Jesus Heals the Leper Matthew 8:1-4

Transcription

1 3 Jesus Heals the Leper Matthew 8:1-4 Kids will understand: The story of Jesus healing the leper. That it was by God s power that the leper was healed. That we can have God s power in our lives, also. July

2 Activity Choose 3 students to come to the front and give each of them a straw and a balloon. 3 straws 3 balloons When I say Power On you will kneel in front of your balloon and try to blow through the straw to get the ball to the other side of the room. You cannot touch the balloon with your straw or any part of your body; it can only move through the power of your breath. But when I say Power Off, you have to stop blowing. Try to see how far you can get before I say Power Off. Ready? Go! Now, I think we re ready to talk about the great things God s power can do! Bible Account Before you read the story, choose four volunteers to help illustrate the story by drawing pictures on the board. (You ll probably want older children, and it might be fun to include one of your helpers.) Instruct them to quickly draw a large picture of the word indicated in red, and make sure each picture takes up the whole board. Each picture will be drawn in a different color. The drawings will overlap each other and get messy and hard to read that s ok! Don t erase anything until the very end. Jesus had been up on a mountain all day, teaching about the Kingdom of God. (Pause to let volunteers draw a big mountain.) As always, there were great crowds that followed Him. (Pause to let the volunteers draw a crowd, using a different color marker.) No matter where Jesus went, there seemed to be crowds of people around Him. Let s pause for just a moment and let me tell you about a disease called leprosy. Leprosy is a terrible disease that causes big, painful sores all over the body. It is contagious if you touch any of the stuff that oozes out of the sores, which means that people who are not infected with the disease can get it if they touch someone who has the disease. So, no one wanted to take a chance of getting too close to someone with leprosy! Because the disease was so gross and contagious, people who had leprosy were considered outcasts; no one wanted to touch them or be around them for the rest of their lives, because they couldn t cure leprosy! When someone found out that they had leprosy, they had to leave their job, their family, and all their friends and never be with them again. How awful that must have been to live so totally alone. In fact, whenever someone came near a leper, the leper was required to yell, Unclean, Unclean! 2 dry erase board 4 different colors of dry erase markers eraser

3 On this day when Jesus came down the mountain and the crowds surrounded him, there was a man who had leprosy. (Pause for volunteers to draw a man with leprosy, using a different color marker.) The man with leprosy, called a leper, came through the crowd. People jumped out of the way. They didn t want to touch him! Then, the man walked right up to Jesus and Jesus didn t move. Jesus wasn t afraid of the man or his leprosy. The man knelt beside Jesus. He stretched out his hand and touched Jesus, saying, Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean. You can take away my leprosy. (Pause to let the volunteers draw a big hand with yet another color.) This man was really messed up! And not only was he in physical pain, but he looked gross and messy too, kind of like our board, which looks messy from all the drawings on top of each other! But Jesus wasn t afraid to touch the man with leprosy. He reached out oh my, can you imagine the gasps from the crowd? and Jesus touched the man. Something amazing happened! Choose someone to come up to the dry erase board to demonstrate what they think happened when Jesus touched the man? Give him/her the eraser so that he/she can wipe the board clean. That s right, the man was cleansed! He was healed! His leprosy was gone! Jesus had the power to heal the man of this awful disease. Game Beforehand, designate one area in your room as the starting line. (You can use masking tape or chairs to mark the starting line.) Fill two bowls with water and put them a few feet from the starting line, several feet apart from each other. Then fill two bowls with sand and place them further in the room. Put some wet wipes and plastic bags at the end of the room (opposite the starting line). You might want to put down a tarp, or play outside so you don t get dirt on the floor. (See end of the game instructions for alternatives for an EXTRA MESSY OPTION.) 2 bowls of water 2 bowls of dirt or sand wet wipes plastic trash bags This quarter, we ve been talking about messes! The man in our story was messed up by leprosy. Sometimes we get messy too, and we need God s power in our lives. Who s not afraid to get messy for this game? Divide the kids into two teams and have a relay race to see who can get messy and then clean the fastest. Each team will need one person assigned to the post with the dirt, one person assigned to the post with the water, and one person assigned to the wet wipes. So if there are three people on each team who do not want to get messy, assign them to those positions. 3

4 The kids will take turns running to each of the assigned posts in a relay race fashion. At each one, they must stop and the person who is assigned there must ask the player, Who is all powerful? The player must shout, God is all powerful! The player will dip his/her hands into the water and then run to the next post the bowl of dirt. After the person assigned to that post asks the player, Who is all powerful? and the player answers, God is all powerful, then, the player will dip his/ her hands in the dirt and rub them all around so they are filthy. They will then run to the person at the end with the wet wipes and answer the question again. After the player says, God is all powerful, the third time, he/she will be given a wet wipe, and will wipe his/her hands completely clean. Now, throw the wet wipe in the trash bag and run back to tag the next player in line, who will do the same thing. The first team to finish wins. *EXTRA MESSY OPTION This is outrageous and will have your kids thinking you re a rock star! If your kids REALLY want to get messy, and your space can accommodate a bigger mess, you can use chocolate pudding instead of water at the first post, and uncooked oatmeal instead of dirt at the second post. But that s not all! Have the kids dip their faces in the bowls instead of dipping their hands. This could get very messy and very fun! Message PowerPoint slides Let s pray and ask God to help us understand what He wants us to learn from this story. What can we learn from both the leper and from Jesus in today s Bible story? (show slide #2) What can we learn from the leper? (show slide #3) The leper trusted Jesus. We learned earlier that leprosy is a painful and incurable disease. The man in the story showed incredible trust and faith in order to go to Jesus. He also showed a lot of courage when he went through the crowd. He knew that Jesus was powerful, and the leper had faith in Jesus! You can trust God, too. He won t be scared away by your messy problems or sins. You can come to Him with your problems, your sins, and your weaknesses. Look up Psalm 62:8 together and read aloud. Psalm 62:8 says, Trust in Him at all times 4

5 (show slide #4) The leper asked Jesus. The leper didn t just sit there; he put his faith in action! He went to Jesus and asked to be healed! He took action. If you want God s power in your life, don t be afraid to ask Him. Ask Him to help you overcome sin or give you knowledge and guidance in your relationships. Ask Him to provide for you. Don t be afraid to ask for His power in your life. Look up Matthew 7:8 together and read aloud in unison. Matthew 7:8 says, For everyone who asks receives (show slide #5) What can we learn from Jesus response? (show slide #6) He cares for us. No one probably wanted to be friends with the leper because of his disease. It had probably been a long time since he had even been touched by another human. But Jesus cared for the leper enough to reach out to him. Jesus cares for you, too. He is reaching out to you. If you don t have a relationship with Him, you can ask Jesus to be your best friend, and give Him your whole life. He cares for each of us personally and wants a relationship with us. He wants to give us power and help us. Look up 1 Peter 5:7 and read together. 1 Peter 5:7 says, Cast all your worries on Him, because He cares for you. (show slide #7) He is powerful. God has power to work miracles and to do things that seem impossible or difficult. (show slide #8) We can have God s power! Psalm 68:35 says, the God of Israel Himself gives strength and power to the people. Sometimes we try to do things on our own, and cut ourselves off from our power source. That s when things really get messy. 5

6 Object Lesson Watch the video, Attack of the Airzooka. If you have an Airzooka and want to demonstrate it live for the children, here s what you can do. (If you don t have an Airzooka, then blow through a straw.) Set a Styrofoam cup on someone s head. Choose a volunteer to try to move the cup from 10 feet away. It seems impossible, right? Then give the student the Airzooka, and have him/her use it to move the cup. The Airzooka gun can shoot a burst of air from up to 30 feet away, so you can put a cup on the other side of the room or stage and amaze the kids with the Airzooka s ability to move it using only air! video Attack of the Airzooka Airzooka air gun Styrofoam cup Could you see the air that moved the cup? No, we can t see air, because it is invisible to us. But its effects are visible! We can see what it does. You can see the huge effect the air has because the cup moved! God is powerful, and even though we can t see His power with our eyes, we can see its effects in our lives! Turn to your neighbor and share an example of a time when you saw that God was powerful (the Grand Canyon, or other physical things God created in nature, helping you conquer a problem or a sin, healing someone who was sick, or providing things you need). Puppets/Skit 2 characters (or puppets) enter, and person #1 is holding up a piece of string and is distraught. #1: (holding up the piece of string) I am so bummed! I could just cry! (pretend to cry) #2: Why are you sad? And why are you holding that piece of string? #1: Well, it s not just a piece of string, there used to be something attached to it. #2: Let me guess you were walking your dog, and you couldn t find your leash, so you used a piece of string instead! And it turned out to be too weak, so your dog broke it and got away! #1: No! #2: Oh ok. Then, maybe it was tied to a balloon, and the balloon came untied and floated away into the sky! 6 piece of string

7 #1: No! #2: Ok, then what was on the end of your string? #1: A kite! #2: Oh! I should have guessed that! So, where is your kite now? Why isn t it on the string anymore? #1: Well... I was in the field flying my kite. It s been really windy. The kite was going so high in the sky! Wow, it was beautiful! #2: Yeah, it s a great day to fly a kite! I love to do that on windy days! So then what happened? #1: Well, the kite was going higher and higher and higher into the sky! It was pulling so hard against the string, like it wanted to go even higher! But the string was holding it back! I imagined what it would be like and how beautiful it would be if I could just cut the string off and let the kite fly higher into the sky! #2: Oh, no! I can see where this is going! What were you thinking? #1: So, I found a sharp rock and used it to cut the string so I could set the kite free and let it fly high into the sky! #2: And did it? #1: No! It immediately fell down to the ground and was crushed and ruined! Now it can t fly at all! #2: So the kite couldn t go any higher at all when it wasn t attached to its string? And then you cut it off and it couldn t fly at all anymore! #1: Yeah, I guess I ll know for next time that the kite needs to stay connected so it ll have power to fly. #2: Or kaboom! Crash! Smash-a-roo! Destructo! Oh, sorry. What did we say our power source is? (God) So, what happens when we cut ourselves off from our power supply and try to do things on our own? Do you ever feel like you want to try to do things on your own? In the skit, we saw that the kite needed to stay connected to its string in order to get power to fly, and we need to stay connected to God too! He will give us power we need! What are some ways we can get power from God? We can get power from God through spending time in His Word, spending time in prayer, and listening to the urgings and guidance of the Holy Spirit. 7

8 Object Lesson Begin by holding up the power strip (not plugged into the outlet). What do you think will happen when I plug this fan into the power strip? (Some of the kids might think it will turn on, and some might notice that nothing will happen, because the power strip is not plugged into the outlet.) electric fan power strip an electrical outlet I know if I want my fan to blow air, it needs power. So where better to find power than a power strip! Plug the fan into the power strip, try to turn it on, and act surprised when nothing happens. What should I do to get the fan to work? Oh, plug the power strip into the outlet? Plug the power strip in, but don t turn the power strip on. Act surprised, again, when the fan still doesn t work. I thought this fan would work if I plugged it into this power strip and plugged the power strip into the outlet! How can I get power to the fan? Oh, I need to plug the fan into the power strip and plug the power strip into outlet and then turn the power strip on! Turn it on and let the kids feel the fan blow air on them. The power strip looked like it was going to work, but the fan was not connected to the right power source, so it didn t work. Sometimes, we forget to connect to our power source, too. If we hadn t plugged the fan into the power strip and turned everything on, we would ve missed out on this nice cool air. It really is the same with us when we don t call on God s power. We miss out on so much! We don t even know what it is that we re missing. What do you think would have happened if the leper from our Bible story had asked his cousin, who didn t know Jesus, to heal him? Do you think he would have been healed? What if he would have asked an animal to heal him? The leper knew who had power, and so he asked Jesus to heal him! When we want God s power in our lives, we need to go straight to the source. The kids will turn to a neighbor and share one way they need God s power in their life. Prayer Before the service, make enough dry-erase papers for your group. You ll need one paper for every 4-6 kids. To make your own dry-erase paper, laminate a piece of paper, or cover it in clear packing tape. Bonus Resource Idea: Purchase a piece of white panel board from a local home improvement store. These come in 4 x 8 sheets and cost under $20. You ll find them close to where the countertops are. This is exactly the same stuff that white boards are made of. For a couple of dollars the store will cut the sheet into the pieces you d like. A great lap 8 dry erase boards or papers dry erase markers tissues without lotion

9 size is 8 x 12. That means for less than $20 you can have a bunch of lapboards! Use dry erase markers and wipe clean with a tissue. Read Isaiah 40:29, He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Form groups of 4-6 kids each and give each group a dry erase paper, a marker, and a tissue. The kids will write on the dry erase board one worry or weakness they have. When each child has written something, have all the kids hold one hand on the paper and pray that God would give them power over their worries and weakness, and that God s power would give them strength. Then, give each child a chance to erase his/ her words using the tissue. As they erase it, remind them that we should trust God s power, and He will give us strength and courage to conquer our weaknesses and worries. Science Experiment You will need some stain makers (such as grape juice, mustard, coffee, spaghetti sauce). You ll also need 4 different cleaning solutions, such as store-bought stain/spot remover, water, club soda, water mixed with 4 T. baking soda, and 2 T. bleach mixed with water. Stain each of the 4 cloths or pieces ripped from a white t-shirt. It works best if you let the stain set overnight. If you decide to make the stains in your children s church service, the kids might be willing to help you make the stains! You could bring some of the items in and allow the kids to help stain the cloths, but don t let the kids touch the cleaning solutions. Some of them are harmful. 4 different white cloths/rags 4 bowls 4 spoons kitchen tongs 4 different cleaning solutions stain makers rubber gloves This activity is kind of like those commercials where a stained T-shirt is dipped in a bowl of water and the stain disappears when it comes out. Hold up each stained cloth or T-shirt and show the kids the stains. Each bowl is filled with a different cleaning solution, and we are going to test them to see which one has the most powerful cleaning power. Tell the kids what is in each bowl and ask for votes to see which bowl the kids think will be the most powerful at cleaning the stains. Instead of raising their hands to vote, when you point to a bowl, they will clap very powerfully to indicate which solution they want to vote for. Then (with the rubber gloves on your hands) carefully dip each cloth into one of the bowls and swish it around for a while using the spoon. Use the tongs to pull each cloth out of the bowl and let the kids see what happened. After all four have been cleaned, ask the kids to vote again by clapping to show which bowl they think contained the most powerful cleaning power. Which bowl has the most powerful cleaning power? (Depending on what type of cleaners you use, the one with the bleach will probably work the best.) 9

10 Do you think the leper knew how powerful Jesus was? He trusted Jesus, and what happened? Jesus cleaned him! Do you trust God s power in your life? Blessing God cares for you and His power is stronger than your weakness. Music music DVD downloads You can use the Yancy songs provided during your worship time. For this lesson, the songs are: I m Really Happy and It s Not New. For more Yancy resources, check out yancynotnancy.com. Scripture Memorization 1 John 4:4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. Arrange the kids in teams of 4-6. Each kid will make an air tube by rolling a piece of paper tightly into a tube and then taping it so it stays. If you have some 1/2 PVC, that s a good thing to wrap the paper around (use the PVC as a form) to get the right size. Set a small Styrofoam cup on the edge of a table in front of each team. (You ll need to test this beforehand to see what a good distance is to stand from the tables. Mark this place on the floor with some masking tape.) At the signal, one person from each team will blow air through the paper air tube they made to try knocking over their team s cup. The first person to get their cup to fall over will lead their team in saying the memory verse. Continue doing this with new kids from all the teams. 10 paper tape small Styrofoam cups masking tape 1/2 PVC pipe

11 Science Experiment Hold up the light bulb and ask the kids if they believe you can make the light bulb light up without plugging it in or using a battery. Turn all the lights off so it is very dark in the room. (It s always a good idea to practice an experiment before doing it in front of kids. Try this one out several times so you know when you ve got enough static electricity. You may need to use a balloon to rub against your hair to get more static electricity.) small fluorescent light bulb woolen scarf or sweater hard rubber comb Rub a comb over a woolen scarf about 20 times or run the comb through your hair thoroughly. Then place the comb on the light bulb and watch as the light bulb lights up slightly. This is caused by positive and negative energy that is invisible to us, but when the comb was rubbed on the woolen fabric, its charge became negative. When the negative charge of the comb touched the light bulb, it discharged into the light bulb and caused it to light up. When we plug into God and get our power from Him, He can work miracles in our lives, even when things seem impossible or difficult our negative feelings. God can change our negative charge into a light for Him. When we feel weak, God s power is stronger than our weakness. When the leper trusted God, God s power worked a miracle for Him, and God s power can do great things in us, too! Craft Each child will cut his/her colored construction paper into the shape they want their kites to be. Then, they will glue an 8 piece of yarn to the bottom of the paper so it looks like a kite. They can fold up their tissue paper strip accordion-style and glue it to the bottom of the kite like a tail. Then, write God is powerful on their kite using markers or crayons piece of colored construction paper 1 5 -strip of colored tissue paper 1 8 -piece of colored yarn scissors glue crayons/markers

12 What happened to the guy in our skit today? His kite crashed, because he cut the string that kept it connected to him. Our kites will help us remember that God is powerful, and we should stay connected to Him our true power source. Snack Put a large serving of chocolate pudding on each child s paper plate. Before you eat your chocolate pudding, I want you to smear it all over your paper plate! This is one time when it s okay to make a mess on your plate, but keep the mess contained to ONLY your paper plate. Your plates are so messy now! paper plate big serving of chocolate pudding spoon napkins The man in our Bible story today was messy, too. Does anyone remember what he had that made his skin messed up? It was leprosy! There are things in our lives that mess us up! Sin is one of those things that makes us messy. When we do things that displease God, that sin becomes a mess in our lives. I want you to take your spoon and use it to write or draw something in your pudding that represents a mess in your life. Maybe you need to admit something you lied about. Maybe you ve been saying hurtful things or using bad words. If you can t think of anything specific, you can write the word SIN on your plate. God s power is stronger than our sin! He helps us overcome it by giving us His power. Now, you can work on cleaning up that mess on your plate! 12