St. Barnabas Family Faith Experience

March 29, 2020

John 11:1-45 Lazarus- Jesus loves his friends!

On the following pages, you will find a learning experience for your family. You are welcome to modify or adapt any of this to make it work best for your family! Don’t feel like you need to do everything either, work through what you can as long as your kids are engaged. Supplies needed are listed under each section and a complete supply list is provided at the end of the experience.

Idea: Today’s story has different smells in it. We hear about both perfume and a dead body. In

Bible times, dead bodies were rubbed with spices and wrapped in cloth. This was an attempt to overcome the smell. It probably didn't work very well since the spices were not strong enough

to overcome the results of death. Smell some things in your home like cinnamon, soap, perfume. What are some things Jesus may have smelled when he was on earth?

Opening Prayer: Dear God, Thank you for giving us so many friends. Help us take good care of our friends. Thank you for sending Jesus to be our very best friend. Amen.

Introduction: Today's Bible story is called Lazarus. Lazarus lived with his two sisters, Mary and Martha. All three of them were Jesus' good friends. But in this story, something very sad happened, so sad that it made Jesus cry. Let's listen to find out what made Jesus so sad.

Experience Scripture Together There are two different scripture readings below, depending on the age of your kids and what you prefer to use. There is one that uses the Spark Story Bible for younger kids and one that uses the Spark Bible for older kids. You can choose which one you would like to use. If you do not have a Spark Bible at home to use, the complete NRSV scripture versus are after the discussion. The bold text is prompts for you as the leader.

Open your Spark Bibles! For Younger Kids Spark Story Bible; Lazarus on pages 440–443 For older kids: John 11:1–45 or pages 1186–1187 in the Spark Bible. The complete scripture versus are after the discussion too. Read the story or the scripture together and then discuss the following questions:

Why didn't Jesus come to Mary and Martha's house sooner? (Jesus was on a long journey. He had to walk to their house, so it took a few days.) What did the people think when Lazarus came out of the tomb? (They were frightened and amazed. Then they laughed, and sang, and danced.) Tell about a time when you felt sad for someone. How is Jesus a real human being in this story? (It takes a while for a message to reach him, his life is in danger, he cries.) How is Jesus divine in this story? (He raises Lazarus, he knows Lazarus is dead before he gets there, he is the resurrection and the life!) How does it make you feel to know that Jesus was a human, like us, as well as God?

I'm glad Jesus lived as both a human being and God. That means he knew what it was like to be a person, like me, but was also powerful enough to raise the dead. It makes both death and life less scary.

In today's story, Jesus helped a man named Lazarus. Lazarus' friends were very sad because Lazarus had died. Jesus went to visit the place where Lazarus was resting and told the people to move the stone away.

What happened when Jesus called his name? (Lazarus came out.) Then everyone was happy. Jesus was happy, too, because Lazarus was his friend

Scripture Reading

John 11:1-45 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) The Death of Lazarus

11 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6 after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

7 8 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, 9 the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see 10 11 the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken 12 13 him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” Jesus, however, 14 had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 Thomas, who was called the Twin,[c] said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Scripture Reading cont.

17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” 28 When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly 34 disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus began to weep. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” 45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

Family Activity Experience: Snail Mail Sunshine!

Supplies: • Pre-made cards or blank paper • Envelopes • Markers/Crayons/stickers • Church Directory or names from Sue

Instructions:

Write a card, a letter or color a picture and send it to someone in the church directory. There are people in need of your beautiful creations and in need of refrigerator decorations! Because of COVID-19, most of our older members have no place to go these days and are stuck in their homes. If they have grandkids, they can’t see theme either! A homemade card, and or a letter from you would mean so much! If you need some ideas of who to send the cards to, please email Sue and she will let you know. Otherwise, feel free to look through your St. Barnabas Directory and find someone you know or recognize! If you do not have a directory, you can contact Sue and she can send you a pdf directory. This is a great way to show you love and care for your friends at St. Barnabas! ([email protected])

Closing Prayer

Jesus loved his friends. Jesus prayed for his friends. because we learn about Jesus together. This is a bouncing-ball prayer. Whoever has the ball names a person across the circle, says “God be with my friend [Name],” and bounces the ball to that person. After everyone gets a turn, retrieve the ball and add an Amen.

Complete Supply List for this Family Experience

• Spark Story Bible or Spark Bible • Pre-made cards or blank paper • Envelopes • Markers/crayons/stickers • Church directory or names from Sue

• Some kind of ball that bounces (medium to large size).

Coloring and activity sheets below Lazarus

When the people saw Lazarus alive again, they laughed and sang and danced.

When the heavy stone was rolled away, Jesus said, “Lazarus, come out!”

Lazarus Lives Coloring Page B. Spark™ Sunday School © 2010 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. May be reproduced for local use only. Important Messages Jesus has some good news for Martha and her sister Mary. Imagine Jesus used email to deliver the message. Can you help him tell the good news? Write “Lazarus will live again!” inside this message box! What else is part of your message?

Send Attach Save Draft Cancel

From: Jesus

To: Mary and Martha

Subject: Your Brother Lazarus

Grades 1-2, Lazarus Activity Page. Spark™ Sunday School © 2010 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. May be reproduced for local use only. Movie Miracles Bringing someone back to life sounds like something from a movie – except Jesus really did it! Try writing a movie script for the amazing story of Lazarus!

Script

BETHANY STUDIOS MESSAGE

DATE SCENE TAKE

Grades 3-4, Lazarus Activity Page. Spark™ Sunday School © 2010 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. May be reproduced for local use only. Overlapping Joy(s) Can you fill in the blanks on these overlapping words to learn more about today’s story? The first blank will finish each person’s name and the second blank will tell what they did. The letters you use will be the same for both!

LAZA HED ...out of the tomb

JE TAINED ...his life

MAR ELLED ...for her brother

MAR NKED . . . J e s u s

Grades 5-6, Lazarus Activity Page. Spark™ Sunday School © 2010 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. May be reproduced for local use only. Overlapping Joy(s)olution Can you fill in the blanks on these overlapping words to learn more about today’s story? The first blank will finish each person’s name and the second blank will tell what they did. The letters you use will be the same for both!

LAZARUS RUSHED ...out of the tomb

J E S U S SUSTAINED ...his life

M A R Y Y E L L E D ...for her brother

MARTHA THANKED . . . J e s u s