"Reserving a Little to Give Away"

Tigers Christian Club -- Lesson for Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Adapted from “Reserving a Little to Give Away” from Kids Honor Club from Biblical Parenting

Intro and follow-up questions:
Let’s start with a song!  To the tune of Jingle Bells:

“Jesus saves!  Jesus saves!
Jesus is the way
Jesus is the Saviour
You can come to him today, HEY!
Jesus saves!  Jesus saves!
People from their sin
You will find forgiveness
When you put your trust in Him”

Today we’re going to continue talking about honor.  We’ve talked about how we can show honor to each other and to our families.  And today we’re going to talk about how we can show honor even to people we do not know.  

Anyone remember the three parts of honor?
-Treating people as special
-Doing more than what’s expected
-Having a good attitude

Story and skit:
Luke 10:20-37, told in paraphrase (quotes are from the Kids Honor Club curriculum):

*For the skit need: 1 Jewish man, 1 priest, 1 Levite, 1 Samaritan, 1 donkey, bandage, blanket, innkeeper, coin purse or money

Today’s story comes from Luke, chapter 10, verses 20-37.  It’s the story Jesus tells of the Good Samaritan. Some of you may have heard this story before.

Who can tell me what a Good Samaritan is?

Why did Jesus tell that story?

“The story of the Good Samaritan was told by Jesus to help people know what it means to be a good neighbor.  A good neighbor doesn’t just think about himself and the things he has to do, but he thinks about others, even people he doesn’t know.  He looks for ways to help them. Did you ever help someone you didn’t know?”

Do you ever give away clothes that you’ve outgrown?  Have you ever raised money to help people have enough to eat?  Yes! You did! At the Turkey Trot this year!

“In the story, Jesus told about a Jewish man who was traveling on a trip through a dangerous part of the country.  He was on his way to a city called Jericho. On his way, some bad men came and robbed him and took his money and beat him up, leaving him hurt on the side of the road.

“Pretty soon a priest came by.  He was a religious man but when he saw the hurt man, he walked to the other side of the street around the man and kept going.  A second man came walking by. He was a Levite, someone who also was chosen by God to work in the temple. He also walked around the man and kept going.  Why do you think these men didn’t stop to help?

“Maybe they were….too busy, he wasn’t their friend, they were selfish, or they might get dirty.

“What do you think the hurt man was feeling?  He was probably wishing that someone would stop and help him.  Pretty soon another man came by. He was a Samaritan. Now the Jews didn’t really like the Samaritans, but this man didn’t care.  This man saw someone who needed help and so he stopped. The Samaritan bandaged up the hurt man’s sores and put him on his own donkey.  He then took the hurt man to an inn (like a hotel) where he paid someone to take care of him.

Thank you to all of our actors!  You can have a seat now.

“Jesus was trying to teach the people that we should care about other people, even if we don’t know them.  Honor does that. It gives more than what’s expected. It shares with people and brightens their day.

“What are some ways that you can show honor to people you don’t know?  What about at the store?

• You might act respectfully instead of being wild
• You might smile and say hello to someone you’ve never met

“What about at church or school?

• You might just talk with someone, or help someone who spills a drink, or pick up trash when you see it on the ground

“When you give to others like that, what happens?  You can know in your heart that you’re doing the right thing, and you can know that God sees what you’re doing.  God loves honor. In fact, God loves it when we do more than what’s expected. We may think that no one is watching and that nobody cares, but God does.  Every once in awhile, even though you don’t know it, someone may see your kindness. You never know when you will need an act of kindness in your own life.  That’s why the Bible encourages us to treat others kindly.

Bible verse:
Our Bible verse for today is Matthew 7:12.  Will someone read it for us?

“Do to others what you would have them do to you.”
Matthew 7:12

Closing:  
Now, I want to ask you something.  Do you know who the people are who live near you?  These are your neighbors. If you live in a building with lots of families in it, they could live down the hall or downstairs or upstairs from you.  If you live in a house, they could live in the houses next to you or across the street.

Can you think of your neighbors?  What do you know about them? Are their kids in those families?  Do they have cats or dogs or other pets at home? Could you tell me the color of the car they drive or the bicycle they ride?  What else can you tell me about your neighbors?

How might you treat your neighbors as special?  Sometimes the mailman delivers mail to us that should have gone to our neighbors.  My kids like to take those letters and put it in our neighbor's’ mailboxes. I can think of one neighbor who treats our family as special during the winter.  His name is Alex and he comes by when it snows to see if we need help shoveling!

Prayer:  Dear God, “teach us how to give to others, and not just think about ourselves.  Help us to see ways that we can demonstrate acts of kindness. Teach us how to give in small ways every day.  Amen.”

Activity:
Today we’re going to make Christmas ornaments.  I want each of you to make two of them -- one to keep for yourself and one to give away to a neighbor.  You can choose to hand it directly to your neighbor or leave it in their mailbox with a note. Parents, I have a note you can include with it when your child passes it along.

Dixie cup jingle bell ornaments:  Materials: dixie cup, stickers, crayon, markers, ribbon, jingle bells

Print on cardstock (document called “letter to neighbor”):

Hello neighbor!
We made Christmas ornaments during our Christian after school club -- one to keep and one to give to a neighbor.  This is for you!
Merry Christmas!

When you are finished, join me back on the rug, and we can sing the song we learned at the start “Jesus Saves” and this time we can shake our jingle bell ornaments too!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!  See you in the new year! (Hang out candy canes.)