Skip to main content

Bartimaeus Cries Out (Mark 10:46-52)

Lesson Set

Summary of Workshops

Art - This Arts & Crafts lesson starts with a reading of the scripture story of Jesus healing Bartimaeus. The following craft activity consists of building "decoder" glasses and then writing a simple message that can only be seen (in theory) when wearing the decoder glasses. The point of the lesson is to highlight how asking God for healing can help us see better, just like what happened for Bartimaeus.

Games - This Games lesson starts with a reading of the scripture story of Jesus healing Bartimaeus. The class activities consist of a paper, rock, scissors team-based game, a "Guess who made that noise" game, and a beach ball demonstration.

Storytelling -This Storytelling lesson seeks to highlight (mostly by telling the story in three different ways) Bartimaeus' role in his own healing. He doesn't just ask Jesus for help, he cries out to Jesus for help, even after other people tell him to be quiet. The lesson activities consist of watching a "movie" of the story (movie, here, refers to a "homemade" narration of slides - like a powerpoint presentation). The second activity consists of putting on a play that mirrors the events of the scripture story using popsicle puppets. An additional option is to video tape the puppet play and then let the class watch it after they've completed the puppet play.




Bartimaeus Cries Out (Mark 10:46-52)

Art Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

This Arts & Crafts lesson starts with a reading of the scripture story of Jesus healing Bartimaeus. The following craft activity consists of building "decoder" glasses and then writing a simple message that can only be seen (in theory) when wearing the decoder glasses. The point of the lesson is to highlight how asking God for healing can help us see better, just like what happened for Bartimaeus.

For the full lesson, download the attached Word .doc at the bottom of this post. Note that the first three pages of the document are "background" and that the actual lesson starts on page 4 (which is also where you will find the supply list).

Note: The attached lesson has pictures to better illustrate the instructions.

From the attached lesson, here is the decoder craft with some of the teaching comments (in first person) included.

Rotation Review Note:  We liked this lesson, and added the following suggestions in BLUE in the text below. These additions are not in the downloadable doc.


Supplies List:

  • Cardstock images of glasses
  • Scissors
  • Red Cellophane
  • Tape
  • Highlighters
  • White paper

Leader Preparation:

  • Read the scripture ahead of time.
  • Gather the materials.


Presentation

Opening-Welcome and Lesson Introduction:

Greet the children and introduce yourself.

Open with a prayer.

Dig Main Content and Reflection:

Read the story.

  • What kind of things do people cry out in need for?
  • When we cry out to God for help, other people might tell us that we’re foolish. Or they might tell us to be quiet. What do people sometimes say to poor people who are crying out for help? ("Get a job!" ?)
  • But as we see in the Bartimaeus story, God can heal us, but being quiet about our needs so that we don’t bug God, or other people, does not save us.
  • One of the ways Bartimaeus experiences healing is by being able to see. Whenever we read a story about blindness in the Bible, we have to remember that blindness is also a "metaphor", a "sign" or code for something else as well.  Blindness is not always just physical. What can people be "blind to"?  Blind to others needs. Blind to God. Blind to their own sins.
  • When we pay attention to God, when we keep asking God for help, then we will be able to "see" things differently than we did before.
  • Scripture, prayer, worship, Sunday School, guides, --these are all things which help us "see" truth, see needs, see sin, see solutions, see ourselves as God sees us. How does God see us?
  • We’re going to do a craft now that will help us remember how asking God for healing helps us "see" things differently than we did before.

Also needs some thoughts about "what the glasses ARE" ...our faith? our hope? scripture? prayer?

Explain & Do Craft Activity

  • We have a two-part craft today.
  • The first thing we’re going to do is make a special pair of glasses for each of us.
  • The second thing we’ll do, then, is make a secret message that we can only see when we have our glasses on. And remember, the glasses are a symbol of today's lesson. God helps us see the world, its needs, and ourselves DIFFERENTLY, ...in a NEW WAY.
  • So I’m now passing around drawings of some glasses that are on a thick piece of paper that is called cardstock.
  • Once you get your cardstock glasses, take a pair of scissors and cut the frame of the glasses and the stems of the glasses out by cutting JUST the solid black lines. [do that]
  • Once you’ve done that, you’re going to cut out the place where the “lenses” will go in the frame of the glasses. There’s a shaded area that says, “Cut out.” Cut those two spots out.
  • Now take a strip of red cellophane and cut it to the length of one lens.
  • Now tape the red cellophane in place as a lens. Repeat for the other lens.
  • (If you’re using red cellophane tape – cut it to size, then place the tape on the inside of the glasses in the lens area, with the sticky side facing out and adhere the tape to the frame).
  • Once your lenses are in place, take the “stems” of your glasses and tape them to the frame of your glasses.
  • Your glasses and the first part of the craft is now complete.
  • For the second craft, take a white sheet of paper and write one of these sentences on it with green highlighter in big and sort of messy but PRINTED letters:
    • “Jesus have mercy on me!” or “Your faith has made you well.”
  • Now use two or three other colors that are not green (red and yellow are the best) and draw a maze around and even sometimes on top of the green letters so that you can’t see the letters very well.
  • See these two pictures for example: [Let the students do this for a little bit]
  • Now that you’ve made your pictures, go ahead and put your glasses on.
  • You should be able to see your original message very clearly.

Tell

  • When your mom or dad ask you what you made, tell them “I made a message.”
  • Show them your “message” and ask them “What do you think it says?”
  • When they can’t tell you, then you tell them they need to ask for help.
  • When they ask for help, give them the glasses and tell them to put them on to read the message.
  • Then they’ll be able to see the message.
  • Then tell them that THIS is how it works with us and God.
  • When we ask God for help, God helps us to see in ways that we couldn’t see before. God helps us see his message. God helps us see Jesus. God helps us see people differently.
  • This is what happens with Bartimaeus, and it’ll happen with your parents too.

After completing the glasses and message, spend some time talking about "what OTHER kind of glasses do we have that help us see God?  See people's needs more clearly?  See solutions to problems?  See when we are sinning?   You might have a couple extra pair of glasses with a SIGN attached to them, -with words on the sign like:  Prayer, Worship, Bible, ...and ask the students how those particular "glasses" help us "see".

Closing:

End with a prayer.


A lesson written by the rfour rotation writer's group.

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability

If you like this lesson, and are interested in more, visit www.rfour.org/curriculum.html.

Attachments

Last edited by Luanne Payne
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Bartimaeus Cries Out (Mark 10:46-52)

Game Workshop

 

Summary of Lesson Activities:

This Games lesson starts with a reading of the scripture story of Jesus healing Bartimaeus. The class activities consist of a paper, rock, scissors team-based game, a "Guess who made that noise" game, and a beach ball demonstration.

 

A "new identity in Christ" is a phrase we might be quick to say, and is definitely demonstrated by Bartimaeus, who does not let the crowd determine his identity (as one who is not worthy). Instead, Bartimaeus lets go of his identity of a beggar (by throwing off his beggar's cloak) in order to ask and then receive healing from Jesus.

 

But the power and importance of identity is not so easily understood when one's own identity is not yet fully formed. So, all three activities focus on (hopefully) helping the students think about the strength and importance of THEIR identity. (Note: that makes this lesson a little high concept for younger children, and trust you will age-adjust accordingly).

 

IMPORTANT NOTE:
For the full lesson, download the attached Word .doc at the bottom of this post. Note that the first three pages of the document are "background" and that the actual lesson starts on page 4 (which is also where you will find the supply list).

The following posted here is only PART of the lesson --the paper, rock, scissors game with some of the teaching comments (in first person) included.

 

Some clarification/suggested improvementsy have been added by a Rotation reviewer below and are not in the downloadable doc. They are marked in blue.

 


Supplies List:

  • Rope

Leader Preparation:

  • Gather the materials. 
  • Read the scripture ahead of time.


 

Presentation

 

Opening-Welcome and Lesson Introduction:

Greet the children and introduce yourself.

 

Open with a prayer.

 

Dig-Main Content and Reflection:


READ the scripture story

  • Did you hear what kind of clothing Bartimaeus threw off when Jesus called for him? (his cloak)
  • That’s right! The cloak that Bartimaeus was wearing helped other people know that he was a beggar and blind. Can you think of some clothes or accessories that help us know that someone is blind? (long stick, that’s usually white and sometimes a seeing-eye dog)
  • What kinds of clothing or "uniforms" do people wear to project an 'image' or identity to others?  *Here you might have some photos/illustrations of people in various "costumes"  (police, athlete, student, "bad boy").  Do kids at your school wear "uniforms" to signal their identity, or what group they think they belong to?  What kinds?  
  • So when Bartimaeus took off his cloak, that was his way of saying that he was ready for a new identity. Do you know what an identity is?
  • What is YOUR identify?  Who do people think you are?  Geek? Star? Daughter? Christian? Loser?  Nobody?  Trustworthy?  (Take a moment for kids to think through and respond. (an identity is who you or who others think you are; it’s a combination of personality and characteristics).
  • So a big part of Bartimaeus identity was that he was blind. But here's the important question:  What identity did Jesus give to Bartimaeus? (an identity of seeing; an identity of someone who was blind but could now see)
  • What identity does Jesus want US to put on?

Tell

  • So this idea of getting a different identity might seem a little strange to us.
  • But we often change clothes and identities – just not as drastically as Jesus changed Bartimaeus’ identity.
  • We’re going to play a game now where we’re going to change identities each round.

Explain Paper, Rock, Scissors Identity Game

  • So the way this works is that we need to get into two teams with an equal (or as close as possible) amount of people in each team.
  • Before each round, each team will choose what identity they are going to be. A team can choose one of three identities. Those three identities are: Paper, Rock and Scissors.
  • Once your team decides what your identity is going to be, then your team comes to the middle of the room where this rope is and you make a line parallel to that rope.
  • Once both teams are lined up, I’ll say, “Ready?” And then everyone will make a fist and raise it above the palm of their other hand.
  • Then I’ll say “paper” and you say it with me, then we’ll say “rock” and then we’ll say “scissors” and then I’ll say “Shoot!”
  • Each time we say a word, our fist should be hitting our palm.
  • When I say SHOOT, that’s when each team shows their “identity” pose.
  • If you chose Rock, you crouch down in ball. If you chose Paper, you put your arms out to the sides so that you look flat. If you chose scissors, you put your arms out in front of you and swing them up and down like you are cutting something.
  • Rock beats scissors. Scissors beats Paper and Paper beats Rock.
  • Let’s say Team A shows the Scissors Identity and Team B shows the Rock identity. Who won? Team B, right?
  • Once Team B sees that they won, they chase Team A. Once Team A sees that they lost, they run back to their base (marked by a rope or string).
  • If a member from Team B tags a member of Team A before that person makes it back to base, then that member now joins Team B.
  • First team to have everyone on their team, wins.
  • After each round, each team determines what identity they’re going to be for the next round.
  • [if no team is winning, end the game somewhere between 5 to 7 minutes].


DO Paper, Rocks, Scissors

Ask

  • Ok, everyone – have a seat.
  • So after each round, how did your identity change? (changed between paper, rock and scissors. Also changed if you got tagged and you changed teams).

Tell

  • We sometimes change our identity when our circumstances change, like in the game we just played.
  • But our identity is also shaped by what people tell us. And even if someone is wrong about who they say we are, but they keep saying it, then we sometimes start to believe them.

Closing:

End with a prayer.


...lesson continued in attached lesson plan.


A lesson posted by Nathanael from rfour.org

 

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.

 


If you like this lesson, and are interested in more, visit www.rfour.org/curriculum.html.


Attachments

Last edited by Rotation.org Lesson Forma-teer

Bartimaeus Cries Out (Mark 10:46-52)

Storytelling Workshop


Summary of Lesson Activities:

This Storytelling lesson seeks to highlight (mostly by telling the story in three different ways) Bartimaeus' role in his own healing. He doesn't just ask Jesus for help, he cries out to Jesus for help, even after other people tell him to be quiet. The lesson activities consist of watching a "movie" of the story (movie, here, refers to a "homemade" narration of slides - like a powerpoint presentation). The second activity consists of putting on a play that mirrors the events of the scripture story using popsicle puppets. An additional option is to video tape the puppet play and then let the class watch it after they've completed the puppet play.

To view the movie of the story and to download the supply document, click HERE (NOTE: The link will take you to the www.rfour.org page specifically created for viewers of this post).

For the full lesson, download the attached Word .doc at the bottom of this post. Note that the first three pages of the document are "background" and that the actual lesson starts on page 4 (which is also where you will find the supply list).



Presentation

 

Opening-Welcome and Lesson Introduction:

Greet the children and introduce yourself.

 

Open with a prayer.

 

Dig-Main Content and Reflection:

From the attached lesson, here is the story script with some of the teaching comments (in first person) included:

Ask (answers are in parenthesis)

  • So how does Bartimaeus try to get Jesus attention? (by crying/yelling out to him)
  • Are there people who tell Bartimaeus to be quiet? (yes)
  • Why do you think they might do that? (because they don't think Bartimaeus is important enough to ask for Jesus' attention)
  • What does Bartimaeus do when he's told to be quiet? (He yells louder)
  • Were you surprised that Bartimaeus didn't stay home, but instead followed Jesus?

Tell

  • Now we’re going to make our own movie.
  • We have two characters that need readers. Jesus and the crowd. I need three or four people to read the crowd part together.
  • Then I need one person to hold up the Wall.
  • (If need be, you can assign an “audience” part to the less than enthusiastic students. Our shepherd here will record our play (or maybe have a student help out here, too).
  • So we’re going to go behind the screen, here.
  • If we have time, we’ll do a practice run through, where I’ll be the director, helping yall know what to do and when to do it.
  • Once we go through the practice run, then we'll film it.


Do & Record Popsicle Puppet Play

Characters:

  • Bartimaeus (depending on age of class, have teacher read and student control the puppet)
  • Jesus
  • The Crowd (have 3 or 4 students read this part together)

The Script:

Bartimaeus: Please help me out and share some of your food and money with me. I'm blind and I need help.

The Crowd: We're busy. Move out of the way!

Bartimaeus: I wish I could see. I wish I could see. I WISH I COULD SEE!

The Crowd: We're busy. Move out of the way!

Bartimaeus: I've heard rumors about a man named Jesus who is healing people. He's going to be in town today. I'm going to ask him to help me.

The Crowd: We're busy. Move out of the way!

Bartimaeus: If Jesus heals me, I don't want to be like these people who pass me everyday and push me to the side.

The Crowd: Jesus is coming! Jesus is coming! Move out of the way!

Bartimaeus: Jesus is coming by? Right now?

The Crowd: Jesus is coming! Jesus is coming! Move out of the way!

Bartimaeus: This is my chance! But wait! How will Jesus notice me? These people are so loud! I will have to be louder than they are. JESUS! JESUS! OVER HERE! PLEASE JESUS OVER HERE! I NEED YOUR HELP!

The Crowd: Be quiet! Be quiet! You're in the way!

Bartimaeus: These people don't care about me. I'm not listening to them. JESUS! SON OF DAVID! HAVE MERCY ON ME!

The Crowd: Be quiet! Be quiet! You're in the way!

Jesus: Bring him here.

[Jesus and Bartimaeus puppets move closer together]

Bartimaeus: Jesus, hello. Thank you for listening to me.

Jesus: What is it that you want?

Bartimaeus: If you choose, I know that you can make me see. Please choose to heal me.

Jesus: I do choose.

Bartimaeus: I can see! I can see! I can see!

Jesus: Your faith has made you well.

Bartimaeus: Jesus healed me! He's not at all like these people who ignored me and told me to get out of the way. I said if I could ever see, that I did not want to treat others like I have been treated. I'm going to learn how to live this better way by following Jesus and choosing to live life his way!

THE END

Suggested Variations: If in need of readers, have the teacher and shepherd read, while the students control the puppets.

 

Closing:

End with a prayer.


A lesson posted by Nathanael from rfour.com

 

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.

 



If you like these lessons, and are interested in more, visit www.rfour.org/curriculum.html.

--Nathanael

Attachments

Last edited by Rotation.org Lesson Forma-teer

Add Reply

Post a New Topic
Lesson or Resource
Rotation.org Inc. is a volunteer-run, 100% member supported, 501(c)3 non-profit Sunday School lesson ministry. You are welcome to borrow and adapt content for non-commercial teaching purposes --as long as both the site and author are referenced. Rotation.org Inc reserves the right to manage, move, condense, delete, and otherwise improve all content posted to the site. Read our Terms of Service. Get a free Registered Membership or become a Supporting Member for full access to all site resources.
Rotation.org is rated 5 stars on Google based on 51 reviews. Serving a global community including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, S. Africa, and more!
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×