BIG IDEA: JESUS’ LOVE CHANGES US
AIM: The aim of the ‘Transformed By His Love’ Childrens Lesson on Two Blind Men Healed is to help children recognise the love of Jesus and how His love can transform their lives and the lives of those around them. This is the fourth lesson in the ‘Totally Transformed’ teaching series.
For SONG and BIBLE STORY VIDEOS check out our dedicated Pinterest Board.
GAME IDEAS:
- 20 Questions. (regular/widescreen) Someone chooses a person, place or thing and everyone has 20 questions to try and guess what that thing is. Whoever guesses correctly is the winner.
- Freeze Dance. (regular/widescreen) When the music plays the children dance. When the music stops they must freeze. Whoever is still moving when the music stops is eliminated. This continues until there is only one player left.
- Categories. (regular/widescreen) A category is given – such as a drink, movie, colour, song etc – and children must decide on one example of that category. For example: a drink might be lemonade. If anyone has the same answer then they are eliminated from the game. This continues until there is only one player left.
BIG VERSE: If anyone belongs to Christ, then he is made new. The old things have gone; everything is made new! 2 Corinthians 5:17.
Bible verse images (regular/widescreen)
Download Bible Verse Cards.
SET the Scene:
Read Matthew 20:29-34. You can use this monologue to help communicate the story. This is a fun story to have the children do some role play. Why not turn the story into a drama by using one child as a narrator and having the children act as two blind men and Jesus? You can even have some fun with it and encourage the children to improvise and imagine what it would have been like to be there or to be one of the people involved during the healing.
REVIEW QUESTIONS:
- Where were the blind men?
- What did the blind men shout to Jesus?
- Who tried to stop them from shouting him?
- What did Jesus feel for the men?
- How did Jesus heal them?
SPOT the Simple Meaning:
1) JESUS MAKES US SEE CLEARLY
You will need a piece of acetate that is dirty. If making your own movie of this object lesson, place the dirty acetate over the camera lens and then take it off to reveal a clear picture or simply place some dirt or food over the lens (if you dare!) and clean it. If presenting to a live audience, simply pass around the dirty acetate and a piece of clean acetate afterwards or have someone come up and look through both to explain what it is like to others.
Say: The two blind men were transformed by the love of Jesus. Jesus showed his love and compassion for the men by giving them what they needed: their sight! Jesus helps us to see things clearly. His love helps us to see things for how they really are. Perhaps we feel unloved or unwanted, we start to think in ways that make us feel bad. [Start to dirty the screen, lens or acetate] This isn’t the way that God wants us to feel or think. He doesn’t want us to see ourselves that way.
Jesus looked at the blind men and he saw them for who they were. He loved them and had compassion for them. He showed them that they were wanted and they were accepted. He gave them back their sight and they could see. But they could also see and understand that they were important and special to God. When we start to listen to Jesus and lean in to His love, we start to see ourselves how He sees us. We learn that He loves us, we are important and we are His masterpieces, made in His image. Slowly but surely we start to see things clearly and we see ourselves how God sees us! We are His children. [Wipe the acetate, screen or lens clean]. This is the best way to live! Jesus helps us to see clearly so that we can live the best life possible, seeing things and ourselves for who we really are.
2) JESUS’ LOVE CHANGES ME
You will need to make an origami heart as you talk (see our Pinterest board on how to do this). You might also want to share how God’s love has changed your life.
Say: Jesus’ love changes us. Imagine this is us. [Show the origami paper and start to fold] The love of Jesus transforms us. When we know God’s love we know that we have nothing to fear. 1 John 4:18 says that perfect love casts out all fear. God’s love is special because it lasts forever. Psalm 136 tells us that “His love endures forever”.
God’s love is incredible because when we know that the One who created us loves us – we know that we are made with a purpose. We understand that our life matters and it matters what we do with it. We learn that God loved us so much that He sent His Only Son into the world so that we might be friends with Him (John 3:16)! His love is so powerful! John 15:13 tells us that there is no greater love than to lay down your life for your friend.
God’s love transforms our hearts so that we would want to have a heart like His. We want to be like Him. 1 John 4:8 tells us that God is love. So as we become more like Him, we grow in love for Him and others. We become those that are loving. 1 Corinthians 13 tells us that three things remain after everything else fades: faith, hope and love, yet the greatest of these is love. Let’s be those that are totally transformed by the love of Jesus today and every day!
SEARCH the Scriptures:
Bandaid Bible Find. (regular/widescreen)
Let’s look for some of the people that Jesus healed in the Bible…
Invite the children to think fast and write down as many people as they can think of that were healed by Jesus. They can write them on bandaids and stick them onto themselves. Alternatively, just get them to shout out their answers. The team or player with the most correct answers is the winning team or person.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- What does Jesus’ love feel like?
- How can you share the love of Jesus?
- Who needs to know Jesus’ love today?
SENSE How You Feel:
Ask the children to think about the following question as they do one of the activities below:
How would it feel to instantly be given your sight by Jesus?
- Make your own fun kaleidoscope. Check out our Pinterest Board for more details.
- Create the Jesus Loves You Mobile using template page 1 and template page 2.
- Mould: the two men being healed by Jesus using playdough or clay.
- Build: the scene of the healing using Lego, Playmobil or the like.
- Sensory: Have a table full of brightly coloured fabrics and items such as beads or water beads. Invite the children to be blindfolded and imagine what it would be like to be blind and to be able to feel but not see.
- Fill in or color the 5-7s and 8-11s activity booklets.
SEEK God:
Walk the children through the story of how Jesus met and healed the two blind men. Ask the children to imagine that Jesus is speaking to them. “What do you want?” is the question he asks. Pause and give the children a few minutes to think about how they would respond.
Click here for the ‘Transformed By His Love’ Childrens Lesson Powerpoint image
Click here for the ‘Transformed By His Love’ PowerPoint image
