Helping Others
OBJECTIVE
A good friend will inspire you to be true to God and your values, but a good friend is also someone who sticks by you during difficult times, who cares about you, loves you, and will even suffer with you. Jesus surrounded Himself with an inner circle of close friends and even when these friends sometimes failed Him, He never failed them. In this lesson, we will see how 4 amazing friends were determined to beat all obstacles in order to help their best friend, who was paralyzed, reach Jesus so that he could be healed. Helping a friend in need is a great way to show them that you love them. God loves us with such incredible love and he wants us to show that love to others. If we love one another, then God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.
INTRODUCTION & HOOK - 5 Minutes
Ask the children to clasp their hands behind their backs and have them try to turn the pages in a book or to do any simple task without the use of their hands. How does it feel to be unable to use your arms? Do you know anyone who's arms or legs are paralyzed? Paralyzed people need help to get around and to do certain tasks. Today's lesson is about a man whose legs are paralyzed and how he needed the help of his four friends to get to Jesus. We will learn how much his friends truly loved him and were willing to help him.
HOLY SCRIPTURE - 5 Minutes
Read Mark 2:1-12 - Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic
Memory Verse: "I have loved you with an everlasting love." (Jeremiah 31:3)
CONTENT (KEY POINTS) - 15 Minutes
So many people came to see Jesus one day that the room in the house was packed. Let's all pretend we are in that house and scoot close to each other so that there is no room for anyone else to fit in our house. Now, there were these four friends who loved their best friend who was paralyzed, which means he couldn't walk. They cared about him so much that they wanted to take him to Jesus because they had faith that He could make their friend walk again. Because of their faith and friendship, they decided to take action. Ask 4 kids to act as the 4 friends and to hold the corners of a bed sheet and ask a smaller kid to act as the paralyzed friend and instruct him to lie down on the sheet. Have them pretend to find a way to fit in the house. When they saw that it would be impossible to get their friend in through the door, they did not give up They climbed to the roof of the house and cut a giant hole in it that was big enough to lower their friend through, straight down to Jesus. Have the 4 friends place the paralyzed friend in the front of the class. When Jesus saw their faith, He told the paralytic man, "Son, your sins are forgiven you." This is something that only God can do which proves that Jesus is the Son of God. When the scribes and teachers of the law heard this, they were shocked and thought how dare Jesus claim to do something only God can do? Ask the children to make shocked facial expressions while looking at each other. Jesus knew they doubted Him and it took the miracle of Jesus actually healing the paralyzed man for them to understand. Jesus turned to the paralytic man and said "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." Ask the paralyzed friend to get up, pick up the sheet, and walk to the back of the room and ask the other children to react with amazement. Jesus had proven that he had power from God to perform this miracle and the authority to forgive sins.
If you have heard this story before, then you know that we usually focus on Jesus' miracle and how He proved He was the Son of God. For today's lesson, please use a different perspective by focusing on the four friends who were on a mission to help their friend get to Jesus. They faced many challenges on this mission. There was no room to get their friend inside the house, but they didn't give up by just waiting outside, hoping Jesus would see them. They also didn't worry about the religious leaders in the room and their judgment. Finally, they had to carry their friend to the roof, cut through the tile, and lower him down, which was probably very difficult and exhausting. Nothing was going to stop these 4 men from helping their friend
DISCUSSION (Challenge) - 5 Minutes
- The Bible doesn't say what happened after the paralyzed man walked home, but we can imagine that his friends went along to celebrate with him. What do you think they talked about on their walk home?
- Is there anything you can do for one of your friends to show them that you care about them?
- Has a friend ever done something so kind for you that you will never forget it?
LIFE APPLICATION - 5 Minutes
There are many stories in the Bible in which Jesus showed love and compassion to others. For example He showed acceptance, forgiveness and compassion to the Samaritan woman and He taught us how to love and serve others when He washed the feet of the disciples. The disciples got to watch all of this happen and they learned first hand how to love others. Jesus asked them to show that same kind of love and compassion to others and He asks us to do the same thing. From Jesus, we learn to put others ahead of ourselves and when we do this, others will know we are Christians and that Christ lives in us.
Watch this video. What did you learn from it? How did it make you feel?
Jesus wants us to love one another as He loves us. Do something kind for a friend this week. Pray for a friend in need and ask God to help them. Never stop praying for them which is similar to what the 4 friends did by tearing the roof off the house.
ACTIVITY - 15 Minutes
There are many great visual resources in the following link to help narrate the story.
Faith Sprouts: Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
The "Bend and Tell" section demonstrates an amazing and clever way to tell the story using 4 strips of cardstock (hole punched) and 3 brads to connect them (highly recommend). They could even make it and take it home to tell the story to their parents.
Another fun activity to get the children involved is the "Four Friend Weave" which uses a pillowcase, a doll, and some cones or other physical obstacles allowing the children to act out the story in a fun way.
This link also provides an easy craft using simple supplies and a template of the paralytic man. You will need: Paralyzed man template (Printed on card stock), felt, craft sticks, scissors, glue, hole punch, brad, and permanent marker
SERVANT RESOURCES
Below is a keynote presentation with pictures of the story which can assist during distance learning. A PDF version can be found attached below.
PARENTS CORNER/HOMEWORK
Ask parents to help the children buy a bag of groceries for a grandparent, an elderly neighbor, or an elderly church congregant, who may have a difficult time getting around, and deliver it to them.