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Parable of the Pounds

LUKE 19:11-27
Kids will understand:
What a parable is. What the parable of the pounds means. That God wants each of us to use what Hes given us to advance His Kingdom.

2014

May 11

SCiENCE EXpERiMENT
Give each kid a coffee lter, a watercolor marker and a piece of waxed paper to protect the work surface. (Black is a great color to start with, but you can try other colors, also.) The kids will make a circle with their marker (about the size of a nickel) in the center of their coffee lter. Then, they will dip a nger in a cup of water, letting just a few drops of water fall on the circle they drew. (If you have eyedroppers, they are a fun and helpful way to do this.) Caution the kids not to add too much water just a few drips. As the kids wait patiently, they will observe what is happening to their dot. What happened to your dot? How does it look different? Is the circle you drew the same color as what you started with? Does your dot look like the persons next to you? Does yours look just like the coffee lter of someone who used the same color of marker? The mark spreads to other parts of the coffee lter and each coffee lter design looks different. Depending on the color of the marker, you will see different colors appear on the coffee lter. This reminds me of something that Jesus wants us to spread around. Anyone have any ideas what Jesus wants us to spread? He tells each of us to spread the good newsthat God sent Jesus so that we could be forgiven and be close to God again. And, the beautiful thing is that each of us can do that in our own way. We all have different talents and gifts that make the way we spread the news of Jesus look different. Each person has been given a unique design for the way they serve God.

SUPPLIES
coffee filters watercolor markers waxed paper cups of water eyedroppers (optional)

BibLE ACCOUNT
Beforehand, dress one of the male gures as a king. The other 3 can wear any kind of attire; they will be the 3 servants of the king. Put the 4 gures in the burlap bag, along with the coins. Because Jesus was an awesome storyteller, it would be fun to create the perfect storytelling experiencea campre and a tent! The kids will gather around your campre; if its a small group, then go inside your tent. You can create a campre by using logs strategically laid over some ashlights. Then, place red, orange and yellow sheets of tissue paper between the logs to resemble ames. Or, there is an amazing indoor campre that comes in handy for all kinds of things (publicizing summer camp, storytelling, those weather emergencies when outdoor activities have to come inside). Check it out at: indoorcampre.com. Everyone cozy? I love campres and camping. One of my favorite parts of sitting around a campre at night is when everyone starts telling stories. Today, were going to talk about a story that Jesus told. Jesus often told stories to explain things. His stories were called parables, and thats a special kind of story. A parable takes something that you know about, maybe something you see every day or work with, and then uses it to teach something about Gods Kingdom.

SUPPLIES
tent campfire burlap bag 4 male figures (like action figures) pennies

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I dont know about you, but I love a good story! Ive brought some items today to help me share this story with you. Reach into the burlap sack and pull out the rst character. Jesus said there was a noble man who was going away for a little while, so that he could be crowned king. Before he left, he decided he would challenge his servants. Reach in and pull out 3 more characters. Jesus said that the noble man gave each of his servants a mina. (Pull out 3 coins and place one in front of each servant.) The man told his servants to put the money to work while he was away. Those were their instructions. (Place the 3 coins back into the bag.) When the king returned, he called his servants together and asked them what theyd done with their money. (Reach in the bag and pull out 11 coins.) The rst man said that hed been able to make 10 times the amount of the money the king had given him. (Point out the one coin, and then stack up the other 10 in front of the gure.) Wow! The king said, Well done, my servant. Now I know that I can trust you with even more. You will now be in charge of 10 cities! (Reach into the bag and pull out 6 coins.) The second servant came forward and showed the king what hed done with his money. He was able to gain 5 times more with the money he had been given. (Point out the one coin, and then stack the other 5 coins next to the gure.) Very good, said the king. I will now make you in charge of 5 cities. (Pull out one coin.) The third servant came forward and showed the master that hed kept his coin safe by hiding it while his master was away. He had not made any more with the coin he had been given. He didnt even put it in the bank to get some interest! The king became very angry and told those standing nearby to take the servants one coin away and give it to the man who doubled his money. The people standing around objected and said, He already has a lot of money! But, the king replied, Those who are faithful with what they have are trusted to receive even more. Compare what each of the 3 gures did with their coin. Place all items back in the bag. Wow, that was a pretty serious story. I wonder what Jesus wanted people to learn when he told that parable? Remember that a parable is a story that Jesus told in order for people to understand something important about Gods Kingdom. (Remove the king from the bag.) Who do you think the king represents? The king stands for God; He is our heavenly King and the One who rules over all. (Remove the servants from the bag.) How about the servants? Who do they represent? These servants worked for their king and served him. We are Gods servantswe are in His Kingdomand our job is to serve God. (Remove some coins from the bag.) How about the coins? What could they possibly represent? This ones a little tougher. These coins represent what God has given each of His servants. What is it that God gives to His peopleyou and me? He gives each of us something special. He gives us talents and gifts that He wants us to use to build up His Kingdom.

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What do you think Jesus wanted people to know when they heard this story? Jesus was reminding the people that God had given them resources and talents that He wanted them to use to make His Kingdom larger and stronger. God is pleased when people use what Hes given them for His purpose. And, God is really not pleased when He gives us wonderful talents and we dont use them for His glory. This parable tells us that God will honor those who serve Him well! Does the story still have meaning for us today? You bet!

ACTiViTY
Beforehand, prepare a bag for each child with 10 packing peanuts in it. Give each child a bag. In this game, the kids will go around and give their peanuts away, one at a time. Each time a player gives away a peanut, the person receiving it will give him 2 peanuts back. See what happens. Play for 3 minutes; then, call time and ask what happened. See who has the most packing peanuts and who has the least. What happened when you gave away your peanuts? What happened if you were afraid of giving your peanuts away? Were any of you afraid to give your peanuts away? Why? How is this like sharing our talents? What happens when we share our talents to bring God glory and increase His Kingdom? What does God want us to do with our talents?

SUPPLIES
baggies packing peanuts

ObJECT LEssON
Weve been using different animals to help us remember our Bible stories each week and here is todays animal. Show the stuffed squirrel or the picture. What is this animal? Right, its a squirrel. Weve all seen squirrels running around in parks or the woods. Squirrels are known for hiding something before winter. What is that? They hide nuts. Why do they do that? Which of the servants in our story does this remind you of? How is the squirrel like the servant who did not take his coin and do something with it? Show the YouTube clip called Fooled by Nature Squirrel Navigator. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCBfdUhrk80 Do squirrels ever come back to dig up the nuts and say, Woo-Hoo! I doubled my stash just by burying it! Not gonna happen, is it? He will never have more than he buries.

SUPPLIES
stuffed squirrel or picture YouTube video Fooled by Nature Squirrel Navigator

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A squirrel helps us remember that we should not bury the talents that God gives us. Instead, we should do like the rst 2 servants and share them with others so that Gods Kingdom grows. Just like the servants who took what they had and made more, Jesus wants us to take what we have and what were able to do in order that His Kingdom will increase.

GaME
Kids will line up with their teams. Each team will have a hula hoop placed at the other end of the room. At the starting line, the team members will have a pile of packing peanuts in a large bowl. Each kid will grab ONE handful of peanuts and run with it to their teams hula hoop where they will deposit their peanuts. If they drop any on the way, those do not count. After 2 minutes (or a shorter time if your room is small), count the total number of peanuts in the hoop. Announce the nal numbers. Then, make an additional announcement that the team that scored highest and the team that scored second highest will get double their points. If you were on one of the two highest scoring teams, how did you feel when you realized that because of your efforts your team received even more points? How would you have felt if you had been one of the servants who was rewarded by receiving more? Thats like a major paton-the-back or a super high ve!

SUPPLIES
hula hoops packing peanuts bowls

MEssagE
(show slide #2) All of us have the ability. Each of us was created uniquely by God. You might be good at something that Im lousy at or maybe I can do something that you could never accomplish. God didnt make us all the same. He wants to use each of our abilities to grow His Kingdom! Hold up the Frisbee. What is this? Its a Frisbee. What do you normally do with a Frisbee? Pretend for a moment that youve never seen one and have no idea what to do with it. If youd never seen a Frisbee, what do you think you might think it could be used for? Give the kids time to share their strange uses for a Frisbee, like as a dog dish or to set a potted plant on so the water wont get on the furniture. The Frisbee could be used in other ways other than for a fun game of tossing it back and forth in the yard. But, its best used for the purpose that it was designed for. Thats just like our abilities and talents. There are probably many things that we could do, but we will serve God best when we use the abilities and talents that He has uniquely put in each of us. Your abilities are not the same as your sisters. Your gifts

SUPPLIES
Frisbee whiteboard PowerPoint slides

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and talents are not the same as your best friends. When we do what God made us to do and use what Hes put in us, we will truly make Him happy! What are some abilities that God has given to His people? List these on a whiteboard. How could those gifts and abilities be used to serve God? Does everyone have all of those gifts? Different people have different gifts and talents. Have you ever thought about what gifts and talents God has given you? In the story today, the servants received coins. What did the coins represent? They all got a coin. Its what they did with the coin that made the difference! (show slide #3) Our abilities guide how we serve God. If youre good at cleaning and organizing, you should use the gifts Gods given you. If youre good at being friendly, you should be helping to welcome new kids on Sunday mornings. Ask the kids to share one of their abilities. List these on the whiteboard. Now pick one randomly. Tell one way a person with that ability could serve God and help enlarge His Kingdom. What does it mean to enlarge Gods Kingdom? We help other people become believers in Jesus Christ. All the children will choose one of the abilities on the board and share with a neighbor how that ability could be used to bring God glory. In our story today, the king was happy with the rst servant and the second servant, because they had both used the coin that they had been given to help their master. The third servant didnt use the coin he had been given; he hid it. That servant added nothing to what the king owned. (show slide #4) We will be accountable. Lets learn a new word today. Its accountable. Anyone have an idea what it means to be accountable for what youve done? It means that you have to explain yourself and you have to do it without excuses. If you did well, then you can report that you did well. If you failed, then you have to report that you failed. Being accountable is telling the truth about what youve done. God will ask each of us one day how we used our abilities. He will hold us accountable, which means well have to report on how we helped His Kingdom grow or how we buried our talents and didnt do anything with them. He will know if His Kingdom got bigger because of our talents, or if there was no change. He will know if the lives of people around us were affected by how we used our talents. Our abilities will guide us to know what we can do for Gods Kingdom and when we are called to tell what weve done, well be able to do so proudly. What does it mean to be accountable for something? In our Bible story today, the servants were all held accountable by the master. What

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happened with the rst and second servants? What were they able to report? How about the third? The third tried to give an excuse, but remember, when were accountable there are no excuses just the facts. How do you think God holds His peopleyou and meaccountable?

SCiENCE EXpERiMENT
You can purchase biodegradable packing peanuts where shipping supplies are sold (just make sure they are biodegradable). Show the children the pitcher of water. Today I want to show you what happens when Gods people never share the talents that He has given them. Lets say these packing peanuts are their talents. Put the peanuts in the pitcher of water. You may want to stir a little to activate them. Observe how they dissolve. What happened to the packing peanuts? They disappeared! What does that tell us about talents that are not used for Gods glory? Those talents become worthless. How is this like a person who never shares his talents? What are some reasons people never share their talents? Always try your science experiments prior to the children arriving.

SUPPLIES
biodegradable packing peanuts glass pitcher water

PUppETs
(When the scene opens, all 4 puppets are huddled together like a team as they get ready for a game.) All 4: (puppets all facing one another in a circle, like they have their hands on top of one another) Leeeeeeets do it! (puppets jump up and down) #1: All 4: #1: #2: #1: Okay, everybody. Were all going to figure out a way to serve God this week using the talents Gods given each of us. Are you ready? Ready! Yeah! Then, lets get out there and do it! (#3 & #4 exit) This could be a problem. Even though our teacher said God gave everybody a talent or gift, I think He may have skipped me. Oh come on. Its really obvious with you. You have a great voice!

SUPPLIES
4 puppets

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#2: Well, I do love to sing and people tell me that I have a nice voice. I think I just came up with a way to use my voice. Im going to have my mom take me to the nursing home down the street and Ill sing I Belong to Jesus for the people there. I bet that will remind them that God loves them, too. (heads off humming or singing) #1: #3: #1: #3: #1: Thats great! You sing your heart out and bless those people! (enters) Ummm. How am I going to use my talents to serve God? Got any ideas? You got me there. Lets see youre really good at the only thing I can think of is that youre really good at getting dirty! Thats what my mom says, too. I think I may have an idea, though. I saw that Miss Thelma had flowers delivered for her flowerbeds. Does that give you any ideas?

#3: (thinking) Uhhhh Ive got it! I bet she could use some help digging holes for those flowers and I could get plenty dirty for a good reason! Youve got great ideas! Thanks! I wonder if she has any juicy worms! (leaves mumbling excitedly about possibly nding a worm) #4: #1: #4: #1: #4: #1: (enters shaking his head) Talents now what kind of talents do I have? I can stack 20 Oreos on top of one another before they topple over. Im not seeing a way to use that to build Gods kingdom. (asking #1) Youve always got good ideas. Do you happen to have an idea of how I can use my talent of stacking Oreos for Gods glory? (chuckles) Youre good at stacking them, but youre even better at eating them! Oh yeah youre making me hungry. Come on concentrate! Stacking eating Oreos. I think Ive got it! Are you serious? This is great! There are some little kids at the family shelter. Why dont you take a couple of packages of Oreos over there? You could play some stacking games with the kids. Gosh, they would love that! Then, you could see who could lick the icing out of the middle the fastest and have a great snack. I bet theyd love to hear you read a Bible story to them. How about the one where Jesus welcomes the kids? I love that one and I bet they would, too.

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#4 #1:

Man, you have great ideas! Who wouldve thought that I could use Oreos to bring glory to God. Only you and your imagination! (heads offstage) Man, I challenged everybody to figure out a way to serve God this week but I havent got a clue how Im going to. (shakes his head)

(everybody re-enters) #2: #3: You should have seen the smiles on their faces when I sang at the nursing home about how Jesus loves all of us. (turns to #1) Thanks for pointing out that I could sing for God. If you all happen to go past Miss Thelmas house, take a look at her flower bed. Its pretty sharp, if I do say so myself. I think I got dirtier than Ive ever been, and I found a HUGE worm. I took it home to show my mom, but she wasnt real excited about it. Miss Thelma and I talked a lot about some awesome things that God has done in our lives. Man, she has some wild God stories! (turns to #1) Thanks for helping me figure out something Im good at.

#4: Do I have Oreo crumbs on my face? Those little kids at the family shelter thought my Oreo towers were amazing. And, they loved story time. I ended up reading three stories from my Bible storybook. (turns to #1) Thanks for the great idea! #2: #1: #3: #2: #4: #1: (to #1) I cant wait to hear what you did! I didnt come up with anything for me. I had some great ideas for you all, but went flat when it came to me. Hey, dont feel bad. Dont you see? Your gift is encouraging other people. Youre like a spiritual cheerleader! We never would have figured out on our own what God was putting right in front of us. You helped us see what God was saying. You know it man! Couldnt have done it without you! Really? A spiritual cheerleader? I do have a crazy imagination and I love coming up with new ideas. I guess thats my gift. Thanks for helping me see what God put inside of me!

How do you think our puppets felt after they each found a way to invest in Gods Kingdom? Do you think they will ever serve that way again? What wouldve happened if they had given up on nding out what their gift was? Who wouldve been hurt by them giving up?

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Sometimes its difficult to recognize what were good at. It takes someone else to point out our gifts and help us gure out how God could use us. Do you know what gifts and talents you have? Who could you ask that would help you gure out what your gifts and talents are?

PRaYER
Give each child a piece of drawing paper and access to crayons/markers. They should draw a picture that depicts a talent or gift they have. What do you do well? What do you enjoy doing? What do other people tell you that youre good at? Look at your picture and think about how you could use that talent to invest in Gods Kingdom. Maybe you will an idea immediately and maybe you really dont know. We need to cover this is prayer. Each one of us needs to ask God to help us know how we can best invest ourselves in His Kingdom. The kids will lay their hands on their picture as you go to prayer. Dear God our King, I want to be like the servants who used what their master gave them. I want to use the gifts Youve given me. This picture Ive drawn is something Im good at. If there is a way that I can use it to invest in Your Kingdom, please show me how. Please make it clear to me the best way I can help people come to You. Help me to have a good attitude as I serve You. Amen. Encourage the kids to take the picture home and hang it somewhere that they will notice it daily. Continue to pray this week about how your gifts can be used by God. After all, Hes the One who gave you the gifts in the rst place!

SUPPLIES
crayons/markers drawing paper

BLEssiNg
May you willingly serve God with the talents Hes given you.

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TaKE HOME
This week wed like to challenge kids to live out the principle of investing their talents. Choose a specic cause that the money raised will be used for and communicate your intentions at the bottom of the note to parents. Give each child a card with a quarter taped to it and the following instruction. Dear Parents, Your child learned today about sharing his/her talents. To show them how something can increase when its used, wed like to challenge your child to take this quarter and see if they can return next week with an increase. Brainstorm ways that your child might be able to make this happen. All funds brought in will be used for ________.

SUPPLIES
talent cards quarters

GaME
Divide kids into teams and give each team a bowl of packing peanuts. The teams will spread out in a line from one side of the room to the other. At the signal, they will pass the peanuts, one at a time, to the other end. The rst team to nish passing all of their peanuts from the bowl to the other end of the room, one at a time, wins. Lets do it again! This time, select one child on each team and whisper these instructions to them: Do not pass the peanuts. Whatever anyone says to you, or how great the pressure becomes, do NOT pass the peanuts. Play another round of the game. What happened when one person decided he wasnt going to help pass? What happened when one person decided not to use his talents? How is that like what happened in this game? When God has a plan for the church, if one person doesnt share their talents, what happens to Gods plan?

SUPPLIES
packing peanuts bowls

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SCRipTURE MEMORiZaTiON
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good work. Prepare a bucket of sand for each team by burying 10 packing peanuts in it. One player from each team will take a plastic spoon to their bucket. Just like the squirrel we talked about today when he tried to nd his buried nuts, each player will use their spoon to nd a packing peanut in their bucket of sand. Once they nd it, they will take the peanut back to their team, carrying it in the spoon. When the peanut is returned to the team, the entire team will say 2 Timothy 3:16-17 in unison. Each team will do this as a peanut returns to them. Then, start the next round with a new player from each team going to nd another peanut in their team bucket.

SUPPLIES
buckets sand packing peanuts plastic spoons

ObJECT LEssON
The growing capsules can be found at most discount department stores in the party favor aisle. They do not necessarily have to be animals, but thats how they usually come. Lets say these capsules represent the 3 servants who were mentioned in our Bible account today. Place one capsule in each of the clear cups. Point to one cup. The capsule in this cup represents the servant who told his master that he had used the money the master had given him, and had made 10 times the amount for his master. Pour some water on the capsule and move on. Point to the next cup. The capsule in this cup represents the servant who made 5 times the amount for his master. Pour some water on the capsule and move on. Point to the third cup. Turn the cup upside down so the capsule is underneath it. The capsule in this cup represents the servant who buried the money his master had given him. We cannot pour the water on this one, because it is hidden; its buried. Look at the rst cup and see how it has expanded and become a cool sponge animal. God blessed the man who invested in His kingdom. Look at the second cup and see how it has grown. God blessed the man who invested in His kingdom. Look at the third cup. Why didnt God bless this man? He wasnt willing to invest in the Kingdom of God.

SUPPLIES
animal growing capsules pitcher water 3 clear cups

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Gods blessing did not cover this man because he didnt use what God had given him. Uncover the third capsule and put it in the rst cup. What did the master do with the money that was hidden by the third servant? He gave it to someone who would invest it. God will bless those who choose to use their gifts to build up His Kingdom. God will give them the desire and ability to invest even more of themselves.

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