Find God
key words
biblical reference
Luke 12:13-21
lesson objective
To help the students know that it is bad to be greedy and selfish, and that God can help them love him more than earthly things
memory verse
“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me” (John 14:21a, NIV*).
prepare yourself to teach
Television and other advertising sources are designed so that we want to spend more. Its goal is to make us believe that the products we see, hear and read about are necessary for us to be happy. Advertising is not only directed at adults. Have you seen children’s programs on television? Do you hear the types of advertising on the radio? There’s no doubt that they are made to attract children, because advertisers know that many children have money to spend, or that they can ask their parents.
Jesus teaches us a different way of looking at what we want. He teaches us that possessions and riches do not lead to happiness; that true happiness is found through a deep relationship with God. Children today need to hear that the Lord has much more for them than material possessions and riches. He has eternal life in mind, and they have to make a decision. Children can choose God first, no matter what others do or say.
biblical commentary
It is difficult to pretend that children who grow up in high society understand the meaning of the parable of the rich and the poor. On the contrary, it will be easier for children who are in contact with a wide variety of needs to understand the this story. Anyway, the point that Jesus emphasizes in these verses is crucial to living in the way that pleases God.
Our society becomes crazy to consume. In this particular case, Jesus calls attention to the rich fool who savors and depends on his fortune. This is a good time to guide your students to have Christian attitudes towards other people and toward possessions. Here we present five perspectives that can help you present this lesson.
Toys and things.
There is not anything wrong with having the right tools to do a job. Nor is it bad to have fun, which allows us to distract ourselves from our tasks. But if we start to value ourselves as people according to the amount of toys or material things we have, we will pay a very high price. Toys and things will occupy our time and attention. If they are the most important things to us, that will lead us to neglect our spiritual life, and the problems will begin to interfere with both our inner life and our relationship with others.
Me and always me!
The rich fool in Jesus’ story made the mistake of thinking that his riches were all he needed to do well in life. He believed that he had produced all the harvests by himself, completely forgetting that his possessions were a gift from God to him. He became the center of his own world. Th e same can happen to us if we constantly feel the need to be “first ...me and always me”.
More ... I want more!
There is something strange about this aspect of accumulating more and more. For some reason, “more” is never enough. Most people who get involved in materialism are never satisfied. They believe that “one more thing” will make them happy. They do not realize that having “more and more” is a vicious circle that never ends.
Fun and more fun!
Some mistakenly believe that the purpose of life is pleasure. Pain and problems are seen as interruptions in achieving happiness. Things often become more complicate, and lead the person further and further away from God, when pleasure is attached to possessions. The thought is: “the more toys I have, the more fun I will have”. But the joy does not last long.
Where is God?
Concentrating on himself and his riches, the rich fool turned into a perfect atheist. He eliminated God from his life. That same danger exists for us today and always. If our purpose is to gain possessions and have pleasure, we will be trying to satisfy our egoistic desires. The basic question on which our destiny depends is: will we live only for ourselves, or will we choose God and his ways? This session as you inspire your students, pray that they will see and understand the truth that God wants to teach them.
introduce the lesson
Let’s search the Bible!
Does your room have enough Bibles for the children who cannot bring their own?
Ask them to sit in a circle. You will stand, outside the circle to start the activity. All children will have their Bibles closed. Begin to walk around them. At one point, stop and say the unit is scripture: John 14:21. Tell them not to open their Bible until you say: now! When you say “now!” the first child to find the verse will stand up and read it aloud. Then you continue walking. All children will have their Bibles closed. Now you say the reference from today’s story: Luke 12:13-21. Then say: “now!”
The first child who finds it will read the Bible story or the most important verse, such as Luke 12:15. Repeat the game while there is time or interest. This activity will help the children in the use of the Bible. If there are new children or those who do not know how to use it, practice for a few minutes before the activity.
teach the lesson
The man who wanted more and more
Many people gathered next to Jesus. “Listen to what he says,” someone suggested. “It seems he knows God,” said another. “He’s a great teacher,” clarified a woman who was among the crowd listening to what Jesus taught.
But, there was one man among them who did not have a happy face. “Maybe I can get Jesus to talk to my brother so that he will share the inheritance with me,” he thought. He was the youngest brother. The law said that his older brother would receive the inheritance. The young man had some money but it was not enough. He wanted more! “It is not fair!” he told himself. “Master,” the young man called to Jesus. “Tell my older brother to give me the inheritance money,” he continued. “It is not fair that he should have more than me. It is me who should have more.”
“Young man,” Jesus replied. “I’m not a judge. It is not for me to make your brother give you the money.”
The young man looked at him and frowned. This situation was not working out as he had hoped. His brother would not listen to him. But he would give him more money if Jesus interceded for him.
Jesus looked at the young man. He knew he was not happy with his answer. Then he looked at the crowd. “This is an excellent time to teach them a parable,” Jesus would have thought. “Let me tell you a story,” continued the Master. Jesus knew that the young man, and others, needed to hear the story. “This is the special story of a rich man. The rich man was a farmer. He had grown a lot of grain in his fields. There was a year in which his grain production was abundant and of very good quality. The harvest was so great that the man had nowhere to put it all.” “What will I do now?” the farmer asked himself. “I do not have enough granaries to store the harvest.”
Pause the story to ask the following questions:
• Who made the grain seeds grow?• What must the farmer say to God for having harvested so much healthy grain? (Thank you Lord.)• What do you think the farmer should have done with all the grain he harvested? (Help the needy who had no food.)• What do you think the farmer did with the grain he could not store? (The answers will be different.
Let’s see what the Bible tells us about the farmer. In the farmer’s village there were many people who did not have enough food. But the farmer did not care. He started making other plans. “This is what I will do,” he said. “I will destroy my small granaries and build bigger ones and I will keep the whole harvest for myself.” “The farmer was very happy with his idea,” Jesus continued. “The very foolish man destroyed his small granaries and built bigger ones and sat down and thought: ‘What a beautiful life I have! I’m so strong and healthy! My life will be very easy for many years. I will have a lot of food! The truth is that I did a good job! Because of my ability. I’m the most important!’”
“God heard the man,” Jesus continued with his story. “You are a fool,” said God. “You forgot about me. You forgot to love me. You forgot that everything you have comes from me. You will die this very night, and do you think that your barns and crops will come to your aid?”
The crowd was shaking their heads. Jesus then said, “That night the fool died. He could not take his grains with him. He could not use his crops. Before dying, the farmer learned a great lesson. He learned that he should put God first, that he should have trusted him to take care of him, that he should have thanked the Lord for all the good things he gave him. And that he should have used what he had to help others in need. Jesus wanted the people around him to learn and remember that they should love God more than anything in this world. All of us can learn that lesson. We can decide to put the Creator first. We can decide to love God more than money, or material things, or even people.
connect the lesson
“Give God first place.” Decoration
Give students Student Activity Sheet #239-A and #239-B. Ask them to draw a picture of themselves in the circle or to put their name on Student Activity Sheet #239-A. While drawing, ask them as a review: “How can you put God first?” (Talking to him, learning from him and his Word, following Jesus in obedience, showing his love through words and deeds.) Ask the children to connect the dots to draw the figure on Student Activity Sheet #239-B. Ask them: “Who did not put God first? What important thing did you learn today?”
Help them assemble the decoration by following the instructions on the same page. Ask them to take it home and use it to tell someone today’s story.
Say: “You can decide to live as Jesus teaches, putting God first. What is most important, God or money? A video or God? Who is more important, their parents or God? God is more important than any person or thing. He gives us good things. He gives us our parents to love us and we love them. But, he is the only God. We must love him more than anything else.”
practice the memory verse
Use the coins from the previous session to emphasize the Bible verse. Hide the coins throughout the room. Before beginning the search, write the verse on the board and practice it several times. Then ask the students to look for the 14 coins, including the biblical quotation. 1. Whoever, 2. has, 3. my, 4. commands, 5. and, 6. keeps, 7. them, 8. is, 9. the, 10. one, 11. who, 12. loves, 13. me, 14. (John 14:21a).
When the children find the coins, they should run to place them on the table in the right order to form the memory verse. Children who did not find anything can help put the verse on the table.
wrap-up
Pray
Ask each child to pray, repeating these words: “Jesus, I want you to help me so that you have the first place in my life. I do not want anything like television, sports, my friends, or anything else to be in your first place.” Pray for your students to know how to always put God in first place.
Encourage
Encourage the children to watch for ways to put God first during the coming week.
Invite
Be sure to say something interesting about the next session and encourage the children to attend. Remind them that their friends are also welcome.
* Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™