J4K

introduction

Making a mistake is sometimes fun. Wouldn’t you agree? For example if you bunked your class or lied to your parents watch an extra video or play mobile games some more time, it gives some sort of short-lived happiness. You friends might even applaud you and say, “Oh, he is super smart and clever!”. But we will find from Jonah’s story that there is a consequence to every mistake we make. Are you ready?

LET’s Talk

J4K Sea Cruise is an adventure cruise that takes the kids through 5 islands. The ship is captained by a Pirate who was a very bad person. She had gone on a trip to five islands. During that time she met the greatest friend (Jesus) and his life changed for good!

You will introduce the kids to this Pirate and help them learn from her experience. To do that you will go on a video call. Pretend to make a video call on the phone while showing the video to the children. You will have to pause the video intermittently and say a few words to make this session interactive. Please find the instructions in the script below. This session will be used to teach the Memory verse of the day as well.

Please find the script for the Penalty Island (Island #2) video below:

Bible Event

Bible Portion: Jonah 1:4-15
Story Outline:

It was a sunny day. The Ship Captain was happy. “The weather looks fine today! We will have a safe journey!”, he said turning to the crew. The passengers got aboard one by one. The ticket collector stood near the gate. He would stop the passengers and ask them to show the ticket. Then he would ask, “Where are you going?” They would tell their destination. He’ll check the ticket again to see if they have got the right ticket and he would let them in. One passenger looked a bit suspicious to him. He asked the passenger, “Where are you going sir?”. The man replied in such a hurry “Tarshish”. “Oh! that is our last stop. Get in! Happy journey!” said the ticket collector confused as to why this man looked a bit worried. Anyway, he let him in.

You know the name of this man. Do you recall what it is? [Let the children answer] Yes! Jonah! We also know why he chose to go to Tarshish. Can anyone remind me please? Yes! He was disobeying God. We know what he did once he got into the ship as well. What did he do? Yes! He went down far inside the ship and was snoring and sleeping.

The captain sounded the ship’s siren. The ship left the port and ventured happily into the sea. A gentle breeze brushed past the happy captain, who was singing, “Row! Row! Row your boat!” Suddenly the gentle breeze was no longer gentle. It was so harsh that the captain needed help to hold the ship’s wheel steady. The ship jostled to the right and left and everyone was quite scared. The sailors were so afraid and each of them prayed to their own gods. They began throwing the cargo from the ship into the sea to make the ship lighter.

In all this frenzy there was one man who was happily sleeping. Who was it? Yes, Jonah!

 The captain ran to every deck and announced that there was a heavy storm and their lives were in danger. When he went to the lower most deck, he found Jonah. So, he woke him up and said, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray to your god! Maybe your god will pay attention to us and we won’t die!” Jonah was shocked to hear the news. He ran up to see what was happening. He thought that he could run away from God if he went to a faraway place. He forgot that God is everywhere and not just in Israel.

All the men on the ship said, “this surely must be someone’s fault. The gods must be punishing us”. So, they decided to cast the lot and find out the culprit. Whose name do you think the lot fell to? Yes, Jonah!

They all started questing him – “What is your job? Where do you come from? What is your country? Who are your people?” Now Jonah had no choice but to tell the truth. Can anyone guess what he might have said? [Let the children answer] He said to them, “I am a Hebrew. I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land. I disobeyed God and tried running as far as I can from where he asked me to go.” When they heard this, they got really scared. They did not know what to do. But the winds wouldn’t stop. Jonah must have thought to himself, “Now that I have told the truth, God will stop the winds”. But he forgot something very important – that every mistake has a consequence.

The men on the ship were more and more worried because it seemed the ship would break if this wind continued. So, they asked him, “What should we do to you to make this sea calm down for us”. Jonah again had no choice, but to accept the consequence. Being a prophet, he knew exactly what to say. He said “Throw me into the sea and the sea will calm down”. The men were better humans. They did not want to kill him by throwing him into the sea. So, they tried saving the ship by rowing it back to the land. But their efforts were futile. The sea was becoming stormier. Those men had no choice now. It was either Jonah or all of them together must perish. They threw Jonah into the sea. You wouldn’t believe what happened. The sea became so calm. The men saw the power of God and believed in Him.

God is not cruel. He did not let Jonah die. He did something spectacular. You will need to come back for the next session to know what happened next.  

Activity

The activity would differ for each of the age groups – Special (3-7 years), Strong (8-12 years), Deep (13-15 years)

Special (3-7 years)

Page 2: Ask them to look at the pictures and retell the story.

Strong (8-12 years)
Page 1: Ask the children to look at the three pictures and make a story out of it. Each picture represents a mistake that kids do. Then ask them to talk about the consequences of each mistake.
Page 2: Use the second sheet to explain Romans 6:23 – Wages of sin is death. The picture shows a camera which seems to take picture of a very dark place. Discuss the eternal consequence of sin – separation from God and what that would be like – a place opposite of joy, happiness and laughter. Please note not to create a sense of fear of hell; instead we need to make them aware of the situation where there is no God. Because those who are separated from God in earth also experience a foreshadow of hell.

Game

Things needed: A Ball. Write “sin” on the ball

Game:

• This is a classic dodgeball game.
• Divide the children into two equal groups.
• Make the first group to form a big circle.
• Ask the second group to get inside the circle.
• Hand over the ball to the children on the circle.
• They should throw the ball to hit under the knee of any of the second group members who are inside the circle.
• If the ball touches the legs of a child, he/she is out.
• If the ball hits anywhere above the legs, they are not out.
• Discourage the children from throwing the ball above the knee as it can become dangerous.
• Play until most of the children are out.
• Repeat the game by making the second group form a circle and the first group to get inside the circle.

Message:

(Show the word sin on the ball to the children) When the ball hit you, you were out of the game. How did it feel to get out? (Let the children answer) Just like you didn’t feel great when you got out, sin has its consequences too. Today we learnt it has eternal consequences as well. Can anyone share what they are? (Let the children answer)