What Are You Thankful For
Content
What Are You Thankful For?
Kid’s Thanksgiving Lesson for Worship
BIG IDEA: Showing a thankful attitude at all times. MATERIALS: Construction paper (fall colors), large cut out brown tree, tape or glue, projector if available for response reading, memory verse, and the discussion question, two envelopes. MEMORY VERSE: In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18) (Write the verse two times using the words individually on 14 - CUT OUT HANDS ‘fall colors’ to be used later and place in envelopes) MUSIC: Add you own exciting DVD music for the kids
Rev. Jeanne McIntosh © October 2013 All rights reserved. Use for your church ministry.
RESPONSE READING Luke 17:11-19 (The Message)
Teacher: It happened that as he made his way toward Jerusalem, he crossed over the border between Samaria and Galilee. Children: As he entered a village, ten men, all lepers, met him. Teacher: They kept their distance but raised their voices, calling out, Children: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” Teacher: Taking a good look at them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” Children: They went, and while still on their way, became clean. Teacher: One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God. Children: He kneeled at Jesus’ feet, so grateful. He couldn’t thank him enough— and he was a Samaritan. Children: Jesus said, “Were not ten healed? Where are the nine? Teacher: Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?” Children: Then he said to him, “Get up. On your way. All: Your faith has healed and saved you.”
Rev. Jeanne McIntosh © October 2013 All rights reserved. Use for your church ministry.
OPENING DISCUSSION: What does it mean to be thankful? Give children an opportunity to respond. Some thoughts to present: To be grateful for what someone does for you; To show appreciation when someone gives you a gift even if you do not like it; To be content with what you have; To express gratitude for a lunch or meal that you did not enjoy.
BIBLE LESSON Have you ever had a birthday party in which you received birthday presents? (Ask for a show of hands) Were there some presents that you liked better than others? (Ask for a show of hands) Did you thank your family or friends for the gifts that you liked, and ignore the people who gave you gifts that you did not like as well? How do you think this would make someone feel if you actually had done this? (Ask for a few responses) In our Scripture response reading, there were ten lepers who were very sick. They had heard that Jesus had power to heal. Because they recognized His great and wonderful power, they made the decision to come to Jesus for healing. Some people want to be healed and made well, but they do not want to serve Jesus and let him come into their heart and change them. These lepers were outcast in society and nobody wanted to be close to them at all. They were contaminated like someone having a bad cold that you would not want to catch. Even when people do not go to church or love Jesus does not give us any right to treat them with love and kindness. Some people go to church to see what they can get out of it. That is ok as long as they come to church. Anyone who comes to church will hear about the Gospel and how much that Jesus loves them. They need to hear this. These lepers needed Jesus’ touch. When Jesus touches our lives, we are kind to others. We are thankful and show gratitude toward others. We are polite and show appreciation to others when they do kind things for us even if we do not like it. If you have a friend who brings in cupcakes to school to celebrate their birthday and they have two choices – chocolate or vanilla. Let’s say that by the time they come to your desk the chocolate is all gone. Because you hate vanilla cupcakes
Rev. Jeanne McIntosh © October 2013 All rights reserved. Use for your church ministry.
would that give you a right to say, “I don’t like vanilla cupcakes”? What would be some better choices of words to use? (Allow time to give responses) When Jesus healed the lepers they did not stop to show any gratitude for what Jesus had done for them. They took off and only one leper came back to thank Jesus. That is sad! How do you think Jesus felt? (Give time for responses) Yes, he probably did feel sad. Jesus shared this story with us in the bible to help us see the importance of loving others no matter who they were and to always be thankful for what anyone does for us. Showing a thankful attitude is important and this is something that we should always be working on at every opportunity. Our memory verse says “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”. (1 Thessalonians 5:18) Notice the word “everything”. What does this mean to you? (Allow time for responses) I have two envelopes in my hand that I am going to use to help you learn our memory verse today. First let’s say it all together. (Say several times – boys, then girls, and all together). “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) We are going to have two teams and see which team can put the verse together in the correct order. (You can also do with a few children at a time if there are too many children to work together as a team) ART CRAFT: THANKFUL TREE 1. Using brown construction paper place – cut out a large brown tree and apply to the wall. 2. Have the children trace their hands using fall colors of construction paper. 3. Each child will write words on their cut out hands in which they are thankful for. 4. If time, let them do several hands. 5. Tape the hands to the tree for display. Additional: Talk about what THEIR hands can do for Jesus to show thankfulness.
Rev. Jeanne McIntosh © October 2013 All rights reserved. Use for your church ministry.
The Lepers: READER’S THEATOR Reader 1: This is sure itchy. Reader 2: What’s itchy? Reader 1: My arm. It is driving me crazy today. Reader 2: Put some calamine lotion on it. Reader 1: I did, but it wouldn’t work. Reader 2: My mom put peanut butter on me. Reader 1: Peanut butter! That sounds yuck! Reader 2: Actually it was pretty good! I licked it all off. Reader 1: How did it do you any good if you licked it all off? Reader 2: I don’t know. It just did. Reader 1: What did those lepers do to get rid of their leper spots? Reader 2: What lepers? Reader 1: In the bible story on Sunday. Reader 2: Don’t know. Must have went to the doctor or got a BIG shot. Reader 1: I hate needles. I would NEVER do that! Reader 2: Well……..how are you going to get rid of that itching? Reader 1: I guess what those lepers did….they went to Jesus and he healed them. Reader 1: Just like that? Reader: Just like that. He just healed them….just like that. Reader 2: Hmmmmm……I’ll go with you. I think I’m itching too! (EXIT)
Rev. Jeanne McIntosh © October 2013 All rights reserved. Use for your church ministry.
Kid’s Thanksgiving Lesson for Worship
BIG IDEA: Showing a thankful attitude at all times. MATERIALS: Construction paper (fall colors), large cut out brown tree, tape or glue, projector if available for response reading, memory verse, and the discussion question, two envelopes. MEMORY VERSE: In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18) (Write the verse two times using the words individually on 14 - CUT OUT HANDS ‘fall colors’ to be used later and place in envelopes) MUSIC: Add you own exciting DVD music for the kids
Rev. Jeanne McIntosh © October 2013 All rights reserved. Use for your church ministry.
RESPONSE READING Luke 17:11-19 (The Message)
Teacher: It happened that as he made his way toward Jerusalem, he crossed over the border between Samaria and Galilee. Children: As he entered a village, ten men, all lepers, met him. Teacher: They kept their distance but raised their voices, calling out, Children: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” Teacher: Taking a good look at them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” Children: They went, and while still on their way, became clean. Teacher: One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God. Children: He kneeled at Jesus’ feet, so grateful. He couldn’t thank him enough— and he was a Samaritan. Children: Jesus said, “Were not ten healed? Where are the nine? Teacher: Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?” Children: Then he said to him, “Get up. On your way. All: Your faith has healed and saved you.”
Rev. Jeanne McIntosh © October 2013 All rights reserved. Use for your church ministry.
OPENING DISCUSSION: What does it mean to be thankful? Give children an opportunity to respond. Some thoughts to present: To be grateful for what someone does for you; To show appreciation when someone gives you a gift even if you do not like it; To be content with what you have; To express gratitude for a lunch or meal that you did not enjoy.
BIBLE LESSON Have you ever had a birthday party in which you received birthday presents? (Ask for a show of hands) Were there some presents that you liked better than others? (Ask for a show of hands) Did you thank your family or friends for the gifts that you liked, and ignore the people who gave you gifts that you did not like as well? How do you think this would make someone feel if you actually had done this? (Ask for a few responses) In our Scripture response reading, there were ten lepers who were very sick. They had heard that Jesus had power to heal. Because they recognized His great and wonderful power, they made the decision to come to Jesus for healing. Some people want to be healed and made well, but they do not want to serve Jesus and let him come into their heart and change them. These lepers were outcast in society and nobody wanted to be close to them at all. They were contaminated like someone having a bad cold that you would not want to catch. Even when people do not go to church or love Jesus does not give us any right to treat them with love and kindness. Some people go to church to see what they can get out of it. That is ok as long as they come to church. Anyone who comes to church will hear about the Gospel and how much that Jesus loves them. They need to hear this. These lepers needed Jesus’ touch. When Jesus touches our lives, we are kind to others. We are thankful and show gratitude toward others. We are polite and show appreciation to others when they do kind things for us even if we do not like it. If you have a friend who brings in cupcakes to school to celebrate their birthday and they have two choices – chocolate or vanilla. Let’s say that by the time they come to your desk the chocolate is all gone. Because you hate vanilla cupcakes
Rev. Jeanne McIntosh © October 2013 All rights reserved. Use for your church ministry.
would that give you a right to say, “I don’t like vanilla cupcakes”? What would be some better choices of words to use? (Allow time to give responses) When Jesus healed the lepers they did not stop to show any gratitude for what Jesus had done for them. They took off and only one leper came back to thank Jesus. That is sad! How do you think Jesus felt? (Give time for responses) Yes, he probably did feel sad. Jesus shared this story with us in the bible to help us see the importance of loving others no matter who they were and to always be thankful for what anyone does for us. Showing a thankful attitude is important and this is something that we should always be working on at every opportunity. Our memory verse says “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”. (1 Thessalonians 5:18) Notice the word “everything”. What does this mean to you? (Allow time for responses) I have two envelopes in my hand that I am going to use to help you learn our memory verse today. First let’s say it all together. (Say several times – boys, then girls, and all together). “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) We are going to have two teams and see which team can put the verse together in the correct order. (You can also do with a few children at a time if there are too many children to work together as a team) ART CRAFT: THANKFUL TREE 1. Using brown construction paper place – cut out a large brown tree and apply to the wall. 2. Have the children trace their hands using fall colors of construction paper. 3. Each child will write words on their cut out hands in which they are thankful for. 4. If time, let them do several hands. 5. Tape the hands to the tree for display. Additional: Talk about what THEIR hands can do for Jesus to show thankfulness.
Rev. Jeanne McIntosh © October 2013 All rights reserved. Use for your church ministry.
The Lepers: READER’S THEATOR Reader 1: This is sure itchy. Reader 2: What’s itchy? Reader 1: My arm. It is driving me crazy today. Reader 2: Put some calamine lotion on it. Reader 1: I did, but it wouldn’t work. Reader 2: My mom put peanut butter on me. Reader 1: Peanut butter! That sounds yuck! Reader 2: Actually it was pretty good! I licked it all off. Reader 1: How did it do you any good if you licked it all off? Reader 2: I don’t know. It just did. Reader 1: What did those lepers do to get rid of their leper spots? Reader 2: What lepers? Reader 1: In the bible story on Sunday. Reader 2: Don’t know. Must have went to the doctor or got a BIG shot. Reader 1: I hate needles. I would NEVER do that! Reader 2: Well……..how are you going to get rid of that itching? Reader 1: I guess what those lepers did….they went to Jesus and he healed them. Reader 1: Just like that? Reader: Just like that. He just healed them….just like that. Reader 2: Hmmmmm……I’ll go with you. I think I’m itching too! (EXIT)
Rev. Jeanne McIntosh © October 2013 All rights reserved. Use for your church ministry.
