Story Five: "The man who was God's Word"

By Barry McWilliams
Lesson Five: God's Word brings us to Jesus.
Bible Text: John 5:19 - 47 and John 1:1, 14 - 18

Teaching method: Puppet or Dramatic

The "puppet" character serves several purposes in your storytelling.

• First, it should get attention and hold interest.
• Second it will give the means for "asking" and "answering" questions that children may need to have expressed concerning the concepts being taught.
• Treat the presentation of the story as a dialog between teller and "puppet". Children love to listen into dialog.

In the below strategies are two ways you could develop this story into a "puppet story" The first allows the Puppet to be the "instructor" and the teller to be the one asking the needed questions.

In the second, allows the puppet play the "role" of a child; as it is told the story by the teller - it asks "dumb", but obviously necessary, questions, and reacts to the teller's answers as a child might.

Always include some humor along the way to maintain interest!

Using puppets to generate appropriate feedback is one way of helping the children grasp difficult concepts and clarifying applications. It helps them avoid the embarrassment of asking "stupid" questions.

Strategy #1:

Planning the dialog: Since you have been talking about God's Book all week, "God's Word" now wants an opportunity to speak, and tells the story with the teller interrupting with questions and remarks.

Strategy #2:

Characterization:

• Voices - try to make puppet voices as dissimilar as possible. And practice them a lot. Practice laughing, sneezing, crying, coughing and singing. If you are speaking for yourself as well as the puppet - practice "throwing" you voice to it.

• Movements - especially practice moving the puppet's mouth. Try "lip syncing" the puppet to recorded singing, or counting to twenty. Practice expressing feelings and emotions with the puppet's "body language".

Watch Out!! Puppetry hints:

• Especially watch out for puppet sink as your arms get tired (too many puppets nearly disappear from view),
• Also weak voice projection especially if you are using a theatre,
• And out-of-sync movements of the puppet's body or mouth
• Be aware of proper eye contact between the puppet and other puppets, the teller and the audience
• Keep your puppet animated and in character even when it is not speaking.
• Practice conversation and movement often in front of a Mirror.

More Puppetry Resouces on the Web:

• Jim Maroon's Puppetry page
• Rose Sage's Puppetry Page

Simple Story outline:

• God's book : The Word written!
  • Reveals God to us
  • God's Promises made -
  • But some disbelieve it.
• God's Man: The Word incarnate!
  • Reveals God to us
  • God's promises fulfilled -
  • But some disbelieved Him.
• God's Word to us -
  • Do you believe the book?
  • You must believe the Son!

The Story

God showed Himself to man in it. He showed Himself through what He said and also what He did. In the book people learned about His holiness and His Love.

He made many promises in his book. He promised He would someday judge and punish all sinners because He was holy, but He also promised to send a Savior because of His love.

But some people didn't want to believe the book.

Some of them said: "It's just an ordinary book - with some nice stories in it." Some of them said: "Some parts were really neat! But some parts I didn't like." Others said: "Its too boring so I don't read it." or "It's just a bunch of fairy tales."

God had put a very special message in the book, but many people would not listen to the message. God's message was a message of life and death.

So God had an idea. "I will send a `living book' to them to shown them what I am like and to tell them my message."

And so God sent a very special man, special because he was God's son. He was born in Bethlehem. As he grew older, as a boy, he amazed the people in the temple with His knowledge about God. As an adult, everyone who heard him said: "He teaches the truth."

This man was called the Word of God because He told people what God was like. He had known God and talked with God in heaven. He was called the Word of God because the things he did were the things God does. He cared about the poor and lonely and hurting people, and wanted to forgive people's sins. He was called the Word of God because He did miracles in God's name. Those who listen to Him can know God as a friend through Him.

He was called the Word of God because He fulfilled all that God had promised in His book. He was the Savior God had promised in the Bible.

But not everybody believed this man who was the Word of God. They wanted to hurt Him. They wanted to throw stones at Him for saying God was His Father and that He was God.

He showed us better than any book could how great God's love is for sinful people like you and me. He died on the cross for the sins of those who trust him, and he rose from the dead on Easter day.

But some people still do not believe Him. But for those who believe the Bible and Believe what God's Son has done and said, God has made wonderful promises. They will live with Him forever.

The Bible is all about Him. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

God has "spoken" to you through His Word. The Bible and His Son both show you the love He has for sinners. But are you like those who do not believe the Book God had written? Or Those who rejected the God's Son who God sent? Do you believe God's Word is true?