BE THANKFUL

By Kimber Bailey Scott

Luke 15:3-7; 17:11-19; 19:29-38, 22:7-19

SING:

Thank You, God (tune: if you’re happy and you know it)

Thank You, God for Jesus who loves us. (clap clap clap) 2x

Thank You, God for Jesus. Thank You, God for Jesus.

Thank You, God for Jesus who loves us. (clap clap clap)

Thank You, God for people who love us. (stomp stomp stomp) 2x

Thank You, God for people. Thank You, God for people.

Thank You, God for people who love us. (stomp stomp stomp)

Thank You, God for food, good food. (Amen!) 2x

Thank You, God for food. Thank You, God for food.

Thank You, God for food, good food. (Amen!)

RHYME:

We Thank God

We thank God (fold hands) for Jesus,

Who loves us (hug self), it is true.

We thank God (fold hands) for people,

Who love (hug self) both me and you (point to self & another)

We thank God (fold hands) for good food,

That we can chew and chew and chew (pretend to chew)

We thank God (fold hands) for all these things (spread out arms).

We say thanks to You! (say together, “Thank You, God!”)

LESSON:

Before class, make 10 stick men.

The Bible tells us about 10 (hand one or two to each child and count them as you’re handing them out) men who were sick with leprosy. That means they had sores all over their bodies. Can you show me the 10 (count them) men who were sick with leprosy? (ask them to hold up the sick men) This sickness made the men feel band and sad. They hurt and they had to stay away from other people so they did not pass the sickness to someone else. No one wanted to be sick with leprosy.

One day Jesus was walking near where the 10 (count them) sick men lived. They called out “Jesus, please make us well!” Jesus said “Go show the priest. You are well.”

The men began to walk to the priest. Can you make your men walk?

When the men had gone a little way, they felt different. They looked at themselves. They were well! All 10 (count them) men were well! Turn your men around so we can see the well men. They were so happy. Maybe they jumped up and down for joy. Can you make your men jump? Then 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 of them went on to show themselves to the priest. Let’s count to 9.

May I borrow your man, ______? (hold up the man so the children see the well side) But one man (ask them to count to one) had something special to do. Do you know what it was? Yes, he went back to say thank You to Jesus for making him well. (return the man to the child)

APPLY:

How many men remembered to say thank You? Can you imagine that! Just one man remembered to say thank You to Jesus! Do you think that man made Jesus happy?

Which of the 10 men do you want to be like? I want to be like the one man (count to one) not the nine men (count to nine). Jesus likes for us to say thank You to Him.

Who else should we thank? (parents, grandparents, friends, teachers, etc.) Saying thank you to these people makes them happy too!

MEMORY VERSE:

Does God want you to be thankful? What are you thankful for? Does God want you to say “thank you”?

The Bible tells us that God hears us when we pray to Him. The Bible says, “We…thank God.” Can you say those words with me? Say them louder.

Give each one a Bible (or share) & ask each to say “We…thank God.” 2 Thessalonians 1:3

ART:

Let each child decorate the front of a folded piece of construction paper using stickers and crayons.

If you will tell me what to write, I will write a thank you message for you to give to someone.

Give children ideas of whom they could write a message to. Have them put cards into envelopes and you can write a name on the outside.

SNACK:

Show the kids good manners and times they can say thank you to others.

Let me show you how to pass a tray of apples (do so). When someone passes you the cookies, you say “Thank you.” Now let’s pass a plate of bananas (do so), what should you say? That’s right! THANK YOU! Can you pass the napkins (do so)? (the ones that are saying thank you, praise them greatly)

If mommy makes you a sandwich, what do you say to her?

If daddy helps you get out of the car, what do you say to him?

If your teacher gives you a snack, what do you say?

Jesus likes for us to say thank you to people when they do something nice for us.

GAME:

Before class, put several nature items into a basket. Ask kids to sit in a circle. Remove one item at a time from the basket and ask children what the items is. Have them pass it around the circle and carefully look at it. As they do, sing these words to the tune of “row, row, row you boat.” Repeat the song for each item. Encourage children to sing too.

Thank You, thank You, God

Thank You, thank You, God

Thank You for the _______.

Thank You, thank You, God.

NEED:

10 men on a stick (leprosy on one side and well on the other)

Bible

Construction paper

Stickers

Crayons

Envelopes

Pen

Apples

Bananas

Napkins

Plates

Wet wipes

Basket

Nature items (shell, pinecone, leaves, flower, etc.)