SS Class

This month it is my turn to once again teach SS class for the 7-10 year olds.  I have to say that even though once the class is done I am exhausted but what a joy to be able to share with my class about Jesus.

My first class the lesson was on the letter "L" meaning Liberator.  Jesus is our Liberator through dying on the cross for our sins.  We had a bunch of stones that were named various sins and placed in a bag for one of the kids to carry until the load (bag) got really heavy to carry.  This represents how sin in our life can really weigh us down.  In Old Testament times, God's people would kill a lamb to cover their sins.  We had a lamb drawn on a piece of paper and would tear the paper in two symbolizing the covering of sins, lay it over the bag of stones and cover it with a blanket.  Each time we placed a stone in the bag we had to kill a lamb (tear paper in half) and lay it over the stone.  But when Jesus came into this world, he took upon himself all of our sins.  His dying on the cross and shedding his blood covers our sins once and for all.

In order to remember this important lesson of Jesus being our Liberator I had the kids do a few different experiments.

Another experiment...

One last one for the class to take home...

The following SS class lesson was the letter "V" for Victorious.  Jesus is Victorious over death.  I was able to share this lesson through having the kids make Resurrection Bread.  It was pretty cool watching them as they waited to receive all of their materials to make their Resurrection Bread.

A marshmallow represents Jesus' body that died on the cross.  In Jewish custom of preparing the body of burial they would use oil and spices and wrap the body in linen.  The kids coated the body of Jesus (marshmallow) in oil (melted butter) and spices (sugar & cinnamon).  Once the body of Jesus was prepared by Jospeh he placed it in his tomb.  The kids placed the prepared body of Jesus (marshmallow) into the tomb (the dough).  The tomb was sealed off with a stone and two Roman soldiers guarded the tomb.  This was the tough part of making sure the tomb (dough) was sealed with no holes.  Jesus was dead for three days (oven represents his death) and he rose on the third day (marshmallow disappears).  Death did not conquer Jesus but Jesus conquer the grave.  Pretty amazing way of sharing with kids regarding the resurrection of Jesus which as the song says, "Victory in Jesus."

Resurrection Bread

Recipe for Resurrection Rolls:

Ingredients

For the dough:

• ½ cup warm milk 105 degrees F
• 1 TBS granulated sugar
• 2 tsp yeast
• 3 TBS butter melted
• 3 TBS granulated sugar
• 1 egg lightly beaten at room temperature
• ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
• ½ tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 cups all-purpose flour or 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour!

Other Ingredients:

• 8 large marshmallows
• 3 TBS granulated sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 TBS butter melted

Instructions

1. Add milk, 1 TBS sugar and yeast to the pan of your standing mixer fitted with the dough hook and stir to combine. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes or until frothy/foamy.
2. Add butter, 3 TBS sugar, egg, and vanilla and mix on low speed to combine.
3. Add salt, cinnamon and flour and mix on medium-high speed until a slightly tacky but firm ball forms.
4. Remove dough from the mixer and knead with your hands until smooth.
5. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
6. Let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size.
7. While dough is rising, combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and stir to combine.
8. Once the dough has doubled in size, roll dough out into a 14” round circle about ¼” thick.
9. Cut the dough into 8 equal-sized triangles.
10. Take one marshmallow and dip it into the melted butter until all sides are completely coated.
11. Remove from the butter and place the marshmallow into the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Roll the marshmallow until completely coated in cinnamon sugar.
12. Place the coated marshmallow in the center of one of your triangles of dough.
13. Fold the dough around the marshmallow and roll it in your hands until it is completely sealed. You do not want to leave any cracks at all or the marshmallow will ooze out.
14. Once completely sealed, place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
15. Repeat with the remaining 7 marshmallows.
16. Cover rolls with a tea towel and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
17. Once oven is preheated, bake the rolls for 15-20 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown.
18. Let cool on a wire rack and then peek inside!