Scripture: Mark 2:1-12
Key Verse for this workshop:
Mark 2:5 And when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”
Concepts:
·
Our
faith in God can help others.
·
We
show our faith in God by helping and praying for others.
Objectives:
1.
Children
will view the video “Mother Teresa: Seeing the Face of Jesus”.
2.
Children will see how we can show our faith
in God by helping others: both people we know (the paralyzed man taken by his
friends to Jesus) and those we don’t know (Mother Teresa helping the poor and
sick in India).
3.
Children
will discuss ways they can help or pray for others.
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. Tell the
children they will hear the Bible story of how four friends’ faith in Jesus’
healing power helped their friend and they will see a video about Mother Teresa
who showed her faith in God by helping the sick and poor in India. Emphasize
that we can show our faith in God by helping our friends, as the paralyzed
man’s friends helped him, or we can show our faith by helping people we don’t
know, as Mother Teresa helped the poor and sick in India.
Scripture/Bible Story:
1. Review the Bible story.
2. Have the students use their bibles to locate the bible story. You can read the passage to them or have them take turns reading. You may also choose to read it from a children’s bible storybook for the younger children.
3. Emphasize the key verse Mark 2:5 And when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.” The friends had faith in Jesus’ healing power and worked hard to bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus so he could help.
4. In weeks 3-5 you may choose to either read the story again or have the children retell it in their own words. Read the key verse to review.
Application:
1. Show the movie. This video is approximately 35 minutes long and needs to be shortened; see attached sheet Mother Teresa: Seeing the Face of Jesus movie segments for segments to skip.
2. Explain that this is a movie about Mother Teresa, a nun who dedicated her life to helping poor and sick people in India. You may need to explain briefly that a nun is a Catholic woman who has dedicated her life and work to God and the church. A “call” is when one feels urged or “called” by God to do a particular action or profession (job). Pastor are “called” to their jobs, elders in the Kirk are “called” to be a leader.
3. Bring a map or globe to show the children where Calcutta India is and where Mother Teresa was born. The movie also mentions Missionaries of Charity established in Venezuela, Australia, Africa, Italy, and New York City.
4. Distribute
popcorn with help from Shepherds or volunteer children.
Reflection Time:
At
10:35 a.m. ask the shepherds to pass out the journals and pencils/markers.
Suggestion: You may wish to give the children a sticker or some memento to
paste in their journal as a reminder of the story or activity.
Prompts for journal writing: Describe (or draw a picture of) ways you can show your faith in God by helping 1) a friend 2) a stranger.
At
10:45 ask the students to close their journals and sit quietly for prayer.
Discussion: Review the fact stated in the movie that Mother Teresa started the
Missionaries of Charity that helps people worldwide. Emphasize the wonder of
how something that started small (Sister Teresa helping one person in the
streets of India) grew into a worldwide mission. You may want also to discuss Mother Teresa’s reminder to “See the Face
of Jesus in every person you help” (Matthew 25:31-46). When Mother Teresa
helped someone, she didn’t view them as a dirty, pitiable, human but as one of
God’s beloved children. She helped these people with the same love and care she
would use to wash Christ’s wounds.
What
are some of the ways that the Kirk helps others? Ark Shelter, helping refugees
settle in this country, after school program, Carying place, Meals on Wheels,
ASP, food offerings for the food bank, our Faith Quest offering, etc.
Prayer: Say a prayer thanking God
for His healing and forgiveness. Ask children to contribute names of
friends/relatives/others that need our help or healing to include in
prayer.
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.
Extra activity:
If you have extra time with the
older children, have them locate the other gospel accounts of this story --
Matthew 9:1-8 and Luke 5:17-26. Call out the passage and let them race to see
who can be first to find it in the Bible.
Teacher preparation in
advance:
1. Read the scripture passages and attend the Faith Quest Leaders Bible Study.
2. Prepare a closing prayer.
3. Preview the video and have it cued to the correct starting place.
4. 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
Map or globe
Bible
Video
References
·
Mother Teresa: Seeing the Face of Jesus. 1998
Morning Light Media. Distributed by Vision Video.
Movie Segments and Editing
Suggestions
Mother Teresa: Seeing The Face of Jesus
|
Segment |
Approximate time segment
begins |
|
Introduction |
0.00 SKIP THIS |
|
Mother Teresa is Born |
2:30 |
|
Agnes at Home |
4:13 |
|
Agnes Hears Her Call |
6:50 SKIP THIS |
|
Agnes’ New Name |
8:30 |
|
Teresa the Teacher |
11:10 |
|
A Call Within a Call |
13:27 |
|
Teresa Among the Poor |
16:43 |
|
Sister Teresa’s New Home |
20:06 |
|
Mother Teresa |
21:35 |
|
Mother Teresa Finds More Room |
23:59 |
|
Mother to the Children |
27:20 SKIP THIS |
|
Mother to All |
30:28 |
|
Seeing the Face of Jesus |
34:08 |