WELCOME TO WEEK 4

Elementary (Y1)

This is the final week of our series! We have learned that God is love and that he wants us to love others as well. We should love our neighbors and even our enemies! This week we will learn what Jesus says is the Greatest Commandment.

Mark 12:28-34

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

SONG OF THE WEEK

BIBLE STORY

What are some rules you have to follow from your parents, teachers or leaders? God gave us the Ten Commandments as a standard for how we should live. Think of the following commandments God gave and say what would happen if we did not follow those commands. For example: Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy…. What If we did not rest on the Sabbath day…we would miss a special time to be in relationship with God and renew us to share His good news with people.

Have no other gods before me….. what if we had other gods….

Thou shalt not kill….what if we freely killed…

Honor your mother and father…what if we were disrespectful to our parents…

Thou shalt not steal…. What if we stole from whoever, whenever….

Which of these commandments would you say is the most important to keep? Do we really need to keep all of these commandments or just our favorite commandment?

Read or listen to the scripture Mark 12:28-34

Who was asking Jesus questions about the commandments? (one of the teachers of the law)
What commandment did Jesus say was the most important? (the Lord God is one. Love the lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength)
What was the second commandment that was important? (Love your neighbor as yourself)
What do both of these commandments have in common? (to Love, first God then Man)
What did the teacher say loving God and your neighbor is more important than? (burnt offerings and sacrifices)
Why do you think loving God and loving your neighbor is the most important commandment?

Watch an alternative video link here.

Materials: Music, Computer to play video, Bible or online bible

BIBLE STORY ACTIVITY

In the scripture for this week Jesus answered the question of what is the greatest commandment by saying ‘The Lord God is one, love your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. It says the second commandment is like it, we are to love our neighbor as ourself’. Jesus says that the Lord God is one God and that we are to serve him with everything in us. Take 3 glasses and fill with water or juice. Fill the first cup less than half full. Fill the second cup over half full. Fill the third cup as high as you can without it spilling over. Which cup is truly full? Obviously the third cup is full. Is there any space to add anything else to the cup? That is how God wants us to live our life for him, with our everything! With all our hearts, mind, soul and strength. When we fill ourselves fully with him, we experience our greatest purpose.

ACTIVITY

Divide a sheet of paper into 3 parts. In each section write Heart, mind, strength at the top. Draw a picture or write things that we love under each section of the paper. For example with our hearts we love our family, with our minds we love to think about our next big trip or toy, with our strength we love to show others how good we are at doing things. Think of other things you “love” using your heart, mind and strength. Discuss how those things may sometimes get in the way of God

Materials: sheet of paper sectioned into 3, or print one here, pen/pencil,

ALTERNATIVE:

Listen to this story about not having other gods. https://kidscorner.reframemedia.com/terrene/episodes/no-other-gods

Materials: computer for listening to story

CREATE:

Print, color and cut out this Bookmark to remember the greatest commandment.

Materials: The Greatest commandment bookmark

ARTS & CAFTS

CRAFT 1

Cut out a heart from white paper. In the heart write “Love the Lord your God with all your heart”. Using different colored tissue paper, cut out small hearts and the glue them on top of the scripture heart until all the white is covered.

Materials: Which construction paper, colored tissue paper, pen/pencil

CRAFT 1

CRAFT 2

coloring page

Materials: Crayons or coloring utensil, Printer, Scissors, Glue a piece of paper

CRAFT 2

FOLLOW-UP

Loving Others as much as we love ourselves is not an easy task. God gives us the ability to love others by doing for other people.

What are some ways you can show love to others this week?

What are some things you may be loving that are keeping you from loving God with all your heart, mind and strength?

Practical Application at Home

In this series we have learned that God loves us without a condition but just because of who we are. We also learned that our neighbor is anyone God brings into our lives that we see has a need. We learned that God loves our enemies and he wants us to love them as well. We also learned that the greatest commandment is to love the One true God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. This type of love is not our type of love but God’s love, which is much bigger. To love someone as ourselves means we treat them with the same goodness we would use to treat ourselves. This week look for ways to love others. Think about what you would do for yourself and then love them with that same measure of goodness. Here are a few examples:

Taking care of your physical body (brushing teeth, combing hair etc.)- - - - - Donate hygiene products to a shelter.
Playing a sport - - - - - - invite someone to play a game with you who may be standing on the sidelines.
We dress ourselves in nice clothes- - - - - - - - donate new or gently used clothes/uniforms to a persons in need or to a a local school.
We eat 3 healthy meals a day- - - - - - - - invite a neighbor to your house for a meal. Or bring some of your family’s meal in a disposable container to someone homeless that you may always see near your neighborhood or school.
We visit with friends and family - - - - - - - visit a person who is shut-in or at a nursing home. Maybe someone you haven’t seen at church in awhile or someone who is in the hospital..