Grace at meals.

AIM:   

Being grateful to God for things that we otherwise take for granted. Particularly, true for us in this country where poverty is not visible - and hence our kids can feel a disconnect with real life situations of want, hunger and need.

About this class:  

Gratitude doesn't come naturally to our children. It is learnt. 
One way would be to lead by example: 
Easy to take for granted but a life long invaluable lesson is "Please" & "Thank-you" . 
Notice and focus on nature around us. Be Vocal about the sunlight, the wind, the breeze, the chirping of birds. 
Tell the kids to help around. That way, they learn about labour and "work of our hands". They will begin to feel for all the hard work their moms put in every day. 
Encourage the kids to be a part of community or group that "gives", after all kids learn by imitation. They do what they see. 
Remind kids of those less fortunate, and encourage generosity in little things. 
Remind kids that its not a bad thing when their parents don't always give them what they ask for. In fact  they do it because they love them (the kids) so much!
Show appreciation for the little things, in this case, food on our table. 

Look at these children. What do you see? 

Are they happy? 

Why do you think they are happy? 

Would you be happy, if you were there with them? 

Why? 

They look happy to me. What do you think? Do you know why they are happy? I think, its because they are just happy to be with their friends and family and have food to eat. 

Would you be happy if I gave this food to you to eat? 

Do you know that you are very lucky and very blessed here today to come to class with a full stomach, clothes on you, and a nice, clean classroom to learn in? 

It could have been any one of us there. But God chose that you would be here today. 

Let us promise ourselves that we will not fuss over the food our mums prepare for us and be thankful to God that we have whatever we do have. 

Do you know how we got food? 

Lets start at the beginning: 

First of all we need to wheat or rice. 

Lets see , we will need a field and we need a farmer. 

The farmer will first need to plough the land. 

After ploughing the land, he will need to plant seeds. 

After planting the seeds, he will need to water the plants and wait for a good rain. Without rain, we will have no water and then the plants wont grow. That means no food. 

Who provides us with rain? God!! Yes, so we patiently wait for rain and water our plants. 

While the farmer waits for wheat to grow, he will continue to care for the crop by making sure other birds and animals don't destroy the crops. He makes sure there is enough manure for the plants to grow well. In the end, the farmer harvests the crop. 

It does not end here, he then has to store it properly and again protect the crop from pests. The crops are then sold, sorted, cleaned. 

It is then taken to factories or mills to make flour. 

Flour is then taken to another factory to make bread. The bread is then packed and sent to shops , where we buy from and it reaches our table. 

In the same way, there are many hands that work for food to reach our table. Most of all, our mums have worked hard to cook and prepare a nutritious meal for us. 

We need to be thankful to our parents for the food we have and not always fuss. 

When you go home today, thank your parents and pray for all the hands that have helped to get you your food. 

Pray for all those who are not as unfortunate as you. 

Above all Thank God. 

GRACE BEFORE MEALS: 

Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive from your bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

GRACE AFTER MEALS: 

We give you thanks, Almighty God, for all the benefits. 

Who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.May, the Lord grant us His peace and life everlasting. Amen.

LET US PRAY : 

We Thank-you Lord for your kindness. Thank-you Lord for the things we take for granted. Thank-you for life, our parents, health and food. 

Bless everyone who helps us Lord, especially those whom we do not see. 

Bless the farmers around the world. 

Bless our parents. Bless the world and Bless us. 

Especially bless the children around the world. 

Amen.

The Blind Man Of Jericho

AIM: To teach our children to see that Jesus does many wonderful things through the power of the spirit in him. Jesus is the healer of those who are sick in their bodies too. What is most important,is not to be afraid but to believe that God helps us even when we are blind and helpless.


THE BLIND MAN OF JERICHO

              As Jesus was coming near Jericho, there was a blind man sitting by the road begging. When he heard the crowd passing by, he asked "what was happening?". 

"Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." they told him. He cried out, "Jesus Son of David! Take pity on me!"
The people in front scolded him and told him to be quiet. But he shouted even more loudly. "Son of David! Take pity on me!"


Jesus stopped and ordered the blind man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?"

"Sir", he answered, "I want to see again". Jesus said to him, "Then see! Your faith has made you well".

At once he could see, and he followed Jesus, giving thanks to God. When the crowd saw it, they all praised God.

Prayer:
Dear God we thank you for giving us the gift of sight to see and to do all things to worship and praise you. We also pray for all the people who are not able to see because of some sickness or disease. We ask you to guide and protect them along the way everyday. We thank you Jesus and we love you Jesus.

Amen.

Catch of Fish

AIM: To teach kids that Jesus can do anything. We can only so what our little hands allow us to do. Our parents can do little more than us - but God - He can do wahtever He wants and anything - because our Our God is Big and Powerful. He commands the oceans, the seas and all the fish in it!!

Catch of Fish 

If a child puts his or her hand in a BIG bag of sweets - how many sweets can they pull out 5? 6? but,  If I put my hand in a bag, how many sweets can I pull out?  I could pull out more, because my hand is bigger than yours.  What about if Jesus decided to put His Hand in the bag? He can remove maybe all of them or maybe even more than what the bag had in the first place!!  Because Jesus is God, He can do anything.  He can do miracles that we can’t explain or understand. 

One day, Jesus was standing on the shore of a Lake. A lot of people were coming closer and closer to Jesus to hear what He had to say. 

As He was standing on the shore, He saw 2 boats at the shore. They belonged to fishermen who were washing their nets after along night out at sea. 

Jesus got into one of the boats. this boat belonged to a man named Simon. He too was a fisherman. 

Jesus asked Simon to take the boat a little way into the shore. As Simon, did so- Jesus sat down in the boat and began to teach the people who had gathered to hear Jesus preach and teach. After He finished teaching, He asked Simon to lower their nets into the deep water to catch fish. Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night, but caught nothing. Yet, if you say so, I will let down the nets."  Simon and the fishermen, must have been very tired after working all night. They really did not expect to catch anything at this time, but they chose to obey the Master, Jesus. 

Obediently, Simon let down his nets to catch some fish. And miraculously, their nets were filled with fish. 

Their nets were so full that it was going to break. Imagine their surprise - when they tried to lift the nets and found that they could not. It was so full that they had to call their friends from the other boat to help them. They slowly managed to lift the nets and even then they found they had so much fish that one boat was not enough to hold it all. The used the other boat to fill the fish too. The 2 boats were so full of fish that they were about to sink!!!

 Simon was a good fisherman, but he didn’t catch anything that night.  But when Jesus was with Simon, they caught more fish than they could even carry back!  Jesus did this miracle to show Simon that He was the Son of God and that He could make anything happen.  You can only do what our small bodies can do.  I can only do what my big body can do.  But Jesus can do anything because He is God!

That was a miracle that Jesus performed. Simon, the fisherman , immediately came to know that Jesus was a Holy man. He fell down in his knees and said, "master, Go away from me for I am a sinful man" . 

The Jesus said to Simon, " Do not be afraid, from now you will be catching people." Jesus was preparing Simon for bigger things for him to do in the future. 

This story tells of Jesus's great power over fish of the sea as well. Only God can fill us with good things that we work so hard to get. 

Prayer: 

Dear Jesus,
I thank-you for loving me. Help me to remember to come to Uou when I have problems or troubles in school or at home or at play. You are a Big and Kind God, who can make my hard work look easier only if you are with me.
Dear Jesus, stay with me always, especially when i find things hard.
I love you, Jesus.
Amen

Bible Passage

 Lk Chapter 5: 

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, ²he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. ³He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. ⁴When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” ⁶When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. ⁷So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” ⁹For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; ¹⁰and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” ¹¹When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.