Skit #5 for Following the Footsteps

Skit: Following the Footsteps, Day 5

	[Johnny enters carrying an oversized magnifying glass, following footprint tracks, and humming the theme song from Inspector Gadget (or any other popular cartoon detective show you like).]
Heather:	[Enters.] What are you doing, Johnny?
Johnny:	Oh, I'm following these footprints to find out where they go.
Heather:	Can I help?
Johnny:	Sure. Here, you hold the magnifying glass. [Hand it to her.]
[The two of them follow the footprints for a few steps.]
Heather:	Hey, wait a second. You told me that following the footsteps means changing our behavior to live the way God wants us to live, by following the good examples he gave us in the Bible.
Johnny:	Yes, that's right. [point] Umm, I think they lead over this way.
Heather:	So, like, we can follow the footsteps of Caleb and Joshua by trusting God and doing what he says. Or we can follow the footsteps of the Israelites in the desert by putting our faith in Jesus to forgive our sins, just like they trusted God that looking at the snake on the stick would save them from the snakebite venom.
Johnny:	Exactly. Or you could follow in the footsteps of Hannah by praying to God. Hand me the magnifying glass.
Heather:	Yeah. [Hand him the glass.] So why are you following the footsteps that are on the ground? I thought we were following the footsteps of people in the Bible.
Johnny:	We are.
Heather:	You're confusing me! What gives? Did Moses walk in this church?
Johnny:	[shrug] Not as far as I know.
Heather:	I thought all those people in the Bible lived across the ocean.
Johnny:	They did.
Heather:	So why are we following their footsteps, then?
Johnny:	We're following their footsteps because they set a good example that God wants us to follow. We love God, so we do our best for him, and the footsteps in the Bible show us how.
Heather:	[exasperated] But what about these footsteps? Whose footsteps are these?
Johnny:	What, you mean these footprints on the floor?
Heather:	Yeah, isn't that what we've been talking about?
Johnny:	Oh, I was just following these for fun. [Exit, humming Inspector Gadget again.]

Skit #4 for Following the Footsteps

Skit: Following the Footsteps, Day 4

Heather:	Man, this following in the footsteps is getting pretty hard. First I found out I don't just have to step in some footprints, and then I found out I don't even just have to do exactly what somebody else did. I actually have to think. It's too hard. I'm not sure if I want to do this anymore.
Johnny:	[Enters] Hey, Heather, are you ready to learn some more footsteps to follow?
Heather:	I'm not sure I want to. Following the footsteps can be hard. Can't I just do something easy? Can't you just follow the footsteps for me?
Johnny:	Well, I'm going to try to follow the footsteps too.
Heather:	Why bother? It's so hard.
Johnny:	Yeah, it's hard, but nothing worth doing is easy. God gave us the Bible so we could have good footsteps to follow. I think it's better to follow them as best we can, instead of just trying to guess. Remember how you said in the winter you walked in your dad's footprints, so you wouldn't get snow in your boots?
Heather:	Yeah. Walking in dad's steps was better than making my own path.
Johnny:	Well, it's like that. If we didn't have the Bible, we wouldn't even know what we're supposed to do. We'd have to make our own path, by guesswork. Following in the footsteps makes it easier to live for God. We can do better than we would if we didn't have any examples to follow.
Heather:	Oh. I guess so.
Johnny:	Come on, come to Bible school tonight, and we'll learn about some more footsteps.
Heather:	Okay. I do want to follow God. I guess I'd better find some more footsteps.
Johnny:	Yep.
Heather:	Okay, I'm ready now. Let's go!

Skit #3 for Following the Footsteps

Skit: Following the Footsteps, Day 3

Heather:	[Enter] Okay, I'm all set now. I'm going to follow in the footsteps... [walk slowly toward stage while speaking...] the footsteps of Ezra... I want to do the same things Ezra did... Ezra had a platform to stand on, and read the Bible. Now let me see... What can I do that's like that? I could say my memory verse from last night, but what about the platform? I know, I'll use the stage! Here I go! I'm going to follow in Ezra's footsteps.
[Heather gets up on the stage and starts saying the verse. Johnny interrupts about halfway through.]
Johnny:	[Enter] Hey, Heather, what are you doing up there?
Heather:	I'm following in Ezra's footsteps. See? I'm using this stage as a platform, and I'm saying my memory verse, which is from the Bible.
Johnny:	Well, learning your memory verse is a good way to follow in Ezra's footsteps, but why are you up on the stage?
Heather:	What, isn't it good enough? Isn't the stage like Ezra's platform?
Johnny:	What do you need a platform for?
Heather:	Well, Ezra used a platform. I'm following in his footsteps.
Johnny:	Ezra used a platform because otherwise all the people wouldn't have been able to hear, and they wouldn't have known what God's word said. They didn't all have their own copies of the Bible. These people [gesture toward audience] have their own copies of the Bible. So I don't think the platform is the most important thing about Ezra's footsteps.
Heather:	Well, then, how am I supposed to follow in the footsteps?
Johnny:	What did the people do once Ezra had read the Bible to them?
Heather:	Well, they did what it said... Oh, I get it. If I'm going to follow in the footsteps, I have to do what the person did. To follow in the footsteps of Ezra, I have to do what the Bible says.
Johnny:	Right.
Heather:	Okay, so how do I know what to do?
Johnny:	Keep coming to Bible school, and to church, and study your Bible at home. You'll learn all kinds of things that you can be doing. Then you can really follow in the footsteps.
Heather:	Wow! And I won't even need a platform!

Skit #2 for Following the Footsteps

Skit: Following the Footsteps, Day 2

	[Heather enters]
Heather:	Alright, I'm all set to follow the footsteps, just as soon as I figure out where they go. Now let's see... yesterday we talked about Caleb and Joshua leaving footsteps. Now, where did they go again? Let me think...
Johnny:	[Enters] Hey, Heather, how's it going?
Heather:	Didn't Caleb and Joshua go into the promised land?
Johnny:	Well, yes...
Heather:	Okay, I'm all set. So, which way is that from here anyway? Is the promised land [pointing] this way?
Johnny:	Umm, why do you need to know?
Heather:	Because, I'm gonna follow the footsteps Caleb and Joshua left for us. I don't need to see their footprints, because we studied in last night's Bible lesson about where they went. I know they went to the promised land, so I figure their footsteps must lead there. So as soon as I figure out which way that is, I'll go follow...
Johnny:	I don't think you understood. We weren't talking about going to a place where they went. When we talked about following the footsteps of Caleb and Joshua, we were talking about emulating how they lived, and what they did.
Heather:	Well, how will that tell me which way to go? How am I supposed to get to wherever it is I'm supposed to be going, if I don't know which way they went? Can't we just program it into my GPS?
Johnny:	Heather, you're not listening. We don't need to go where they went. What we need to do is act the way they acted, the way God wants us to act. We're supposed to be learning to follow their example. That's why God gave it to us in the Bible, so we can learn how to act.
Heather:	So you mean I don't need my hiking boots and my GPS? Whew, that's a relief. I bet the promised land is a long way from here anyway. It would probably take me all day to walk there.
Johnny:	Actually, I think it's across the ocean, so you couldn't walk there from here anyhow.
Heather:	Across the ocean? That would really take me a long time! I'd miss Bible school for sure!
Johnny:	Oh, you don't want to miss Bible school tonight. We're going to learn about somebody else whose footsteps we can follow.
Heather:	Okay, I'm ready!

Skit #1 for Following the Foosteps

Skit: Following the Footsteps, Day 1

	[Heather enters, bent over and looking at the floor.]
Heather:	I can't find any footsteps here. [Look under a pew.] Boys and girls, did any of you see any footsteps? [Looks behind the piano, etc.] I came here to follow the footsteps, but I don't see any! What am I going to do? Oh, now what? Woe is me, ...
	[Johnny enters]
Johnny:	What are you doing, Heather?
Heather:	Well, I was going to follow the footsteps, but I can't find any!
Johnny:	You can't find any? But we're going to learn about them tonight!
Heather:	You mean, I have to learn how to find them? I thought this was going to be easy. Footsteps, you know, [point to ground] you see them, and then you [making exaggerated stepping motions] step in the same places.
Johnny:	I don't think that's what they mean by following the footsteps.
Heather:	Sure it is! When it snowed last winter, I followed in my dad's footsteps, so I wouldn't get any snow in my boots. It's like that.
Johnny:	Well, these footsteps that we're talking about at Bible school are from people who lived thousands of years ago.
Heather:	Thousands of years? Wouldn't the snow have melted by now? Wouldn't the footsteps be gone?
Johnny:	Well, yes, but it's a figure of speech. Their physical footprints are gone, but we can still follow in their footsteps by following their good example. Following in the footsteps means behaving like they behaved, doing the kinds of things they did.
Heather:	I don't get it. How can I follow footsteps I can't see?
Johnny:	Don't worry. Just wait until the Bible teacher comes, and we're going to learn all about the footsteps that we can follow.

The Fish and the Coin

Monday:	The Fish and the Coin
Story Passage:	Matthew 17:24-27
Other Passages:	Matthew 12:1-8, Matthew 22:15-22, John 5:18
Objective:	Jesus is God
Memory Verse:	Matthew 16:16, Simon Peter answered, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Visuals:	Available

Introductory Drama: Peter remembers spending time with Jesus.

Peter:	Hi, my name is Peter. How many of you have ever heard of a man named Jesus? Well, I was one of Jesus' followers. I remember one time, when the temple tax collectors asked about Jesus' paying the temple tax...
Jesus:	What do you think, Peter? Whom do kings collect taxes from, their own sons, or others?
Peter:	I said, From others.
Jesus:	Then the sons are exempt.
Peter:	Then he told me to go catch a fish, open its mouth, and find a coin to pay the tax for both of us, so that we wouldn't offend the tax collectors.

Discussion: Who is taxed?

Thank you, Peter. Why didn't Jesus have to pay the temple tax? (Because he was God's son.) What does it mean that Jesus was God's son? (It means he was equal with God.)

Story: Lord of the Sabbath

[This can optionally be told from Peter's perspective.]

One time, Jesus and his disciples were walking through a grainfield. His disciples were hungry and began to pick and eat some of the grain. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Jesus, Look! Your disciples are picking grain. They're working on the Sabbath. (The Pharisees had a big set of rules about things they thought were too much work to do on the Sabbath, and picking grain was one of them.) But Jesus said, Haven't you read in the law that the priests in the temple work on the Sabbath, but are innocent? I tell you that one greater than the temple is here... For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.

Main Point: Lordship

What does it mean to be Lord of something? What does it mean for Jesus to be Lord of the Sabbath? (It means he is in charge of it.) Who could be in charge of that? Who could be greater than the temple? (Only God.)

What did Jesus tell Peter to do about the tax? (Caught a fish, opened its mouth, took out a coin, and payed it.) Have any of you ever been fishing? Did you ever find a coin in the mouth of a fish? If you catch a fish, do you usually expect to find a coin? How could Jesus know there would be a coin? (He is God.)

What did Peter use the coin for? (To pay the temple tax.) Why did Jesus pay the temple tax? (So he wouldn't offend the temple tax guys.)

Closing Drama: Title

Jesus:	Who do men say that I am?
Disciple(s):	Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah...
Jesus:	What about you? Who do you say that I am?
Peter:	You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Jesus:	You didn't hear that from men, but from God.

Invitation: Lordship

Invite any children who want to acknowledge Jesus as God and as Lord of their lives to stay after the lesson and discuss it further.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.