There was once someone who said such amazing things and did such wonderful things that people followed him. They couldn’t help it. They wanted to know who he was, so they just had to ask him. 

So begins the beloved Parable of the Good Shepherd in the Godly Play repertoire.    As we approach Good Shepherd Sunday, this story    invites the children to    come closer. Children are invited to lean into the circle as the lid comes off the golden parable box, so they can wonder and learn about the parable inside.

A parable is a story that Jesus told to explain a concept.  It may reveal multiple lessons to you over your lifetime.   The different stages of our life help put a spot light on the different outlook that is possible from parables.

In the story of the Good Shepherd, the storyteller explains about the cool clear waters of life that nurture growth, dark moments shadowed by rocks and how the Good Shepherd is with us in both of those times.    Often when the storyteller asks the children about this story, a child will say, “I wonder if I’m the sheep who was lost in the dangerous place. And the good shepherd is God, coming to help me.” 

This week’s Sunday School lesson about the Good Shepherd includes Cheerios and Oreo sheep treats, puppet crafts and dot-to-dot sheep pages.  Good news is that the Good Shepherd includes everyone at the table of the great banquet! No one is left out and all are invited  into His grace! 

The Bible is so big.  There are so many pages and so many different authors. Did you know that it began as a bunch of books and then during the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. the delegates combined the stories into one big book?  Today that is the book we call the Bible.  Our Protestant bible has 66 books. These books share history, poetry, law, prophecy, gospels, parables, letters of the prophets and Revelation.
 
We can separate the Bible into the Old Testament (stories before Jesus and the stories from the Torah) and New Testament (stories about Jesus and his followers). We can also examine the different writing styles and authors. These steps can help enlighten us to the wonderful messages in the Bible.
 
When we are in our Godly Play atriums at NSUMC, we show the relationship to the stories on the shelves and their location in the Bible.  The Godly Play manipulatives offer a great visual representation of the Bible scriptures.  NSUMC was blessed to have so many members create these supplies for our children!
 
As Christians we have a rich history that teaches us how to offer extravagant hospitality, extend grace, and share compassion.  This week’s Sunday School lesson will share many ways that students can learn about the different books of the Bible through game!  We have Jenga, Legos, Duplos, golf balls, hopscotch, clothes pins, bingo cards, Jeopardy, Minute-to-Win-It and cups!  Come play games and learn about the B.I.B.L.E.!

Imagine that you are 70 years old (your grandparents age) and God tells you that you have to move (and carry your house with you), will soon have a new born son and will have to lead a nation to safety.  How many of you think that you could make all of that happen?
 
That’s what God told Abram.  At first Abram showed great faith by leaving his home without knowing where God would lead him, but he was not a perfect person. At times he took matters into his own hands instead of trusting God.
 
This story teaches us that God is willing to work with less than perfect people that come to him in faith.  We have to keep the confidence that God is always faithful and he will keep his promises. We must learn to be patient and wait on God. It was nearly 800 years before Abram’s descendants owned the Promised Land and many more years before it became the great nation of Israel. But the greatest blessing we have from Abram is that eventually one of his descendants was Jesus, who brought the gift of grace and peace to the world (Galatians 3:14).
 
God promised Abram that he would have descendants more than the number of stars. God told Abram this before he ever had a child and God kept his promise. God had a plan!

Sometimes we wonder why we have certain things slow us down on our faith journey or the road takes a different turn that we didn’t expect.  One thing we can always hold onto is that we are not alone and God’s plan is better than we can ever imagine. Start counting the stars in the heavens, that’s how many promises await you!    This week’s Sunday School lesson your children and grandchildren can make your family tree, string art stars, constellation images with flashlights, thaumatropes and veggie stars!

Jonah was a prophet of God; he would listen to God and tell the people what God said. One day, God said to Jonah, "Go to the city of Nineveh and tell the people who live there that they are not showing good manners and that they need to change their ways." Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh. He didn’t like the people in that city, and maybe he was afraid of them. So Jonah decided to run away and hide from God. He caught the first ship out of town and headed in the opposite direction from where God told him to go.

Jonah got on that ship and hid way down deep inside. Then the boat began to be tossed in the waves because of a great storm.  Because Jonah was a prophet, the sailors asked him, "What should we do to stop this terrible storm?"

"Throw me overboard into the sea," Jonah answered, "and the sea will become calm."  The sailors picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea and the storm stopped at once.

Did Jonah drown in the sea? No! God sent a great fish to save him. He prayed to the Lord and decided that it had been wrong to run from the Lord and promised to fulfill his promises to God.

This week our Sunday School lesson includes ocean science experiments, creating an origami ocean animals and ocean snacks.  Just as God had a task for Jonah, he has a plan for you and me. When it comes to doing what God wants us to do, we might run, but we cannot hide!