Rotation.org Writing Team

JESUS & PETER: DO YOU LOVE ME?

CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP

PASSAGE

Bible Story

John 21:1-17

Background Scripture passages for teacher preparation include:

John 13:33, 36-38

John 18:15-18, 25-27

Key/Memory Verse

John 21:15-17

PURPOSE

Objectives

Students will:

Locate the story of Peter’s denial and restoration in the Bible, learning that the story is in the New Testament Gospel of John

Retell the story in their own words.

Contrast Jesus’ love for Peter, even after Peter denied knowing him. Jesus was giving Peter another chance.

Discover that we, too, do wrong things sometimes – but God forgives us and gives us second chances.

Explore Peter’s statement of faith – “Yes, I love you.”

Recognize that Statements of Faith are hollow words without Statements of Action.

Develop their own Statement of Faith and Action, pledging support to Jesus.

Connect Jesus’ breakfast with his disciples, and his questions to Peter with our own “breakfast with Jesus” – communion – and understand that sacrament as a pledge to Jesus that we will minister to others in Christ’s name.

Objectives for Creative Writing Workshop

To create an illustrated book of the story “Jesus and Peter: Do You Love Me?”

Learn where this story is located in the Bible

Learn about forgiveness

Learn the story of Jesus and Peter

Understand the subtle differences in the wording

Demonstrate the children’s understanding by creating a book for others

PREPARATION

Read Bible Background.

Materials List

• Bibles
  
• Cups of water
  
• Dictionary
  
• Markers, black – for writing
  
• Paint brushes
  
• Water color art paper
  
• Water color pencils (available at all craft stores, some office supply stores, and of course Wal-Mart)
  

Advance Preparation Requirements

Create a picture using watercolor pencils. Watercolor pencils look and work just like regular colored pencils. However, after you have finished drawing and coloring with them, you can take a paint brush dipped in water and paint over the markings. It turns into a water color picture.

On the sample picture, do not use water at this point; allow the children to do this on the page so they may understand the process before working on their finished product.

PRESENTATION

Introduce yourself and any new child.

Open with prayer.

Have the children open their Bibles to John 21. Explain to the children that this story takes place after Jesus died on the cross. Have the children take turns reading out loud to the class.

Dig - Main Content

When they have finished reading, ask them to retell the story. Ask them what three questions Jesus asked Peter. (Look for variations in the wording of their answers.) Ask them why they think Jesus asked Peter these similar questions. Ask them how Jesus responded to Peter’s answers.

Ask for a volunteer to use the dictionary. Have her look up the following:

Feed
Sheep
Lamb

Ask the class to explain why “feed” is different than “take care of.” If the children have trouble with this, guide them with this discussion by asking them to name ways in which their parents take care of them that are not feeding.

When you are confident the class has a good grasp on the story, explain to them how they are going to create a picture story book about Jesus and Peter. Let them experiment with the water color sample page as they discuss their book layout.

Have the children write their interpretation of the story in sections and illustrate accordingly; complete with cover design.

Gather the pages.

After class, create a title page listing the children who contributed and the date of creation. Laminate all pages and bind with plastic ring binder.

Reflect - Closure

Ask the following:

Do you think Jesus forgave Peter?

Do you think Jesus forgives us?

Do you think Peter forgave himself?

How do you know someone loves you? (By their actions and so forth)

How do you show your love for someone?
How can/should/do you show your love for Jesus?

Repeat the memory verse together.

Close in prayer.

ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS

Depending upon the amount of time and money you may want to invest, you can have these books printed and bound professionally for about $20 each. http://www.tikatok.com is an example.

Adaptations – Younger Children

For non-writers in a creative writing workshop, incorporate any of these ideas:

Use rubber stamps of word pictures from the story such as boat, bread, fish, heart, man, and sheep, to stamp out a rebus story.

Invite adults or teens to serve as scribes and have young children dictate the story to them.

Create a word wall and have children select words to express their thoughts.

Use paper that has a picture on the top and space to write on the bottom.

Use cassette recorders and have young children dictate a story into it.

Record children’s stories on the computer. You will need microphones.

Set up a gcast (gcast.com) and take them to the church office to use the phone to call in and record their own podcast.

CONTRIBUTOR: Cissy Green