Jesus teaches us to share

Luke 12:13-21

To help the children learn that Jesus teaches us to share.

"Jesus said, 'Blessed…are those who hear the Word of God and obey it'" (Luke 11:28, NIV*).

In the great crowd that followed Him, a man approached Jesus to make a special request. This was not unusual. As a teacher, Jesus often had to answer questions, decide disputes, or clarify doubts.

Many of these questions were not simple. However, Jesus had the authority to answer them with wisdom because he knew people’s hearts.

The man in this story wanted Jesus to command his older brother to share more of their parents’ inheritance with him. In the Jewish tradition, most of the inheritance was given to the firstborn. Jesus used this man’s request as an introduction to a parable. We can see that this man’s motivation was selfishness and greed. However, Christians should not have this type of feeling within them. When Jesus Christ controls our life, our only motivation must be to please the Lord.

The man in the parable chose to satisfy his own desires and despised the most precious thing, his eternal relationship with God. As you prepare the lesson, reflect and ask yourself this question: “Does God occupy the first place in all areas of my life?”

Young children are possessive and self-centered by nature. They focus on their personal needs before taking into account those of others. This lesson, which deals with the responsibility to share, will give them the opportunity to learn that God is interested in our behavior and attitudes. As they understand that God is aware of how they relate to others, they will show more kindness and begin to share with one another. Remind them often that God wants them to be kind and share. This will motivate them to improve their attitude towards their peers. During this stage, preschoolers are reluctant to share, especially if it is their favorite toy or the attention of a person. Therefore, they need to know what God commands in this regard.

Observe them during the session; take every opportunity to reinforce the idea that it is good to share.

The story of a farmer

Before the session, gather some different types of grains (corn, beans, rice, etc.) and a picture of a barn.

Show the grains to the children and ask them what they are and how they are used. Listen to the answers. Then explain that in today’s lesson, they will learn about a rich farmer who had a huge barn (show the illustration) full of grains.

Let’s build together

For this activity, you will need blocks or plastic cubes or small cardboard boxes and a picture of a barn.

Put the material in the center of the room and encourage the children to work in pairs to build a barn. As they work, tell them: “Sometimes farmers store the grains in large buildings called granaries, silos or barns. These places keep the grains safe and dry until they are used to make foods like bread, noodles, and cereal. The Bible story today is a parable that Jesus told about a farmer who had a large barn. A parable is a special story Jesus told to teach something important about God.”

Let’s share our grains

For this activity, you will need a container with different types of grains and a paper or plastic bag for each child.

Show the children the container of grains and the bags. Tell the children that, after the story, they will receive some grains to take home.

A very rich farmer

One day while Jesus was teaching, a man came to him and said, “Teacher, order my brother to give me more of the family money that he will receive. My older brother gets two times more money because he is older.”

Jesus replied, “It is not for me to do, and you must not be selfish. Having lots of money or objects is not the most important thing.”

Then Jesus talked to those who were with Him and told them this story: There was a very rich man who had much land. One day he harvested a very large crop from his land. He had so much grain! He had collected so much, he had no place to store it all.

After thinking for a while, the farmer said, “I know what I will do, I will make huge barns to store all my grain.”

That is what he did. He did not want to share his grain with the poor people who had no food. He wanted to keep everything for himself.

The farmer felt very satisfied and thought he had enough grain saved to live happily the rest of his life. But God did not like the attitude of this selfish man. God said: “You made a wrong choice. What really matters is that you love me and share with your neighbors.”

The rich man acted wrongfully. However, you can obey God and share what you have with others. (Let them take home their bags of grain and share the grains with someone at home.

The barn

For this activity, you will need disposable cups, glue or tape, pencils, crayons, and wheat straw (preferably with the wheat heads still attached) or uncooked pasta. Make a sample of this activity prior to the session. It may be necessary to make the barn for several of the children.

Distribute Student Activity Sheet #55-A and #55-B. Show the students how to trace the word of faith on Student Activity Sheet #55-A. Pass out a figure of the barn to those children who are not able to do this part of the activity. Show the other children how to fold the sheet (barn) and then glue or tape it to the cup.

Distribute two bunches of wheat or pasta to each child so each one can add a bunch in the cup and share the second bunch with someone else.

As they work, review the content of the lesson, asking them questions about what they learned in the Bible story.