Objective: To learn the story of the crippled woman and the importance of the Sabbath/Sunday.
Downloads
- Lesson Plan PDF
- Parents Handout PDF (1 per kid)
- Cut-out template PDF (1 per 2 kids)
Interaction Questions
Activity – Have the kids walk around using a toilet paper-roll tube as a cane. Tell them that the tube has to touch the ground the whole time! After a while (1-2min) have them stop and sit down. Ask them:
- How did it feel to walk around with the “cane”?
- How do you think it would feel if you could never stand straight and always had to bend down?
- What are some things you would not be able to do?
Lesson Time
Class time is split into 2 parts – first go over the story, followed by a craft related to the story.
Story Time
Go over the story. The following is based on Luke 13:10-17.
One day Jesus was teaching and there was a woman there who had been crippled for 18 years!
Pause – ask the kids:
- What does crippled mean? (point them to the activity of walking while bent)
- How long is 18 years? (try to find an someone 18 years old to compare to)
Jesus saw her and healed her! She immediately straightened up and praised God! Some people were angry that Jesus healed her during the Sabbath (like Sunday).
Pause – ask the kids:
- What is the Sabbath? (It is like Sundays – Sundays are for church. It is one day a week which we set apart to rest with God.)
- Why do you think people were angry that Jesus healed on the Sabbath? (People thought Jesus was not “resting” properly with God and was working! Keeping our time with God is very important!)
Jesus corrected them saying that by healing her – he was allowing her to also rest and praise God. The Sabbath / Church Day is for resting with God. Helping others is always good to do.
Repeat the story – have the kids act it out. Review with factual questions: How long was the woman crippled? Who healed her? Was everyone happy she was healed? Why were some people upset? What is the Sabbath?
Talk about it
Ask the kids if / when they have ever heard of “keeping the Sabbath”. It is from the ten commandments – read to them Exodus 20 (the ten commandments)
8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
We know keeping the day of rest or Church day is important! But why? Jesus teaches this day spent with God was for our benefit! Going to church and spending time with God is for us. Helping others so that they can spend time with God pleases God.
Craft Activity
We are going to be making a bending figure. To speed things up it maybe do steps 1 and 2 before class.
Items needed:
- Paper clip (1-2 per kid)
- Cutout of Women (1 per kid – to save paper the template has 2 cutouts per sheet of paper)
- Straw (1 per kid) – Non-bending type.
- Tape
- String (1 10in piece per kid)
Steps:
- Cut out the woman from the template handout
- Take the straw and cut a partial snip ever 1 inch – do not cut completely through the straw. Leave about 3 inches uncut at the bottom (this part is the handle.)
- Take the string and send it through the straw.
- Fold the string over the top of the straw and tape it to the straw
- Tape the straw to the back of the cut out of the woman. Make sure to take it the direction that makes the women bend in the correct direction.
- Paste it about an inch from the top of the cut-out
- Attach paper clips to the top of the cut-out (the paper clips are to give the paper weight so it bends over.)
To operate:
- Bend the straw slightly – the weight of the paper clips should keep the cut out figure bent (if not attach a couple more paper clips.)
- Hold the bottom of the cut out and the bottom of the straw and pull the string. The paper cut out figure should straighten!
Homework
Remind the students to give the handout sheet to their parents. Tell the students to show their parents how to work the bending woman craft.