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Dates for Pentecost:
2008: May 11
--it's early this year!
2009: May 31
2010: May 23
Christian
Pentecost marks the official end of the 50 days of the Easter Season
(hence "Pente"). It celebrates the Acts 2 outpouring of the Holy Spirit
on the Disciples and into the world. Informally it is known as the
"Birthday of the Christian Church."
Originally it was a Jewish festival.
Jewish Pentecost ("Shavuot") is known by several titles: Feast of
Wheat, Feast of Weeks, or Fruits of the First Harvest.
Pentecost featured
"two loaves of bread baked with yeast," made from the first fruit of the
Spring wheat harvest which was supposed to conclude 50 days after
Passover. Those two loaves were "waved before the LORD" in the act of
thanksgiving (Leviticus 23:15-20 NIV). Selected animals, such as lambs,
bulls and rams, were also sacrificed in the
Pentecost ritual.
The official date of Pentecost moves every year because its date is
based on the date of Easter, and Easter is dated based on a lunar
calendar, not a fixed Roman one.
Key Lesson Idea:
At
Pentecost, the Disciples were empowered by the Spirit to share
the
Gospel.
Up until then, they had been keeping it to themselves. It is
the gift of sharing the Good News boldly, and in such as way as
it makes sense to those who hear it. It is not the gift of "speaking in
tongues" as some mistakenly think. The Disciples speak in known
languages. It is a powerful metaphor for the Church today, and for
teaching the Good News to children.
CAUTION: Turning
Pentecost into a "navel-gazing birthday celebration" is not what
Pentecost was about.
Yes, it's a party, but
it shouldn't just "celebrate us" ...it should celebrate "who we are supposed to be toward others
and what we're supposed to be doing." It is about
sharing the Good News.
In the following lesson,
students must first determine what the Good News is, then
rephrase it in the "language of the hearer." Your lesson should also
specifically discuss "how and to whom" each of us should share the
Gospel. "How" is both what we say to others, and how we live
our lives as examples. Being able to verbalize our faith in Christ
is an important step in faith maturity. Take time toward the end
of the lesson practicing the words one might use to share their faith
with a friend.
Here's one of my favorite all-time
computer lab lessons...
Speaking the Gospel
in a new language
Using Kid Pix 3 or 4 or the new
Let's Talk CD
This lesson plan that has been a big
hit every time I've taught it. In fact, I've demonstrated it with
adults at seminars and they enjoyed it too. This lesson
can be done with Let's Talk CD or
Kid Pix 3
(or its predecessors). Both Let's Talk and Kid Pix 3 can "speak aloud" what
ever your kids type onto the screen. Let's Talk makes the process a lot
quicker and easier to work with, but it's not hard in Kid Pix. Using
this Talk Back capability, we're going to have the kids create four or five sentences that
summarize
the Good News in a new language, just like happened at Pentecost.
A favorite language
these days is "Pirate" language... arggh Matey! It's been recently
popularized by the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Spongebob, and
the Dodgeball movie. How would a Christian pirate tell another
pirate the good news about Jesus Christ?
Begin:
The kids read the Bible story in Acts 2:1-41. Yeah...it's long,
but it is VERY dramatic. Encourage the kids to ham it up. When
you get to Peter's speech, pull out a FAKE BEARD and read the
first few sentences yourself. Then pass the beard to the next
person. (Make the beard out of fun-fur or brown cloth. Get a
wig too. They'll love it and won't forget the lesson).
(For young children, use a Bible story
book, give them all beards and have them repeat after you.)
After the reading...
Come up with the essence of
what the Good News which PETER shared and the Disciples were
sharing with the crowd (the Good New in brief). It may be helpful
to consider what the "bad news" might have been (like
God is going to smash us all).
Have each student write down some of these ideas.
Next,
the kids QUICKLY assemble a Pentecost scene in Kid Pix 3. I recommend
using some of the ready-made backgrounds. Don't spend much time
drawing.
If you're using Let's
Talk, you'll get to "build" the animated talker. So you COULD have the
students 'translate' their text according to which of the "talkers" they
built. They can build a surfer dude, a monk, an alien, and various
combinations there.
Then, they begin to type their Pentecost
"Good New" using the typing tool.
The language they create is in English, but the choice
of words is "new" because they are not allowed to use
any of the words in the Bible verses themselves and cannot use
church vocabulary. Example: they cannot type "Jesus died
for our sins." Afterall, how would an alien from another
planet be able to figure out how "death was for our sins."
Think about it! ...Instead, they have to explain the concept
of his death without using the word "sins."
They must come up with a new way to express that word --a new
translation suitable for people from completely different world/culture.
Language Examples:
You can translate the Good News into "cool dude" speech,
"pirate" language, "baby speak," or "Outer
Space Speech."
We've done Good News to Surfer Dudes
...and it was like totally radical man. Jesus is a dude you can
hang-ten with anytime and not worry about getting thrashed by
the backwash. He's lookin out for his buddies from the big tower
on the beach. Ok...one too many Frank and Annette movies for
me, but the kids enjoyed some suggestions!
We've also had groups choose
PIRATE
LANGUAGE. "Avast ye scurvy swabs, know why you is scurvy
no more? Because Jesus has walked the plank for ya." "Have I got a treasure chest for you. They
made him walk the plank, arg.... but he lept from Davey Jones'
Locker and is captain of the ship once more." Etc etc. (Ha!
too much fun!)
Baby talk is funny too
and some of the older kids really get into it. "Jesus is
the best blankie." Etc. Baby-talk is actually quite challenging.
I would encourage you to work through it on at least one of your
computers.
The "Outer Space" Gospel was
popular among some students because there are numerous outer
space graphics in the writing software. How would a Disciple
have spoken the Good News to an Alien?" Another approach
is to use spaceship/launch language. "Jerusalem we have
a problem." "The stone was rolled away in 9, 8, 7,
" This news will help you lift-off."
You can let the kids choose the language
they like, or assign it.
After they are done creating.... take the whole class to each computer for a
"hearing" and discussion.
At the End of Class...
Use the Talk Back
feature in either Kid Pix 3 or Let's Talk to have the students
construct "A Pentecost Prayer" which the computer can speak aloud on
their behalf. Write on the subject of "God help me to share the
message of ...."
Additional Kid Pix 3 Teaching Notes
for this lesson:
Pressing the green playback button in
upper right corner of the screen will play the text aloud. If
you have added any animated characters, they'll begin to animate
too.
The key here is the teacher MUST work
right with the kids. They'll try to use "church words"
but don't let them. Even Christian adults don't totally understand
the phrase "he died to set us free" !! We have to find
some new words...dude.
Younger children who can't type can
still dictate to someone who can type. And they will enjoy hearing
their words spoken by the computer.
Not every presentation will capture
all there is to say about the Good News, but together they'll
go far and give you plenty to talk about.
Kids can also make up their own language
out of gooble-dee-gook. Kid Pix 3's text-to-speech engine does
some funny things with weird spellings. Have the kids TRANSLATE
what the computer is saying. It will be quite fun.
 You
can see another version of this lesson at
www.sundaysoftware.com/lessons/ThreeLessonPlans.doc
 Additional
Let's Talk Teaching Ideas and Notes
Let's Talk has
a module in which you can "build a talking lesson" complete
with narrated text, a 3 question talking quiz, and 3 discussion
questions which the student respond to with talking answers.
You could have the students make narrated lessons about
Pentecost for each other, OR you the teacher could make the
narrated lesson.
You could use
Let's Talk to introduce the story and provide the kids with
examples of Pirate Gospel or Outer Space Alien Gospel language.
Let's Talk
also has a module titled "Conversation Now" which looks like
an instant messaging program. Two students can "send" messages
back and forth to each other at the computer. This can be used
to "debate" what happened at Pentecost. A debate between Peter
and the Naysayers, for example. Or between two of the foreigners
who are hearing the Disciples preach the Gospel. One doesn't
agree, the other believes what they hear.
Pentecost comes
around every year! It works to vary your lessons each year
with these tools.
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Theological Note:
The Story of Pentecost demonstrates that God
will not let his message go unheard. God will always find NEW
WAYS for his word to be heard. And there will always be some
who think it is wrong to say it "that way." They will
accuse us of being wrong (drunk). But the word is amazing and
astonishing.
Other
Pentecost Lesson Ideas...
Baking Bread! There is perhaps no tastier symbol of Pentecost.
Bread is basic, bread nurtures, bread is something you share
with neighbors, bread is theological (think communion).
Leviticus 23 describes the bringing of bread to the Temple as an
act of Pentecost worship. Theological note: In Rabbinic
literature yeast was a symbol of sin (for more details, just
look it up). But Christians, starting with Jesus' "leaven in the
loaf parable," emphasized the 'enlarging' properties of yeast.
That 'air' has often been symbolically linked to the 'wind' of
the Spirit.
You can find a
multitude of free Pentecost lessons in the Lesson Exchange at
www.rotation.org.
Look under Pentecost in the Ideas and Lesson Exchange. |
Other Software Lesson
Possibilities...
Use Crosswords and Word Games
(from our catalog) to create Pentecost
matching game. Some possible matches: who's who in the story.
What Peter said. What the nay-sayers said. etc. Also, you could
create Crossword puzzle on the meanings of the story. Example:
1-down = "a six letter word for the day of the week Pentecost
happened." etc.
Gifts of the Holy Spirit
-Fruits of the Spirit
--Illustrate various "gifts"
passages with Kid Pix 3, or Windows Paint/Print Shop, etc.
See the OT & NT Cross Reference for a lesson
concept for teaching the Fruits of the Spirit. What would an apple say
about Jesus?
The Internet: IF you're hooked
up....
Go
to Google Search Engine and type "Pentecost." A lot
of interesting things to visit, see and read, including: origins
of Pentecost. If you're not hooked up you could be in a matter
of minutes.... All you need is a nearby phone jack, some
extra phone line, a modem for the computer, and somebody's Internet
account access code.
In 1998 I took my fifth graders out
on the Internet looking up "Pentecost." They were fascinated
by the exploring and by some of the things we found. We found
a page on "speaking in tongues" which really got their
attention and created a lot of good discussion (most of our kids
had heard of it before). We strung a phone line to the computer
lab for that Sunday and I accessed my local Internet Service
Provider from the church using my passwords. Pretty simple stuff.
"BEFORE or
AFTER PENTECOST ?" Quiz with 40 questions about "Did
this event/person come Before or After Jesus' resurrection?"
Many of the "after" events and people elicited responses
from the kids like "who was that?" ...and of course
I told them! Many of the kids were surprised to find that A LOT
went on after the resurrection. I wrote that quiz years ago with
a now extinct quiz program. Fall of Jericho or Grand Slam would
do great.
Last but not least.... Create a display
or host a Computer Lab open house on Pentecost that shares with
others how computers help us share the Gospel with a new generation.
Take a look at Chapter 1: "We are not drunk" (Computers,
Kids and Christian Education). It has some good ideas on this
subject.
Programs from
our catalog over the years that have something about Pentecost
in them:
 Bibleland.com
has the some content on Pentecost. Peter's homepage includes a whole
description of Pentecost/Holy Spirit/Tongues of Flame, and includes
several audio clips of Pentecost Bible passages. Bibleland.com
also has material on many other early church disciples.
You could do straight "research" ....what was it,
what happened, who was there, what does it mean to us, etc. Amazing
Expedition is the only other "direct hit" on Pentecost
(Note: This CD is out of print).
Copyright 1999 - 2008, Neil
MacQueen. Intended for the non-commercial use of volunteer teachers
and church staff visiting our website.
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