VBS Curriculum Day 4 Copy

Day 4

Overview

Bible Lesson—Jesus & Lazarus

Key Verse— John 11:25 – “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies.’”

Get Ready

You will need:

Bible Story signs that say: Jesus, Mary, Martha, Lazarus
Key verse signs that say: I / am / the / resurrection / and / the / life. / He / who / believes / in / me / will / still / live, / even / if / he / dies.” / John 11:25
Something you can toss such as a bean bag.
1 roll of toilet paper
Something to mark boundaries for today’s game area.
Snack items such a popsicles or snacks and drinks.

Preparation:

Make sure your snack items are ready and that you have easy access to them
Mark off your game area.
Print or make the signs for today’s Bible story and key verse.
Have your Bible marked at John 11 and John 14:6

Get Started

Leader: “Who should be #1 in your life?” The kids: Jesus!

Sing a Song

Sing If You Love Jesus or another favorite song of your kids.

Leader: “Who should be #1 in your life?” The kids: “Jesus!”

Get Familiar

Ask the Kids —

If could change one thing about the world, what would you change?
If could change one thing about your family, what would you change?
If could change one thing about yourself, what would you change?

In today’s Bible story we’re going to see a couple of sisters that wished things were different. Let’s take a look at it.

Bible Lesson—Jesus & Lazarus

Choose two girl volunteers and two boy volunteers. Give the girl volunteers signs for “Mary” and “Martha.” Give the boys the “Lazarus” and “Jesus” signs.

Read Luke 11:1-7 from your Bible.

Mary, Martha and Lazarus were close to Jesus but Jesus and his disciples had travelled up north. (Move the volunteer with the “Jesus” sign away from the others.)

While He was gone, Lazarus became very ill. (Ask the “Lazarus volunteer to hold his stomach like he is sick.).

So Mary and Martha sent for Jesus. They wanted Him to come and heal their brother.

Ask the Kids—Did Jesus immediately come to heal Lazarus? (No, because He knew what was going to happen and knew that it would glorify God.)

Read Luke 11:11-15 from your Bible.

SAY: Lazarus had already died. (Ask the “Lazarus” volunteer to sit or lie down.)

Ask the Kids—Did you know that Jesus is even stronger than death? Watch what happens…

Read Luke 11:21-27 from your Bible.

Have the “Martha” volunteer act this out, coming to Jesus and saying, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.”

Ask the Kids—What was Jesus’ response to Martha? What do you think He meant?

Read Luke 11:32-37 from your Bible.

Have the “Mary” volunteer act this out, coming to Jesus, falling at his feet and saying, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died!”

Ask the Kids—What did the Bible say that others were thinking? (That Jesus could heal others and certainly could have healed Lazarus too.)

But Jesus had a plan. You see, what they didn’t understand was that Jesus is even stronger than death. Listen to what happened next.

Read Luke 11:38-44 from your Bible.

Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. He is even stronger than death.

Wrap the “Lazarus” volunteer in toilet paper. Wrap him as much as you like and have fun doing this. If you want, even let some good listeners help.

In their culture when someone died, they wrapped their body in clothes. That what the toilet paper represents. Lazarus would have been wrapped from head to toe. He had been dead for four days but when Jesus called him out, Lazarus came back to life.

Have the “Lazarus” volunteer tear the toilet paper off of him.

Jesus told them to unbind him and let him go.

Ask the Kids—How do you think Mary and Martha responded? How do you think the crowd responded?

Read Luke 11:45 from your Bible.

Because of this miracle many believed in Jesus.

Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. Once we know him, we don’t have to be afraid of death because the life He gives goes beyond this life. It’s called, “being saved” or “giving your life to Jesus.” Jesus died and rose again to give you life, to save you from your sins. He died and rose again because He loves you and has great plans for your life. So, if you have any questions about how you can know Jesus and the life He gives, please talk to one of us today.

Leader: “Who should be #1 in your life?” The kids: “Jesus!”

Sing a Song

Teach and lead the song Peace Like a River – You can find songs in the VBS Training Session on Leading VBS Songs.

You will only ever have peace when you follow Jesus with all your heart.

Leader: “Who should be #1 in your life?” The kids: “Jesus!”

Play a Game—Spell It

Tell your kids that when you call out a letter they are going to use their bodies as a group to make that letter on the ground. (If you want, make it more fun by timing them to see how fast they can make the letters.)

Make the Letter “L” – Your students should all work together to make a big letter “L”

Make the Letter “I”

Make the Letter “F”

Make the Letter “E”

Discussion

Have your kids sit down with you.

Ask your Kids—What word did we spell with the last 4 letters?

Today’s Key Verse comes from our Bible story:

Jesus said to her,

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies.” John 11:25

In other words, there’s a life that goes on even after we die. If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you can know that when you die physically, you will continue to live forever with God in Heaven. You have been raised to a new life.

Play the game again.

Make the Letter “W”

Make the Letter “A”

Make the Letter “Y”

Discussion

In John 14:6 Jesus said,

“I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through Me.”

Jesus is the way. He is the only way to be saved from our sins, the only way to be forgiven and the only way for us to be with God in Heaven after we die.

Jesus is the life and there is no life outside of Him.

Everybody take a deep breath.

Life is more than breathing and existing. Real life is only found in Jesus Christ.

Ask the Kids—What is eternal life?

Eternal life isn’t just that we get to go to Heaven after we die if we know Christ as our Lord and Savior. Did you know that eternal life begins the moment you receive Jesus?

In John 17:3, Jesus said,

“This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.”

Eternal life means that you get to walk with God everyday and then someday when you die, you get to be with Him forever in Heaven.

We’re going to have snacks now but if you have any questions about what it means to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, we can talk about it while we snack.

Snacks

While you lead the next part, let your kids have a popsicle or a snack and drink.

Key Verse

Let’s review our key verse today?

Ask the Kids—Can anybody say it?

Jesus said to her,

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies.” John 11:25

Play the following game:

Print the word for the verse on pieces of regular paper or card stock paper. Lay out the words for today’s Bible Verse in the correct order about five to eight feet away from your kids. Let your kids stand up to see the verse and say it with them.

NOTE: If it’s windy you might need to put something heavy on the words to keep them from blowing away.

Give students an opportunity to throw a bean bag or another object at the words on the ground. When the object lands on a word, remove that word and repeat the entire verse. Toss the object again. Remove another word. Say the entire verse again. Continue playing until all the words are gone and the children can repeat the verse from memory.

Ask the Kids—Do you have any questions about what this Bible verse means?

Group Challenge

Take a few minutes to work on and practice your group cheer. Then video it to share with your VBS Director.

Wrap It Up

Review

Take a few minutes to review today’s lesson:

What was our story about?
Who are the main characters?
What did they do?
What was our key verse?
What did you learn today and how does it affect your life?
Do you have any questions?
Is there anything you want us to pray for?

Pray

Ask your kids for prayer requests. Then pray and pray that your students will give their lives to Christ when the time is right and follow Him always.

Be sure to remind your kids that if they have any questions about what it means to give their lives to Christ or how to be saved, to just ask you.

Leader: “Who should be #1 in your life?” The kids: “Jesus!”

Announcements

Remind your kids of any announcements from your VBS director.

Thought and suggestions on this lesson – Let us know.

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