Jesus Looks at the Heart BIBLE PASSAGE Matthew 12:1-14 (The Sabbath) REMEMBER VERSE My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:12 13 SCHEDULE Anticipate 5 10 minutes Celebrate & Respond Large Group 35 55 minutes Respond & Bless Small Group 20 25 minutes Environment: LOVE AND RESPECT Without love, our faith becomes futile. Children need to experience love and respect in order to receive and give God s grace. Innate in this environment is the value that children are respected because they embody the image of God. We must speak to them not at them, and we must commit to an environment where love and acceptance are never withheld due to one s behavior. 1
Equipping Volunteers God knows the hearts of His people because He created them. God gave the Sabbath to His people out of His abundant love for them. God desired for His people to experience rest, rehabilitation, and to also receive a taste of the eternal rest they would one day have in heaven with Him. In fact, God was so serious about this commandment that He said in Exodus 31:14, Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death God created the Sabbath as a day set apart a holy day during which His people would rest. God modeled this for us in Genesis 2:2 3, when He rested on the seventh day following creation. Later, God commanded His people to Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy (Exodus 20:8). It is also the fourth of His Ten Commandments, given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. His command was for all of Israel to observe one day of rest, regardless of their circumstances. By the time Jesus came to earth, the observation of the Sabbath day had become significantly distorted by the Pharisees, who added restrictions and clarifications to the point of being burdensome to God s people. Thankfully, Jesus describes Himself in Matthew 12:8 as Lord of the Sabbath, and He breaks the Pharisees laws (not God s laws) on the Sabbath by healing a man s withered hand and allowing His disciples relief from their hunger. Through these actions, our Lord of the Sabbath showed that He cares more about people s hearts by doing good for His people rather than abstaining from good in order to follow cumbersome laws. 2
Anticipate// (Small Group) 5 10 min 1. Nonsense Rules SUPPLIES- Nonsense Rules printout, tape, pens SET UP- Tape the Nonsense Rules on the wall where all children can see ENGAGE- Let the kids experience for themselves how silly it would be to follow laws of this kind. Encourage the kids to act out each of the Nonsense Rules and add their own nonsense rules to the list if they want. Sample Nonsense Rules On the right side of the room, you can only hop on one foot. On the left side of the room, you have to hop on both feet. If someone says hello to you, you must do the chicken dance in response. You must high five every kid who comes in the room. Anytime someone high fives you, you must bark in response. 2. Earning Rocks See if any children have earned any rocks for the Rock Wall today. Children who memorized last week's memory verse, children who brought their Bible, or those who brought a friend. Pass out the rocks and let the kids write on the rocks their name, or the verse they memorized. (kids add rocks to rock wall at beginning of next section). 3
Celebrate// (Large Group) 20 35 min 1. Welcome & Traditions ROCK WALL CELEBRATION- Open up Celebrate time by celebrating all of the rocks that the kids have earned this week! Let them add them to the rock wall and encourage everyone to keep working on their verses, remembering their Bible and bringing friends! WELCOME VISITORS- Use this time to also welcome any new visitors. Give them a big round of applause for coming! And have a nearby leader give each visitor a high five! CONNECT- To finish up welcome time, let kids engage in today s connect question! Show Connect Slide for kids to view. Encourage them to ask someone they might not know yet. After a minute or two, ask several kids to tell their friends answers to the group- WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WAY TO RELAX? 2. Remember Verse Pass out Bibles to any kids who don t have one to use during today s lesson. Introduce kids to this week s Remember Verse. Open your Bibles and read it together. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:12-13 3. Prayer of Release Next, pray a Prayer of Release. This is a time for kids and leaders to pause, be still, and ask God to quiet their hearts and minds. Encourage kids to quiet their voices and take a seat. Then ask them to pray with you. 4. The Big God Story- Jesus Looks at the Heart SUPPLIES- Bible, slides: map of Judea, grain, synagogue, sheep 4 SET UP- Though this part of The Big God Story can be delivered verbatim, read it before the lesson, so you can personally interact with the material. Before teaching, point out that what they are about to hear is true and is recorded in the Bible. Open your Bible, and encourage kids to do the same, to the passage and leave it open and visible throughout The Big God Story. Encourage adult volunteers to keep an eye out for kids who need help finding the Scripture passage. You may even want to write the reference in large print on a whiteboard. ENGAGE- Today, we are going to talk about the Sabbath day. What is the Sabbath? That s right! A day of rest. When is the first time we hear about the Sabbath in Scripture? (Encourage the kids to answer.) Think back to the very beginning of The Big God Story, when God created the world. How many days did it take God to create everything? That s right! Six days. On the seventh day, what did God do? Yes, He rested! Did God rest because He was tired? Of course not! God was modeling to show us what is best for us. That is the first time we read about the Sabbath day in the Bible. God created the Sabbath as a gift for His people. He knew how important it would be for His people to take time out of their hectic lives and spend time with Him and each other. Remembering the Sabbath and keeping it holy is one of the Ten Commandments that s how important it is to God! So, honoring the Sabbath was a very important part of Israelite culture. And there were strict rules about what they could and couldn t do on a Sabbath day to keep it holy and obey God s law. Israelites were forbidden to perform any kind of work on a Sabbath day. But religious leaders had their own opinions about what was work and what wasn t. These leaders thought way too hard about what work really meant. They made more and more rules about what God s people could and could not do on a Sabbath day. Remember this morning when you followed some rules that were very silly and didn t make any sense? The same thing happened to the Israelites. The religious leaders man-made rules became so complicated, it was pretty hard for the people to follow them. But that is not what God designed. Because of these manmade rules, the Sabbath day was no longer the day of rest God had created. Today in The Big God Story, we read that Jesus took a walk with His disciples. On that walk, they went
through some grain fields, near the town of Galilee (show on map). The disciples were very hungry, so they started to pick the grain and eat it (show image of grain). Now, this particular day was also a Sabbath day, and some religious leaders saw the disciples picking the grain. They got angry and said to Jesus, Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:2). You see, they believed that picking the grain was like harvesting it, which was considered work. This broke a Sabbath law. The religious leaders were angry with Jesus for allowing His disciples to break this Sabbath law. In response, Jesus spoke to them about a time in the life of King David one the religious leaders would have known. Who remembers King David from earlier in The Big God Story? Remember when, as a young man, David ran away to hide from King Saul. He didn t have time to pack everything, so he stopped in the temple to get food for his men. By law, David was not supposed to eat the bread in the temple, because it was only for the priests. But the priests encouraged David to have the bread because they knew his men s need for the food was more important than the law. By telling the religious leaders this story, Jesus tried to remind them what matters most to God: His people. And God cares for His people more than He cares about rules. After that, Jesus went into the synagogue to worship (show image of the synagogue). Inside there was a man with a shriveled hand. Religious leaders in the synagogue were watching Jesus very closely. They knew Jesus healed people. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? He said to them, If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. Then he said to the man, Stretch out your hand. So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other (Matthew 12:9 13). Jesus used the example of the sheep to make a point. (Show image of a sheep.) What do you think? Would you leave the sheep in the pit? (Encourage the kids to answer.) Well, these religious leaders were so strict about following their Sabbath rules, they had a hard time showing compassion for someone who needed healing. The Bible says it hurt Jesus heart that the religious leaders were so uncompassionate to those in need. To Jesus, the man with the shriveled hand was more important than following a man-made law. God cares about us and our hearts more than a man-made law. He doesn t care that we aren t perfect. He looks at our hearts and wants our hearts to follow and worship Him. And when we have hearts that follow and worship Him, He gives us a compassionate and loving heart. He helps us have hearts that are like His hearts that fully love others. (This is a great opportunity for the Storyteller to share a personal story about getting caught up in following the rules and missing the point that Jesus cares more about the heart). 5
Respond// (Large Group) 15 20 min. 1. Worship Response Stations Spend 5-10 minutes in Worship Response Stations, letting children respond to the lesson they just heard in their own way. Assist younger children and guide when necessary. 2. Hearts that Reflect God SUPPLIES- construction paper, scissors, verses Psalm 139:24-24 SET UP- Cut hearts out of construction paper. It s helpful to teach younger kids the trick of folding the paper in half and then cutting half a heart out. ENGAGE- Today we were reminded that Jesus cares about our hearts. God also cares about our actions, but He cares more about what motivates our actions. He cares more about whether we are loving Him first, rather than looking for approval from others. He cares most about whether our hearts reflect Him and His love. God knows we aren t perfect. It s impossible for us to have hearts that reflect God on our own. God has to do it! God wants us to have a deeper and deeper relationship with Him so that our hearts will be in tune with Him. Psalm 139:23 24 says (show verse slide), Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Pass out the paper hearts. God knows everything that s in our hearts. Let s take some time now to ask Him to lead us into a closer relationship with Him, and help make our hearts more and more a reflection of Him. If you want, you can pray this simple prayer: Search me, O God, and know my heart. While the verse is visible, give the kids a minute or two to talk with God and pray about what s on their hearts. What s on your heart right now as you think about this verse and what we ve heard today? Although Jesus sees what s on our hearts, we can still respond to Him by writing or drawing what s on our hearts; any troubles or worries, or joys and praises. Encourage the kids to write or draw what s on their hearts on their paper hearts. When they are finished, they can either keep their paper hearts or put them on the prayer wall. 3. Worship Through Music Finish large group Celebrate with a time of singing music. 1. Because of Your Love 2. Your Grace Is Enough 3. Found Then exit Large Group to spend time applying the things from today in a small group setting. 6
Respond// (Small Group) 15 20 min. 1. Reflect: Jesus Looks at the Heart Questions for Younger Kids Why did God give His people a Sabbath day? (Genesis 2:2 3) How did the religious leaders change the Sabbath day? (Matthew 12:1 2) What do you think it means that Jesus looks at our hearts? Why do you think it s more important to God that we have hearts that follow after Him? (Matthew 9:4) Questions for Older Kids Why did God give His people a Sabbath day? (Genesis 2:2 3) How did the religious leaders change the Sabbath day? (Matthew 12:1 2) What do you think it means that Jesus looks at our hearts? Why do you think it s more important to God that we have hearts that follow after Him? (Matthew 9:4) 2. Create: Hearts Like God SUPPLIES- Magic Color scratch paper, scratch sticks (1 per child) SETUP- Set out materials for kids to use. ENGAGE- Read through Scriptures that describe the kind of hearts God wants us to have hearts that love Him and others 1 Corinthians 13:4 7 1 Timothy 1:5 Romans 12:9 Deuteronomy 6:5 John 13:35 For younger kids, choose one or two verses and read them aloud. Help them find the verses in their Bibles. For older kids, have them read these verses to themselves, or choose several kids to read each verse out loud to the group. Using the Magic Color Scratch Paper and the craft sticks, have the kids write or draw with the craft stick what a heart that follows after God looks like. Or, give each child a piece of the magic scratch paper so they can write or draw what a heart that follows God looks like. Encourage them to place their pictures somewhere in their rooms as a reminder that God looks at the heart. As they create these reminders, pray they would know that God is the One who can create the kinds of hearts He desires for His children to have. 7
Bless// (Small Group) 5 min. 1. Blessing Encourage the kids to hold their hands in front of them, palms up. This posture is meant to symbolize a willingness of heart to respond to God s Holy Spirit and receive what God has for them. Open a Bible and read Ephesians 1:18-19: I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. May God open the eyes of your heart so that you can know Him better and be changed by Him. May you desire to be wholly devoted to God. 2. HomeFront HomeFront Weekly: Be sure to send home the HomeFront Weekly for next week s lesson! This preteaching tool for parents encourages families to spend time in God s Word together before children arrive at church. 8