Children's church msg, Baptism
verses used:
1 Peter 3:21
There is also an antitype which now saves us --baptism (not the removal of filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Mark 1:8
I indeed baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
Order of service and material needed:
Enter into Worship - white and clear balloons all over the floor, disco ball
2 Songs (atmosphere should be extremely exciting on the entrance of the children to service)
Lesson - 1 Peter 3:21 - construction paper cut outs that look like splatters of mud, Marker, tape or something to stick the cut outs to the children.
Memory verse - Mark 1:8
Game-balloon battle
Memory verse- Mark 1:8
Game- Car wash cat walk chairs lined up as a cat walk
Memory verse- Mark 1:8
Send them home (or free time if service is not finished)
Lesson: 1 Peter 3:21 There is also an antitype which now saves us - baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Read the verse to the children and ask them what it means direct their answers to the actual meaning if they are off track.
define the verse
Baptizo- dunk or dip,
antitype- a new way of doing things
baptism is a way of identifying yourself with Christ.
Discussion points
*Why is it important to be baptized/identify with Christ?
*What other ways can you identify with Christ?
*Have you ever been baptized?
*Have your parents or siblings been baptized?
*Have you ever asked Jesus to be your friend/savior? would you like to?
Activity
using construction paper cut outs and tape ask the children for things that they might like Jesus to 'wash away' from them, and then write them on the paper and stick them to the kids. Have them leave the paper on through out the rest of church until the end when we will 'wash' them away.
examples of things they may want washed away are
anger, guilt, fear, sin, worry, hate, being mean, violence... let the kids imaginations lead you some answers might be silly but write them out anyway so long as they fit into the 'bad things we do' category.
Ask the children to leave their 'stickers' on until later.
Memory verse:
I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
The verse is the words of John the baptist. Try explaining to the children that baptizing means 'washing, dunking, or dipping' you can even try putting those words in place of baptized for a fun way of saying the verse
ex: I indeed dunk you in water, but He will dunk you in the Holy Spirit
I indeed wash you with water, but He will wash you with the Holy Spirit
I indeed dip you in water, but He will dip you in the Holy Spirit.
ways of repeating the verse to help them memorize it without loosing interest include:
saying it really quiet, saying it loud, removing certain words and replacing them with a noise, acting the verse out or giving them motions for each of the key words
example: "I" (point to yourself) "indeed baptize" (pretend to wash yourself or your neighbor) "you" (point to someone else) "with water" (pretend to drink a glass of water) "but He" (point to the sky/God) will baptize (wash yourself or your neighbor) "you" (point to someone else) "with the Holy Spirit" (do some kind of ghostly dance, not scary but mystical)
Repeat this a few times over until the kids seem to have a good grasp or are getting bored.
Game
supplies: Balloons and several pieces of String about 16-24" long
Loosely tie a loop in each string and attach the other end to a balloon, then instruct each child to put the loop around their ankle. This can be a team game or a everyone for themselves game.
Team version: divide the children into two teams and instruct them that they need to pop the balloons of the opposite team using only their feet (ie stomping on the other teams balloons) You will need a way to identify each team, like different color balloons for each team. Which ever team that looses all their balloons first loses.
Everyone for themselves version: tell the kids to pop everyone else's balloon but protect their own. Last person with a balloon wins.
Once the game is finished you should do something transitional like a short version of simon says that ends in them all being quiet and ready to do their memory verse again. This game will likely have wound them up a lot and you will need their attention.
ex: lets play simon says! I'll be simon... Simon says jump 5 times! Simon says put your hands on your head! spin around! Simon says clap your hands. Simon says stop. Simon says take a deep breath. do a jumping jack. Simon says sit down. Simon says what was your memory verse?
Mark 1:8 I indeed baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
Use the methods mentioned above to actively involve the children.
Again once boredom or good memorization kicks in move on to another game.
Cat walk car wash!
supplies: Cat walk (can be formed out of chairs, or tape, or anything to make a narrow 'hall' for the children to walk through), the song "working at the car wash!" a radio or other method of playing the music.
The children have previously been covered with 'filth' (the stickers with words they choose earlier) have them line up in two lines, turn on the music and instruct each child to walk through the two lines individually, (the lines should end at the cat walk where they can strut their stuff) As the children walk the 'car wash' each child should be stripped of their bad words, ending up at the beginning of the cat walk clean, have them dance or walk the cat walk and then they should run back to the 'car wash' and the next child can have their turn to be 'baptized'.
When this is finished ask the children how it felt to have all those labels taken off from them so they were no longer 'mean, angry, or jealous'. Lead them back to the memory verse, having them repeat it a few more times and then pass out the memory verse papers to take home and work on... perhaps they will get a prize if they remember it next week!
if there is still time left let them play with the remaining balloons, get some water or just talk, or even repeat the car wash cat walk, whatever they would like to do.