Lesson 4 – Extreme Faith: Jesus Calms the Storm
Series: The Life of Jesus
Extreme Life—For Older Students
LESSON OVERVIEW
Key Point: Jesus Calms our Fears
Repeat this phrase throughout the lesson.
Bible Story: Mark 4:35-41
Challenge Verse: Proverbs 3:5-6—“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
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ITEMS NEEDED
Each class needs the following:
Slips of paper in a bag that say Lord, All, Heart, Lean, Understanding, Straight. These can be found at the end of the lesson.
Memory Verse Sign—Proverbs 3:5-6
BEFORE CLASS
– Have the bag with the words from the Act-It-Out memory verse activity nearby your teaching area.
– Pray for each student by name.
AS STUDENTS ARRIVE
– Greet each student by name as they enter.
– Give each student an attendance sticker for the attendance chart, and feel free to add guest names to the chart. This will give them a sense of belonging.
– Get to know any guests and help them fill out a guest form.
– Be sure to smile—Your smile and attitude sets the atmosphere as students enter.
The first 10 minutes of 3rd-6th grade classes should be used as an opportunity to build and deepen relationships with students. Relationships are the key to reaching this age group. Ask them specific questions about what is going on in their lives, joke with them, laugh with them, and play with them. Every class should have an activity going as soon as the students arrive. Each classroom should have games such as Jenga, Connect Four, etc. to use during this time. Also feel free to play group-jump rope, four-square, and other fun entry-activities.
BIBLE LESSON
Control Tool
SAY: Today’s story is about Jesus and any time I say, “What should you have?”
I want everybody to say, “Extreme Faith!”
Leader—“What should you have?” / Students—“ Extreme Faith!”
SAY: Today we’re going to find out what it means to have Extreme Faith in Jesus.
Tell your students that you are going to need every one of them to help you with the Bible story today. Then divide your class into two parts. (You can divide them either by using two sides or by using boys and girls.) Lead them in making the following sound effects:
Side 1–Make a sound like wind. Have them start out gentle and get louder and louder.
Side 2–Make a sound like waves. Again, start out gentle and get louder.
Everyone–Show them how to put their hands on their knees. Begin tapping your fingers
louder and then patting your knees louder and louder to make a sound like rain.
Everyone–When you say, “Thunder,” they say, “Boom!”
Everyone–When you say, “Lightning,” they say, “Bright Light!”
Everyone–When you say, “Boat,” they say, “Row, row, row your boat!”
Everyone–When you say, “Jesus,” they say, “Have no fear, Jesus is near!”
Everyone–When you say, “Stop,” they stop all the sounds.
Now you’re ready to tell the story, but first practice with them a few times. For example, say, “Thunder / Boat / Jesus / Wind / Stop.” etc. Make stopping almost like a game to see how quickly they can get quiet. Practice again: Wind / Waves / Boat / Jesus / Stop!
TELL THE STORY: One day Jesus and His disciples were in a boat and Jesus had fallen asleep when a storm came. It probably began with a gentle wind and some gentle waves, but they grew louder and louder. Then there was probably some gentle rain, but it got heavier. (At this point you should have the wind, waves, and rain all happening at the same time.) Then there was probably some thunder (Boom!) and lightning (Bright Light!) And some more thunder (Boom!) and the boat (Row, row, row your boat!) was going back and forth and the disciples were scared. STOP!
Ask the students: Have you ever been scared during a storm? (Take a couple of answers.)
Ask the students: What did you do?
SAY: Watch what the disciples did…
BACK TO THE STORY: The wind was blowing. The waves were crashing. The rain was pouring. Louder and louder. There was thunder (Boom!) and lightning (Bright Light!) and more thunder (Boom!) and even more thunder (Boom!) and the boat (Row, row, row your boat!) was going back and forth and the disciples were scared. But Jesus (Have no fear, Jesus is near!) was asleep in the back of the boat. So they woke up Jesus (Have no fear, Jesus is near!) and said, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown!” STOP! (If they don’t stop quickly, tell them they can do better than that. Tell them you want to see how quickly they can stop. Then start the noise again and loudly say, “Stop.” If someone is disrupting and not stopping, the teacher that is not leading the group needs to pull him aside and give him a warning. If him still continues to disrupt, send him to Kolby.)
SAY: The disciples asked Jesus if He cared they were going to die. That’s how scared they were.
Ask the students: Do you think Jesus cared about how scared they were? (Yes, and He cares about any time you’re scared too. God doesn’t want you to live in fear.)
Ask the students: After the disciples woke Jesus up and He looked around at the storm, do you think He was afraid? Why or why not? (No, He wasn’t afraid. Why? Because even in the storm, He was in control. And if you’ve given your life to Jesus and are living for Him, you don’t have to be afraid either because Jesus is always in control.)
Ask the students: Since Jesus is in control, does this mean bad things won’t ever happen to you? (No, bad things sometimes happen to good people, but if you’re walking with Jesus, you can always trust that He can take any bad thing that comes your way and turn it to your good.)
FINISH THE STORY: The wind was blowing. The waves were crashing. The rain was pouring. Louder and louder. The boat (Row, row, row your boat!) was going back and forth and was starting to fill with water. There was thunder (Boom!) and lightning (Bright Light!) and more thunder (Boom!) and lightning (Bright Light!). So they woke up Jesus (Have no fear, Jesus is near!) and said, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown!” Then Jesus (Have no fear, Jesus is near!) said, (Say this loudly over all the storm noise) “Quiet. Be still.” In other words, STOP! (The students should become quiet.) And just as quickly as that, the storm stopped. The waves stopped. The wind and the rain—everything stopped.
SAY: The disciples should have known that everything would be okay because Jesus was right there with them.
REPEAT AFTER ME: Have no fear, Jesus is near!
Tell those who did the wind to say, “Have no fear.”
Tell those who did the waves to say, “Jesus is near.”
Go back and forth several times to see which side can be the loudest.
Control Tool
Leader—“What should you have?” / Students—“ Extreme Faith!”
SAY: This is Extreme Faith: When you trust God regardless—regardless of what it costs you or what happens to you, even when you don’t understand what’s going on or why it’s happening.
Read Mark 4:35-41 to your students and ask them if the disciples showed Extreme Faith.
CHALLENGE VERSE
Using the same teams you used for wind and waves, have them try to guess key words from today’s memory verse by taking turns acting out the following:
LORD
ALL
HEART
LEAN
UNDERSTANDING
STRAIGHT
Once all have been solved (and some may need help, such as “It rhymes with…” etc.), read Proverbs 3:5-6 from your Bible.
Read Proverbs 3:5 from your Bible.
Ask the students: What do you think it means to trust the Lord and not lean on your own understanding? (It means that you trust God even if you don’t understand why something has happened and may not know what to do. You don’t have to understand the situation to trust God with it.)
Situations
Read the following situations but ask your students not to answer out loud—just to listen:
How can you trust God when your parents get in a bad argument?
How can you trust God when someone calls you mean names?
How can you trust God when someone you care for is in a bad accident?
How can you trust God when someone you know dies?
How can you trust God when you don’t understand why He didn’t stop something bad from happening to you?
SAY: Here’s the answer—You can always trust God because He’s always right there with you, just like Jesus was right in the boat with the disciples. And you can ask Him for help, just like the disciples asked Jesus for help. And you can trust God, because even in the middle of the most frightening and worst situations, Jesus can put peace in your heart, just like when he said “Quiet—Be still” to the storm.
Control Tool
Leader—“What should you have?” / Students—“ Extreme Faith!”
BIBLE SKILLS
Ask the students: Is Proverbs in the Old Testament or the New Testament.
Ask the students: Who can find the book of Proverbs on the Bible Book Chart? (Show them what section of the Old Testament it is in and that it follows Psalms.)
Ask the students: So if you were going to find the book of Proverbs in the Bible would you look in the front or the back of the Bible? (The middle—just behind Psalms)
Tell them to get their Bibles.
SAY: Get ready for a Bible Drill. Remember you can’t open your Bibles until I say go.
Ready…Proverbs 3:5…Go!
Ask the students: Who can remember what last week’s verse was and where it was found on the Bible Book Chart?
SAY: Get ready for another Bible Drill.
Ready…Philippians 4:13…Go!
SAY: Get ready for another Bible Drill.
Ready…John 8:12…Go!
SAY: Get ready for another Bible Drill.
Ready…Psalm 56:3…Go!
During these Bible drills, help students to get familiar with the layout of God’s Word and let those who are quick to find verses help others (if they want help). We want to make sure, that no one gets frustrated or feels embarrassed. We want this to be a fun, competition-type time, but with no emphasis on winning, just on doing the best they can.
LESSON ACTIVITY
The Trust Fall*
To illustrate trust you are going to lead your students in an activity called “The Trust Fall.” During the Kick-off Opening, Kolby will walk all the students through the rules and safety precautions for this and demonstrate it for them.
The Trust Fall involves a student who falls off a table into the arms of his teachers and other students.
(1) Choose a volunteer who is willing to fall off the table.
(2) Choose 6 to 8 other students to be catchers. They will make two rows, facing each other with their arms outstretched. Their hands and arms should follow a pattern where you have the hand of the person on one side, then the hand of the person on the other side, and so forth. It’s good if at least one teacher participates.
(3) Help the volunteer to stand on top of a table with his feet together, his heels at the edge, and his back to the catchers.
(4) He will need to stiffen his body and fold his arms across his chest. Tell him not to bend his body. He needs to stay completely stiff.
(5) Stress to the catchers the importance of not goofing around. This is serious. If they don’t do their job, someone could get hurt.
(6) Remove (or don’t choose) any students that you don’t trust to follow your instructions.
(7) Then when you tell him to (and only when YOU tell him to), he will fall backwards, keeping his body straight and stiff, into the arms of the catchers.
(NOTE: You are the teacher and you know your students. Never do an activity if you feel that your class could not handle the responsibility of that activity.)
Ask the students: Was it hard to fall backwards? Would it have been harder if you couldn’t see the catchers?
SAY: Some people have trouble trusting God because they can’t see Him, but you can trust Him because He promised to never leave you and never let go of you. So the next time you face a tough time or something bad is happening…If you feel like you have a storm raging in your life and you don’t know what to do, simply:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.”
SAY: Just like Jesus took care of the disciples in the boat, He’ll take care of you. You can trust Him and when you do an amazing thing happens: He calms your fears and gives you peace. Let’s look up a promise from the Bible:
Get your Bibles ready:
Ready…Philippians 4:6-7…Go!
PRAYER TIME & WRAP-UP
Control Tool
Leader—“What should you have?” / Students—“ Extreme Faith!”
SAY: And He’ll always take care of us. Let’s thank Jesus for being able to give us peace even in the middle of tough times.
Take Prayer Requests on the next page…
List Prayer Requests
Be sure to pray specifically for each request.
EXTRA TIME
Use any extra time to help your students memorize the verse for today.
*Original source unknown.
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