B e t h e s d a. series. The Person of Jesus Study ADAPTED FROM

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1 B e t h e s d a series Compassion ADAPTED FROM The Person of Jesus Study Starter Kit

2 Finally, a Bible study designed for use with people affected by disabilities and you don t have to be a Special Ed teacher to use it! JOIN US for a webinar introducing the Bethesda Series with author/teacher Jill Miller WHAT: A webinar featuring a short presentation from Jill Miller and a Q & A session fueled by your questions WHEN: The webinar will be offered twice Tuesday, August 12 at 8 pm EST and on Wednesday, August 13 at 1:30 pm EST HOW TO REGISTER: Go to seejesus.net/bethesdawebinar for links to registration. B e t h e s d a series Jill Miller (BA, Gwynedd-Mercy) is dual certified in elementary and special education. She has a master s equivalency and is a certified Wilson Reading teacher. Married to Paul Miller, she is the mother of six including Kimberly Miller, who is affected by disability.

3 ELECTRONIC BOOK SINGLE USER LICENSE 2014 seejesus Press. All Rights Reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of any part of this copyrighted work is illegal. seejesus is a non-profit Christian ministry and is dependent on the revenue from the sales of our Bible studies and other products for our support. We thank you for your purchase. You have purchased a Single User License for the electronic book, Bethesda Series: Compassion, Leader s Manual. As the purchaser you are hereby granted a nontransferable, non-exclusive license to store ONE copy of the electronic book on your personal computer and ONE additional copy on a laptop or other portable device for your personal or educational use. You may also print ONE paper copy and reprint replacement pages as necessary to keep ONE complete printed copy in your possession. This license does not permit you to resell or otherwise distribute the electronic book or printed paper copies to anyone. Under no circumstances may the electronic book be made available on public web sites, ftp sites, mailing lists, or by any other publicly accessible means. You may not modify, adapt, transform, translate or create any derivative work based on Bethesda: Compassion Leader s Manual or otherwise use it in a manner that would infringe the copyright therein. Copyright notices, other notices or disclaimers included in this electronic book may not be removed, obscured or modified in any way. Rights and permissions requests should be directed to seejesus, PO Box 197, Telford, PA 18969, (215) , info@seejesus.net.

4 Table of Contents for Starter Kit Foreword to Bethesda Series... 7 Introduction to Bethesda Series... 9 Quick Start Guide Leader's Lesson 1: Watching Jesus and Getting to Know Him Leader's Lesson 2: Jesus Looks at Us and Knows When We Are Sad Leader's Lesson 3: The Things That Make Me Sad, Make Jesus Sad Leader's Lesson 4: Jesus Tells Us a Story About How to Love Leader's Lesson 5: Not Sure About That Third Step Student Manual Cover Student Lesson Student Lesson Student Lesson Student Lesson Student Lesson

5 B e t h e s d a series Unit 1: Compassion Jill A. Miller

6 Version seejesus Press By Jill A. Miller The mission of seejesus is to help people see and reflect the life, death and resurrection of Jesus through our discipleship resources and training. seejesus P. O. Box 197 Telford, PA Phone: Fax: Project Coordinator/Editor: Julie Courtney Artistic Designer: Seth Guge Design Coordinator: Liz Voboril Web Page Designer: Kelly Bergman Copy Editor: Jane French Typesetter: Pat Reinheimer 2014 seejesus ISBN-13: ISBN-10: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission from seejesus. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Reader s Version, NIrV Copyright 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

7 Foreword to the Bethesda Series Eight years ago I told the pastors of our church that I was going to stop teaching adult Sunday School in order to teach our daughter Kim. Kim was twenty-three, but because of her multiple disabilities she hadn t been taught the Bible consistently at her level. We had tried inclusion in regular Sunday School but that didn t meet Kim s needs. So I gathered a couple of Kim s friends, and found a room in the back of the church basement where I began to teach Kim and her friends the Bible. I was immediately struck by how dumbed down the available curriculum was for adults with intellectual disabilities. It touched lightly on Scripture and had little depth. In my desperation to find material, we spent a year just looking at Rembrandt s sketches of the Bible! After several years, our friend Arlene Helfrich and later my wife Jill took over the class. The Bethesda Series curriculum was Jill s idea. She saw the same need for a robust Bible curriculum. She wanted to create a complete Bible curriculum that involved real Bible study. She wanted it to use interactive questions and to be engaging for the students. She didn t just write the curriculum, she also taught every lesson to make sure it worked. Jill loved the interactive style and the story focus of seejesus Person of Jesus study so she thought the material would be ideal to adapt for young adults with disabilities. When Jill started teaching in September, 2009, it was rough going. We quickly discovered why there isn t a lot of curriculum for adults with disabilities. Simultaneously teaching students who are on many different levels and have many different learning styles is challenging. By January Jill told me, This isn t working. I m thinking about quitting. Then I realized that I had not prayed for Jill. I began to pray for her daily and within a couple of weeks she got her voice and now she has written the draft of six complete courses. Why do we call it the Bethesda Series? Jesus healed a lame man who had gathered with other adults with disabilities at the Pool of Bethesda. Joni Eareckson Tada described how overwhelming it was to visit the pool with her husband Ken. Jill had a similar experience when we visited the Pool of Bethesda in Bet-hesda in Hebrew means house of covenant love. Covenant love doesn t break. It binds itself to the object of its love and determines to love no matter what. That is God s love for us, and it is to be our love for one another. The lame man at the Pool of Bethesda was frustrated that he couldn t get into the water in time. Our Bethesda Series logo, with its image of a splash of water, captures the healing hope of Jesus. Because of Jesus, we make it into the pool, the river of grace. If you look closely at the splash in the logo, you can see several figures going into the water. Make sure you watch the sample lesson (available on Bethesda page) of Jill teaching The Parable of the Two Debtors from Luke 7.

8 If you download the sample lesson, you can follow along while Jill teaches it. You will experience not only her love for the kids and the gospel, but also our interactive teaching style. Paul E. Miller Author of A Praying Life

9 Introduction to Bethesda Series I love Kim. I love people like Kim. When I am around people that others see as dis-abled, I see abled. One of those abilities is relentless faith. Kim is the fourth of our six kids. Paul and I are both teachers, and we tried to teach all six kids the Bible. We sent them to Christian schools. Paul was the principal of a Christian school, but Kim was frequently left out. She wasn t able to go to a Christian school because of her multiple challenges. She was able to keep up in Sunday School up to first grade, and then got frustrated with all the scissors, play groups, and interaction with the other kids and teachers. I stayed with Kim for about twenty years during the Sunday School hour. I got frustrated because this little light was being hidden under a bushel. I believe all of us can learn. We are made in the image of God, and God is limitless. I don t believe in ceilings where people stop learning. With this in mind, I looked at curriculum for Kim and her friends. The material I reviewed looked too simple. Good teachers expose students to concepts that they may never understand. Exposure is important to lifelong learning! I remember being taught trigonometry and thinking, What in the world is this man trying to teach me! But that didn t stop him from exposing me to the information and giving me an opportunity to grab what I could. This is what I have tried to do with the Bethesda Series. I want to give Kim and her friends the opportunity to learn God s Word, the Bible. I want them to have the opportunity to discover. I want them to experience Jesus, to know at a new level, his amazing love for them! I looked at the Person of Jesus study and thought to myself, Just start with this. As the weeks went by, Jesus took over the lessons. He truly gave me the ideas. When I reread the lessons I d think, This was not my idea. Jesus heart is where the weak are, and I saw His heart revealed as I sat down to adapt these lessons. Courtney, our oldest daughter, gave me a copy of the Bible with all the stories in the Gospels that had anything to do with disabilities cut out with an exact-o knife. Many pages were almost completely cut away. The Gospels weren t the Gospels without those stories. Could it be that the church isn t the church when people with disabilities are cut out? Every week my friends in the class teach me. I learn from them! I need their faith and warm honesty. My hope is that the beauty of Jesus will be seen through the least of these! As your words are taught, they give light; even the simple can understand them. Psalm 119:130. Many blessings! Jill A. Miller

10 Acknowledgements Thank you, Paul, for loving me as Jesus loves the church. I love you. Thank you, Father, for sharing with me one of the secrets of your Kingdom! Thank you for using Kim and her friends to slowly open the door. Thank you, Arlene, for teaching with me in the basement and encouraging me to go on. Thank you, Julie. You took what I had and put it all together, never lacking in love and laughter. Thank you, Seth, for accepting my chubby people drawings and making the curriculum look fun. Thank you, Pat, for a beautiful layout. Thank you, Jane, for reading through every word and making the edits. Thank you, Dawn, for reading and commenting through a lens that few have. Thank you, Liz, for moving us along when my heels were dragging, and thank you, Kelly, for getting Bethesda Series out via the web. A special thank you to Steve and Fran Godfrey, Sr., an anonymous foundation, and several other donors who gave to make this curriculum possible. Thank you for loving those whom Jesus cherishes! Jill A. Miller

11 Table of Contents Quick Start Guide 9 List of items in the Prop Kit 17 Lesson 1: Watching Jesus and Getting to Know Him 19 Lesson 2: Jesus Looks at Us and Knows When We Are Sad 25 Lesson 3: The Things That Make Me Sad, Make Jesus Sad 33 Lesson 4: Jesus Tells Us a Story About How to Love 41 Lesson 5: Not Sure About That Third Step 47 Lesson 6: What a Wonderful Dad! 55 Lesson 7: Party Time! 63 Lesson 8: Why Am I Like Me? 73 Lesson 9: How Many Times Do I Have to Tell You? 83 Lesson 10: What Does Jesus See When He Looks at Me? 93 Lesson 11: The Woman Who Crashed the Dinner Party 99 Lesson 12: Jesus Forgives the Woman and Me Too 107 Lesson 13: Jesus Forgives Me and I Forgive Others 113 Lesson 14: Jesus Knows All the Stuff in My Head and Still Loves Me 119 Lesson 15: Those Two Men 127 Lesson 16: What Is Inside Your Cup? 135 Lesson 17 If Jesus Came to Your House, What Would You Do? 141 Lesson 18: I Need to Love Other People the Same Way I Love Myself 149 Lesson 19: You Are Loved More Than You Can Even Imagine! 157

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13 Quick Start Guide SUMMARY The Quick Start Guide will: 1. Show you how the manual works. 2. Help you solve problems in using interactive study. 3. Help you enter the world of people with disabilities. Contents of Quick Start Guide: 1. Summary of each lesson. 2. How to prepare. 3. Entering the world of disability. 4. Strategies to teach people who have disability. 5. Videos of Jill Miller giving Instructions. 6. With-it-ness. 7. Sections of the lesson. 8. Frequently Asked Questions. 9. How to Teach the Bethesda Series. 1. SUMMARY OF EACH LESSON: Each lesson (except for introductory lesson) includes: 1. Review the Story. 2. Experience the Story. 3. Understand the Story. 4. What about me? 5. Close in prayer. 2. HOW TO PREPARE TO TEACH 1. Read the lesson at least three times. 2. Notice that the questions are in bold, pink font. Possible answers or what you are looking for are in black font in parentheses following the question. Comments for the teacher are in black italics and Teacher talk is in pink, non-italics. 3. Think about how the lesson applies to your own life. 4. Think about how this can apply to the students you know who will be attending the study. 5. Pray pray pray. Write out a prayer card for each student in your class. Begin praying for them daily. 6. Write the Scripture on the flip chart prior to the class using the same color scheme as in the Student Manual. 7. Make sure you have the prop for the lesson, if you didn t purchase the seejesus props. 9

14 Keep all the props in a container and take them each week to class. You will need them for review to reinforce the concepts from previous lessons. 3. ENTERING THE WORLD OF DISABILITY 1. Don t be afraid as you enter this amazing world. Follow Jesus pattern of looking, feeling compassion and then acting. 2. As you enter this world you will discover: There are many abilities amidst the disabilities. We all have some sort of disability. We all learn from one another. Most of us are not comfortable, in the beginning, with people who are affected by disability, but this uncomfortable feeling will fade away into an excited anticipation as you meet each week with people who are differently enabled. We all love fun. We believe you will be experiencing one of the secrets to the benefits of the Kingdom of Heaven STRATEGIES TO TEACH PEOPLE WHO HAVE DISABILITY 1. Make your words visual by drawing the scenes on poster paper when possible. Use different colors in your drawings. The drawings in each lesson are deliberately amateurish and simple, so you see that you can do the same. Label the drawings as you teach. (This does provide amusement for the class!) In the drawings, use the same colors for the characters throughout the lesson and if the lesson runs into the following week/weeks, maintain the same colors. 2. The props are visualizations of the lessons to promote the students learning and remembering. 3. Review the highlights of the previous lesson(s). You and your students benefit from review; with all the craziness of life, many of us forget previous lessons taught. Review every week using the props and poster drawings from previous lessons. At times, pull out props not just from the previous lesson, but many lessons back. Review times are great to see how everyone in the study is applying the lessons in their daily life. Review also gives focus to what we have learned and inspires us to change through the power of Jesus in our lives. 4. Reading the Scripture. When reading, have the students who are comfortable read aloud. Adapt for slower readers by assisting them and/or giving them shorter portions to read. The verses are in different colors to help the students find where they, or others, are in the passage. 5. Role play: Use different colored scarves or shawls to wear over the head or around the shoulders for a quick costume to play the assigned roles.

15 The teacher will also be a narrator and support the students in their roles. The students will act out the characters in the story using some of the dialogue. The teacher will prompt them to speak. Keep the play quick and easy (this isn t Broadway!). The focus of the play is to get the class familiar with the characters and the plot. 6. Personalize stories throughout lesson. All of us enjoy hearing stories about other people, especially when we can relate to them. So as you teach try to think of a story from your own life and tell it to the class. Here is an example from Jill Miller s life: In lesson 4, we talk about how it takes time to love. My mother is 85 and moves v e r y s l o w l y. I try to allow extra time for mom s pace but sometimes I schedule just too much to do. One time I knew I had to hurry up with mom, so instead of using her walker I used a wheelchair to get her to my car. As I was pushing mom in the chair, a nurse came up to me and asked me to slow down because I was a hazard for the other patients who were walking in the hallways. Oh my! 7. Questions can be difficult for people with disability: Turn the question into a statement; it makes it simpler to understand. Example: Who did Jesus touch in the coffin? Change to: Tell me who Jesus touched in the coffin. 8. Turn questions into multiple-choice. Some students may have a problem expressing their answers. They know the answer but it is stuck ; how frustrating is that! To help them, turn the question into multiple choice. For example: Tell me who Jesus touched in the coffin. Was it his mother? Was it a person from the community? Was it a woman s son? 5. VIDEOS OF JILL MILLER GIVING INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO TEACH Jill Miller was videotaped teaching Lesson #7. The video is available at Bethesda along with the pages for that lesson. On our resource page are short clips of Jill demonstrating key sections of a lesson. Please review these if you have any questions or need additional help in preparing for a lesson. 6. WITH-IT-NESS This is so important for all teaching. With-it-ness is being aware of your students, in tune with them as a group. As soon as you see someone who is not engaged in the lesson, you begin praying quietly, asking God to show you how to engage them. By looking at your audience you will know if they are getting the lesson. Keep the lessons moving, upbeat. Ask questions during the lesson to make sure all the students are with you, If a student isn t understanding what you are saying re-phrase what you are teaching, Try to make what you are saying visual. 11

16 Jill s Personal Example: At one point a student who was affected with autism really needed to be more engaged in the lesson, so I gave him the bag of markers and asked him for specific colors as I was drawing on the poster paper. 7. SECTIONS OF THE LESSON 1. Materials are listed by number at the beginning of each lesson. Scripture Passage (have the students refer to their manuals). The Scripture on the flip chart in front of the class written in same colors used in the student manual. Different colored scarves or shawls (enough for each character in the story). If using YouTube, make sure link is still active; if link is not active search for another appropriate link. These YouTube links are available at Student Manuals with the Scripture and Reminder sheet for the lesson. (It s best if the teacher keeps these manuals with him/her, to avoid the students forgetting to bring them to class.) Prop(s) for lesson. Keep all previous props in container. 2. Goals (Love, Jesus and Faith). As you teach make sure these are woven through the lesson. 3. Kim s World: This is to give a practical inside glimpse into the world of disability. Kim, Jill s daughter, has multiple disabilities, with autism being one of them. This will help you connect the lesson to the students in your class. 4. Summing it up: Each section has a brief summary at the beginning. 5. Always review from last week: Use props to prompt recall of previous lessons. Use drawings on poster paper from previous lessons. Use this time to ask the students if they have applied the lesson. 6. Experience the story: Read the Scripture passage. You should read the passage at this point in each lesson. Have the students who are comfortable read aloud one verse each until they finish the passage. Adapt for slower readers by assisting them and/or giving them shorter portions to read. Using multi colors allows the students to follow more easily, and if they get lost you can help them find where they are by identifying the color of the verse. Then choose two of the next four options to reinforce the primary reading of the story: i. Role Play (see point #4 under Strategies). ii. Draw the story. The completed drawings are inserted into the lesson at this point. You will draw as you teach. In your drawings, use the same colors for the characters throughout the lesson. If the lesson runs into the following week/weeks, maintain the same colors. iii. Watch a YouTube video that portrays the story. iv. Use puppets to act out the story. There is a nice series of Bible character puppets from 12

17 6. Understand the story: After you have read the story from Scripture and reinforced it with two of the above options, you will begin to get the students involved in the learning process by asking the questions written out in the manual. Personalize the stories throughout each lesson by using either your own stories or the students stories. 7. Historical Background: Use photos when possible (easy to download from computers). Make visual whenever possible. 8. What about me? This is how you connect the lesson to the student and yourself. 9. Close in prayer: Ask the students if there are any prayer requests. Use a prayer journal, if desired. Remember we all need God s help to take what we learned in our heads and move it to our hearts. 8. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Q. What s the difference between the traditional The Person of Jesus manual and the Bethesda Series study? The Bethesda Series covers the same topics that The Person of Jesus does, as shown in the comparison chart on the seejesus website, but it is simplified. The Bethesda Series is adapted to be more visual and hands-on. Q. How do I handle so many differences in abilities in one group? This is a challenge to every teacher in every class in schools, churches or other groups, so don t feel overwhelmed. It will take time to become familiar with all the abilities in your group and how to work with them together. Don t be afraid to be practical, deal with unwanted behavior as you normally do in a typical classroom. Author s comment: I personally find autism to be one of the more challenging disabilities to fit into the class. Some of the students may need to move more, some may have behaviors you need to deal with. The parents or caregivers may be able to help you with specific strategies. I have found that having typical peers in the room brings the unwanted behavior of challenging students to a halt. For example, one of the students in our class would wrap the scarf around his face during the play and try to scare some of the other students. Well, one day a very pretty gal sat next to him and that scarf never wrapped around his face again! Q. I ve looked at a lesson plan and I m still not sure how it works. Watch the videos of Jill demonstrating a lesson and key sections of a lesson at seejesus.net/ Bethesda. 13

18 Q. Can I shorten or split a lesson? Yes. You have to be in tune with the students and understand what they are retaining (or not). Q. How do I make the lessons hands-on? This is done through role-playing. The skits are important and they help the students to engage in the lesson. Also, when you draw the lesson as you teach, the pictures will tune in the lesson for the students. All of us want teaching to matter to our daily life; this is hands on! Q. What translation do you use in the studies? NIrV (New International Readers Version.) The text is inserted into the lesson at Point 2, Experience the Story. Q. How do I form a group? People who have different abilities are one of the most unreached people groups in the United States. Many families need a breather and would be thrilled to have a place where their child is wanted and welcomed. Once you have two or three families involved, the word will spread! Also, there are group homes around you. These are homes that have adults affected by disability living alongside typical people. Find these group homes in your area, visit them, invite! Luke 14: Then Jesus spoke to his host. Suppose you give a lunch or a dinner, he said. Do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, or your relatives, or your rich neighbors. If you do, they may invite you to eat with them. So you will be paid back. 13 But when you give a big dinner, invite those who are poor. Also invite those who can t walk, the disabled and the blind. 14 Then you will be blessed. Your guests can t pay you back. But you will be paid back when those who are right with God rise from the dead. Q. Do I need to purchase the props container? No, but it will save you a great deal of time. Q. Should I purchase a Student Manual for each student? Yes. We have found that the reminder sheets, included in the manual, are used, applied, and enjoyed by the students. Q. What is unique about The Bethesda Series? a. The study uses questions to get the students to think, instead of lecturing them. You ll come to love seeing the lights go on as the students discover for themselves the insights in Scripture. Once you ve taught with a method that elicits people s responses, it s hard to go back to doing straight lecture. b. The study incorporates historical insights. The author taught and others reviewed the questions in the study for the best phrasing to help the students understand the passage. The questions are in a sequential order so that one question smoothly follows the next. 14

19 c. The study focuses on Biblical insight. The Bethesda Series study digs into the Biblical text to find out what is really going on. d. By drawing on the latest discoveries in historical, Biblical archaeology and our growing understanding of the Ancient Near Eastern world, the Bethesda Series study brings Scripture to life. e. The study focuses on heart insight. The goal of each lesson is not just behavioral change but insight into the heart (of the student and the teacher) and how the heart drives behavior. f. The study leads the students toward Jesus insight. You ll discover things about Jesus in the gospels that you ve never seen before. Many people say that they learned how to read the gospels through the study. 15

20 How To Teach The Bethesda Series MASTER THE CONTENT BY READING LOVE WALKED AMONG US The book will give you an overview of the material and a summary of each lesson. At the beginning of each lesson and in the comparison chart on the seejesus website, the chapter in Love Walked Among Us that correlates with the lesson is listed. LEARN THE LAYOUT OF A TYPICAL LESSON Kim s World: Q. Questions in bold type and pink are the heart of the material. Teach is a short section that you teach. Don t linger. Historical Background is a short teaching section that introduces historical background information to enrich your Bible study. Draw appears where you will need to draw out the story, a graph or just illustrate visually what you are talking about. Review is a very short teaching section usually at the beginning of a lesson that reviews the previous lesson and shows where this lesson fits in with the unit as a whole. Teaching Tip is a teaching idea. [Write their answers.] is always with the pencil icon. This means write their answers out on the flip chart or white board. The advantage of a flip chart is you can review previous lessons. [Teach what they don t say.] is an indication that there are nuances in this answer that you ll likely have to teach after participants have had time to share their thoughts. Jill s Personal Illustration is an example to help with application. Gospel Connection is a brief explanation of how principles of the lesson relate to the essential gospel message. 16 What about me? Apply the lesson to your life. The church will be transformed and the world will be captured by Jesus beauty not because we are good teachers but because we are obedient servants. If we are just communicating abstract principles and not struggling to obey, then we risk creating Pharisees.

21 Grace and Law. The Bethesda material moves back and forth between two principle foci: Grace and law. Law is God s perfect standard that reflects his character. There is no better description of God s perfect standard than the person of Jesus. He is what we are to become like. The New Testament is not shy about tell us to copy him. That might sound legalistic, but that is what the Bible says again and again: look at Him. Do what he does. But we can t. That is why we need grace. We need Jesus death for us to give us the power to change. We need his Spirit within us to want to be different. Only as we understand Grace can we copy him. The best place to look for grace is the person of Jesus! He is grace personified. He is constantly showing people that they can t do life on their own, that like the Tax Collector in his parable, they need to say, God be merciful to me a sinner. Without grace, law is discouraging and frustrating. Without law, grace is just happy thoughts. We need both grace and law, faith and love. Every lesson has three goals: Love: what does it look like to become like Jesus, to love like him? Jesus: What is something beautiful about Jesus? Faith: how does Jesus give me the power through the cross and his Spirit to love like him? List of items in the Prop Kit Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4 Lesson 5 Lesson 6 Lesson 7 Lesson 8 Lesson 9 Lesson 10 Lesson 11 Lesson 12 Lesson 13 Lesson 14 Lesson 15 Lesson 16 Lesson 17 Lesson 18 Lesson 19 Sponge Basket with doll Basket with doll Ace bandage, money and small cloth bag Ace bandage, money and small cloth bag Pig Party Invitation Zip-loc bag filled with dirt Small hand-held mirror Large sunglasses or x-ray Bottle of perfume Large sunglasses or x-ray Use real coins (not included in the kit) Picture of person praying Picture of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast Cup Apron Gold rocks Small cross 17

22 B e t h e s d a series

23 Lesson 1 Watching Jesus and Getting to Know Him Materials: Author s Note: The books and DVD s listed below (The Wizard of Oz, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and SpongeBob) are suggestions that have worked well in the world of disabilities. Feel free to substitute any book or DVD that s appropriate for your group. You will need to modify the questions related to them accordingly. 1. John 13:15 (refer to Scripture sheet in student manual). 2. Flip chart with Scripture written out in colors. 3. DVD and book of The Wizard of Oz, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and SpongeBob (one of these will be the prop). 4. Costume of Dorothy, Willy Wonka, and SpongeBob (if unable to get costumes make masks of the characters). 5. Sponge prop for the movie SpongeBob. 6. Copies of reminder sheet from student manual. 7. Camera (you can do the lesson without this, but using a camera strengthens it.) If possible, have many props so that the students are able to recognize multiple characters from the books and DVD s you have. Goals: This is an introductory lesson to help the students understand that the more they watch the DVD of a character, the more they will be able to be like that character. Then the class will be able to connect with the truth that the more they look at Jesus, the more they will be able to be like him. The organization of this lesson is different because we are introducing the reason we are studying the Bible. Kim s World: Please do not assume that people affected by disability will not be able to understand concepts with review, visual prompts, personification and humor, people like Kim (and me) can understand concepts and make connections. Lesson 1: Watching Jesus and Getting to Know Him 19

24 1. Start the Lesson Summing it up: We learn details about story and movie characters by watching and reading about them. Teaching Tip: The following questions pertain to specific books and movies. If you think your students are unfamiliar with them, then use movies and books they would be familiar with and adjust the questions accordingly. Q. I have a bag here and I need some help figuring out who wears outfits like this, can you help me? Tell me who this is and what movie it is from. Pull out Toto and the basket. (Toto and The Wizard of Oz.) Pull out the red shoes. (Dorothy) Q. What color are her shoes? (Red.) Q. Now what color is her dress? (Blue and white.) Q. What is the pattern of the colors? (Checks.) If the students have trouble recalling the word, sometimes giving them the initial sound will help them get the word out. Q. If we put on these clothes, who will we look like? (Dorothy.) Pull out Willy Wonka s hat. (Willy Wonka.) Pull out his top coat. (Willy Wonka.) Pull out sponge. Q. Do you know who this may remind me of? (SpongeBob.) Pull out the costume of SpongeBob. Q. Now tell me is SpongeBob serious or funny? (Very funny.) You did such a good job telling me who wears these clothes! Q. Now tell me where you learned about Dorothy, Willy Wonka, and SpongeBob. When questioning the students, try to make the sentence a statement; avoid using question words such as when, why, how, and what. Using these question words makes the person go through two steps to answer the question. (TV, books, DVD s) Now hold up the DVD s and the books of the characters. 20 Unit 1: Compassion

25 That is right! The more you look at the DVD or read the book the more you are able to tell me about Dorothy, Willy Wonka, and SpongeBob. Q. How many times have you watched The Wizard of Oz? (Lots!) Sometimes number concepts are hard for the students to get, using describing words like small, big, little, a lot, etc. helps. Q. Tell me if you have seen Willy Wonka one time or lots of times. (Lots.) Q. Tell me if you have watched SpongeBob more than one time. (Yes.) With each question hold up the movie. Q. So the more you look at the movies the more you can tell me what the people look like right? (Yes.) So let s try on the costumes. If you don t have the costumes, use masks that you have made or purchased. Let the students pick out a costume, put it on, and have a lot of fun! If you have a camera, take pictures of the group and let them parade around the room. Q. So, tell me who do we talk about in Sunday school or church almost every week? (Jesus.) Skip this question if the students don t attend church yet. Q. How do we spell Jesus? J E S U S 2. What About Me? Summing it up: When I read the Bible I will know more about Jesus. I want to be more like Jesus. Let me read you this verse. On lined flip chart-size paper have this verse written out in same color as in the student manual. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. John 13:15 Q. An example to follow; have you heard that before? (Answers will vary.) Demonstrate with your teaching-partner (or a student) an argument about how you want to go to the zoo and she wants to go to the beach. (The argument reflects meanness.) Q. Do you think you should act like we just did? (No, you weren t nice!) That is right! Jesus is telling us in this verse (reread) that he wants us to do what he does. Lesson 1: Watching Jesus and Getting to Know Him 21

26 Q. How do you think we can learn what Jesus does? We learned about Dorothy from watching The Wizard of Oz. We learned about SpongeBob from reading the books and seeing him on TV and DVD s. (From reading the Bible.) Q. If you want to learn more about Jesus what can you do? (Read the Bible.) That s right! Write down their answers on a flip chart Q. Tell me what else you can do to learn about Jesus. (We can watch DVD s about him.) Yes! Q. Anything else we can do to learn more about Jesus? (Pray.) Absolutely. You did a great job with this! Q. Do you think if we read the Bible and look at DVD s about Jesus and pray we will get to know more about Jesus just like we know so much about Dorothy, Willy Wonka, and SpongeBob? (Yes.) So that is what we are going to be doing we are going to look at Jesus a lot and get to know him like a good friend and then we will be able to love like him and do the things he used to do. We ll learn that we can only do this when he lives in our hearts. So he is inside of us, helping us to love. Gospel Connection: Looking at Jesus doesn t change us. The only thing that changes us is when Jesus lives in our hearts. But by seeing Jesus we learn what we are supposed to be like. When we look at Jesus we fall in love with him. That is how faith begins, by falling in love with Jesus. I hope you fall in love with Jesus as we look at him. Go to the verse and re-read it. 3. How am I going to remember this? Summing it up: Every lesson we will have a prop to help us remember what we have learned. We are going to have a basket, and in the basket is something small from our lesson that will remind us of what we learned today. We can put in a movie. Which one do you want to put in the basket? (Answers will vary.) In every lesson there will be a prop. The prop is what goes into this basket. You will use these props in the future to help the students remember the stories. This will also help them learn what Jesus is like and how to follow Him. 22 Unit 1: Compassion

27 Now this will remind us that the more we watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the more we will be able to act like Willy Wonka just like the more we learn about Jesus the more we will be able to love like him. 4. Close in prayer Jesus, we want to know all about you. Please help us to know you even more than we may know about Dorothy. Help us to know what made you laugh. Help us to know what made you sad. Help us to know what frustrated you. Help us to know how much you love us and other people. Amen. Lesson 1: Watching Jesus and Getting to Know Him 23

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29 Lesson 2 Jesus Looks at Us and Knows When We Are Sad The Widow of Nain, Part 1 Materials: 1. Luke 7:11-17 (refer to the Scripture sheet in the student manual). 2. Flip chart with Scripture written in same colors as in student manual. 3. Chocolate chip cookie. 4. Glass with pitcher of water. 5. Different colored scarves or shawls (enough for each character in the story). 6. Reminder sheet from student manual. 7. Small basket with doll in it. This is the prop. Chapter 1 in Love Walked Among Us and Lesson 1 in The Person of Jesus. Goals: Love: We will look at people and try to share their sorrow. Jesus: Jesus looks and shares people s sorrow (that is compassion). Faith: God looks at us with eyes of love. Kim s World: Many people affected by disability have led lonely, isolated, and sad lives. Being excluded can be a daily occurrence for folks with disability. Studies show that a high ratio of people affected by disability suffer from depression. Kim (and I) need to know that Jesus moves towards sad people. Jesus looks for sad people. Jesus wants to help sad people. Lesson 2: Jesus Looks At Us and Knows When We Are Sad 25

30 1. Review the Story 10 Minutes Summing it up: The way we know about our favorite movie characters is from watching movies and reading books. We learn about Jesus from reading the Bible. Q. Do you remember what we talked about last week? (Movies, Dorothy.) Hold up props if necessary to remind students. Q. How did we learn about these characters? (From TV, DVD s and books.) Q. How do we learn more about Jesus? (From the Bible.) 2. Experience the Story 15 minutes Summing it up: We will experience the story through a variety of different means in order to use all the senses. Prior to reading the passage, tell them that Luke was a doctor. Point to the words as you read them. If the students are able to read, some of them may have trouble following the words without you pointing them out as you read. This is also a good time to reinforce the students reading skills. Read Luke 7: Have the students who are comfortable read aloud one verse each until they finish the passage. Adapt for slower readers by assisting them and/or giving them shorter portions to read. Luke 7: Sometime later, Jesus went to a town called Nain. His disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 He approached the town gate. Just then, a dead person was being carried out. He was the only son of his mother. She was a widow. A large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, he felt sorry for her. So he said, Don t cry. 14 Then he went up and touched the coffin. Those carrying it stood still. Jesus said, Young man, I say to you, get up! 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk. Then Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16 The people were all filled with wonder and praised God. A great prophet has appeared among us, they said. God has come to help his people. 17 This news about Jesus spread all through Judea and the whole country. Choose at least two of the next four options to reinforce the primary reading of the passage. 26 Unit 1: Compassion

31 1. Role-play the story. Use different colored scarves or shawls worn over the head or around the shoulders for costumes. For example: Person 1: Jesus Person 2: Widow Person 3: Boy Person 4: Person who wails Person 5: Disciple 2. Draw out the scene as you teach. Below is a completed drawing of the funeral procession. 3. Watch a YouTube video of the widow of Nain [ 4. Use puppets to act out the story. There is a nice series of Bible character puppets from www. thepuppetstore.com/biblical_s/62.htm. Teaching Note: After you have read the story from Scripture and reinforced it with two of the above options, you will begin to get the students involved in the learning process by asking the interactive questions below: Lesson 2: Jesus Looks At Us and Knows When We Are Sad 27

32 3. Understand the Story 15 Minutes Summing it up: We are comparing funerals today with those in Christ s time. Q. Where are you from? Where do you live? (Answers will vary.) This story happens in a town called Nain. Q. What s going on here? (There is a funeral.) Q. Who s been to a funeral? (I have.) There is most likely a familiarity with funerals. Q. Tell me what it was like. (Sad, casket with the body, flowers, music, grave side, crying.) Divide the flip chart with a vertical line. On the left side write down the title Funeral in My Town and put their answers on the left side of the flip chart. Funeral in Nain Well, this funeral was different from the ones you went to. Show them the small wicker basket with the doll in it. First they didn t put the body in a casket, but in a wicker basket. Title the right side of the flip chart Funeral in Nain. Write wicker basket underneath the title on the right side of the chart. Another thing that was different at this funeral was that there were no flowers. Write on flip chart under Funeral in Nain. At the funerals you went to was it quiet or noisy? (Quiet.) Write that under Funeral in My Town side. Well, at this funeral there was a lot of noise. Write under Funeral in Nain on the right side of the flip chart. Q. Do you have a job? ( Yes I walk dogs, I work at Dairy Queen, I babysit..) Back in the time when this funeral happened there were people who had the job to cry really loud at funerals. They called them wailers. Demonstrate this and then write this on Funeral in Nain side. Q. How did you get to the cemetery? (In a car.) Write this on Funeral in My Town side. 28 Unit 1: Compassion

33 The people in this story walk to the cemetery. Then write this on Funeral in Nain side. This is what it could have looked like. Draw the funeral procession. You can use stick figures or just straight lines for the people. Q. Did the family bury your (mom, grandmother, dad, aunt, etc.) the same day he/ she died? (No, we waited almost a week.) Write their answers on the chart. Teaching tip: Notice how the question is personalized. It is always beneficial to the students to personalize as much as you can throughout the lesson(s). The mother in this story buried the boy the same day he died. Q. Did everybody in your town come to your (family member s) funeral? (No.) Again, make this question personal to the students. Everybody in the town of Nain came to the funeral. So there were lots of people at this funeral. Q. Did you have anyone play the flute on the way to the cemetery? (No, we were in cars.) There were flute players playing the flute on the way to the cemetery when they were carrying the boy. Now we are going to see how Jesus loved this woman who had lost her only son. The three steps of love Summing it up: This is one of the core truths of this study. Love looks, shares our sorrow, and helps. Let s think about the story and see what this teaches us about love. Step One: Look Q. Was Jesus by himself? (No.) Q. What does Jesus do? What is the very first thing Jesus does? (Looks.) Yes! He is looking at the woman! That is our first step of love: Look Lesson 2: Jesus Looks At Us and Knows When We Are Sad 29

34 Make three steps and put look on the first step. Q. Do you think it was easy to find her? (Answers will vary.) Step Two: Compassion Q. If I have a chocolate chip cookie and I asked you if you wanted me to share it with you, what would you say? (Yes!) Get a chocolate chip cookie and share it. Q. Has anyone had a cold? (Answers will vary.) It makes you feel bad, doesn t it? Blow your nose into a Kleenex and ask if anyone wants to share this Kleenex and blow their nose. Q. Would you want me to share it with you? (No!) Q. Tell me why you don t want to share my Kleenex. (I don t want to get sick.) Q. How about if I were really sad and I asked you if you wanted some of my sadness, what would you say? (Answers may vary.) Some students may have a keen sense of compassion and would love to comfort you in your sadness. If you get that answer, affirm them with telling them that is how Jesus loves. If some say No, ask the next question.) Q. Why? (Because I don t want to be sad.) Gospel Connection: Well, Jesus wants to share our sadness. He wants to be sad when we are sad. The word the Bible uses for sharing sadness is compassion. Look at verse 13. His heart overflowed with compassion. That is why Jesus died for us! 30 Unit 1: Compassion

35 Write Sharing sadness on the second step. Q. What does it mean to overflow? (To fall out of the top.) Get a glass and fill it up with water till it overflows. Yes, the water goes over the top of the glass. Well, Jesus heart is like a glass and in it he put the woman s sadness until his heart overflowed with her sadness. Q. Is it hard to be with people who are sad? (Yes, because I don t want to be sad.) Jesus knows when we are sad. He never leaves us. Jesus cares. 4. What about me? 10 Minutes Summing it up: Seeing how Jesus loves us with the first two steps of the three steps of love. Q. Do you know Jesus looks at you? (Yes.) He looks at you all day, every day. How does that make you feel? (Happy.) Gospel Connection: God loves you by looking at you, by thinking about you. Q. Well, is it hard for you to stop and look at people? (Sometimes.) It is hard for me because I am usually in a rush. Q. Name one or two people in the class, do you like to look at people? (No.) Jill s Personal Teaching Tip: Kim (and others who struggle with autism) especially have trouble looking at people. Q. Why? (I don t know what to say.) It is very hard for people with autism to look at people and communication is difficult for them. Q. Is it hard for you to think about other people? (Yes.) Q. Is it easier to think about yourself or others? (Myself.) We need to think about others. We start by looking at them. If we see that they are sad we want to find out why they are sad and share that feeling with them. 5. Close in prayer Jesus, we want to be like you. We want to look at people like you did. We want to be able to be sad with them like you were with the widow of Nain. Please help us not to think only about ourselves, but care about other people like you did. Lesson 2: Jesus Looks At Us and Knows When We Are Sad 31

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37 Jesus Shares My Sadness The Widow of Nain, Part 2 Lesson 3 Materials: 1. Luke 7:11-17 (refer to the Scripture sheet in the student manual). 2. Flip chart with Scripture written on it in same colors as the student manual sheet. 3. Small basket with doll in it. This is the same prop from last week. 4. Different colored scarves or shawls (enough for each character in the story). 5. Reminder sheet from the student manual. Chapter 1 in Love Walked Among Us and Lesson 1 in The Person of Jesus. Goals: Love: We will look at how Jesus loved the widow, and will try to love other people that same way. Jesus: He is amazing! He loves me. He looks at me. He knows what makes me sad. The same things that me sad, make him sad. Then Jesus helps me! Faith: God looks at each of us, sees our problems and sins and yet still loves us. Kim s World: Kim has autism. It is hard for her to look at people. She will see them from the peripheral, but for her to look right into others eyes is very difficult. This is a good lesson to get Kim (and me) to look at people who are sad, just the way Jesus looks at us. Lesson 3: Jesus Shares My Sadness 33

38 1. Review the story 10 Minutes Summing it up: Jesus at the widow s son s funeral and his demonstration of two of the three steps of love. Refer to drawing of Steps of Love chart as you ask these questions: Q. Last week we talked about something who remembers? (A funeral.) Hold up prop from last week if they need to be reminded. Q. Tell me about the funeral. Were there few people or many at it? (Many.) Q. Remember they had a job for some people, what did they do? (Cry.) Q. Do you remember the name they were called? (Wailers.) Right! Demonstrate wailing. That was their job, to cry really hard. Q. We talked about something Jesus did right away last week when he saw the funeral. Who remembers? (He looked.) Yes, he looked at the person. Q. Who did Jesus see? (The mom.) Q. How did he feel when he saw the mom? (Sad.) Q. Do you remember when we talked about Jesus sharing her sadness? (Yes.) Q. Do you remember what that big word was that meant sharing sadness? (Compassion.) Point to the verse on the take home sheet that says Jesus heart overflowed with compassion. So we have to look at the person, then share their sadness. Remember that these are the first two steps of love. Point to the step chart. 2. Experience the Story 15 Minutes Summing it up: We will experience the story through a variety of different means in order to use all the senses. 34 Unit 1: Compassion

39 Read Luke 7: Have the students who are comfortable read aloud one verse each until they finish the passage. Adapt for slower readers by assisting them and/or giving them shorter portions to read. Luke 7:11 11 Sometime later, Jesus went to a town called Nain. His disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 He approached the town gate. Just then, a dead person was being carried out. He was the only son of his mother. She was a widow. A large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, he felt sorry for her. So he said, Don t cry. 14 Then he went up and touched the coffin. Those carrying it stood still. Jesus said, Young man, I say to you, get up! 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk. Then Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16 The people were all filled with wonder and praised God. A great prophet has appeared among us, they said. God has come to help his people. 17 This news about Jesus spread all through Judea and the whole country. Choose at least two of the next four options to reinforce the primary reading of the passage. 1. Role-play the story. Use different colored scarves or shawls worn over the head or around the shoulders for costumes. Highlight looking and sharing the widow s sorrow. For example: Person 1: Jesus Person 2: Widow Person 3: Boy Person 4: Person who wails Person 5: Disciple 2. Refer back to scene from last week s drawing. Then refer to the step chart (pictured below) for the rest of the lesson. Lesson 3: Jesus Shares My Sadness 35

40 3. Watch a YouTube video of the widow of Nain [ 4. Use puppets to act out the story. There is a nice series of Bible character puppets from www. thepuppetstore.com/biblical_s/62.htm. Teaching Note: After you have read the story from Scripture and reinforced it with two of the above options, you will begin to get the students involved in the learning process by asking the interactive questions below: 3. Understand the Story 15 Minutes Summing it up: How to recognize sorrow and see how Jesus shared the widow s sadness, followed by how Jesus helped her. Q. How could the people tell that Jesus was sharing the mother s sadness? What would Jesus have looked like? (Sad.) Draw sad face. Q. Tell me what a sad face looks like. When you see someone really sad how do their eyes look? (Answers will vary.) Draw what they say on the face. Q. Is there anything else we see on their face that tells us they are sad? (Answers will vary.) Draw what they say on the face. Q. Do you know what color your face might be if you are really sad? (Red.) Add red to face. Q. When someone is sad, what is their voice like? (Answers will vary.) Draw what they say on the face. Q. Is your voice really loud when you are sad? (No, it whispers.) Draw sh sh sh in a balloon coming from the mouth of the face. Q. If someone is really sad what is their whole body like? (Answers will vary.) Draw what they say on the face. Q. What are you like when you see somebody who is going through a hard time? What do you do when you see someone sad? (Answers will vary.) Write on the chart, What I do when I see someone that is sad. Then write their answers below. Q. Do you walk to them or away from them? (Answers will vary.) You may ask one person this question, but avoid embarrassing anyone. The students may not 36 Unit 1: Compassion

41 instinctively say they go to a person who is sad. As we mentioned in the last lesson, people have a hard time sharing sadness. Q. What else do you do when you see someone sad? (Answers will vary.) Write what they say. That is really great. Teaching tip: it is always better if you can tell your own stories to apply the point more personally. A story from Jill s life: My goat died, and I was very sad. My daughter Emily was with me and she cried with me, she hugged me, and she helped me carry the goat. I drew a picture of Emily and me in the barn with Eeyore. She shared my sadness. Funerals Q. When you go to a funeral, what is the order of the things you do? (Answers will vary.) First you go to the church, then you go to bury the person that you love in a cemetery. Right? You get in a car and all turn on their lights, and there is a train of cars. Draw a line of cars. Q. When there is a line of cars do other people butt into the line of cars, or do they wait until the line has passed them? (They wait.) Yes, they wait until the line of cars has passed. Q. If the line of cars comes to a traffic light do they all go through a red light? (Yes.) The cars don t stop until they get to the cemetery. If you made a quick drawing from the story last week, refer to the drawings of Jesus crowd and Mother s crowd meeting. Just like we have cars now and we don t interrupt or break into the line, in Jesus time you didn t interrupt the people walking with the body on their way to the cemetery. The funeral was coming by, the boy had died, the widow s only son. Step 3: Helping Here comes this procession. Remember the cars? Q. Who butts in? (Jesus.) Jesus interrupts! Jesus butts in. Jesus comes and he touches the boy s coffin. Jewish people were not to touch dead things. Jesus was Jewish. He was not supposed to touch the dead boy. But he did! Jesus broke a lot of rules. Lesson 3: Jesus Shares My Sadness 37

42 Q. How did Jesus stop the crowd? (He touched the coffin.) Q. Who stops traffic nowadays? (Police.) How do they get the people to stop? Are they quiet? (No, police yell or blow a whistle.) Notice how gentle Jesus is. He is Lord. He controls everything. Jesus is power. But just at Jesus word the boy got up. Q. When Jesus spoke to the boy did he yell or talk loudly? (No.) Q. Did Jesus yell, Watch me? I m going to do something really neat!? (No.) All he did was touch the casket and speak to the boy. Jesus doesn t show off when he loves. Q. What happened to the boy? (He came back to life.) Jesus helps. This is our third step of love. Now Write Help on the third step, referring to the chart you started last week. Q. After you do something really neat (give examples for each student of something they have done very well) what do you feel like doing? (Cheering.) You feel like saying, Look what I did!!! This is good!!! Jesus doesn t brag. Look at Jesus. (Refer to verses.) Jesus didn t say Look what I did, but he quietly gave the boy back to the mom. Q. So, who was the one person who got Jesus attention? (The mom.) Jesus did not want all the attention. The crowd was looking at him, but Jesus was looking at the mom. 4. What about me? 10 Minutes Summing it up: Jesus sees me, he shares my sorrow, and he helps me. We read about Jesus to learn more about him. Jesus loves each one of you like this. Just like Jesus saw this one woman, he sees you. He sees at (her job), he sees babysitting, he sees walking dogs. Jesus delights in you. Teaching Tip: personalize this to the group. Q. He looks at you every day. How does that make you feel? (Happy.) 38 Unit 1: Compassion

43 Do you remember how we dressed up like Willy Wonka, Dorothy, and SpongeBob? The way we knew Dorothy had a blue and white dress and braided hair is from reading the book and watching the DVD. Q. What can we learn from reading this story about Jesus? (How to be like him.) Q. What did you see in this story that you want to copy from him? (Helping people, talking to people.) Q. What else does Jesus do in this story that I want to copy? (He shared the mommy s sadness. He looks. He cares. He helps.) Q. Did Jesus want everyone to look at him or to look at the mom? (The mom.) Ok. Jesus does not brag, he is humble. That means he isn t thinking he is great. Jesus wanted other people to be noticed, not him. Q. Is that hard or easy to do? (Hard.) There are three steps of love. The first step is looking at people. The second step is sharing people s sadness. Like Emily was sad with Jill in the barn. (Or use your own personal story here.) The third step is helping. He brought the boy back to life! Gospel Connection: Jesus didn t do the three steps of love just for the woman. He also did it for us. He looked at us, felt how hard our world was, and then he died on the cross for our sins. Jesus looks at you, feels your sadness, and died for you so you could be new from top to bottom! 5. Close in prayer Jesus, please help us to love like you. Help us to look at people. Help us to share their sorrow. Help us to help them. Jesus, thank you for looking at me and watching me at work and during the day. Thank you that when I am sad, you are sad. Jesus, thank you for helping me. Lesson 3: Jesus Shares My Sadness 39

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45 Lesson 4 Jesus Tells Us a Story About How to Love The Good Samaritan, Part 1 Materials: 1. Luke10:29-37 (refer to the Scripture sheet in the student manual). 2. Flip chart with Scripture written on it in same colors as the student manual sheet. 3. Computer, YouTube video clip: 4. Different colored scarves or shawls (enough for each character in the story). 5. Reminder sheet from the student manual. 6. Ace bandage and money in a small cloth bag. This is the prop. Chapter 2a in Love Walked Among Us and Lesson 2 in The Person of Jesus. Goals: Love: We will copy what Jesus did. He took the time to look at people, share their sorrow, and help them. Jesus: He looks at us all the time. He feels what we feel. His help for us is perfect. Faith: God is constantly looking at us with a heart full of love. Kim s World: Many folks who struggle with disability LOVE schedules! They live for schedules, and when that schedule gets messed up, watch out! Kim (and I) need to learn that God will allow our schedule to get changed and it is OK. Kim (and I) need to love Jesus more than we love our schedule. Lesson 4: Jesus Tells Us a Story About How to Love 41

46 1. Review the Story 10 Minutes Summing it up: How Jesus helped the widow. Review the three steps of love. Q. Who remembers what happened last week? (Jesus was at the funeral. Jesus brought the boy back to life.) Hold up the prop if necessary to remind the students. Q. Tell me how Jesus did that. (He told the boy to get up.) Q. Did Jesus tell everyone to look at him as he healed the boy? (No.) Q. Once Jesus talked to the boy and the boy woke up, do you remember what Jesus did? (Jesus gave the boy back to his mom.) Yes. Q. We talked about how Jesus didn t want to get all the attention. Jesus did not want people looking at him. Who did Jesus want people to look at during the funeral? (The mom.) Q. We also talked about the three steps of love. Can you remember them? (Look, share other s sadness in your heart and help.) Q. That is great. Anyone remember the big word we use for "sharing people s sorrow"? (Compassion.) Q. Were any of you able to copy Jesus this week? (Answers will vary.) 2. Experience the story 15 Minutes Summing it up: We will experience the story through a variety of different means in order to use all the senses. Read Luke10: Have the students who are comfortable read aloud one verse each until they finish the passage. Adapt for slower readers by assisting them and/or giving them shorter portions to read. Draw eyes above the words looking and saw on each verse on the flip chart. 42 Unit 1: Compassion

47 Luke10: But the man wanted to make himself look good. So he asked Jesus, And who is my neighbor? 30 Jesus replied, A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Robbers attacked him. They stripped off his clothes and beat him. Then they went away, leaving him almost dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down that same road. When he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 A Levite also came by. When he saw the man, he passed by on the other side too. 33 But a Samaritan came to the place where the man was. When he saw the man, he felt sorry for him. 34 He went to him, poured olive oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey. He took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins. He gave them to the owner of the inn. Take care of him, he said. When I return, I will pay you back for any extra expense you may have. 36 Which of the three do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by robbers? 37 The authority on the law replied, The one who felt sorry for him. Jesus told him, Go and do as he did. Choose at least two of the next four options to reinforce the primary reading of the passage. 1. Role-play the story. Use different colored scarves or shawls worn over the head or around the shoulders for costumes. Highlight looking and seeing. For example: Person 1: The man Person 2: Pastor Person 3: Church worker Person 4: Samaritan Person 5: Inn keeper 2. Draw out the scene as you teach. The picture here shows the completed drawing. Lesson 4: Jesus Tells Us a Story About How to Love 43

48 3. Watch a YouTube video of The Good Samaritan: or 4. Use puppets to act out the story. There is a nice series of Bible character puppets from www. thepuppetstore.com/biblical_s/62.htm. Teaching Note: After you have read the story from Scripture and reinforced it with two of the above options, you will begin to get the students involved in the learning process by asking the interactive questions below: 3. Understand the Story 15 Minutes Summing it up: Pointing out the three steps of love in the story of the Good Samaritan. Q. Do you love stories? (Yes.) A person came up to Jesus and asked him how he could love his neighbor. So Jesus answered him with telling him this story. There was a Jewish man who was beaten up. Do a quick drawing of a man on the ground with cuts and bruises. Add to it as you tell the story. The drawing on the previous page shows the completed one. Well, a person comes by who is a pastor, kind of like ( ). (Personalize to a pastor they would know.) Q. Jesus picked a pastor, because pastors usually do what is right all the time. Right? (Yes.) Draw the pastor walking around the beaten man and then walking on to Jericho. Q. Now a second person comes along. He is a church worker. And he looked! But did he stop? (No.) Draw a picture of this church helper walking around the man and continuing his walk to Jericho. Now draw the Samaritan on the picture. Samaritans were not liked by Jewish people when this happened. People used to say that Samaritans were not good people. But here Jesus said the Samaritan stopped and helped the man. 44 Unit 1: Compassion

49 Q. What did the Samaritan do? (He stopped and helped him.) He got bandages, cleaned him up and put him on his donkey. Use an ace bandage and wrap your arm as you are telling the students that this is how the Samaritan helped the man. Keep adding to the drawing by cleaning up the man and putting him on the donkey. The Three Steps of Love: Q. When you see the Samaritan and how he acted, how was the Samaritan like Jesus when Jesus was at the funeral? (He looked.) Yes, the Samaritan looked. Q. How else was he like Jesus? (He was filled with compassion.) Yes, his heart filled up. (Draw the outline of a heart and then fill it with a different color.) Q. What did his heart fill up with? (Filled up with sadness.) Q. What was the Samaritan sad about? (Answers will vary.) Yes, he could tell that this man was very hurt. Q. How else did this Samaritan act like Jesus? (He helped.) Q. How did he help? (He washed the cuts. Then he had to lift up the man to put him on his donkey.) The Cost of Love: Q. Why do you think the pastor and the church helper walked away? (Answers will vary.) Prompt with I m not helping because. Refer to the picture you drew. Maybe they were afraid the robbers were still hiding in the rocks and that maybe the robbers would jump out and beat them up! Sometimes we are in such a hurry, we don t stop! Q. Who here doesn t want to interrupt a schedule? (Answers will vary.) I have trouble with this too. (Many students affected by disability hate changes in their schedule!) Lesson 4: Jesus Tells Us a Story About How to Love 45

50 Q. What did this Samaritan have to give? (Help, love, kindness.) Q. What else did he do? (He used his money.) Q. Who here likes money? (I do.) Q. Do you like to share your money? (Answers will vary.) Sometimes I don t want to share my money. Gospel Connection: Jesus felt the cost of love for you. Jesus did just what the Good Samaritan did by dying on the cross for you. Each of us is like the wounded man on the side of the road, and Jesus stops for us. 4. What about me? 10 Minutes Summing it up: Many times when we love it involves interrupting our schedule. Q. Is it hard to interrupt your schedule and stop to help and show love to someone? (Yes.) Q. If you are in a hurry, is it hard to slow down and stop? (Yes.) Jesus is never in a hurry. He stops when he sees we are hurt. Jesus always cares. He is looking, he is sad when we are sad, and he is helping us. 5. Close in prayer Jesus, you gave us this story to show us how you want us to love. We want to do what you want us to do. Please help us love people and let our schedules get messed up. Please help us be able to stop if we are in a hurry, and be willing to look for people who need help. Amen. 46 Unit 1: Compassion

51 Lesson 5 Not Sure About That Third Step The Good Samaritan, Part 2 Materials: 1. Luke10:29-37 (refer to the Scripture sheet in the student manual). 2. Flip chart with Scripture written on it in same colors as the student manual sheet. 3. Different colored scarves or shawls (enough for each character in the story). 4. Reminder sheet from the student manual. 5. Ace bandage and money in a small cloth bag. This is the prop. Chapter 2a in Love Walked Among Us and Lesson 2 in The Person of Jesus. Goals: Love: We use our eyes to look at people. Then we are compassionate because of what we see. Now we will do something to help them. Jesus: He never stops at the first two steps he always moves into helping. Faith: God is always looking at us, wanting to show his love for us. Kim s World: It is hard for Kim to move toward people. Actually, it is also hard for her when others move toward her. Some people with disability need space, especially at first. All through school, students and many adults moved away from Kim. In church people have sometimes moved away from Kim, so it is a hard thing for Kim to move toward others. Kim (and I) need to ask Jesus to help us to care so much for other people that we will take the risk and move toward them. Lesson 5: Not Sure About That Third Step 47

52 1. Review the story 10 Minutes Summing it up: In the story of the Good Samaritan we see the three steps of love. Q. Who remembers the story from last week? (The Good Samaritan.) Hold up prop if necessary to remind the students. Q. Two people walked by the man that was hurt. Do you remember who they were? (A pastor and a church worker.) Q. Who was the person who stopped to help the man who was hurt? (The Samaritan.) It is kind of funny that Jesus used two people who went to church in the story to be the ones who walked by the hurt man. Then Jesus had the Samaritan stop and help the hurt man. Most Jewish people didn t like Samaritans, but that is the only person who decided to stop and help the hurt man. Q. Tell me the three steps of love. (Look, share the person s sadness, and help.) Q. Did anyone have a chance to walk up those 3 steps this week? 2. Experience the story 15 Minutes Summing it up: We will experience the story through a variety of different means in order to use all the senses. Read Luke10: Have the students who are comfortable read aloud one verse each until they finish the passage. Adapt for slower readers by assisting them and/or giving them shorter portions to read. Draw eyes above the words looking and saw on the flip chart. Luke10: But the man wanted to make himself look good. So he asked Jesus, And who is my neighbor? 30 Jesus replied, A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Robbers attacked him. They stripped off his clothes and beat him. Then they went away, leaving him almost dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down that same road. When he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 A Levite also came by. When he saw the man, he passed by on the other side too. 33 But a Samaritan came to the place where the man was. When he saw the man, he felt sorry for him. 34 He went to him, poured olive oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey. He took him to an inn and took care of him. 48 Unit 1: Compassion

53 35 The next day he took out two silver coins. He gave them to the owner of the inn. "Take care of him," he said. "When I return, I will pay you back for any extra expense you may have." 36 Which of the three do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by robbers? 37 The authority on the law replied, The one who felt sorry for him. Jesus told him, Go and do as he did. Choose at least two of the next four options to reinforce the primary reading of the passage. 1. Role-play the story. Use different colored scarves or shawls worn over the head or around the shoulders for costumes. Highlight looking and seeing. For example: Person 1: The man Person 2: Pastor Person 3: Church worker Person 4: Samaritan Person 5: Inn keeper 2. Draw out the scene as you teach. The picture below shows the completed drawing. Lesson 5: Not Sure About That Third Step 49

54 3. Watch a YouTube video of The Good Samaritan: or 4. Use puppets to act out the story. There is a nice series of Bible character puppets from www. thepuppetstore.com/biblical_s/62.htm. Teaching Note: After you have read the story from Scripture and reinforced it with two of the above options, you will begin to get the students involved in the learning process by asking the interactive questions below 3. Understand the Story 15 Minutes Summing it up: Comparing the three steps of love using the story of the Good Samaritan and when Jesus met the widow of Nain. Love will cost us something. Q. Who remembers anything about the Samaritans? (They were not liked.) Q. Who remembers what the Good Samaritan s heart fills up with? (Sorrow, he is sharing the hurt man s sadness.) Draw a heart and then using a different color marker fill the heart up from the bottom. Q. Tell me how the Samaritan helped the hurt man. (He put bandages on him.) Q. Then after he bandaged the man where did he put him? (On his donkey.) Q. Then where did he take him? (To an inn.) Q. What is an inn? (A hotel.) All during this time illustrate the story. Comparing widow of Nain and the Good Samaritan: Q. In another story that we read a couple of weeks ago, someone else s heart filled up with sadness. What story was that? (Jesus and the widow.) That s right! If the students can t remember bring out the prop of the basket with the doll in it. Draw a chart. On one side write Good Samaritan and the other side write Jesus. Let s think about the story of the widow of Nain too now. 50 Unit 1: Compassion

55 Q. Do you think the Good Samaritan is anything like Jesus? (Yes.) Q. Tell me one way you think the Good Samaritan was like Jesus. (Helped people.) Q. OK. The Good Samaritan helped. Who did he help? (The injured man.) Q. Who was that man? What was he doing? (He was on a trip.) Q. In the story of the funeral, who did Jesus help? (The widow.) Refer to drawings from lesson 2 and 3. Q. What was the very first thing the Samaritan did? It was also the very first thing Jesus did at the funeral. (He saw.) Yes, the Good Samaritan saw the hurt man, and Jesus saw the widow of Nain. Q. Then what did they do? (They shared their sorrow.) Q. Remember that big word that means sharing someone s sadness? (Compassion.) Q. Can you think of any other ways the Good Samaritan and Jesus were the same? (They saw and then they felt sadness and they helped.) The Three Steps of Love: So he looked. Write the word look and then draw eyes on the first step. Then his heart filled with compassion, sharing the person s sadness. Write the words "shared the person s sadness" and then draw a heart. Color it in bottom up with a different color and call it sadness. Put this on the second step. Then he helped. Write the word help and then draw a hand. This goes on the third step. Eyes, heart, and hands. The Good Samaritan and Jesus used all of these. Q. Why do you think the pastor and church worker keep walking? (Answers will vary.) Sometimes I am so busy I could run right past people. (Teaching Tip: It is best if you tell a personal story from your own life about being too busy to notice people.) Lesson 5: Not Sure About That Third Step 51

56 Jill s Personal Story: One time I didn t want to stop to answer the phone. Someone called me who was having a hard time and I was too busy to stop to pick up the phone and get stuck talking to them. I think that I should not walk by the telephone, but pick it up. Q. So give me another reason the pastor walked away. At the very end of the story what did the Good Samaritan give to the man who worked at the hotel for taking care of the hurt man? (Money.) It cost money to help the man! It can be hard to spend money on someone you don t know. Love always costs something. Q. What does love cost? What does the Samaritan have to do? (Stop and take time out.) It costs time. It took time for the Good Samaritan to take care of the hurt man. Write the word time and draw a clock. Q. What else did it cost? (His schedule.) It costs your schedule. Write the word schedule and draw a calendar with the days filled in with things to do. Q. What else does it cost for the Samaritan? (Money.) Write the word money and draw a dollar. Q. Did it cost anything else? Do you think the Good Samaritan would have stayed clean while he was getting the hurt man bandaged up and on his donkey? (No, he would have gotten dirty. He could get sick from the man s blood.) Yes, it does cost. Think of all the things Jesus gave up for us. Ask the students to list them. Gospel Connection: Jesus gave up his place in heaven to come to earth as a man, and even though he was God, he lived on earth. Then he died to take away our sins, so that we could have a relationship with His Father and our Father. (Teaching Tip: A personal story from your life is always best to relate the truths of the lesson.) Jill s Personal Example I asked my friend Nicole if I could share this story. She agreed. Nicole made me a dinner for my birthday and it cost her time and money. She had to interrupt her normal schedule to make me the dinner. It made her kitchen messy. But she showed me love by taking the time and money to do it. I thanked her for the great dinner she made. 52 Unit 1: Compassion

57 4. What about me? 15 Minutes Summing it up: How do we respond when we are interrupted? When our schedule is changed? What do we learn from looking at Jesus? Q. How do you handle interruptions or a change in your schedule? (Answers will vary.) This whole story is about an interruption. Look at the pastor (refer to the illustration). Maybe he was going to start a prayer meeting. And on his way to do this good thing he sees this man all beaten up. This is an interruption! Look at the church helper. Maybe he is on his way to fix the chairs and put them in order. On his way to the church he also sees this bloody man and walks by because he doesn t want to get interrupted. He needs to get to work! This Good Samaritan looked at the hurt man and his heart filled with sadness and he helped him. Jesus saw the widow of Nain and his heart filled with sadness and he helped her. The Good Samaritan loved the man, and Jesus loved the widow. Q. Do you remember how we learned about Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz? (Or what other movies you used in Lesson 1) (From the movie.) Now we are learning how Jesus looked. Q. How do we know what Jesus is like? (From the Bible.) That s why we study the Bible, to know how Jesus looked, how he acted, what he did. Q. Can we look like Jesus did in our own strength? (No, only if Jesus lives in our hearts.) Learning to Cherish Summing it up: Jesus cherished the widow. Jesus cherishes me. Q. Do you know what cherish means? (No.) Let s say your house is on fire. You can only grab a few things that are very, very important to you. Q. What would you grab? (For example, my mom s ring, pictures, my dogs, books.) Draw a treasure chest with pictures of the things the students mentioned that they would take with them in case of a fire. (Or you could use a real chest and have things of value to you in it.) Then draw a chest with the stick figures of the students in your class. Lesson 5: Not Sure About That Third Step 53

58 Well, for example, you might cherish your mom s ring, or your pictures. You cherish your dogs and you cherish your books. This is what you and I treasure: stuff. Point to the treasure chest filled with the items the students mentioned. This is what Jesus treasures: Point to the treasure chest filled with stick figures of students (students names) are in Jesus treasure chest. He treasures you. He is always watching those he treasures. Like Jesus watched the widow, and the Good Samaritan watched the hurt man, Jesus looks at us the same way. Q. What did the Good Samaritan cherish? (The man that was hurt.) Jesus cherished the man too. Q. What did the widow of Nain cherish? (Her son.) Jesus cherished the son too. Your paper I gave you says, Jesus cherishes me; I cherish others. Just like Jesus has us in his treasure chest, we need other people in our treasure chest. Draw a treasure chest with people in it. Jill s personal note: You can pray for me that I would cherish people and treasure them. That is hard for me to do lots of times. Q. Do you think it is hard to treasure people? (Yes.) Me too. Gospel Connection: Do you know that God cherishes you? He thinks about you, he dreams about you, he loves you! When you cherish someone, you love to be with them. God loves to be with you. To talk with you. Q. If you know that about God, that he wants to be with you, how does that change how you think about God during the week? (Answers will vary.) 5. Close in prayer Dear Jesus, please help me not to get mad when my schedule gets interrupted and messed with. Please help me to look, to fill up with compassion, and to help others. Thank you that you treasure me. Help me to treasure people like you do. Amen. 54 Unit 1: Compassion

59 1 B e t h e s d a series ADAPTED FROM The Person of Jesus Study STUDENT MANUAL

60 B e t h e s d a series Unit 1: Compassion Student Manual Created by Jill A. Miller

61 Version seejesus Press The mission of seejesus is to help people see and reflect the life, death and resurrection of Jesus through our discipleship resources and training. seejesus P. O. Box 197 Telford, PA Phone: Fax: Reminder sheets created by Jill A. Miller Project Coordinator/Editor: Julie Courtney Artistic Designer: Seth Guge Design Coordinator: Liz Voboril Web Page Designer: Kelly Bergman Copy Editor: Jane French Typesetter: Pat Reinheimer 2014 seejesus Press ISBN-13: ISBN-10: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission from seejesus. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Reader s Version, NIrV Copyright 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. The Picture Communication Symbols by DynaVox Mayer-Johnson LLC. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Used with permission.

62 Scripture for Lesson 1: Watching Jesus and Getting to Know Him John 13:15 15) I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done unto you. Lesson 1: Watching Jesus and Getting to Know Him Unit 1: Compassion 3

63 Lesson 1 Reminder Sheet 4 Lesson 1: Watching Jesus and Getting to Know Him Unit 1: Compassion

64 Scripture for Lesson 2: Jesus Looks at Us and Knows When We Are Sad Luke 7: Sometime later, Jesus went to a town called Nain. His disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 He approached the town gate. Just then, a dead person was being carried out. He was the only son of his mother. She was a widow. A large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, he felt sorry for her. So he said, Don t cry. 14 Then he went up and touched the coffin. Those carrying it stood still. Jesus said, Young man, I say to you, get up! 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk. Then Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16 The people were all filled with wonder and praised God. A great prophet has appeared among us, they said. God has come to help his people. 17 This news about Jesus spread all through Judea and the whole country. Lesson 2: Jesus Looks at Us and Knows When We Are Sad Unit 1: Compassion 5

65 Lesson 2 Reminder Sheet 6 Lesson 2: Jesus Looks at Us and Knows When We Are Sad Unit 1: Compassion

66 Scripture for Lesson 3: The Things That Make Me Sad, Make Jesus Sad Luke 7: ) Sometime later, Jesus went to a town called Nain. His disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12) He approached the town gate. Just then, a dead person was being carried out. He was the only son of his mother. She was a widow. A large crowd from the town was with her. 13) When the Lord saw her, he felt sorry for her. So he said, Don t cry. 14) Then he went up and touched the coffin. Those carrying it stood still. Jesus said, Young man, I say to you, get up! 15) The dead man sat up and began to talk. Then Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16) The people were all filled with wonder and praised God. A great prophet has appeared among us, they said. God has come to help his people. 17) This news about Jesus spread all through Judea and the whole country. Lesson 3: The Things That Make Me Sad, Make Jesus Sad Unit 1: Compassion 7

67 Lesson 3 Reminder Sheet 8 Lesson 3: The Things That Make Me Sad, Make Jesus Sad Unit 1: Compassion

68 Scripture for Lesson 4: Jesus Tells Us a Story About How to Love Luke 10: ) But the man wanted to make himself look good. So he asked Jesus, And who is my neighbor? 30) Jesus replied, A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Robbers attacked him. They stripped off his clothes and beat him. Then they went away, leaving him almost dead. 31) A priest happened to be going down that same road. When he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32) A Levite also came by. When he saw the man, he passed by on the other side too. 33) But a Samaritan came to the place where the man was. When he saw the man, he felt sorry for him. 34) He went to him, poured olive oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey. He took him to an inn and took care of him. 35) The next day he took out two silver coins. He gave them to the owner of the inn. Take care of him, he said. When I return, I will pay you back for any extra expense you may have. 36) Which of the three do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by robbers? 37) The authority on the law replied, The one who felt sorry for him. Jesus told him, Go and do as he did. Lesson 4: Jesus Tells Us a Story About How to Love Unit 1: Compassion 9

69 Lesson 4 Reminder Sheet 10 Lesson 4: Jesus Tells Us a Story About How to Love Unit 1: Compassion

70 Scripture for Lesson 5: Not Sure About That Third Step Luke 10: ) But the man wanted to make himself look good. So he asked Jesus, And who is my neighbor? 30) Jesus replied, A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Robbers attacked him. They stripped off his clothes and beat him. Then they went away, leaving him almost dead. 31) A priest happened to be going down that same road. When he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32) A Levite also came by. When he saw the man, he passed by on the other side too. 33) But a Samaritan came to the place where the man was. When he saw the man, he felt sorry for him. 34) He went to him, poured olive oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey. He took him to an inn and took care of him. 35) The next day he took out two silver coins. He gave them to the owner of the inn. Take care of him, he said. When I return, I will pay you back for any extra expense you may have. 36) Which of the three do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by robbers? 37) The authority on the law replied, The one who felt sorry for him. Jesus told him, Go and do as he did. Lesson 5: Not Sure About That Third Step Unit 1: Compassion 11

71 Lesson 5 Reminder Sheet 12 Lesson 5: Not Sure About That Third Step Unit 1: Compassion