VERSES: Luke 12:16-21 MEMORY VERSE: Luke 12:21 "So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." BOOK TO REMEMBER: James. Write "James" on small slips of paper for the students to take home and memorize another book of the New Testament. Practice saying all the books of the New Testament together as a class or sing the song, The Books Of The New Testament, found under March - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #3 as review. PRAYER: Pray that we will always put God first in our lives and place everything else below Him. SPECIAL SONG: Jesus Taught By Parable And Miracle (see March - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #4 on this blog. Click on orange circle to hear tune.) VISUAL AID: Make a large Activity like the one below under Activity. LESSON POINTS: As Jesus daily walked around Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem, there were always a crowd of people who gathered around Him. Perhaps they were waiting for Him to perform a miracle and they wanted to see Him make a lame person walk, maybe they had heard about Jesus and were curious to see what He looked like, or maybe they wanted to hear what He had to say. Whatever their reasons, the people followed Jesus as He visited their towns. Sometimes there were just a few people following, but many times, there were great crowds of people. Because microphones and speakers had not been invented yet, the people had to be quiet and listen closely and remember what Jesus had said because there were no tape recorders or smart phones to record what He was saying. No, the people--all the people--listened quietly to Jesus as He spoke. When Jesus preached to the people, sometimes He said exactly what the people should do. He commanded them like He did when He taught on the Sermon on the Mount. Sometimes He would heal someone who everyone in the town knew to get their attention, then He would teach the people. Sometimes He told the people stories or parables to paint a picture in the people's minds, so they could remember the lesson and also understand the lesson. One thing remained true: Jesus always taught by His example. He lived what He taught. In the lesson today, Jesus taught a parable about a very rich man who forgot something. Jesus taught the people lessons by talking about something they knew, like farming for example, then he would apply the lesson to something spiritual. He told the story about a man who farmed land and his land grew a great amount of fruit. We don't know what kind of fruit it was, but there was a lot of it and the rich man put it in barns. God had blessed the man's land so much that the man began thinking about what he would do with all the fruit. He thought to himself, "What will I do? I have so much fruit that I don't have enough room for it all. I know! I will tear down all of my barns and I will build much larger barns and then I will put all of my fruit inside. I will say to myself--I have much fruit stored up for many years, so I will eat, drink, and be merry." BUT...the rich man forgot something! He forgot God and he forgot that he was going to die. God said to the rich man, "You fool! Tonight your soul is required of you! Then who will own all those things that you have stored up?" At the end of the parable, Jesus said, "Someone who stores up treasures on this earth and is not rich towards God is just like that rich fool." Jesus did not want us to be like that rich man who forgot God. He wanted us to always put God first in our lives, then God would always give us everything we need. (Matthew 6:12). What does that mean, "Put God first?" That's right! It means to always do spiritual things before we do the earthly things. First, we go to Bible class, then we can play soccer or go to the mountains. It means that whatever we do in life--get a job, play sports, etc.--we need to put God above those things. "Older Student" Tips: Discuss what a 'fool' is. Someone who is not smart. Talk about how smart Jesus was to tell parables about the things that the people knew: farming, cleaning house, finding a treasure, losing a sheep, etc. The people He taught could understand what the meaning was to His lessons. Have everyone open their Bibles to Luke 12:16-19 and count how many times the rich man said the words, "I" or "my". Then, count how many times he said anything about helping others or giving back to God. ACTIVITY: Parable of the Rich Fool Materials needed: 6" x 9" red construction paper, 5" x 12" light brown construction paper, 4.5" x 8" dark brown construction paper, 3" x 3" dark brown construction paper, glue, scissors, marker, crayons. Hand out light brown paper. This is the roof. Cut edges off two short sides of light brown paper to resemble a roof. Hand out red paper. This is the barn. Glue top edge of red barn. Place the bottom of the roof on top of the barn. Hand out dark brown paper. This is the barn door. Cut in half. Fold one edge of each dark brown square. Glue only the small folded edge. Place glued edges of two barn doors away from each other on top of the red barn. The doors should open. Hand out small dark brown paper. This is the hayloft. Cut in half. Fold one edge of each small dark brown square. Glue only the small folded edge. Place glued edges of two hayloft doors away from each other on top of the roof. The doors should open. Write "The Rich Fool" and "Luke 12:16-21" on top of the roof. Open large barn doors. Inside the large barn doors on the red barn, write "The rich fool said, 'I will build greater barns...I will eat, drink, and be merry.' But..." Open small brown doors of the hayloft. Write "...but he forgot God." On both sides of each of the barn doors, make a large "X". On the small hayloft doors, make black or brown lines to resemble wood. On the roof, make lines to resemble a roof. Before leaving class, have the students read what it says inside all doors.