January 25: The Good Samaritan

January 25: The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)

Who is your neighbor? (The person beside you, a person who lives next door, etc.) The Bible tells us that we should love God with all of our heart. We should also love our neighbors. What about someone who sits two seats down from you. Are they your neighbor? What about the house at the end of your street. Are they your neighbor? What about me? We live in the same town. Does that mean you and I are neighbors?

Some of Jesus' followers were confused. They weren't sure what Jesus meant when He said, "Love your neighbor." So He told them a story.

"There was a man walking along a road. He was going on a trip. Suddenly, robbers jumped out at him. They hit him. They took all the things he had with him. And they left him, hurt, lying by the road.

A short time later, someone came down the road. It was a man who worked in God’s temple. He could help the hurt man! But no, when he saw the hurt man, he crossed the road. He passed by on the other side! Soon another man came. But he passed by, too.

Then along came a man on a donkey. This was a man from a different country. When he saw the hurt man, he stopped. He put bandages on his hurt places. And he took the man to a house where he could rest and get well."

Who was the neighbor to the hurt man? (The person who helped him.) Jesus tells us that we can be a neighbor to anyone who needs our help. 

January 18: Jesus Raises Lazarus

January 18: Jesus Raises Lazarus (John 11:1-44)

(Set up activity beforehand using white vinegar and salt in a small dish)

Pass around one dirty looking penny and one shiny new looking penny. Ask students if they believe the dirty penny can look pretty like the new one without any scrubbing or rubbing? Ask students if Jesus was a miracle worker or a magic man. Ask them the difference between miracles and magic. (Miracles are things that cannot be explained by people; magic is based on tricks and deceptions and is used for entertainment.) Check the penny. Tell students that although it looks like magic, it is not. The liquid in the dish contains vinegar and salt which cleans the pennies. This is not a miracle, because it can be explained. Remind students that Jesus did not do magic. He did miracles like healing the sick, giving sight to the blind and casting out demons. No one could explain how He did them, and no one else could work the miracles He did. He did them because He loved people and wanted to help them. He wanted to make their lives new like shiny pennies.

Lazarus was Jesus' friend. One day Lazarus got sick and died. Jesus wasn't there to make him well again. The friends of Lazarus took his body and put it in a cave. They rolled a big rock over the hole so nobody could go in or out.

When Jesus came, He told the men to roll away the stone, and Jesus prayed and asked God to make Lazarus alive. Lazarus came out of the tomb. He was dead but Jesus made him alive.

-Who were Jesus’ friends? 

-Why didn’t Jesus go to Lazarus right away? 

-What happened when Jesus called to His friends? Lazarus had been dead for three days. His friends did not think he would ever live on earth again.

-Were his friends happy when Jesus raised him from the dead? I’m sure they were happy to be friends with Him. 

-Are you glad that Jesus is your friend?

Ask students, “Have you ever asked Jesus for something that you didn’t get? Even though Lazarus’ friends could not understand why Jesus did not come to Lazarus right away, God had a plan. Even when Jesus doesn’t give you what you ask for, you can still be sure that He has a plan.” Pass out nice paper. Tell students to write a prayer to God about something that they do not understand. Explain that Jesus wants them to trust that His plan is always right, even when we don’t understand it. Tell students that God wants us to be honest with Him and let Him know when we don’t understand something. Reminds students God always has a plan and that His ways are different than the ways of people. Tell students that God wants us to thank Him even before we see the answers to our prayers.

January 11: The Good Shepherd

January 11: The Good Shepherd (John 10:1-21)

Sheep are beautiful creatures made by God. What animals might be a predator to a sheep? (Wolves, foxes, etc.) Some people have a job of being a shepherd for sheep. What job do you think a shepherd has? (Makes sure they get food and water, keeps them safe, keeps bad animals away, etc.) Every now and then, one of the sheep has its nose to the ground, eating peacefully, and slowly wanders away from the other sheep. Whenever this happens, the shepherd's job is to guide the lost sheep back to the herd where he belongs. A good shepherd will also defend his sheep from wild animals. A bad shepherd will get scared and run away at the first sign of danger.

God tells us that people are like sheep. Weird, huh!? We don't have wool, and we don't eat grass, but sometimes we do wander away from God, wanting to do things our own way. Most of us know right from wrong in our heads, but sometimes we forget about what's right and do what we want to. God knows that we are not perfect, so He sent His Son, Jesus, to be our shepherd. Jesus took on all our sins when He died on the cross for us.

Jesus explained to His followers that He was a good shepherd. He came to protect us by giving His life for us. He did this so that we might enjoy life to its fullest and have the hope of living forever. Jesus is our guide. He is always ready to lead us back on the path of living right and making good choices. We can be thankful Jesus hasn't left us alone. He is always protecting us like a good shepherd. 

-Why did Jesus tell this story (He said that people are like sheep)
-Who is the Good Shepherd (Jesus. He is our guide and always ready to lead us back to the right path when we wander and do bad things.)
-Does Jesus ever leave us alone? (No, Jesus wants us to listen to Him and follow Him by doing the right things.)

For this activity, I gave each student a piece of transparency paper (like overhead projector style) and a permanent marker to draw a sheep. Then, they used a glue/water mixture to paint the sheep and add small pieces of tissue paper to decorate their sheep in a way similar to them {One of them loves Virginia Tech, so his sheep was orange and maroon}. Once the sheep were dry, we cut them out to create window decorations with us as sheep.

January 4: Jesus Heals a Blind Man

I start out every lesson by explaining whether the story is in the Old Testament (before Jesus came to live on earth), or New Testament (stories while Jesus was on the earth and after He went back to Heaven). If it's New Testament, I ask if it's a "Jesus story." If it is, then I explain whether it is in Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. I do this EVERY.SINGLE.WEEK. to let it gradually sink in. I also explain, when applicable, if the story is a parable or not. I think it's important to keep the lines drawn very obviously when something really happened or not. That always confused me as a child. Anyway...

January 4: Jesus Heals a Blind Man (John 9:1-41)

Hand out copies of pre-cut masks on cardstock to color while the story is being read.

There was a man once who was blind. He could not see flowers, he could not see people, he could not see anything! This man had been blind since he was born. But something special happened to the blind man. Although he couldn't see Jesus, Jesus saw him. 

Jesus did something strange. He spit on the dirt and made some mud. Then He put the mud on the man's eyes. "Go and wash your eyes," Jesus said. The man did what Jesus said. He washed the mud off his eyes. He looked around. He could see! And the man worshipped Jesus. 

-What did Jesus do to heal the blind man?
-Did the blind man believe that Jesus was the Son of God?
-When Jesus did this, he made the religious leaders mad. Why?
-What are some other miracles of healing that Jesus did?

Have students cut around outside of mask and attach string. Once kids put the mask on, ask them if it works. (No- there are no eye holes!) Ask students what it's like to not being able to see through their masks (Frustrating, annoying, etc.)

Explain how this is how the blind man felt before he met Jesus. He was probably frustrated that he needed people to help him with everyday tasks. He was most likely annoyed that he couldn't be independent. Wherever his friends took him, that's where he had to go. He didn't have much choice to do what he wanted, did he?

Have students remove masks and cut eye-holes. Once they put them back on, ask how much easier it is now to see. Explain that Jesus helped this blind man see so that he could be independent. God wants us to be independent, too. He wants us to love and obey Him because we want to, not because someone is leading us in that direction.

January 2015 Lessons

For the first 6 months, I concentrated on text from The Beginners Bible: Timeless Children's Stories
Copyright 1989 by James R. Meininger. Not all, but most are from, or paraphrased from, this source.

January 4: Jesus Heals a Blind Man (John 9:1-41)
January 11: The Good Shepherd (John 10:1-21)
January 18: Jesus Raises Lazarus (John 11:1-44)
January 25: The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)

2015 Outline

For Jan-June, most stories come from
The Beginners Bible: Timeless Children's Stories as told by Karyn Henley
copyright 1989 by James R. Meininger

From July-December, stories are from
The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm
copyright 2004 by Holy Trinity Church

These are both wonderful additions to any child's collections and both are Bibles that I recommend to parents to read to/with their children!

Date	Lesson	Location	Notes
Jan 4	Jesus Heals a Blind Man	John 9:1-41
Jan 11	The Good Shepherd	John 10:1-21
Jan 18	Jesus Raises Lazarus	John 11:1-44
Jan 25	The Good Samaritan	Luke 10:25-37
Feb 1	Jesus Visits Mary and Martha	Luke 10:38-42
Feb 8	The Prodigal Son	Luke 15:11-32
Feb 15	Jesus Heals Ten Lepers	Luke 17:11-19
Feb 22	Catch-up/Make-up as needed
March 1	Zacchaeus	Luke 10:1-10
March 8	The Pharisee and Tax Collector	Luke 18:9-14
March 15	The Rich Young Ruler	Luke 18:18-27 Mark 10:17-30
March 22	Workers in the Vineyard	Matthew 20:1-6
March 29	Palm Sunday
April 5	Easter
April 12	The Rich Man and Lazarus	Luke 16:19-31
April 19	Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus	Mark 10:46-52
April 26	A Story of Investing	Luke 19:11-27
May 3	Do You Believe?	John 12:37-50
May 10	Mother’s Day
May 17	Let Your Light Shine	Luke 11:33-36
May 24	He’s Coming Back!	Luke 12:35-48
May 31	Playing Favorites	Luke 14:1-14
June 7	VBS Preperation
June 14	VBS Introduction
June 21	Father’s Day and VBS Program
June 28	The Very Good Beginning
July 5	A Very Sad Day
July 12	Life Outside the Garden
July 19	God’s Big Promise
July 26	God’s People Grow
Aug 2	God’s People Become Great
Aug 9	God’s Great Sign
Aug 16	Going into God’s Place
Aug 23	God’s Blessings Grow
Aug 30	Another Very Sad Day
Sept 6	God’s New People Are Called
Sept 13	Many Silent Years
Sept 20	God’s Promised One is Born
Sept 27	God’s Promised One is Announced
Oct 4	God’s New People Are Called
Oct 11	Jesus Restores God’s Place
Oct 17	Jesus Reveals God’s Kingdom
Oct 24	A Blind Man Sees
Oct 30	A Dead Man is Raised to Life
Nov 1	Jesus Wears God’s Kingly Crown
Nov 8	Jesus’ Followers Are in the Dark
Nov 15	A Brand-New Day
Nov 22	God’s Promise is Explained
Nov 29	God’s New Kingdom Spreads
Dec 6	Letters to Live By
Dec 13	The Very Good Ending
Dec 20	Christmas
Dec 27	Christmas