Lesso 13 135 Jesus Teaches About Lovig Eemies Luke 6:27-38 Third- ad fourth-graders have a kee sese of fairess. The kids i your group may be quick to poit out a situatio that does t seem equitable especially whe the child complaiig is the ijured party. But the same child might ot see the situatio i a similar light if the roles are reversed ad he or she is the perso beig complaied about! Use this lesso to help kids put themselves i others shoes ad see the wisdom i Jesus admoitio to treat others as we would like to be treated. Lesso What Childre Do Supplies easy prep 1 Gettig Started 2 Bible Exploratio Pig-Pog Revege (about 10 mi.) Discover how mea actios ca escalate by playig a game with a pig-pog ball. Opposite Day (about 20 mi.) Do the opposite of what they d ormally do as they lear what Jesus said to do. Treat You Right (about 15 mi.) Do kid thigs for themselves, ad the lear the Key Verse to fid out that s what Jesus said to do for others. paiter s tape, 1 pig-pog ball for every 2 kids Bibles Bibles, CD player, copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack: CD Use paiter s tape to create several 5-foot lies with eough room aroud each so kids ca use them as the ceter lie for pig-pog games. Bible Poit Jesus says to treat others as we wat to be treated. Key Verse Do to others as you would have them do to you (Luke 6:31). Weavig Faith Ito Life Childre will look for ways to treat others as Jesus says to. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 13
136 Lesso What Childre Do Supplies Easy Prep 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life Rewrite That Edig (about 15 mi.) Write stories, ad let a peer write a edig with a twist. Bibles, Bible Truth Sleuth, pes Tear out the Lesso 13 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. 4 Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Bible Truth Sleuth Lastig Impressios Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Lesso 13 Grades 3 & 4
137 Jesus Teaches About Lovig Eemies Luke 6:27-38 BIBLe BACKGROUND for Leaders Jesus Teaches About Real Love The Jesus Coectio Luke 6:27-38 is a cotiuatio of Jesus Sermo o the Plai. I this passage Jesus teaches what it really meas to love. The Jews kew what eemies were, ad whe Jesus talked about people who cursed them, mistreated them, struck them, ad stole from them, the Jews likely thought of the Romas. It would have bee tough for Jews to accept the idea that they should love their oppressors. But Jesus was t sayig that they should have warm feeligs toward their eemies. Istead, Jesus was tellig them to love their eemies as a coscious act of will, to act i ways that would please their eemies, to behave toward them as a merciful God would. As we thik of lovig our eemies, it s importat to be thakful that Jesus drew us ito a relatioship with himself. He did this despite our hurtful choice to si agaist him. Reread Luke 6:31. I what areas of your life do you fid it difficult to put this verse ito practice? Ask for Jesus help. Pray about how you d like to be treated, ad ask Jesus to help you treat others that way. You ca write your prayer here. Jesus commad rus exactly couter to the huma impulse. Eve so, this is the law of love that God wats to see i the hearts of those who follow Jesus. Jesus Teaches About Difficult Love Jesus also poits out the emptiess of lovig oly those who love us. That s easy! Our love should t be based o the expectatio of beig loved i retur; istead we ca look forward to a heavely reward because we have treated people as God wats us to treat them (Luke 6:35). I his summary of this teachig (Luke 6:35-36), Jesus stresses the importace of the priciple he has explaied. Our very positio as childre of God is at stake. If we are sos of the Most High, we will live ad love i the way Jesus describes. Whe people watch us, they ll be able to see our merciful God i our attitudes ad actios. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 13
138 gettig started Pig-Pog Revege Supplies paiter s tape 1 pig-pog ball for every 2 kids Pig-Pog Revege Easy Prep Use paiter s tape to create several 5-foot lies with eough room aroud each so kids ca use them as the ceter lie for pig-pog games. Pig-Pog Revege What You ll Do Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Say: Today we re goig to start with a quick game of pig-pog! Have kids form pairs, ad have kids i each pair stad o opposite sides of a tape lie. Say: This pig-pog game will be differet from others you ve played because each time the ball comes to you, you ll preted it s somethig mea that someoe else is doig or sayig to you. You ll also be usig air to push the ball back ad forth rather tha usig a paddle. Give each pair a ball, ad say go! Kids will crouch dow ad blow the ball back ad forth, tryig to keep it o the other perso s side so that whe time is up, it s o the other perso s side. Allow about five miutes for kids to play. Whe it gets close to time, cout dow from 10 secods, ad the have kids determie whose side the ball was o whe the game eded. Durig the game, it s likely they ll occasioally be out of breath. That s part of the poit of this game. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Ask: I what way did this game become more itese over time? I what ways was blowig the ball back to your oppoet like gettig eve with someoe i real life? Whe have you felt like gettig eve with somebody? What happeed? Do you thik gettig eve is ever okay to do? Explai. Say: I our game, as soo as the ball came to us, we tried to quickly blow the ball back to the seder. Sometimes i real life, we may feel the same way. Whe somebody does somethig mea to us, our first icliatio may be to do somethig mea right back. I today s Bible passage, we ll lear what we ca do with our eemies as we discover that Jesus says to treat others as we wat to be treated. Lesso 13 Grades 3 & 4
139 2 Bible Exploratio Opposite Day What You ll Do Have kids remai i their pairs. Say: Today s Bible passage is more like a recipe for livig our lives the best way possible tha it is a series of evets to talk about. Jesus told people to basically do the opposite of what they feel like doig i tough situatios. So today we re goig to have Opposite Day. Opposite Day Supplies Bibles Tell kids to choose oe parter who will be the Rude Kid. The Rude Kids will follow your istructios, ad the other parters will be the Opposites; they ll react i a way that s opposite of what they d ormally wat to do. Have the Rude Kids come to a differet area of the room with you so the Opposites do t hear what s about to happe, ad the give each istructio below. Betwee givig each set of istructios, ecourage the Opposites to really thik about what would be the opposite of their ormal reactio. Do t ask your Opposite for aythig, just take somethig from him or her. It could be a jacket, a shoe, or aythig else that is t a mai piece of clothig. Make a mea face ad give your Opposite a light smack o the shoulder. Say I m mad at you to your Opposite. Have kids switch roles, ad have the ew Rude Kids come see you. Give them the followig istructios. Ask to borrow somethig from your Opposite. Oce you get it, tell him or her you wo t give it back. Stick your togue out at your Opposite, ad say that you re ot sorry. Preted to kick your Opposite i the shis. Afterward, have kids sit i their pairs. Say: You were pretty mea whe you were Rude Kids today. Ad respodig i a way that was the opposite of how you may have wated to respod might have felt pretty weird. Let s see what Jesus said about that. Make sure each pair has a Bible, ad have kids read Luke 6:27-31 together i their pairs. Whe they ve fiished, have pairs choose oe of the thigs o the list they read about to act out together. Allow a couple of miutes for kids to decide, ad the allow each pair to act out their chose actio. Have pairs read Luke 6:32-34. The have willig kids tell about the last time they did somethig ice for someoe who was ice to them. Read aloud Luke 6:35-36. Ask willig kids to tell what they thik of the rewards God promised to people who show love istead of gettig eve. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 13
140 Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Ask: What was it like to thik of opposite thigs from how you d ormally treat a mea perso? Explai how Jesus opposite reactios were differet from the oes you thought of. What s it like to get eve whe someoe does somethig wrog to you? Explai why it s good to do ice thigs for people who are beig mea. What s oe way you ca show love to someoe who s ofte mea to you? Say: Jesus does t wat us to be wimps; he wats us to be stroger tha ayoe else by showig love i a really amazig way. I our activity, we tried to thik of ways that we could be ice to people who were mea. Jesus love is powerful. Jesus says to treat others as we wat to be treated ad to love our eemies. Treat You Right Supplies Bibles CD player copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack CD: Do to Others (Luke 6:31) (track 14) Treat You Right What You ll Do Have kids sit by themselves. Say: Jesus says to treat others as we wat to be treated. So let s figure out how we wat to be treated. Preted you just wo a big game. Siletly tell yourself you did a good job the same way you d wat someoe to tell you that. Give kids oe miute to cogratulate themselves siletly. Say: Preted ow that it s just ay ordiary day; othig special s happeig. But you wat to make your day. What special thig might you do for yourself just because? Give kids oe miute to talk to themselves siletly. Say: Now preted you ve had a bad day at school. You got a bad grade, someoe was t very ice to you, ad you fell ad scraped your kee. Comfort yourself the way you d wat someoe else to comfort you. Give kids oe miute to talk to themselves siletly. Say: Now preted you did somethig wrog, but it was a accidet. You did t mea to break your mom s favorite vase, but you were playig ad followig all your mom s rules, ad you accidetally hit it ad broke it. Say to yourself what you d like to hear whe somethig like this happes. Give kids oe miute to talk to themselves siletly. Say: Ad ow preted you did somethig mea, ad you did it o purpose. Your fried has the coolest ew shoes, ad everyoe s talkig about them. You re a little jealous of them, so you threw mud o her shoes o purpose. Say to yourself what you d like to hear from someoe else who caught you doig that mea thig. Give kids oe miute to talk to themselves siletly. This time you might have to remid kids that they re ot sayig what a adult would tell them; they re sayig what they d like someoe else to say to them. Kids will likely wat someoe to treat them with compassio ad kidess. Lesso 13 Grades 3 & 4
141 Have kids form pairs. I their pairs, have kids take turs thikig of somethig mea they ve doe or someoe s doe to them. Have them tell their parters about the mea thig they re thikig of without tellig them who did this mea thig. Ecourage kids to use phrases like Someoe took aother perso s favorite swig o the playgroud ad would t share. After oe parter shares a mea thig that s happeed, have the parter who listeed tell how Jesus would wat the wroged perso to respod. Have kids switch roles a couple of times. Make sure each child has a Bible. Say: Our Key Verse today is Luke 6:31. Have kids fid the verse i their Bibles, ad read the verse aloud together: Do to others as you would have them do to you (Luke 6:31). Distribute copies of the lyrics page. Say: Let s sig a sog with the words from our Key Verse. Play Do to Others (Luke 6:31) (track 14 o the CD), ad lead the kids i sigig alog. If someoe eeds a had, Would you go ad be a fried Ad help them like you kow you should? Yeah! Would you do the best you ca To do what Jesus says: Treat others like you treat yourself? Yeah! If someoe eeds a had, Would you go ad be a fried Ad help them like you kow you should? Yeah! Would you do the best you ca To do what Jesus says: Treat others like you treat yourself? Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Do to Others (Luke 6:31) by Be Glover. 2005 Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 13
142 Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Ask: Explai how this activity helped you realize how you wat others to treat you. I what way is it importat to care for yourself i order to kow how to show love to others? What s easy or difficult about treatig others that way, too? how ca you show love to someoe who does t really seem to deserve it right ow? Say: Jesus did t just tell us to love people who are ice to us, Jesus says to treat others as we wat to be treated eve whe someoe is ukid to us. I our activity, you thought of how you d wat someoe else to treat you, ad the you thought about how you d treat someoe else. It s importat that we do more tha just talk about how we d like to show Jesus love to others. 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life Rewrite That Edig Supplies Bibles Bible Truth Sleuth pes Rewrite That Edig Easy Prep Tear out the Lesso 13 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Rewrite That Edig What You ll Do Distribute pes ad the Bible Truth Sleuth pages, ad have kids fid the Surprise Edigs activity. I their pairs from the previous activity, have kids take a few miutes to follow the istructios o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages to write the begiig of a story about someoe who s havig a bad day. Allow a few miutes. Whe kids have fiished writig the begiig of their stories, say: Now switch Bible Truth Sleuth pages with your parter, ad read the begiig of your parter s story. The you ll write a surprise edig for your parter s story. Ecourage kids to thik about how Jesus told us to treat others, ad have them write a edig that shows how kidess ca chage thigs. Allow two miutes. It s fie if kids resposes are humorous or eve a bit strage. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Ask: how did your stories help you see that carig for others ca make a big differece? Explai what seems similar to or differet from what you d expect to happe i your life if you did somethig like this. Lesso 13 Grades 3 & 4
143 What s oe way you d like to start treatig someoe the way you like to be treated? Say: These stories were fu to write ad read aloud, but they also help us see a importat aspect of what Jesus wats us to do as Christias. Jesus says to treat others as we wat to be treated. He showed us how to love people who ve doe wrog thigs because he loves us eve though we have sied. Let s show that love to other people, too. 4 Lastig Impressios Daily Challeges What You ll Do Say: Let s cosider this week how Jesus says to treat others as we wat to be treated as we do our Daily Challeges. Daily Challeges Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Do whatever seems best to fully forgive someoe who s hurt you. Be really kid the ext time someoe is mea to you. Thik of a ice thig you could make to show a brother or sister that you love him or her. Take the time to make that special gift, ad the give it to him or her as you explai somethig you really love about that perso. Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell the kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Ask: What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Say: Jesus came to save us eve though we do t deserve it, ad Jesus says to treat others as we wat to be treated. Let s show Jesus love by followig through o our Daily Challeges this week. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 13
144 Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about how to treat others. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their Bible Truth Sleuth pages with their families. Talk to your Director about emailig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Have kids separate ito groups of boys ad girls. I each group, have kids form a circle ad hold hads. Ecourage kids to pray, askig God to help them treat others the way they wat to be treated. If kids wat to pray aloud, they ca. Whe they fiish, they ll squeeze the had of the perso o their right. If kids do t wat to pray aloud, they ca just immediately squeeze the had of the perso o their right. Lesso 13 Grades 3 & 4
145 Lyrics Do to Others (Luke 6:31) If someoe eeds a had, Would you go ad be a fried Ad help them like you kow you should? Yeah! Would you do the best you ca To do what Jesus says: Treat others like you treat yourself? Yeah! If someoe eeds a had, Would you go ad be a fried Ad help them like you kow you should? Yeah! Would you do the best you ca To do what Jesus says: Treat others like you treat yourself? Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Do to Others (Luke 6:31) by Be Glover. 2005 Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved.! ok to copy Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 13