Lesso 12 123 Four Frieds Help a Paralyzed Ma Mark 2:1-12 H ow may third- ad fourth-graders believe that they ve doe wrog oly after they ve bee caught? Otherwise, they do t regard their wrog behavior as si. Before you ca help childre discover how they ca be forgive, you must help them uderstad their eed for forgiveess. Use this lesso to guide kids uderstadig of si ad that everyoe eeds God s forgiveess. LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started 2 Bible Exploratio Too Much to Hadle (about 10 mi.) Carry thigs i a relay, discuss si ad forgiveess, ad clea up the room after the messy relay. Faith ad Forgiveess (about 25 mi.) Experiece the evets of Mark 2:1-12 through physical actio, listeig, ad discussio. Jesus Ca (about 10 mi.) Compare what Jesus ca do with what doctors ca do. Bible, CD player, books ad various items from aroud the room, large plastic trash bag Teacher Pack: CD Bibles, CD player, maskig tape, peies Teacher Pack: CD Teacher Pack: Jesus Ca game board ad game pieces, Healer cards Place piles of books ad other small items that ca be carried at oe ed of the room. Piles should iclude eough items that a child ca t carry it all at oe time. Puch out the Jesus Ca game pieces, ad fold them ito triagles accordig to the istructios o the sheet. Bible Poit Jesus forgives us. Key Verse If we cofess our sis, he is faithful ad just ad will forgive us our sis ad purify us from all urighteousess (1 Joh 1:9). Weavig Faith Ito Life Childre will forgive others i their lives ad ask Jesus to forgive them for their sis. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 12 Witer Quarter
124 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life 4 Lastig Impressios Forgive Me (about 10 mi.) Create heart idicators, ad pray for forgiveess. Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Bible Truth Sleuth, several pairs of scissors, paper fasteers Bible Truth Sleuth Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Witer Quarter Lesso 12 Grades 3 & 4
125 Four Frieds Help a Paralyzed Ma Mark 2:1-12 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS Jesus Makes Caperaum His Home Base From this passage ad others, it s apparet that Caperaum was Jesus home base for much of his miistry. Jesus was ow drawig a crowd everywhere he wet, ad Caperaum was o exceptio. Eve though Jesus had just arrived, o oe was tured away ad everyoe was welcomed util the house was filled ad people were stadig outside the door! Four Frieds Help a Paralyzed Ma Get to Jesus The persistece the four frieds showed i gettig the paralytic before Jesus demostrated their faith that Jesus could heal him. Some suggest that it was their faith aloe that prompted Jesus to heal the ma ad forgive his sis. However, that seems icosistet with the rest of Scripture, which cosistetly emphasizes persoal repetace ad faith. Istead, it s likely the paralytic s faith was similar to that of his frieds ad that his faith simply was t metioed here his frieds probably would t have doe what they had without their paralyzed fried s coset. Ad it s possible that the paralyzed ma was uable to speak clearly eough to express his ow faith. he demostrated that he had the power to do both. Ad by the order he chose, he also demostrated that i his priorities the forgiveess of sis is more importat tha physical healig. This passage says the people were amazed. I Matthew s ad Luke s accouts of this icidet (Matthew 9:2-8; Luke 5:17-26), we see that people also were filled with awe, the Greek word for which ca also be traslated as fear. They wet away praisig God, kowig that forgiveess is available i Jesus. The Jesus Coectio A relatioship with Jesus satisfies all our eeds. Jesus provides help, comfort, healig, ad forgiveess. Because of his five frieds, this ma foud healig ad forgiveess! Praise God for the forgiveess you ve received, ad thak God for the people who helped you fid friedship with Jesus ad his forgiveess. Praise God for these good thigs today. You ca write your prayer here. Jesus Healigs Amaze ad Shock His Critics Everyoe i the house (ad o the roof!) was likely shocked whe Jesus first forgave the paralytic s sis. The skeptical teachers of the Law who were preset did t have to say aythig for Jesus to kow what they were thikig. He clearly iteded to force them to face head-o who he really was. Evidece that sis were forgive was ot immediately visible, but healig the ma s paralysis was. Whe Jesus healed the ma, Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 12 Witer Quarter
126 GETTING STARTED Too Much to Hadle Supplies Bible CD player books ad various items from aroud the room large plastic trash bag Teacher Pack CD: Thakful (track 7); If We Cofess (1 Joh 1:9) (track 21) Too Much to Hadle Easy Prep Place piles of books ad other small items that ca be carried at oe ed of the room. Piles should iclude eough items that a child ca t carry it all at oe time. Too Much to Hadle What You ll Do Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. As kids arrive, have them form teams of five or six. Whe everyoe s arrived, have teams lie up i sigle file at the ed of the room opposite the piles of books ad other items. Say: The first perso i lie will walk to the other ed of the room, pick up a item, ad carry it back to the ext perso i lie. The that perso will walk to the other ed of the room, pick up a secod item, ad carry both items back to the ext perso i lie, ad so o. If someoe drops ay items, the team will eed to pick the items up together, pile them up agai, ad start the relay over. Be sure kids uderstad that they must carry the items i their hads ot i their shirts. Whe kids uderstad how to play, begi the relay by playig Thakful (track 7 o the CD). Have kids play util the sog has fiished or util all the teams have dropped the items at least oce. Talk With Kids Lead all the kids i this discussio. What was it like to try to carry all those thigs back ad forth? What would have made it easier to do the relay? Tell why it was frustratig or ot whe you dropped thigs ad had to start over. Tell about a time you had to start somethig over because you did somethig wrog at home or at school. I life, what kids of wrog thigs ca get us ito trouble? Say: The wrog thigs we do i life are called sis. We may thik we ca deal with the trouble si brigs all o our ow, but we ca t. Much like tryig to carry all the objects i our relay, our si is too much for us to hadle. We eed forgiveess which meas the si has bee cleaed away so we ca put the si behid us ad try agai. Our Key Verse today, 1 Joh 1:9, teaches us that JESUS FORGIVES US. Have a willig child read 1 Joh 1:9 aloud. The hold a item from oe of the piles. Say: Durig the relay, these items were like si. They got us ito trouble, ad it was very difficult to maage it all o our ow. But today we re goig to lear about Jesus forgiveess. So let s clea up this si the mess of thigs i the room. Witer Quarter Lesso 12 Grades 3 & 4
127 Have kids form a assembly lie from the piles to a large plastic trash bag at the opposite ed of the room. Play If We Cofess (1 Joh 1:9) (track 21 o the CD) as they pass oe thig at a time from oe ed of the lie to the other util everythig is i the bag. What about cleaig up the room is like beig forgive ad gettig clea of si? Tell about a time someoe forgave you ad what the experiece was like. Say: Today we ll explore a Bible passage about four frieds helpig a paralyzed ma. Jesus forgave the ma s sis ad made him well agai. We ll lear that JESUS FORGIVES US, ad we ca have aother chace after we ve sied. 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION Faith ad Forgiveess What You ll Do Make sure everyoe has a Bible, ad have kids tur to Mark 2:1-3. Ivite a willig child to read aloud the verses, ad the have kids form ew groups of five. Ivite the smallest child i each group to be paralyzed. Say: The Bible says four me carried their paralyzed fried all the way to see Jesus. I d like four members of each group to carry their paralyzed group member oce aroud the room to see what that was like. Move carefully ad if you thik you re about to lose your grip, let your group kow so everyoe ca set your paralyzed perso dow getly to give your muscles a rest. Faith ad Forgiveess Supplies Bibles CD player maskig tape peies Teacher Pack CD: Forgive ad Healed (track 22) Whe groups have circled the room oce, have group members sit dow together. Say: Paralyzed group members, you still ca t move. But you ca share aswers! Have groups discuss the followig questios. What was it like to carry someoe aroud the room? Based o what you just experieced, what struggles do you thik the me carryig their paralyzed fried to Jesus might ve faced alog the way? Ivite a willig child to read aloud Mark 2:4. Say: Not oly did the ma s frieds have to carry him to Jesus, but whe they got there they had to climb up o the roof of a house ad the dig through it to get the ma to Jesus. There was a large crowd gathered aroud Jesus, ad this was the best way the frieds could thik of to get the paralyzed ma ear Jesus. Let s try diggig to get to somethig ow. Give each group a pey, ad set out maskig Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 12 Witer Quarter
128 tape to share. Say: I the ext miute, try to hide your pey the best you ca i a big wad of maskig tape. After oe miute, you ll trade ad aother group will try to dig out the pey. Ad remember, your paralyzed perso still ca t move. Allow a miute for kids to prepare their wads. The have groups trade ad try to dig out the pey as quickly as possible. Have groups discuss these questios. What was difficult about diggig through the thick tape to fid your pey? What do the legths these frieds were willig to go to i gettig their fried ear Jesus show about them? Say: Let s fid out what happeed to the paralyzed ma whe his frieds lowered him dow through the roof. Play Forgive ad Healed (track 22 o the CD). Ivite a willig child to read aloud Mark 2:9-12. Have the paralyzed group members get up ad lead their other group members i a few exercises, such as ruig i place ad jumpig for joy. The have everyoe sit i a circle. Talk With Kids Lead all the kids i this discussio. Paralyzed group members, what was it like to be able to move agai? What makes Jesus healig of the paralyzed ma amazig? Which do you thik meas more, beig forgive or beig healed? Explai. Why do you thik the ma s faith i Jesus was importat? Jesus forgave the ma before healig him. Why do you thik that was fair or ot? Jesus Ca Supplies Teacher Pack Jesus Ca game board ad game pieces Healer cards Jesus Ca Easy Prep Puch out the Jesus Ca game pieces, ad fold them ito triagles accordig to the istructios o the sheet. Say: The paralyzed ma wet through a lot to see Jesus. Clearly, he ad his frieds kew that Jesus was special. Jesus saw their faith, ad he forgave the ma. Sice people could t prove that the ma had bee forgive, some did t believe Jesus. To show the people he could forgive sis, Jesus performed the miracle of healig the ma. We ca show our faith by tellig Jesus about our sis. Whe we do, JESUS FORGIVES US. Jesus Ca What You ll Do Have kids form six groups. Distribute the Jesus Ca game pieces to each group. The assig each group a differet healer by hadig out the Healer cards, beig sure to assig the Jesus card to the group with the cross game piece. Set out the Jesus Ca game board, ad have each group put its game piece at the bottom of oe spoke. Witer Quarter Lesso 12 Grades 3 & 4
129 Say: To play this game, you ll read i your groups about your healers o the back of your cards. Go ahead ad do that ow. Allow time. Now groups will take turs amig amazig thigs their healers have doe. For each amazig thig that your healers have doe, you ll get to move oe space. Fid out who has the ext birthday, ad have that perso s group start ad the move clockwise aroud the game board. Whe groups have moved their pieces as far as they ca, say: Now we ll see who are the most amazig healers of all. You ca move your game piece to the middle of the board if your healer ca also forgive people of their sis ad make them right before God. Oly the Jesus group ca move. Talk With Kids Lead all the kids i this discussio. Why is it that oly the Jesus group got to move ito the ceter? What s differet about what Jesus ca do compared with these other icredible healers? Say: People ca do amazig thigs. They ca heal people, though i a differet way from how Jesus healed people. But o matter what amazig thigs people ca do, oly Jesus ca forgive us of our sis. Jesus did both for the paralyzed ma. Whe we ask for forgiveess JESUS FORGIVES US, too. 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Forgive Me What You ll Do Distribute this week s Bible Truth Sleuth pages, scissors, ad paper fasteers. Have kids sit i a circle ad fid the Heart Idicator activity. Show kids how to cut out the two heart idicator pieces, beig careful to ot cut the ceter hole of the partial circle. Help kids poke holes i the ceters of both pieces with their paper fasteers ad attach them together. Forgive Me Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth several pairs of scissors paper fasteers What does the heart idicator look like it s meat to do? Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 12 Witer Quarter
130 Say: Thik for a momet about times you ve doe somethig wrog. Remember, we re all huma ad that meas we ve all doe wrog. Every oe of us. Whe you ve thought of somethig you ve doe wrog, tur your heart idicator so the si heart shows. Allow time. What ca we do whe we kow we ve doe somethig wrog? Say: Whe we believe that God set Jesus to save us from our sis ad we have a relatioship with him, JESUS FORGIVES US. All we eed to do is tell Jesus we re sorry for the wrog thigs we ve doe. I ll begi a prayer, ad as part of the prayer we ca siletly tell Jesus about our sis. Pray: Dear God, thak you for promisig to forgive us whe we cofess our sis to you. We d like to tell you we re sorry for these thigs. Pause for silet prayer. Thak you for lovig us so much that you clea our sis away. We love you, too. I Jesus ame, ame. Have kids tur their heart idicators to the forgiveess heart ad cheer to celebrate Jesus forgiveess. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s it like to be forgive to have a heart that Jesus has cleaed? What differece ca it make i your life whe Jesus forgives you? What differece does it make i your life whe other people forgive you? Whe you forgive someoe else, why do you or do t you thik it helps you, too? Say: Whe we si, it makes Jesus sad. But every time we ask him to, JESUS FORGIVES US. So whe others do thigs that make you sad, you ca remember to forgive them agai ad agai as Jesus forgives you agai ad agai. Forgiveess makes our lives better, the way it did for the paralyzed ma whe Jesus forgave him. 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth Daily Challeges What You ll Do Say: It s a relief to kow that JESUS FORGIVES US. Let s thik about ways we ca remember ad respod to that this week. Witer Quarter Lesso 12 Grades 3 & 4
131 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: Write a letter to a fried who hurt you. Tell your fried that you forgive him or her. Pray to ask Jesus to forgive you for hurtig him with si. After you ve bee forgive for doig somethig wrog, do t do the wrog thig agai. Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell 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. What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Say: Jesus forgiveess ad love does amazig thigs. It chaged the paralyzed ma s life forever, ad it ca chage our lives, too. Let s celebrate the fact that JESUS FORGIVES US as we follow through o our Daily Challeges this week. Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about Jesus forgiveess. 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. Close with prayer. Have kids lie very still as if they are paralyzed. Pray: Dear God, sometimes si makes us feel paralyzed ad far away from you. Thak you for your forgiveess. Help us to make good choices, ad help us to remember that your forgiveess is stroger tha our si. I Jesus ame, ame. Have kids jump up ad dow. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 12 Witer Quarter