Preface, Table of Contents, and Scripture Index
Preface
What you have just opened is a book of puppet shows, though to me, it is much more than that. It is the way I have interacted with the Bible and with the children and adults of our congregation at Bozeman United Methodist Church for the past ten years. These were created for Sunday School gatherings of children and adults and also as children’s sermons, though they could also be used at home to read to yourself or dramatized out loud with your kids. Their purpose is to help the Bible come alive, to help make coming to church fun, to bring children and adults together in laughter and learning, to help children experience God’s extravagant love and grace by demonstrating it, through taking the time to care for and play with them—at church. Such play is good for all of us, for as Jesus knew, we have much to learn from our children.
Structure
As can be seen from surveying the Table of Contents, this book is really two volumes in one. It is comprised of two complete academic year cycles. Each academic year sequence starts in September and runs into June, with a week-long series for Bible School or some similar camp experience for summer use at the end. To a great extent, these are presented here in the order they were written. Rather than following the lectionary, these volumes track the church year. They are grouped according to the liturgical seasons, though this is more relevant during certain times of year than others: Advent puppet shows are necessarily about the Christmas story while puppet shows, say, from the long season of Pentecost can involve any number of biblical stories, once the Pentecost story itself has been told.
While all these puppet shows could be used in this exact order, it is more likely that your congregation will be selecting puppet shows based on one of the various other organizational elements provided by the five columns in the Table of Contents, which look like this:
Title....Scripture ....Topic....Theme .... Occasion
Each puppet show has a title, an identification of the Scripture passage around which it is organized, a brief description of the topic or content of the passage, and a key theme that the puppet show treats. Thus, someone wanting a puppet show on “friendship” or “evangelism” could easily scan through the various themes to find something appropriate. Or, if a puppet show was to be used as a children’s sermon on the lectionary text for the day, one could simply search the Scripture passages here (or in the alphabetized Scripture index, with cross references, provided in the appendix). Similarly, if you knew you wanted a puppet show on the Parable of the Good Samaritan, you could scan the topic column to see if there were one here.
Finally, searches can also be done based on special events during the church year. To aid this, in addition to the church year section breaks, the last column in my Table of Contents is labeled “Occasion.” By occasion I mean a number of things. First, additional church year information is provided here. If the puppet show involves a season or festival event in the church year that would make it most appropriate at a particular time, it is highlighted in this column. A puppet show dramatizing the Annunciation for use during Advent, for example, would be flagged here (though I suppose it might be possible to do a puppet show on Gabriel’s visit to Mary at another time of year as well). Second, if there is significant mention within the puppet show of a special occasion within the Sunday School year (e.g. the first day of Sunday School, what we call our Sunday School Kickoff, or, say, Teacher Appreciation Day which occurs for us near the end of the year), or reference to a public holiday (e.g. Thanksgiving) or some other event in the life of the church family (the CROP Walk), it is also identified here. Third, I also use this column to indicate when a new, regular puppet character first appears. Some of these occasional elements are less integrated into the puppet show than others, especially when they don’t involve the church year. These elements can easily be edited out if not required by your circumstances. Thus, puppet show No. 18, Playing Doctor, might be used on some summer day when a “healing” theme was desired, by simply leaving out the Valentine’s Day references.
Obviously, there is some overlap between my categories of “topic,” “theme” and “occasion” (Palm Sunday could be both the topic and the occasion) but I’ve tried to use these to include as much different information as possible. And for ease when flipping through this book, the column information from the Table of Contents is repeated in the headers of each puppet show
When you are choosing the puppet show that fits your needs for a particular Sunday, remember that since this book contains two full church years, in sequence, many Bible stories are revisited as the church year cycles around again. For example, I have written three completely different puppet shows for the story in Luke 2 about when Jesus grows up. Nos. 14, 15, and 50, each deal with that story using a different focus and theme. A few scripts actually contain repeated material (e.g. material from No. 61 Bible Stories, Bible Tails reappears in the week series as No. 71 The Mousetrap). I occasionally recycle or revise scripts for use with a different Bible text, sometimes rewriting for different puppet characters as well. These recycled scripts are indicated at the bottom of my Scripture Index. You might want to examine these to get ideas how you could alter any given script to suit your own needs.
Table of Contents: Book 5
Volume IX
New Sunday School Year: The Season After Pentecost
September-November
Title....Scripture ....Topic ....Theme....Occasion
1. Ballet Ball....****....Meeting old friends and new .... Sunday School Kickoff
2. Call Forwarding .... Genesis 11:27-12:3....God calls Abraham.... Listening for God
3. Moral Vertebrates ....Genesis 13:1-12....Abraham shares land with Lot .... Sharing
4. Holy Halitosis .... Amos 5:24....Let justice roll down like waters .... Working for Justice.... Justice Sunday
5. Estate Sale....Genesis 25:27-34....Esau sells his birthright for some stew .... Each one of us is special
6. Curtain Time .... Genesis 27:1-33....Jacob tricks Isaac into blessing him....Being satisfied with your own gifts
7. Bower of Power .... Genesis 33:1-11....Esau forgives Jacob....Grace
8. Dream Weaver....Genesis 37:1-36 .... Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers....fororgiveness
9. Grace Colored Goggles....Genesis 39:1-3; 37-57....Joseph in Egypt God is holding us
10. Old Lorenzo Had a Farm.... ***....God loves you
11. Spot On ....*** .... Jostling for a place in line .... Loving vs. selfishness....Signature Story
The Season of Advent and Christmas:
December
13. Waiting for the Oh!....***....The meaning of Advent....Anticipation and waiting....Advent
14. Gabriel’s Ride....Luke 1:26-56....The Annunciation: Gabriel appears to Mary....Apprehension and Praise....Advent
15. Jungle Carols .... Luke 2:8-14....Angels appear to the shepherds....Praising God....Advent
16. Domestic Bliss....Luke 2:6-7 .... Jesus is born in a stable .... Being loved .... Christmas Day
The Season of Epiphany
January-February
17. It’s the Water....Matthew 3:13-17....John Baptizes Jesus....Righteousness; Jesus comes to us
18. Hallowed Be Thy Name....Luke 10:38-42 .... Jesus with Martha and Mary....Jesus knows our name
19. Short and Sweet....Luke 19:1-10....Zacchaeus Being Saved
20. My Fair Lady....John 4:1-42....The Woman at the Well .... Meeting Jesus, the Messiah
21. Sleeping on Sunday....John 5:1-19....Jesus heals on the Sabbath....God works every day
22. The Story Behind the Story....Mark 10:46-52 .... Blind Bartimaeus....Welcoming, not Teasing
23. Reality Check....John 11:1-44 .... .Jesus raises Lazarus....Jesus’ amazing power
24. Dr. Jesus .... Luke 13:10-17....Jesus heals woman with the bent back....Being whole
The Season of Lent and Easter
March-April
25. Multilevel Marketing....John 12:18 .... Mary Anoints Jesus .... Love is an action .... Lent
28. The Psychology of Love....Mark 14:66-72 .... Peter denies Jesus .... God loves us even when we make mistakes
29. Encompassing Easter .... John 12:12-19 .... Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem .... Easter gives life meaning .... Palm Sunday
30. Life is Weird, I Mean Beautiful .... John 21:1-12 .... Jesus Appears to the Disciples on the Beach ....God's in the Amazing and the Ordinary .... Easter Sunday
Scripture Index [Book 5]
Note: Bold print indicates the Scripture passage used as the basis of the puppet show. Unbolded print is used to indicate cross references in other Gospel texts. Most puppet shows are based on a single Scripture passage. When two separate passages are combined, the second Scripture passage is italicized, as are the cross references to that passage. Parenthesis indicates minor use of Scripture.
Scripture .... Cross Reference .... Puppet Show Topic ....
Genesis 11:27-12:3 God calls Abraham
Genesis 13:1-12 God calls Abraham
Genesis 13:1-12 Abraham shares land with Lot
Amos 5:24 Let justice roll down like waters
Genesis 25:27-34 Esau sells his birthright for some stew
Genesis 27:1-33 Jacob tricks Isaac into blessing him
Genesis 33:1-11 Esau forgives Jacob
Genesis 37:1-36 Joseph sold into slavery by his brothers
Genesis 39:1-3; 37-57 Joseph in Egypt
Luke 1:26-56 The Annunciation: Gabriel appears to Mary
Luke 2:8-14 Angels appear to the shepherds
Luke 2:6-7 Jesus is born in a stable]
Matthew 3:13-17 John Baptizes Jesus
Luke 10:38-42 Jesus with Martha and Mary name
Luke 19:1-10 Zacchaeus
John 4:1-42 The woman at the well
John 5:1-19 Jesus heals on the Sabbath
Mark 10:46-52 Blind Bartimaeus
John 11:1044 Jesus raises Lazarus
Luke 13:10-17 Jesus heals woman with the bent back
John 12:18 Mary anoints Jesus’ feet
Matthew 26:26-29 The Last Supper
John 18:1-8 and Exodus 3:1-15 Garden of Gethsemane & God’s Divine Name
John 12:12-19 Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem
John 21:1-12 Jesus appears to the Disciples on the beach
posted by Marvin at 2:33 PM
1 comments
