Order of Worship bulletin for this Godly Play adaptation: Bulletin-03-05-2023 L2 YA

Scripture: John 3:1-17

Let us pray:

Teach us something today, O God. In Christ we pray, Amen.

Part I: Learning about Lent: First Sunday of Lent (Adapted from Lesson 31, Young Children and Worship[1])

Feel the story forming in you. Patting the basket next to you, say:

I wonder what’s inside this today. There are certainly a lot of colors in it.

Lay out the story quilt. This is my story quilt. Each piece of fabric has a story. My story quilt helps me remember stories from my life – and reminds me to tell stories from our faith. Today we are going to learn a sacred story.

Lay out the gold cloth. Gold? Isn’t this a color from Christmas and the story of Jesus’ birth? What other colors from the season of Christmas do you remember?

Lay out the purple cloth. Purple is a color from Advent, when we are getting ready for Christmas and Jesus’ birth. But it isn’t Advent or Christmas right now.

Sit back and wonder for a minute. Pull out the purple bag of puzzle pieces. I wonder what this could be? Oh, look, it has something in it. One…Two…Three…Four…Five…Six purple pieces.

Sit back and wonder again. Today is the [Second] Sunday in Lent.  During Lent, the church changes from the color green to the color purple.

Touch the purple cloth, bag, and pieces. Lent is the time the church gets ready to celebrate the mystery of Easter. There are six Sundays for getting ready.

Touch the six pieces again. I wonder if these six pieces can tell us what Lent is about?

Put pieces together to form the cross. Hmmm, they form a cross. I wonder if there are stories to go with each piece?

Part II: The Story of Nicodemus, Second Sunday of Lent

Look in the basket. Ah, yes, there is something else in here.

Pull out the table and two chairs; place them on the cross. Here is a story for Lent.

Pull out the two figures. Designate the younger one Jesus and the older one Nicodemus. Act out and tell the story.

            ¹Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. ²He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, [which means ‘teacher’ in Hebrew] we know [you have] come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” ³Jesus answered him, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, no one can see the [realm] of God without being born from above.” ⁴Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” ⁵Jesus answered, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, no one can enter the realm of God without being born of water and Spirit. ⁶What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ ⁸The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” ⁹Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

¹¹“Verily, verily, I say unto you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. ¹²If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

¹⁶“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. ¹⁷“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Begin with “I wonder” questions, moving to the Art of Asking Questions categories (Informational, Analytical, Personal), putting story pieces away gradually:

Pick up Nicodemus. I wonder why Nicodemus came at night? Pick up Jesus. I wonder where Jesus was when he came? I wonder why Nicodemus is old and Jesus is young? I wonder who was more surprised at this meaning, Jesus or Nicodemus? I wonder if Nicodemus knew the faith he taught and knew was changing?

I wonder what people look like who have been born twice?

In your opinion, if Jesus and Nicodemus were both symbols for something else, (Put figures away), what would they be?

I wonder where you might be in this story? How do you know if you have been born twice?

Pick up table and chairs. Colors, pictures, and things, as well as stories, help us remember things. What about this story do you want to remember? Put them away.

I wonder what your grown-ups (friends, neighbors) want to remember. Why don’t you go and share with them what you want to remember and ask them what they want to remember? Then we will all pray together.

Put the rest of the materials away.

Let us pray: We have heard the story read, and seen the story played. Help us to learn what it is you want us to remember; and how to apply it to our lives. Amen.

[1] Sonja M. Stewart and Jerome W. Berryman, Young Children and Worship (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1989), 176.