Loving Your Neighbor as Yourself

The Good Samaritan (picture from freebibleimages.org).

Central Truth: Love your enemies and your neighbors as you love yourself.

Scriptures: Luke 10:25-35

Jesus was asked how to gain eternal life, and Jesus answers him with the story of the Good Samaritan. Along the road to Jericho, a Hebrew man was attacked by robbers and left for dead. As he laid wounded along the road, a priest came along and saw the man but continued on his way. Then a Levite passed by and did not stop to help the man. Finally, a Samaritan, an enemy of the Hebrews, saw the man and stopped to help. He bandaged the wound and paid for a room at an inn for the man's care. When we help others is when we love others as ourselves.

After our lesson, we played a board game I found online called Treasures in Heaven. Last Sunday, we colored the game board and the pieces and I glued it to the file folder. We played two rounds, Destinee winning every one of them. It was a fun game and will be played again. I especially loved all of the good deeds that the children came up with during the game.


This week's lesson comes from the book Children Sunday School Lessons: The Parables and Teachings of Jesus, Vol. 2 by Rev. Stephen R. Wilson.

God Welcomes the Lost: The Parable of the Prodigal Son

The Parable of the Two Sons (image from freebibleimages.org).

Central Truth: God wants all those who are lost to return to him.

Scriptures: Luke 15:11-32

This week the children learned about the Prodigal Son who left his father's house and squandered his inheritance. Much like the Prodigal Son, God also desires for the lost to return to him. Those who do return to God are honored and cherished. God celebrates those who believe in him.

As part of the lesson, I created a video book. I used pictures from freebibleimages.org, a wonderful website of visual materials that can be used for Sunday School classes. I used their synopsis of the story and narrated it using the Book Creator app, and I added the final touches using iMovies on my iPad. The children enjoyed the video and were excited about helping me narrate the next one for Christmas.

This week's lesson comes from the book Children Sunday School Lessons: The Parables and Teachings of Jesus, Vol. 2 by Rev. Stephen R. Wilson.

Persistence in Prayer

Memory verse: "Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you." Luke 11:9

Scriptures: Luke 11:1-13

In today's lesson, the kids learned to continually pray to God for our needs and for the people around us. We read in Luke 11 how Jesus taught his disciples to pray and the story of the neighbor who needed bread at midnight and kept knocking on the door until his neighbor got up and helped him. When we pray to God, we must not give up and keep praying. At the end of the lesson, we read about the comparison Jesus made to parents giving good things to their children much like God gives good blessing to his people.

For our activity, the children learned the importance of keeping a prayer journal. It is important to not leave anyone out when we pray and keeping a journal is a good way to keep up with who you are praying for as well as the answered prayers.

I made 10 prayer journals ahead of time because I knew it would take the children a long time to do it during class. I used construction paper for the outside and stapled four blank sheets on the inside. I gave the children construction paper, stencil, colored pencils, markers, and glue to decorate and personalize their prayer journal. Below is an example of one:

The Crucifixion of Christ

"The Crucifixion" from Bible for Kids app

Central Truth: Jesus came to put mankind in right standing with God.

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

Memory Verse: “A merry heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22

Scriptures: John 18:28-19:42; Luke 23:34-35

On this Palm Sunday, the kids and I talked about Passion Week and the Crucifixion. The bible tells us that Pilate did not believe that Jesus deserved to die, but the leaders of the Temple encouraged the mob to demand that Pilate crucify Jesus. When Jesus was crucified, he gave his life so that we can have eternal life in Heaven.

Easter Garden

As part of our lesson today, we also created an Easter Garden using the instructions found on The Fugal Homemaker blog.

We used a flat container, a small container, pebbles, grass seeds, and a white crystal to create our Easter Garden.

I filled the bottom of the flat container with soil and then placed the small pot on top. I then covered the small pot with the remaining soil, burying it. The kids and I then laid out the pebbles to make a path to the empty tomb. Then, we placed the stone in front of the tomb. The last thing we did was spread grass seeds all over the soil and then added another layer of soil to bury the seeds.

 Hopefully, on Easter Sunday, grass sprigs will cover our garden.

Kids' Bulletin

The Christmas Story

Central Truth: God gave his only son to save the world.

"The entrance of your words gives light." Psalms 119:130

Scriptures: Matthew 1-2; Luke 1-2

In today's lesson, the children learned about the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. They learned about the virgin pregnancy, the birth of Jesus in a stable, the shepherds, and the wise men. The children also learned how God spoke to Joseph in dreams so that he could protect baby Jesus.

Christmas angel ornaments created by the children of Tabernacle of Praise.
The pattern for the angel ornaments can be found at sundayschoolkids.com

Below is the Kids' Bulletin for this Sunday School lesson. Pictures and clip art are from flickr.com and ekduncan.com. The inside cover page comes from sistersguild.blogspot.com. 

Kids' Bulletin: