This lesson plan is copyrighted and belongs to the Kirk of Kildaire Presbyterian,
Cary North Carolina. It may be used for non-profit uses only.
Scripture:
Luke 10: 38-42
Memory
Verse and Key Verse for this lesson: “Be still and know that I am God.” -- Psalms 46:10
Concepts: Don’t
worry about little things.
Jesus wants us to listen to
God.
God wants us to have a good
attitude.
Do the best you can and
don’t worry about what others are doing.
Objectives: Children will be able to:
Locate the story of Mary and
Martha in Luke
Retell and understand the
story
Understand and practice the
concept of choice making
Procedure:
Introduce yourself to the children. Open with a
brief prayer, thanking God for the day and asking for help in understanding the
story of Mary and Martha.
Scripture/Bible Story:
The
first-graders will not use Bibles. For grades 2-5, make sure everybody has a
Bible. There are extra Bibles in the cupboard of Creation Station.
1.
Start
with a discussion of what happens when friends/family get together:
·
Did
anyone go to a friend or relative’s house for Thanksgiving or Christmas? Did people come to your house instead?
·
Who
cooked the food? Who helped clean up? Which of you helped?
·
Why
do so many people go to somebody else’s home for holidays? (Family, friends,
spending special time with people we love, etc.)
·
Did
the host or hostess (who did all the work) get to socialize much with the
guests? How
much did they enjoy the holiday? Did they catch up on what’s going on with
their loved ones? Did they get to watch the parades or any football? So, was
this much of a holiday for them?
·
What’s
the most important thing about get-togethers? (People—relationships, etc.)
2.
Now
let’s look at a story in the Bible about what happened when Mary and Martha had
a very important guest in their home.
First-graders
will not use their Bibles, but do open yours and show them that the story is in
the book of Luke. For all other classes, have the children find Luke 10: 38-42.
Second-graders and some of the older children will need lots of help from you
and the shepherds.
If
necessary, review: The Bible is divided into two big parts, the Old and New
Testaments. Each part is made up of books, which are divided into chapters and
verses. Luke is one of the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), first four
books of New Testament, which tell story of Jesus’ life. Show them that if they
open their Bible in the middle, they’ll usually land in the book of Psalms in
the OT. Point out that the book name is at the top of each page. After finding
Psalms, if they then take the pages on the right side and divide them in half,
they should land somewhere near the beginning of the New Testament, in one of
the gospels. Once they find Luke, show them the large chapter numbers chapter
is also at top of page and small verse numbers.
For
third-fifth graders, have one or two volunteers read the passage (with
fifth-graders, you might try letting one be narrator, one read Martha’s
dialogue and one read Jesus’ part). For first and second graders, read the
story to them and let them follow along in their Bibles.
3.
Talk
about the story; let them refer back to their Bibles if they don’t remember the
details:
·
Why
was Martha upset? (She was doing all the work, Mary was enjoying time with
their guest.)
·
What
did Jesus tell Martha? (That she was worried about things that weren’t
important, that Mary had made a better choice.)
·
Why
was Mary’s choice better? (Because at that particular time, listening to Jesus
and learning from him was the most important thing.)
·
Does
this mean that chores aren’t necessary? Doesn’t somebody have to cook and
clean? What could Martha have done differently? (Maybe prepared ahead of time
if she knew Jesus was coming; asked Mary for help before Jesus got there; fixed
a simpler meal, not worried about having everything perfect, not tried to force
Mary to make the same choice she did, etc. We don’t know all the circumstances
so we can’t be sure what all Martha’s options were; we just know she was so
worried about chores that she was missing the point of having Jesus visit.)
Application: (10:20 a.m.) (A
demonstration of choice-making.)
1.
Have
the children stand in the center of the room. Designate the corners of the room
A, B, C, D. Read the questions; after each question have the children go to the
corner that represents their choice. Emphasize that there are no right or wrong
answers and that people will make different choices. For some of the questions,
have them act out their choice as they go or after they get there (see
suggested actions on third question). After each choice, have them return to
the center of the room. (The questions near the end might be better for older
children; use your judgment as the game goes on.)
What
are you most thankful for?
A.
Your parents
B.
Your friends
C.
Your pet
D.
Your brother or sister
What
part of the church service do you like best?
A.
Singing hymns
B.
Children’s sermon
C.
Apostle’s Creed
D.
Lord’s Prayer
For
this question, you don’t just go to a corner, you act out your choice. The
Bible tells us to love our enemies. How would you show love for an enemy?
A.
Pray for him.(Pray your way to the corner)
B.
Invite him to a party. (Invite someone else as you go to the corner)
C.
Help her with her homework. (Act this out with someone after you get to the
corner)
D.
Say something nice to her. (Act this out after you get to the corner)
Which
of these rooms in the church do you like best?
A.
Sanctuary
B.
Fellowship Hall (downstairs)
C.
Great Hall
D.
Kitchen
I’m
going to name four of the Faith Quest workshops. Which do you like best?
A.
Apostle’s Playhouse
B.
Holywood
C.
Praising Puppets
D.
Creation Station
Act
this one out: How do you praise God?
A.
Singing
B.
Talking about God.
C.
Praying
D.
Helping other people
Complete
the sentence: One person in the Bible that I wish I could be like is:
A.
Noah
B.
Daniel
C.
An angel
D.
A shepherd
Act
this one out with your facial expression. Complete the sentence:
I
need prayer when I’m:
A.
scared
B.
sick
C.
trying to make a decision
D.
trying to do something hard
Complete
the sentence: A Christian is one who:
A.
Believes in Jesus
B.
Loves Jesus
C.
Tries to live like Jesus
D.
Tells others about Jesus
Complete
the sentence: I wish God would:
A.
Stop all the wars in the world.
B.
Give everybody in the world enough food to eat.
C.
Save the world from pollution.
D.
Make sure everybody has medical care.
Which
of the following do you need most in your life at this time?
A.
Love
B.
Joy
C.
Peace
D.
Hope
Wrap-up:
Sit back down and talk about the choices they made in the game:
·
Was
it sometimes hard to choose? Did anybody make a choice because it would be the
easiest thing to do? Because one of their friends made that choice? Did anybody
try to get a friend to make the same choice?
·
Remind
them that Martha’s mistake was forgetting what was most important at that
moment. Some other time, Martha’s housework might be the most important
thing.
·
Also,
Martha was wrong to assume that her choice was the right one for Mary.
·
What
are some things that can help us make good choices? (Prayer, talking to people
we respect, think about things you’ve learned from the Bible, etc.)
Reflection Time:
Recite the Bible memory verse learned in the Great
Hall. “Be still and know that I am God.” (Who in the story did that? How can we
do it?)
Have the shepherds pass out the journals. Ask the
first and second graders to draw a picture of something in the story or one of
the choices they made in the game. Give the third, fourth and fifth graders the
option of drawing a picture or writing. If they don’t know what to write,
suggest that they write, “Be still and know that I am God,” and then write any
thoughts they have about that verse. Help children who have difficulty
articulating their ideas or writing them down.
Closing:
Prayer Close with prayer, asking
God to help us remember to be still and listen to God, and to help us make good
choices.
Tidy and Dismissal Ask the children for help with any clean-up needed. The Shepherd should collect name-tags and journals.
Note: I find that the kids participate better if they get little rewards along the way. Skittles seem to be the general favorite, but for this workshop I’d use M&Ms (Mary & Martha, get it?). I’d give them an M&M for bringing their Bible, for finding the Bible passage, one to everybody if the discussion of the story goes well, one to everybody who acts out a choice during the game, one to everybody on the way out the door and tell them that from now on, when they eat M&Ms they should think of the story of Mary and Martha. I’d have several small jars of M&Ms on hand and put the shepherds in charge of distribution. (Better check with shepherds and make sure nobody is diabetic or has a peanut allergy. Peanuts are listed as an ingredient even on plain M&Ms.) Robin Morris
Extra Activities:
If
you have extra time with grades 2-5, play a few rounds of “who can find the
Bible passage first.” Have them close their Bibles between passages. Try these
passages where Mary and Martha are mentioned:
John
11: 1
Luke
10: 38
John
12: 1-3
Teacher preparation in
advance:
1.
Read
Luke 10:38-42. You might also read John 11, for the story of Jesus healing
Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha. Anther interesting passage is John
12:1-8. Notice that Martha, true to form, is serving dinner while Mary is
pouring oil on Jesus’ feet!
2. Optional: Bring a CD or taped music for background music while you are gathering, meditative music for Reflection time. A boom box is located in the Puppet workshop cabinet.
3. Note that the map on the wall shows the location of Bethany, mentioned in John as the home of Mary and Martha. You might point it out to the older children.
4.
Write
the scripture memory verse on the white board or display it in the room some
other way. (Dry-erase markers are in storage bin.)
5. Post signs designating four corners of the room as A, B, C and D.
6. Prepare an opening/closing prayer.
Materials:
Extra
Bibles
M&Ms if you choose to use them.