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(WT) Parable of the Good Samaritan: Children's Sermon or Activity

This children's sermon can be used in any setting, but should be especially fun and effective as a children's message in a worship setting AFTER the kids have been in Sunday School learning the parable of the Good Samaritan. It uses the lesson set's LOGO as the discussion object and prompt for a fun "posing" activity that makes a great point about how The Church, a.k.a. "the Body" of Christ, is called to be a body of Good Samaritans, too!

My children's sermons tend to be notes in my hand and head combined with what actually comes out of my mouth during the event!  Feels a little strange to try and write it all out, so as always, adapt per your needs.

The following image is a smaller sample version of the printable image found in the Good Sam People Poses PDF that you'll be printing and sharing with the kids and congregation and asking them to "pose" for a photo.

Sample-GoodSamPeoplePoses

Ahead of time, print the attached image of the parable onto a large piece of paper (11x17 should suffice). Also print several other copies to pass around.

1. Gather your kids and ask them to tell you the parable of the Good Samaritan as best they can. Prompt them and jog their memories as needed to fill in the story as they retell it.

2. From about 5 feet away, show them the picture of the parable of the Good Samaritan that you have printed on a large piece of paper.

  • Ask them what the message of the picture is.
  • Then, as you show them the image UP CLOSE, ask them if they notice anything UNUSUAL about the photo.
    The "drawings" of the two people in the image are made up of MANY people!
  • Ask them what they think THAT means—how is the Good Samaritan made up of a GROUP of people?

3. Say: This picture of a group of people coming together to be the Good Samaritan reminds us of a good reason why we come together as THE CHURCH: Jesus calls us together to help people in need in ways that we could never do on our own.

We often call the Church "the Body of Christ," but we could just as easily say that we gather together to be "the body of the Good Samaritan" to people in need, as Jesus called us to do—he called us to "go do likewise, to be the Samaritan" in the parable.

4. Say: I have an idea!  Let's try to recreate this photo. I need those of you on this side to form the body of the person in need, and those on this side to form the body of the Good Samaritan.

  • At this point you will want an assistant to come forward and help one of the groups of kids "form the body of the person in need" as seen in the image—while you help the other group form the Samaritan's body. Some participants may need to  sit or lay on the floor, stretched out to be a leg or an arm of one of the images. This will be messy, free-form, and fun to watch!
  • When and if you notice that you don't have enough kids to properly form the two shapes, invite some of your teens and adults to quickly come forward and help form the image. Remind everyone that "when help is needed, there are always people in the Church you can count on to help."

Take a cellphone photo!

5. Next, step back and ask everyone to "hold those poses" as you take a few cellphone photos. As you do this, emphasize your key point: that we as the Church are called to be Jesus' Good Samaritan in the world.

TIPS:

  • Let everyone know you'll post the photos on the church website, or kids can come up to you after church to see themselves in the photo.
  • Recruit a few adults ahead of time to come up when prompted. You can also join in the "shape" and let someone else take the photos.
  • Depending on your space, you may need a stepstool or chair to stand on to get a picture from above the crowd.

6. Dismiss the kids by reminding them that if THEY are need, they can always turn to the Body of Christ for help, and when they find someone in need they should BE the Body of Christ to that person, and if needed, get that person more help.

As the kids return to their seats or leave the sanctuary, you can pass the smaller print-outs of the parable image throughout the congregation so that they can see the image (and message) you were working with close up.

Written by Neil MacQueen and the Rotation.org Writing Team
Copyright Rotation.org Inc.

Neil notes: "I tend to like big actions and commotion in children's sermons as they definitely get the kids' attention and create memorable teaching moments. Congregations like to see them too, and this one involves them in a special way that should create plenty of smiles and a memorable way to think about the parable."

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Last edited by Neil MacQueen
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