Lesson Objective:

The children will understand what it means when the Bible says that God is our shepherd.

Scripture:

John 10:14

Arrival:

When the children arrive, let them pretend to be sheep. Brainstorm with them about how sheep behave. Sing with them.

Prayer:

Pray that the children will be able to understand what it means that God is a shepherd.

Lesson:

In John 10:14, Jesus says something interesting. He says, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” Do you know what that means? He called you and me sheep! Do you think you are a sheep?

Let’s talk about sheep and shepherds for a moment. Sheep are not very smart. They tend to follow whatever they see other sheep doing. They need a shepherd to protect them. That’s kind of like us, isn’t it? While we might be smarter than sheep, we do tend to follow what we see others doing, instead of thinking on our own, don’t we? We need a shepherd to protect us.

What else does a shepherd do for his sheep? One thing is to lead them to food and water. The shepherd makes sure all of the sheep’s needs are met. God promises to met our needs. God is our shepherd.

Sometimes sheep are not very aware of what is around them. They tend to get into trouble, get tangled in briars, fall off ledges, or wade too deep into water and get stuck. The shepherd’s job is to keep them from harm when they get into these problems. God does that for us. Even when we do wrong and end up in a difficult situation, God is there to offer his protection and keep us away from harm.

In John 10:14, Jesus says, “I know my sheep, and my sheep know me.” The shepherd and the sheep become very close. The sheep eventually learn to recognize the shepherd’s voice. God knows us. As we get to know Him better through learning of Him in the Bible and through church, we will get to know him too.

Now, do you think describing God as a shepherd is a good description? I do. Let’s look at Psalm 23 together and review the ways God is our shepherd. (Have a child read Psalm 23 out loud, and discuss God leading us, knowing us, protecting us, and keeping us from harm.)

Memory Verse:

Hide cut outs of sheep around the classroom with the words of John 10:14 written on them. Send the children on a hunt for the verses, and then have them arrange them in the front of the room on the chalkboard tray. Practice the verse several times.

Craft/Game:

Make a Styrofoam Cup Sheep Puppet http://www.sundayschool101.com/2010/02/615/

Dismissal:

As the children leave, remind them to be good sheep and follow their shepherd in the coming week.

Lesson Objective:

The students will get an overview of the “Beatitudes.”

Scripture:

Matthew 5:3-10

Arrival:

As the children arrive, pose an if/then to them, such as “If you all sit quietly and listen well, then we will do your favorite game at the end of class.” Sing with the children.

Prayer:

Pray for clarity as you teach.

Lesson:

(This lesson is a little shorter, because the craft time will take a while and be more reinforcing than the actual lesson).

After Jesus recruited his disciples, he took some time to teach them some important lessons. In a teaching time on the side of a mountain, a time we now call the “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus told the disciples about some actions and attitudes he wanted to see from them, and the reward they would receive for them. These have been called the “Beatitudes.”

The first beatitude says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” What do you think it means to be “poor in spirit?” this is, perhaps, the hardest of the beatitudes to understand. Most Bible scholars believe it means that you live life as if your faith in Jesus is your most important possession. Even if you are not poor, you do not cling to your possessions, but live as a poor person would, focusing on God, not things. If you have this attitude, your reward is the kingdom of heaven! (Write the two parts on the chalkboard, using a column to show the two parts of the beatitude.)

Next is “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Mourning is the sad feeling you feel when you lose something or someone who you love. It can also be sadness in your heart over sin you see in your life or bad things that happen around you. Jesus said if you mourn, he will comfort you. (Write the verse)

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” God promises all of the bounty of the earth to those who are meek, which is the opposite of proud. (Write the verse)

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” If you really desire to understand God and His word, Jesus promises that desire will be filled. (Write the verse)

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” When you show someone mercy, you are keeping back a punishment they deserve. If you do this on a regular basis, Jesus promises God will show extra mercy to you. (Write the verse)

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Purity in your heart, guarding all of your thoughts, will draw you closer to God, helping you understand who He really is. (Write the verse)

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” We should always seek peace with others, and doing so will cause others to notice that we are God’s children. (Write the verse)

“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Yet again, Jesus promises the kingdom of heaven to a group of people. These are those who endure trials because of their beliefs. (Write the verse)

Some of these are attitudes we can choose. We can choose to be meek, merciful, and pure in heart. We may not be able to choose persecution. Regardless, these are beautiful promises to those who seek to live as God would have us to live.

When you came to class, I told you that if you were good, I would give you time to play your favorite game. In many ways, this is similar to what Jesus has offered. He gives a promise for a specific attitude or behavior. Are you ready to accept the promise?

Game/Craft:

Have the children make Beatitudes Posters.

Memory Verse:

Allow each child to pick and memorize his or her favorite beatitude.

Dismissal:

Remind the children to try to practice the attitudes mentioned in Matthew 5:3-10

Lesson Objective:

The children will learn that God wants us to be kind to everyone.

Scripture:

Luke 10:29-37

Arrival:

As the children arrive, sing with them.

Prayer:

Pray for wisdom as you present the lesson.

Lesson:

Today I am going to tell you the story of someone who showed love to someone else. Can you think of someone in your life that God wants you to show love to? (Take responses). Yes, those are all important. God wants us to show love to our (moms, friends, brothers, church members, etc.). But did you know that those are not the only people God wants us to love? God wants us to love everyone, even the people that are hard to love.

Jesus told a story to show this truth. The story was a parable. That means it was a story about people that had a meaning behind it. It didn’t necessarily happen, but Jesus used the story to teach a truth.

Jesus told the story because he was asked a question. A Jewish leader asked him, “If the law tells us to ‘Love our neighbor as our self,’ who is our neighbor?” Jesus answered with a parable.

Jesus told of a man who was walking in a secluded area. Suddenly, thieves jumped out, beat him up, took his things, and left thinking he was dead. As the man lay there bloody and hurt, he probably prayed that someone would notice and help him.

Soon someone did come by. A priest, an important religious leader, passed by on the same road. He saw the man, and crossed over to the other side of the road and hurried on his way. He didn’t even stop to make sure the man was still alive. He just kept going.

Not long after that, a Levite came by, which was another important religious leader of the time. Again, this man noticed the hurt man, but instead of helping, he passed on to the other side and kept right on walking.

Next, a Samaritan came on the road. Now, the Samaritans hated the Jews. Yet, this Samaritan saw the wounded man and took pity on him. He cleaned his wounds, put his own clothes on him, and carried him on his own donkey. All of this, even though he was a Jew.

Not only that, but the Samaritan took the man to an inn, helped him get settled into a bed, and then told the innkeeper to take care of him, promising to return and pay the debts with his own money.

Now, Jesus asked the people who were listening to the story, “Who acted like a neighbor to this man?” The Jewish leader answered, “The Samaritan,” and Jesus replied, “Go and do the same.”

See, Jesus wants us to love everyone, even strangers and people we normally do not like. Even if we do not know or like someone, we can and should treat them lovingly. In Ephesians 4:32 the Bible says, “Be ye kind one to another.” This does not have any “if” attached to it, such as “if the person is kind to you.” We are commanded to be kind.

This week, I want you to try to be kind to everyone, even those people who are not always easy to like.

Craft/Game:

Do this coloring page.

Memory Verse:

Help the children learn Ephesians 4:32. If they are young, just learn the first phrase. If they are older, learn the whole thing. Talk about any terms they do not understand.

Dismissal:

Remind the children to look for people they can be kind to in the coming week.

Lesson Objective:

The children will learn that they do not have to be afraid, because Jesus is powerful.

Scripture:

Mark 4:35-41

Arrival:

As the children arrive, talk to them about times when they were scared. Mention a time when you were scared. Then sing with them.

Prayer:

When you pray, thank the Lord that He is there to help you when you are afraid.

Lesson Plan:

After a long day of teaching, Jesus and his disciples were ready to travel to a new part of Israel. Even though they still had many people following them to hear Jesus’ words, Jesus knew it was time to move on. He instructed his disciples to get in a boat and head to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

While they were on the boat, Jesus fell asleep. He was quite tired after spending many days teaching and healing people. The disciples were sailing the ship, when one of them noticed a cloud in the horizon. Soon another cloud came, and another, and the wind started getting stronger. The Bible says that a strong storm came. As the boat tossed to and fro on the waves, the disciples began to get scared.

I want you to think about a time when you were scared. How did you calm down? What helped you to be less scared?

The storm kept getting worse and worse. The disciples realized they were in real danger. They started looking around for Jesus. To their surprise, he was still sleeping! Imagine being able to sleep through that strong of a storm.

They woke him up and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are going to die in this storm?”

Jesus instantly got up, looked out over the water, and said, “Peace! Be still!” Instantly, the wind and rain stopped the storm was over and the Bible says it was instantly calm.

Jesus was not done, though. He looked at his disciples sadly and asked, “Why were you so scared? Do you still have no faith?”

The disciples were amazed and a little scared by what they had just seen. They asked each other, “Who is this man? Even the wind and waves obey him!”

When you are afraid, I want you to remember this story. Jesus has the strength to calm the wildest storm. He can and will take care of you when you are afraid. All you have to do is ask and have faith!

Memory Verse:

Help the children learn Mark 4:41 using hand motions. For “wind” have them wave their arms like branches waving in the breeze. For “waves” have them make motions like water waves. For “obey him” have them point toward heaven.

Game/Craft:

To remember the story, make the Wind and Waves Windsock.

Dismissal:

Remind the children that Jesus is all powerful and they do not need to be afraid, even when facing something as scary as a horrible storm.

Lesson Objective:

The children will learn that sometimes it is OK to be angry.

Scripture:

John 2:13-16.

Arrival:

As the children arrive, greet them and take them to the singing area for song time.

Prayer:

Ask the Lord to give you wisdom as you teach the lesson.

Lesson:

Have you ever been angry? (Take responses). Tell me about a time when you were really angry. (Take responses). Do you think Jesus was ever angry? (Take responses – keep in mind that many children are taught that being angry is wrong or sinful. Accept this response if it is offered).

I want to show you a time in the Bible when Jesus was angry. Let me ask you something – did Jesus ever sin? (no) So if Jesus was angry, some types of anger must be OK, right?

Before Jesus called his disciples to be “fishers of men,” he spent headed to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of Passover. When he arrived, he went to the temple to worship. Inside of the temple he found people selling cows, sheep, and doves for sacrifices. He also saw moneychangers, which are people who take money from another country and trade it for money used in the area where the people are visiting, sitting at tables inside the temple. What should have been a quiet place of worship looked like a shopping mall.

Now, people coming to the temple needed moneychangers and animals to sacrifice. However, these people were selling these things inside the temple, not outside in the marketplace. It would be like if we set up a small shopping mall in the lobby of our church.

Jesus became angry. He knew that the temple was a place for worshiping God, not making money selling things. He made a whip out of rope and started swinging it at the animals, driving them out of the temple. He turned over the tables and scattered the people’s money everywhere.

Why was Jesus so angry? Because these people were sinning against God. He said, “Remove these things! Do not make my father’s house into a house of merchandise!”

The difference between how Jesus was angry and being angry as a sin is in why you are angry. Jesus was angry at someone’s sin. He was angry because God was being dishonored. Most of the time when we are angry, it is because someone has done something we do not like or has dishonored us or hurt us. Jesus was never angry at people who hurt him, even when they nailed him to the cross. He was angry, however, when people who claimed to follow God did not show honor to God. Even when he was angry, he did nothing to hurt the people who were sinning. He overturned their tables and sent their animals out of the temple, but he did not hit them or hurt them in any way.

Sometimes people around you will not show honor to your God. Can you think how they might do this? (Take responses). Sometimes they might use God’s name as a curse word. Sometimes they might make jokes about Christians or church. When this happens, you should get a little angry. You should tell them to stop dishonoring your God. This is what Jesus did.

Memory Verse:

Have the children learn John 2:16.

Craft/Game:

Learn a new song. Since you are studying the life of Christ, take time to learn the Apostle’s Song.

Dismissal:

Remind the children to be careful only to get angry about sin.

Lesson Objective:

The children will learn that they should face temptation with Scripture.

Scripture:

Matthew 4:1-12

Arrival:

As the children arrive, greet them warmly. Sing with them, particularly focusing on Scripture based songs.

Prayer:

Pray for strength to resist temptation.

Lesson:

(Write the word temptation on the board.) Does anyone know this word? (Take responses.) What does it mean? (Take responses.) Temptation is when the Devil tries to get you to do something wrong by showing you how good it would feel or deceiving you into thinking it’s not a big deal.

Have you ever faced temptation from Satan? (Take responses. Talk about the responses. Tell a personal story about a time you were tempted.)

How do you handle temptation? (Take responses. Chances are someone will say, “say no!” Do not belittle any answers, but just accept them.)

Did you know Jesus was tempted by Satan? The Bible tells us what he did. We are supposed to follow his example, so let’s talk about how Jesus handled temptation.

Before Jesus started preaching and performing miracles, but after his first miracle, the Bible tells us he went into the wilderness to pray. For 40 days he did not eat anything as he prayed for God to direct his ministry. At the end of the 40 days, Satan came to tempt him.

The first thing Satan tempted Jesus to do was turn rocks into bread. He said, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to be made bread.”

Could Jesus do that? Yes. Was it wrong? Not necessarily, but it was not God’s will at that time. God had another idea about how to attend to Jesus’ hunger when his time of praying and fasting was over. Jesus replied, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” He quoted a passage of scripture.

Next, Satan took Jesus up to the top of the temple. He said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off. For it is written, He will give his angels charge concerning you, and in their hands they will lift you up, so you will not dash your foot against a stone.”

This time Satan used Scripture, yet Jesus still knew what Satan was asking was wrong. He said, “It is also written, you should not tempt the Lord your God.”

Finally, the Bible says Satan took Jesus to a mountain and showed him the entire world stretching out before them. He said, “I will give you all of this, if you will just fall down and worship me.”

Jesus replied, “Satan, leave me! For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.”

When Jesus said that, Satan left, and God sent angels to care for Jesus.

So how did Jesus handle temptation? He used scripture to stop the temptation. This is how we need to handle temptation. But you know what? If we don’t have scripture memorized, we cannot fight temptation like Jesus did. This is why we work so hard to hide God’s word in our hearts!

Memory Verse:

Psalm 119:11 – Use hand motions to teach this verse. Make the Bible/book sign for the first part, point to your heart for the second part, and point to heaven for the last part.

Craft/Game:

Instead of a craft or game, take some time to do a Bible memory review. Allow children to quote verses they know. If no one is willing, do a Sword Drill.

Dismissal:

Challenge the children to look for verses they can learn to help them resist temptation.

Lesson Objective:

The children will learn what it means to love your neighbor.

Scripture:

Matthew 5:43-48

Arrival:

As the children arrive, ask them to name someone they love. Write some of the names on the board. Sing with the children.

Prayer:

When you pray, ask the Lord to help you present the lesson clearly.

Lesson:

Do you remember the important teaching that Jesus taught while on the Mount of Olives? That’s right, it’s called “The Sermon on the Mount.” One of the important lessons he taught was the series of attitudes called the “beatitudes.” But that is not all that Jesus taught in this teaching time.

Look at the list on the board. Is it easy to love these people? Why? (Take responses and respond to those responses. For instance, if a child says ‘I love my mommy because she takes care of me,’ you can say, ‘it’s easy to love someone who looks out for your needs, isn’t it?’)

Do you know what Jesus says about this? Can someone read Matthew 5:43-48? (If the children are too young to read this, you read it to them.) Did you notice what he said? ‘If you love them which love you, what reward have you? Do not even publicans (sinners) do the same? And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more than others?’

Remember, during Jesus’ time, publicans were the worst of the worst. He is saying that loving the people who love you is easy, and even the worst people on earth do this.

So what does Jesus say we should do? He tells us to love your enemies, and bless them that curse you, and do good for those who hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.

This is hard to do! When someone is mean to you, what do you want to do to them? Be mean back, right? But Jesus says you should be nice to them, and even to pray for them!

You know, this is not something you can do on your own. Your flesh wants to return mean actions with more mean actions. You must ask God to help you to do the right thing when you are faced with an enemy’s actions.

But you know what? If you do this, you just might turn that enemy into a friend. What if that enemy is not a Christian? Maybe by returning the mean actions with nice ones, you could show Christ’s love to that person. You may even play a part in bringing that person to Jesus.

Remember, Proverbs 15:1 says, “A soft answer turns away wrath.” Even if you do not make a friend out of your enemy by treating him with love, you just might turn away some of his anger toward you.

Memory Verse:

Matthew 5:44 – Help the children learn this verse by writing it on the board and erasing a few words at a time while the children repeat it.

Craft/Game:

Play the Toilet Paper Pass game.

Dismissal:

As the children leave, remind them to look for someone they would normally consider an “enemy” and to try to be kind to that person.

Lesson Objective:

The children will understand that they should do whatever God calls them to do, even if it doesn’t make sense.

Scripture:

John 2

Arrival:

As the children arrive, give them a strange request. Tell them to stand with their hand on their head throughout the singing time, but do not explain why. Sing with them.

Lesson:

Did you understand why I wanted you to stand with your hand on your head? No? It didn’t make sense? Has your mom or dad ever asked you to do something that didn’t make sense? (allow for responses). Did you find out that it did make sense later, after the situation was over? Today we are going to talk about obeying when things don’t make sense.

I am reminded of the story of a little girl and her daddy. The little girl was climbing a tree, which was something she enjoyed very much. Climbing a tree is a fun activity, and something her daddy let her do all of the time. In fact, she had climbed this particular tree many, many times because it was in her back yard. Suddenly, her daddy told her, “Jenny, I want you to stop right there and do not climb another inch.”

This request didn’t make sense. Jenny was barely up to the first branch, and she usually climbed way up into the tree. Jenny, however, obeyed her daddy.

Her daddy carefully approached the tree with a shovel in his hand. He whacked the branch in front of Jenny, and a huge snake fell out. Later, her daddy explained that he had seen the snake and that it was poisonous. That snake could have hurt or even killed Jenny if she hadn’t obeyed, even when the request didn’t make sense.

When Jesus was a grown man, he and his mother, Mary, attended a wedding feast. In Bible times wedding feasts went on for a week or longer, and the family of the bride and groom had to feed all of their guests for that long. If they ran out of food, it was an extremely embarrassing situation.

Well into the wedding week, the servants went to pour more wine for the guests. They found that the wine barrels were empty! They had no drink to serve to the guests!

Mary heard about the problem and told Jesus about it. Then, she told the servants, “Whatever he tells you to do, do it!”

Jesus spotted some large water jugs in the corner. These were probably used to hold the water for washing dishes or hands. Jesus told the servants to fill the jugs to the top with fresh water. They obeyed.

Now came the tricky request. Jesus told the servants to scoop out some of the water and carry it to the leader of the feast to taste! Can you imagine serving the leader of a party water that had been in the dishwasher? That’s basically what they would have been doing.

The servants didn’t argue, though. They obeyed. When the leader of the feast tasted the water, he was amazed! He said it was the best wine that he had ever had! Jesus had turned regular water into wine!

This was Jesus’ first miracle.

How do you think the servants felt as they carried that water to the leader? I bet they were a little scared! But they obeyed.

Sometime in your life, God might ask you to do something that doesn’t make sense. Maybe he will ask your family to move to a new town for your dad’s job. Maybe He will lay it on your heart to befriend someone at school that is not “cool.” These things may not make sense, but we need to obey and see what wonderful blessings, like the tasty wine, God has in store for us!

Game/Craft Time:

Play Pass the Jar.

Dismissal:

Remind the children to be obedient to their parents and the Lord, even when it doesn’t make sense.

Lesson Objective:

The children will understand that Mary was willing to do whatever God wanted her to do.

Scripture:

Luke 1:26-38

Arrival:

As the children arrive, ask them if they have ever had an unexpected visitor. Take the time to talk about these experiences, or share one of your own. Sing with the children.

Prayer:

Pray that the Lord will help each person in the classroom to accept His will for them.

Lesson:

Mary was a young girl who lived with her mom and dad. The Bible doesn’t tell us how old she was, but she was engaged to be married, and in Bible times girls would be engaged when they were young teenagers. One day when she was in her home, probably doing her work for the day, she had an unexpected visitor.

As Mary was doing her work, she looked up to see a man standing near her. While he looked like a man, she knew he was more than that. He was an angel. The angel Gabriel in fact. Gabriel looked at Mary and said, “Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women.”

This was a highly unusual greeting, and it bothered Mary a lot. What did this angel want? What did he mean about her being “highly favored?” She was nothing special. She was just a common girl who was marrying a common man.

The angel could tell that she was confused, and he said, “Fear not, Mary. For thou hast found favor with God.”

The angel went on to tell her that she was going to have a baby! That baby would be very special. He would not just be any baby, but would be the “Son of the Highest.” The Messiah!

At this time, the entire Jewish nation was waiting in anticipation for the Messiah. Many young girls were hoping they would be chosen to be His mother. This was wonderful news.

But there was one problem. Mary was not married. How could she have a baby without a husband? She asked Gabriel this question.

Gabriel answered, “The Holy Ghost will come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” Then Gabriel said, “For with God, nothing shall be impossible.”

In Bible times, an unmarried woman who had a baby was considered to be in great sin. She was shunned and looked down upon. While carrying the Messiah should have been a great honor, and in many ways it was, it was going to make Mary’s life hard for a while. She would have to tell Joseph, her fiancé, that she was having a baby, and he would think she had been unfaithful to him. He might even refuse to marry her.

In spite of these concerns, Mary told the angel, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.”

Those are fancy words that we don’t use today, but what Mary was saying was, “I will do what you say, even if it is hard. Let the Lord do what He wants in my life.”

Because Mary was willing to be the mother of Jesus, even though it would not be easy, we have a way to get to heaven today. There will probably come a time in your life when God will want you to do something that is hard. When that time comes, remember Mary and the way she accepted what God wanted her to do.

Memory Verse:

Learn Luke 1:37 with the children. Start by writing the verse on the board. Divide the class into two groups, and quote the verse, alternating between each group for each word. In other words, the first group will say the first word (for) and then you will point to the second group for the second word (with) and continue. Do this several times until the verse has been learned.

Craft/Game:

Make a Popsicle stick angel with the children. Remind them that this is not what Gabriel really looked like, but that angels help us remember God’s messengers.

Dismissal:

Tell the children to remember Mary’s willingness during the week when something happens that they might not want to have happen.

Lesson Objective:

The children will learn that they need to show love to everyone, even those who are hard to love.

Scripture:

Luke 10:25-37

Arrival:

As the children arrive, greet them warmly. Have the word “Love” written on the board. Sing with the children, focusing on songs that deal with loving others and loving the Lord.

Prayer Time:

Pray that the children will learn how important loving each other is.

Lesson:

I want you to close your eyes for a minute and think of someone that you love. (Give the children a few minutes to think, then take responses). Good, you love your (mom, friend, brother). God wants us to love our (mom, friend, brother). These are all good answers! God wants us to love all of those people. In fact, God wants us to love everyone, even the people we don’t feel like we love or even like!

Today I am going to tell you a story that Jesus told when He lived on earth. It was a parable, which is a story that has a special lesson from God for us to learn.

Once there was a Jewish man who was taking a journey. On his way, he was attacked by thieves. They beat him badly, stole his things and clothes, and then left him for dead on the side of the road.

After some time passed, a priest passed by. He saw the man, noticed he was hurt badly and needed help, but he kept walking. In fact, he crossed the road so he didn’t have to look at the man.

Now a priest is like a pastor. He was very important in the synagogue, which was the “church” of Jesus’ day. This man was teaching the scripture every day, but he did not show love.

Not long after a Levite, another religious leader, passed by. He also crossed the street and ignored the man. He didn’t show love.

Eventually, a Samaritan passed by on the road. Now, in Bible times Samaritans were the people who the Jews didn’t like. They didn’t worship God the way the Jews did, and the Jews hated them. In fact, the Jews hated them so much they would take several extra days to make a journey, just so they didn’t have to pass through the Samaritans’ land.

The hurt man was a Jew. The Samaritan had no reason to care about the Jewish man. After all, the Jewish man likely hated him, just because he was a Samaritan. But the Samaritan stopped. Not only did he help the man with his injuries, but he also put clothes on him and lifted him onto his donkey. He took the man to an inn, instructed the innkeeper to care for the man’s injuries, and left money to be used to care for the man.

Jesus asked, “who was a good neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” The obvious answer was the Samaritan. Even though he had no reason to love the Jewish man, he showed him love. Jesus told us, “Go and do likewise.”

We are supposed to love everyone in our lives, even the people who are not easy to love. Maybe you have a bully in your school. That person is hard to love, but if you notice they are having a problem with something, Jesus teaches you that you should show love.

(Finish the lesson by asking for ideas about how the students can show love to others, even those who are hard to love.)

Memory Verse:

Play Balloon Memory Verse using the words from I John 4:7-8. If your students know the words to the song from this verse, sing it with them.

Game/Craft:

Have the children color this picture: Good Samaritan Picture

Dismissal:

As the children leave, ask them to look for someone they can show love to that they normally would not like.