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# 27th week of our Journey – Water Baptism - Second Birth

This week’s destination: SECOND BIRTH

MATERIALS: Music or drum, chairs, Photocopy butterflies, two caterpillars, Visual Aids for Butterfly song. Photocopy Salvation flower one for each child.

AS KIDS ARRIVE PRIOR TO THE LESSON:
Welcome Teacher/Trainers, Trainers and students. Get the children colouring the Visual Aids prior to the start of the session.

1. WELCOME GAME: (10 minutes)
BUTTERFLY MUSICAL CHAIRS: Chairs can be placed around the room in no certain pattern. Give the children a small butterfly and tell them to run with arms out like wings waving their butterflies while the music plays or a drum beats and when the music stops, the "butterflies" must find a chair. There should always be one less chair than there are children! Remove the chairs until there is only one chair and two children. Continue the game as time allows.

2. TEAM GAMES: (10 minutes)
CATERPILLAR CRAWL: Divide the group into two equal teams. Give each team a caterpillar baton they must run a relay with children crawling like a squiggly caterpillar. The baton is handed over from one child to the other.

3. ACTIVE PRAISE CHORUS: (10 minutes)
When I am baptized (Use music video and lyrics from Visual Aid Manual)

4. INTIMATE WORSHIP: (5 minutes)
Born Again (Use music video and lyrics found in the Visual Aid Manual)

Prayer: As the Worship song tells us ‘I was lost when you found me here and I was broken beyond repair
Then you came along and you sang your song over me, it feels like I'm born again. Thank you Jesus.

5. TEACHING:
a. “Back Track”
Optional: Sing Temptation song

b. Sword Play (Give each child a Sword Play track to take home)
Ready…Swords up… John3:3 … CHARGE
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” (John3:3)

c. Teach the Lesson

SO HOW WAS GOD GOING TO CHANGE MAN BACK TO HIS ORIGINAL FORM?

NUGGETTS
• Our spirit is dead to spiritual things because of sin – we do not have the fruits or the gifts of the spirit
• We must be BORN AGAIN so that we can receive the Holy Spirit in us to keep us from sin – the Holy Spirit is our Guide, Teacher. Protector and Helper.

SKIT:
Get the same three volunteers from the last two week stand in a row, holding a rope. One with a SPIRIT sigh around their neck holding a empty balloon, middle child with a sign SOUL and the last a sign BODY. Have BODY at the front of the row all holding a rope.

I ask Him to strengthen you by His Spirit- not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite Him in. (Ephesians 3 :16)

As the verses are read blow up the balloon held by SPIRIT who turns around and is now the leader. SOUL looks shocked but half turns, BODY is furious and refuses to turn to follow SPIRIT.

NUGGETTS
• Water represents God’s spirit – Remember we learnt Jesus said “I am the living water.”
• Water Baptism allows us to be born again in our spirit man - when Adam and Eve sinned, God’s spirit in them (His breath) left their presence because God cannot look upon sin. Although God still loves us, He hates sin in us. God is love but He is also just and must punish sin.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature (creation); old things pass away; behold all things become new.” (2 Cor 5:17)

SKIT:
SPIRIT now says “Let’s go to church” SOUL says “OK” the two turn and start walking and BODY is dragged to church.
(Keep the children up front in this position throughout the teaching)

When we become “born again”, Normally no change takes place in our body.
Body –is not born again. You do become a prime candidate for healing. Jesus won the victory over all sickness and disease. It is God’s will for us to walk in physical wholeness.

The Battle is in the mind

“I don’t understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead I do the very thing I hate” Apostle Paul (Romans 7 : 14 NLT)

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” (Romans 12 : 2)

The mind needs to be transformed you need to grow Spiritually. Feed SPIRIT. (Get a cookie, feed SPIRIT with a small bite – Read your Bible. Another bite of cookie – Pray. Another bite of cookie – Worship. Another bite of cookie – Fellowship. Another bite of cookie – Witnessing. With each bite, the balloon gets bigger and bigger - make sure it does not burst!)

Water Baptism is openly confessing your desire to live a sin-free life and it places you back in God’s presence - the Holy Spirit guides you away from sin and teaches you God’s ways. He helps you to turn your heart away from sin and He protects you from the evil one Satan.

Spiritual birth is like a butterfly. A butterfly is a caterpillar first (our natural birth). It is ugly, slimy and moves very slow and you cannot see the beautiful butterfly hidden on the inside. Sin is ugly slimy and takes all our energy away from God. Sin hides our inner beauty.

Download: Butterfly Life Cycle visual aid.

When a caterpillar is turned into a butterfly (Spiritual birth)it sheds it outer slimy hard shell and out comes a beautiful delicate colorful butterfly that is pretty and playful (the fruits and gifts of the spirit).

Optional: Sing The Butterfly song (Use music video, lyrics colouring pages as found in the Visual Aid Manual)

That is a good picture of what Jesus meant when he said we had to be "born again." The Bible says, "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" When we invite Jesus to come into our heart, we become a new creation. God doesn't just clean us up and slap on a little paint, He makes us into a new person. Would you rather be, a worm or a butterfly? Jesus will make you into a new creation if you will invite him into your heart.

WATER BAPTISM
When we believe in God and give our lives to Jesus, water baptism is a way of showing others that we believe in Him and want to live our life the way God wants. It’s like having a bath to make yourself clean on the inside. When you get baptized, it’s a special way of showing that you understand that you have and need God’s forgiveness.

Baptism is an open sign that you have decided to make Jesus Christ Lord and Savior of your life and in the same way Jesus died for our sins and rose again, the symbolism of water Baptism is to die to sin and to rise to your new life.

When we are placed under the water, we are confessing openly that we no longer want to be a part of sinful living. (We are dying to sin)

When we are brought up from under the water, it is an open show that we are new creations in Christ and that the old sinful nature or desire has died with Jesus on the cross. (In the same way Jesus died and rose from the dead.)

We therefore die and are buried with Him (Christ) through baptism into death (Jesus death on the cross representing our desire to die to sin).
Through Water Baptism we are reconciled (reconnected) to the Spirit of God in the form of the Holy Spirit who now is present inside of us.

NUGGETTS
• Water Baptism is openly confessing your desire to die to sin
• We are ‘Born Again’ not of human flesh but of the Sprit
• The Holy Spirit living on the inside of us keeps us from sin
• We can come boldly to God in prayer and we have all that the Kingdom of God has to offer us – the FRUIT of the Spirit and the GIFTS of the Spirit

SKIT:
SPIRIT now says “Let’s go to a prayer meeting”

SOUL says “Wonderful Praise God” the two turn and start walking and BODY also now turns ”Let’s go” all three walk together, like in the beginning when they walked with God in the garden, Praising God and singing.

6. APPLICATION / ENCOUNTERING GOD: Refer to our Encountering God Handbook for ideas for this important section of the session. Experience the Holy Spirit Learning Centers creating a Spiritual atmosphere.

CLOSING PRAYER: May this eternal truth be always on our hearts, that the God who breathed this world into being, placed stars into the heavens and designed a butterfly's wing,
Is the God who entrusted his Son, Jesus to the care of ordinary people, who became vulnerable that we might know how strong is the wonder of Love.
A mystery so deep it is impossible to grasp. A mystery so beautiful it is impossible to ignore.

Extracts from: www.faithandworship.com

TAKE HOME PAGE:
Salvation flower one for each child. Teach the children how to assemble the ‘Flower’ and how to use it.

Optional: ‘Take Home Quiz’ books are available for the children at the end of this session.

NEXT WEEK: We will be starting a brand new teaching series. We will be reminding you about the Trinity, sowing the Jesus seed and introducing you to a special seed – a Moringa seed.

CLICK to view Session #28.