Great Commission

We retold the story of the Great Commission with the kids today. This is an awesome story when you really think about it, that humankind, through St. Peter and the original apostles, and the further linage of the papacy and the church (and us!) were given the task to share the love of God with all of the people in the world.

As the kids arrived, they colored the Jesus Returns to Heaven storybook encompassing the story of the Great Commission before Jesus ascended into heaven.  The book is entitled New Testament Take Home Bible Stories, and contains a great set of reproducable stories that can be used along with your religious education class.  You can purchase a copy (and support this site) by clicking through to the Amazon Store on our sister site, One Year To Living On One Income, here .

The kids watched a skit about a boy who hiked to the top of a hill and recieved the most amazing flashlight even seen by any child from a wise woman. He was able to keep the flashlight, but was asked to share the flashlight with others that might need it in the world. On the boy's first trip down, he had lots of chances to share his flashlight, but was worried that if he shared his light, he wouldn't have this amazing toy for himself. However, he ran into the woman again, and she showed him an amazing trick, if you shine the light out and share it with people, the light gets bigger and you still have your flashlight to keep. The boy then went out and happily shared his flashlight with those in need.

After the skit, we read the story of the Great Commission from Matthew, which is part of the Ascension story in most children's bibles.  The scripture excerpt and further prayers and questions are included on the Parent Take Home Sheet, linked to this page.
For our craft, we made glass globes with small battery operated candles to signify sharing the Light of Christ with the world.  I found this craft on another blog, but despite my attempts to find the craft and give the author credit, I have been unable to do so (If you are reading this and know, please leave the address in a comment).

The craft is simple. I purchased small globe vases from the dollar tree store in our area.  I purchased a pack of blue and a pack of green tissue paper for .$97 each from Wal Mart.  I used Mod Podge Glossy that I had at home (this can be found at Michaels).  I also purchased small sponge brushes for the kids to use in class.

I pre cut the blue tissue paper into three inch by two inch (approximate) rectangles.  I cut larger pieces of green tissue paper to hand out to the students.  To make the craft, you cover the entire outer surface (except the bottom) of the glass globe with Mod Podge.  You then cover the outside with the blue tissue paper, and paint another layer of Mod Podge over the top.  We then had the kids cut out loose continent shapes from the green paper and attach to the still-wet Mod Podge layer.  They then painted a final layer of Mod Podge over the continents. 

The kids were given small battery operated candles following our story.  In our circle time after the story, we had the kids demonstrate hiding the light and sharing the light by covering and shining the lights.  They will be placed inside the globe to light up the world, so to speak.

UPDATE as of 10/31/11:  Found it!  The globe idea should be credited to Twig and Toadstool's Blogspot Page , where the globe craft was originally featured as a Earth Day craft.  Thanks Twig and Toadstool for the great idea!