compassion : : : lesson 4

Transcription

1 compassion : : : lesson 4 BEATITUDE Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4 COMPASSION Showing sorrow for the suffering of others with the urge to help. Episode 4 A Woman Washes Jesus Feet Luke 7:36 50 MEMORY VERSE Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 2 Corinthians 1:3 (NIV) KEY POINT Jesus showed complete compassion for us. Kindergarten 1 st grade page 34

2 Let's Create : : : lesson 4 EARLY ARRIVAL (before service) Have some upbeat music playing. Welcome children warmly. Have some simple toys available to make the environment welcoming. Teachers should take this time to engage in conversation with children as they sit to play with them. Ask them about their week, school, and home. Begin to establish relationships. BEGIN CLASS (service time) Introduce yourself and your assistants. Before the discussion questions, PRAY that the Lord will bless your time together. Have a set of supplies for yourself to demonstrate as you explain. October Supplies per child Foot-washing print-out Construction paper Yarn for hair Supplies to share Tape Crayons Glue sticks Scissors Blue glitter glue (optional) Cologne (optional) Paper towel CREATE it : : : instructions 1 Color the foot-washing print-out. 2 Add blue glitter glue to the tears (optional). 3 Cut a few strands of yarn for the hair and tie or tape together. ASSEMBLE it : : : instructions 4 Glue colored foot-washing paper onto a sheet of construction paper to frame the picture. 5 Tape the strands of hair onto the completed picture. Optional: Glue a small piece of paper towel over the little bottle and then spray it with cologne. Before you do this, be sure no one in the class is allergic to cologne. lesson 4 Kindergarten 1 st grade page 35

3 CONNECTIT CONNECT it : : : say Today, we are going to learn about a lady who found Jesus at a dinner party and washed His feet with her own tears, dried them with her own hair, and then poured expensive perfume on them. Let s watch Virtuality now and learn why this lady did such an odd thing to Jesus. We ll find out how He and others at the party reacted to what she did. And, finally, we ll learn why this story is so important to us today. Take these beautiful pictures home and hang them to remind you of today s Bible lesson. WATCH it : : : Go to large group to see the Virtuality DVD, Beatitude Series DVD (volume 2, episode 4) lesson 4 Kindergarten 1 st grade page 36

4 Bible Story BIBLE STORY : : : A Woman Washes Jesus Feet Luke 7:36 50 BEFORE YOU BEGIN As you read the story (from the International Children s Bible) encourage children to act out their roles. Instruct them to do their best to portray what you are reading. Be animated as you read, if you are excited they will be also. Throughout the story there will be hand motions, instruct the children to make these motions with you. BACKGROUND INFORMATION : : : say it in your own words Read and study the background information at home. Before you begin reading today s Bible story give children the background information your own words. In Jesus day, the religious leaders considered themselves better than everybody else. They walked around very pompous, with their noses in the air. They were careful to follow the Law (at least, in public) so that everyone would think they were so good. Jesus could see right through them and knew it was baloney. Jesus doesn t care if you act righteous if in your heart you re not. What I mean is, let s say you re walking down the hallway at church and you see some trash on the floor. It s not your trash, but you decide you re going to do the right thing and pick it up anyway, except you want to make sure someone sees you doing it. So, you wait for someone to walk by (preferably someone you know) and then you pick it up and throw it out. If you do something like that, you are only pretending to do the right thing; you are really only after the praise. Well, that s the kind of thing a Pharisee would do. When Jesus asked Matthew (also known as Levi) to follow Him, Levi dropped everything and followed Jesus. He was so grateful that Jesus chose a sinner like him (tax collectors were considered thieves) that he soon held a banquet in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. Many of Levi s fellow tax collectors and other guests also ate with them. But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus disciples... (Luke 5:29 30 NLT). The Pharisees were all flipped out because Jesus was enjoying Himself in the company of sinners. The Pharisees just could not understand how Jesus could connect Himself with sinners. Jesus told them, Healthy people don t need a doctor sick people do. I have come to call sinners, not those who think they are already good enough. Jesus loved to dine in people s homes; it was a great way to get to know each other. People often invited Jesus to their homes as the guest of honor, and the Pharisees didn t like it. They constantly complained, even calling Jesus a glutton and a drunk, which, of course, are lesson 4 Kindergarten 1 st grade page 37

5 Bible Story continue lies (Luke 7:34). One day, for some strange reason, one of these Pharisees decided to invite Jesus to his house as his guest honor. Why? Who knows? Perhaps he was just pretending to honor Jesus so that others would think highly of him, or perhaps he just wanted to find something else to complain about. The Bible doesn t tell us why he invited Jesus, but he did invite Him. Let s read what happened at the feast. PREP for Bible Story : : : props and characters 1. Select a few children to act out portions of the story as you read it. If you don t have enough children, they can play multiple roles in the different sections of the story. These are the characters. Simon, the Pharisee Jesus Girl to play the sinful woman Other guests Two debtors Banker 2. If you are able, bring a few of these props from home to enhance the story. Small, plastic bottle with water A long-haired wig (for the sinful woman) Small bottle of scented oil or cologne READ Bible Story : : : begin story One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him. (Simon, say to Jesus, Come to my house for dinner. ) Jesus went into the Pharisee s house and sat at the table. (The girl playing the sinful woman will need to act out this part as I read.) A sinful woman in the town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee s house. (Sinful girl, say, I must go see Jesus. ) So she brought an alabaster jar of perfume. She stood at Jesus feet, crying, and began to wash his feet with her tears. (Sinful girl, pour the small bottle of water on Jesus feet.) lesson 4 Kindergarten 1 st grade page 38

6 Bible Story continue (If you have a wig, she can use it. If not, she can pretend to use her hair.) She dried his feet with her hair, kissed them many times and rubbed them with the perfume. (Sinful girl, pretend to kiss Jesus feet.) The Pharisee who asked Jesus to come to his house saw this. He thought to himself, If Jesus were a prophet, he would know that the woman who is touching him is a sinner! (Simon, say, I can t believe my eyes. ) Jesus said to the Pharisee, Simon, I have something to say to you. Simon said, Teacher, tell me. Jesus said, There were two men. Both men owed money to the same banker. One man owed the banker 500 silver coins. (Banker, say to one debtor, You own me 500 silver coins. ) The other man owed the banker 50 silver coins. (Banker, say to the other debtor, You owe me 50 silver coins. ) The men had no money; so they could not pay what they owed. (Debtors, say, We don t have any money. ) But the banker told the men that they did not have to pay him. (Banker, say to both men, That s ok. You don t have to pay me back. ) Which one of the two men will love the banker more? Simon, the Pharisee, answered, I think it would be the one who owed him the most money. (The man who owed 50, say to the banker, Gee thanks, man. ) (The man who owed 500, say to the banker, Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, a billion times thank you. ) Jesus said to Simon, You are right. Then Jesus turned toward the woman and said to Simon, Do you see this woman? When I came into your house, you gave me no water for my feet. But she washed my feet with her tears and dried my feet with her hair. You did not kiss me, but she has been kissing my feet since I came in! You did not rub my head with oil, but she rubbed my feet with perfume. I tell you that her many sins are forgiven. This is clear because she showed great love. But the person who has only a little to be forgiven will feel only a little love. Then Jesus said to her, Your sins are forgiven. lesson 4 Kindergarten 1 st grade page 39

7 Bible Story continue The people sitting at the table began to think to themselves, Who is this man? How can he forgive sins? (Everyone, say, Jesus is God. ) Jesus said to the woman, Because you believed, you are saved from your sins. Go in peace. (Sinful girl, say, Thank you, and walk away happy.) CONNECTIT CONNECT it : : : say The Pharisee was upset because Jesus let the sinful woman touch His feet. The Pharisee felt that was a big no-no because it would make a person unclean. Jesus wasn t bothered about touching an unclean person. He loved everyone the same. Jesus knew that the sinful woman had changed, and in her heart, she didn t want to sin anymore. In her heart, there was nothing but love and thankfulness for Jesus. Anyone could see this woman was different now in her heart by the things she did to Jesus. You see, in those days, women kept their own tears in a bottle. It seems very weird to us, but to them the little bottle of tears was a treasure. When the Bible says she washed Jesus feet with her tears, she probably used the tears she kept in her bottle. It meant that she gave up her sins and gave them to Jesus to forgive. Whatever her sins were must have been great, and so she was so much more grateful than the Pharisee, who didn t even admit to his own sins. Jesus felt compassion when He saw her act of kindness, and He forgave her completely. When Jesus forgives us, He doesn t say, I ll forgive you this thing but not that. The Bible says that He washes our sins white as snow and then throws them away forever (Isaiah 1:18; Psalm 103:12). Jesus shows us complete compassion when He forgives our many, lesson 4 Kindergarten 1 st grade page 40

8 KEYPOINT many sins, throws them away, and forgets about them forever. So, because Jesus does that for us, don t you think we should show a little compassion for others? Key Point : : : Jesus showed complete compassion for us. So, let s show compassion for others. Let s pray today s memory verse, 2 Corinthians 1:3. PRAYER MEMORYVERSE LET S PRAY : : : say Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort. You have shown us more compassion than we will ever deserve. Give us a heart like Yours so we can learn to have compassion for others. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen. lesson 4 Kindergarten 1 st grade page 41

9 Review for Lesson 4 BEATITUDE Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4 COMPASSION Showing sorrow for the suffering of others with the urge to help. Today s lesson Bible Story A Woman Washes Jesus Feet Location Luke 7:36 50 Memory Verse Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 2 Corinthians 1:3 (NIV) Key Point Jesus showed complete compassion for us. Time fillers Ask if anyone would like to play the teacher and review today s lesson with the class. Play games to help children memorize today s Bible memory verse. Take HOME VIRTUE Quest is the take-home sheet designed for children to do with their parents. The sheet contains information about today s lesson. The goal is to partner with parents to continue and to reiterate the lesson. Be sure to hand all parents a sheet as they pick up their children. compassion lesson 4 page 42