STEWARDSHIP WORKSHOP Theme: Giving Rotation Stewardship: The Widow s Offering Bible and other References: Mark 12:38 44; Spark Story Bible pp 342 345; Awesome Adventure Sheet Session 5; Godly Play Lesson 19 Objectives: 1. The children will hear how God provides for all of our needs as long as we have faith and trust in Him. 2. The children will learn about helping, caring and sharing as a way to thank God for His love. 3. The children will make a Flat Stu Bear to take home and share good stewardship practices. Arrival: Gifts From My Heart Puzzles Bible lesson Craft The Widow s Offering using one of the above listed references Stu Bear: A Story About Stewardship for Young Children Copies of Stu Bear on white card stock Brown crayons Blue paper lunch bags Red construction paper, cut in quarters Scissors Stapler Glue sticks or double-sided tape 3x5 white index cards Promise Cards Lesson Focus: Trust God to provide for your needs. Bible Memory Verse: Give yourself to the Lord; trust in him, and he will help you. Psalm 37:5 1
STEWARDSHIP LESSON PLAN 9:00 Set up materials for today s lesson and prepare to greet students. Lay out the Gifts From My Heart puzzles as described below. 9:15 Greet students and their parents at the door. Have your students start on the arrival activity. Arrival activity: Gifts From My Heart Puzzles First Grade: Place an envelope of pre-cut red heart pieces on top of each white heart. The shepherd should write the children s name on the envelope. The envelope of puzzle pieces and the white heart sheet will be taken home by the children. Children will come in and remove the red puzzle pieces from the envelopes. They will begin putting the pieces together on top of the white heart. Second and Third Grade: Place a white heart, a red heart, an envelope, a pencil and a pair of scissors at each seat. The shepherd should write the children s name on the envelope or the children may write their own name. Children will cut apart the red heart and begin working the puzzle. As the children interact with the shepherd, the teacher should walk around and read or discuss the ways of giving written on the red puzzle pieces. Ask the children ways they have shown giving of the heart. Have the children put the puzzle pieces back in the envelopes before leaving their table. The shepherd will call the children together for the prayer and opening liturgy. When the teacher begins the Bible lesson, the shepherd should put the puzzle envelopes and white heart sheets in the middle of the table to be taken home at the end of class. 2
9:30 Begin class on time with offerings and prayer. Older students may volunteer to read aloud. The shepherd will start the lesson in prayer. Take the attendance sheet and ask the children to gather around you. Ask if everyone has signed in (and add those who did not). Ask if anyone has a prayer request or praise to be lifted. Write notes next to the child s name to help you remember. Hold the offering basket and ask if anyone has further offerings. Close with the lesson litany: LESSON LITANY Lighting the Candle Lay out the special cloth (colored by the liturgical season). Light the candle and say, We gather around God s light. Ask the children to respond, To hear the story of God s love. Sharing our Prayers Ask for prayer requests and note them by name. Using your sign-in sheet, pray for each child by name and include their requests. Prayer of Thanksgiving and Offering Children will have placed their offering in the basket as they arrived. Bring the basket to the circle and thank the children for their offering for helping, sharing and caring. Then bless the offering with a prayer of thanksgiving like the following: Always Loving God, for hands and feet, and head and heart Thank you God For family and friends, and enough to eat Thank you God For Jesus, my church, and the world all around Thank you God For all I can be and do Thank you God By helping, sharing and caring, I say Thank you God 3
Children may sing the doxology afterward: Praise God from whom all blessings flow Praise him all creatures here below Praise him above all ye heavenly hosts Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost Amen At the end of the Bible lesson, blow out the candle as a transition to the next activity. 9:40 Bible lesson for all grades Prepare Ahead Prepare for class by reading the Bible references listed on page one. TELL the story through Godly play. Meanwhile The shepherd can use this time to prepare the tables for the upcoming craft activity. Telling the Story Grades 1 and 2 Tell The Widow s Offering Story using Godly Play. Grade 3 Tell The Widow s Offering Story using Godly Play. After telling the story, read aloud the Bible passage: Mark 12: 38-44 Say the following: Let s listen to the story of a poor widow who had complete faith and trust in God. Does anyone know what the word widow means? Share The Widow s Offering. Discuss the Bible lesson with your students. Younger children may need to have parts of the story repeated. Encourage deeper discussion with older students. Remember the lesson focus: God provides for all of our needs as long as we have complete faith and trust in Him. 4
Questions to Lead to Discussion: 1. What did most people give to the Temple? (They gave out of their abundance; what they did not need.) 2. What did the poor widow give? (Two little coins worth about a penny) 3. I wonder what Jesus was thinking when he said She gave more than all the others? (The widow gave all she had to live on she held nothing back for herself. ) (Mark 12:44 For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on. ) 4. I wonder, if the widow gave all she had, how did she think she would be able to get the things she needed to live? (Her faith in God was so great she was relying on God to provide for all of her needs.) 5. I wonder how the disciples felt when Jesus said, This poor widow has put in more than all of those who are contributing to the treasury? (Accept any reasonable answers) Say: God asks us to trust in him for all we need; when we do, we can share what we have, knowing God will see that we are given what we need. (Discuss difference between need and want. ) We give, because God provides what we NEED. The widow who had nothing was assured a place in heaven because her faith was strong. She shared what she had and pleased God. I wonder what you could give from the heart. (Suggest if necessary, more than just money; gifts from the heart donations of clothes, toys, food, books, time, etc.) 5
Closing Today we learned that when we give our offerings of money, time or talent to God, He doesn t compare our offerings to those of other people. Some of us have more time or money than others to being with. God looks at what we have to start with and He looks at the attitude we have about giving. When we give with a generous, loving and thankful heart as much as we possibly can, then God is very pleased and happy with us. In today s world, we worry about our possessions and lifestyles constantly. If we turn our lives over to God, we can trust him to take care of what we need. God loved us first. How can we say thank you to God for His loving care. 9:50 Shepherd Prepare for Craft Prepare Prepare for class by marking the paper bags for cutting (see below). Your youngest ones will need to have the straps attached to the bags ahead of time. The Stu Bears have already been pre-cut. (Cutting the bags): Fold the top of the bag down to meet the fold in the bottom crease. Open the bag and draw a line on the crease you made (about halfway). That will be the top of the backpack. Now draw two more lines ABOVE the crease line, each 1 wide. When cut, those loops will be the straps to be stapled to the backpack. Each table should have: Brown Crayons Scissors White glue, Glue sticks or Double-stick tape Each child should have: Stu Bear on card stock Blue Paper lunch bag Quartered sheet red construction paper White index card The teacher should have: Stapler Ruler Marker Infinite patience 6
9:50 Teacher should SAY: Now we will listen to a special story about Stu Bear who knew how to give from his heart. Story time: STU Bear: A Story About Stewardship for Young Children Prepare ahead Prepare for this portion by reading the book ahead of time. Be familiar with the progression of helping, sharing and caring that the story moves through, and practice reading aloud. Try to use different voices for spoken words from the characters. As you read aloud, hold the pictures up so the children can see. Stories should be read slowly so the children can use their imaginations as the plot unfolds. 10:00 From the book: The purpose of this storybook about a little stuffed bear named Stu is to help the youngest of God s children learn about stewardship. Young children are eager to help. They are learning to take care of themselves, to obey rules, and to share what they have with others. They can say thank you to God for family, friends, and the world God created. They are beginning to participate in worship with the rest of the congregation. They know something of the value of money in the offering plate. All of these activities are at the heart of stewardship, expressing ways of helping, sharing, caring. Hold up Stu Bear and the book and say: This is Stu Bear! He s going to help us learn about stewardship: about helping, sharing and caring. Part One Read aloud pages 1 11 and show the pictures. Ask: Where did Stu Bear go first? Home with a little girl. What happened there? They gathered food to bring to church. 7
What did Stu Bear learn? That good stewardship means. Loving your neighbor and sharing what we have. Where did Stu Bear go next? Home with a new friend. What happened there? They took cookies to people at the retirement center. What did Stu Bear learn? Helping others is good stewardship. Ask: Can you think of a time when you shared something or helped someone? Raise your hand and name one thing when I point to you. Part Two Read aloud pages 12-17 and show the pictures. Ask: What sort of things did Stu Bear do with the boy? Picked up trash, recycled, planted flowers, gave a flower to a friend. What did Stu Bear learn about good stewardship? We take care of God s world and ourselves. What did Stu Bear learn about caring for yourself? To stay clean, eat well, help with dishes, and put away toys. Ask: Can you think of a time when you took good care of yourself or God s world? Raise your hand and name one thing when I point to you. Part Three Read aloud pages 18-22 and show the pictures. Ask: What was the last thing Stu Bear did to be a good steward? He gave an offering at church. What does a church offering do? Teach others about Jesus and the church Help children and families who are poor Take care of people who work for the church Keep the church building safe and beautiful Buy books for us to learn more about the church 8
SAY: When you promise to bring an offering, it can do wonderful things. Every season, we collect your offerings and give it to one thing. In the fall right now your money will be used to dig a well for a small village in Africa. Show the picture card and pass it around. Because of you, that village has safe, clean water to drink. They won t get sick from using dirty water. They will grow strong and healthy because you brought in your offerings. We need $400 to dig another well! Who can bring me $400? The wonder of offerings is that no one has to bring in all the money. Each of us shares what we can, and by everyone doing their part, we can do amazing things. Do you know that there are THREE wells in Africa because of the children s offerings from our Sunday School? What a wonderful way to thank God for his love! Offerings The other seasons of the year, we use children s promises to help others in different ways. In the winter, your promises will provide food for food pantries to help people who are in need. In the spring, your promises will bring books for our library and for Westminster Presbyterian Church, downtown. In the summer, your promises will help send a Westminster child to camp! Ask: What did Stu Bear learn about WHY we promise to be good stewards? Why do we promise to help, to share, and to care? This is how we say thank you to God, for loving us first. Let s all say thank you, God together! THANK YOU, GOD! 9
WAIT! Before releasing the children to their seats, show them how to do the Stu Bear craft. This means actually doing it in front of them. Missing this step means you will be telling each child each step for the rest of the hour! 10:15 Craft: Stu Bear Backpack Color Cut & staple Glue Assemble Write 1. Color Stu Bear. 2. Cut paper bag on lines and staple 1 straps to bag, from inside on folded sides. (Bag should open only on one side as a result, not wide.) This may already be done for the first graders. 3. Use glue or tape on three edges of red square to affix to front of bag as a pocket. Paper should be wide, not tall. Have the children draw the markings on the front of the pocket to make it look like a pocket. 4. Put Stu Bear inside the backpack. 5. Write Thank you, God! on the top edge of the index card and put it in the pocket. Use this card to write down the things you do this week to help, to share, and to care. See if you can remember to bring back your card next week to share what you did! PROMISE CARD 10:25 Have the children clean up and gather around. Hold up a Promise Card and ask if anyone has seen one yet. (Parents were mailed a card earlier, but they may not have seen it.) Ask the children to show the card to their parents and talk about the promises they could make to thank God for his love. When they understand what they are promising, they should sign the Promise Card (first and last name) and bring it to church by the end of October. We will collect them in Sunday School or in worship (either one is fine). Pass out a card to each child. (It will fit in the backpack but probably not in the pocket.) 10
SAY: In the book, Stu Bear was taken many places to learn about stewardship. Take your Stu Bear home and remember good stewardship when you see him. Write down the things you do, the times when you help, when you share, and when you care on the thank you card in the pocket. Bring your card to class next Sunday and share it with your teacher! We d love to know how you thank God for his love! 11
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