This week’s session continues the build-up toward the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry. But while it might be tempting to follow in my childhood footsteps and want to get to the “action,” that’s not a mistake I would encourage you to copy from me. These sessions are really important (and they have some solid “action” too). This week the baptism of Jesus.
Why Was Jesus Baptized?
The question that begs to be answered in this session is why Jesus was baptized. There are several possible reasons.
By being baptized, Jesus was identifying with sinners.
By being baptized, Jesus was living a life of full obedience to God.
By being baptized, Jesus was affirming John’s ministry.
These are all solid explanations, and perhaps all factor into it. I don’t know if we have to choose one over the others, especially since they do not contradict one another. But while we cannot be absolutely certain of why Jesus was baptized, we can be certain of one wrong reason: because of sin.
We know baptism today as a picture of the spiritual reality of our salvation. Part of this is repentance of sin. But we also know that this was not the reason Jesus was baptized, for He was without sin. As you teach your kids this week, be sure that this is made plain to them.
Baptism and Kids
This session might also provide a wonderful opportunity to talk with your kids about being baptized. Perhaps any kids who have been baptized can share their experience and any kids who are curious about baptism can ask the questions they have.
Here are the answers to some common questions we get:
Baptism isn't required for salvation, instead baptism is a profession of faith. It confirms, in a public setting, a desire to trust in Christ. Baptism is, therefore, the "marker" of a person’s faith—what others can point back to to affirm that they made a decision to trust in Christ.
There's no certain age to get baptized. A common myth is that people can be "too young" or "too old" to get baptized, and that's not true! The right time to get baptized is when you've accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior and want to tell the word - there's no certain age for that!
After we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and most get baptized, we take communion. Baptism represents Jesus' death and resurrection. Communion is when we take bread and juice to remember that he died on the cross for us! Baptism and communion are definitely linked because the first is a profession of our faith and the second is in remembrance of what we've professed!
*Devo from Pastor Brian, from The Gospel Project.
#JesusJams for today!
---> And here's this week's story!!
Christ Connection: Jesus never sinned, but He obeyed God and was baptized like sinners are baptized. Baptism reminds us of Jesus’ death and resurrection. It reminds us that when we trust in Jesus, we turn from sin and start a new life—a life lived for Jesus.
If you have a bible at your house, you'll be turning to Luke 3 to read with your family this week! If you don't have one, that's okay! CLICK HERE.
OPTION 1: Paper dove-planes Provide each kid with a sheet of paper. Challenge the kids to make paper airplanes that will stand in for doves. The goal for each kid is to make an airplane that takes longest to “float” to the ground. SAY • Great job on those paper doves. They really looked graceful floating to the ground! Today we will hear about a time the Holy Spirit came down from heaven like a dove onto Jesus, and God the Father spoke! We’ll hear the whole story soon.
OPTION 2: Pom-pom bugs Provide pom-poms, chenille stems, googly eyes, and glue sticks. Encourage the kids to make their own unique bugs using the pom-poms as the abdomens and chenille stems as legs. You may provide scissors for kids to cut the legs into shorter lengths. SAY •Those are some cute bugs! Today we will learn about John the Baptist. He lived in the wilderness and ate locusts, which are basically very large grasshoppers. Our bugs wouldn’t be very tasty, but then again, a locust probably wouldn’t be either! We’ll learn why John was called “the Baptist” and about a special man he baptized.
OPTION 2: Prepare the way Hold a length of cardboard at a slight incline to serve as a track for the toy cars. Place small obstacles like paper wads, cotton balls, and so forth on the track. Let kids predict how long the car will take to reach the bottom. Then allow a kid to remove the obstacles before sending the car down the track again. SAY •The toy car was able to make it to the bottom much more easily when the obstacles were removed. When we “prepared the way,” it rolled down better. In a similar way, John’s job was to prepare people for Jesus by telling people the Messiah was coming and by preaching about repentance and God’s kingdom. When Jesus obeyed God by being baptized, God proclaimed that Jesus was His Son, and the Holy Spirit rested on Jesus like a dove. The people could remember what John had said and see that Jesus was the Messiah that God had promised long ago. When we show people love and teach them about the gospel, we are preparing the way for the Holy Spirit to change their hearts to love and worship Jesus.
