A Lot with a Little Scripture: John 6:1-14 Lesson Focus: Jesus can do a lot with a little. Memory Verse: Nothing is impossible with God.

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1 LESSON 5 A Lot with a Little Scripture: John 6:1-14 Lesson Focus: Jesus can do a lot with a little. Memory Verse: Luke 1: U n d e r s t a n d i n g t h e B i b l e Jesus feeding of the 5,000 is the only miracle that is recorded in all four Gospels (Matt. 14:13-21; Mark 6:32-44; Luke 9:10-17). Jesus and His disciples had crossed the Sea of Galilee to seek a quiet place of refuge on the northern shore, near Bethsaida (Luke 9:10). By the time John wrote his Gospel account, the lake was called the Sea of Tiberias, after the Roman emperor (John 6:1). This event probably occurred after Jesus heard about the execution of John the Baptist (Matt. 14:13). Getting Ready for the Bible To help the children relate to today s Bible story, they will listen to a story and talk about their own experiences of a lot and a little. Opening Activity: Piece of construction paper, (optional: piece of bread, cell phone) Sharing Time: No materials needed Bible Story Time: John 6:1-14 The children will discover that Jesus used a boy s lunch to feed over 5,000 people. Bible Story: Teaching Aid 8 (from Preschool Creative Teaching Aids), flannel board, Bible Bible Story Review: Teaching Aid 9 (from Preschool Creative Teaching Aids), scissors Bible Memory Verse: No materials needed The Bible and Me Children will explore activity centers to help them understand that Jesus can do a lot with a little. Bible Story Card: Page and add-on figure for Lesson 5 (from Preschool Make-It/Take-It), crayons, tape Popcorn Game: No materials needed Flannel Storytelling: Teaching Aid 8 (from Preschool Creative Teaching Aids), flannel board Going Home with the Bible By remembering that Jesus can do a lot with a little, the children will see how the Bible story works in their own lives. Bible, construction paper, crayons, (optional: small paper plates), My Sunday Pictures, Lesson 5, Family Card B This symbol appears whenever preparation takes more than five minutes or supplies are needed that are not included on the list of standard supplies (on page 6). After teaching the large crowd that followed Him, Jesus set the stage for a miracle by asking Philip where they could buy bread. Philip was from Bethsaida and knew the area (John 1:44). Philip s reply referred to the Roman currency. A denarius was a Roman coin equivalent to one day s wages. Philip estimated that it would cost over 200 days wages to feed the crowd. The lunch offered by the boy was a common lunch which Jesus used in a miraculous way. Teacher Devotional The smell of fresh baked bread can bring smiles to many people. In John 6:1-14, Jesus takes an important staple of the Jewish people, bread, and uses it to show that He can do a lot with a little. He fed over 5,000 hungry people from five loaves of barley bread. Later in John 6, Jesus talks about a more important bread, the bread of life. Jesus said, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty (John 6:35). Jesus does a big thing by giving us the bread of life, or life through God s Son. This bread can satisfy all your spiritual hunger. How does the bread of life nourish you? Write a prayer praising God for the many things He does in your life because you have the bread of life. It included five barley loaves and two fish. The round, flat loaves were probably made by the boy s mother. Barley bread was the cheapest bread at the time. The fish may have been caught close by in the Sea of Galilee and then cooked over an open fire. The 12 baskets showed there was an abundant supply. Bread was important to the Jews, so scraps would not be wasted. The baskets may have been lunch baskets carried by the disciples (Mark 6:43). 36

2 p L05-F.qxp:PSTG 9/28/09 10:33 AM Page 37 When Teaching the Bible to Preschoolers... As your preschoolers hear Bible stories like the feeding of the 5,000, they begin to see the awesome power of God. Preschoolers will easily accept the mighty acts of God in history. They will quickly learn what Jesus did. The children in your class are also ready to begin learning what the miracles of Jesus show us about Him. Here are a few tips to help your children come to know who God is through the miraculous actions of Jesus: Contrast the size of the boy s lunch with the size of the crowd. While the children will not comprehend how big 5,000 is, they will understand it is a very big number. Only Jesus could feed the crowd with a small lunch! Preschoolers can begin to know numbers such as two, five, and twelve. Helping to count the fish, bread, and baskets of leftovers will help the children understand that Jesus did a lot with a little. Jesus responded directly to the crowd s need. God s power can meet our needs too. Worship Time Before you begin today s lesson, you may want to have a short worship time. Have the children sit down on a rug or in chairs. Worship time is a time when we tell God how much we love Him. Choose a child to collect the offerings. Dear God, these offerings are one way we can say thank You for the many things You give us. In Jesus name. Amen. Teach these words to the tune My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean. My Jesus has power to help me. There s nothing that He cannot do. And He even knows what we re thinking. He knows all about us, it s true. Welcome Time Activities These activities are designed to engage your children in a fun and purposeful way while freeing you to interact with parents and children as they arrive. The centers require little or no supervision and can be set up before class. After greeting each child, direct him or her to a center and suggest a way to start or join the activity. Moving and Doing Projects Table Play Put a piece of masking tape on the floor. Encourage the children to walk on this balance beam using different types of steps such as little steps and lots of steps. As they actively compare a lot and little, they will begin to have a background understanding for today s Lesson Focus. Have the children cut or tear magazine pictures of lunch items and glue them onto paper plates. While their lunches will be very different from the boy s lunch in the feeding of the 5,000, thinking about lunches helps them relate to today s Bible story. Set out paper clips and containers. Invite children to count two clips into one container, five clips into another container, and ten clips into the remaining containers. Encourage them to put the ten containers together. Have the children compare the differences in the numbers to begin to understand that Jesus fed a lot of people in John 6:1-14. Before moving into the lesson or Worship Time, have the children put away the activities, and gather into a big group. You could use this rhyme to attract their attention. Let the children buzz like bees as they clean up. You bunch of cleanup bees. We re as busy as can be. Jesus, Jesus. Oh, Jesus has shown us what God is like. Praise Him, praise Him! He loves me and I love Him, too. Close with a short prayer. Thank You, God, for sending Your Son, Jesus, to show us what You are like. Help us learn about You today as we hear about something special Jesus did. In Jesus name. Amen. 37

3 p L05-F.qxp:PSTG 9/28/09 10:33 AM Page 38 STEP1 Getting Ready for the Bible To help the children relate to today s Bible story, they will listen to a story and talk about their own experiences of a lot and a little. Materials: Piece of construction paper, (optional: slice of bread, cell phone) Attention Grabber If you have not already gathered the children into a group or you need to focus their attention back to you, ask them to copy your actions as you say this rhyme. Reach up high. Bend down low. Jump in the middle, And wiggle like so. Take a step back. Twirl around. Fold your hands, Now sit down. Opening Activity Once the children are seated in a circle and ready to listen, tell the story to begin talking about a lot and a little. Discussing making a lot and a little will help the children understand today s Bible story from John 6:1-14. Good morning everyone. Can you help me with a little problem I have? I have a friend coming over for lunch today. All I have for lunch is one piece of bread. Hold up the piece of paper or optional bread. I don t have time to go to the store. What can I do? Lead the children to suggest tearing the bread in half. Brring, brring. Excuse me a minute, my phone is ringing. Make a telephone receiver with your hand or use a cell phone. Pretend to talk on your phone. Hello. Yes, that s fine. Put your phone away. That was my friend. She s bringing two friends to lunch. Now the bread has to feed four people. What can I do? Tear the paper into four sections. Brring brring. I have to answer my phone again. Again use your hand phone or cell phone. Hello. Yes, that s fine. Put your phone away. That was my friend again. Each of her friends is going to bring a friend to lunch. Now I have to make the bread feed six! Tear the paper or bread into six pieces. At lunch time I can use my one piece of bread, which is a little, to feed six people. But no one will be full. It would take a lot more bread to fill up six people. Let s talk more about a little and a lot. Sharing Time As you and your class talk, be sure to allow time for each child to say something. This gives every child an opportunity to connect to the Bible story and Lesson Focus, Jesus can do a lot with a little, through his or her own experiences. What is a little? (Children may say that they are little, talk about little objects such as blocks, or talk about one thing.) What is a lot? (This question helps you learn their understanding of a little compared to a lot. Accept their answers. These may include a large number of an object, such as blocks, or something they consider big.) When have you seen a little become a lot? (This question helps the children understand the relationship between a little and a lot. They may talk about popcorn popping, filling a jar or container with candy, or even yeast dough growing. Accept all the children s answers.) Some little things can become a lot. Today we re going to learn that Jesus can do a lot with a little. As you hear today s Bible story, listen to find out what Jesus does with a boy s little lunch. 38

4 p L05-F.qxp:PSTG 9/28/09 10:33 AM Page 39 STEP2 Bible Story Time John 6:1-14 The children will discover that Jesus used a boy s lunch to feed over 5,000 people. Materials: Creative Teaching Aids Teaching Aids 8 and 9, flannel board, Bible, scissors Bible Story Punch out the flannel figures from Teaching Aid 8. Put them in the order you will use them in the story. The children should still be gathered in a group ready for the story. Have your Bible open to John 6:1-14. Today s story comes from the Bible. It is found in the book of the Bible called John. (Show the children where John is in the Bible. Keep your Bible open to John 6 as you tell the Bible story.) (Place Jesus, Figure 1, on the right side of the flannel board. Put the disciples, Figure 2, in the center.) The Bible tells us that one day Jesus and His helpers had crossed a big lake. A lot of people had followed them. (Put people, Figure 4, on the left side of the board.) That s because they had seen all the wonderful things Jesus could do. And they wanted to be close to Teaching Aid 8 Him. Jesus and His helpers walked up the side of a mountain and sat down. (Replace the standing Jesus, Figure 1, with Jesus sitting, Figure 3.) When Jesus looked up, He saw many people there. There were more than 5,000 people. That s a lot of people. Soon it was time to eat. All the people were hungry. Jesus said to Philip, one of His helpers, Where can we buy bread for these people to eat? Philip said, We don t have enough money to buy food for all these people! Then Andrew, another one of Jesus helpers, said, Here is a boy with five small loaves of bread. (Hold up five fingers on one hand.) He has two small fish, too. (Hold up two fingers on your other hand.) But this little lunch is not enough to feed so many people! (Place the boy, Figure 5, between Jesus and the disciples; place basket, Figure 6, beside the boy.) Jesus said, Have all the people sit down. (Place basket, Figure 6, near Jesus hand.) He took the five loaves of bread and said a thank-you prayer to God. Then Jesus started using a little food to feed a lot of people. There was more and more bread enough to feed every one of the 5,000 people. (Place bread, Figure 7, near Jesus feet.) Then Jesus took the two fish, and the same kind of thing happened. Jesus did a lot with a little again! There was more and more fish enough to feed every single person! (Place fish, Figure 8, near Jesus feet.) The people had plenty of food to eat. Jesus told His helpers to gather the leftover pieces of bread and fish after everyone finished eating. Soon there were 12 baskets filled with the pieces of food. Jesus took a boy s little lunch (Place hand down low.) and made it a lot to feed many people. (Spread arms wide.) He made that lunch big enough to feed 5,000 people! Jesus can do a lot with a little. 39

5 p L05-F.qxp:PSTG 9/28/09 10:33 AM Page 40 Bible Story Review To check for the children s understanding of today s Bible story, have them answer these questions or do the activity, or both. Questions What was in the boy s lunch? (Five small loaves of bread and two small fish.) What did Jesus do with the lunch? (He fed 5,000 people.) Why did Jesus feed all the people with the boy s lunch? (This question may be difficult for children to answer. They may say to show that He can do a lot with a little, or I don t know. ) Who can do a lot with a little? (Jesus can do a lot with a little.) Activity This activity helps the children review the story by putting together a puzzle. Cut Teaching Aid 9 on the cut lines after showing the poster to the children. Teaching Aid 9 We learned that Jesus can do a lot with a little. Let s review our Bible story by putting a puzzle together. I will give you a question. If your puzzle piece shows the answer to the question, put your piece in the puzzle. Give each child one of the puzzle pieces. Repeat the activity so all children can participate. Have the children add pieces of the puzzle as you tell the following clues. Who was sitting on the side of a mountain? (Add the pictures showing Jesus.) 5,000 of these followed Jesus and then got hungry. (Add the pieces showing people.) Who had a small lunch of fish and bread? (Add the pieces of the boy.) Show me what the people ate. (Add the pieces of the food and any remaining pieces.) Bible Memory Verse As children practice a Bible verse week after week, they will be able to understand and remember it. Have the children do either the practice or the rhyme, or both. Luke 1:37 Practice Say the Bible memory verse to the children and have them repeat it back to you. Setting words to music helps preschoolers remember them longer. Sing the words with the children to the tune of Alouette. Teaching the actions with the words will help the children learn the verse. Jesus can do a lot with a little because nothing is impossible with God. Oh, nothing is impossible with God. From Luke 1 verse 37, from Luke 1 verse 37. (Hold hands like a book.) Nothing is, nothing is, Oh! Oh, nothing is impossible with God. Bible Rhyme Time The Bible verse is in the last line of the rhyme. Teach the words and actions one line at a time. Have the children repeat each line back to you. Our new Bible verse tell us that nothing is impossible with God. Listening to us when we pray. (Fold hands.) Caring for us when we play. (Run in place.) Loving us every day. (Hug self.) (Open arms wide.) 40

6 p L05-F.qxp:PSTG 9/28/09 10:33 AM Page 41 3 STEP The Bible and Me Children will explore activity centers to help them understand that Jesus can do a lot with a little. In today s Bible story, your class learned that Jesus used a boy s lunch to feed over 5,000 people. To help the children understand that Jesus can do a lot with a little, choose one or more of the following activities. Before you let the children begin these activities, demonstrate each one you have chosen. This week the Popcorn Game needs the most teacher supervision. Bible Story Card: Materials: Make-It/Take-It page and add-on figure for Lesson 5, crayons, tape Today s project helps the children review the Bible story, from John 6:1-14, where Jesus fed 5,000 people. Remove the page and add-on figure for Lesson 5 from the Make-It/Take-It books. Have the children color the pictures. When the coloring is done, let children tape the add-on figure to the X. After the children have folded the page on the broken line, let them take turns telling the Bible story to each other. Encourage them to use their projects to help tell the story. Flannel Storytelling: Materials: Creative Teaching Aids Teaching Aid 8, flannel board Popcorn Game: Materials: None needed This game helps the children explore today s Lesson Focus, Jesus can do a lot with a little. Talk about things Jesus can do with a little. Some suggestions to help the children: feeding a lot of people, loving us, coming as a baby, healing people, etc. Have the children pretend to be kernels of popcorn, curled up small. When each child thinks of something Jesus can do, he or she can explode into a standing position and tell what Jesus does. In today s Bible story, the children learned that Jesus used a boy s lunch to feed many people. This activity will help them tell others what they know about the story. Set out the flannel figures from Teaching Aid 8, found in your Creative Teaching Aids packet. Have them put the figures in order as they tell what is happening in the story. Teaching Aid 8 When you are ready to close this step, have the children put away the activities, and gather into a big group. You could use this rhyme to attract their attention. Let the children buzz like bees as they clean up. You bunch of cleanup bees. We re as busy as can be. 41

7 p L05-F.qxp:PSTG 9/28/09 10:33 AM Page 42 4 By STEP Going Home with the Bible remembering that Jesus can do a lot with a little, the children will see how the Bible story works in their own lives. Materials: Bible, construction paper, crayons, (optional: small paper plates) Before teaching today s lesson, cut a doorknob hanger out of paper for each child. To cut each hanger, cut a 5-inch circle of paper. On one side of the circle cut a slit to the middle. Cut a small 1 1/2-inch circle out of the middle. You could use small paper plates instead of construction paper. Write the Lesson Focus, Jesus can do a lot with a little, on each hanger. After cleaning up, have the children sit on chairs around a table. Use this time to help the children create a reminder that Jesus can do a lot with a little. Show the children once again where John 6:1-14 is in the Bible. In today s story, Jesus used a small lunch of five loaves of bread and two fish to feed over 5,000 people. Who knew how to make a little feed a lot of people? (Jesus.) Show the children one of the doorknob hangers. This is a doorknob hanger. It can be put around a doorknob or hung on a wall. (If you have a door in your classroom, put the hanger on the doorknob to show the children how it works.) Where could you put a doorknob hanger to help you remember that Jesus can do a lot with a little? (Some possible answers children may give are on a bedroom door, on the door going outside, on the bathroom mirror, or any other place in the house.) Give each child a doorknob hanger to color. As you color your hanger, choose a place to put it to help you remember that Jesus can do a lot with a little. When the children are done coloring, gather them in a circle on the floor. Let each child share how he or she is going to use the hanger. You may want to model the sharing time for the children. I am going to put my hanger on (Name where you have chosen.) to help me remember that Jesus can do a lot with a little. Give each child a turn to tell where he or she will put the hanger. Close with a prayer. Dear Jesus, thank You that You can do a lot with a little. In Your name. Amen. If you have extra time If you celebrate birthdays each month, do that today. Another activity is included if you talk about birthdays once a quarter. The day you were born is special. Some of you were born in October. Have each birthday child stand next to you. has a birthday this month. He/She will be years old. As a class, sing Happy Birthday, then say a prayer. Dear God, thank You for (children s names). We re glad they come to Sunday school. In Jesus, name. Amen. Here is another option if you aren t celebrating birthdays. Gather the children into a circle. Have them work together to put the puzzle from Teaching Aid 3 together. Time to Go Before children leave for the day, be sure to hand out the My Sunday Pictures card for Lesson 5 and Family Card B. Let children play the Popcorn Game, from page 41, until their parents pick them up. As you say good-bye to each child, remind him or her of the Lesson Focus: Jesus can do a lot with a little. What to send home... My Sunday Pictures for Lesson 5 Family Card B from My Sunday Pictures Make-It/Take-It picture 42