Sunday 7 March 2021 - Jonah

Jonah - Obey God

Worship:

Today we are digging into the story of Jonah, so why not listen to this fun musical version of the story to set the scene?  (God said Go – the Jonah Song by Glen Scrivener):

Word:

As a church, we are looking at some of the big messages found in the little books of the Bible.  Jonah is a little book found towards the end of the Old Testament.  It is named after its main character Jonah.  Jonah has to learn that being obedient and doing what God wants Him to do is the best option – when he chooses to try to do the opposite of what God wants him to do, it has pretty dramatic consequences!

Read together the story of Jonah from a children’s Bible or a Bible storybook re-telling.   (If you don’t have access to one at home, this is a good re-telling by Sharla Guenther;

If you prefer to watch a video retelling, the ‘Gospel Project: Jonah’ is a good version:

Start by asking your child(ren) to tell the story of Jonah in their own words.  Then choose some of the following questions to ask and consider:

-       What did God ask Jonah to do?  Why didn’t he want to do it?

-       How did God get Jonah’s attention?

-       Imagine being inside the big fish!  What do you think Jonah thought about?

-       How did the people of Nineveh respond to God’s message (when Jonah eventually gave it)?

-       Why was Jonah angry that the people turned to God?  Why did their turning their lives around upset Jonah?

-       What did Jonah need to learn and come to understand?

God didn’t give up on Jonah!  Even though Jonah desperately tried to avoid doing what God wanted him to do and even though Jonah was actually cross with God for being kind and forgiving towards the people of Nineveh.  We see through the story of Jonah that God’s ways are best!  God wants us to trust Him and to obey his ways – to do things as He tells us to do them in the Bible.

Spend some time talking together about what ‘obedience’ means and how we need to learn to learn to obey God and to be faithful to Him.

Although Jonah is only a little book in the Bible, only four chapters long, it carries a big and important message - choosing to follow God’s ways is always the best option!

Activity Suggestions:

Under 5’s

Play ‘Pin Jonah on the Big Fish’!

Draw and decorate a giant fish together.  Then draw and cut out a figure to be Jonah.  Take it in turns to be blindfolded and see if you can ‘pin’ (fasten) Jonah onto the fish’s tummy.

5-7’s

Make a puppet!

Make a puppet so the fish can swallow Jonah. Use a paper cup as the fish (colour/decorate if you wish), give it eyes and a tail. Put a hole through the bottom of the cup. Feed length of string through it and secure. Take a balloon and spoon in some flour to weight it. Tie securely. Draw/stick a figure on it– to be Jonah. Tie this onto the other end of the string and you will have a fish puppet who can ‘swallow’ Jonah and also ‘spit him out’!

There is a video showing how to make it here;

7-11’s

Jonah Puzzle

Have a go at completing the Jonah Crossword puzzle.  See separate ‘Jonah Crossword PDF’ download.

Reflection:

Create a den using blankets or go inside your tent if you have one.   Imagine you have just been swallowed by a large fish!  

-       I wonder what it looks and smells like inside the big fish?

-       I wonder how Jonah felt during the three days inside the fish?

-       I wonder what Jonah said to God and why?

Listen to this KidSpring Children’s Worship song which encourages us to follow God’s ways – “Follow You”(Elementary Worship):