Servants
Wanted More
“For
the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to
hire men to work in His vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day
and sent them into his vineyard. About the third hour He went out and saw
others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, You also go and
work in my vineyard, and I will will pay you whatever is right. So they went.
“He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same
thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing
around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing
nothing?”
“
‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He
said to them, ‘You also go and work in My vineyard.’ “When evening came, the
owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their
wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
“The
workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a
denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive
more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it,
they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These men who were hired last
worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have
borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
“But
he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you
agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who
was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want
with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
“So
the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Matthew 20:1-16 NIV®
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Memory
Verse: Then He said to them, “Watch out!
Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in
the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15 NIV®
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Discussion
Example:
Say,
“As those first workers saw how much the workers who were the last to be hired got paid, they were
certain that they would get much more money than the rest, because they worked
the whole day. They thought they were of more worth and were more valuable than
the others, but in heaven-All Christians Are Valuable!
“In
much the same way, it’s easy to think to do nice things for others and get
caught up in thinking that we are such good Christians; we will surely go to
heaven. It doesn’t sound like the story Jesus told in the Bible was that He
wants us to think we deserve more or that we are are better than other people."
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Arts
and Crafts Example:
Students
will be working together on a class collage of all types of Christians. They
will need a large piece of construction paper or poster board, glue, scissors,
and magazines that have had inappropriate pages pulled out.
Say,
“You are going to make a class collage of all types of Christians. You will
work as a whole group cutting and gluing pictures of all types of people, doing
all types of things on your collage. Remember Christians don’t just look at
particular way or dress a particular way.” (This class collage will be used for
the Game.”
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Science
Example:
Say,
“I have a science trick for you. What’s an easy way for you stop yourself from humming
with your mouth closed?” (You may need to give them an example of what
humming is.) Listen to all their Hypotheses of ways. Have them try them out.
When
finished with the experiment, have the kids tell you what did and didn’t work.
After hearing all their results explain, “Gently pinching your nose with
your fingers stops you from humming with your mouth closed. That stops the air
flow, which stops the vibration, so it can't travel and be heard.
“Although
this is a fun trick, life isn’t like that. It’s easy for sin and sinful
thoughts like pride, greed, etc. to sneak into our lives. At first, we may not
notice it, but after a while, they may take over if we let them. Just like
pinching our nose stops humming with your mouth closed, continuing to turn
these sinful ways over to Jesus, stops those sinful ways from continuing just
like you stopped humming with your mouth closed.”
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Game
Example:
The
Art Project for today is to make a class collage of all types of Christians,
which can be used for this activity. Say, “We are going to play: Pin the
Cross on the Christian,” similar to Pin the Tail on the Donkey. You need to
have either a picture of poster with all types of people or make a collage with
lots of different people to hang up for the game.
Kids
will be given a paper cross with a circle of tape attached to the back of it.
They should be blindfolded and turned around three times by someone in charge
of the group, who will aim them toward the poster. Each student is to put tape
their cross onto the picture.
When
all crosses are attached say, “Jesus gave His life and rose again, so that all
of us could have salvation that believe in Him. Christians don’t just look a
particular way, behave a particular way, or come from a particular country.
Anyone who believes that Christ is our Savior and tries to be an example of their
faith, is a Christian. Of course, we all sin, but if we ask Jesus to forgive us,
He always does!”
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