‘Ten Lepers Encounter Jesus’ Childrens Lesson

BIG IDEA: JESUS HEALS

AIM: The ‘Ten Lepers Encounter Jesus’ Childrens Lesson is aimed at helping children to begin stepping out in faith by praying for people to be healed, and thanking Jesus for the healing. This session is part of the ‘Enocunter’ series where children explore what it means to encounter Jesus.

SONG IDEAS:

1. ‘O Taste and See’ by Bethel Kids Music
2. ‘This is Amazing Grace’ by Bethel Kids Music
3. ‘My Number One’ by Hillsong Kids
4. ‘Fandabidozzie’ by Doug Horley

GAME IDEAS:

1. Spotty Tag. Get lots of mini circle stickers and hand some out to each child. Have each child try and stick as many stickers on the other players without having stickers stuck on to themselves. The child with the least amount of stickers on them at the end of the game is the winner.
2. The Language of Thankfulness. Have the word “thank you” in different languages cut into different slips of paper. Each team should have one set of the words on a different color of card. Have different flags around the room. Teams must run a relay around the room as children from each team place their words on different flags. When all the words have been placed a leader can check if they are in the right place. They then tell the teams which words are right and which are not correct. The relay resumes with each child swapping the words until they find the correct home. The winning team is the team that can match the words and the flags the fastest.
3. Breakfast Scramble. Cut a cereal box (or perhaps a ten Lepers picture) into 20 squares that look the same. Have children try to piece it together. To make it more fun have children competing to do it at the same time.

BIG VERSE: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him will not die but have everlasting life. John 3:16.

The big verse runs throughout the whole of the series. If using this session as a standalone session you may want to use an alternative bible verse such as:  Jeremiah 17:14 – “Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.”

 

SET the Scene:

Read Luke 17:11-19. Explain to the children that in bible times there were many people that had the skin disease of leprosy. There was no cure for leprosy and it was very easily spread to other people. Just by touching something a leprous person had touched you would catch leprosy. It was a very scary disease. [For older ones you can explain the extent of how scary it was – body parts falling off etc]. Lepers were therefore kept out of any busy places like towns and cities and would have to live outside them away from their friends and families.

VIDEO IDEAS:

1. Bibletoons ‘Ten Lepers’
2. ‘Jesus Heals Ten Lepers’ by Power Surge Kids
3. ‘One Said Thank You’ by GraceLink

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Do you think it would be nice to be a leper? Why/why not?
2. What did the men do when they saw Jesus?
3. What did Jesus say to the men?
4. What did the men do?
5. How many men came back to Jesus?
6. How did Jesus feel when only one man came back?

 

SPOT the Simple Meaning:

1) SIMPLY STEP OUT 

Egg Splatter game. Lay some plastic sheeting on the floor and then play some eggs on it. Choose a volunteer to be blindfolded, take off their shoes and socks and walk on the sheeting without stepping on an egg. They should have one other friend to call out to them and tell them where to put their feet. Did they make it to the end of the sheeting without getting their feet egged?

Say: Jesus just said the word and the ten men followed his instruction. They weren’t healed instantly when Jesus said the word – they had to simply step out and follow his instruction. To go to the Priest meant that you would be asking the Priest to agree that you have been healed. The Priest would be the one to announce to everyone that you were clean and that you were allowed in the town once again.

When Jesus said to the men “Go to the Priest” they didn’t ask questions or think it was strange. They simply followed Jesus’ instructions. They must have seen Jesus and known that he could heal. They must have desperately wanted Jesus to do something about their situation because they knew that Jesus had the power to do anything! There was something about Jesus that made them call out “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” They knew that only Jesus could do something to completely change their lives.

They listened and followed Jesus’ command. Then while they were moving, while they simple stepped out they were healed! All it took was simply stepping out and following Jesus’ commands. They had been healed. Has Jesus asked you to do something lately? Is there someone that Jesus is calling you to pray for today? Have you simply stepped out or have you been hiding or trying to ignore his word? When we simply step out and obey Jesus we begin to see the wonderful miracles that only Jesus performs! Jesus has the power to heal – he wants to heal. Let’s step out and believe that Jesus can do all that he says he can do!

2) FEELING OR HEALING?

Play this really old funny video advertisement for ‘Oxy 10’.

Say: That commercial was funny wasn’t it?! Yet nobody likes their skin to look horrible – everyone wants to look well, to look their best and for other people to like them. The disease that the lepers had was very nasty and made like for the ten men horrible! So when Jesus spoke to the ten lepers they listened because they desperately wanted their lives to change.

The ten men moved when Jesus told them to move. Even though they didn’t feel like they had been healed. They didn’t see any healing take place when Jesus said those words. Yet they did what Jesus said. They headed towards the Priest. You only went to the Priest so that the Priest could agree that you had been healed. Then he would let you back into the town or village. But what if they hadn’t been healed when they got there? They didn’t feel like they had been healed… but they kept on walking. They kept on moving, just as Jesus had told them. They didn’t feel healed at first but they knew that Jesus healed and they had faith that he would heal them.

Jesus heals. It isn’t just a myth or a nice story. Jesus heals today. We still hear amazing stories today about how Jesus has healed people [tell about someone that has recently been healed in your church here]. We know that not everyone gets healed. Yet Jesus does heal today. We can trust that he cares and he is listening for our cry. Perhaps he is calling you to pray for someone that you know needs his healing power. So whether you are feeling his healing or not, keep believing that he is good and that his plans are good and that one day, whether here on earth or in heaven, those that need healing will be fully healed!

3) ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

‘Think of Thank You’ Game.  How many times can you say thank you in a minute? In the ‘Think of Thank You’ game children take turns to say thank you as many times as they can within a minute. They must say the whole of the two words for it to be counted each time.

Say: Woah! Our players in the ‘Think of Thank You’ game really went for it, didn’t they?! They did so well! It’s very hard to keep talking that fast for so long. Another word for being thankful is to be grateful – to have gratitude. So, how can we show that we are grateful? How can we have the attitude of gratitude – just like the leper that came back to Jesus and thanked him? What ways can you think of to show how thankful we are? [Get feedback]

There are so many ways we can have an attitude of gratitude. An attitude is a way of thinking and feeling about something. To help us have the right attitude we have to realize that we don’t deserve anything. Everything that we have is a blessing and a gift from God. The leper in the bible passage knew that – he knew that Jesus had given him a gift that he could never pay back – his healing – and he wanted Jesus to know that he was grateful. Let’s never forget all the good things that Jesus has done for us. Let’s never forget who he is. He is the Son of God, our Savior and friend – our healer. He is the one who died and rose again so that we might know God; just like our big verse (John 3:16) says! He is the one that sent his Holy Spirit to help us in our every day life. We will never be able to repay Jesus but we can always have an attitude of gratitude!

SEARCH the Scriptures:

Write the bible references on different band aids (plasters) and stick them around the room. Children should run and find a band aid, rip it from the place where it had been found and try to find in the bible the bible verse that the reference is from. The first player to find their bible verse is the winner. Discuss the bible verses when you have found them.

Bible verses about healing:

James 5:14.

Psalm 30:2.

Isaiah 53:4-5.

Psalm 147:3.

Jeremiah 17:14.

Matthew 9:35.

Revelation 21:4.

James 5:16.

1 Peter 2:24.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. How do you think Jesus heals?
2. Why do you think Jesus heals?
3. Why did Jesus heal the ten men?
4. Where does Jesus’ power come from?
5. When was the last time you said thank you?
6. Is there anyone that you know that needs healing?
7. Can you think of some creative ways to pray for healing?

 

SENSE How You Feel:

Encourage your children to think about the following questions as they do some of the activities below:

How does it feel to be healed?

How does it feel when someone says thank you?

1. Paper Plate Leper. Have children create a paper plate face with a spotty sad face on one side and a happy clear face on the other side.
2. Make leper puppets to help children think about how it feels to be healed.
3. Make an ‘I’m Praying for You’ card for those that need God’s healing hand upon them. Then actually pray!
4. Make thank you cards and hand them out to people that the children need to thank.
5. Make a gift for a friend or someone that you don’t usually thank: perhaps a photo frame or decorate a mason jar.
6. Create a quiet place with bibles and cushions and other comfy things for children to go, think and pray for those that need healing.

 

SEEK God:

Do the children know someone that needs Jesus to heal them? Perhaps there is a child that needs to hear God’s healing word. You could encourage the children to:

a) Pray for each other and their friend’s healing in pairs

b) Pray as a large group with each child coming into the middle of the group for prayer

c) Encourage during worship those that want to pray for themselves or a friend to do as the leper did and get on their knees, to thank God. Sometimes we have to move in faith and believe for the healing before it has happened – just as the lepers did. Thanking Jesus is always a good way to show that we are full of faith that he will heal.

d) Have lots of band aids (plasters) at the front of the room. During a time of playing worship music abour healing children can come and grab a band aid that they can wear when they go home, to remember the person they are praying for. Som music suggestions:

• ‘Stripes and Scars’ by Ken Blount Ministries

e) Pray prayers of thanks for those that have been healed.

 

 

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