Year C. 3rd Term. Lesson 3. Bible Buddy: JONAH

Scripture: for teacher background:  Jonah Ch 1-4 Matthew 12:38-40 Luke 11: 28-32

Making contact: 

Play a fishing game with the children – cut out cardboard fish and attach paper clips to them. 

Make fishing rods out of sticks and string. 

Attach a magnet to the end of the string. The children dangle these rods over the fish that are lying on the floor and “catch them.” 

You can write words on the back of the fish which make up a sentence like “This is the story of Jonah and how he ran away….”

Or write the memory verse on the cardboard fish.

 Exploration:

Jonah was a prophet of God who lived in Israel. He came after Elisha. 

God gave Jonah very definite orders to go to a certain city called Nineveh. This was the capital of Assyria, Israel’s strongest and worst enemy. 

What would you do? Well, Jonah went to the harbour and got on a ship going the opposite direction. 

He tried to runaway from God but God sent a strong wind and a very bad storm came up. 

The sailors were terrified.

 Jonah was fast asleep in the ship’s hold. The captain found him there and told him to pray to his God. The sailors drew lots (like gambling) to see whose fault this storm was and the name that was chosen was Jonah’s. He told them he was running away from his God and that they had better throw him overboard.

 Eventually they did and it became calm. The sailors promised to serve God.

Meantime, Jonah probably drowned as he sank to the bottom of the sea, but a very large fish swallowed him. This is easy for God to arrange, because God made all the planets, stars and animals, so a big fish to save His naughty prophet is no problem.

It is also possible for God to give Jonah his life back. 

 A lot of people do not believe this story and I really hope you are not like that but believe God's Word as true.

 Just remember that Jesus spoke about Jonah and said that just as Jonah was in the fish for 3 days and 3 nights so He would be spending 3 days and 3 nights in the depths of the earth when He died, before He rose again.

So Jesus believed that this really happened. Do you think Jesus would call a story the truth? No! It must have been true!

Jonah prayed from inside the fish. He repented and asked for forgiveness. –(Read the prayer to the children if you have got time – Jonah 2)

Then God ordered the fish to spit Jonah up on the beach.

God commanded Jonah a second time – "Go to Nineveh!"

This time Jonah listened. (It doesn’t pay to disobey!)

Nineveh was a huge, beautiful city. There were palaces and beautiful gardens and huge walls protected the city. There were 120 000 innocent children there and many animals.

But it was a very wicked city, full of sin and Jonah had to go and tell the people to repent or else they would be destroyed in 40 days time. (He was actually hoping for that!)

 It took him 3 days to walk right through the whole city preaching. He then sat on a hill outside the city waiting for God to destroy it, but the people repented. 

He was furious and sulked! Then the plant that was shading him died. Children do this, don’t they? - When little brother or sister is naughty and then Mommy doesn’t punish them. It’s not fair.

God was showing Jonah and us that even the wicked people can repent and be saved and that God cares for all groups of people!

Application

 The news about Jesus and salvation is for the whole world. God may call you to go and tell someone you don’t like, but it is important to obey.

There might be groups of people that you don’t like, because they are different to you, but remember God loves them too.

 If we disobey God, and I hope we never will, but if we do, we need to pray like Jonah did inside the fish and ask God to forgive us. God gives second chances.

Challenge to Mission

 Is there someone you really don’t like, just as Jonah didn’t like the Ninevites?

Start by praying for that person or those people and then do something kind for them and maybe even tell them about Jesus. 

Don’t set your hearts against another nationality or group of people and be racist and unkind. God doesn’t like that at all. He loves us all.

Consolidation

 There is a worksheet to colour in and a place to write what excuses we give to God. There is also a speech bubble to write a prayer in

Memory Verse

“How happy are those who hear the Word of God and obey it.” Luke 11:28

 Print the memory verse on whale shaped cards.