FAITH QUEST

Good Samaritan

CREATION STATION

Scripture: Luke 10 25-37

Key Scripture Verses: Luke 10:27-28. The Scriptures say, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind. Love your neighbors as much as yourself.” Jesus said, “If you do this, you will have eternal life.” (Contemporary English Version)

Memory Verse:

“Love your enemies and be good to everyone who hates you. Ask God to bless anyone who curses you, and pray for everyone who is cruel to you.” Luke 6:27-28 (CEV)

Concepts:

· God wants us to love God, love our neighbors and love ourselves.

· Those who love God and their neighbors receive eternal life through Jesus Christ.

· We are good neighbors when we show kindness and mercy toward others no matter who they are.

Objectives:

1. Learn that Jesus is telling a Parable to explain to us how to attain eternal life by being God’s people and treating each other as told in the Ten Commandments.

2. Understand that we show our love for God and ourselves when we love our neighbors.

3. Broaden our understanding of who our neighbor is.

4. Children will create a pencil holder jar with illustrations of our neighbors.

Procedure:

Welcome and Introductions:

1. Welcome the children and introduce yourself. Wear your nametag.

2. Start the “lesson time” with prayer. Ask for volunteers, but plan on praying yourself. A short prayer thanking God for being a part of our lives would be appropriate. Ask God to help us to love others, even those who are different.

Bible Story:

1. Discuss the background to today’s story. Have the children use their Bibles to locate the story in Luke 10:25-37. In this parable Jesus tells a real-life story that has a spiritual meaning. In the passage he answers a man’s questions by telling a story and then having the man choose the right answer to his question. When the man answered the first few questions he showed his knowledge of the Commandments. When he listened to Jesus’ parable he learned that neighbors are much more than people who live nearby, worship in the same place, dress in the same fashion or look and sound like ourselves. When Jesus asked the man who of the three travelers was the real neighbor to the wounded man, the answer was that the Samaritan who showed pity and helped was the true neighbor. Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”

2. In this story Jesus reminds us of the Ten Commandment lessons to love God and others. By doing so, we will have eternal life (a place in God’s kingdom). Jesus is telling us that loving God, ourselves and others, are one. It is not enough to be an expert on the Bible, or to be clean, good-looking, well-spoken people. We must act kindly and helpfully toward others if we wish a place in God’s kingdom.

3. Romans 13:9b-10a states, “Love others as much as yourself. No one who loves others will harm them.” In the story a man was attacked as he traveled alone on a dangerous road. A priest and a temple helper passed him, as he lay wounded. The priest crossed to the other side of the road to avoid him, possibly because he thought it more important to stay clean for temple service. Maybe the helper was in a hurry or afraid. When the Samaritan came by he did not hesitate to get dirty, give up time or spend money to get help. He even used oil and wine as medicine to wash the man’s wounds.

4. The Samaritan was considered different by the Jewish people because Samaritans’ way of worshipping God, skin color and language were different. The Samaritans were treated badly and might have disliked the Jewish people because of this. Still the Samaritan did not let that get in the way and helped the wounded man who was most likely Jewish. Because he did something, he was a good neighbor.

5. When we take care of others, we use the gifts God has given us and enable the person being helped to become what God wants for them. Who we are does not matter – what we do and the love we show does matter. Remember the Beatitude lesson when Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are humble, merciful and want to obey God.” This is what the Samaritan was. He showed his love of God by helping his neighbor.

6. Take a minute to talk to the children about the creation they are going to be doing in this workshop. Tell them that they will be creating a collage to show a sampling of the many different types of people who we should consider to be our neighbors.

Application:

1. Create! Remind the class that God has created an infinite variety of human beings. People who look, live and worship very differently from us are still God’s children. The children will be making a pencil holder decorated in a collage of different people who are our neighbors. They can cut out just faces or people minus backgrounds.

2. Steps: Place scissors and an assortment of magazines on the tables. Each child should select and cut out several pictures of people who represent “neighbors.”

3. Give each child a glass jar. Use modge podge and a brush to paste onto the jar. Cover the entire jar. Additional pictures may be added if needed. Note: remind the children that they are searching for appropriate pictures and do not have time to read any of the magazines. (Optional: tie a pretty bow around it. The children may give it as a gift)

4. Help the drying process along with a hair dryer or leave the jars to dry until later.

5. Clean up! Involve all children in this so that you will have time to share together in the closing. You may want to have a prearranged signal or sound for clean up and tell them at beginning of art project what that will be - perhaps giving them a 5 minute warning and then the final clean up notice to allow those who need a bit more warning that they need to complete whatever they are working on.

5. Turn out lights and lock the classroom door when leaving.

Reflection Time:

1. Ask the shepherds to pass out Journals and pencils/markers. The children should spend a few minutes reflecting upon the morning's lesson – What are some ways that people are different? Why don’t you like certain people? Are you afraid of something about them? Can you think of someone you have not treated as a neighbor? What good thing might happen if you helped them? What does eternal life mean?”

Closing:

1. Encourage the children think about what it means to be a good neighbor.

2. Tell them that their money for the Faith Quest offering will be given to the Alliance Medical Ministry to pay for doctors and dentists to treat children whose families do not have enough money for this.

3. Say the Key Memory Verse together (see above). You may want to have this verse printed on a banner and hung in the room, write it on the white board in the room, or have it on slips of paper that each child can take home.

4. Pray! Ask the children if they have any prayer requests. Thank God for giving us Jesus to help us to love God, ourselves and others.

Teacher preparation in advance:

1. Read the scripture passages and attend the Faith Quest Leaders Workshop.

2. Collect family, travel, Habitat and health magazines to be cut up.

3. Check the art room to see what supplies exist. Purchase needed supplies and make a sample.

4. Prepare all the materials you will need for the creation process. Have the materials ready to go. There will be limited time for the creation process, so do everything you can to conserve time.

Materials:

Magazines with pictures of a variety of people – old, young, handicapped, thin, heavy, Asian, African, Hispanic, Middle eastern, Indian, Caucasian, clean, dirty, etc.

Scissors

Modge podge or watered down white glue.

Paint brushes to apply “glue”

A variety of sizes and shapes of glass jars

A couple of hair dryers

Optional: ribbon to make bows – gold and silver

References:

County Libraries have giveaway magazine stands.