Children's Church Lesson: The Good Samaritan

Story

Say:

How do you think Jesus wants us to treat the other people? (Let the children respond)  Today we are going to read a story Jesus told his followers to teach them how they should treat people.  Are you ready?

Read “The Good Samaritan” in any children's story bible

Lesson

Say: What happened to the man who was traveling? (he was robbed and beat up) What did the first two men, the priest and levite do when they saw the traveler? (Walked right by) What did the Samaritan do (stopped and helped the traveler) 

Before Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan a man asked him what the most important thing someone was supposed to do if they were a follower of God.  Jesus said there were two things that were very important for God’s followers to do.  Do you know what they are? (love God and love people)  After Jesus said that we need to love people (our neighbors) the man asked what kind of people we are supposed to love.  That is when Jesus told this story.  Why was it so interesting that the man who helped the traveler was a Samaritan?  What did the people talking to Jesus think about Samaritans?  (They didn’t like them)  What are some types of people today that others don’t really like? (Let them give answers: criminals, homeless people, smell bad, mean and etc.) Those are all good answers.  What are we supposed to do with people that are heard to like? (Still love them)  What are some ways that we can show love to those people? (treat them the way we want to be treated even if they  are not nice to us)  Treating others the way we want to be treated is not the same as treating them the way they treat us.   

Memory Verse

Do to others what you want them to do to you. – Matthew 22:39

Big Idea

God wants us to love Him and love other people, even if they are hard to love.  We love others by treating them the way we want to be treated. 

Prayer (Take praises and requests)

Say a prayer thanking God for loving us so much and asking Him to help us love Him and love the people around us, even if they are hard to love. 

Craft

Have children make and decorate their own stethoscopes using toilet paper roles cut in half and yarn.  

Children's Church Lesson: Blind Bartimaeus

Story

Say: Everyone close your eyes.  No peeking.  We are going to pretend that we are blind, that means that this is what we see even when our eyes are open.  What are some things that we can do now that we couldn’t do if we were blind? (let the children answer)   Today we are going to read a story about a blind man and what Jesus did to help him.

Read “Blind Bartimaeus ” in any children's story bible

Lesson

Say:  What was wrong with Bartimaeus? (he was blind)   How did he learn about Jesus if he couldn’t see him? (by listening) Did he believe that Jesus could help him to see? (yes)  How did Jesus know that Bartimaeus needed help? (Bartimaeus asked for help)

Jesus told Bartimaeus that Jesus helped him because he had faith that Jesus could help him.  Do you think that if we pray to Jesus and believe he can help us that he will? (Yes)  It is important that we ask Jesus for help and trust that he can and will.

But that’s not all, Jesus gave us an example.  It is also important to Jesus that we help people like he did.  Jesus helped Bartimaeus by healing him. We can’t heal people but we can help them just like we did today. If someone is cold, we can give them a blanket. We can take care of each other.  God takes care of people and he uses us to help him. When we help people, it shows them that God loves them. 

Big Idea

We need to trust Jesus to help us and we need to helper others.

Memory Verse

Your faith has healed you – Mark 10:52

Prayer (Take prayer joys and requests)

Say a prayer thanking God for being there for us and asking Him to help us trust him and to help to be able to be helpers for other people.  

Children's Church Lesson: The Great Dinner

Story

Say: How many of you have ever been to a wedding?  What was that like? (Let the children talk)  Have you ever thought about learning something about God from a wedding? You can!  Jesus told a story about a wedding dinner to teach us about God and about heaven.  Are you ready to hear it?  OK, let’s read it.

Read “The Great Dinner Party” in any children's story bible.  

Lesson

Say: What were the Jews talking about at the beginning of the story? (God’s Kingdom/Heaven) What happened when the Man first invited guests? (They didn’t come) What happened when the man invited more guests? (They came to the dinner until the table was full)    

Jesus told this story to help us see that God loves everyone and wants all people to love Him. One day, there will be a big banquet in heaven and God wants us all to be there to celebrate! Remember the king did not give up on the banquet. In the same way, God did not give up on us! He loves us and wants us to go to Heaven one day. How do we get to Heaven? We have to believe that Jesus died and came back to life. We must know that Jesus died for the wrongs we have done. We must tell Jesus we are sorry for our sins and ask Him to forgive us. Then, we must ask Jesus to come into our heart and help us live for God in all we do. Jesus promises to stay with us forever and take us to Heaven one day. If you want to know more about Jesus, talk to us anytime about it.

Memory Verse

God loved the world so much that He sent His son so that all who believe in him will be saved. – John 3:16

Big Idea

God loves everyone and wants everyone to love Him.  He loves us and wants us to go to Heaven.

Prayer (Take prayer joys and requests)

Say a prayer thanking God for being there for us and asking Him to help us remember that we need Him.

Craft

With craft materials such as paper, scissors and crayons, make a giant wall picture of a feast. Each child can draw and cut out his favorite food. Then talk about what good things God gives people, such as love, peace, joy and forgiveness.  If there is time children will draw their own picture of heaven. 

Children's Church Lesson: Tower of Babel

Story

Say: Raise your hand if you have ever seen a really tall building.  Have your ever been to the top of a really tall building?  What was that like? (let the children talk).  The tall buildings that we have seen were built for good reasons.  We are going to read the story of the very first tall building.  It was built because people thought they didn't need God.  Was that a good reason?  (No) Lets read about it.

Read “Tower of Babel” in any children's story bible

Lesson

Say:  Why did the people want to build a tall tower? (So it would reach heaven and everyone would think they are great)  Why did God not want them to build the tower? (Because they were being selfish and proud)  What did God do? (He gave the people different languages so they could not understand each other) What happened to the tower? (It never got finished)

In today’s story the people took the gifts God had given them (knowledge, resources  and their strength) to try to show off and act like God.  We may not try to build towers that reach heaven but sometimes we take credit for the gifts God has given us, don’t we? (Yes)  What are some ways that we act selfish and try to act like God? (Give them time to answer – money, talents, etc.)   Everything we have is a gift from God and it is important that we don’t use them to be selfish and don’t try to act like God Everything we have is a gift from God and it is important that we don’t use them to be selfish and don’t try to act like God. 

Big Idea

Everything we have is a gift from God and it is important that we don’t use them to be selfish and don’t try to act like God. Everything we have is a gift from God and it is important that we don’t use them to be selfish and don’t try to act like God. 

Memory Verse

My Hope is in God – Psalms 39:7

Prayer (Take prayer joys and requests)

Say a prayer thanking God for being there for us and asking Him to help us remember that we need Him. 

Craft

 The children will create their own Tower of Babel scene: http://cdn.www.ministry-to-children.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Tower-Babel.pdf

Game 

Have the children make their own language and try to communicate with each other (something like Charades)