Story
Say: Today’s story is in the New
Testament. It is about a man who was
very short, and had an unusual name.
Let’s find out what happened to him.
You can help me tell the story!
When you hear about someone being angry, make a mad face. When you hear
about someone being too short to see, pretend to try to look over someone. When you hear about someone climbing a tree,
pretend to climb. Are you ready?
Read “Zaccaeus” in the any children's story bible.
Lesson
Say: What was Zacchaeus
like? (greedy, took money from other people)
What did Zacchaeus do when Jesus came to town? (tried to see him,
climbed a tree) What did Jesus do? (told
Zacchaeus to come down, went to Zacchaeus’ house) How did Zacchaeus change? (Served Jesus, paid
people back, gave money to the poor)
Zacchaeus really changed didn’t
he? Before he met Jesus, Zacchaeus was
greedy and getting as much money as possible, even if it hurt other people, was
the most important thing to him. After
meeting Jesus, Zacchaeus realized that following Jesus was more important than
anything else and he money stopped being so important to him.
Jesus taught Zacchaeus to serve
God and to serve others. He did this by
teaching him to treat everyone with care and honesty. When we decide to make Jesus the most
important thing in our lives, and when we are kind to and serve other people we
serve God, too, because everyone is part of God’s family.
Big Idea
When we decide to make Jesus the most
important thing in our lives, and when we are kind to and serve other people we
serve God just like Zacchaeus did.
Memory Verse
Jesus
said “"If any of you wants to be my
follower, you must turn from your selfish ways and follow me.” – Luke 9:23
Prayer
Take
a minute to see if the children have any prayer requests or prayer joys.
Say a short prayer asking God to help us make Jesus the most important thing in
our lives.
Song
Craft
Childen will make their own sycamore tree by
decorating a tree template and attaching it to a toilet paper role (tree
trunk).
