.
Scripture: Mark 12:38-44
Memory Verse:
Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. This is the first and most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, ‘Love others as much as you love yourself.’” CEV
Concepts:
·
A
gift is special when it is a sacrifice.
·
Even
a little gift can be important.
Objectives:
1.
Children
will view the video “Adventures from the Book of Virtues - Generosity”.
2.
Children
will learn about a generous attitude - generosity of the spirit.
3.
Children
will discuss ways they can be kind to someone.
Procedure:
Welcome and Introductions:
1.
Greet
the children and introduce yourself.
Wear your name-tag. Make sure the children are wearing name-tags. If
not, ask the shepherd to supply a temporary badge. Remember you are interacting
with a different group of students each week that may not know you.
2.
Explain
the purpose of this workshop is to learn about being generous in spirit. We
will learn about being kind to others as a way of loving God. We’ll talk about
what we can do to be kind to others.
Scripture/Bible Story:
1.
Today
we are going to learn two Bible stories that teach us about bringing our
offering to God and how we should use it. Listen and see if you can tell me
which is the right way and which is the wrong way. Listen for the word of God.
Read Mark 12:38-40. CEV. Ask the children “What were the religious leaders doing that Jesus didn’t like?” (They were showing off, taking the best for themselves and not looking after the poor and widows.) Read Mark 12:41-44 CEV. Ask the children: Who did Jesus think did the better thing? The widow or the rich men? Why?
The teachers of the Law of Moses were the temple
priests and Pharisees. Offerings to the temple were quite different from our
church offerings. Most of the temple offerings went to paying for the priests
and the temple. Very little money went to help the poor widows, orphans or
strangers. This is really different from our understanding of how our offerings
are to be put to use. When we give to the church, we expect a good deal of it
to go to help the needy. So, Jesus condemns the rich people for pouring vast
amounts of money into the temple while ignoring their obligation to be generous
with widows, orphans, and strangers.
The widow's story is a contrast to the Pharisees story. The widow gives everything she has to God. The Pharisees and priests are not living up to God's commandment to care for widows, orphans, and strangers.
The point of these two stories together is that we must love God and show it as
the widow did by giving to the church offering but also, we must love others by
looking after the poor, homeless and needy with our offerings of money, time
and talent something the religious leaders did not do! This is what our
memory verse says: love God and love each other.
2.
Read
the Memory verse together. The video we are going to watch is about loving
others. There are 4 stories in today’s video about generosity of the spirit.
Being generous is an attitude! You can be generous because you want recognition
(like the rich men and the teachers of the Law of Moses) or you can be generous
without calling attention to yourself (as the widow did). In each of the
stories watch and listen for who was generous and what they did.
Application:
1. Show the movie. This video is approximately 30 minutes long.
2. Distribute popcorn with help from Shepherds or volunteer children.
Discussion:
Why were Zach and Annie arguing as they planned their reward for bringing the food to the homeless. (they wanted to brag about doing a good deed, whose name should be first.) Who in the Bible story was bragging? (the rich men and the religious leaders) What did they finally decide to do (to give the food in secret.)
Why did the young prince agree to let the Rocking horse go
at last? (He loved the horse and wanted
what was best for it.)
What did old Mr. Rabbit do at Thanksgiving? (He shared his food with the other animals
and made a special Thanksgiving for everyone)
What was so special about the gifts that the couple gave
each other (They sacrificed something
special to make the other happy.)
Reflection Time:
At
10:35 a.m. ask the shepherds to pass out the journal sheets, the poem and
pencils/markers. Read the poem slowly and carefully for the children. This was
the poem recited at the end of the video. Ask the children to think about what
they can do to be kind to someone. Brainstorm ideas for being kind to others,
friends, parents, siblings. Glue the poem to the journal sheet.
Prompts for journal writing: Describe (or draw a picture of) one or two ways you can be helpful or kind to 1) a friend 2) a family member, and do it this week.
At
10:45 ask the students to close their journals and sit quietly for prayer.
Prayer: Say a prayer asking God to
help us see ways to be kind, to think of the needs of others, to say something
kind, to do something good without being asked. Help us to remember to do our
acts of kindness this week and make each day count as “a day well spent.”
Tidy and Dismissal: Ask children to help clean
up popcorn as they wait for their parents to arrive. Leave the beanbag
chairs to be piled up AFTER everyone leaves. It has been too disruptive to
have the children do it. Wipe out popcorn machine thoroughly.
Teacher preparation in
advance:
1. Read the scripture passages and attend the Faith Quest Leaders Bible Study.
2. Prepare a closing prayer.
3. Check out the room before your first Sunday workshop so that you know where everything is located.
4. Preview the video and have it cued to the correct starting place. Practice operating the popcorn machine. If this is your first time in Holywood, visit the current workshop leader for instructions before your rotation begins. Be sure you have plenty of popcorn popped before the children arrive. You will need to have your attention on the children at that point. Ask the shepherds or child volunteers to help distribute it to the children who are sitting quietly.
Supply List
Poem on pieces of paper
Bible
Video
References
· Adventures from the Book of Virtues Generosity, PBS Kids, Porchlight Entertainment. Distributed by Vision Video Gateway Films
Count the Day Lost by
George Eliot
If you sit down at set of sun
And count the acts that you have done
And counting find one self-denying deed
One word that eased the heart of him who heard,
One glance most kind that fell like sunshine where it went.
Then you may count that day well spent.