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Nicodemus Goes to Jesus at Night

jOHn 3:1-21
Kids will understand:
The account of Nicodemus visiting Jesus at night. What it means to be born again. When we are born again, we become a new person on the inside.

2014

April 27

OBjeCT LessOn
Beforehand, cover the windows in your room and turn the lights out. Instruct the kids to wait outside until you are ready to begin. As you enter the room, lead the children using a ashlight. How was it different nding your seats this week compared to other weeks? What made it possible to nd your seat? Point out that the ashlight provided hope for any of them who may have been scared. Our story today is about a man who came to Jesus in the dark (at night) because He wanted to learn more.

SUPPLIES
window coverings flashlight

OBjeCT LessOn
Nicodemus was a Pharisee. The Pharisees were religious leaders in the time of Jesus. They were highly respected and wanted to follow Gods law above everything else. The problem was that they followed the law so closely that they lost sight of Jesus. They were good at obeying all of the laws and tried so hard to live right that they didnt even realize the Messiah was living right there with them. The Pharisees sort of looked like one of these cupsso shiny and pretty. These cups look like theyd be really great to drink a hot cup of coffee from. But, when you look inside you can see that one of the cups is lled with yucky stains! Show the kids the yucky cup and the clean cup. Who would want to drink out of that? The Pharisees looked good on the outside, but on the inside, something was wrong. One of the Pharisees, a man named Nicodemus, had a feeling inside that something wasnt right about living like this, so he went to Jesus to ask him about what he felt uneasy about.

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1 stained coffee cup 1 clean coffee cup

GAMe
Since todays Bible character came to Jesus trying to solve a mystery, were going to solve a mystery today to gure out our animal of the day. Beforehand, copy the clues at the end of the lesson. Then, put each one in a separate envelope and hide the clues around the room. Turn off the lights once again. Give each team of kids a ashlight and have them search for the clues. Once kids have found the clues and everyone has shared them, they will try to guess the mystery animal. Number the envelopes so that when you read clues you dont give it away too quickly by reading the easiest clue rst.

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clues from end of lesson envelopes flashlights

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To really pique curiosity ahead of time, send a mystery postcard to the kids during the week. The postcard will tell them to bring a ashlight and some sunglasses that they will use to help solve a mystery!

BiBle ACCOunT
Practice this ahead of time until you are familiar with the rhythm and ow. The more comfortable you are with the rhythm and rhyme, the more condent youll be and the more fun the kids will have! Bats make noises that humans cant generally hear. Their noise is one that helps them know where they are going as it bounces or echoes off of cave walls. Its called echolocation. Were going to use an echo today to describe this story. Begin everyone with a clap/clap/stomp rhythm. The teacher is the leader and the kids will do an echo. Get your best rapper impression going! Nicodemus was a good man, he thought he was okay. (echo) Clap, clap, stomp. Clap, clap, stomp. He looked for Jesus at night, and not the day. (echo) Clap, clap, stomp. Clap, clap, stomp. Afraid of what his buddies and friends might think, (echo) Clap, clap, stomp. Clap, clap, stomp. What he really needed most was the missing link (echo) Clap, clap, stomp. Clap, clap, stomp. Jesus looked at Nic, right in the eye. (echo) Clap, clap, stomp. Clap, clap, stomp. If you walk with me, you will never die. (echo) Clap, clap, stomp. Clap, clap, stomp. Nic looked back at Jesus, wondering what he meant. (echo) Clap, clap, stomp. Clap, clap, stomp. Jesus said, Its easy. You must be born again. (echo) Clap, clap, stomp. Clap, clap, stomp. You must be born again, You must be born again. (echo) Clap, clap, stomp. Clap, clap, stomp. Uh huh, oh yeah. Uh huh, oh yeah. Clap, clap, stomp. Clap, clap, stomp. Jesus said we must be born again. (echo) Clap, clap, stomp. Clap, clap, stomp. Go through this a second time, so the kids can grasp more of the story.

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MessAge
(show slide #2) Jesus said we must be born again. Jesus told Nicodemus that no one could enter heaven unless he is born again. Now, if youre like Nicodemus, this idea may seem silly! Become a baby all over again? Start carrying a bottle and wearing a diaper? Stick a baby bottle in your mouth. I dont think so! That would look pretty funny. What in the world do you think Jesus meant by you must be born again? What Jesus meant was that we all have to start a brand new relationship with Him. Its sort of like beginning a brand new life in Him. We do that by telling God were sorry for our sins and asking Him to come take over our lives. Its as easy as A, B, C! (show slide #3) A = ADMIT AFirst you have to ADMIT that youve messed up. Look up Romans 3:23. This verse tells us who has sinned. What does it say? EVERYBODY has sinned. No one is born without sin. That means you and it means me. Sin is anything we do that is disobeying God. Can you think of some examples of sin? (show slide #4) B = BELIEVE BThen, you have to BELIEVE that God sent His Son, Jesus, to take all the punishment for the sins that are really yours. Thats the punishment for ugly, nasty sin that Jesus took for you and me. Do you believe that Jesus is Gods Son? (show slide #5) C = CLAIM CNext, CLAIM Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You let God be the boss of your life. He knows whats best for you and you learn what it means to trust Him. (show slide #6) Me on the throne. Most of us think we know best when it comes to the direction of our lives. We like to be the boss! We like to be on the throne. We arent sure that anyone else could know us as well as we do. When we are born again, we ask Jesus to become boss. When we have a decision to make, we go to God rst to direct usto help us gure out the best thing to do. (show slide #7) Jesus on the throne.

SUPPLIES
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What kind of decisions do you think Jesus might want to help you make? Can you remember when you began a relationship with Jesus? Maybe not all of you have done that yet, but I wonder if anyone who has already done that would like to share? As a leader, share when you asked Jesus to be your Lord. (show slide #8) Jesus came to give us eternal life. One of the most well-known scripture verses in all of the Bible is found right in this story. Its John 3:16. Some of the children may have this verse memorized, so ask those kids to say it. In that verse, Jesus tells us that when we accept Him as our Lord (the boss of our lives), we will get to live forever with Him in heaven when we die. Can you imagine how wonderful it will be to take walks with Jesus? Eat breakfast with Him? Play a game with Him? Sit on His lap? We will be able to do those things forever if we are born again while here on Earth. What do you look forward to doing with Jesus in heaven? Think of your favorite activity in the whole world. Imagine that you got to do that forever! How great is that! We dont know exactly what heaven will be like, but we do know that it will be more wonderful than we can imagine! (show slide #9) Our relationship with God is what counts. God doesnt accept us because of what we can do. Look up Romans 3:10. This verse tells us that no one is righteous that means that no one is without sin. None of us is good enough to measure up to God. Remember those Pharisees we talked about earlier? The Pharisees spent a lot of time trying to prove to God that they were good enough for Him. They followed the laws carefully, liked to pray in front of people, and gave lots of money. Jesus told Nicodemus that those things dont matter. What matters is that we are born again. Its our relationship with Him that matters not how good we think we are.

SCienCe EXpeRiMenT
Fill one glass half full of water. Fill the other glass part way with vinegar and add about two teaspoons of salt. Like we said, none of us is perfect and we all need a Savior. Our lives look something like this penny. Show a dirty penny. Not too attractive, nothing special. When we come to Jesus and tell Him that were sorry for the wrong things that weve done, He cleans us up and makes us feel new. Try cleaning the pennies with your ngers. It doesnt get the grime off at all. Drop 10 pennies into the salt and vinegar glass and stir them for about 20 seconds. Pick the pennies up using a plastic spoon and place them in the glass with the water to rinse them. Use the spoon to remove the pennies and place them on a paper towel. Rub the pennies with

SUPPLIES
10 dirty pennies vinegar paper towels glass of water plastic spoon salt soft cloth

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a soft cloth to nish cleaning them. This would be a good activity to duplicate so that groups of 3 or 4 kids can see the experiment up close. A life of disobedience to God, a life full of sin, is an ugly, dirty thing. We tried to clean the pennies ourselves, but they were still dirty. Its like that with our ugly, dirty sin, also. We can try to clean it up on our own, but it just doesnt work. But, God can make a big, huge, gigantic difference in your life when you have a relationship with Him. He wants the very best for you and He wants to clean you up. God is the one who can take your old sinful, dirty, ugly soul and make it new, fresh, and clean. We cant do it on our own; only God can do it in us. The Pharisees (like Nicodemus) thought they could be good enough on their own, and thats what troubled Nicodemus. It wasnt working for him! You must be willing to be born againto start over, to make God the boss of your life, to put God on the throne of your life.

ACTiViTY
Beforehand, use the bat pattern at the end of the lesson to make 20 black bats out of construction paper. Use a silver or white marker to write the numbers 1-10 on 10 of the bats; the other 10 will be blank. Attach a string to each bat and hang them from the ceiling so they are suspended about 5 - 6 feet from the oor (right over the tallest childs head). Divide the kids into groups. Each group will send one member to be blindfolded. At the signal Fly away! Fly away! the blindfolded kids will wander around the room, trying to nd one of the hanging bats. Play will stop when the rst kid pulls down a bat WITH A NUMBER ON IT. The leader will read the corresponding statement from below. That players team will respond by signaling whether the statement is True or False. If its true, they will all yell Born again! If its false, they will all cry like babies. Hold up a pacier as the signal for that group to stop the crying (or you might never regain control!) Practice the cues before you begin. Questions and Answers Jesus asked Nicodemus to visit him at night. (F) Nicodemus was a Pharisee. (T) Jesus got mad at Nicodemus for asking such a silly question. (F) Jesus came to bring us back to God so we can live with Him forever. (T) Being born again means we must act like a baby and drink out of bottles. (F) In order to please God and go to heaven, we must clean the bathrooms at church. (F)

SUPPLIES
bat pattern from end of lesson silver marker string tape blindfolds black construction paper pacifier

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 In order to please God and go to heaven, we must give lots of money to poor people. (F) There is nothing we could ever DO that would make us good enough for God. (T) Nicodemus came to visit Jesus at night, because he was afraid of what other people might think of him. (T) God wants us to be more concerned with what He thinks of us rather than what others think. (T)

PRAYeR
Beforehand, run copies of the commitment card at the end of the lesson. Run them on cardstock and then cut apart on the dotted lines. This prayer time might be done best in a small group setting. Because we talked today about being born again, this is the perfect opportunity to invite those who have never made this life decision to do so. Totally bathe this session in prayer. Ask your leaders to do the same. Small group leaders should take this time to go over the ABCs to review what each letter stands for. After doing so, they will talk with the kids about asking Jesus to forgive them and to begin a relationship with Him (if theyve not done so already). At this point, the leader asks if there is anyone who knows that theyd like to pray this prayer for the rst time. Pray with the child; if they are more comfortable, they can repeat the prayer after you. Pass out the pencils so the kids can write the date on the card if today was the day they asked Jesus to forgive them. If it wasnt today, and they can remember when it was, they can write that date. Pray together as a group thanking God for His plan to send His Son, Jesus, so we could all be born again!

SUPPLIES
pencils cardstock copies of commitment card

Blessing
May you live your life for God alone, because youve been born again!

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TAKe HOMe ReMinDeR

We suggest you give the kids a Wiggle Eye Bat Brad (orientaltrading.com, item #IN-65/66237, 24/$4.99) as a take home reminder. Our animal today was the bat that can see at night. When Nicodemus went to Jesus at night, Jesus helped him understand how to have eternal life. You might say that Jesus helped Nicodemus see clearly in the night kind of like a bat.

SUPPLIES
little plastic bats

GAMe
Born again? Can you imagine how Nicodemus must have felt like laughing when Jesus told him that he must be born again? Gods plan is not for us to return to being like a baby drinking from a bottle, using a pacier, and having to have our diapers changed 10 times a day. His plan is to begin a brand new life in Him! To be born again! To start over and grow up spiritually knowing Him. Divide kids into teams (depending on how large your group might be). In this relay kids will put on a bib, stick a bottle under their arms, and crawl to a designated line. They will then turn and run back to their team where they will say what the ABCs stand for: A is Admit, B is Believe, and C is Claim. Once theyve stated the ABCs, they will tag the next in line, giving them the bib and the bottle, so this next player can crawl to the line and repeat the process.

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baby bottles Velcro baby bibs

SCRipTuRe MeMORiZATiOn
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good work. Since we talked about bats today and the sounds they make that echo off cave walls (echolocation), today is a good day to teach this verse using an echo. Divide the kids into groups.

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Put the PowerPoint slide up if the kids still need it. One group leads and the other is the echo. The lead group will say each phrase up to a punctuation mark. The other group will echo that same phrase. After theyve gone through the entire passage, switch who will lead and who will echo. Challenge: Really want to be like a bat? Bats hang upside down in caves or from tree limbs. Can anyone stand on their head (upside down) and say the verse?

SnACK
Give the kids 2 chocolate wafer cookies on a plate with white icing. These are like a vanilla wafer, only chocolate. You could also use chocolate graham crackers. How do these chocolate wafers remind you of the story of Nicodemus going to Jesus at night? Give the kids a chance to come up with their thoughts. Its dark at night and our cookies are dark. Nicodemus life was dark, also. His life was dark because He didnt believe that Jesus was the Son of God. He hadnt been born again. What do you think of when you hear the word dark? Lets put some icing in the middle of our 2 chocolate wafers. What did Nicodemus nd in the middle of his darkness? He found the answer to his questions. Jesus shined light on his questions and helped Nicodemus understand. Jesus told Nicodemus that what he needed to get rid of the darkness in his life was to be born again to admit his sins, believe on Jesus as his Savior, and claim Jesus as the Lord of his life. As you place the icing on your cookie, thank God that He sent His Son Jesus to be our light in the darkness.

SUPPLIES
chocolate wafer cookies white icing paper plates craft sticks

ACTiViTY
The kids will hold onto the edges of the playground parachute. If you dont have a playground parachute, an old sheet will work just ne. A sheet is just not quite as large and a little harder to handle. Place the stuffed animal in the middle of the parachute. The leader will count to 5. On FIVE, all the kids will raise the parachute quickly and see how high they can toss the stuffed animal in the air. Wow! You got that to go really, really high. Do you think we could get the stuffed animal all the way to heaven? Maybe if we worked at it hard enough. Let different groups of kids try and see which group gets the stuffed animal the highest. We can get it high, but never high enough to go all the way to heaven!

SUPPLIES
playground parachute stuffed animal

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No matter how hard we try, we cant get to heaven on our own. We can do all kinds of good works. We can go to church every Sunday. We can memorize a verse every single day. We can learn the words to every worship song. We can take care of sick people. None of those things, though, will get us to heaven. None of those things will bring us back to a relationship with God after weve lived a life of disobedience to Him. The only thing that will get us to heaven and the only thing that will bring us back to God is being born again. We learned about being born again today, so tell me what that means to you. This is the perfect opportunity to correct any incorrect perceptions of what being born again means.

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Name: ___________________________________________

Date: ___________________

ABCs
A = ADMIT to God how you have disobeyed Him. B = BELIEVE that Jesus is the Son of God and came to take the punishment for your sin. C = CLAIM Jesus as your Savior, and make Him the boss of your life.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.
Its not a mystery to me! I know what it means to be born again!

Name: ___________________________________________

Date: ___________________

ABCs
A = ADMIT to God how you have disobeyed Him. B = BELIEVE that Jesus is the Son of God and came to take the punishment for your sin. C = CLAIM Jesus as your Savior, and make Him the boss of your life.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.
Its not a mystery to me! I know what it means to be born again!

1. These animals are mammals and live on every continent except Antarctica. 2. They have thumbs and fingers. 3. They live in groups. 4. They hunt at night and sleep all day. 5. They sleep upside down. 6. The babies are called pups. 7. There are close to 1000 different species of this animal. 8. They have the best hearing of all land mammals. 9. They use a sonar system called echolocation to find things in complete darkness. 10. Caves are good places to find this animal. 11. They fly around at night.

12. People are usually afraid of these little animals.