The Concept • November 2026 • Theme: Thankfulness

“John’s Message” and the Thank You Jar

Featured lesson: “John’s Message”

From Life and Times of Jesus, Chapter 2: John the Baptist, pages 19–20. Reprinted in full from the book.

Lesson: “John’s Message” looks at repentance and baptism.
Craft: Thank You Jar
Indoor activity: Thanks
Outdoor activity: Thanks Tag

The full lesson

Prior to discussion:

Have a Bible available and ask for volunteers to read.

Say:

Long before John the Baptist or his parents were born, a prophet was given a message about him.

Ask: Allow time for answers.

Do you know what a prophet is?

Say:

A prophet is someone who is given a message by God.
Matthew tells us that Isaiah, the prophet, received a message about John.

Read: Matthew 3:3

Say:

Before John the Baptist was born, an angel came to his dad to announce that his baby would help people get ready for Jesus to come.

Read: Luke 1:17

Ask: Allow time for answers.

Do you think John’s dad told him what the angel or prophets said about him?
Do you think that his purpose was to prepare people to meet Jesus?
What do you think he did to prepare the people for the Jesus’s arrival?

Say:

Listen to what Matthew wrote about John.

Read: Matthew 3:5–6

Action:

If possible, search for images of the Judean Wilderness and show the children the images.

Say:

Let’s listen to what Luke wrote about John.

Read: Luke 3:1–3

Say:

John was preaching repentance and forgiveness.

Ask: Allow time for discussion.

What do repentance and forgiveness even mean?

Say:

Repentance begins when we realize we have done something wrong and are truly sorry about it.
Repenting is when we confess our sin to God and then turn away from the sin.
Forgiveness means to wipe away something, to release it.
When we sin and repent, someone else forgives us.
God forgives us when we repent.
When someone else sins against us, we should forgive them.
We wipe the wrong away and release it.
John also preached about being baptized.

Ask: Allow time for discussion.

Did you know that John the Baptist baptized Jesus?

Read: Matthew 3:13

Ask: Allow time for discussion.

How excited would you be if you could have watched as Jesus was baptized by John?

Say:

Jesus is coming again one day, and He wants everyone to be ready because He loves us.
He would love for us to help others get ready for His return.

Ask: Allow time for discussion.

What are some ways we can show thankfulness to Jesus and help people get ready for His return?

Final thought: John helped people get ready to meet Jesus. Jesus asked us to help people get ready to meet Him when He returns. Let’s remember to thank God for all of our blessings and show Jesus just how thankful we are by helping the people around us get ready for His return.

Craft and activities

Craft: Thank You Jar

Items needed:

General: Newspapers, Paint Brushes, Craft Paint, Water Cups (to rinse brushes), Tape, Potting Soil, and Water in Container
Per child: Pencil or Pen, 1 Apron, Several Small Pieces of Paper, and 1 Canning Jar

Instructions:

Have the children put on aprons and spread newspaper over the table.
Explain that we all have things for which we can thank God.
Give each child a jar, and have the children write “Thank You” on their jar and decorate it with things for which they are thankful.
Tell them that they can place their Thank You Jar and the pieces of paper in a great place in their home and ask their family members to write down things for which they thank God and place them in the jar.
On a special day such as Thanksgiving Day, each family member can take turns reading all of the things for which their family members are thankful.

Variation:

You may also use plastic jars or empty soup cans without sharp edges.

Indoor activity: Thanks

Have the children sit in a circle.
Choose one child to start the game.
The first child will say, “I am thankful for . . . .”
When they say the sentence, they will fill in the blank with something for which they are thankful.
The child next to the first child will repeat what the first child said and add to it something for which they are thankful.
This will continue, with each child repeating everything that was already said and adding one new thing.
If a child can’t remember everything that was said, they are out of the game.
The last child to say everything that was said wins the game.

Outdoor activity: Thanks Tag

Choose one child to be “it” and start the game by shouting out something for which they are thankful.
The child who is “it” will tag the other children.
When a child is tagged, they will become another “it,” and will shout out something for which they are thankful, and then will help the other “its” tag the other children.
The last child to be tagged wins the game and will be “it” for the next game.

Family Fun: Our Blessing Book

A Blessing Book is a reminder of God’s goodness and blessings, filled in by the whole family after special times together.

Items needed: Colored pencils or markers, miscellaneous decorations, glue, scissors, 1 sheet of construction paper, and book pages (10 sheets of white copy paper sewn down the middle). A marble notebook works too.

Fold the pages on the sewn line, wrap the construction paper around them, and glue it to the first and last pages to make a cover. Give the book a title, such as “Our Family Blessings,” and decorate the cover. Each family member picks a color (darker colors work best) and writes his or her name in it on the first page. After each family-fun time (a trip, a family night, a nature hike, a movie night), write the date and a short description. Then everyone writes or draws a blessing from that time in his or her color.

Printable “Our Blessing Book” (PDF)

Devotional Doodles: “Praise”

A one-page activity sheet for kids: use the letters to draw a picture of yourself praising God, see how many words you can find in PRAISING HIM, and find words like singing, dancing, hands, and breath in the word search.

Printable “Praise” doodle sheet (PDF)

Just a Thought: “Thankful”

Written by Paulette Gobel

I think it is a God-given gift. It is an ability to know and appreciate blessings and to know from whom they came.

Some blessings seem small—the beauty of a flower or sunset. God designed these things and we can take time to let them delight our eyes and heart. We can “count our blessings” as one old hymn advises. What does being thankful do for us?

Read: Genesis 2:8–9

As we know, God made a companion for this man (woman) and they lived in this garden God made. In it they had everything they could need or want. Almost.

They didn’t think about what they had and praise God for His generosity. They thought about the one thing they should not have. Did you catch the part about the tree of life being in the garden? God did not forbid them that tree.

Read: Genesis 2:16–17

What is it in us that makes us want just what we should not have instead of being thankful for all we do have? The will to be disobedient was there before they ate the apple. Satan tempted but he did not make them eat. The choice was theirs. And so it goes down through the ages: human nature and Satan’s temptation.

Perhaps if we consciously think of our blessings and give our Heavenly father praise for them, we will be a little less susceptible to the temptations. If we are thinking “thank you, God, for the blessing of my husband” or “thank you, God, for the blessing of food to eat,” it will be a little harder to dwell on the things we do not have.

If Adam and Eve had been content to have EVERYTHING but one tree . . .

God knows how we are. He made us. He also made a way for us to get back to where He wants us to be: Jesus.

Read: Revelation 22:14

He had a plan from Genesis 1. For this we can be immeasurably, wonderfully, always thankful.

Printable “Thankful” devotional (PDF)

More Thanksgiving ideas

“Thank You” Tree (outdoor activity, Christian Living, page 10): each child paints a fist-sized rock to thank the person or people who told them about Jesus, then places it around a “thank you” tree.
Appreciation for Heroes (craft, Christian Living, page 22): children make cards, pictures, and letters to thank a group of heroes, such as a fire department, police department, nearby military base, or missionaries.
Helping Our Heroes (indoor activity, Christian Living, page 22): children decorate a donation box and invite their church or group to fill it for military heroes or their families.

Great quotes

“It is well, sometimes, to sit down and take a grateful review of all that God has done for us, and with us, from our first day until now.”

“Only begin to praise God and you will find that he who praises God for mercy will never be long without a mercy for which to praise Him.”

— Charles H. Spurgeon, “Three Blessings of the Heavenly Charter” (No. 2314, June 16, 1889)

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Coming in December: Christ’s Christmas Season and Christmas crafts from Life and Times of Jesus, including the Manger Centerpiece.