Gospel According to Mark - Sonlight Study (1st Grade)

Resources:
● http://ministry-to-children.com/jesus-preschool-lessons/
● http://www.calvarywilliamsport.com/kids-index.html

Day One: Mark 1:1-13 - The messenger

*Read Isa. 1:2-3 on a scroll. Talk about how the prophecy had been given
*Tell the girls to walk from point A to point B. Fill their path with chairs, toys, etc so that it is hard
to walk. Talk about how we should “prepare the way” to make it easier. John the Baptist was
sent by God to “prepare the way” in people’s hearts, ie, to get their wrong attitudes, actions and
thoughts right so that they would be ready to listen when the Messiah comes.

Day Two: Mark 1:14-20 - Following Jesus

*Illustrate the difference between doing something “later” and doing it “immediately”
*Why did they leave everything immediately? See what the girls think. Then show them
an onion and some candy. Give them the onion, and ask if they’d trade it for the candy
immediately. Talk about how Jesus was offering the disciples the best job in the world, just like
candy tastes so much better than onion!

Day Three: Mark 1:21 - 34 - Jesus Heals

*What would the girls think if they saw someone heal people that were really sick? It would be
pretty amazing! Everyone would want to some meet such a person. And that’s exactly what
happened to Jesus. (vs. 32-34)

Day Four: Mark 1:35-45 - Jesus Worked Hard

*Give the girls a task. When they’ve completed it, immediately give them another one. When
that’s done, another one. Finally, when that’s done, give them yet another task. Do they like
being so busy? What if they were that busy all day? Jesus loved the people so much, he worked
very hard for them, even getting up early to pray and travelling from town to town.

Day Five: Mark 2:1-13 - The Healing of the Paralytic

*Read verses 1-5 ~ Jesus didn’t heal the man right away. Why? What is more important? Being
able to walk or going to heaven? Jesus gave the man the most valuable treasure of all. Finish
reading the story.
* Activity: picture of Jesus healing paralyzed man copied on white card stock, brown yarn, fabric
scraps, brown tissue paper cut in small squares, markers, crayons

Day Six: Mark 2:14-28 - Jesus’ Love

*Coloring page of Jesus calling Levi
*Illustrate why people didn’t like tax collectors by giving the girls 10 pennies each. Tell them they
owe 5 pennies. But then take 8. Was that honest? Would they like it if someone stole much of
their savings? That’s what tax collectors did, and that’s why few people liked them.
Day Seven: Mark 3:1-18 - Jesus’ Courage
*Bind a hand on each girl before reading passage. Can they pick things up? Can they write?
Can they easily eat? Having a hand that doesn’t work is hard! Next, read the passage.
*When Jesus healed the man, he made some people very angry because it was the Sabbath.
Explain the Sabbath. They were so angry at him, they wanted to kill him! Jesus knew they would
be angry, but He was brave enough to do what was right, not what would make people like him.

Day Eight: Mark 3:20-35 - Jesus’ Family

*Give the girls a piece of paper that is “framed” with another. Tell them to draw a picture of their
family. When they’re done drawing, read today’s passage. Who did Jesus say was His family?
When we trust Christ as our Savior, we become part of a much bigger family - the family of God!
*Name some of the different people who are part of my Christian family!

Day Nine: Mark 4:1-20 - The parable of the sower

*Have 3 different cups filled with dirt and one with paper (for the road!). One cup has rocks in
it, one has weeds and the third is just dirt. Have the girls put a seed in each cup. Then read
passage. As I’m reading, reference each cup and whether or not the seed in it bore fruit. (Based
on suggestion from www.kidssundayschool.com.)
*Explain simply how people’s hearts are just like these cups of soil. Some have hearts ready for
the word, some don’t. We must pray for those around us that God would prepare their hearts for
truth!.

Day Ten: Mark 4:21-34 - The power of truth

*Provide a bowl of water, various sized measuring cups, and kids’ drinking cups. Tell the girls to
get some water from the bowl and put it into their cups.
*Read the passage. Afterwards, talk about the importance of listening to God’s word because
the “measure” we use is how it will be “measured” to us.

Day Eleven: Mark 4:35-41 - Jesus’ power over storms

*http://ministry-to-children.com/preschool-bible-lesson-jesus-calms-the-storm/

Day 12: Mark 5:1-20 - Jesus’ power over Satan

* Share a scenario: What if you were an amazing painter, but noone knew about you? But then
you painted me a beautiful picture, more beautiful than any other picture in the world, and I went
and told everyone about it? Would that make you happy?
*Read Scripture passage. Talk about how the man telling others about what Jesus had done for
Him brought great praise to Jesus!

Day 13: Mark 5:21-43 - Jesus heals

* Start our time with an experiment: Walk by each other and try to guess when (or if) they
touched us.
* Now read passage. It’s pretty amazing that Jesus knew someone touched Him even though
he was crowded around by many people!
* What do you think Talitha said when she came alive again? Discuss how amazing this is!
Day 14: Mark 6:1-14 - Faith
*Show the girls one of our folding chairs. Open it up, then ask them if they think it is safe to sit
on. Why do they think so? Talk about how faith is being sure of something. With the chair, it’s
being sure that it won’t fall down. As you read the story together, ask them to listen for ways that
people did or did not show faith.

Day 15: Mark 6:30-44 - God’s Provision

*Ask, “If we were on a picnic, how much food would I need to bring to feed our family?” After
they answer, ask, “What if it was 3 families like ours?” Finally, ask “What if it was 5,000
families?” That would be a lot of work!
*Now give each girl half a loaf of french bread. Tell them to hold it until the right part in the story.
Begin reading the passage. When it talks about Jesus breaking the bread, have them begin
to bread their bread into a dish. Their bread runs out...but Jesus’ didn’t run out until it had fed
5,000! Pretty amazing!

Day 16: Mark 6:45 - 56 - “Even the wind and the waves...”
*Watch this part in “The Gospel of John” movie. Afterwards, talk about how scared the disciples
probably were before Jesus came...isn’t it amazing that He can calm the seas? Surely he can
take care of our problems as well. Institute a prayer notebook to record prayer requests and
answers.

Day 17: Mark 7:1-23 - Rules Don’t Save

*Give the girls a list of rules they must follow while we read today. Make the rules zany, strange
and hard to follow. Start reading, but try to call them on as many rules as possible. After a few
minutes of this, ask them if the rules would make God love them more. Of course not! But there
are many people who think that by obeying just the right rules, they can be saved. Point out how
the Pharisees had that attitude.
*Lift the rules, then continue reading. At the end of the reading, talk about how Jesus said that
its what comes from your heart that’s important, not what comes from the outside.

Day 18: Mark 7:24-37 - Healing Miracles

*Have one girl go into a different room, one stay with me. Ask the girl who is with me, “Do you
know what your sister is doing in the other room?” When they reply in the negative, ask, “Why
not?” Talk together about how God knows everything, but we don’t! Then have them switch
places and have the conversation with the other girl.
*As read passage today, point out how Jesus could heal the woman’s daughter when he wasn’t
even there! That shows He was God.

Day 19: Mark 8:1-13 - No Sign Will Be Given

*Ahead of time, put a sign up that says “Sit Here”. When we’re ready for devotions, tell the
girls that we were going to sit somewhere different today, but I can’t remember where. Start
looking around. They’ll probably notice the sign and point it out to me. I’ll say, “No, I need a
sign that shows me where to sit.” After going back and forth in this manner a few times, finally
acknowledge the sign and begin our reading!
*After we read the passage, ask them if there was anyone in today’s reading who was looking
for a “sign”. Discuss what the Pharisees meant by that. Then see if the girls can remember any
of the other miracles Jesus has already done. Those were signs! Yet the Pharisees refused to
believe them, just like I didn’t pay attention to the sign in the living room. Foolish, isn’t it!

Day 20: Mark 8:14-26 - Do you remember?

*Play a quick game of Memory. Is it hard to remember where the pictures are sometimes? In
our passage today, the disciples had a hard time remembering and understanding too.
*Read the passage, then talk about how the disciples sometimes had a hard time understanding
Jesus. They would forget how powerful He was and that He was God’s son, and would worry
about things. Pull out our blessings journal and tell them how it is a record of what God is doing
in our lives so that we won’t forget!

Day 21: Mark 8:27-38 - The Messiah

* Tell your children that you are going to make them a promise. “At the end of this Bible lesson,
you’re going to get a special treat!” Ask them if they feel excited.
*Now read Mark 8:27 - 30. Talk about how God has promised the Israelites a special deliverer -
the Messiah! They had been waiting for many years for Him to appear, so when Jesus came, it
was exciting.
*Finish reading today’s passage. Then ask your kids, “If my special treat for you was a very
healthy vegetable from China, would you be disappointed? How come?” Talk about how the
Israelites expected a certain kind of Messiah, one that would win battles and defeat their
enemies. They didn’t expect a Messiah that would die on the cross. They didn’t like that.
*Finally, give them the treat. Finish the lesson emphasizing that God’s gifts are best, even if we
don’t understand them or they weren’t what we wanted.

Day 22: Mark 9:2-29 - A Hint of Glory

*Read passage and let children color a picture of the transfiguration.

Day 23: Mark 9:30-40 - Being First

*Have everyone line up (including me). Ask, “Who’s first in line? Who’s last in line?” Tell them
that according to Jesus, whoever is last is first! Explain that by first, he doesn’t mean the head
of the line. He means the most important.
*Read the passage. Afterwards, discuss together ways they could be last, ie, playing games
their friends want to play instead of what they want, letting their sibling get the bigger dessert,
etc.

**Going to skip Mark 9:42-50, simply because my children are so literal right now! We’ll hit this
concept next time we read through the gospels, but at this point, I don’t want to try to explain the
whole “cut off hand” “poke out eye” concept!**

Day 24: Mark 10:13-31 - What’s worth more?

*Show my children two jars. One is filled full with pennies, the other is filled halfway with dimes.
Ask them which one they think is worth more. Read our passage, up to verse 22.
*Talk about how the rich young man went away sad because he wanted to follow Jesus, but
he felt like keeping his riches was more important. He didn’t want to sell them! Show the girls
the two jars again and show how the one halfway filled with dimes is worth more, even though
it doesn’t “look” as valuable. It’s easy to make a mistake. Point out how the young man made a
BIG mistake, because he didn’t realize the true value of following Jesus.
*Finish reading passage.

Day 25: Mark 10:32-45 - Choosing Pain

*Ask children, “If you knew you would get very, very sick and have lots of pain from picking
up a poisonous snake, would you?” Discuss different situations we would avoid because of
the potential of danger. Then tell them that in today’s passage, Jesus chose to go to the city
of Jerusalem (find on map) even though he knew he would be hurt very badly there and even
killed. He chose to get hurt because he loved us.
*Read the passage.
*Listen to the song, “Oh How He Loves You and Me”. Afterwards, thank God for His amazing
love for us.

Day 26: Mark 10:46-52 - Ask Jesus for Help

*Ask children what makes them happy. Discuss various items/events that we enjoy. Then tell
them that it makes God happy when we ask Him for help with our problems. As we read the
passage today, they should listen for the man that asked Jesus for help with his VERY big
problem.
*Read passage.

Day 27: Mark 11:1-11 - The Coming King

*Trace out palm leaves with fringes on green construction paper. As you start your Bible
reading, give your children scissors and the paper and let them cut as you read. Tell them that
what they’re making goes along with today’s story.
*Read passage, then see if they remember how the palm leaves were used. Those leaves
made a carpet for the King of Kings to ride on!

Day 28: Mark 11:12-25 - Standing up for Truth

*Show girls an example of dishonest measuring. Tell them that my shop sells ½ cup of oatmeal
for $1. But then use the ⅓ cup measure instead of the ½ cup measure. Is that honest or
stealing? Discuss this, then explain how in the Jerusalem temple, merchants used to charge
people too much for what they were selling - they were being dishonest and stealing!
*Now read passage. Afterwards, talk about how Jesus made those who were dishonest stop!
But because he stood up for truth, some people got really angry at him. It’s not always easy to
stand up for what’s right.

Day 29: Mark 12:1-12 - Parable of the Vineyard

*Cut out three flannelgraph like pictures (need to find): 1 of Jesus, 1 of prophets, & 1 of
Pharisees.
*Show the girls these 3 different pictures and explain who each group is. Explain that Jesus is
telling a story about these people in today’s passage, but he calls them by a different name.
*Read passage, then look at pictures and discuss who Jesus was talking about in story and try
to explain basic gist of parable!

Day 30: Mark 12:28-34 - The Greatest Commandments

*Ask girls, “What is the most important job you should do in life?” Talk about different important
tasks that they might have in the future, ie, being a mom, working at a job, telling people about
Jesus. Then tell them to listen closely because in today’s passage, Jesus will tell us what the
very, very most important job we should do in life is.
*Read passage together.