Preschool July 5, 2015 8:45am
Leader BIBLE STUDY Use Week of: July 5, 2015 Matthew and Luke both record parables from Jesus. In Matthew 25, Matthew writes about the parable of the talents. Luke 19 accounts for the parable of the minas. Though these parables are similar, they are not identical. Both parables are about a master who gives money to his servants and then goes on a trip. When the master returns, he judges the servants for their faithfulness in their stewardship over what they possessed. As you teach kids this week, focus on the parable of the talents. Jesus was teaching His disciples at the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. The disciples asked Jesus to tell them about the end of time. (See Matt. 24:3.) He told them parables to help them understand what it will be like when the kingdom of heaven comes. 5 Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven will be like a man going on a journey. In this parable, the man is Jesus. Jesus was going to leave earth and return to His Father in heaven. Before the man left, he entrusted certain amounts of money to his servants. The relationship between a master and his servants would have meant that the master still owned the money they were given, and the master would own any interest they made on the money. The first two servants were faithful with the gifts, investing the talents and gaining more not for their own profit, but for the profit of their master. The third servant, however, knew that if he lost any of the money, the master would punish him. And if he gained any money, he wouldn t get to keep it anyway. So he took no risk and buried the money in the ground. When the master returned, he was pleased with the actions of the first two servants, but he punished the servant who did nothing. Jesus parable is a lesson to all believers. Jesus gives us the task of serving God while we wait for His return. We do not sit idly by, afraid of failure, but we serve joyfully for Jesus sake. We eagerly wait for the day we can share in the joy of our Master. Heaven is the joy of knowing, worshiping, and enjoying Jesus forever. Preschool Bible Study Leader Guide Unit 30 Session 5 1
Preschool BIBLE STUDY OVERVIEW Session Title: Parable of the Talents Bible Passage: Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27 Big Picture Question: How can we serve God? God gives us special abilities to serve Him. Key Passage: Matthew 13:11 Unit Christ Connection: Jesus taught in parables so His followers would understand how to live in anticipation of His second coming. Small Group Opening Large Group Bible Study Small Group Activities U N I T 30 5 Snack and Transition 2
The BIBLE STORY Parable of the Talents Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27 Jesus taught many people while He was on earth. He taught them about God and His kingdom. Jesus told the people stories to help them learn. One day, Jesus was talking about a day called the last day. The last day is a day in the future when Jesus will come back to earth. Jesus said that no one knows when the last day will happen. Then Jesus told the people a story about three servants. Jesus said, This is what the last day will be like. A man was going on a trip. He called his servants, and they came to him. The man gave each servant some coins called talents. The first servant got five coins, the second servant got two coins, and the third servant got one coin. Each servant got what the master thought he could take care of. Then the man left and went on his trip. The first servant, who had five coins, used the money to make more money. He started with five coins, and he earned five more. The second servant did the same. He used his two coins to earn two more coins. But the third servant, who had one coin, did not use the money to earn more money. Instead, he dug a hole in the ground and hid the money in the hole. A long time passed, and the man came home from his trip. He asked his servants what they had done with his money. The first servant brought the money to the man. He showed his master that he had used the five coins to earn five more coins. Well done! the man said. You are a good servant. You did a good job taking care of a few things, so I will put you in charge of many things. Come and be happy with me! Then the second servant brought the money he had. He showed his master that he had used the two coins to earn two more coins. The master was happy. Well done! the man said. You are a good servant. You did a good job taking care of a few things, so I will put you in charge of many things. Come and be happy with me! The third servant brought the money he had. He gave his master the Preschool Bible Study Leader Guide Unit 30 Session 5 3
one coin and said, Master, I hid your coin in the ground. Here is the one coin you gave me. The master was not happy. You are a bad servant! he said. You should have put my money in the bank. Then you could give me back the coin plus the extra money it earned. The master took the coin from the bad servant and gave it to the good servant who had 10 coins. Then the master said, Everyone who takes care of what he has will get more, but anyone who wastes what he has will have everything taken away. Then the master sent away the bad servant. Christ Connection: Everyone who believes in Jesus can serve Him as Lord. God is happy when people know and love Jesus. One day, every believer will live with God in heaven and be happy with Him. People in heaven will be happy to know, worship, and be with Jesus forever. 4
Small Group OPENING Session Title: Parable of the Talents Bible Passage: Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27 Big Picture Question: How can we serve God? God gives us special abilities to serve Him. Key Passage: Matthew 13:11 Unit Christ Connection: Jesus taught in parables so His followers would understand how to live in anticipation of His second coming. Jesus! song Welcome and Session Starter Play the unit theme song in the background as you greet preschoolers and follow your church s security procedures. LOW PREP Counting Coins activity page, 1 per kid pencils Activity Page: Counting Coins Guide the children to count the number of coins beside each servant. Then they may trace the dotted lines that represent the number of coins they counted. Talk about the addition sign if you have older preschoolers who may be practicing simple math at home or school. Say Jesus told a story about a man who gave his servants different numbers of coins. The man expected his servants to work hard and earn more coins while he went on a trip. Count the coins each servant started with, then count the number of coins they earned. How many coins did each servant earn? Preschool Bible Study Leader Guide Unit 30 Session 5 5
1-by-3-inch construction paper strips tape Activity Invite the children to make paper chains using strips of construction paper and tape. They will make paper chains of 1, 2, 4, 5, and 10 links. Invite kids to count the links as they add one to their chain. Make sure kids stop at 10, but they can make another chain if time permits. Say Show me your paper chains. If you made a chain with two links, hold it up. If you made a chain with 10 links, hold it up. Let s count all the way to 10 together. The numbers 1, 2, 4, 5, and 10 are important for today s story, which is about a man who gave his servants different numbers of coins before he went on a trip. Play Master and Servant Stand at the front of the room and tell the children you are the master. Explain that a master is someone who is in charge, like a boss or captain. A servant is someone who works for a master, like an employee or soldier under a captain s leadership. A good servant does what a master asks and takes good care of the master s things. Give the kids easy, fun, and a few silly commands, such as Do 10 jumping jacks, Spin in a circle, Hug a friend, or Make a silly face. Each time the kids complete a task, say Well done! Say Jesus told a story about a master and three servants. When the master went away on a trip, two of the servants did what their master wanted them to do. One servant did not. Jesus told this story to show that He is like the master and we are like His servants. Transition to Bible study. 6
Large Group BIBLE STUDY Session Title: Parable of the Talents Bible Passage: Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27 Big Picture Question: How can we serve God? God gives us special abilities to serve Him. Key Passage: Matthew 13:11 Unit Christ Connection: Jesus taught in parables so His followers would understand how to live in anticipation of His second coming. Large Group Bible Study Bible Timeline Map Key Passage Poster Secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven song Bible Story Picture Poster Introduce the Bible story Point to the timeline map as you review previous Bible stories. Remind kids that Jesus told the stories, or parables, to teach people about God s kingdom. Read the key passage or sing the key passage song, using any hand motions you may have created. Say Jesus told a story about a master who gave some of his money to his servants. This money still belonged to the master. It was not the servants money to keep, but it was theirs to use while the master went on a trip. Two of the servants made good choices with the money, and their master was pleased. The other servant did not make a good choice, and the master was not pleased. Tell the Bible story Say Jesus told lots of stories to teach the people about God and His kingdom. We only heard five of them, but you can learn about the others from the first four books of the New Testament Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Our story today comes from two of those books, Matthew and Luke. [Point to Matthew and Luke in the Bible.] Preschool Bible Study Leader Guide Unit 30 Session 5 7
Tell the Bible story in your own words. Big Picture Question Poster Talk about the Bible story Ask the following review questions. 1. Where was the master going? (on a trip) 2. How many coins did the servant with five coins make? (five more) 3. How many coins did the servant with two coins make? (two more) 4. What did the servant with one coin do? (dug a hole and hid his coin in the ground) 5. What did the man say to the servants with two coins and five coins? ( Well done! Come and be happy with me! ) 6. What happened to the bad servant? (His coin was taken away from him, and he was sent away.) 7. God is like the master in the story, and we are like the servants. How can we serve God? God gives us special abilities to serve Him. Say Everyone who believes in Jesus can serve Him as Lord. God is happy when people know and love Jesus. One day, every believer will live with God in heaven and be happy with Him. People in heaven will be happy to know, worship, and be with Jesus forever. Transition to small groups Before returning to small groups, remind the kids that God gives us everything we have, even our abilities. Explain that an ability is something you can do. Ask the kids if they have special abilities they want to share. For example, can they sing? Can they dance? Can they recite a Bible verse? Invite a few children up to the front to share their abilities. 8
Small Group ACTIVITIES Session Title: Parable of the Talents Bible Passage: Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27 Big Picture Question: How can we serve God? God gives us special abilities to serve Him. Key Passage: Matthew 13:11 Unit Christ Connection: Jesus taught in parables so His followers would understand how to live in anticipation of His second coming. Small Group Activities Talk about the big picture question and answer, Christ connection, or details from the Bible story in each activity to reinforce God s big story. LOW PREP art supplies paper coins large shallow container uncooked rice plastic tablecloth I can serve God Provide construction paper, crayons, markers, and watercolors. Invite the children to use the materials provided to complete a picture of them using an ability to serve God. Remind the children that an ability is something they can do. If you have time, invite kids to play charades with the abilities they drew. See if you can guess their ability or giftedness. Say How can we serve God? God gives us special abilities to serve Him. How are you serving God in your picture? God created each and every person with something they can do for Him. Dig for coins Place coins inside a large shallow container. Fill the container with uncooked rice. Invite the children to dig for the coins. Consider placing a plastic tablecloth under the containers to help catch any rice Preschool Bible Study Leader Guide Unit 30 Session 5 9
that spill out while kids dig. Say What happened to the servant who dug a hole in the ground to hide his coin? His coin was given to the servant who had earned five coins for his master, and the lazy servant was sent away. God is the best master in the whole world. He has given us many good gifts that He wants us to use to serve Him. Serving God is the best thing for us. How can we serve God? God gives us special abilities to serve Him. coins tape aluminum foil Make coin impressions Secure coins to the table with tape. Encourage the children to place an aluminum foil square over a coin and rub the foil until the coin makes an impression. Then invite kids to lift the foil off the coin and compare the two. Say In Jesus day, one talent (a type of coin) was not like a nickel or a dime. It would be worth about two thousand dollars today! The first two servants worked very hard and used their coins to make more money for their master. God is pleased when we use our abilities to help others know and love Jesus. How can we serve God? God gives us special abilities to serve Him. 10
Snack and Transition Take a restroom break and wash hands. Remind kids to say please and thank you while eating their snack. Thank God for the snack. Journal Page crayons Transition - Journal Page When a child finishes his snack and throws away any trash, offer the journal page for him to draw a picture of today s Bible story, whether he draws the faithful servants, the unfaithful servant, or the master. Talk about how God is a good master. He doesn t ask us to do things that are not good for us to do. We can always trust God. This would also be a good time to pray with the children. Pray that kids will remember that everything we have really belongs to God, but He has graciously given us good things so we can use them for Him. Consider reading Galatians 6:9 to the kids to remind them that sometimes even grownups get tired when trying to do what is right. Say Dear God, thank You for giving us special abilities so we can serve You. Dear God, sometimes it is easy for us to use our special abilities to make us look special or important. Help us to always show how important and how good You are. Thank You for sending Jesus to rescue us from our sins. We love You, Amen! 12
Journal Page July 5, 2015 Key Passage: Matthew 13:11 Session 1: Parable of the Vineyard Workers Matthew 20:1-16 Session 2: Parable of the Wedding Feast Matthew 22:1-14 Session 3: Parable of the Faithful Servant Matthew 24:45-51; Luke 12:42-48 Session 4: Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus Luke 16:19-31 Session 5: Parable of the Talents Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27 OK TO PRINT
To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 13:11 Unit 30 Key Passage Poster (ESV) OK TO PRINT
How can we serve God? Unit 30 Session 5 Big Picture Question OK TO PRINT
How can we serve God? God gives us special abilities to serve Him. Unit 30 Session 5 Big Picture Question OK TO PRINT
Unit 30 Session 5 Parable of the Talents OK TO PRINT
Counting Coins Instructions: Jesus told a story about a man who gave his servants a different amount of coins. The servants were supposed to work hard and earn more coins for the man. Count the coins next to each servant, then count the number of coins they earned. How many coins did each servant earn for the man while he was away? Unit 30 Session 5 Preschool Activity Pages
Parable of the Talents Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27