Scripture: Matthew 3, Mark 1:1-12, Luke 3 and John 1:1-34
Learning Objectives:
- Students will learn John the Baptist prepared the people to hear Jesus’ message.
- Students will learn John the Baptist fulfilled a prophecy in the Old Testament.
- Students will learn Jesus modeled baptism for us as submission to the will of God, even though he had no sins that needed forgiving.
- Students will learn about the nutritional value of various foods.
Guiding Question: Why is baptism important?
Materials: Various packaged and unpackaged foods, internet access, paper, pencils
Procedure: Review the story of John’s ministry and Jesus’ baptism from the scriptures above. Explain that Jesus was perfect yet He modeled baptism for us because He wanted us to know how we could receive forgiveness for our sins and become Christians. Jesus’ baptism was also a prophecy from the Old Testament that John the Baptist helped to fulfill. The fulfilled prophecy was another way for people to learn about Jesus and want to become Christians. Remind students that John the Baptist ate foods that we normally wouldn’t eat today. These foods still had nutritional value and John the Baptist had to make do with what he could find.
Introduce the activity. Bring in various food items that aren’t prepackaged and a few that are. Point out nutritional info on can or box. Ask the students how to find that same information for foods that aren’t packages. Have students look up the nutritional information for unpackaged food, fruits, veggies, homemade meals, etc.
Additional Questions: How can students apply knowledge of nutritional value?
Supplemental Activity: Have students create a healthy recipe with ingredients, steps, and nutritional value for the foods in the meal.