John the Baptist | Sunday School Lesson

Wading in the Jordan River!
Imagine being baptized in the Jordan River
just like John baptized Jesus!
People are still baptized there today.
Photo: Alicia Bramlett

John the Baptist was Jesus' cousin. His mother was Elisabeth whom if you remember, was pregnant with John when Mary went to her to tell her she was going to have a baby. You can read this part of the story in Luke 1:41-44 KJV.

⁴¹ And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

⁴² And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

⁴³ And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

⁴⁴ For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

While the above verses is a full Sunday school lesson in itself, we are not going to focus on that part of the story.

Instead, we're going to focus on the part of John the Baptist's life when Jesus came to be baptized. Many folks don't realize the importance of baptism. Hopefully, this lesson will help teach your class about Jesus' example through the story of John who became known as 'John the Baptist'.

John the Baptist - Baptism of Jesus

John wasn't always known as John the Baptist. He was born as a baby just months before Jesus' was born in Bethlehem and guess what - he was Jesus' cousin!

When they grew up, John began telling the people about the coming Messiah.

Ask the kids, "Do you know who the Messiah is?"

Wait for answers.



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The Messiah is Jesus. That's right - Jesus is the Messiah that John the Baptist was telling everyone about.

John preached to people all the time. John was actually born to preach. Of course, there was something different about this preacher.

He didn't have his own church. He didn't even preach in the towns near a church. Instead, he would go to a river (the Jordan River) and start telling anyone who would listen about the coming Messiah.

One day, when John was telling the people they should ask for forgiveness for their sins and be baptized, Jesus came walking toward him.

Jesus was there to be baptized by John.


John looked at Jesus and said, "You should baptize me. You've never done anything wrong. You don't have to ask for forgiveness of your sin and most certainly don't have to be baptized."

Jesus wanted to set an example to everyone. You see, baptism is to show others outwardly what has happened inwardly.

What does this mean?

It means that when you have asked for forgiveness and Jesus has come to live in your heart, you are baptized to show others what has happened. You are showing that you are now a child of God and want others to know it to.

After the Baptism of Jesus

After John Baptized Jesus, the holy spirit came down from heaven in the form of a dove and God spoke from heaven.

He said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."

You see, God was very proud of his Son, Jesus. Jesus was setting a example for us to follow even today.

If you have asked Jesus to come into your heart, have you been baptized?

If not, talk to your kids about baptism a bit more and if anyone wishes to be baptized, be sure to talk to their parents and your preacher.


 

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Jesus Christ and the Fishers of Men Sunday School Lesson

It's important for you to know as a Sunday school teacher that this bible story happened near the beginning of Jesus' ministry. He was only now calling the first of his 12 disciples. This true story happened not long after he was baptized by John the Baptist.

Simon Peter cast out his fishing net just as Jesus said.
Photo: Oxfordian Kissuth, Wikimedia Commons

Fishers of Men Sunday School Lesson

At the beginning of this Sunday school lesson, Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John were on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. They had been fishing all night long and their large fishing nets needed to be washed.

You see, these four men were fisherman. It's not like when we go fishing to catch fish. It's not like when mommies or daddies go fishing for the weekend. This was Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John's job. Fishing is how they made money.

Each night, they would go out onto the sea, drop their huge nets into the water and pull the fish back in. The next day, they would take the fish they caught into town to sell them.

On the night when this bible story happened, the four fishermen had worked all night long to catch fish and hadn't caught even one.

As they were working to wash out their fishing nets, Jesus came walking along the shore. He wasn't alone though. Many, many people were following him hoping to hear him teach and to preach.

When Jesus came near Simon Peter's boat, he walked right up to it and stepped inside.


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He told Peter to push his boat out a little ways into the water and Simon Peter obeyed.

That's when Jesus began to teach. He taught all those people sitting in Simon Peter's boat on the Sea of Galilee. After Jesus was finished, he told Simon Peter to take his boat out into the deep water of the sea and let down his net again.

Remember, these men had fished all night long without catching a single fish. They were probably tired and disappointed. They probably didn't want to try again, but because Jesus told him too, Simon Peter obeyed.

When Simon Peter let down his net into the water, the bible tells us that they caught a great multitude of fishes. It was so many their nets began to break. They called the other men on the shore and told them to come and help. When the men arrived in their boats to help, the bible says there was so many fish that both boats were so filled they began to sink.

Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John was so astonished, they realized right then they were standing in the presence of the Messiah.

Jesus told them to not be afraid. He also told them they were to not catch fish anymore.

They were to be fishers of men.

This meant instead of working day in and day out to catch real fish, they were to go out into the world to tell people about Jesus Christ so they might be saved and go to heaven one day.

 

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What We Can Learn from this Sunday School Lesson

 

We learn that just like Simon Peter, we need to obey God in whatever he says to do. Simon Peter could have told Jesus there was no fish in the sea and went about his business. Instead, he obeyed Jesus and caught more fish than ever before.

Sometimes, we may not understand what God needs us to do or why, but we don't have too. We only need to obey because God knows best.

Second, we learn that we are to be fishers of men just like the men in the story.

We should tell everyone about Jesus and how he died on the cross for us. We should let them know they can be saved and go to heaven one day if only they accept Jesus into their hearts.

When we tell others about Jesus, we are being fishers of men.


 

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Jesus Birth: The Christmas Story - Sunday School Lessons

So many Christmas traditions surround the holidays that often the true meaning of Christmas gets lost in the shuffle. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Christmas? Is it the lights, the presents, the hustle and bustle of Black Friday deals, getting together with family, Santa Claus, Christmas music, or old Christmas movies?

The list could go on and on, but the first thing that should pop into our heads (and stay there) is the birth of Jesus.

 

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Photo courtesy of Malene Thyssen
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Malene

 

Before beginning the Christmas story with your kids, set the scene a bit. Maybe you could say something like this:

Imagine, it's a dark night and you are alone in your bed. You are awoke by a bright light. As you look around, you see someone in your room whom you've never seen before - an angel. You are scared. What should you do? Should you run or scream?

The angel begins to speak to you and you calm down and know that this angel is bringing you a message from heaven - a message from God.

This is what happened to Mary, Jesus' mother. She was scared, but thankfully she didn't run away.

The Christmas Story

Just like the scene above, Mary received a surprise visit from the angel Gabriel. The angel had come with a message from God.

Gabriel first told Mary, 'Don't be afraid. I have good news for you'.

You see, Mary was very special to God and needed her to be the mother of Jesus. Gabriel had come to tell her the news. Imagine - out of all the women (or girls) in Israel, Mary was the chosen one.

Mary didn't understand how she could have a baby right now.

Gabriel said, 'For with God, nothing shall be impossible!' (Luke 1:37 KJV)

Mary didn't argue or say she didn't want to right now. Instead, she said, 'Whatever you say, I'll do.' (Luke 1:38 KJV)

If only we would say, "Yes Lord, whatever you say, I'll do it." It can be hard especially if it means being nice to another child at school, minding mom or dad, or even not arguing with your brother or sister. We should all try to be more like Mary and do what God needs us to do.

Gabriel also told Mary that her cousin, Elisabeth, was also going to have a son. This was also a miracle because Elisabeth was old and had never had any children. The bible tells us that Elisabeth's son was to be called John (later known as John the Baptist). His job from birth was to tell others about the coming Messiah (Jesus).

Mary wanted to visit her cousin Elisabeth and set out on the journey to see her. Mary stayed three months before journeying back home to tell Joseph about the coming baby.

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What Will Joseph Do?

When Mary told Joseph about the angel's message from God and about the coming baby, Joseph was unsure of what to do.

Should he still marry her?

Joseph worried. One night while Joseph slept, Gabriel came to him in a dream. The angel told him not to be afraid to make Mary his wife. This dream was all it took for Joseph to marry Mary. You see, Joseph was to help Mary raise Jesus.

The Road to Bethlehem

During this time, Caesar Augustus decided that everyone that was under his rule should come to Bethlehem to be counted so that they could be taxed. (Be prepared to explain this if children ask what taxing or counted means.)

Inside Bethlehem
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

So, Joseph and Mary set off on their long journey to Bethlehem.

When they arrived at the city, it was crowded because of all the other people who had traveled there to be counted. Every place was full. The bible tells us that there was no room for them in the inn.

Where would they sleep? It was time for Mary to have baby Jesus. There were no hospitals. There wasn't even a room inside a house where she could lay. What would they do?

Because there was no room in the inn, Mary delivered baby Jesus, wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger. We don't know if she was in a stable or a cave of some sort which was where stables normally were in those days. We believe this may have been the case, but the bible does not say. She may have given birth out under the stars.

What We Can Learn

The story of the birth of Jesus is surrounded with many wonders which goes along with the wonders of the Christmas holidays. There is so much we can learn, but for younger kids stick to the basics (below). For older kids, you can dig a little deeper into the story.

We learn that no matter how scared we are if God needs us, we should be willing to obey - just like Mary. We also find that Jesus wasn't born in a fancy house or expensive hospital. He was born and laid in a manger. A manger is a place where the animals eat their food. It probably was dirty and smelt bad.

Mary didn't have a warm soft blanket to wrap Jesus in either. Instead, she wrapped him in swaddling clothes. Swaddling clothes are strips of cloth that often were used to wipe down the animals with. Jesus didn't have expensive clothes. We often think we have to have the best clothes or the newest styles. If Jesus didn't have to have expensive clothes, we sure don't either.

This holiday season, don't focus on how many toys or clothes you get. Instead, focus on the birth of Jesus and how many people you can tell the story to.
 

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Baptism of Jesus - Crossword Puzzle | Sunday School Activities

We've created this crossword puzzle for you to use with your Sunday school lesson about John the Baptist or the baptism of Jesus. It can also be used in youth groups, VBS, or adult classes too!

Print off all of our crossword puzzles and coloring pages and staple them together in a booklet to give out as prizes, homework for Christian schools, or whatever else you'd like to use them for.

We hope you like what you find here on our site. If you do, pass it along using twitter, Facebook, e-mail, pinterest or any other sharing site you use.

May God bless you as you teach children about the Word of God.

Baptism of Jesus Crossword Puzzle

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