The Parable of the Persistent Widow

Transcription

1 The Parable of the Persistent Widow Luke 18:1-8 t The Point u Large-Group Lesson 4 We pray without giving up. Tear off for easy planning. CHOOSE YOUR OPTIONS Each option below is designed to last 10 minutes. The option used to tell the Bible story is designated with the Bible image. Always do this option first in your large-group time. Use the chart below to plan the rest of your large-group time in whatever order fits your needs. Check the options you want to use. Large Group Key Verse Bible TV or video projection unit (VPU) DVD player CD player Choose Your Options Get Your Supplies Planning Notes Welcome Connect With Groups Praise & Worship Sing It Out Object Lesson Color Change Experience Step It Up! Game Canvas Toss two clear, empty 2-liter bottles water towel or tablecloth (optional) blue and yellow food coloring funnel Colossal Crayon (provided in kit) Artist s Canvas (provided in kit) Never stop praying. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 DVD Drama Don t Give Up Teach the Key Verse anytime during large group. Small Group gift bag dowel stick string paper clip stickers WHAT GROUPS WILL NEED Preschool Supplies Lower Elementary Supplies Upper Elementary Supplies scissors paper cardboard aluminum foil paper towels wet wipes Bibles Bible Memory Makers Every Day! handouts paper small cup pencils paper towels Permission to photocopy this page from Group s : The Art of Prayer granted for local church use. 37

2 Copy this page, and distribute to your leaders. The Parable of the Persistent Widow Luke 18:1-8 Leader Insights STORY TIME Jesus told his disciples a story about prayer a story that could ve been easily misunderstood. In the story, a mistreated widow tried to find justice from an uncaring and unreligious judge who cavalierly ignored her. Refusing to give up, the widow pestered him with her case. Eventually, claiming that this woman is driving me crazy, the judge granted her the much-needed justice. This story, Jesus said, is about how we should always pray and never give up. THE MORAL? A dangerous misunderstanding of this parable is to equate the unjust judge with God leading to the distorted ideas that God doesn t really care about us and that we shouldn t expect justice from him. Further, it could seem as if the whole point of prayer is to annoy God repeatedly in order to get him to pay attention to us. NOT THE CASE The judge in the parable isn t God he isn t even close to God. Scripture tells us repeatedly that God hears the cry of the poor and the widow and cares passionately about their needs (for example, see Deuteronomy 10:18 and James 1:27). Further, we know God delights in hearing our prayers (Proverbs 15:8) he certainly doesn t find them annoying. Plus, God is the very essence of justice (Isaiah 61:1, 8); he s the creator of all that is right and good, and his desire is to see true justice done in our broken, sin-plagued world. THE MAIN POINT Even he [the judge] rendered a just decision in the end. So don t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? The analogy Jesus draws here is a lesser to greater argument. He uses an imperfect human example to demonstrate how much more our righteous, just, loving, attentive, good, and perfect God will respond to persistent prayer. In modern terms, Jesus might have said it like this: Even a total heathen responds to persistence. Just imagine how our awesome God responds to persistent prayers of his own kids. LIVING INSIDE OUT So what s on your I give up list when it comes to prayer? What need, person, cause, dream, or decision have you stopped praying about because you feel an answer will never come? Don t lose hope in God in his care, his love, his attentiveness, his justice. Be like the persistent widow resurrect those laid-aside requests and bring them to God with persistence by praying about them daily this week. Heed the words in Luke 18:1 Never. Give. Up. 38 Permission to photocopy this page from Group s : The Art of Prayer granted for local church use.

3 Welcome The Parable of the Persistent Widow Luke 18:1-8 TV or VPU DVD player Allow 5 minutes Large-Group Lesson 4 COUNT DOWN Play one of the countdowns. Have children get with their small groups, and get them excited to worship! GREET Have small-group leaders greet kids in their groups especially guests. ANNOUNCE Make any announcements (including birthdays), and collect offerings. Praise & Worship TV or VPU DVD player SING (Song 1) Pray (1 Thessalonians 5:17) (Song 2) All That I Am (Psalm 103:1) (Song 5) I Will Not Be Afraid (Song 6) PRAY Thank God for answering when we pray and for helping us not give up when we pray. Easy Options: Sing along with DVD lyrics and motions. Sing along with the CD. Show media slides provided on the CD. Say: It s easy to give up when we don t get our way or when something feels hard. It s easy to quit when we try and try and can t get something. But that s not how Jesus told us to pray. He told us to ask, ask again, and then keep on asking! When uwe pray without giving up, we show God our faith and we show him that we won t give up so easily. Permission to photocopy this page from Group s : The Art of Prayer granted for local church use. 39

4 Object Lesson Bible TV or VPU DVD player two clear, empty 2-liter bottles water towel or tablecloth (optional) blue and yellow food coloring funnel Object Lesson Lesson 4 Color Change Ask two kids to help with the food coloring. As you read aloud Luke 18:1-2, have one of the kids put 5 to 10 drops of blue food coloring into one of the prepared bottles. Say: This blue water is the judge. Now we re going to meet a widow. Read Luke 18:3, and have the other child put 5 to 10 drops of yellow food coloring in the other bottle. Say: The yellow water is the widow. Have the kids return to their seats. CHANGE Using the funnel, pour some yellow water into the blue water. Pass around the bottle for kids to look at. Say: The widow asked, but the judge wouldn t help her. Read Luke 18:3 again, and pour more yellow water into the blue water. Pass around the bottle. The widow asked again, but the judge wouldn t help. Read aloud Luke 18:4-5, and slowly pour the rest of the yellow water into the blue bottle. As you pour, say: She asked and asked and asked, until finally (pass around the blue bottle, now green) the judge changed his mind. READ Read aloud Luke 18:6-8. Then say: Jesus wants us to pray like that widow who wouldn t give up. The same way she asked and asked and asked, we pray and pray and pray until (hold up the green bottle) God answers our prayers! DISCUSS IN GROUPS DVD Color Change Questions Tell about a time you ve asked for something over and over. What do you do when you pray and nothing seems to happen? What can you do to encourage others to keep praying? Say: When we pray, uwe pray without giving up even if we don t get an answer right away. Because God is good, he will always do what s right. Even though his timing might be different from ours, he always hears and answers our prayers in the way that s best for us. Prepare Ahead Remove the labels and fill two clear 2-liter bottles a little less than halfway full with water. Place the bottles on a table, chairs, a stage, or somewhere else the kids will be able to see them. Set them on a towel or tablecloth to protect the surface against any spilled water. For every 50 kids in your group, add an extra set of supplies. 40 Permission to photocopy this page from Group s : The Art of Prayer granted for local church use.

5 Experience TV or VPU DVD player Step It Up! Have the kids form a big circle, and say: I m going to show you some movements. Let s see if you can repeat what I do. Do all the following movements to a strict rhythm and in order one time through. Clap, snap, stomp right, stomp left Snap, snap, clap Hit knees, hit knees, clap Stomp right, stomp left, clap Say: Okay, your turn. Let s see you do it! Pause a few moments for kids to try to remember all the rhythms. When they can t, say: Let s take it line by line. ACT Perform each rhythmic pattern individually, giving kids time to repeat the action. Then do two patterns at a time, again giving kids time to repeat. Go through the entire list of rhythms this way. Say: Now let s put them together. Repeat the patterns in succession, a little faster than the first time. Keep repeating the patterns faster and faster, as time allows. The faster you go, the sillier you can be. DISCUSS IN GROUPS DVD Step It Up! Questions What made this experience easy or hard? What did you do when it got difficult? How can those same things help you when you want to give up on prayer? Say: Some things just aren t easy for us. Prayer can be hard, especially if we don t see God s answer right away. But, like the rhythms, sometimes we need to keep at it to get it. uwe pray without giving up because we know an answer is coming. And when it does, we can feel really good knowing we didn t give up. Prepare Ahead Practice the rhythm pattern ahead of time. It will be easier to teach the kids if you have it down pat. If the kids are picking up the rhythms easily (and if you feel comfortable enough), add another set of four rhythms, mixing up the stomping, clapping, and snapping. Have fun, and challenge the kids! Experience Lesson 4 Permission to photocopy this page from Group s : The Art of Prayer granted for local church use. 41

6 Game TV or VPU DVD player Colossal Crayon (provided in kit) Artist s Canvas (provided in kit) Canvas Toss Hold the Artist s Canvas. Say: Toss the crayon at this poster, trying to hit it anywhere. Let s try to get everyone to hit it. PLAY For any children who don t hit it, say: Don t give up! I know you can do it! Continue the game and play until every child hits the canvas you can have kids move closer or even simply touch the canvas while holding the crayon, if necessary. Encourage all the children to cheer everyone on. If you have a large group, have each small group nominate one child to throw while the others cheer the players on. Game Lesson 4 DISCUSS IN GROUPS DVD Canvas Toss Questions What were you thinking when you did or didn t hit the canvas? Tell how easy you thought it would be to hit the canvas with the Colossal Crayon. What encourages you to keep going when you try to do something but fail? Say: If we don t see results or if something feels too difficult, it can be easy to give up. But when we stick with what we re trying, we feel great after we ve accomplished it. The same is true when uwe pray without giving up. It can be hard work, but when God answers, we ll know it was worth it. 42 Permission to photocopy this page from Group s : The Art of Prayer granted for local church use.

7 DVD Drama TV or VPU DVD player Don t Give Up Say: When we pray, what happens when we don t get an answer right away? Or what happens if we get an answer we don t like? Watch how one family prays even when the answers may not be what they want. WATCH DVD Don t Give Up Cue the DVD to the video Don t Give Up. DISCUSS IN GROUPS DVD Don t Give Up Questions What did you think about what the Green family said about prayer? Tell about a time you prayed about something more than once. Why do you think God answers some prayers right away, but not others? Say: God hears our prayers. Every prayer. It may seem as if God isn t listening, but it may just be that God has a plan we don t know about. We can t know everything about God, but one thing we do know is that God hears us when we pray. And that s why uwe pray without giving up. DVD Drama Lesson 4 Permission to photocopy this page from Group s : The Art of Prayer granted for local church use. 43