If necessary, don’t assign the Martha role. If you have just a few children, assign a role to yourself.

And who proved it in a way that people have talked about for a long time! BAD DAY BIBLE STORY Point of View SuppliesĪssign these roles to your children: Lazarus, Jesus, disciples, Martha. Say: Today we’ll talk about someone who’s really powerful. Would you consider someone with a shape-shifting ability powerful? Why or why not?.

How would this ability make a cool superpower? In what ways could you use it to help and serve others?.When you’ve finished, take the ball, shrink it to a marble, and toss it into a pocket. Toss the imaginary ball to someone in the circle. Let’s see how long we can keep this going! Shrink the ball, poke three “holes” in it and say: Now it’s a heavy bowling ball!Ĭhange the ball however you like, but you have to change it somehow before tossing it along, and you can only hold it for seven seconds. For instance, I could make the basketball much larger. Pretend to stretch the ball until it’s huge. Say: When someone tosses the ball to you, you’ll change something about it before tossing it along to the next person. Dribble the ball several times to help kids visualize it. Tell children you hold an imaginary ball-a basketball. GAME FOR A BAD DAY Bowling Basket Softball TossĪsk children to join you in sitting in a circle. Lazarus rose again! Let’s explore what happened. But for Lazarus, because of Jesus’ power, death wasn’t the end of the story. Say: You’d think that once you’re dead and buried, that’s it. How is that like or unlike what it’s like to die and be buried?.How did it feel to be helpless to rise again?.The seated partner won’t be able to rise from the seat! Have pairs change places so everyone can take a turn in each role. The other child in each pair will place a finger firmly against the seated partner’s forehead.Īgain give a one. It’s when your partner has one finger on your forehead.Īsk the same child in each pair who was just seated to sit in the chair again, this time with arms folded across chest and legs stretched straight out with heels on the floor. Maybe it would be on a roller coaster or when there’s a bully saying he’ll beat you up.Īfter several minutes for discussion, say: You’re about to discover another time you can’t stand up. If you have a child who’s physically unable to rise from a chair, ask that child to be your helper and give the countdowns.Īfter they stand, say: With your partner describe a time you think it’d be hard to stand up. three. Children will have an easy time rising from the chair. Say: On the count of three, I’d like you to stand up. Ask the person in each pair whose first name starts with the letter earliest in the alphabet to sit in a chair. Kids will begin to express themselves more over time-and hearing their stories will help you adapt this lesson to make it relevant to your kids’ lives. Be sure to include your own initials and explain your placement on the line. That’s because there’s no such thing as a week that’s exactly half good and half bad!Īfter kids have signed in, give them 30 seconds each to explain why they placed their initials where they did. Place your initials anywhere on the line that shows how you feel about this past week-except exactly on the 5. If it was a great week you wish you could repeat, put your initials by the 10. Say: If this past week was so awful you wish you’d slept through it, place your initials by the 1. As kids arrive, ask them to pencil in their initials on the line. Place a 1 on the left end of the line, a 10 on the right, and a 5 in the middle. And we can do the same! OPENING ACTIVITY Image Credit: Robert Lang Photography/Moment/Getty Images Option 1: Howzitgoing’ Suppliesīefore kids arrive, draw a line on a poster. Lazarus became a living testimony to the truth that Jesus is powerful. But four days later, that pain behind them, Lazarus became the reason many Jews came to believe in Jesus. Was the day Lazarus died a bad day? It must have felt that way to Lazarus and to his sisters. And that following his death, Lazarus walked out of his tomb once Jesus called him back to life. We don’t know much about Lazarus beyond that he was the brother of Mary and Martha and a friend of Jesus. He died-literally died-as in dead-and-buried died.

Lazarus waited, day after painful day, until at last he could hold on no longer. Picture Lazarus lingering in bed, knowing that if Jesus would just come, he’d be healed. But Jesus put off the trip for four days, and rather than come heal Lazarus, Jesus let his friend die. That’s how far Jesus had to walk to reach his friend Lazarus, who was dying in Bethany.

Bible story lazarus rising dead