Pumpkin Seeds
Scripture:
John 6:1-15, Jesus Feeds The Five Thousand
Memory Verse:
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” - Romans 8:28 (NIV)
“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. He appointed them to be saved in keeping with his purpose.” - Romans 8:28 (NIrV)
BOTTOM LINE:
God uses our gifts.
OBJECTIVE:
Kids will learn that when we give what we have to God – no matter how small it is – he is able to use it and turn it into something great.
INTRO
Pumpkins are great. They give us pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. They are what we use to make jack-o-lanterns at Halloween. And in the autumn every drink and treat is given a boost of pumpkin spice flavor.
There are also a lot of contests involving pumpkins. The contests usually involve who can grow the largest pumpkin or the heaviest pumpkin. Farmers and gardeners bring in these huge pumpkins that they have grown – weighing hundreds of pounds. So big, it takes many people to lift them.
But here's a little secret: No matter how large a pumpkin ends up, they all have the exact same start. Even those three hundred pound pumpkins start life as this.
Show a pumpkin seed.
A simple pumpkin seed. It's pretty small when you think about the huge gourd that will grow from it. Even a small pumpkin undergoes a huge change to grow from this little seed.
Our Bible story today is about a big thing that Jesus did. He feed a great crowd – thousands and thousands of people. And this big thing started with something very small – a small boy's lunch.
READ John 6:1-15
MAIN POINT
The Bible tells us that there were five thousand men in the crowd that day. There were even more women and children. Jesus may have fed ten thousand people or more. That's a lot of people.
Jesus didn't bring any food with him. The disciples didn't have the money to buy food. One of the disciples, Andrew, found a small boy in the crowd who had brought a lunch with him. The boy had five small loaves of bread and two fish. It was something but it wasn't very much.
It was a small bit of food, but the boy was willing to give it to Jesus to use any way he wanted. And look at what Jesus was able to do!
Jesus took the food. He said a prayer of thanksgiving to God. And then he had the food distributed. Miraculously the food did not run out. As the food was given out there was always more food to give. That small lunch – only enough for one boy to eat – was able to feed thousands of people.
Not only that, after everyone had had enough to eat, the disciples went around and gathered up the leftovers. They filled up 12 baskets. They had more food at the end than they had at the beginning. Jesus took the boy’s small gift and turned it into something big.
DRIVE IT HOME:
The same thing can happen with us. God has given us gifts, talents, and resources. When we are willing to give those things back to God, he can do big things.
Your lunch may not feed ten thousand people, but maybe you can share it with one kid at school who forgot to bring something that day. That small gesture will make a big difference to that kid.
It goes beyond food, of course. We can offer our time to God. We can spend time in prayer and reading our Bible. God will use that time in big way by speaking into our hearts and teaching us about who he is.
You can also use our time to serve people. You can go with your family to visit at a nursing home or serve in a shelter. Or you can do some yard work for your neighbor who is sick and can't get out much.
You have talents that you can use to serve God. You can write stories, paint pictures, and sing songs that tell people who Jesus is, and how he has changed your life. Jesus could use those talents to help someone else meet Jesus for the first time. That would be BIG.
It can be simpler than that too. If you have a friend who's going through a hard time, you could offer him or her a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on. You can offer encouragement and let that person know that God loves him. This small act of love God will use in a big way.
The list goes on and on. At first glance, it might seem like we have so little to offer God. But remember the boy with the lunch. It was small, but Jesus used it to feed thousands of people. If we offer our gifts to God – no matter how small they are – God will use them in big ways.
CLOSE WITH A SIMPLE PRAYER
Dear God,
We offer you our time and talents. Use them to do big things.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
MEMORY VERSE:
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” - Romans 8:28 (NIV)
“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. He appointed them to be saved in keeping with his purpose.” - Romans 8:28 (NIrV)
Activities
Activity 1 "Coffee Filter Fish Craft"
Time: 10-15 minutes
Materials needed:
Washable Markers
Water
Mini-rubber bands
If they dry in time... Googley Eyes
Get the details by clicking here!
Lay out and flatten your round coffee filters. Draw random patterns, like circles and stripes with a rainbow of washable marker colors. You will need one coffee filter per fish.
Have the kids take a small rubber band and place it around the coffee filter as seen in the picture above to form a fish body outline.
Place your colored coffee filter papers on a cookie sheet or plastic zip top bag and mist with water to watch the magic as the colors spread and blend!TIP: Wax or freezer paper will work as well in place of a cookie sheet, but place an old towel underneath to protect your work surface.
Set them aside to dry. Depending on the humidity, it will take about 1-2 hours for the filters to air dry. Some readers have suggested using a hair dryer to speed up the drying process.
If they dry in time, kids can glue on a googley eye!
Activity 2 "Fishes and Loaves Necklace"
Time: 10-15 minutes
Materials needed:
Dry noodles
String
Paper fish
Get the details by clicking here!
Directions:
Give each child a piece or string, some noodles, and some paper fish!
Let them cut out their fish and make a necklace of fishes and loaves!
Activity 3 "Jesus washes feet"
Time: 5-10 minutes
Materials needed:
Goldfish
Icing
Graham Crackers
Get the details by clicking here!
Directions:
Give each child a piece of graham cracker, some goldfish, and some icing and have them create their snack!!
While they do this, have them retell the story to you and talk about ways that they can take something small and turn it into something big in their own lives!
Activity 4 "Mounding Drops Activity"
Time: 5-10 minutes
Materials needed:
Dropper
Water
Pennies
Get the details by clicking here!
You’ll need:
Coins – 1 per 3 students per group
Water
Glass to hold water – 1 per 2 students per group
Eyedroppers – 1 per 3 students
Directions:
Jesus fed more people than His friends thought He could – thousands of people with just one boy’s lunch. Let’s see how many drops of water can fit on a coin – hint, it’s a lot more than you think!
Put your coin on a flat surface. Fill your dropper with water and squeeze out drops onto the coin, one at a time, be sure to count the number of drops it took to cover your coin. Then keep dropping water drops onto your coin. Keep counting! Do experiment.
You might have thought the coin could only hold enough drops to cover it. But because water molecules are hydrophilic (or water-loving) and stick to one another, surface tension allows you to mound up twice as many drops.
Jesus’ miracle of feeding 5000 people shows the great love and compassion Jesus has for us: “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them” (Mark 6:34). First Jesus fed the people’s souls by teaching them about the kingdom of God. Then He fed their bodies.
Other Fun Games
Time: 10-20 minutes
Materials needed from the cart:
Varies depending on the game
Get the details by clicking here!
Falling Dominoes – grab a set of dominoes or jenga blocks or anything you can make a domino tumble line with and give the kids 3 minutes to set out as long a domino tumble as they can make. Split it into teams if you want to make a competition.
Team Balloon Race. Good for a slightly larger group — with teams of 10 or more. Have participants stand in a line and place an inflated balloon between them and the next person (stomach/chest level is best) so that the entire team is lined up with the balloons wedged between them. Make a finish line some distance down the room. The group has to move in unison toward the finish line without dropping any balloons or they have to start over. The first team to reach the finish line and burst all the balloons together wins.