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    Today's Story:

    		Zacchaeus follows Jesus.
    Luke  19
    Optional Memory verse: 
    		". . work as if you were working for the Lord 
    and not for men". Colossians 3:23
    International Children's Bible, New Century Version
      
    "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, 
    as working for the Lord, not for men," 
    Colossians 3:23  New International Version
    When we meet Jesus we want to live for Him.
    • Materials Needed:
    		Promised Land mat
    Christ figure
    5 or 6 Fisher Price or similar type figures (or play dough crowd that the kids make before story time)
    toy tree (or branch stuck in a lump of play dough)
    scraps of silk leaves or flowers (or real leaves if you have them)
    blocks
    A roll of pennies
    4 containers to hold the pennies
    Play dough (optional)

     

    • Optional Craft:  Play dough crowd
    		Have the kids make a crowd for today's story by making play dough people by:
    		rolling a barrel for the body,
    rolling a ball for the head and placing it on top of the barrel body.
    Set the people aside and use in today's story.

     

    • Action Game: Cheater! Cheater!

    This is a relay race where each team member tries to cheat without getting caught.

    The team that obtains the most pennies wins.

    		Set up 2 chairs in the middle of the room 
    		Put a container on each chair with some pennies in each container.
    Set up 2 more chairs beyond the first two with an empty container on each.
    The kids line up in 2 lines facing the chairs. 
    Designate the first runners in each line to be cheater catchers.  
    		Have them go and stand behind the chair of the opposite team in the middle of the room.
    It is their job to try to catch the opposite team's runner trying to cheat by taking more than 1 penny.
    The first child in each line:
    		runs to the container of pennies,
    he is allowed to take 1 penny (but he is try to take 2  or 3 pennies without getting caught by the cheater catcher.) 
    		If the cheater catcher catches him taking more than 1 penny, he calls out "Cheater!" and the runner has to stop and show his penny. 
    If he has more than 1 penny, he has to give all the pennies he has in his hand to the other team.
    If the cheater catcher makes a wrong call, then his team must give 2 pennies to the other team.
    The runner then runs to the empty container where he puts his penny,
    		The cheater catcher cannot call, "cheater" once a runner deposits his pennies in his team's container.  
    Next he runs back to the chairs in the center of the room where becomes the next cheater catcher for his team.
    The first cheater catcher then runs back to his team, tags the first in line and goes to the end of the line.
    The tagged team member becomes the next runner.
    Repeat until everyone has had a chance to be a cheater catcher and a runner.
    The team with the most pennies wins.

     

    • Closing Discussion

    • Close in Prayer: 

    • Telling the Story:
    		Today we're learning that when we meet Jesus we want to live for Him. 
    In our game today it was fun to try to cheat.
    How many of you were able to get away with cheating?
    How did you feel when you didn't get caught?
    		Relieved
    Discuss other answers
    How did you feel when did get caught?
    		Discuss kids answers
    Do you think our relay race was really a fair game?
    		Discuss kids answers
    How could we have made the game fair?
    		Discuss kids answers
    How do you feel when someone really cheats you?
    		Discuss kids answers
    It's fun to play a game once in awhile where we can get away with cheating.
    But when we cheat in real life, we worry about getting caught.
    Today's story is about someone lived a long time getting away with cheating people.  
    But then something happened to make him stop wanting to cheat people.
    Listen carefully to find out what happened to make him stop trying to get away with cheating.
    Today's story is about a tax collector.
    Tax collectors in Bible times often cheated people by taking more money from them than they were supposed to.
    Then they kept the extra money for themselves.
    They got very rich that way.
    Do you think the people in Bible times liked tax collectors?
    No, they didn't like tax collectors at all.
    They hated them because they had cheated them out of their money.
    Listen carefully to find out what happens to tax collector in today's story.
    Jesus was in the town of Jericho teaching people about God.
    Let's build the town of Jericho here:
    		Let each child make a house for the town of Jericho by stacking 2 or 3 blocks.
    Have them build their houses next to the Jordan River, above the Dead Sea.
    And let's put a tree right here at this end of the town.
    		Place the toy tree at one end of the town.
    Place a block or rock behind it and some flowers or leaves around the block to hide it. 
     (Zacchaeus will stand on the block to make it look like he is standing in the tree)
    Jesus was walking through the town.
    		Place the Jesus figure on the other side of the town from the tree, facing it.
    There was a crowd of people following and listening to Jesus.
    		Place a crowd of people behind and next to Jesus as if following him.
    Walk Jesus and the crowd toward the tree.
    There was a man there who was a tax collector.
    His name was Zacchaeus.
    He had a lot of money.
    		Place a figure to represent Zacchaeus behind the crowd.
    He wanted to see Jesus, too.
    But he was too short.
    He couldn't see over the crowd in front of him.
    		Wiggle the figure back and forth as if he is trying to see.
    He couldn't get through the crowd to get near Jesus.
    		Move the figure against the crowd to show him trying to push his way through.
    Finally he saw a sycamore tree up ahead.
    		Point to the tree.
    Jesus was walking right toward that tree.
    		Walk Jesus and the crowd closer to the tree.
    Zacchaeus knew that Jesus would walk right by that tree.
    So he ran right around the crowd until he came to the tree.
    		Run the Zacchaeus figure around the crowd and stop him next to the tree.
    He climbed up into the tree. 
    		Set Zacchaeus on the block so it looks like he is peering out of the tree. 
    Now he could see Jesus.
    Jesus and the crowd walked along until they came to the tree.
    		Walk Jesus and crowd to the tree.
    But when Jesus got to the tree he stopped walking.
    He looked right up into the tree at Zacchaeus.
    		Turn Jesus to face Zacchaeus.
    Jesus spoke to Zacchaeus! 
    He said, "Zacchaeus, come down from that tree.  I will stay at your house today."  
    Zacchaeus hurried down out of that tree and took Jesus to his house.
    		Walk Zacchaeus and Jesus to a "house" (some blocks) and stand them in front of it.
    Place the crowd nearby.
    Do you think the people were happy that Jesus went to Zacchaeus' house?
    		Point to the crowd
    No Way!  The people grumbled and complained, "He's a cheater!  Look at that.  Jesus stays with cheaters!"
    The crowd was not happy at all.
    But Zacchaeus said to Jesus.  I will give half my money away.  And I will give back four times what I took to anyone I cheated.
    Jesus was very happy.  He said to the crowd,  "Salvation has come to this man today. For I have come to find lost people and save them."
    What made Zacchaeus want to stop cheating people?
    		He met Jesus
    He wanted to live for Jesus.
    When we meet Jesus we want to live for Him.
    How do we know Zacchaeus wanted to live for Jesus?
    		He said he would give half his money to the poor.
    He would pay back more money than he had taken to the people he had cheated.
    What did Jesus mean, I have come to find lost people and to save them?
    		Zacchaeus was lost because he lived a life of cheating.
    He was saved because, he started  living for Jesus and stopped cheating people.
    Cheating is only one thing that people try to get away with.
    What are some other things that we try to get away with?
    		We try to get away with doing sloppy work,
    Or we try to sneak out of doing our work altogether, etc.
    Zacchaeus didn't start living for Jesus until He met Jesus.
    How can we meet Jesus?
    		By asking Him to forgive us for the wrong things that we try to get away with, and asking Him to live in our hearts.
    When we meet Jesus we want to live for Him.
    Giving each child time to silently confess the things they try to get away with,
    Asking Jesus to live in our hearts so that we will want to live for Him.

     

    Optional Snack:  Your choice

    Supplemental Bible Readings: 
    (These are also available in the Take Home paper, 'The Home Sower'
    (Suggested daily readings)

     

    • Materials Needed for Next Week:
    		Promised Land mat
    Christ figure
    blocks,
    2 Fisher Price or similar type woman figures
    Cheerio bingo
    		Bingo cards - copy 1 per child (see table below)
    Cheerios, fruit loops or similar type snack to play Bingo with.

    Bingo Cards print out, enlarge if necessary,  
    and make 1 copy per child.

     

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    © 2000 Linda Lawler.  
    Permission granted to copy for personal use only.  Not for resale.

    Home Sower 36       Lesson 28     Home Sower 28    Lesson 29  

    Home Sower 29    Lesson 30    Home Sower 30    Lesson 31    

    Home Sower 31    Lesson 32    Home Sower 32   Lesson 33   

    Home Sower 33     Lesson 34    Home Sower 34     Lesson 35    

    Home Sower 35     Lesson 37    Home Sower 37    Lesson 38     

    Home Sower 38    Lesson 39    

    Home Sower 39    Lesson 40    Home Sower 40

    Hit Counter     

    Lessons 1-12    Lessons 13-27     Lessons 28-33    

    Lessons 34-40    Lessons 41-46    Lessons 47-52