Welcome!
We’re so excited that you stopped over to see what’s happening in kids ministry! Each week we’ll have all information and links you need to stay up-to-date right here in one convenient place.
We have options for you to work through the lesson with your family or set your kids up to watch one of our virtual lessons.
Weekly Email Updates: HERE
Printable sermon notes: HERE
What we’re studying this month
REAL LOVE:A SERIES ON JESUS’ TEACHINGS
We are always teaching our kids that we need to love God and love one another, but often times neglect to give them tangible ways to do so. In this series, we are going to examine a few of Jesus’ teachings in depth and discover practical ways we can demonstrate our love for God, family, friends, and enemies, too! Our hope is that by the end of this series, every kid will be able to say, because God loves everyone, I can show God’s love by being kind, I can show God’s love even when it’s hard, and that ultimately, love is the best choice!
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How to Study at Home
Get your Child a snack
Read the Bible Story to your child and/or
Click on the link to the YouTube Playlist for that week and watch the videos. Lessons each week brought to you by our Children’s Director Melissa. “in-person” lessons complete with worship music, videos, games, memory work, and more.
Review Memory work and Pray with your kids when they are done
If you have time or the desire - choose one of the follow-up activities to help the kids engage with the lesson
Lesson Overview
INSTRUCTIONS: Look up the story in your Bible. See if your kids can guess the Big Idea
THE BIBLE: The Good Samaritan: Luke 10:31-37; (John 13:35)
BIG IDEA: I can show God's love by being kind.
Jesus told everyone we should love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. He said this is the most important thing we needed to do. But the second most important thing is to love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves! But... who is our neighbor?
To answer that question, Jesus tells a story about a man who was lying down on the side of the road. He got hurt very badly by some robbers and he needed help!
Who would help the man who was hurt? Well, first a priest came down the road and saw the hurt man (Hold your hand over your eyebrows as if looking into the distance). Did the priest help the hurt man? No, he didn't (Pause and make a sad face).
Next, a Levite came down the road and saw the hurt man (Hold your hand over your eyebrows as if looking into the distance). Did the Levite help the hurt man? No, he didn't (Pause and make a sad face).
A third man to come down the road was a Samaritan (Ask the kids to repeat "Samaritan" with you). He was not from the same town as the hurt man. No one thought the Samaritan was going to help the hurt man, but do you know what he did? The Samaritan helped the hurt man (Get the kids to clap and cheer)! The Samaritan saw the hurt man, and felt sad for him. The Samaritan put bandages on the hurt man and helped him to travel somewhere safe. The Samaritan let the hurt man ride on his donkey to an inn where the hurt man could stay until he was all better.
Who was kind to the hurt man? The Samaritan! God loves everyone and wants us to show His love by being kind to everyone we meet. Say it with me, I can show God's love by being kind.
TODDLER TIP: Put some long gauze wrappings in a bucket for the kids to play with while you them about today's Bible story.
Additional SCRIPTURE | John 13:35
INSTRUCTIONS:
Last week, we learned God loved the whole wide world –that means EVERYONE – so much, that God's own son, Jesus, was sent to save us. Isn't God's love truly amazing?
We love God, but God loved us first. We did nothing to deserve God's love, but God loves us anyway. In the same way, we should love others no matter who they are, and show kindness without expecting anything in return. And when we do, everyone will know we are followers of God!
ACTIVITY |My Hands Can Be Kind
INSTRUCTIONS: Use a crayon to trace the shape of each kid's hands onto a sheet of construction paper and then allow the kids to decorate their hand outlines with crayons, stickers, or watercolor paints. Write the Big Idea on the papers.
We can use our hands to do kind things just like the Good Samaritan. Show someone your hand today and say, "I can show God's love by being kind!"
REFLECTION | Kindness is a Domino Effect
INSTRUCTIONS: Ask one of the kids to line up a tin of dominoes for you while you are talking with the group. This task is probably better suited for one of your older kids.
Share a story about a time when someone was kind to you and how that made you want to be kind to others.
Sharing God's love is like a domino effect: by showing someone God's love through kindness, we inspire them to do the same. And they inspire other people. And so on and so forth. (Conclude by choosing a volunteer to gently knock over one domino to demonstrate the effect.)
PRAYER
Toddler Tips: A toddler needs may have trouble understanding the concept of prayer because they cannot see God. Echo Prayer is a good strategy to encourage and teach kids how to talk to God. The teacher or parent speaks aloud a short segment of the prayer, and the children echo back the same sentence or phrase.
Dear God, being kind to others can sometimes be hard to do. Please help me to be like the Good Samaritan and help those who are in need. I want to show Your love to everyone by being kind!