.) “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands” (Ps 19:1 NIV). “The heavens proclaim His righteousness; every nation sees His glory” (Ps 97:6 NLT). TEACHER TALKING POINTS: Creation is another way that God has shown Himself to us: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things 253

that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without ex- UU1_ LL5_ NOTESS cuse” (Rom 1:20 NKJV). To deny that God is the Creator of this universe is to believe that: - Everything came from nothing? - Life came from non-life? - Order came from chaos? Hmmm… What would you think of someone who believed that this building came from nothing? That a bunch of wood and nails just happened to form into this sturdy, organized structure? Maybe, if we give it enough time (like billions of years), this build- ing could become a living animal? Of course, this sounds ludicrous — because it is! A design MUST have a designer. So creation MUST have a Creator. But why did the Creator create this creation? (Say that 5 times fast!) The Bible tells us that creation is like a stage where God wanted to dis- play something spectacular... Which brings us to… GROUP 3: Galatians 4:4,5 (Manger – Beside the picture, write HIS SON.) TEACHER TALKING POINTS: This has been the heart cry of man throughout the centuries. The ancient prophet Isaiah cried out, “Oh, that You [God] would rend the heavens! That You would come down” (64:1). Well, that day did come! God revealed Himself to us by visiting us. He sent HIS SON: God came to earth in human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus said,“Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9; see also Heb. 1:3). And we have at least 837 pieces of evidence that Jesus truly was God. [Write 837 on the board as a sum, with a horizontal line above it. Above that line, write the number 37.] Does anyone know what this number stands for? [Answer: The number of recorded miracles Jesus did which proved that He was God, for only God can do the supernatural, Jn 10:37,38] [Above 37, write the number 300.] What about this number? [The number of ancient prophecies which Jesus fulfilled perfectly. Maybe you remember that at the begin- ning of the year we watched a video which showed the statistical possibility of one person fulfilling only eight prophecies. That was one in one quadrillion (1 with 17 zeros). This is incontrovertible evidence — meaning, you can argue it, but really?! — yes, incontrovertible evidence that God revealed Himself to us through His Son!] [Finally, ask]: What number does that leave us with? [Answer: 500.] Would anyone 254

like to guess, or does anyone recall, what this number represents? [Answer: The M_ L_ NOTES number of eyewitnesses who saw Jesus after His resurrection] GROUP 4: Hebrews 1:1 (Clock – Write the word HISTORY.) TEACHER TALKING POINTS: God has shown Himself on a grand scale in the ways in which He has worked throughout history. He has worked “in various ways and in various times.…” (Heb. 1:1). [You may wish to turn back to the activity for Mission 1, Lesson 2, showing the 4,000 years leading up to the birth of Christ.] Do you remember how God worked through one family tree, revealing pictures of His Son? And all those prophecies, pointing to the coming of Christ? And how He worked quietly behind the scenes in those 400 years between the Old Testament and New Testament, making preparations, per- fectly setting the world stage so that Christ would come “at just the right time” (Gal 4:4,5)? In summary, God has gone to great lengths to shine His light on “everyone…coming into the world”! And for what purpose? So that God could bring us true… [CIRCLE THE LETTERS R-E-S-T in the four words you have just written down.] Listen to MATTHEW 11:28, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (NKJV). This isn’t the physical rest that we need after playing sports or after completing a big project. Rather, it’s the spiritual rest that God experienced after creating the universe: “God…rested” (Gen 2:2,3). No, God didn’t need a nap, because God never gets tired: “The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary” (Isa 40:28 NKJV). God’s rest is “divine satisfaction in a completed work”. Those who receive God’s forgiveness enter into this same rest — a deep inner peace because of the work Christ completed on the cross. There is nothing left for me to do but to believe that His death is sufficient to give me life. Ah! What a relief! What REST! [Put down the flashlight and hold up the mirror.] Now, guess what happens when this rest, this peace and contentment, this “light” of Jesus shines from YOUR life to those around you — to people who know nothing of this kind of rest and peace but who desperately want it? Very often — though they may not admit it — they become…curious…maybe even interested! 255

That’s right. Once someone has believed this evidence (the four Hs), they then be- M_ L_ NOTES come evidence! Your unsaved friends and family might want to argue about all sorts of things related to the Christian faith. But they can’t dismiss a life transformed by the peace of God! Do you remember the blind man who was healed by Jesus? The religious leaders in- terrogated him, asking who did it and how it happened. That man had no idea about any of those things. But he did know one crucial thing: “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see” (Jn 9:25 NIV). What a powerful testimony we have when we can say, “I can’t answer all your ques- tions, but one thing I do know is this: I was blind, but now I see. I was dirty with sin, but now I am clean, forgiven! I was anxious about my soul, but now I have peace be- cause I know that all is well between me and God. I know that, when I die, I will go to Heaven forever!” The rest, the peace, the transformed life Christ has given you will be a powerful display to others of the reality of God’s work in you and through you. And THIS is what Mat- thew 5:16 is all about: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Mt 5:16). That’s right. Others will notice, and some may even ask the secret of your spiritual rest. WHAT’S THE SECRET OF KNOWING GOD’S REST? Use the four letters of REST to explain how they too can have God’s peace. As we con- sider these four letters, I want to remind you of an object lesson we did a couple units ago: R: RELATIONSHIP...God built you to have a relationship with Him! • [If you have time, you can perfom this object lesson. If time is short, briefly mention each of the words for the acrostic REST. Object Lesson: Hold up the glass containing the baby oil.] Question: Can anyone remember what this clear liquid represented? [God in His purity, His holiness. We learned that, before time, God existed: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They needed nothing and no one else to exist or to be fully satisfied. But God desired to share His love and joy. So He made mankind — Adam and Eve. • [Hold up glass with purple liquid.] Question: And what about this purple liquid? [Roy- alty: Adam and Eve were like royalty because they got to walk and talk with God every day.] • [Pour purple liquid into the glass with the baby oil.] They enjoyed this lovely rela- tionship with nothing between them, until… E: EVIL…entered the picture. [Pour in the red water.] I used red because the Bible says our sins are red like crimson dye, meaning that we are stained by sin and nothing we do can get out that stain. You can see that sin brought death, spiritual separation from God. And no amount of effort or good works on the part of mankind could ever reconnect them to God. 256

We needed a… U_ L_ NOTES S: SAVIOUR…God sent Jesus to save us. [Hold up the bleach.] He went to the cross, took our sins on Himself, and paid for them by suffering God’s righteous anger for them and dying our death. But then, three days later, He rose as the true Champion, the Captain of our salvation! Now, all who… T: TRUST in Christ by admitting their sins and receiving Him as Savior can be saved. [Pour in bleach.] The sin barrier is removed, and we are, once again, brought into a right relationship with God. This results in true REST, PEACE with God. CONCLUSION: Yes, God has shown Himself to us in many ways. He has built right into our HEARTS a knowledge of Himself. He has shown His eternal Godhead and power in the HEAVENS and in all of creation. He has given us HIS SON who revealed the Father to us in all that He did and said. And He has shown His mighty power by sovereignly ruling (and overruling) throughout HISTORY. My question for you: What have you done with this LIGHT? God holds us accountable for how we respond to the light He has given. You’ve been given an abundance of light this year just in this class. We’ve spent much time considering these truths and many others. But if you’re still rejecting the light, the Bible warns, “If…the light that is in you is dark- ness, how great is that darkness!” (Mt 6:23 NKJV). This means that if you’re rejecting the light you have, greater darkness will set in so that it becomes increasingly more difficult for you to see any spiritual light at all. What should you do? Respond to God’s light today! Don’t let another day go by without stepping into the light of God’s salvation and allowing Him to expose your sin and cleanse you from it. If you are a Christian, you’ve been given the mission to GROW His circles. He has com- manded you to GO tell others about Him and to SHOW His light by allowing your life to reflect Jesus. Look at the five circles on the wall that we used during our opening game. I want you to see those five circles as five people in YOUR life, right now, who are still in darkness. Then prayerfully think about how you can intentionally shine the love of Christ into their lives — and resolve to do it this week. Next week could be too late! They need the light, and you have it. 257



REVIEW YEAR-END  SUMMATIVE TASK 259

GET READY FOR... MINI MINUTE-MISSIONS ORIENTATION DAY: No Mini Minute-Mission. See Lesson Notes. MISSION 1 LESSON 1: Memory! As a team, try to list on chart paper as many of the names and interesting facts shared about their classmates from the previous class. Give teams only three minutes for this mission. M1 L2: All Lined Up! Have each team write the order of the inventions in the Opener from newest to oldest, with #1 representing the newest. After one minute, reveal the correct order and award varying points to teams based on accuracy. Tie-in: Move the the TRANSITION part of the lesson. M1 L3: Unlocked! Select one representative from each team.After explaining the challenge, send them to the back of the room with eyes closed and ears plugged.With a toolbox and several keys in front of it, time each representative to see who can find the correct key to unlock the toolbox the fastest. Tie-in: “Today we’ll see that Jesus came to free those who were ‘locked up’ — which reminds me of a story… [leads into the opening story of this lesson].” MISSION 2 LESSON 1: Penny Stack! Set a dollar’s worth of pennies out on a table. See how many pennies each team can stack in one minute. If the tower collapses, they can start over. After you’ve counted the unstacked pennies to determine the number of pennies each team has stacked and declared the winner, bump the table so all the pennies fall. Tie-in: “Today, we’re going to learn about the time Jesus went into the temple and knocked over the tables full of money. What was that all about? Let’s find out…” M2 L2: Message Relay! Have each team select a “Guesser”. The rest of the team lines up. Hold up a word on a piece of paper (like “rocket ship” or “monkey”) for only the last person to see. Make sure the word is different for each group. When you say “Go!”, the last person whispers the message to the person in the front of them, etc., until the first person in line receives the message. They then have to draw that picture on the board. The first “guesser” to correctly identify their picture wins. Tie-in: “Today, we’ll learn about a message that was ‘relayed’ to Jesus. But you may find His response rather surprising!” M2 L3: Bubble Trouble! Select a representative from each team to try to blow the biggest bubble. During the minute countdown, stand beside the student who has blown the biggest bubble thus far. At the end of the minute, the person you’re standing beside is declared the winner. Tie- in: “Some of us have tempers like these bubbles. Our anger grows and grows until we pop! Today we’re going to learn from Jesus’ example how we can respond to pressure in ways that glorify God.” MISSION 3 LESSON 1: Peppermint Pictures! Give each team a paper plate and a little tube of toothpaste. In one minute, the teams are to create a picture as they squeeze the toothpaste out of the tube. At the end, you determine the winner based on how accurately you were able to guess their picture. Then say,“Okay, here’s the real challenge: In less than one minute, how much toothpaste can you get back into the tube?” [Note, the lesson opener has a condensed version of this in case you’re tight for time.] Tie-in: “Awfully tricky to get toothpaste back inside the tube, isn’t it? Today, Jesus tells a man something that sounds a lot more impossible than that. He tells an old man he needs to be born all over again. What?” M3 L2: Guess My Number: Give a student from each team a card with a number from 1 to 50. After they’ve looked at it, take the cards back to avoid any cheating. The challenge: The team must correctly guess that number in less than one minute. The student who knows the number can only respond “higher” or “lower” to each guess. The first team to guess their number correctly wins. Tie-in: “Okay, my turn. I get to guess the number you collectively pick.” [Then see the lesson.] M3 L3: See Opener in the lesson. M3 L4: See Opener in the lesson. M3 L5: Say,“There is no Mini Minute-Mission today because I was too busy picking up this scrumptious donut/cupcake/cookie…” See lesson. MISSION 4 LESSON 1: Filler’ Up! Have a plastic one-liter bottle ready for each team. Inside the empty bottle, drop a ketchup packet (test the packet first. Make sure it barely floats). The challenge: Using paper cups and water in a bucket, see what team can get the ketchup packet up to the opening — right up to the top, without spilling. Tie-in: “Great job! But now it’s my turn to impress you.” [See lesson Opener.] 260

GET READY FOR... MINI MINUTE-MISSIONS M4 L2: Paper Puppet! Give each team a paper bag with some markers. The challenge: Make a puppet that most resembles you (the teacher) in less than two minutes. Each person must contribute something to the puppet. Tie-in: “Now it’s my turn to have some fun with these paper bags. I’ll need a volunteer who likes Kit-Kats, though…” [Go to lesson Opener.] M4 L3: Finish That Quote! Give the teams one minute to try to finish the three quotes in the lesson Opener. You will award 5 points for each accurate answer (or something very close to the original quote), but you’ll also give 3 points for creative answers if they don’t know the correct an- swers. M4 L4: Let’s Cre-8! In one minute, how many pictures can you draw using the number 8? Tie-in: “While we’re at it, let’s ‘draw out’ some lessons about God’s Ten Commandments.” [See lesson Opener.] M4 L5: Draw It! Have a representative from each team come up. Blindfold them, and give them each a piece of chalk (or a marker if using chart paper). Giving simple directions, guide them to draw a picture of a house you’ve previously drawn, e.g. Draw a square. Draw a triangle on top of the square. Draw a rectangle coming out of the triangle. Draw smoke coming out of the triangle… In one minute, declare the picture that looks most like yours. Tie-in: “Can you imagine being blind? We’re going to learn about a man who had been blind since his birth…” MISSION 5 LESSON 1: Meme Patrol! Showing the picture “The Chess Players” (found in the lesson), give each team one minute to write as many clever (and, of course, appropriate and clean) captions as they can. Go through them and award points for funny, interesting, clever, etc. Tie-in: “This is actually a famous painting and has a powerful message connected to it. We’ll come back to it shortly. But first…[to the lesson].” M5 L2: It’s a Bird. It’s a Plane…Yep, It’s Just a Plane. Give each team one piece of paper. Have them make a paper airplane of their own design under two minutes (with potential bonus points if they can decorate it somehow). Perform a test-run. The plane that flies the furthest wins. Tie- in:“I actually want to begin with a real story about an airplane pilot that passed out! What happened next is nothing short of a miracle.” M5 L3: Windstorm! Set up a plastic cup on a long table for each team. Their challenge is to get their cup across a finish line using wind (no blowing air from mouths to avoid germ spreading!). If no one has crossed the finish line at one minute, the winner is the team who is closest to it when the bell goes. Tie-in: Imagine you have to go somewhere and the only way there is by boat…(continue on here in the lesson if you have completed this Mini Minute-Mission. M5 L4: See lesson Opener. Have each gift contain point values which will earn points for that team. When all the unwrapping is complete, tally the points. M5 L5: Gift Wrap! Provide each team with an (inexpensive) gift to wrap and supplies. The team who has the best wrapped gift (determined sub- jectively by you) in two minutes wins. Tie-in: Inform the students that you will be giving these gifts to some people you know who could use some encouragement. Think of the joy a small gift will bring them. We’ve been thinking of the Bible as a gift containing all kinds of discoveries intended to bring us joy. We just need to “unwrap” them by opening up our Bibles. MISSION 6: There are no Mini Minute-Missions for this unit as there are object lessons used in the introductions and time will be spent completing projects independently. MISSION 7 LESSON 1: Inform the students that points will be awarded for creativity in the lesson Opener. M7 L2: Operation Melt! See description in lesson Opener.You may wish to have all the students involved (the one with the smallest ice cube after two minutes wins points for their team), or choose one representative to participate for each team. Tie-in: Lead into the illustration at the beginning of the lesson. M7 L3: Beam X-Treme! If you choose to do this as a Mini Minute-Mission, choose a representative from each team. Time how long it takes them to “hit” all five circles with the reflected beam of light. Tie-in: Go directly to the Transition part of the lesson. 261

APPENDIX: Additional Gospel-Sharing Ideas

1 A MESSAGE TO “BE-LEAF” YOU WILL NEED: Key verse: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). A branch How to use this object lesson: Show what God says about our sin problem and present the two possible responses. A stone A piece of paper towel S I N NO! Some water A bowl to catch water 263 OUR PROBLEM HARDEN your In the Bible, “DEATH” means “SEPARATION”. Sin separates TWO Each time we say “No” to God’s offer YES! us from God Who is the source of eternal life (see John 17:3). RESPONSES of forgiveness, our hearts get a little bit harder. U5 L4, L5 — ACTIVITY YOUR TASK: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 4:7). 1. Read the descriptions and verses by each picture. SOFTEN your 2. Complete the demonstration, explaining important points like: If someone humbles their heart and BROKEN BRANCH: The branch is“dead”because it is separated from its life receives God’s forgiveness, they are saved! source. We are like that branch: We are spiritually“dead”because sin has broken our relationship with God, our source of life. Our only hope of “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus “reconnecting”with God is through the personal forgiveness of sins. and believe in your heart that God has TWO RESPONSES: a) Carefully pouring water onto the ROCK, point out how raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” the water just rolls off, in the same way a hardened heart ignores God’s love (Romans 10:9) and offer of forgiveness. b) Then carefully pour water over a paper towel that’s been folded twice.“Or, we can be like this PAPER TOWEL and soften our hearts, absorbing God’s message and accepting His forgiveness.”