Aim to learn what happened to Jonah when he didn’t listen to God

Aims
*To learn what happened to Jonah when he didn’t listen to God
*To learn that good things happen when we listen to God

Materials
* The Beginner’s Bible Jonah ch.1:1 – ch. 3:10
* Visual aids – picture cards of the story
* Jonah puppet game – puppet pattern of Jonah, card, glue, scissors
* Jonah action story

Lesson Outline
1. Story
2. Questions about the story
3. Discussion
4. Activities – a picture to colour, puppet story, action story, memory game
5. Review the aims
6. Prayer

1) Story
Jonah and the Big Fish (Jonah 1:1 – 3:10)
Jonah was a prophet of God. One day God said to Jonah, “Go to the big city of Nineveh. Tell them to stop doing bad things.”
But Jonah ran away. He did not want to go to Nineveh. Instead he got on a boat to sail across the sea. God sent a big storm to stop Jonah. The sailors on the boat were afraid. They thought the boat was going to sink!

Jonah told the sailors, “My God has sent the storm. If you throw me in the water, the sea will become calm again.”

So the sailors threw Jonah into the raging sea. Instantly, the sea became calm.
Just then, Jonah saw a big fish coming! Gulp! The fish swallowed Jonah.
For three days and nights, Jonah was inside the fish. He prayed to God. “Please forgive me.”
The God told the fish to spit Jonah onto dry land. For the second time, God said to Jonah, “Go and tell the people of Nineveh to stop doing bad things.”

This time, Jonah obeyed God. The people of Nineveh were sorry for doing bad things, so God forgave them.

2) Questions about the story
*What did God want Jonah to do?
*What did Jonah do?
*What happened when Jonah was on the ship?
*Why were the sailors afraid?
*What did Jonah tell the sailors?
*What happened when Jonah was thrown over board?
*How many days was Jonah inside the ﬁsh?
*What did Jonah do he was inside the ﬁsh?
*What did Jonah do after the ﬁsh spit him out?
*Did the people of Nineveh listen to Jonah?

3) Discussion
*What happened to Jonah when he didn’t listen to God?
*What happened to the people from Nineveh when they listened to God?
*How can we listen to God? (obey our parents)
*What good things happen when you listen to your parents?
*What does God want us to do when we do something wrong?

4) Activities
* Retell the story using picture cards
* memory game
* a picture to colour
* Jonah puppet game
* Jonah action story

5) Review the lesson aim
*To learn what happened to Jonah when he didn’t listen to God
*To learn that good things happen when we listen to God

6) Prayer