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These are some of my favourite film moments.
This collection came about through the love of film. I love film, you may have noticed already! These particular clips struck me as having a strong spiritual point all to do with individualism and doing your own thing. The question is are you a sheep or are you a goat, do you follow the shepherd or just keep on saying ‘butt, butt, butt’. Following Jesus doesn’t mean giving up your individualism just allowing
Him to use it for His will
Lesson 1 Cops and Robbers
Good Samaritan, Luke 10; 25-37 & Luke 11; 33-36
Monster inc. ch23
Objectives
You can’t always tell good from bad.
The Holy Spirit helps us to tell the difference.
We must be faithful in doing good.
This story is always a good one to act out, maybe changing the characters to modern day contemporaries to help the children understand the principles better. Every boy at some time in their lives like to run about pretending to be a policeman, or a cowboy or a soldier, fighting the bad guys. The problem is that in real life, unlike in games, it’s not always easy to tell who the bad guys are. In the story of the Good Samaritan the guys who were supposed to be the good guys weren’t. The robbers said, ‘What is yours is mine’ and took everything he had including his health. The priest and the Levite said, ‘What is mine is my own’ and didn’t lift a finger
to help the man. The Samaritan, the one who had every right to walk past, said ‘What is mine is yours’ and used all he had to help the poor man in his time of need. It doesn’t matter what we might think of anyone, their colour of skin, and their position in life or whether they are rich or poor. If you are a follower of Jesus then be the good guy and help people in their time of need, if you can.
Object Lesson—The matchbox
Object; Matchbox and candle. Look at this matchbox, how can it light a candle? It can’t! No, it’s the matches inside that light the candle. (Take out a match) But, how can this match light a candle, it can’t spark on it’s own! It needs the matchbox to spark it into flame so as it can light the candle. In the same way we cannot bring light into the world the light must come from within. From the Holy Spirit that lives inside us if we are followers of Jesus we can pass that light on but Jesus uses us to do that. Like the moon that shines at night, Jesus wants us to shine for him in our actions. The moon has no light of it’s own but simply reflects the sun. We have no light of our own He wants us simply to reflect the light from
within, from the Holy Spirit he has placed inside. He wants us, like the moon to reflect the light of the Son, Jesus.
Lesson 2 Digging
The Great Banquet, Luke 14; 15-24
Trailer from LOTR
Objectives
To look at the reasons why people take the easy way out.
Only hard work gains rewards that are worthwhile.
In the film LOTR the hobbits are face with huge choices, they have lived an easy life with simple choices but now they were involved in decisions that would not only change their lives but everyone’s life. In the bible story, people of importance are asked to a wonderful feast. They were asked for different reasons, because they were rich, famous, relatives and supposedly friends. But, they all had excuses why they could not come, so many things in this world stop us from doing God’s work or being God’s friend, so many excuses. God doesn’t ask the rich and famous only to be His friend, He wants everyone to be related to Him to be His friend, once you have said sorry for all the bad things you have done and really meant it then the hard work begins. You have made a decision that will not only change your life but the lives of everyone around you, He has given you the tools to do this. The Bible to read, to be able to pray– talking direct to Him and fellowshipping (meeting) with others who believe. These all help us to live as God intended.
Object Lesson—Gardening tools
Lots of people love gardening, they spend all day weeding, tending, and cutting the grass. Some people get more out of doing the gardening than just sitting in it. Others just like to sit there and admire the beauty, but there would be no beauty if there were not someone doing all the hard work keeping it beautiful. So why do some people not like to do the gardening?
1. Maybe, they’re too busy with something else, maybe they just can’t be bothered. Being too busy, not being bothered means you miss out on so much we need to take time to notice what Jesus wants to tell us in our everyday lives.
2. Maybe, they think that they are too good to be doing gardening; it’s hard and dirty work involving a lot of bending and lifting. In our lives bending our knees in prayers and lifting our friends up to Jesus in prayer asking him to help them in times of trouble. Hard work but needs to be done.
3. Maybe, they don’t have the proper tools. It’s important to have the right tools to do the job properly. The tools needed to follow Jesus are simple, the word of God, our testimony in our words and our actions.
Don’t be afraid to dig for Jesus, help him to tend your garden making you more beautiful inside and helping him to make others more beautiful inside.
Lesson 3 The Magic Spectacles
The Prodigal Son, Luke 15; 11-32
Lilo and Stitch
Objectives
Everyone has done bad things.
Everyone needs to say sorry for the bad things they do
Jesus forgives everyone if they really mean it.
Lilo almost can’t help himself even when he tries to be helpful he makes a mistakes a bit like all of us. Sometimes no matter how hard we try we just can’t do it right. That’s the bad news, the good news, Jesus loves us anyway and will help us do what’s right. The Prodigal son thought that his life with his dad was boring that being the obedient son was not the life he wanted to live. Like a spoilt brat he demanded what was his by birthright so as he could decide what to do with it not having to listen to what others think. He thought the grass was greener on the other side, but when he had spent some time with those who called him friend and the let him down, when
his money had all run out and no-one wanted to know him. With no friends, no money and no where left to go he had to go back to his Dad. Don’t be like this son don’t leave it too late to turn to God, the Father. Don’t leave it till your lives in a mess and you’ve nowhere else to go except God, go to Him now.
Object Lesson - Pair of Spectacles,
Let’s imagine these spectacles are magic, if I put them on then I can see every thought you are having. I can see everything you’re going to do and everything you have done. (Put the glasses on and pretend to see some thoughts, shaking your head saying a few tut tuts and maybe congratulations for some of the good things you are pretending to see) These glasses are not magic, they’re just glasses, but I know someone who can see your every thought, who does know everything you’re going to do and everything you’ve done, both good and bad. No matter how bad it gets He loves us, like a mother with a newborn baby or a father with his son He looks out for you. He always keeps his eye on you, always watching to see that no harm comes to you, always listening to what you have to say, always knowing what the trouble is and how to fix it. He loves you and all you need to do is return that love by following Him.
Lesson 4 Pigeons and Falcons
Rich young ruler, Luke 18; 18-30
Stuart Little 2
Objectives
Life is full of distractions.
Not only bad things distract us from God.
Don’t let stuff distract from getting to know God better.
The rich young ruler had everything going for him, but he knew there was more to life than stuff which is why he came to follow Jesus. He didn’t realise though it would mean having to give up his stuff. He couldn’t do it, could you? God probably won’t ask you to give up all your stuff but we must never put our stuff before Jesus.
What are the falcons in our lives?
1. Lack of attention – we’ve all done it, settling down to do our homework, to do a chore or even to talk with Jesus and this falcon sweeps in and distracts us from the job, stealing our sense of purpose, doing the job half-heartedly. No wonder we don’t succeed because we haven’t done our best.
2. Temptation – It’s easy to be slack and careless, doing the wrong thing is easy, and doing nothing is even easier. A little cheating, a little lie, a little cheek, a little disobedience. It can seem harmless but they soon stop being little and begin to grow into big cheating, big lies, a lot of cheek, and a lot of disobedience. It steals your honesty it steals your best.
3. Sin – We need to tell Jesus of all we have done wrong, anything we keep to ourselves will just stop us getting closer to Him. It will just spoil the good things that Jesus has for us.
Object Lesson—Picture of a pigeon or a feather
Pigeons are well known to be carriers of news. Sometimes good and sometimes bad, but the news they carry is always important. Pigeons have an enemy though and pigeons with the news they carry have been lost to this enemy. The pigeon’s enemy is the falcon, a bird of strength and swiftness and many a pigeon has never reached home because of the falcon swooping down and carrying the pigeon off to feed on it.
Lesson 5 Fruit
Talents, Luke 19: 11-27
Ice Age
Objectives
God looks for availability not ability.
Faithfulness is better than talent.
God gives the talent, He can also take it away.
In the clip they all fight very hard for this precious piece of fruit, the lion could have got it easy with his sharp teeth and claws, the mammoth would have no problem getting the fruit who would argue of win but no, it was the sloth who got the fruit. The least likely to get it got it. God works the same way, he does not look at size or talent. He does not want your ability but your availability, He gives you the talent to do the job He asks of you all you have to do is use that
talent as best as you can not for reward but because its right. God will reward you for being faithful.
Object Lesson - Bunch of grapes.
Hold up a grape and ask if anyone can tell you what it is? Ask if anyone knows where it comes from? In John 15:5 it says, ‘I am the vine and you are the branches.’ If you make Jesus your best friend then you are a branch to his vine, without being attached to the vine, the branch cannot bear fruit. So what is a branch for? To bear fruit, so if you are his follower then your main business is to bear fruit. Of course, by fruit I don’t mean that you are expected to sprouting apples and
oranges or even grapes. No, lets think about what fruit is. Firstly, you always know what type of tree you have by the type of fruit it produces. Apples always come from apple trees, oranges from orange trees and grapes from vines. So, with you people will know if you are truly a friend of Jesus by the way you act. Secondly, fruit brings refreshment; do people seem pleased when they see you? Are you seen as someone who is helpful, kind and considerate or unhelpful, unkind and inconsiderate? Do people see you as someone who behaves or misbehaves? What kind of fruit do you grow? He is the vine, be one of his branches and show his fruit.
Wednesday 25 March 2009
Scottish Martyrs
Ordinary People doing Extraordinary Things
The Covenanters,
A lesson from history
Note to teachers: So many times lessons are based on stories that children can’t always identify with because their about people who are strong, heroes, extraordinary people. This guide is meant to help your children see that God uses ordinary people to stand up the wrongs of this world, God makes ordinary people extraordinary.
The people in these stories didn’t want to be heroes they just wanted to do what was right in the eyes of God. When we think of all the important stories that inspire us we think of all the Bible stories we speak of so often but we don’t have to look to far into our own history to see that there are plenty of examples of inspiring stories from ordinary people that help us to do the right thing.
Memory verse Psalm 52:8
‘But I am like an Olive Tree flourishing in the House of God; I trust in
God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.’
Background
In March 1603 James VI of Scotland became James I of England, at this point Scotland still remained independent with it’s own parliament. James attempted to unify the church but struggled as Scotland was split between the Catholic Highlands and Protestant Lowlands.
After James’ death his son Charles I was determined to continue his father’s desire to unify the church and in an attempt to do this produced a common book of prayer and insisted that all churches used this book. This was something that the Lowland churches could not agree with as they believed and promoted freedom of worship and disagreed with King Charles’ notion that he was God’s spokesman, as they believed that each person had the right to have direct communication with God and needed no spokesman. They believed in a personal relationship with God and freedom to worship God in the way each person chose.
So on 23rd July 1637 when this Book of Common Prayer was first used in Edinburgh it
caused an uproar, which would prove to have severe repercussions for the people of
Scotland. On 28th February 1638 the Church of Scotland produced the covenant which
declared the church independent from the state, therefore defying the king insistence of using the book of common prayer against the rule of law. 60,000 people signed the covenant that day.
Charles I was executed in 1643 as a result of the ending of the English civil war which resulted in the rule of Oliver Cromwell and brought a period of stability to the church in Scotland. This was short lived, as after the death of Cromwell Charles I’s son Charles II became King in May 1660, which brought about 28 years of persecution and martyrdom for the covenanters. The king reintroduced the book of common prayer appointed his own bishops and ministers with over 400 ministers being thrown out of their churches and attendance at any religious service other than the state organised ones became treasonable and therefore a capital offence.
Lesson 1 – Who were the covenanters?
Jonathan and David - 1 Samuel 20: 24- 42
Objectives
How important it is to do the right thing
Emphasise how easy it would have been for Jonathan to go on his dad’s side but he knew it was wrong.
Simply stated, the covenanters were those people in Scotland who signed the National
Covenant in 1638. The covenant was a public declaration of opposition to the interference of the crown in the affairs of the church. The king believed God had divinely appointed them as rulers not only of the country but also of the church. The Scots could not accept this, as they believed only Jesus could be the head of any church and not any man, not even a king. From 1660 to 1688 was a period of persecution simply for non-attendance of church. Failure to do so could result in instant execution from the dragoon soldiers, which had been drafted in to enforce the law.
A family of martyrs -Just imagine you had been to a church service with your friend, your brother and his friend. Your two brothers had been killed by soldiers 5 years earlier for attending and preaching at an ‘illegal’ church service, your father was in prison in Edinburgh for attending these same church services. This didn’t stop you from what you knew to be right worshiping God the way you choose. It had been a good service, the famous and young preacher James Renwick, only 23 years old, full of fire and excitement about God was there with strong singing and great friendships.
It was 1685 not far from Dalmellington, Ayrshire and Marion Cameron was heading home with her friend Margaret Dun her brother David and friend Simon. They were excited about the whole evening and chatted generally about what James Renwick had been saying. They stopped to rest just outside a local village in a stone enclosure before striking out for home. They were disturbed by the local farmer who warned them that dragoons were close and on the lookout for covenanters so they had better hurry home before they were caught. Only a few miles further on they were caught the
girls momentarily got away but whilst hiding in the heather moss and singing Psalms to calm their fears the soldiers captured them. They offered to let them go if they pledged allegiance to the king and burned their Bibles, the girls refused and the soldiers shot them on the spot. The two boys were dragged to Cumnock, Ayrshire, where they were imprisoned for a few days and then shot as well.
Object lesson -Highway code
Explain that these are the rules for driving and that everyone should follow these rules if they wish to travel on the road safely. If they choose to disobey this code they place themselves and other road users at risk. One rule that everyone must apply, or else on almost every occasion someone will get hurt, is when you approach a roundabout you must always give way to the traffic on the right. If you don’t then you will have an accident. It’s the same in life always give way to the person who is right, if you don’t know they are right then listen to them and as long as what they say is from God i.e. based on the Bible, then you should do what is right.
Lesson 2 – Battles for freedom
David and Goliath – 1 Samuel 17: 31-54
Objective
There is always hope, never give up.
It was because Goliath was a giant that the victory was so great.
No one would have told the story if it had been David and the Dwarf.
Challenges are difficult, that’s what makes them worthwhile.
War is never good, fighting is always a last resort but with issues such as freedom of speech, liberty and survival war might be the only solution. In the times of the covenanters life was not just tough but intolerable in many ways even for those who conformed to the King. But, with faith in Jesus, even if all has failed you there is always hope no one can take that from you, unless you allow them to. For many covenanters that is all they had, no home, no family no apparent way to change their destiny of persecution and eventual death. They still had hope. It was this hope, which maintained their faith in fighting against the King. Their struggle resulted in several battles of which there were 2 major battles: In 1666, in Ayrshire, there was rebellion when the dragoon soldiers tortured an old man because he would not
pledge allegiance to the king. They gathered in numbers eventually reaching 900 and marched on Edinburgh to protest. Just outside Edinburgh, on Rullion Green they were met with a force of 3,000 dragoons. The protesters had no chance with 100 being killed in battle, 120 being captured and a further 300 being killed after escaping but caught on their way home. In 1679, 1500 men met beside Loudon Hill near Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. 180 dragoons rode out to disperse the gathering and arrest
the ringleaders. They found them in battle formation on the 1st of June, in front was a huge ditch and surrounding them were bogs so after an initial volley of muskets, which was unsuccessful, the dragoons were at a loss as what to do next. A large party of men led by a young man called William Cleland, who would later become a famous soldier came round the side of the dragoons attacking them as they were now dismounted. Bogged down in the marshes attacked at close quarters as well as being outnumbered the dragoons stood no chance. 36 dragoons were killed 7 captured and the rest fled. This same group of men were defeated 3 weeks later at Bothwell Bridge near Glasgow.
Object Lesson– The impossible quiz
Have a list of general knowledge questions, 5 perhaps, make the first 4 really difficult, the point being they can never answer them. The 5th one should be really easy. Have a prize for this. Ask after each question if they wish to give up if they do ask someone else to take their place. The point being that the person who answers the last question, the really easy one got the prize because they did not give up, not because they were brainy. Life can be really difficult but we should not give up with Jesus as our friend there is always hope and the prize at the end is not for how much we achieve in life but for not giving up .
Lesson 3 – Lion of the Covenant
David Dances – 2 Samuel 6:12-23
Objectives
Follow Jesus wholeheartedly
David had no concern about what others thought about him.
Only what God thinks about us is important.
Richard Cameron was called the lion of the covenant amongst the covenanters because of his strong defiance against this persecution. Richard Cameron was no common man. Born in Fife and had been a follower of the king until he saw the suffering and injustice of the new law. So he joined the covenanters forsaking everything for their cause. He was not half hearted in this and saw clearly the truth and had no ideas of compromise. In 1680 near Muirkirk on Airds Moss a large group of men had assembled under the leadership of Richard Cameron, the brother of Marion in the first week’s story. He preached that day and encouraged a group of 60 men who had gathered to worship God when a troop of 120 dragoons surprised them. In realisation that escape was impossible, they resolved to stand and fight. Richard grabbed his brother, Michael’s hand and said ‘Now let us fight it out to the last: for this is the day I have longed for, to die fighting for our Lord.’ The fighting was short but desperate with Richard and Michael being killed as well as 7 others, 5 were severely wounded and taken prisoner whilst the rest escaped over the moors as, if by the providence of God, a thundercloud came over head with torrential rain covering
their escape. 28 dragoons were killed that day. The 5 were taken to Edinburgh and hanged; the head and hands of Richard were cut off and displayed in Edinburgh as a warning. The soldier who carried them to Edinburgh said ‘These are the hands and head of a man who lived his life preaching and praying and died fighting and praying.’ Richard Cameron was not forgotten as a group of covenanters who lived to his ideals formed the 26th regiment of foot in 1689, this regiment fought in
every major war until it was disbanded in 1968.
Object Lesson – Full wellie
Ask for a volunteer sit him on a chair. Ask him to take off his shoes and socks (don’t force anyone to do this). Explain that you have some beans and they have a choice whether to put in a couple of bean into the wellie or the whole tin. Hopefully, they will choose the full tin. Then get them to put their foot into the wellie. Explain how they did not do this half-heartedly with only a couple of beans but they went the full wellie. It should be the same with us when we follow Jesus, He went the full wellie for us and we will gain the fullness of life God has promised if we go the full wellie for Him.
Lesson 4 – The young and the brave
David Chosen 1 Samuel 16: 1-14
Objectives
God can use you
David could have been overlooked because he was the youngest.
God doesn’t look for talent or at age, he looks at obedience
He uses those who are obedient.
In 1688, the fugitive preacher James Renwick was captured and executed at the scaffold in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket, the last covenanter to be executed publicly.
He was born in Dumfriesshire, on 5th February 1662, the son of a weaver. He was always interested in religion and it is said that, by the age of six he was able to read and question the contents of the bible. His parents went without to gain James an education and after attending university in Edinburgh in 1681 he began to question the king’s new laws and after seeing a public hanging of covenanters he moved to Lanark to join the covenanters. In 1682 he went to Holland to train in the ministry and was ordained in 1683. He lead his first service in 1683 with many hundreds in attendance. This was the start of many close shaves with the dragoons. In July 1684 he narrowly escaped dragoons by hiding in a hollow on the moors. In the
next few months he baptised over 300 people and performed many marriages and funerals. In September 1684 a warrant for his capture was issued but this didn’t stop him meeting with hundreds of covenanters including ones at Sanquhaur and Dalmellington, Ayrshire, the one poor Marion from the first lesson was attending and walking home from. There was always a horse ready and saddled on which James could escape swiftly if dragoons should appear. His last service took part in Selkirkshire on January 1688, according to James Hogg ‘When he prayed, few hearers cheeks
were dry.’ Renwick was arrested in February 1688 whilst secretly visiting Edinburgh a group of men arrived at the house he staying at where a scuffle broke out with James escaping but then he was caught whilst running down the Castle Wynd. He died at the young age of 26 and had caused the authorities so much trouble the head jailer looked upon him and said ‘Is this boy the Mr Renwick the nation has had so much trouble with?’
Object Lesson – Arm Wrestle
You will need two volunteers one bigger older child and one smaller younger child. After you have chosen them declare that they are going to arm wrestle. Ask who do the children think will win. They should say the bigger and older child. Using a table and chairs get them into position to wrestle, you stand behind the younger child and when you say go help the younger child to beat the older child. This is an example of how unimportant size, age and ability is because if God is behind you he will give you the strength and ability to do the job he has asked you to do.
Lesson 5 – Prophet of the covenant
Saul’s Cloak – 1 Samuel 24
Objectives
David refused to do wrong, he would not harm the Lord’s anointed.
With God’s anointing you will not be harmed.
Live right and He will anoint you.
One of the best-known covenanters was Alexander Peden or ‘Sandy’ as he was called. He
was born in 1626 in Ayrshire. He went to Glasgow University and became head teacher at Tarbolton, Ayrshire. In 1660, he became a minister in Galloway. Due to his allegiance to the covenant he was ejected from his church in 1663. Sandy was known as the prophet of the covenant because of the repeated times things he stated became true. Such as, when he was evicted from his church he left saying that no minister would enter the church unless he believed as Sandy believed. True enough the church remained without a minister for 30 years until a covenanter named William Kyle became minister; Sandy wandered the country having illegal services until in
1666 a warrant for his arrest was issued. He evaded capture for seven years when he was captured in Ayrshire, in 1673. He was sentenced to be sent to America as a slave but again prophesied that there was no boat built that could hold him. Sure enough he convinced the captain to let him and the others go in Gravesend, England. He returned to Scotland always on the run and having many close escapes such as when he and a group of friends were being chased by soldiers on the moors. It
looked certain he would be caught but he prayed. ‘Cast your cloak over old Sandy and these poor souls, save us one more time.’ Almost immediately a cloud of mist hid them and the dragoons passed right passed them. Sandy was best friends with Richard Cameron, the Lion of the Covenant and encouraged James Renwick whom we spoke of last week calling him, ‘God’s faithful servant.’ Sandy had a price of £1000 on his head but died of old age and ended up buried in Ayrshire in 1686.
Object Lesson - Anointing oil
You will need a bottle of olive oil or if stuck, vegetable oil. If you can decant it into a smaller bottle then better if not re-label it ‘magic elixir’. Describe the contents as a potion, which revitalises you when tired, makes you better at everything, faster, smarter, more talented. Then explain, well, not really it’s just oil but in days gone past priests and prophets used this to symbolise those God had chosen for special jobs. Like Samuel did with David to make him King. It represents the Holy Spirit who lives inside you when you make Jesus your friend. He gives you knowledge, wisdom, peace, joy, and so much more. It is impossible to live, as God wants you to unless you have the Holy Spirit inside you.
Lesson 6 – The Wigtownshire Martyrs
Faithful David 1 Samuel 16: 14-23
Objectives
Before David became a mighty king he was just a shepherd.
God wants you to be just you. No faces, no pretence, just you.
He may change you but you shouldn’t try to be different.
One of the most often told stories is the story of the two Margaret’s, Margaret Lachlane,aged 63, and Margaret Wilson in her mid-twenties. The whole 28 years of persecution of the covenanters are about ordinary people, not royalty or soldiers or heroes as we expect them to be but people like you and me. The two Margaret’s were ordinary women who worked and helped out with their families and never did anything particularly exciting, interesting or special. But yet their story is one that is most often told. They were reported for not attending church making them disorderly parishioners. They went into hiding but were soon found by dragoons. They were tried in Dumfriesshire, on 13th April 1685 being sentenced to execution by drowning. They were marched down to the beach, which at that particular part of the Solway Firth can go out almost for two miles leaving the flat sands. Stakes were hammered into the
sand one close to the water and the second about halfway up. Old Margaret was given the chance to change her mind and deny her beliefs but she wouldn’t. She was tied to the first post, as the tide began to overtake old Margaret, drowning her, young Margaret looked on and sang the 25th Psalm as they tied her to the second post half way up the beach. She was asked to reconsider as she saw what lay before her as she watched old Margaret drown. She was not going to deny her faith now, the soldiers looked on as the tide covered young Margaret as well. Once the tide had receded again
they took the bodies and buried them in the churchyard.
Object Lesson – Outward changes
Choose a volunteer, have some dressing up things, a wig, sunglasses maybe a halo.
Explain you are going to try and improve the person, sunglasses will make him cool, a wig will make him better looking, a halo will make him good. Keep going as much as you want until they look a little silly. Start by taking off the articles you put on explaining you don’t have to pretend to be anyone but you. God made you, you are as he intended you to be.
The Covenanters,
A lesson from history
Note to teachers: So many times lessons are based on stories that children can’t always identify with because their about people who are strong, heroes, extraordinary people. This guide is meant to help your children see that God uses ordinary people to stand up the wrongs of this world, God makes ordinary people extraordinary.
The people in these stories didn’t want to be heroes they just wanted to do what was right in the eyes of God. When we think of all the important stories that inspire us we think of all the Bible stories we speak of so often but we don’t have to look to far into our own history to see that there are plenty of examples of inspiring stories from ordinary people that help us to do the right thing.
Memory verse Psalm 52:8
‘But I am like an Olive Tree flourishing in the House of God; I trust in
God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.’
Background
In March 1603 James VI of Scotland became James I of England, at this point Scotland still remained independent with it’s own parliament. James attempted to unify the church but struggled as Scotland was split between the Catholic Highlands and Protestant Lowlands.
After James’ death his son Charles I was determined to continue his father’s desire to unify the church and in an attempt to do this produced a common book of prayer and insisted that all churches used this book. This was something that the Lowland churches could not agree with as they believed and promoted freedom of worship and disagreed with King Charles’ notion that he was God’s spokesman, as they believed that each person had the right to have direct communication with God and needed no spokesman. They believed in a personal relationship with God and freedom to worship God in the way each person chose.
So on 23rd July 1637 when this Book of Common Prayer was first used in Edinburgh it
caused an uproar, which would prove to have severe repercussions for the people of
Scotland. On 28th February 1638 the Church of Scotland produced the covenant which
declared the church independent from the state, therefore defying the king insistence of using the book of common prayer against the rule of law. 60,000 people signed the covenant that day.
Charles I was executed in 1643 as a result of the ending of the English civil war which resulted in the rule of Oliver Cromwell and brought a period of stability to the church in Scotland. This was short lived, as after the death of Cromwell Charles I’s son Charles II became King in May 1660, which brought about 28 years of persecution and martyrdom for the covenanters. The king reintroduced the book of common prayer appointed his own bishops and ministers with over 400 ministers being thrown out of their churches and attendance at any religious service other than the state organised ones became treasonable and therefore a capital offence.
Lesson 1 – Who were the covenanters?
Jonathan and David - 1 Samuel 20: 24- 42
Objectives
How important it is to do the right thing
Emphasise how easy it would have been for Jonathan to go on his dad’s side but he knew it was wrong.
Simply stated, the covenanters were those people in Scotland who signed the National
Covenant in 1638. The covenant was a public declaration of opposition to the interference of the crown in the affairs of the church. The king believed God had divinely appointed them as rulers not only of the country but also of the church. The Scots could not accept this, as they believed only Jesus could be the head of any church and not any man, not even a king. From 1660 to 1688 was a period of persecution simply for non-attendance of church. Failure to do so could result in instant execution from the dragoon soldiers, which had been drafted in to enforce the law.
A family of martyrs -Just imagine you had been to a church service with your friend, your brother and his friend. Your two brothers had been killed by soldiers 5 years earlier for attending and preaching at an ‘illegal’ church service, your father was in prison in Edinburgh for attending these same church services. This didn’t stop you from what you knew to be right worshiping God the way you choose. It had been a good service, the famous and young preacher James Renwick, only 23 years old, full of fire and excitement about God was there with strong singing and great friendships.
It was 1685 not far from Dalmellington, Ayrshire and Marion Cameron was heading home with her friend Margaret Dun her brother David and friend Simon. They were excited about the whole evening and chatted generally about what James Renwick had been saying. They stopped to rest just outside a local village in a stone enclosure before striking out for home. They were disturbed by the local farmer who warned them that dragoons were close and on the lookout for covenanters so they had better hurry home before they were caught. Only a few miles further on they were caught the
girls momentarily got away but whilst hiding in the heather moss and singing Psalms to calm their fears the soldiers captured them. They offered to let them go if they pledged allegiance to the king and burned their Bibles, the girls refused and the soldiers shot them on the spot. The two boys were dragged to Cumnock, Ayrshire, where they were imprisoned for a few days and then shot as well.
Object lesson -Highway code
Explain that these are the rules for driving and that everyone should follow these rules if they wish to travel on the road safely. If they choose to disobey this code they place themselves and other road users at risk. One rule that everyone must apply, or else on almost every occasion someone will get hurt, is when you approach a roundabout you must always give way to the traffic on the right. If you don’t then you will have an accident. It’s the same in life always give way to the person who is right, if you don’t know they are right then listen to them and as long as what they say is from God i.e. based on the Bible, then you should do what is right.
Lesson 2 – Battles for freedom
David and Goliath – 1 Samuel 17: 31-54
Objective
There is always hope, never give up.
It was because Goliath was a giant that the victory was so great.
No one would have told the story if it had been David and the Dwarf.
Challenges are difficult, that’s what makes them worthwhile.
War is never good, fighting is always a last resort but with issues such as freedom of speech, liberty and survival war might be the only solution. In the times of the covenanters life was not just tough but intolerable in many ways even for those who conformed to the King. But, with faith in Jesus, even if all has failed you there is always hope no one can take that from you, unless you allow them to. For many covenanters that is all they had, no home, no family no apparent way to change their destiny of persecution and eventual death. They still had hope. It was this hope, which maintained their faith in fighting against the King. Their struggle resulted in several battles of which there were 2 major battles: In 1666, in Ayrshire, there was rebellion when the dragoon soldiers tortured an old man because he would not
pledge allegiance to the king. They gathered in numbers eventually reaching 900 and marched on Edinburgh to protest. Just outside Edinburgh, on Rullion Green they were met with a force of 3,000 dragoons. The protesters had no chance with 100 being killed in battle, 120 being captured and a further 300 being killed after escaping but caught on their way home. In 1679, 1500 men met beside Loudon Hill near Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. 180 dragoons rode out to disperse the gathering and arrest
the ringleaders. They found them in battle formation on the 1st of June, in front was a huge ditch and surrounding them were bogs so after an initial volley of muskets, which was unsuccessful, the dragoons were at a loss as what to do next. A large party of men led by a young man called William Cleland, who would later become a famous soldier came round the side of the dragoons attacking them as they were now dismounted. Bogged down in the marshes attacked at close quarters as well as being outnumbered the dragoons stood no chance. 36 dragoons were killed 7 captured and the rest fled. This same group of men were defeated 3 weeks later at Bothwell Bridge near Glasgow.
Object Lesson– The impossible quiz
Have a list of general knowledge questions, 5 perhaps, make the first 4 really difficult, the point being they can never answer them. The 5th one should be really easy. Have a prize for this. Ask after each question if they wish to give up if they do ask someone else to take their place. The point being that the person who answers the last question, the really easy one got the prize because they did not give up, not because they were brainy. Life can be really difficult but we should not give up with Jesus as our friend there is always hope and the prize at the end is not for how much we achieve in life but for not giving up .
Lesson 3 – Lion of the Covenant
David Dances – 2 Samuel 6:12-23
Objectives
Follow Jesus wholeheartedly
David had no concern about what others thought about him.
Only what God thinks about us is important.
Richard Cameron was called the lion of the covenant amongst the covenanters because of his strong defiance against this persecution. Richard Cameron was no common man. Born in Fife and had been a follower of the king until he saw the suffering and injustice of the new law. So he joined the covenanters forsaking everything for their cause. He was not half hearted in this and saw clearly the truth and had no ideas of compromise. In 1680 near Muirkirk on Airds Moss a large group of men had assembled under the leadership of Richard Cameron, the brother of Marion in the first week’s story. He preached that day and encouraged a group of 60 men who had gathered to worship God when a troop of 120 dragoons surprised them. In realisation that escape was impossible, they resolved to stand and fight. Richard grabbed his brother, Michael’s hand and said ‘Now let us fight it out to the last: for this is the day I have longed for, to die fighting for our Lord.’ The fighting was short but desperate with Richard and Michael being killed as well as 7 others, 5 were severely wounded and taken prisoner whilst the rest escaped over the moors as, if by the providence of God, a thundercloud came over head with torrential rain covering
their escape. 28 dragoons were killed that day. The 5 were taken to Edinburgh and hanged; the head and hands of Richard were cut off and displayed in Edinburgh as a warning. The soldier who carried them to Edinburgh said ‘These are the hands and head of a man who lived his life preaching and praying and died fighting and praying.’ Richard Cameron was not forgotten as a group of covenanters who lived to his ideals formed the 26th regiment of foot in 1689, this regiment fought in
every major war until it was disbanded in 1968.
Object Lesson – Full wellie
Ask for a volunteer sit him on a chair. Ask him to take off his shoes and socks (don’t force anyone to do this). Explain that you have some beans and they have a choice whether to put in a couple of bean into the wellie or the whole tin. Hopefully, they will choose the full tin. Then get them to put their foot into the wellie. Explain how they did not do this half-heartedly with only a couple of beans but they went the full wellie. It should be the same with us when we follow Jesus, He went the full wellie for us and we will gain the fullness of life God has promised if we go the full wellie for Him.
Lesson 4 – The young and the brave
David Chosen 1 Samuel 16: 1-14
Objectives
God can use you
David could have been overlooked because he was the youngest.
God doesn’t look for talent or at age, he looks at obedience
He uses those who are obedient.
In 1688, the fugitive preacher James Renwick was captured and executed at the scaffold in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket, the last covenanter to be executed publicly.
He was born in Dumfriesshire, on 5th February 1662, the son of a weaver. He was always interested in religion and it is said that, by the age of six he was able to read and question the contents of the bible. His parents went without to gain James an education and after attending university in Edinburgh in 1681 he began to question the king’s new laws and after seeing a public hanging of covenanters he moved to Lanark to join the covenanters. In 1682 he went to Holland to train in the ministry and was ordained in 1683. He lead his first service in 1683 with many hundreds in attendance. This was the start of many close shaves with the dragoons. In July 1684 he narrowly escaped dragoons by hiding in a hollow on the moors. In the
next few months he baptised over 300 people and performed many marriages and funerals. In September 1684 a warrant for his capture was issued but this didn’t stop him meeting with hundreds of covenanters including ones at Sanquhaur and Dalmellington, Ayrshire, the one poor Marion from the first lesson was attending and walking home from. There was always a horse ready and saddled on which James could escape swiftly if dragoons should appear. His last service took part in Selkirkshire on January 1688, according to James Hogg ‘When he prayed, few hearers cheeks
were dry.’ Renwick was arrested in February 1688 whilst secretly visiting Edinburgh a group of men arrived at the house he staying at where a scuffle broke out with James escaping but then he was caught whilst running down the Castle Wynd. He died at the young age of 26 and had caused the authorities so much trouble the head jailer looked upon him and said ‘Is this boy the Mr Renwick the nation has had so much trouble with?’
Object Lesson – Arm Wrestle
You will need two volunteers one bigger older child and one smaller younger child. After you have chosen them declare that they are going to arm wrestle. Ask who do the children think will win. They should say the bigger and older child. Using a table and chairs get them into position to wrestle, you stand behind the younger child and when you say go help the younger child to beat the older child. This is an example of how unimportant size, age and ability is because if God is behind you he will give you the strength and ability to do the job he has asked you to do.
Lesson 5 – Prophet of the covenant
Saul’s Cloak – 1 Samuel 24
Objectives
David refused to do wrong, he would not harm the Lord’s anointed.
With God’s anointing you will not be harmed.
Live right and He will anoint you.
One of the best-known covenanters was Alexander Peden or ‘Sandy’ as he was called. He
was born in 1626 in Ayrshire. He went to Glasgow University and became head teacher at Tarbolton, Ayrshire. In 1660, he became a minister in Galloway. Due to his allegiance to the covenant he was ejected from his church in 1663. Sandy was known as the prophet of the covenant because of the repeated times things he stated became true. Such as, when he was evicted from his church he left saying that no minister would enter the church unless he believed as Sandy believed. True enough the church remained without a minister for 30 years until a covenanter named William Kyle became minister; Sandy wandered the country having illegal services until in
1666 a warrant for his arrest was issued. He evaded capture for seven years when he was captured in Ayrshire, in 1673. He was sentenced to be sent to America as a slave but again prophesied that there was no boat built that could hold him. Sure enough he convinced the captain to let him and the others go in Gravesend, England. He returned to Scotland always on the run and having many close escapes such as when he and a group of friends were being chased by soldiers on the moors. It
looked certain he would be caught but he prayed. ‘Cast your cloak over old Sandy and these poor souls, save us one more time.’ Almost immediately a cloud of mist hid them and the dragoons passed right passed them. Sandy was best friends with Richard Cameron, the Lion of the Covenant and encouraged James Renwick whom we spoke of last week calling him, ‘God’s faithful servant.’ Sandy had a price of £1000 on his head but died of old age and ended up buried in Ayrshire in 1686.
Object Lesson - Anointing oil
You will need a bottle of olive oil or if stuck, vegetable oil. If you can decant it into a smaller bottle then better if not re-label it ‘magic elixir’. Describe the contents as a potion, which revitalises you when tired, makes you better at everything, faster, smarter, more talented. Then explain, well, not really it’s just oil but in days gone past priests and prophets used this to symbolise those God had chosen for special jobs. Like Samuel did with David to make him King. It represents the Holy Spirit who lives inside you when you make Jesus your friend. He gives you knowledge, wisdom, peace, joy, and so much more. It is impossible to live, as God wants you to unless you have the Holy Spirit inside you.
Lesson 6 – The Wigtownshire Martyrs
Faithful David 1 Samuel 16: 14-23
Objectives
Before David became a mighty king he was just a shepherd.
God wants you to be just you. No faces, no pretence, just you.
He may change you but you shouldn’t try to be different.
One of the most often told stories is the story of the two Margaret’s, Margaret Lachlane,aged 63, and Margaret Wilson in her mid-twenties. The whole 28 years of persecution of the covenanters are about ordinary people, not royalty or soldiers or heroes as we expect them to be but people like you and me. The two Margaret’s were ordinary women who worked and helped out with their families and never did anything particularly exciting, interesting or special. But yet their story is one that is most often told. They were reported for not attending church making them disorderly parishioners. They went into hiding but were soon found by dragoons. They were tried in Dumfriesshire, on 13th April 1685 being sentenced to execution by drowning. They were marched down to the beach, which at that particular part of the Solway Firth can go out almost for two miles leaving the flat sands. Stakes were hammered into the
sand one close to the water and the second about halfway up. Old Margaret was given the chance to change her mind and deny her beliefs but she wouldn’t. She was tied to the first post, as the tide began to overtake old Margaret, drowning her, young Margaret looked on and sang the 25th Psalm as they tied her to the second post half way up the beach. She was asked to reconsider as she saw what lay before her as she watched old Margaret drown. She was not going to deny her faith now, the soldiers looked on as the tide covered young Margaret as well. Once the tide had receded again
they took the bodies and buried them in the churchyard.
Object Lesson – Outward changes
Choose a volunteer, have some dressing up things, a wig, sunglasses maybe a halo.
Explain you are going to try and improve the person, sunglasses will make him cool, a wig will make him better looking, a halo will make him good. Keep going as much as you want until they look a little silly. Start by taking off the articles you put on explaining you don’t have to pretend to be anyone but you. God made you, you are as he intended you to be.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - Character-Building
Note to teachers: This guide is meant to help your children explore “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” while articulating moral themes in the story. Although “The
Chronicles of Narnia” may be read as nothing more than a really good tale of adventure,forgiveness, heroic leadership, and self-sacrifice, it is clear that C.S. Lewis allowed his own experience to colour his writing, as all great writers do. These activities will work best if the children are familiar with the story of “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.”
C.S. Lewis wrote that he had envisioned an imaginary land where animals talk
and engage in heroic action. Only later did he begin to think about what it might
be like if ethical concepts were applied to this imaginary land.
Memory Verse, John 14:6
‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father
but by me.’
Lesson 1: Mr. Tumnus Makes a Choice
’Peter’s Denial’ - Mark 14: 27-31, 66 –72
Objectives:
To convey that doing the right thing is not always easy and may have unpleasant consequences.
To help develop moral decision-making skills.
To explore the idea of sacrifice as a moral value.
Lucy is an 8 year old girl who enters a magical land and meets Mr. Tumnus, a faun.
He invites her back to his house. After sharing tea and sandwiches with her, he
plays a tune for her that makes her sleepy. He is in the service of the White Witch
and has been told to hand over to her any human children that he meets. As you
know by now, Mr. Tumnus doesn’t turn Lucy over to the Witch. He realizes that he
can’t go through with it. He opens his heart to her, tells her everything, and she
forgives him. And they become very good friends. Mr. Tumnus had to make a
decision. He had to decide if he could do something he knew was wrong because he
was afraid that if he didn’t do it, he would get hurt. The Witch had bullied him (and
many other Narnians) into agreeing to do things that they didn’t really want to do.
Peter had a choice to make and at first made the wrong one just like Mr. Tumnus but he turned it around and did the right thing in the end. If Mr. Tumnus came to you while Lucy was dozing in his parlour and asked you what to do, what would you tell him? Have you ever had to make a choice to do the right thing even though you were afraid that you might get in trouble? What was your decision?
Object Lesson ; HEAD FOR THE WARDROBE!
Materials needed: Pictures of Lamppost cut outs, wardrobe shapes, and a white table cloth or sheet. Cut out enough wardrobe shapes and distribute one to each child.
Ask the children to write their names on one wardrobe door. Separate the group
into four or more teams (depending on the number of children you have). Each
team should go to an opposite corner (or area) of the room. The doors and the lamp
post cut-outs should be scattered onto the “snowy” sheet in the centre of the room.
At the signal, “Head for the wardrobe!” the first child from each team races to the
snowy land to find a lamppost. Once found, they return it to their teams. The next
child then runs out and tries to find a wardrobe door that belongs to someone in his
or her group (but not his or her own); races back to his or her team; and the next
child takes a turn. Continue until all the wardrobes for the teams have been found.
It’s important in life to help one another not just to help yourself, even if it’s means doing something difficult. Even if it means you missing out.
Lesson 2: Edmund’s Temptation
‘Judas Betrayal’ - Mark 14: 43 -51
Objectives:
To introduce the idea of conscience.
To explore the concept that one small mistake often can lead to many more serious errors.
Edmund, an English school boy, found himself transported to a land called Narnia,
a land populated by animals who talk and where it’s always winter. He met a tall
woman dressed like a queen, who seemed to him proud, cold, and stern. He did
not like the way she looked at him and he was afraid of her. But later she began to
speak more kindly and she offered him something to drink and his favourite
sweet, which she produced by magic.
If you were Edmund, would you take the sweet?
When you meet someone and a voice inside tells you not to trust them, what might that mean?
Edmund took it and thought it was the best he had ever tasted. He soon found
himself wanting more sweets very badly, but she refused to give him more. Later,
she let him go and told him she would reward him with more candy if he brought
his brother and sisters to meet her. Judas was also betrayed by people who meant him
and Jesus harm but his inability to see these people for who they were, bad people, and the temptation of 30 pieces of silver. It was all too much and, like Edmund, he made the wrong decision. When we, like Edmund, make the wrong decision, we only need to ask for forgiveness and rectify our mistake by doing what is right.
Object Lesson; Chubby Bunnies
A bag of marshmallows, a bucket and two volunteers. They each take turn putting
one marshmallow at a time no chewing, or swallowing allowed. The child with the
most marshmallows in their mouth wins. (Explain to the children they can spit out the
marshmallows at any time into the bucket especially if they feel sick or are about to choke.) On Edmund’s first trip to Narnia, he found himself in an awkward situation. A stranger he didn’t trust started talking to him. He was being very cautious toward her until she offered him something he liked a lot. Then he made a bad choice – he took what she offered. It didn’t seem like such a bad thing to do, although no one should ever take food from a stranger. But it led him to make more bad choices until he found himself making really bad choices – that left him enslaved and in danger of being killed.
Lesson 3: Choices and Consequences
‘Withered Fig Tree’ Mark 11:12 —33
Objectives:
The student will analyze actions of the characters and make decisions regarding the moral values of those actions.
The student will connect choices and the results that these choices lead to.
Introduce the activity by discussing the story of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, paying attention to the moral dimension of the story – that four young people just like themselves entered Narnia and, with the help of others, turned a very bad situation into a very good one. Like the fig tree Jesus expects us to produce fruit, that means being Loving, Faithful, Kind, Self-controlled, Generous, Peaceful, Gentle, Joyful,Patient. Jesus wants us to be productive and have purpose in our lives.
Talk about the DESTRUCTIVE and CONSTRUCTIVE CHOICES made by TUMNUS, LUCY, EDMUND, PETER, THE BEAVERS and record them on a flip chart.
Object Lesson
As a large group, encourage the children to look for examples. (They may find it
difficult to find destructive choices that Lucy, Peter, Susan, or the Beavers made, so encourage them to look for subtle actions. For instance, Peter was clearly irritated with Edmund, and that may have contributed to Edmund going over to the White Witch, also Mrs. Beaver delayed the group starting out which could have imperilled them.) In most cases, the characters became aware of their choices and corrected them. How might our choices affect our life in the long term?
Lesson 4: The Ultimate Sacrifice
‘Crucifixion’ Mark 15
Objectives:
To explore the place of sacrifice in life, especially the willingness to sacrifice for others.
To examine the children’s life and her/his willingness to make sacrifices for
others.
Lead a discussion on the place that sacrifice plays in the story. Point out how
sombre Aslan seems after striking his deal with the White Witch. Aslan’s sacrifice
of his life is, of course, a greater sacrifice than any other. Like Jesus, he gave his all in order to set the captives free, in order to pay the price for those who betrayed him, to give back to his people what was rightly theirs and had been taken away from them unfairly. Whereas the others willingly accepted danger and possible
harm, he knew clearly that he would be killed. The Lion, The Witch and The
Wardrobe can be seen as a story about the forces of freedom, respect, and loving
kindness winning out over slavery, disregard for the rights of others, selfishness
and hatred. The children and their animal friends who ultimately triumph over the
White Witch do so because they are willing to sacrifice to help others.
TUMNUS won His freedom, his independence, THE BEAVERS Their home and possessions
PETER, SUSAN, LUCY, EDMUND Their safety (they could have returned through the wardrobe)ASLAN His life, and his people. What are you willing to sacrifice?
Object Lesson; Aslan Freeze Tag
Materials needed: Sheets of sticker dots (available at office supply stores)
Help bring the stone statues back to life! Designate one player to be the White
Witch, and one player to be Aslan. The player who is Aslan should lie on the
ground, pretending to be dead. Start by asking the White Witch to place each team
member wherever desired within his or her kingdom, and then apply a sticker dot
to their backs, turning them into statues. At the “Go!” command, Aslan wakes up.
Aslan may then bring statues back to life by tagging them and removing their dots.
Once a player has been tagged by Aslan, he or she must try to avoid being tagged
once again by the White Witch. The game is over when all players has been
effectively rescued by Aslan. Jesus set us free from all sorts of things when He
died for us, this world is full of things that would bind us, tie us down. Jesus sets
us free.
Lesson 5; Lawgivers
‘The Greatest Commandment’ – Mark 12 :28—34
Objectives:
To introduce the idea that we all have a destiny to be heroes,
To be role models for each other.
To help children gain an awareness of laws and their place in life.
To protect the less fortunate .
Imagine that you have stumbled accidentally into a whole different world, a world
full of wondrous sights and amazing inhabitants. And soon you learn that YOU
are chosen to be a king or queen of that land, and the inhabitants have been
waiting for you to come and take your place on their throne. In The Lion, The Witch
and The Wardrobe, four young people found themselves magically transported to
the Land of Narnia, an amazing place full of excitement and danger. They soon
discovered that a powerful witch was trying to kill them, that a great and righteous
leader was eager to help them, and that they were the long-awaited Kings and
Queens of Narnia. In fact, four thrones were waiting for them in a tall castle on the
edge of the shining sea. As a follower of Jesus you become a king and queen, not of
Narnia but of the Kingdom of God. Like any other Kingdom there are laws and the greatest of these is ‘Love’.
1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind.
2. Love your neighbour as you love yourself.
Object Lesson
Lead a discussion on what a good and wise king or queen might be like,
How would you feel if you suddenly found that you were absolute ruler of a
magical, far-off land? What laws would you make?
Using a flipchart list the new laws of the kingdom the children make up and shout
to you.
Lesson 6: Kings and Queens
‘The Request of James and John’ - Mark 10:35—45
Objectives:
To introduce the idea that we all, in Jesus, are royalty.
To rescue and save each other.
To help children gain an awareness of responsibility.
To protect others and create a just society.
Explain that being king or queen is not about having your way or gratifying every
whim, and that rulers who acted like that were hated by their subjects and
sometimes overthrown. Lead a discussion on what was spoken about last week
about what a good and wise king or queen might be like. James and John thought
they would like to be in charge, being in charge isn’t all its cracked up to be. Being in charge brings responsibility, a good ruler first thinks about others before themselves, a good ruler knows how to serve as well as being served.
Object Lesson; “Tea for the Royal Family”
Ask a child to volunteer being king for the rest of the evening, sit them on a throne
and instruct them they are king/queen and whatever they say will happen. Follow
their requests, within reason. Explain that being king or queen is not about having
your way or gratifying every whim, and that rulers who acted like that were hated
by their subjects and sometimes overthrown. Provide frosted cupcakes,
blackcurrant juice. Offer a variety of yummies and encourage the children to serve
each other.
Chronicles of Narnia” may be read as nothing more than a really good tale of adventure,forgiveness, heroic leadership, and self-sacrifice, it is clear that C.S. Lewis allowed his own experience to colour his writing, as all great writers do. These activities will work best if the children are familiar with the story of “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.”
C.S. Lewis wrote that he had envisioned an imaginary land where animals talk
and engage in heroic action. Only later did he begin to think about what it might
be like if ethical concepts were applied to this imaginary land.
Memory Verse, John 14:6
‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father
but by me.’
Lesson 1: Mr. Tumnus Makes a Choice
’Peter’s Denial’ - Mark 14: 27-31, 66 –72
Objectives:
To convey that doing the right thing is not always easy and may have unpleasant consequences.
To help develop moral decision-making skills.
To explore the idea of sacrifice as a moral value.
Lucy is an 8 year old girl who enters a magical land and meets Mr. Tumnus, a faun.
He invites her back to his house. After sharing tea and sandwiches with her, he
plays a tune for her that makes her sleepy. He is in the service of the White Witch
and has been told to hand over to her any human children that he meets. As you
know by now, Mr. Tumnus doesn’t turn Lucy over to the Witch. He realizes that he
can’t go through with it. He opens his heart to her, tells her everything, and she
forgives him. And they become very good friends. Mr. Tumnus had to make a
decision. He had to decide if he could do something he knew was wrong because he
was afraid that if he didn’t do it, he would get hurt. The Witch had bullied him (and
many other Narnians) into agreeing to do things that they didn’t really want to do.
Peter had a choice to make and at first made the wrong one just like Mr. Tumnus but he turned it around and did the right thing in the end. If Mr. Tumnus came to you while Lucy was dozing in his parlour and asked you what to do, what would you tell him? Have you ever had to make a choice to do the right thing even though you were afraid that you might get in trouble? What was your decision?
Object Lesson ; HEAD FOR THE WARDROBE!
Materials needed: Pictures of Lamppost cut outs, wardrobe shapes, and a white table cloth or sheet. Cut out enough wardrobe shapes and distribute one to each child.
Ask the children to write their names on one wardrobe door. Separate the group
into four or more teams (depending on the number of children you have). Each
team should go to an opposite corner (or area) of the room. The doors and the lamp
post cut-outs should be scattered onto the “snowy” sheet in the centre of the room.
At the signal, “Head for the wardrobe!” the first child from each team races to the
snowy land to find a lamppost. Once found, they return it to their teams. The next
child then runs out and tries to find a wardrobe door that belongs to someone in his
or her group (but not his or her own); races back to his or her team; and the next
child takes a turn. Continue until all the wardrobes for the teams have been found.
It’s important in life to help one another not just to help yourself, even if it’s means doing something difficult. Even if it means you missing out.
Lesson 2: Edmund’s Temptation
‘Judas Betrayal’ - Mark 14: 43 -51
Objectives:
To introduce the idea of conscience.
To explore the concept that one small mistake often can lead to many more serious errors.
Edmund, an English school boy, found himself transported to a land called Narnia,
a land populated by animals who talk and where it’s always winter. He met a tall
woman dressed like a queen, who seemed to him proud, cold, and stern. He did
not like the way she looked at him and he was afraid of her. But later she began to
speak more kindly and she offered him something to drink and his favourite
sweet, which she produced by magic.
If you were Edmund, would you take the sweet?
When you meet someone and a voice inside tells you not to trust them, what might that mean?
Edmund took it and thought it was the best he had ever tasted. He soon found
himself wanting more sweets very badly, but she refused to give him more. Later,
she let him go and told him she would reward him with more candy if he brought
his brother and sisters to meet her. Judas was also betrayed by people who meant him
and Jesus harm but his inability to see these people for who they were, bad people, and the temptation of 30 pieces of silver. It was all too much and, like Edmund, he made the wrong decision. When we, like Edmund, make the wrong decision, we only need to ask for forgiveness and rectify our mistake by doing what is right.
Object Lesson; Chubby Bunnies
A bag of marshmallows, a bucket and two volunteers. They each take turn putting
one marshmallow at a time no chewing, or swallowing allowed. The child with the
most marshmallows in their mouth wins. (Explain to the children they can spit out the
marshmallows at any time into the bucket especially if they feel sick or are about to choke.) On Edmund’s first trip to Narnia, he found himself in an awkward situation. A stranger he didn’t trust started talking to him. He was being very cautious toward her until she offered him something he liked a lot. Then he made a bad choice – he took what she offered. It didn’t seem like such a bad thing to do, although no one should ever take food from a stranger. But it led him to make more bad choices until he found himself making really bad choices – that left him enslaved and in danger of being killed.
Lesson 3: Choices and Consequences
‘Withered Fig Tree’ Mark 11:12 —33
Objectives:
The student will analyze actions of the characters and make decisions regarding the moral values of those actions.
The student will connect choices and the results that these choices lead to.
Introduce the activity by discussing the story of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, paying attention to the moral dimension of the story – that four young people just like themselves entered Narnia and, with the help of others, turned a very bad situation into a very good one. Like the fig tree Jesus expects us to produce fruit, that means being Loving, Faithful, Kind, Self-controlled, Generous, Peaceful, Gentle, Joyful,Patient. Jesus wants us to be productive and have purpose in our lives.
Talk about the DESTRUCTIVE and CONSTRUCTIVE CHOICES made by TUMNUS, LUCY, EDMUND, PETER, THE BEAVERS and record them on a flip chart.
Object Lesson
As a large group, encourage the children to look for examples. (They may find it
difficult to find destructive choices that Lucy, Peter, Susan, or the Beavers made, so encourage them to look for subtle actions. For instance, Peter was clearly irritated with Edmund, and that may have contributed to Edmund going over to the White Witch, also Mrs. Beaver delayed the group starting out which could have imperilled them.) In most cases, the characters became aware of their choices and corrected them. How might our choices affect our life in the long term?
Lesson 4: The Ultimate Sacrifice
‘Crucifixion’ Mark 15
Objectives:
To explore the place of sacrifice in life, especially the willingness to sacrifice for others.
To examine the children’s life and her/his willingness to make sacrifices for
others.
Lead a discussion on the place that sacrifice plays in the story. Point out how
sombre Aslan seems after striking his deal with the White Witch. Aslan’s sacrifice
of his life is, of course, a greater sacrifice than any other. Like Jesus, he gave his all in order to set the captives free, in order to pay the price for those who betrayed him, to give back to his people what was rightly theirs and had been taken away from them unfairly. Whereas the others willingly accepted danger and possible
harm, he knew clearly that he would be killed. The Lion, The Witch and The
Wardrobe can be seen as a story about the forces of freedom, respect, and loving
kindness winning out over slavery, disregard for the rights of others, selfishness
and hatred. The children and their animal friends who ultimately triumph over the
White Witch do so because they are willing to sacrifice to help others.
TUMNUS won His freedom, his independence, THE BEAVERS Their home and possessions
PETER, SUSAN, LUCY, EDMUND Their safety (they could have returned through the wardrobe)ASLAN His life, and his people. What are you willing to sacrifice?
Object Lesson; Aslan Freeze Tag
Materials needed: Sheets of sticker dots (available at office supply stores)
Help bring the stone statues back to life! Designate one player to be the White
Witch, and one player to be Aslan. The player who is Aslan should lie on the
ground, pretending to be dead. Start by asking the White Witch to place each team
member wherever desired within his or her kingdom, and then apply a sticker dot
to their backs, turning them into statues. At the “Go!” command, Aslan wakes up.
Aslan may then bring statues back to life by tagging them and removing their dots.
Once a player has been tagged by Aslan, he or she must try to avoid being tagged
once again by the White Witch. The game is over when all players has been
effectively rescued by Aslan. Jesus set us free from all sorts of things when He
died for us, this world is full of things that would bind us, tie us down. Jesus sets
us free.
Lesson 5; Lawgivers
‘The Greatest Commandment’ – Mark 12 :28—34
Objectives:
To introduce the idea that we all have a destiny to be heroes,
To be role models for each other.
To help children gain an awareness of laws and their place in life.
To protect the less fortunate .
Imagine that you have stumbled accidentally into a whole different world, a world
full of wondrous sights and amazing inhabitants. And soon you learn that YOU
are chosen to be a king or queen of that land, and the inhabitants have been
waiting for you to come and take your place on their throne. In The Lion, The Witch
and The Wardrobe, four young people found themselves magically transported to
the Land of Narnia, an amazing place full of excitement and danger. They soon
discovered that a powerful witch was trying to kill them, that a great and righteous
leader was eager to help them, and that they were the long-awaited Kings and
Queens of Narnia. In fact, four thrones were waiting for them in a tall castle on the
edge of the shining sea. As a follower of Jesus you become a king and queen, not of
Narnia but of the Kingdom of God. Like any other Kingdom there are laws and the greatest of these is ‘Love’.
1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind.
2. Love your neighbour as you love yourself.
Object Lesson
Lead a discussion on what a good and wise king or queen might be like,
How would you feel if you suddenly found that you were absolute ruler of a
magical, far-off land? What laws would you make?
Using a flipchart list the new laws of the kingdom the children make up and shout
to you.
Lesson 6: Kings and Queens
‘The Request of James and John’ - Mark 10:35—45
Objectives:
To introduce the idea that we all, in Jesus, are royalty.
To rescue and save each other.
To help children gain an awareness of responsibility.
To protect others and create a just society.
Explain that being king or queen is not about having your way or gratifying every
whim, and that rulers who acted like that were hated by their subjects and
sometimes overthrown. Lead a discussion on what was spoken about last week
about what a good and wise king or queen might be like. James and John thought
they would like to be in charge, being in charge isn’t all its cracked up to be. Being in charge brings responsibility, a good ruler first thinks about others before themselves, a good ruler knows how to serve as well as being served.
Object Lesson; “Tea for the Royal Family”
Ask a child to volunteer being king for the rest of the evening, sit them on a throne
and instruct them they are king/queen and whatever they say will happen. Follow
their requests, within reason. Explain that being king or queen is not about having
your way or gratifying every whim, and that rulers who acted like that were hated
by their subjects and sometimes overthrown. Provide frosted cupcakes,
blackcurrant juice. Offer a variety of yummies and encourage the children to serve
each other.
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