Key/Memory Verse: Acts 1:9b “As they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” NRSV
PURPOSE
Goals/Objectives
Students will be able to:
locate the story of Jesus' Ascension in the New Testament books of Luke and Acts; (Older students will learn that Luke and Acts were written by the same author.)
realize that Jesus' Ascension into heaven took place after forty days of appearances by the risen Christ to his disciples and followers;
learn that Jesus gave a promise to His followers that the Holy Spirit would come to empower them;
understand that Jesus' Ascension is a departure of the physically resurrected Jesus, but it prepares us for Christ's presence in a new way, in and through us;
know that God's mission to tell everyone about Jesus' life, death, and resurrection was entrusted to Christ's followers -- the disciples then and to us now;
realize that we are still waiting for Jesus' return, known as the Second Coming.
Objective for Art Workshop
Students will learn about Jesus' ascension, with particular emphasis upon the waiting for Jesus to come back aspect. They will express what they are learning through tactile artwork representing the disciples and the clouds.
PREPARATION
Read Bible Background.
Materials List
Bulletin board paper, blue
Butcher paper, brown or white
Clean up supplies
Combs, paint brushes, and/or toothbrushes
Containers for paint
Crayons, markers, and/or paints
Scissors
Tempera paint, white
Tape or tacks
Optional Materials (if you choose to make figures 3-D)
Fabric
Glue
Stapler
Staples
Stuffing such as batting or newspaper
Yarn
Advance Preparation
Select a room for the project that has an area large enough to post life size figures on a bulletin board, tack strip, or wall.
Be sure there are flat surfaces, such as tables, on which to lay long sheets of paper as they are being decorated.
PRESENTATION
Open – Introduction
Welcome children.
Open with prayer.
Ask some "thought-starter" questions about waiting:
Is it hard for you to wait?
Is it hard to wait for Christmas or your birthday?
Name something that you are waiting for now.
Then, say, "Our story from the Bible today is about a different kind of waiting."
Read Acts 1: 1-11 in a child-friendly Bible.
Dig - Main Content
Ask more "thought-starter" questions, such as:
What do you think the disciples felt/thought/wanted to do when Jesus went away from them?
How do you think they felt when they were told he'd be coming back?
Who were those "men in white", anyway? (They were angels.) These angels were God's messengers, bringing the disciples a special message about Jesus returning.
How does it make you feel to know that Jesus is going to come back?
How do we know it's true? (Because God said it and it's in the Bible.)
Explain "we are now going to make a life-size scene using our own artwork to show what it might have looked like as the disciples stood there looking into the clouds. First, we'll need to make the clouds."
Show the students how to splatter-paint white paint onto blue bulletin board paper. (Dip paintbrush, toothbrush, or comb into paint, then shake randomly over paper.) When it looks "cloudy" enough (or you've had enough fun with paint!), let the paper dry, as you move on to the next part.
Using butcher paper, have the kids draw life-size figures that are looking up. Some can be from a side view, some from a back view. If the kids have trouble drawing them, have a couple of the tallest kids lie down on the paper and be patterns for the other kids to draw around. When they finish drawing the outline, have them decorate their figures by coloring (or painting) in hair, robes, and so forth. If you are going to stuff the figures and you want to use yarn for hair, cloth for robes, now is the time to glue these on. When the figures are finished, go back to the splatter-painted paper, and cut large cloud shapes out. If you're going to stuff them, now is the time.
Post the figures on the wall, with the clouds well above them. Use another long piece of paper to write the verse (Acts 1:11):
"...why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."
Reflect – Closure
Take time to walk around the room and to look at each figure. Invite the person or people or made it to make comments about it.
Remind the children that we are still waiting for Jesus' return, known as the Second Coming, but we are sure and certain that it will happen because God told us through his messengers, the angels and also through the words of Scripture, and God never lies. If time, ask them what they think it will be like when Jesus comes back, when they think that might be, and so forth.
Conclude by reading or reciting the memory verse together.
Close with prayer.
ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS
Adaptations -Younger Children
Have the figures pre-drawn and cut out; let the children color or paint them.
Have the kids splatter-paint clouds, you cut them out after they dry, or, cut the cloud shapes first and allow the children to splatter-paint them.
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