Free
2 Share VBS-2
Day
1
Call
Not the Righteous, but the Sinners to Repentance
After
this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his
tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to
him, and Levi got up. Left everything and followed Him.
Then
Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax
collectors and others were eating with them” But the Pharisees and the teachers
of the law who belonged to their sect complained to His disciples, “Why do you
eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
Jesus
answered them, “It is not the healthy who
need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners
to repentance.” Luke 5:27-32 NIV®
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Memory
Verses: Jesus answered them, “It is not
the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:31-32 NIV®
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Discussion
Example:
Say
something like, “There are two different messages in this passage. The first
one is that when Jesus called Levi to follow Him, he dropped everything and
followed Jesus. Do we do that in our lives? When we see someone bullying
another person, do we go get an adult to help or stand up and say, ‘Stop that’
to the bully? It’s easier for most of us to just fade into the crowd of people
laughing and not stand up for those being taken advantage of or laughed. When
Jesus calls us to take a stand, we need to be willing to do His will, because
we would want someone to get help for us or stand up for us if we were in the
same situation. What would you do or say if you saw someone making fun of
someone else or bullying them?” Listen to all their ideas, complementing them
on being willing to stand up for someone else.
Continue
with, “The other message in this passage is that the Pharisees in Jesus' time
really looked down on tax collectors who often stole some of the money they
were collecting. They couldn’t believe that Jesus would eat with terrible
sinners like that. Jesus, on the other hand, explains to them that those who
really need a doctor are not those who are healthy, but those who are sick. In
the same way, Jesus is called to help the sinners, not just those who think they
are righteous and do no wrong.
“One
church had a sign out front saying: Sinners Welcome. When you think of it, we are
all sinners, so Jesus welcomes all of us. There are just some people like the
Pharisees who think they are so good that they don’t need any help.
Unfortunately, some people miss out on the message Jesus has for us, because
they are too busy thinking about what great people they are and aren’t humble
like the tax collector who was willing to drop everything and follow Jesus.”
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Arts
and Crafts Example:
Since
it’s part of the lesson, you will want to have protective clothes like old
T-shirts or big garbage bags cut with head and arm holes. You will also
need toothbrushes (maybe from a dollar store), paper and paint. (I’d put some
paint into empty Styrofoam egg carton cups with a couple cups of water for
groups to share. I’d, also, have newspaper on the tables to protect them.)
Explain,
“Just like when we wear protective clothing for messy projects, we need to have
a strong and active faith in Jesus to protect us from others who make poor
choices, so we don’t start acting that way too.
Tell
them after they have on their protective clothing, “They are to put their paint
brush in the paint and hold it over the paper and rub their thumb over the
brush to create a spatter effect. They can rinse their brush and add other
colors to their art project.
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Science
Example:
You
will need a bag of any type of beans, a Styrofoam bowl, pitcher of water, and
towels to put the bowls on for each person or group. Show them how to put the
bowl on the towel and fill the bowl up with water (you may need to assist
them in this).
Ask
them, “How many beans dropped into the bowl do you think it will take to make
this water spill over?” Listen to their Hypotheses about this experiment.
When they’ve completed the task ask, “Why do you think it took so many beans
before the water spilled over?” Listen to their answers. Then explain, “The
water molecules have strong surface tension like a skin and want to remain
together. Eventually, with enough beans, the skin will stretch and spill over.
“That
is similar to Christians. If we mainly hang around others who are Christians,
we have a strong bond and will tend to do what is right. When we have some
friends who make poor choices and don’t follow Christian values, we may
struggle to do what’s right. Eventually, if we hang around people too long who
make poor choices, it may affect us and we can start making poor choices, too.
That’s not what Christ wants in our lives. We’ve all made poor choices
one time or other. Because of our love of Jesus, we are supposed to try to do
our best to make good choices, which means not hanging around lots of kids who
make poor choices.”
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Game
Example:
Say,
“The Game today is Jesus Says” (played like Simon Says.) Explain, “All
the group will line up over there and face me. I will be representing Jesus in
this game. when I say ‘Jesus says in the statement you are to do the action. An
example would be: Jesus says to be kind to others, hop on one leg. Everyone
should be hopping on one leg. If I don’t say Jesus says in the statement and I
catch you doing the action, you will be out until the next round. An example
would be, “You see kids laughing at someone one and you laugh too, hop on one
leg. You don’t hop, because I didn’t say, Jesus says and Jesus wouldn’t want
you to do that, either. O.K., let’s start.”
(In
these statements, I have said church, but you could substitute Sunday
School or other similar type Christian group.)
*Staying
home to watch TV, instead of coming to church, pat your head.
*Coming
to church and watching TV later, pat your head.
*Saying
mean things about someone else, touch your knee.
*Walking
across your neighbor’s yard, run in place.
*Jesus
says it’s polite to walk around your neighbor’s yard, run in place.
*Jesus
says to say only kind things or say nothing rude about others, touch your knee.
*Bringing
your smart phone to church and watching it when no one is looking, rub your
tummy.
*Jesus
says to leave your smart phone home to watch or text later, so you can focus on
church, rub your tummy.
*Sharing
gossip about others, touch your elbow.
*Jesus
says it’s not polite to gossip about others, touch your elbow.
*Telling
others about all the toys and games you own, jump up and down on two feet.
*Jesus
says that it’s polite to not brag and even better if you share your toys and
games with others, jump up and down on two feet.
*Hanging
around kids that use bad language and talk rudely to others, wave your hands.
*Jesus
says that it’s not good to hang around others and you should pick friends who
aren’t rude, wave your hands.
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