Our children’s ministry environments matter...a LOT! There are easy ways to improve our ministry environments which will instantly make them more inviting to parents and kids. Find out more about how to make your children's ministry more inviting.

Something borrowed, but nothing blue! Check out these 20 tips to lead volunteers from us to keep from being "blue" in your ministry!

I've always loved this verse from the story where Samuel chooses and anoints David to be king. God says to Samuel: The Lord does not lo...

John The Baptist Kids Spot The Difference

On a recent visit to Woodstock City Church, I noticed their signs. There were 2 things that I noticed. I noticed what signs they had displayed, and what signs they...

If you want to offer an absorbing and challenging way for children to explore the story of Zacchaeus, then look no further. This is a great...

Jesus went to His disciples at night during a storm. They didn't know who it was on the sea, but when they saw it was Jesus, Peter walk...

The solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus is such a great day to celebrate with kids when living the liturgical year in your home! I always find that when I reach kids on their own

Sunday, March 22nd, 2020 READ Read Mark 2:1-12 with your family. WATCH Watch one or both of the videos below created just for kids. The first one is great for toddlers and the second touches on concepts that are good for pre-k to elementary age. https://youtu.be/8cmppSIQUX4 https://youtu.be

Lesson: Jesus gives life (Luke 8:40-56; Mark 5:21-42) 1. Story: Tell the story of Jesus raising Jairus' daughter from Luke 8:40-56 and Mark 5:21-42. Last week we learned about a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years. When she touched Jesus, He was actually on His way to see a little girl. This little girl was 12 years old, and she was very sick. Her father’s name was Jairus. He was a synagogue leader — a ruler of the synagogue. Even though he was an important man, when his daughter was sick, he knew that only Jesus could help. So the moment Jesus got off the boat, Jairus fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him. “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” Jairus knew that Jesus had the power to heal his daughter, and he believed that she will be healed. This is called faith. Jesus went with him. Along the way, He was “interrupted” by the woman who was bleeding for 12 years. For Jairus, it must have an anxious time because Jesus stopped to talk to the woman while his daughter was dying. But perhaps his faith was strengthened when he heard the woman’s testimony. Then some people came from Jairus house and said, “You daughter is dead. Why bother the teacher anymore?” To these people, Jesus was just a “teacher”. Jesus assured Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Jesus brought Peter, James and John with him to Jairus’ house. At the house, there were many people crying and wailing loudly. Jesus said, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” But the people laughed at him. Jesus put the people out of the house, leaving only his disciples and Jairus and his wife. They went into the room where the girl was lying. Taking her by the hand, Jesus said to her, “Talitha Koum!” (which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” Immediately, the girl stood up and began to walk around. Jesus told those present not to let anyone know about this and to give the girl something to eat. 2. Lesson: Like the woman who was bleeding for 12 years, Jairus also spoke out in faith when he said, “Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” When the woman who was bleeding interrupted Jesus, when the people from Jairus’ house told him that his daughter was dead, when the wailers and mourners were crying in the house … despite these circumstances, Jesus still called Jairus to believe in Him. When all hope seems gone, no matter what we are going through, we can continue to speak in faith and believe in Jesus. We can hear what Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Jesus is Lord over everything, even death! Let’s pray: Thank you Jesus that when we are faced with difficult situations, You are there with us. When things seem hopeless, You call us not to fear and to believe in You. Help us to learn to trust You more each day and to speak life and faith, according to Your promises. In Your name, I pray Amen. 3. Activity ideas: Worksheets: Crossword Word Search Craft: Girl Finger Puppet Print out drawing on card/paper. Get kids to colour. Help them to cut out the holes for the fingers to go through as the girl’s legs.

We begin this unit with a story of a man who had a thankful heart so that our preschoolers can see thankfulness played out in action. Bible Truth: Jesus loves a thankful heart. Bible Story: Jesus healed ten lepers, but only one said, "Thank You." Bible Study: Luke 17:11-19 sing As you are singing for worship, tell the children that when we sing to Jesus we are saying, "Thank You" to Him. Tell that today we are going to hear a story about a man who said, "Thank you" to Jesus. teach In addition to reading this story from a children's Bible storybook, here's a captivating visual to help you illustrate it. I used a pair of bath gloves, but this will work with any gloves. Cut out twenty little circles, draw happy faces on ten, and sad faces on the other ten. Hot-glue the sad faces to the back side of the gloves, and the happy faces to the palm side. Attach a Band-aid to each finger on the sad side of the glove. You will also need a little red heart. I attached a "hook" piece of Velcro to the heart. Since the Velcro hooks to the bath glove, the heart can easily be placed on and removed from the glove. Wear the gloves as you tell the story! The Bible tells us a story about ten men who were very, very sick. Let's count the men. Wiggle each finger as you count. They had a disease called leprosy. Can you say leprosy? That means they had owies all over their bodies. They wore Band-Aids everywhere to cover their owies. They were so sick, they couldn't go home to their families, and they had to stay away from people. If they touched anyone, the other person would get sick too! They went to lots of doctors, but the doctors couldn't make them better. One day they saw Jesus walking down the road, and they cried out to Him. Move the gloves to either side of your mouth as you raise your voice to "call out". "Jesus, have mercy on us! Heal us Jesus!" Do you know what Jesus did for them? He healed them! Close your hands into fists. Turn your hands and open them to show the happy side. Wow! Jesus did a miracle! He answered their prayer and he healed them! They had no more owies. Now they could go home and give their families big hugs and kisses! Move your hands as though they are running away. But one man stopped. Stop your hands. Close your fingers except one pointer finger. He went back to Jesus, bowed down, and said, "Thank You Jesus! Thank You for healing me and taking away my leprosy!" Bend your finger as if to bow. Jesus said, "I healed ten men. Why did only one come back? Where are the other nine?" Then Jesus blessed the man who remembered to say, "Thank You," because he had a thankful heart, and Jesus loves a thankful heart. Add the heart to your pointer finger. Open your hands to show the ten healed men, and only one with a thankful heart. Do you want to be like the nine men who forgot to say, "Thank You," or do you want to have a thankful heart? Yes, I want to have a thankful heart too. We can say, "Thank You" to Jesus for all the beautiful things that He created. We can thank Him for dying on the cross for us, giving us a clean heart, and giving us a home in Heaven with Him forever. Lead the children in a prayer of thanksgiving. practice For the rest of the service, as you are doing a craft, and/or eating a snack, help the children practice saying, "Please and thank you." When they remember to say, "Thank you," praise them for having a thankful heart like the man in today's story. Remind them that Jesus loves a thankful heart. read If you have a book about manners, and saying, "Please and thank you," it would be good supplement to this lesson if you have extra time at the end. craft one thankful heart For this craftivity you will need: this activity page Band-aids red paper scissors crayons glue To prepare, make double-sided copies of the activity page, and cut out a red heart for each child. In class, provide crayons for coloring. Give each child two Band-aids to stick on to the sick leper side of the activity page, and one red heart to add to one finger on the healed leper side of the activity page. thank You Jesus Print this activity page for your kids to color, and follow the coloring directions on the page. I found the original coloring page of Jesus here. It would also be fun to add a sticker to the man who is colored yellow, to help distinguish the one from other nine, especially for younger children who may not yet be ready to follow the coloring directions. As the children are coloring, count the men symbol figures with them. Count how many were healed, how many said, "Thank You," and how many forgot.

This is a really colourful way to pray for people and situations where you'd like to see God's power breaking through. Visual pray-ers will love it! You will need: shaving foam, a tall glass, water, food colouring in two or three colours, small dishes, teaspoons or droppers. Pour a couple of tablespoons of water into each small dish. Colour each dish of water with a different food colouring. Don’t water the colouring down too much because the more intense the colouring the better! Fill the glass half way with water and squirt shaving foam to make a ‘cloud’ in the glass above it (this will probably fill the other half of the glass). Think of a person or situation you'd like to pray for and choose a colour of water you'd like to use to represent that prayer. Ask God to help them and then use a teaspoon or dropper to pour a small amount of coloured water on top of the shaving foam cloud. The colouring will slowly seep down through the spaces between the foam and the glass, and ‘rain’ down into the water. As this happens, imagine God's power breaking through and changing that situation, just as the colour is breaking through and changing the water. Repeat with other colours as you pray more prayers.

Handwriting on the Wall Daniel 5 For this craft, I printed the page with the picture of the king and the wall. Then I put a page ...

Complete interactive lesson on the Satan's temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. Includes links for flashcards, object lesson and sword practice application activity.

I totally ripped this one off a German Sunday School lesson site. Anyways, I refined it so that you can make the least amount of cuts (in case you, like me, are in charge of preparing crafts beforehand.) This one teaches the story of Jesus healing the paralyzed man really well. As I said, I did rip it off a German site, but I added the verse in English at the top. You need: cardstock, scissors (or cutter), Exacto-Knife, and crayons (optional) First off, you want to cut the "ribbon" part away from the main part. You can do this with scissors...or you can do it with my new favorite office tool: The paper cutter! Cut one: Cut two: (Throw the right-hand portion away.) Next, stack all your "main portions" on top of each other so they are perfectly even. Then, very carefully, and with your non-dominate hand pushing down on the top of the stack (and your thumb out of the way!!!), pull the Exacto-Knife through all four cutting places. If your stack shifts during the cut, restack and press the stack harder with your non-dominate hand. Cutting through the stack like this kills several birds with one stone. First off, you can cut through 2-4 pieces of cardstock at a time--saving time. Secondly, you don't have to worry about cutting through to your table when you do it this way. Okay, here is how you thread the "ribbon" portion through. Remember to thread it through all four slits. The first scene you should see is the man being let down by his friends in the top window, and Jesus looking up in the bottom window. Keep pulling and you will see the man and Jesus interacting. Finally (and don't pull too hard here or you will have to re-thread!), you will see where Jesus healed the man who is now holding his bed. Template: The End!

In our journey through the Old Testament this term, we have made it to David and Goliath. We focussed this session on the idea of God doing amazing things and helping us when we trust him. After telling the story we decorated some stones, to remember how David used something so small to make such a big impact. Children then had lots of options to play around the themes of the story: Using jigsaws and containers to explore big and small things... ...and walking around on giant cardboard feet (they loved this!) The children could practice their throwing at the bean bag targets... ...and have a go with the paper ball catapults. Click here to see the original idea. We also had a lovely fluffy sheep to play with! To finish, we prayed with a bubble sword. The sword is a symbol of God's power to help us. As the children popped the bubbles we asked God to help us be brave like David, and trust in Him.

One of the most amazing things you'll ever do in youth ministry is empower students to take ownership of the program. After all, it's their ministry (or should be). Having youth ministry student roles helps turn that goal into a reality.

I am EXTREMELY excited!!!!!! My excitement stems from the fact that this upcoming Sunday begins my NEW Quarter with the KIDDOS. We are continuing to EXPLORE Bible History. We will be wearing our "Explorer Hats" and singing "We Are Bible Explorers." We do this at the beginning of each NEW Quarter. Since we left off with David and Goliath...we will be picking up with David and Jonathan. I love the story of David and Jonathan because it is truly a story of BEST friends. We learn so much about TRUE friendship when we study the friendship of David and Jonathan. Home Connection Workbook We have a few NEW additions to this Quarter's Material. I have added a "HOME CONNECTION" Workbook. I hope the Workbook will spawn more interaction between the parents and children as they review the lessons that they have learned. I am looking forward to seeing the response to the new Workbook. I will keep you posted on the reaction of both the PARENTS and the Kiddos. Memory Verse Sticker Page The inside of the Home Connection Workbook is fill with Puzzles, Memory Verse Work, Questions, etc. I have also included a Memory Verse Sticker Page....The Kiddos will place a sticker in each square IF they know their Memory Verse. Assigned on 1st Sunday Assigned on 2nd Sunday THIS is this weeks and next weeks Home Connection Workbook Pages. The Kiddos will have from Sunday to Sunday to complete the pages. (I am currently teaching each lesson for 2 weeks.) The first week we introduce the lesson...the second week we will REVIEW the lesson, making sure the KIDDOS really understood what they learned. Now on with what we will be doing during class THIS Sunday. To introduce the lesson on David and Jonathan I am going to ask the KIDDOS if they know what the meaning of the word FRIENDSHIP. We will add the word FRIEND to our WORD-WALL. I will also, ask them if they know what the word JEALOUS means. We will add that word to our WORD-WALL too. We will have several CARDS to add to our Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How? WALL. Because, I like to make sure the KIDDOS can answer these questions about our lessons we have a entire WALL of our Classroom dedicated to the Who? What? When? Where? and Why? of each lesson. As we get into the story I will be using these visuals. They were easily made...I used a clip art program, a bit of manipulation of the pictures then printed and laminated them. Because, I wanted them to stand up, I stuck them to these picture easels that I bought at the Dollar Tree. I LOVE having eye catching VISUALS.... We will also be singing the song, "DAVID AND JONATHAN WERE BEST FRIENDS." by: rld. The KIDDOS will be making their OWN Quiver as their TAKE HOME project. These are made from PRINGLES and Yarn. The arrows are made from a variety of colored cardstock. Each arrow has a quality of GOOD FRIENDSHIP on it. The kiddo will color and add the stickers. I know the BOYS are going to be VERY EXCITED about this activity. :) Our Memory Verse is Proverbs 17:17. I thought this was a PERFECT MEMORY VERSE for this lesson. The KIDDOS get a MV card just like this one. They can color the picture and take it home as a reminder of the need to MEMORIZE their Memory Verse. During Class we will sing this to the tune: Frere Jacques. I have added a "NEW" place to our MAP. I added "The Stone of Ezel" which is said to be in a field between Ramah and Nob. I love having a KID friendly map up in our room. Review Game is a BOW and ARROW Game!!! Questions For Our Review Game Target For Our Review Game Our REVIEW game will surly be very exciting!!! The kiddos will get an opportunity to SHOOT an ARROW!!! My plans are for the kiddos to ANSWER one of the question from the lesson (I printed them on ARROWS to go along with the lesson.) after which they will get the opportunity to shoot an arrow at the target! (The bow and arrow are a nerf style product. I purchased it at our local Walmart.) Next Sunday we will be REVIEWING this lesson and doing our EXPLORER JOURNAL Activity!!! The Explorer Journal Activity will consist of a Picture of David and Jonathan....the Kiddos will color it and add a BOW (made out of popcicle sticks) and a small arrow. I LOVE their LOVE of their Explorer Journals. I have had parents tell me that their past Explorer Journals have become some of their FAVORITE books to look through. I love it because it takes all those projects that have a tendency to end up in the floorboard of the car or left behind in the pew and keeps them in a SPECIAL place for the children to TREASURE! We are looking forward to an exciting Quarter. Please keep checking back and see the exciting times we are having during BIBLE CLASS. Blessings, Ronda

Forgiveness “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” – Matthew 6:14 Adding onto my character series, I am focusing on teaching kids about forgiveness through this parable of the lost son craft. The “Parable of the Lost Son” is also called the “Parable of the Prodigal Son,” and it...Read More

Luke 9: 28-36 When reading this lesson, the first craft idea that came to my mind was string art. You know, that cool method of tying string to nails on a board to highlight a shape? Here's a link to an example: string art. I would have loved to do it that way; however, that would have taken more prep and class time than I had available. So, I took that basic idea and found a way to do something similar. The only difference in the two methods I will discuss is that one is achieved with oil pastels and is suitable for smaller children, and the other uses string and a craft needle, better suited for older children. Materials Needed for 1st - 3rd Grade Version Colored Card Stock Glitter Paper Oil Pastels (yellow & white) Pen Glue Scissors Outline of Jesus (free download) Paper Towel Before Class Prep: The first thing to do is draw a silhouette of Jesus. It doesn't have to be prefect. Any basic outline is fine. You may download mine (above) if you'd like. Cutout the shape. Next, on the back of the glitter paper (found in the scrapbook section of Hobby Lobby or Michael's), trace the outline of Jesus. Cut out one Jesus silhouette for each child. Class Instructions: 1. Begin with a sheet of colored card stock and the yellow oil pastel. Starting at the center of the page,draw several lines going from the center out to the edges of the paper. 2. Using the paper towel, rub (or smear) the crayon to give it a fuzzy look. 3. Draw a few more lines with the white oil pastel and rub it to blend. Note: Oil pastels work really well for this. They smear easily, as opposed to regular crayons. The down side is they can be slightly messy. Remind the kids not to drag their sleeves across the paper. Likewise, if you are worried about the color getting onto the tabletop, drape a cheap tablecloth or butcher paper over the tables before class. 4. Glue one Jesus silhouette onto the center. 5. The bible verse may also be written on the page if desired. Materials Needed for 4th - 6th Grade Version: Foam Sheets Glitter Paper Pen Scissors Glue Craft Needle Outline of Jesus (free download) Embroidery Floss (yellow - 2 or 3 per person) Before Class Prep: As with the 1st - 3rd grade craft, the first thing to do is draw a silhouette of Jesus. It doesn't have to be prefect. Any basic outline is fine. You may download mine (above) if you'd like. Cutout the shape. Next, on the back of the glitter paper (found in the scrapbook section of Hobby Lobby or Michael's), trace the outline of Jesus. Cut out one Jesus silhouette for each child. Two extra steps are needed for this version. On the back of each Foam Sheet, trace the silhouette with dots as shown below. Next, add random dots, some along the edges and some closer in, all the way around. Class Instructions: 1. Thread the needle with a long strand of floss-but not too long! Using the dots for needle placement, stitch from the silhouette dots to the surrounding dots. When one strand ends, tie a new strand to it until the entire picture is covered as pictured below. 2. Glue the silhouette of Jesus in the center. NOTE: All images, text and printables contained herein are copyright protected. This material is for your personal use only. I encourage you to print or pin from this site whenever you would like as long as it is credited and linked back to EasyBreezySundaySchool.blogspot.com. Failure to link back and credit my site constitutes a copyright violation. Thanks so much!

Passage: Familiarize yourself with the following passage: Genesis 37 At this point in the life of Jacob, he has 11 sons (Benjamin comes later), only one of whom came from his favorite wife, Rachel. Because of this, Joseph is Jacob’s favorite son. This causes a great deal of jealousy between Joseph and his brothers. To make matters worse, Jacob wanted to give Joseph a token of his love by making a special coat of many colors for him. It is around this time that God gives Joseph two dreams. In his dreams, Joseph sees 11 sheaves of grain and the sun, moon, and stars bowing down to him. Joseph shared his dreams with his brothers, who became indignant. Not long after these dream, Joseph’s brothers went out to tend the sheep. Jacob sent Joseph to check on them and bring him back a report of their actions. When Joseph was nearing his brothers, they purposed to kill him. When he arrived, Joseph was grabbed by his brother and thrown into a dry well. Later that day, rather than kill him, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the well and sold him as a slave to some traders headed to Egypt. They took Joseph’s coat, tore it and covered it in blood. When they returned home, the brothers showed the coat to Jacob, who assumed that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. Despite all this, God was Joseph and continued to be with him in Egypt. Object Lesson: A Chosen Few: Supplies Needed: • Snacks, enough for everyone • 3 or 4 plates • Two different colors of paper Direction: 1. Before class, cut your colored paper into small squares, making only 3 or 4 out of one color and all the rest out of the other color. Make sure there are enough pieces for each child to have one. 2. Set a table with 3 o 4 plates with snacks. 3. As your children enter the class, have them select one of the colored squares. After everyone has a piece of paper, tell the ones with the minority color that today they are extra special and they can go to the table and enjoy a snack. Instruct all the other kids to stay where they are until the others are done eating. When the snacks are finished, have everyone join you for a discussion. 4. Ask the kids who got the snack what it felt like to be chosen for something special. Ask the kids who did not get a snack what it felt like to be left out. Bring out the idea of being jealous. Ask if it was fair for you to give only a few people a snack. Ask the children when they have felt jealous in real life. 5. Tell everyone that today they will hear a story about some brothers who were jealous, but first it is snack time for everyone! Memory Verse: Proverbs 19:9 A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish. Jesus Connection: Joseph is considered one of the best types of Christ in the Old Testament. It is very easy for us to see many parallels between Joseph and Jesus in this story. Joseph was loved by his father (vs. 3) and God says that Jesus is “My beloved Son” (Matthew 3:17). Joseph was sent by his father to his brothers (vs. 13-14) and Jesus was sent to His brother, (first) to the children of Israel (Hebrews 2:11). Joseph was hated by his brothers (vs. 4) and Jesus was also hated by His brothers (John 7:5). There was a plot against Joseph (vs. 20) as well as Jesus (John 11:53).These are just a few of the connections that can be made between Joseph and Jesus and there will be many more as the story of Joseph unfolds in later chapters of Genesis. Songs: Joseph’s Song *This is a great son to do over the course of the Joseph stories. Sing only the parts that cover that week’s story and build the song up week by week until you are singing the whole song! (To the tune of London Bridges) Joseph's father had twelve sons, Had twelve sons, had twelve sons. Joseph's father had twelve sons, Oh, what a family. Joseph's father loved him best, Loved him best, loved him best. Joseph's father loved him best, Oh, what a family. A coat of many colors was his pride, Was his pride, was his pride. A coat of many colors was his pride, Oh, what a family. All his brothers were so jealous, Were so jealous, were so jealous. All his brothers were so jealous, Oh, what a family. His brothers threw him in a pit, In a pit, in a pit. His brothers threw him in a pit, Oh, what a family. Egypt bought him as a slave, As a slave, as a slave. Egypt bought him as a slave, Oh, what a family. God caused a famine in the land, In the land, in the land. God caused a famine in the land, Oh, what a family. By then Joseph was a mighty man, Mighty man, mighty man. By then Joseph was a might man, Oh, what a family. His brothers came to him for food, Him for food, him for food. His brothers came to him for food, Oh, what a family. Joseph forgave and fed them all, Fed them all, fed them all. Joseph forgave and fed them all, Oh, what a family. Games/Activities: A Coat of Colors Supplies needed: • Two large paper bags (or two large pieces of butcher block paper) • Colorful paper torn into strips • Glue sticks Directions: 1. Before class, tare the colorful paper into strips. Cut holes in the bottom and sides of the paper bag so that it can be put over a child’s head and worn as a coat. (If using butcher block paper, cut a hole in the middle for the head so that it is like a poncho.) 2. Divide the children into two teams. Ask for one volunteer from each team. Put the paper coat on the volunteer and have those two children stand on one side of the room. 3. On the other side of the room have a table with all the color paper and several glue sticks. When you say go, have one child from each team put glue on a piece of paper, run to their team member with the paper coat on and stick the paper to the coat. At the end of a certain amount of time (5-10 mins) or when the paper runs out, judge the two coats to see who is most covered. The team with the most covered, colorful coat wins! Crafts: A Coat of Colors Supplies Needed: • Colorful paper torn into pieces • Plain white paper • Joseph’s coat template • Glue sticks • Scissors Directions: 1. Give each child a plain white piece of paper. Have them glue colorful pieces of paper all over. Cut the excess off with scissors. 2. Cut the coat out of the coat template. You will be using the paper that has a hole in the shape of a coat, so try to cut in such a way as to keep all 4 sides intact. 3. Put glue all over the cut template. Apply the glued template to the colorful paper. You can now see a colorful coat through the hole in the template. Coloring Page:

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This craft can be used for any biblical story where the main character is imprisoned, whether that is Christ, Peter, Samson or Paul. Instructions Print the template on cardstock. (Template) Color a…

Hi all! Today’s story can be found in Matthew 17, Mark 9 and Luke 9. This is the story of Jesus’ transfiguration. That’s a BIG word, isn’t it?! It means Jesus’ figure …

If you want to offer an absorbing and challenging way for children to explore the story of Zacchaeus, then look no further. This is a great...

This FREE printable prayer guide offers prayer prompts and Bible verses you can pray for your kids (or grandkids) through every day of the month. | Free Printable | Prayer Guide | Pray for Your Kids | Christian Parenting | Faith Family | Prayer Journaling | Prayer | Family Prayer | Christian Mom | Women's Ministry | Prayer Prompts | Christian Family | Inspiration | Parenting Resources | Parenting Tips | Mom Encouragement | Prayer Cards | Discipleship | #freeprintable #prayerprompts #christianmom #family #prayersforkids #christianfamily

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Hands down, our favorite part of this week was our Float the Nile game! It was great comprehension practice for our pre-readers and they loved getting

1. Lesson: Tell the story of Jesus healing the 10 lepers from Luke 17:11-18. You can some pix from here. We’ve learnt about leprosy before. What is leprosy? A dreaded and contagious skin disease that causes disfigurement. Lepers had to leave their family and homes and live outside the city. They can’t go near other people. They have to call out, “Unclean, unclean” every time they come into the city. That’s why when the 10 lepers saw Jesus, they stood at a distance from him. They called “Jesus, Master, have pity on us.” They must have known that Jesus was not an ordinary person. That He cared for people, and He had the power to do something about their situation. Interestingly, Jesus didn’t stretch out His hand or pronounce healing on them. He just told them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” The only way for a leper to be able to go back to their homes and families is if they go to a priest and the priest certifies that they are healed and clean. Even though their skin was probably still white with leprosy, the 10 lepers went off to see the priest. Normally this would be considered quite silly — Imagine going to the priest when you are still sick! But the Bible calls this FAITH — trusting in Jesus’ words even if you haven’t seen the results yet. And as they went, miraculously they were healed! Their skin was not white and rotting anymore! They were whole! Happily they rushed to see the priest. They must have been so eager to be declared “clean”. That means they can now go home and see their wife, their children, their home. But one guy didn’t rush off. He saw that he was healed. He was overjoyed. He ran back to Jesus, praising God with a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. This leper knew that he didn’t deserve anything. He was a Samaritan, who was hated by the Jewish people. He was probably not “qualified” to be healed. But because of His love and grace, Jesus (a Jew) healed him without any question. That’s the love of God — unconditional and for everyone. Jesus asked, “Weren’t there 10 who were healed? Where are the other 9? Why is it only this one man came back to give praise to God?” Then He told the man, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Let’s understand how deep and wide and amazing the love of God is for us. When we realize that, then our hearts will be filled with thanksgiving and joy for all that He has done for us! Key lesson from this miracle: Jesus heals — He doesn’t care who you are; He just wants to show you God’s power and love. Let’s know the HEART of Jesus! Then we can call out to Him in our time of need and know that He will help us. Let’s respond in FAITH! Trust Jesus’ words and promises even when circumstances and facts show otherwise. Let’s respond in THANKSGIVING! We have every blessing in Christ Jesus. Let’s rejoice and be glad in it and thank Him for it every day! 2. Activity Suggestion Thanksgiving list & sharing: Have kids sit in small groups; write down or draw what they are thankful to God for. Then let them share with the group/teacher. 3. Ideas for younger children Interactive story telling Try teaching this lesson through a dramatic interpretation of Scripture. Have the children actively engaged as you read along. Song: "I can be thankful" (to the tune of "I'm a little teapot") I can be thankful; yes I can For my family; for my friends God has given so much with His Son Thank you Jesus for all You've done Craft: Paper leper man healed Prepare cut-out gingerbread man shapes. Have kids draw a sad face and white spots on one side and a happy face on the other, with the words, "Thank you Jesus!"

This is a quick print and collate craft to accompany the kids ministry lesson on Simon Peter's mother-in-law as found in Luke 4. Free PDF download.