God's Sheep

Sheep are all over the place in the Bible, used as examples and illustrations for a variety of things in both testaments. They're also cute and make for easy decorations, so naturally we had to use them for a Bible School theme. The lessons we take from this theme talk about sin, salvation, obedience, security, and the church. In Galion this was our 2007 theme, which we tentatively expect to use for the second time in 2013.

This theme is mostly complete, except for visuals.

	Elementary		Preschool		Teens
Monday	Bible Lesson:	Going Astray: Moses and the Rock	Bible Lesson:	Moses and the Rock: Obey God	Bible Lesson:	Going Astray: Moses and the Rock
	Memory Verse:	Isaiah 53:6 (Follow the Shepherd)	Sheep Lesson:	We All Sin*	Discussion:	3 Questions
	Craft:	Shadow Box	Craft:	Sheep Bank	Craft:	Vase Candle
	Game: Pass the Sheep
	Snack: Popcorn (object lesson)
Tuesday	Bible Lesson:	Lamb of God (Isaac and the Ram)	Bible Lesson:	Praising God (David the Shepherd)	Bible Lesson:	Isaac and the Lamb (teen version)
	Memory Verse:	Romans 4:25 (Every Other Word)	Sheep Lesson:	Thanking the Creator*	Discussion:	4 Questions
	Craft:	Ram in the Thicket	Craft:	Watercolor (David playing the harp for his sheep)	Craft:	Cloth Painting (ram in the thicket, or Abraham and Isaac)
	Game:	Sheep Gate Tag	Game:	Sheep Gate Tag	Game:	[needed]
	Snack: cutout cookies (crosses and sheep)
Wednesday	Bible Lesson:	Stolen Sheep: Saul and the Spoils regular version or skit version	Bible Lesson:	Baa, baa, baa! (Saul and the Sheep)	Bible Lesson:	Stolen Sheep (teen version)
	Memory Verse:	1st Samuel 15:22 (Divide and Conquer)	Sheep Lesson:	Obey the Shepherd*	Discussion:	5 Questions
	Craft:	Obedience Bookmark	Craft:	Pull-Through Filmstrip	Craft:	Obedience Bookmark
	Game: Sheep Golf
	Snack: Donuts (O shape for Obey)
Thursday	Bible Lesson:	Sheep Security: The Good Shepherd	Bible Lesson:	Jesus Loves Children (Let the children come)	Bible Lesson:	Good Shepherd (teen version)
	Memory Verse:	1st John 10:28 (Show Your Card)	Sheep Lesson:	The Shepherd Knows His Sheep*	Discussion:	3 Questions
	Craft:	Plate Masks* (sheep, bear, or lion)	Craft:	Sheep Plate Masks	Craft:	Soap Molding
	Game: Sheep Maze
	Snack: Jell-O® Jigglers (shepherd crooks and sheep)
Friday	Bible Lesson:	Shepherded Sheep: Leading and Following	Bible Lesson:	God Loves Us: The 99 and the 1*	Bible Lesson:	Shepherded Sheep (teen version)
	Memory Verse:	Ephesians 2:10 (Simon)	Sheep Lesson:	Jesus Wants to Be Your Shepherd*	Discussion:	3 Questions
	Craft:	Noodle Mosaic (Follow God)	Craft:	Chalk Drawing (sheep)	Craft:	[needed]
	Game:	Sheep Chin Relay	Game:	Sheep Relay	Game:	Sheep Chin Relay
	Snack: floats (no correlation)

* - Items marked with an asterisk are incomplete or otherwise need work.

Substitute Indoor Games:

• Tangled Wool
• Sheep Soccer

Decorations:

God's Sheep Decoration Plans

2007 Complete -- more or less

VBS finished up tonight, so the God's Sheep materials are just about as complete as they're likely to get this time around the rotation. There may be a few things that didn't get posted here, but unless someone points them out to me I will at this point focus mostly on putting up the Soldiers of God materials as we develop them. (Soldiers of God is the theme we are planning to use in 2008 in Galion.) We will probably start posting preliminary Bible lesson drafts for that set in early July.

Meanwhile if anybody knows either how to put SVG documents up on blogspot or another good place for hosting them, I'm open to suggestions. There are a number of bits and pieces from God's Sheep, including some of the craft patterns, that really cannot be converted to HTML. For now, they are available upon request.

Schedules

Here is the schedule we are using. Obviously, things vary by a minute or two, but we try to stay as close to the schedule as we can to avoid conflicts with different age groups wanting the same room at the same time, and to get all three age groups back for the closing around the same time, and to keep from running too late and making parents anxious.

Obviously, each local church would need to make adjustments, due to considerations like available rooms, available people, and so on. Think of this as an example. Notice how the elementary (our largest age group) is on the move to a different area every fifteen or twenty minutes. We'd do the same thing with the other age groups if we had enough space to be able to make it work.

Time	Activity
6:00	Registration, Verse Recital, Visitor Registration, and Seating
6:15	Opening — Sanctuary (See below for details.)
Time	Preschool	Elementary	Youth/Teen
6:35	Craft Mess Room	Bible Lesson Sanctuary	Bible Lesson Teen Room
6:40
6:45
6:50
6:55	Bible Lesson Preschool Room	Games Outdoors (Basement if rainy)	Snacks, Verse, & Discussion Teen Room
7:00
7:05
7:10	Snack small portions Mess Room	Missions Sanctuary
7:15
7:20			Craft Teen Room
7:25	Verse Preschool Room	Snack Mess Room
7:30
7:35	Songs Preschool Room
7:40		Verse Sanctuary	Games Outdoors (Teen Room if rainy)
7:45	Secondary Lesson Preschool Room
7:50		Craft Mess Room
7:55			Missions Teen Room
8:00	Games Outdoors (Preschool Room if rainy)
8:05
8:10
8:15	Closing — Sanctuary (See below for details.)
8:35	Dismiss

Opening Schedule
6:15:00	First Song	(2.5 minutes)
6:17:30	Welcome	(4 minutes)
6:21:30	Second Song	(2.5 minutes)
6:24:00	Offering or Third Song	(5 minutes)
6:29:00	Announcements	(4 minutes)
6:32:00	One More Song	(2 minutes)
6:34:00	Dismiss Preschool	(1 minute)
6:35:00	Dismiss Teens and start Bible Lesson

Closing Schedule
8:15:00	First Song	(2.5 minutes)
8:17:30	Did Everybody Have a Good Time?	(2.5 minutes)
8:20:00	Second Song	(2 minutes)
8:22:00	Contest Results	(3 minutes)
8:25:00	Third Song	(2 minutes)
8:27:00	Hand Out Prizes	(3 minutes)
8:30:00	Come Back, Bring Friends, &c	(1 minute)
8:31:00	One More Song	(3 minutes)
8:34:00	Dismiss

Decorations

We'll fill in the links in this table as we get our decoration plans online. See SVG Documents for information about the SVG documents.

Theme	Bulletin Boards	Wall Decorations	Ceiling Decorations	Stage Decorations	Panel Display	Other
Fishing for Christ	Elementary, Preschool, Teen	fish everywhere (artwork needed)	hang from ceiling: fish, bobbers, poles, and so on	Needed	Needed
Running the Race	Elementary, Preschool, Teen	runners, running shoes, pennants, crossed checkered flags, ... (artwork needed)	Needed	Needed	Needed	Starting line / Finish line sign across entryway
Back to the Beginning	Elementary, Preschool, Teen	Needed	Needed	Needed	Needed
God's Sheep	bulletin board plans* (teen comic strips)**	flocks of sheep (artwork)	Needed	sheepfold	Isaac & the Ram (scenes)
Soldiers of God	Elementary, Preschool, Teen	Available	Needed	Needed	Needed
Footsteps of the Fathers (tentative)	Elementary, Preschool, Teen	Needed	Needed	Needed	Needed

Decoration Plans for God's Sheep

Note: See SVG Documents.

Bulletin Boards

We have plans for three bulletin boards (elmentary, preschool, and teen): bulletin-board-planning.svg and comic-strips-for-teen-bb.svg

Wall Decorations: Flocks of Sheep

On the walls, there should be several scenes with a flock of sheep. (There can be big sheep, little sheep, ewes, rams, lambs, white sheep, black sheep, black-faced white sheep, speckled sheep, ...)

• One of these scenes can feature a roaring lion in opposition to the flock.
• One scene should depict a wolf disguised in sheep's clothing, Wolf_in_Sheep_s_Clothing.svg.
• One scene should show a shepherd leading the sheep.
• In the preschool room there can just be sheep all over the walls.

Artwork for some of these scenes is still needed.

Panel Display: Isaac & the Ram

We're thinking in terms of a three-panel display of the Isaac and the Ram story. The first panel can show them going up the mountain; the second panel can depict Abraham tying the boy to the altar, and the third panel should probably show the ram in the thicket.

Artwork for this display is still needed.

Stage Decoration: Sheepfold

For the stage, build sheep-fold walls out of cardboard, with a little wadded newspaper and paper-mache for shape and texture, painted to look like stone wall. Lawn sheep, if available, can be placed within the fold. A door should be left in one place, making the fold enterable (although the wall does not need to be very tall, in any case).

Ceiling Decorations: Needed

We could put mobiles on the ceilings, but what would we hang from them? Yet more sheep? We may skip the ceilings this year.

We could hang sheep from the ceiling in the preschool room.

Other:

We didn't talk about what to do for the stairs, but more sheep on the walls seems like an obvious option...

SVG Documents

A number of the materials, such as craft patterns, decorations, and so on, are in SVG format. We've created them using Inkscape, which can also be used to view or print them. (Inkscape is freely available, so you can download and install it at no cost. I can also convert the documents to other formats (such as eps or PDF) upon request.)

At the time of this writing, I haven't got them all online yet. For a long time we didn't really have a place to put them (online). Update (spring of 2011): Now that we finally do have a place to host them, I still have to get around to putting most of them up. So for now they are available upon request.

I will eventually try to get them all online, at which point I will link to them here, as well as to each of them from the appropriate place (e.g., craft patterns from the instruction pages for each respective craft). But for now, people who need them will need to contact us and request them. If you need a format other than SVG, please specify in your message what format you want (e.g., PDF). To be sure I see your message promptly, include the words Bible School in the Subject.

Snacks

Theme	Day	Key Snack Item	Notes	Additional Items
God's Sheep Snacks (Updated, 2013 July)	Monday	Popcorn	Object lesson goes with Bible lesson.	sandwiches, chocolate-chip cookies
	Tuesday	Cross/Sheep Cutout Cookies	Shapes go with Bible lesson.	tacos, chips
	Wednesday	Donuts	Shape is a reminder for the Bible lesson.	hot dogs, fruit
	Thursday	Jell-O® Jigglers	Shapes go with Bible lesson.	pizza, cupcakes
	Friday	Salad	Salad reminds us of the kinds of things sheep need to eat.	macaroni and cheese, ice-cream floats
Soldiers of God Snacks (updated 2014)	Monday	Twizzlers	Twizzlers look like the red rope Rahab used to let the spies out.	Popcorn & Mini-Burgers
	Tuesday	Grilled Cheese Sandwiches	Grilled cheese sandwiches have bread both over the cheese and under it, like the centurion who had men over him and under him.	Jell-O and Carrot Sticks
	Wednesday	Shield Cookies	The cookies are shaped like shields, which are a piece of armor.	Pizza & Fruit
	Thursday	Mud Pudding	Mud pudding resembles the mud that was in the bottom of the cistern into which Jeremiah was thrown.	Hot Dogs & Nachos
	Friday	Prison-bar cupcakes	The stripes on top of the cupcakes resemble bars, like on a prison; Peter was in prison, but God sent an angel to let him out.	Sloppy Joe & Chips
Fishing for Christ Snacks (updated 2015)	Monday	Chocolate Coins	Jesus told Peter he would find a coin in the fish's mouth.	Spaghetti & Fruit
	Tuesday	Whale Cookies	Jonah was inside a whale for three days and three nights	Tuna Salad Sandwiches & Carrot Sticks
	Wednesday	Fish Sticks	Jesus ate a piece of cooked fish to show his disciples that he was really there.	Applesauce & Homemade Cookies
	Thursday	gummy fish	When their net was full of fish, the disciples knew that it was Jesus, and that they should listen to him.	Hot Dogs & Cucumber Slices
	Friday	cloud parfaits	When Jesus ascended, a cloud hid him from the disciples' sight. Before leaving, he told them to be his witnesses.	Tater Tots & Cheese Chunks
Following the Footsteps Snacks	Monday	Grapes & Pretzels	The men who explored the land brought back an enormous cluster of grapes, evidence of the bounty of the land. The cluster was so large that they draped it across a pole (represented by the pretzel rod) so two men could carry it.	Cookies
	Tuesday	Kool-Aid	Kool-Aid packets come with instructions on the back. If you read the instructions but don't follow them, you don't get good Kool-Aid. The Bible also has instructions in it, and we need to follow them, like the people of Israel when Ezra read the Bible to them.	Spaghetti, Garlic Bread, & Pudding
	Wednesday	Gummy Snakes on Sticks	God told Moses to display a snake on a stick in the middle of the camp, so that people could look to it and be saved, – just like we today look to Jesus for our salvation.	Hot Dogs & Carrot Sticks
	Thursday	Baby Shower Cookies	People have baby showers to celebrate when they have a baby. Hannah had been wanting a baby for a long time; when she prayed, God gave her a son, Samuel.	French Fries & Cheese Slices
	Friday	Homemade Bread & Jam	Epaphroditus brought Paul food (among other things) from the church, to help Paul while he was in Prison for telling people about Jesus. Epaphroditus served God by helping Paul. The Shunnamite also helped Elisha by feeding him, because he was a man of God. Homemade bread is a kind of food they might have had and might have given them.	Fruit & Ice Cream
Running the Race Snacks	Monday	animal crackers	animals go with the preschool lesson on creation
	Tuesday	lion cookies	lion is a reminder that God cared for Daniel
	Wednesday	cupcakes and scrolls	cupcake does not correlate, but scrolls go with the Josiah lesson
	Thursday	chocolate coins and fruit salad	the coins are a reminder of the rich young man; fruit does not correlate
	Friday	crown-shaped cookies	the crown goes with the elementary Bible lesson and the preschool shapes lesson
Back to the Beginning Snacks	Monday	animal crackers	God created animals
	Tuesday	fruit salad	Adam and Eve were permitted to eat any fruit in the garden, except from the tree of knowledge
	Wednesday	animal-shaped cutout cookies	animals go with the lesson on Noah's ark
	Thursday	star-shaped cheese	Abraham was told his offspring would be as numerous as the stars
	Friday	cupcakes	does not correlate**

Footnotes:

* Needs some work (such as improved instructions, etc).

** Does not correlate with any of the lessons and could be replaced if someone comes up with something that does.

Snacks (God's Sheep)

Monday:	Popcorn
Elementary Lesson:	Straying Sheep: Everyone has sinned and that sin has a penalty.
Elementary Verse:	We all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him all our sin. Isaiah 53:6

Air-pop the popcorn and serve it warm, if possible. Butter, if desired, can be melted in a saucepan on the stove. Popcorn is white and fluffy, like sheep, and when air-popped, sometimes a piece of popcorn comes flying out of the popper and flies across the room, like a lost sheep. Remind the children that, like sheep, we wander astray sometimes.

---

Tuesday:	Cutout Cookies
Elementary Lesson:	Lamb of God: Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, so that we don't have to.
Elementary Verse:	He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. Romans 4:25

Serve homemade cutout cookies in the shape of crosses (frosted red or brown) and sheep (frosted white, optionally with black detail, e.g. hooves and an eye). Remind the children that a sheep took Isaac's place, and that Jesus died on a cross to take their place.

---

Wednesday:	Donuts
Elementary Lesson:	Stolen Sheep: We should obey God's instruction.
Elementary Verse:	To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15:22

Serve traditional O-shaped (i.e., toroidal) donuts. Tell the children that the O stands for Obey, because we should obey God's instruction, even though Saul didn't.

---

Thursday:	Jell-O® Jigglers
Elementary Lesson:	Sheep Security: Jesus is the good shepherd and always looks after his sheep.
Elementary Verse:	I give them eternal life, and they will never die. No one can snatch them out of my hand. John 10:28

Serve thick, jiggly gelatin dessert in the shape of shepherd crooks (like a candy-cane shape) and sheep. The shepherd's crook should remind the children that Jesus is the good shepherd who takes care of his sheep.

---

Friday:	Floats
Elementary Lesson:	Shepherded Sheep: We must follow Jesus.
Elementary Verse:	For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

Serve floats with vanilla ice cream. Let each child choose between root beer or orange pop. (This snack is not related to the lesson, but you can still remind the children of the lesson while they eat it.)

Games

The plan is to fill in the links in the table below as we get more of the games online...

Theme	Day	Elementary Game	Preschool Game	Teen Game
God's Sheep	Monday	Pass the Sheep	Pass the Sheep	Pass the Sheep
	Tuesday	Sheep Gate Tag	Sheep Gate Tag	Marshmallow Ram
	Wednesday	Sheep Golf	Sheep Golf	Sheep Golf
	Thursday	Sheep Maze	Sheep Maze	Sheep Maze
	Friday	Sheep Chin Relay Race	Sheep Relay Race	Sheep Chin Relay Race
	Indoors (in case of rain): Tangled Wool Sheep Soccer Have the preschool play standard games they know such as Duck Duck Goose
Soldiers of God (2008)	Monday	Water Balloon Toss	Marching Around the Wall	Water Balloon Toss
	Tuesday	Sealed Orders (orders)	Water Balloon Toss	Sealed Orders (orders)
	Wednesday	Soldier Dress-Up Relay	Soldier Dress-Up Relay	Soldier Dress-Up Relay
	Thursday	CTF Wargame	Hiding from the Bad King	CTF Wargame
	Friday	Enlistment Tag	Play with Hula Hoops**	Enlistment Tag
	Indoors (in case of rain): [needed]
Fishing for Christ	Monday	Oven Mitt Relay	Fish Coin Hunt	Oven Mitt Relay
	Tuesday	Team Slide	Diving into the Whale	Team Slide
	Wednesday	Wet Sponge Relay	Twelve Baskets Full	Wet Sponge Relay
	Thursday	Hula Hoop Net Race	Hula Hoop Net Race	Hula Hoop Net Race
	Friday	Fishermen's Relay	Fishermen's Relay	Fishermen's Relay
	Indoors (in case of rain): Indoor Fish Relay Don't Break the Rod
Following the Footsteps	Monday	Wet Sponge Dodgeball	Floating Stuff	Wet Sponge Dodgeball
	Tuesday	Soak the Paper	Through the Hoop	Soak the Paper
	Wednesday	Crabwalking in the Footsteps	Crawling in the Footsteps	Crabwalking in the Footsteps
	Thursday	Pile-Up	Pass the Sheep	Pile-Up
	Friday	Footsteps of Service	Gather & Sort the Balls	Footsteps of Service
	Indoors (in case of rain): Footsteps Memory
Running the Race	Monday	Baton Relay	[Needed]	Baton Relay
	Tuesday	Water Relay
	Wednesday	Obstacle Course
	Thursday	Sand Relay
	Friday	Dress-Up Relay
	Indoors (in case of rain): Telephone Game (Race Version)
Back to the Beginning	Monday	Animal Match-Up Relay	Animal Game (Pretending)	Animal Match-Up Relay
	Tuesday	Board Foot Race**	Bubbles**	Board Foot Race**
	Wednesday	Two by Two	Animal Match-Up Race	Two by Two
	Thursday	Egg-Push Race**	Hot Potato**	Egg-Push Race
	Friday	The Church** (similar to blob tag)	Needed	Frisbee® Basketball**
	Indoors (in case of rain): Animal Memory Balloon Stomp

Footnotes:

*
Needs some work (such as improved instructions, etc).

**
Needs substantial work or should ideally be replaced.