-4- The Good Samaritan: Ages 3 – 8
Posted: 09/06/2010 Filed under: Sunday School | Tags: Arts and crafts, Children's crafts, Christianity, Crafts, Evangelism, God, Jesus, New Testament, Parable of the Good Samaritan, Preschool age, Religion and Spirituality, Sunday school, Sunday School for 3 - 8 year olds, Sunday School for Toddlers, Toddlers, Working with children, Working with kids Leave a commentNote: I adapted these lessons to correspond with the Family Entertainment Network: Animated Stories from the New Testament video series. The numbers before the lesson title match up with the numbers on the video cases. These lessons can also be used on their own, or along with other video material, such as SuperBook and VeggieTales.
Scripture: |
He answered: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” Luke 10:27 (NIV)
One day, a lawyer asked Jesus what he had to do to have eternal life. When Jesus asked him what God’s Law said, the lawyer answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus answered, “You are right. Do this and you will live.” But the man wanted to make himself look good, so he asked Jesus another question. “Who is my neighbor?” he asked.
To answer this question, Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan.
The world is full of people today who are in desperate need of a neighbor like the Good Samaritan. “Won’t you be my neighbor?” they ask. Just as the good Samaritan in the story helped the one in need, Jesus says to you and me, “Go and do the same.”
Prayer:
Dear Jesus, you have taught us to love our neighbor. Help us to be a good neighbor to everyone we meet. Amen.
Song:
Mr. Roger’s Theme Song (Won’t You Be My Neighbor?)
(Excerpts taken from Sermons4Kids: “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?)
Elijah and the Prophets of Baal Lesson: 8 – 13 Year Old Level
Posted: 07/09/2010 Filed under: Sunday School | Tags: Arts and crafts, Children's crafts, Crafts, Elijah and the prophets of baal, Sunday school, Sunday School and Elijah, Sunday School for pre-teens, Sunday school for tweens, Working with children, Working with kids Leave a commentElijah and the Prophets of Baal: How Long Are You Going To Sit on the Fence? See 1 Kings 18 (The Message)
15 Elijah said, “As surely as God-of-the-Angel-Armies lives, and before whom I take my stand, I’ll meet with your master face-to-face this very day.”
16 So Obadiah went straight to Ahab and told him. And Ahab went out to meet Elijah.
17-19 The moment Ahab saw Elijah he said, “So it’s you, old troublemaker!”
“It’s not I who has caused trouble in Israel,” said Elijah, “but you and your government—you’ve dumped God’s ways and commands and run off after the local gods, the Baals. Here’s what I want you to do: Assemble everyone in Israel at Mount Carmel. And make sure that the special pets of Jezebel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of the local gods, the Baals, and the four hundred prophets of the whore goddess Asherah, are there.”
20 So Ahab summoned everyone in Israel, particularly the prophets, to Mount Carmel.
21 Elijah challenged the people: “How long are you going to sit on the fence? If God is the real God, follow him; if it’s Baal, follow him. Make up your minds!”
Nobody said a word; nobody made a move.
22-24 Then Elijah said, “I’m the only prophet of God left in Israel; and there are 450 prophets of Baal. Let the Baal prophets bring up two oxen; let them pick one, butcher it, and lay it out on an altar on firewood—but don’t ignite it. I’ll take the other ox, cut it up, and lay it on the wood. But neither will I light the fire. Then you pray to your gods and I’ll pray to God. The god who answers with fire will prove to be, in fact, God.”
All the people agreed: “A good plan—do it!”
25 Elijah told the Baal prophets, “Choose your ox and prepare it. You go first, you’re the majority. Then pray to your god, but don’t light the fire.”
26 So they took the ox he had given them, prepared it for the altar, then prayed to Baal. They prayed all morning long, “O Baal, answer us!” But nothing happened—not so much as a whisper of breeze. Desperate, they jumped and stomped on the altar they had made.
27-28 By noon, Elijah had started making fun of them, taunting, “Call a little louder—he is a god, after all. Maybe he’s off meditating somewhere or other, or maybe he’s gotten involved in a project, or maybe he’s on vacation. You don’t suppose he’s overslept, do you, and needs to be waked up?” They prayed louder and louder, cutting themselves with swords and knives—a ritual common to them—until they were covered with blood.
29 This went on until well past noon. They used every religious trick and strategy they knew to make something happen on the altar, but nothing happened—not so much as a whisper, not a flicker of response.
30-35 Then Elijah told the people, “Enough of that—it’s my turn. Gather around.” And they gathered. He then put the altar back together for by now it was in ruins. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of Jacob, the same Jacob to whom God had said, “From now on your name is Israel.” He built the stones into the altar in honor of God. Then Elijah dug a fairly wide trench around the altar. He laid firewood on the altar, cut up the ox, put it on the wood, and said, “Fill four buckets with water and drench both the ox and the firewood.” Then he said, “Do it again,” and they did it. Then he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. The altar was drenched and the trench was filled with water.
36-37 When it was time for the sacrifice to be offered, Elijah the prophet came up and prayed, “O God, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, make it known right now that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I’m doing what I’m doing under your orders. Answer me, God; O answer me and reveal to this people that you are God, the true God, and that you are giving these people another chance at repentance.”
38 Immediately the fire of God fell and burned up the offering, the wood, the stones, the dirt, and even the water in the trench.
39 All the people saw it happen and fell on their faces in awed worship, exclaiming, “God is the true God! God is the true God!”
- Have you ever gone back and forth about what you believe? It is easy to find yourself doing that, isn’t it? Share some experiences you’ve had where you found yourself “on the fence”.
- The people of Israel wanted proof that God was real.
Discuss the following scripture:
Romans 1:20-23 (New Living Translation)
20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 23 And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.
- Explain some of the things you have seen that show forth the existence of God.
- What is one of the worst things about evolution being taught as fact?
To print the related board game below, click on the pictures to make them larger and then right-click to print
“Memoirs of a Goldfish” Storytime
Posted: 06/21/2010 Filed under: Storytime: Crafts and Books | Tags: Arts and crafts, Children's crafts, Crafts, Devin Scillian, Fish, Goldfish, Libraries, Library, Memoirs of a Goldfish, Reading, Reading aloud, Scillian, Story Hour, Storyhour, Storytime, Working with children, Working with kids Leave a commentBook List
Memoirs of a Goldfish by Devin Scillian
Craft
Items needed:
- Construction paper
- A printer
- Markers
- Glue stick or glue
Click on the template below to access a page containing only the full size template. Right-click and save as a picture, then print as a full “fax print”.
Cut out the fish and bowl. Have the children decorate them, then glue them to a piece of construction paper.
Puppy Storytime
Posted: 05/26/2010 Filed under: Storytime: Crafts and Books | Tags: Arts and crafts, Bookmarks, Bookmarks to color, Children's crafts, Crafts, Dog bookmarks, Dog Storytime, Libraries, Library, Move Over, Printable Bookmarks, Printable Dog Bookmarks, Printable puppy bookmarks to color, Puppy Bookmarks, Puppy Storytime, Reading, Reading aloud, Rover!, Sleepy Pendoodle, Story Hour, Storyhour, Storytime, The Dog That Belonged to No One, Working with children, Working with kids Leave a commentBooklist:
Sleepy Pendoodle by Malachy Doyle
The Dog Who Belonged to No One by Amy Hest
Move Over, Rover! by Karen Beaumont
Craft:
Cardstock or paper (cardstock is better)
Contact Paper (Optional)
Markers, Crayons, or Colored Pencils
Click on the bookmarks below and it will take you to a page that contains only the template. Right-click and save as a picture. Print as a full page and cut out the bookmarks. Have the kids color and decorate them and cover with contact paper.