Sharing your
blessings (For
Children Ages 5-8)
Memory Verse Romans 12:13
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Welcome others
into your homes.
In addition to the memory verse the scripture we used in our lesson with the children
that we read and then broken down was Acts 2:42-47.
To begin the class I often do a review on what they learned the lesson
before. When you’re with God (on his team) He blesses you. Not because we’re
good but because we love and obey him.
So why does Jesus bless us? Is it so we can keep all the blessings? Is it so we can be puffed up and show others
that we’re blessed? (No)
To understand what we’re trying to explain to the children I told the
elephant story before beginning with my lesson.
The story is of an elephant (puppet) .Before we began I had the kids name the puppet
for this story. Maddy the Elephant walked to the river every day for a drink of
water but one day she found a bucket and she took it along so she could store
water. Everyone thought she looked strange because she was carrying a bucket. But
she didn’t mind she wanted to be prepared. Soon she found a backpack “hmmm, I
can store my things in here!” she thought so she carried it to. Soon she found
a blanket “hmm, I can take this with me for when I get cold!” and she put it in
her backpack. After a while she found a pillow “this pillow will work great for
when I take my naps”. Here I had the elephant pick up several other things a
brush, book, hat, snack etc. soon the
Why was Maddy captured? (She
couldn’t escape because of her big bag) what Kept Maddy in (her
things) what mattered more to Maddy
he friends or her things? (Her things)
In the story Maddy was worried more about her blessings than her
neighbors or their needs. And we have to take care that we don’t become
distracted by our own blessings that we don’t see the needs of others.
Why do our Parents bless us (because
they love and care for us) does God bless His children too? (Yes). God wants us to take care of the
blessings He gives us but he also blesses us so we can bless others.
Here Silly Willy a good little helper (Dragon puppet) who’s blessed with
more and more small bag of chips. That I meant for him to pass out to the
children but instead of passing them out he joyfully stacks them in a pile and
tells all the kids how blessed he is with so many bags of chips! He asked the
kids if they have any in which they say no. but instead of passing out the
chips he starts to eat them without seeing the needs of others. I then tell Silly
Willy that I meant for him to pass them out not to keep them. He starts to pass
out the half eaten bag and saving the rest for himself. What should Silly Willy
do? Should be build a big storage for his bags of chips? No he should look to
the needs of others as a good steward. Like him we need to give and care for
others needs.
But what if we really like and enjoy the blessings do we still need to
care for others? (yes) should we give only what we have left? (no) or what we
don’t want or need ?(no)
Read the story of the giving tree By Silver Stein. In this story the tree doesn’t give
what she has left but all that she has because she loved him. She saw his needs
and gave what she had so his needs would be met. Most of the time the boy was ungrateful and
didn’t say thank you but she kept on giving because it made her happy because
she loved him. likewise we give to others and sometimes they won’t be thankful
but we still need to give. In the end we live with joy because we met the needs
of others.
In our verse Acts 2:42-47New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
The
Believers Share Their Lives Together
42 The believers studied what the apostles taught. They shared
their lives together. They ate and prayed together. 43 Everyone
was amazed at what God was doing. They were amazed when the apostles performed
many wonders and signs. 44 All the believers were together.
They shared everything they had. 45 They sold property and
other things they owned. They gave to anyone who needed something. 46 Every
day they met together in the temple courtyard. They ate meals together in their
homes. Their hearts were glad and sincere. 47 They praised God.
They were respected by all the people. Every day the Lord added to their group
those who were being saved.
In our verse of the day people are accepting Jesus. People begin to fear and worship god and God does great miracles. The people begin to live near one another. They were all the same not separated by class (possessions) they were selling everything and gave one another based on their needs. They had the same heart. We see they were at church in each others homes and shared food. They were no longer distracted by their things but loved one another. Everyone around them began to love them and God gave them favor.
As Christians we need to love one another. We shouldn’t be distracted by our blessings that we can’t see the needs of others. God blesses us so we can be good stewards and care for others.
Craft idea
for this lesson on sharing your blessings the children learned that God
blesses us because He loves us but He also blesses us so we can bless others.
God places things in our hands and as good stewards we need to meet the needs
of others.
After the lesson and the story the giving
tree by Silver Stein the children created their own giving tree. Their fruits
were the fruit of love, kindness and selflessness which meet the needs of
others.
The
3d trees we used are from the Lakeshore learning store. the hearts we used are self adhesive hearts from our local Dollar Tree store.
Simply interlock 2 boards to instantly create a sturdy canvas for decorating with paint, markers, collage materials & more! Set includes 40 boards make 20 freestanding trees. Each is 8 1/2" tall.
item# PP286
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