In the Beginning... Jumping into God s Story UNIT 4: LESSON 15: March 13, 2016 The Good Samaritan Bible Verse Ephesians 4:32 Bible Summary Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate (touch your heart and then extend your hand out) to one another (point to your friends) Luke 10:30-37 Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan. A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers, who beat him. A priest traveling by crossed to the other side to avoid the wounded man. Later, a Levite did the same thing. Finally, a Samaritan walked by, felt compassion and stopped to help. After bandaging the man s wounds, he took him to an inn and gave the innkeeper money to care for the man. Jesus ends the story by saying, Go and do likewise. Bible Verse Be kind and compassionate to one another... Ephesians 4:32a Objectives KNOW WHAT: Children will hear the story of the Good Samaritan. SO WHAT: Children will learn Jesus wants us to be kind to everyone. NOW WHAT: Children will participate in an activity to identify people to whom it s hard to be kind. Kids will discuss ways they can show kindness. Spiritual Formation Kindness People Needed Teacher, Helper Note: Create a special place for kids to put the supplies you instructed them to earn money for last week. They can leave them there as they enter the room. Be sure to celebrate what all the kids have collected together! Supplies and Visuals (Labeled visuals below can be found in the Lesson 15 Visual folder on the Winter Quarter CDs.) The Beginner s Bible Stuffed gorilla (or other stuffed animal) Chair or cushion for Giggles Lamp (optional) Man with robbers (Lesson 15 LG 2) Hurt man with priest (Lesson 15 LG 3) Hurt man with Levite (Lesson 15 LG 4) Samaritan helping hurt man (Lesson 15 LG 5) Ice Cream Game (Lesson 15 LG 6 Lesson 15 LG 7) Beanbag 1 Winter Quarter 2008 Willow Creek Community Church / Sunday School Teacher s Guidebook / Lesson 15
Notes: In Advance Gather the supplies listed above and arrange your classroom as follows: Create a fort in one corner of the room using whatever you have on hand: chairs, tables, bookcases, blankets, and sheets and your imagination! Add oversized pillows, stuffed animals, or a beanbag inside the fort to add to the cozy feel. To add to the cozy story-time feel, consider placing a lamp in or beside the fort to turn on while the Bible story is being told. If it s strong enough, the main room lights can be turned off. Create the Ice Cream Game for the Life Application Activity #1. On a large piece of poster board, draw three stair steps going up, with space at the bottom. Print the boy graphic (Lesson 15 LG 6) and the ice cream sundae graphic (Lesson 15 LG 7) and copy them on cardstock. Cut them out and glue the sundae graphic to the top step. Put a small piece of tape or sticky tack on the back of the boy and attach him to the poster at the bottom of the stairs. He will climb a step each time the children get a correct answer. Prepare the rest of the materials that will be given to each child. Print the lesson and practice the teaching time. ICE CREAM GAME POSTER Note: the two Life Application Activities will take longer than ten minutes. Depending on time and resources, you may wish to omit the first and do only the puppet activity. 2 Winter Quarter 2008 Willow Creek Community Church / Sunday School Teacher s Guidebook / Lesson 15
Teacher s Prep READ LUKE 10:30-37. This week, consider unique ways you can show kindness to someone. Ask Jesus to reveal to you the name of one person who may especially need to experience your kindness. Maybe you and your family can deliver cookies to neighbors who live on your block. Maybe you can send flowers to a friend at work. Or maybe you can help one of your fellow volunteers by listening to the details of his or her week. This week, as you share a kind word or smile, hold open a door, or encourage and build someone up, you are modeling what it means to Be kind and compassionate to one another... (Ephesians 4:32a). After all, this is what Christ did for you. Note: During the lesson this week, be sure to watch your kids and make a mental note of times they are kind to others. You will affirm each child at the end of class with a way in which you saw them being kind. Kid Connection (10 MINUTES) Led by the small group leaders. Creative Bible Teaching (15 MINUTES) [Play upbeat music as children transition to the teaching area. Encourage kids to clap their hands along with you. Clap in a variety of styles, like overhead, on your knees, on your belly, etc.] TEACHER: Hey, everybody! My name is, and this is my bestest friend forever and ever [hold up stuffed animal]: Giggles the fluffy dog. Giggles and I are really excited you re here today. Welcome to our very own special story-time place [point to fort]. We get to do so many great things today! This is where we come to read great stories and learn more about God, straight from the Bible. Let s remember our two special rules so we can have the most fun. Rule number one: be kind. What is it? [Kids respond, Be kind! ] We can be kind by sitting down so everyone can see and by being very quiet so everyone can hear. Rule number two: be safe. What is it? [Kids respond, Be safe! ] You can be safe by keeping your hands to yourself. Good job! Okay, friends, I think we re just about ready to get started. [The rest of the line is optional, depending on whether you invite kids to wear pajamas and bring stuffed animals.] I m glad to 3 Winter Quarter 2008 Willow Creek Community Church / Sunday School Teacher s Guidebook / Lesson 15
see so many of you wore your pajamas today. And if you brought your favorite stuffed animal, raise it high in the air, give it a squeeze, and put it in your lap. Good job! You all were such generous and cheerful givers. This is the how much money we raised for Nand. It will help buy him food, clean water, medicine and a school to go to. But most of all he will be able to learn about Jesus. Giggles, didn t the kids do a great job? [Hold Giggles to ear and pretend he s whispering in your ear.] He thinks you did great, but he sounds pretty grumpy. I think something s wrong. [Have Giggles talk in your ear again.] Uh, oh. That s not very good. [To kids.] Giggles got in trouble for pushing his friend! [To Giggles.] Why would you push your friend Timmy? [Giggles talks some more.] Well, it does sound like he was mean. But Giggles, pushing people isn t being kind even if they re mean. I know you don t wanna be kind to him, because he s not very kind to you. But it s a good thing you re here today, because I ve got a story from the Bible I think will help. The story is called a parable. [To kids.] Remember, a parable is a story where Jesus teaches us things, like how to be kind to others. [To Giggles.] So Giggles, Jesus wants us to be kind to everyone, even people like Timmy. [To kids.] Friends, are you ready to hear our story? [Kids respond, Yes. ] I ll get my Bible. Then we can start the parable. [Open Bible.] I think Giggles really needs to hear this story. Click on your listening ears, friends. Click! Click! [Tug on each earlobe.] Now, let s put on our special eyes. Shookum! Shookum! [Hold hands to eyes, one at a time, shaping glasses.] Let s get started! [Optional, if using a lamp.] But before we start, we need our special storytime nightlights. Clap two times with me, friends! [Clap, clap.] [Turn on lamp. If it s bright enough, the Helper can turn off the room lights.] Lesson 15 LG 2 Now listen to find out who was kind in the Bible story. Today s parable starts with a man who was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. As he was walking down the road [Show man with robbers picture.] two robbers jumped out from behind the bushes. They grabbed the man, took his clothes, beat him up, and left him lying along the side of the road. He was hurt really, really bad. He needed help. As he lay in the road, a priest came walking by. [Show hurt man with priest picture.] Lesson 15 LG 3 A priest is a man who works and teaches in the church. Friends, do you think the priest stopped to help the hurt man? [Kids respond.] The Bible says he didn t! When the priest saw the man lying on the side of the road, the priest crossed all the way to the other side of the road and kept going. 4 Winter Quarter 2008 Willow Creek Community Church / Sunday School Teacher s Guidebook / Lesson 15
[Make Giggles talk in your ear.] I agree, Giggles. The priest wasn t being very kind! Well, a little later, a Levite man came walking down the road. [Show hurt man with Levite picture.] The Levite man also worked in the church. Do you think the Levite man stopped to help? [Kids respond.] The Bible says that when he saw the hurt man lying in the road, he crossed all the way to the other side of the road, too. [Make Giggles talk in your ear.] No, Giggles, he didn t help either! Then, a Samaritan came walking down the road. Friends, say that with me. Sa-mar-i-tan. Lesson 15 LG 4 Now, let me tell you something. The hurt man was a Jew, and back then, Jews and Samaritans didn t like each other at all. But when the Samaritan saw the hurt man, he felt sorry for him. Friends, what do you think the Samaritan did? [Kids respond.] [Show Samaritan picture.] [Act out these lines using Giggles as the hurt man.] Giggles, I m going to use you as the hurt man. The Bible says the Samaritan went to the hurt man and bent down beside him. He gave the hurt man some medicine and bandaged his wounds to make him feel better. When the Samaritan had the hurt man all bandaged up, he put him on his donkey. The Samaritan took the man into town. He found an inn where the man could stay. And instead of leaving the hurt man all alone, the Samaritan paid the innkeeper to take care of him! The Samaritan said to the innkeeper, Please take care of him while I m gone. I will pay you money to care for him. Lesson 15 LG 5 Even though the Samaritan and the hurt man didn t know each other, the Samaritan still showed kindness. [Make Giggles talk in your ear.] You are right, Giggles. That s a good story! [If room lights are off, Helper turns them back on.] Jesus told this parable to teach us that He wants us to be kind to everyone, even when it s hard. That means you should try to be nice to your friend Timmy, even though he s mean to you. [Make Giggles talk in your ear.] That s a great idea, Giggles. I will call Timmy right after church and ask him if he wants to come over and play with you. Jesus wants us to be kind to everyone. Friends, the parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us how to be kind to others, no matter who they are or how we feel about them. Jesus wants us to be kind to others. Let s say our Bible Verse together. Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate (touch your heart and then extend your hand out) to one another (point to your friends) Let s say it really loud. Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate (touch your heart and then extend your hand out) to one another (point to your friends) 5 Winter Quarter 2008 Willow Creek Community Church / Sunday School Teacher s Guidebook / Lesson 15
I love learning about Jesus. It makes me so happy knowing we can be kind. Let s stand and sing The Happy Dance! MUSIC Song suggestion: The Happy Dance [Invite kids to sit down on the count of three.] Life Application Activity (10 MINUTES) TEACHER: We learned today that Jesus wants us to be kind to others. Now let s see how well you listened to the story. Some robbers robbed and hurt the man in our story. When the priest found the hurt man, what did he do? [Kids respond, Walked by. ] You re right! He didn t stop to help at all. He didn t show kindness. Then the Levite man came by on the road. What did he do? [Kids respond, Walked by. ] Yup. He didn t help either. Then a Samaritan walked by. What did he do? [Kids respond, Helped him. ] Yes! The Samaritan helped the hurt man. Out of all those people, who was kind? [Kids respond, Samaritan. ] Good job. Jesus wants us to be kind, just like the Samaritan. Lesson 15 LG 6 Friends, are you ready to play a game? [Kids respond, Yes. ] I have a fun game we can play. It s the Ice Cream Game! [Bring out Ice Cream Game poster.] There s a little boy here at the bottom of the steps and a big ice cream sundae up at the top. We need to get the little boy from the bottom to the top, and the only way to do that is by answering some questions. For every question we get right, the boy gets to take a step. If he gets to the ice cream sundae, you win! Okay, friends, here s your first question. Your sister is always being mean to you. She pushes you, she yells at you, she even takes your toys away from you. But one day, you see her in her room crying. She lost her Candyland game and can t find it anywhere! Even though your sister makes you mad and sometimes yells at you, Jesus wants you to be kind. How can you show kindness to your sister? Lesson 15 LG 7 [Kids respond, Give her a hug, help her look for it, be nice. ] [Move boy to first step.] You guys came up with lots of good answers. Let s try another one. 6 Winter Quarter 2008 Willow Creek Community Church / Sunday School Teacher s Guidebook / Lesson 15
You re here in church, and you re playing with your friends. You notice a little boy standing all by himself with no one to play with. Even though you don t know the little boy, and you might be a little scared to go talk to him, Jesus wants us to be kind. What are some ways you can show kindness to the little boy? [Kids respond, Play with him, talk to him. ] Those are great answers! [Move boy to second step.] Look at that, friends. There s only one more step to go before he reaches that yummy-for-your-tummy sundae! Let s try one more. The old woman who lives next door to you is always yelling at you to keep your kick ball out of her yard. She s kinda mean and scares you when she yells at you. But one day, her garbage can tips over and all the garbage falls out. Garbage is all over her yard, and since she s old, it s hard for her to pick it up all by herself. Even though you think she s mean when she yells at you, Jesus wants us to be kind. What are some ways you could show kindness to her? [Kids respond, Pick up the garbage. ] That s right. Last step! [Move boy up to ice cream sundae.] You did it! You helped the little boy reach the sundae! Way to go. Let s stand up and do the victory dance! [SFX 42: Victory dance.] That was so much fun! Let s sing. MUSIC Song suggestion: I Wanna Be Like Jesus [Invite kids to sit down in a circle.] 7 Winter Quarter 2008 Willow Creek Community Church / Sunday School Teacher s Guidebook / Lesson 15
TEACHER: Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan because He wants us to be kind to everyone. Let s say our Bible verse one more time. Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate (touch your heart and then extend your hand out) to one another (point to your friends) Let s pray to Jesus and tell Him thank You for our Bible story. Let s ask him to help us be kind to others. [Lead the children in the following finger play. Then have the children repeat after you as you pray.] Open them. [Open hands.] Close them. [Close hands.] Open them. [Open hands.] Close them. [Close hands.] Give a little clap. [Clap hands.] Open them. [Open hands.] Close them. [Close hands.] Open them. [Open hands.] Close them. [Close hands.] Fold them in your lap. [Fold hands in lap.] Dear Jesus, Thank You for the Bible story. Please help us be kind to others. Thank You for our snack. In Jesus Name, Amen. 8 Winter Quarter 2008 Willow Creek Community Church / Sunday School Teacher s Guidebook / Lesson 15