Unit 13 / Lesson 4
The Parable of the Two Builders
Slides for the Lesson
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Teacher's Prep
Games
Paper Tower
Get familiar with this activity by watching the YouTube video below:
Paper Tower - DI Instant Challenge Recap, by theresetcouncil
Materials:
20 sheets of paper per group of four
1 measuring tape
Have several sheets of paper on standby in case someone wants a new one.
Before the class, have the sheets of paper portioned into stacks of 20 for ease of distribution
The Floor is Lava
Materials:
Four chairs or pylons
Foam floor tiles – four tiles per team of ten. For an idea of how these mats look, search Google for “foam floor tiles.”
Have foam mats ready in stacks, ready to give to each team
The Shoe Game
No preparation needed!
Main Activity (Marshmallow and Toothpick Houses):
This is a variation of the marshmallow and toothpick tower, but instead of trying to build an especially tall tower, they will build a strong house that looks nice instead.
Materials needed (for about 20 minutes of construction)
Mini marshmallows -- about 200 per child
Toothpicks -- about 200 per child
Intro
SLIDE 1
Gathering
How was your week?
SLIDE 2
Intro Game: Paper Towers
Instructions
We'll start this lesson with a challenge! We will be making paper towers! In a moment, we will form teams of 3 or 4, and each team will have 20 sheets of paper. You'll have ten minutes to try to build the tallest tower you can, using only those twenty sheets of paper.
If you really ruin a sheet of paper, you can ask me for a new one, but we don't have too many spares, so be as careful as you can.
Teacher: divide the class into teams of 3 or 4, and give each team 20 sheets of paper. To keep track of time, set a ten-minute timer on the computer, OR search YouTube for "10-minute timer."
SLIDE 3
Debrief
In this game we played, we all had an idea of what we wanted to do, but maybe we weren't sure if we were doing things the best way. It's hard to know if our tower will really stand up after we build it.
Relevance
And, the Christian life is like that too. We all have ideas of what we want to do, but a lot of people don't know if they are doing things right.
There is one way to know if we are on the right track as Christians, and that's what our Bible story is about today.
SLIDE 4
Big Question
Our big question today is: how do we know if we are doing things right?
Big Idea
Our big idea is: We are doing things right if we do what Jesus says.
Some people just hear what Jesus says but they don't do as He says. But other people do what Jesus says even if it's really hard. Our Bible story is about those two kinds of people.
Let's watch a cartoon about our Bible story.
Bible Reference
SLIDE 5
Teacher: play this YouTube video:
The Parable of the Two Builders, by Saddleback Kids
Now let's read our story straight from the Bible. Listen to what Jesus said to the people who followed Him.
Matthew 7:24-29 (CEV)
SLIDE 6
24 Anyone who hears and obeys these teachings of mine is like a wise person who built a house on solid rock. 25 Rain poured down, rivers flooded, and winds beat against that house. But it was built on solid rock, and so it did not fall.
SLIDE 7
26 Anyone who hears my teachings and doesn't obey them is like a foolish person who built a house on sand. 27 Rain poured down, rivers flooded, and the winds blew and beat against that house. Finally, it fell with a crash.
SLIDE 8
28 When Jesus finished speaking, the crowds were surprised at his teaching. 29 He taught them like someone with authority, and not like their teachers of the Law of Moses.
Point 1
Our first point is, hearing alone does not help us.
SLIDE 9
Game: The Floor is Lava
Instructions
Teacher: Set up four chairs at the corners of the room, about 2 meters away from the wall. These chairs will serve as pylons for teams to run around.
We'll start this point with a game! We're playing The Floor is Lava!
We'll split into two teams, and your team’s goal is to make two laps around the room. We have four chairs at the corners of the room, and you will need to go around the outside of the chairs. And once you do that, you will go back to your starting spot to complete the lap. When you've finished two complete laps, you win.
The only catch is, the floor is made of lava! The only thing you can step on is these foam mats. Lay them down in front and behind, and then pick up the foam mat at the back and move it to the front so you can continue to move forward.
There's no penalty for stepping off the mat, but do your best to stay on them.
Teacher: form two teams, and have them start at opposite corners of the room. Have them do two laps around the room, stepping only on their foam mats.
Debrief
In this game we played, there were two kinds of ground. There was the safe ground covered by the mats, and there was the unsafe ground that had no mats.
Bible Reference
In our Bible story, Jesus also talked about two kinds of ground. Let's read about the ground that was not safe.
SLIDE 10
Matthew 7:26-27 (CEV)
26 Anyone who hears my teachings and doesn't obey them is like a foolish person who built a house on sand. 27 Rain poured down, rivers flooded, and the winds blew and beat against that house. Finally, it fell with a crash.
Explanation
Jesus talked about a guy who wanted to build his house on sand. Let’s think: where would you find a lot of sand? On a beach!
Can you imagine living on the beach, and having a sandy backyard? That sounds like a lot of fun! But, there's a problem if you want to build your house right on the beach, which is that sand isn't very strong. In fact, if there's too much water, the sand just turns into mud.
OPTIONAL ILLUSTRATION: Teacher: you could make an object lesson by breaking things that are soaked in water. You could try to soak toilet paper in water, and have the kids compare dry toilet paper and wet toilet paper. Or, you could try to soak a piece of toast into water, and see if it's easier to break a dry piece of toast or a wet piece of toast. The point of this illustration is: sand is a bit like toilet paper or bread, because sand gets weaker if it's totally soaked in water (in fact, during a flood, sand can become quicksand!)
It might seem fine when you first build that house on the sand, but sooner or later the bad weather will come, like a storm or a flood. When that happens, the house will start sinking, and it will fall apart with a big crash.
SLIDE 11
Jesus said, that's what it's like when a person listens to His words and doesn't do what He says. That person will probably have a lot of fun for a long time. But, sooner or later, they'll get into trouble, because everyone gets into trouble eventually. That's when everything in their life will fall apart, and it will be very sad.
Application
That's a very important lesson for us. We all go to church, and we all learn the Bible stories, which are both very good things. BUT, learning is just the first step to being really wise.
SLIDE 12
We can't just know a bunch of things. We also need to DO what the Bible says. If we don't do what the Bible says, we'll end up doing something else. We'll probably have a lot of fun doing those other things, but sooner or later we'll get into a lot of trouble. If we haven't done what Jesus said, everything in our life will fall apart, and we'll be very sad.
Discussion Question
SLIDE 13
Let’s pause for a discussion question:
When is it hard to do what God wants?
Point 2
Our second point is, obeying Jesus is the best thing for us.
SLIDE 14
Game: The Shoe Game
Instructions
We'll start this point with a game. We’ll call it the Shoe Game!
We will have two teams, and each team will line up on an opposite wall.
Teacher: form two teams, and line them up on opposite walls.
Everyone on your team will take off ONE shoe and we'll make a pile of shoes in the middle of the room. Keep your other shoe on your foot.
Teacher: Make a pile in the middle of the room. Then, have them line up on their opposite walls again.
So you'll all have one shoe on your foot, and one shoe in the pile. Now, take a look at the shoes that your teammates are wearing, and try to remember what their shoes look like too, because maybe you can help your teammates find their shoes as well.
When I say “go,” the two teams will race to see who can put on all their shoes first and touch their wall again. Your team wins if everyone puts on their shoes and they're touching the wall.
Ready? Go.
Teacher: you may want to play multiple rounds of this game if time and interest allow.
Debrief
In this game we played, there were a whole bunch of shoes in a pile, but only one of them was for us. There was a shoe that fit us perfectly. Even if it was easier to grab someone else's shoe, it wouldn’t have felt right, and it wouldn’t have looked right, because it wasn’t the shoe you're supposed to wear!
SLIDE 15
That's what it's like to be a follower of Jesus. Obeying Jesus is like finding the right shoe and putting it on. It might be easier to do something else, like whatever our friends are doing, or whatever we see on TV, but it’s better for us if we do what Jesus wants. That's what we learn from our Bible story.
Bible Reference
SLIDE 16
Let's read about the wise builder in Jesus' story.
Matthew 7:24-25 (CEV)
24 Anyone who hears and obeys these teachings of mine is like a wise person who built a house on solid rock. 25 Rain poured down, rivers flooded, and winds beat against that house. But it was built on solid rock, and so it did not fall.
Explanation
SLIDE 17
So, the wise person decided to build their house on solid rock. They didn't build it on the beach, even though it would have been more fun. The wise person knew they needed a house that would keep standing even when the weather got really bad. The wise person knew that rock is strong even in the worst weather, so they did whatever they had to, to build the house on rock.
The reality is, rock is a lot harder to work with than sand is. If you're on a sandy beach and you want a flat space to start building, you can just use your hands to make the sand smooth. Then, you’ll have a nice flat space, and you can start building right away.
Rock is different. You can't just smooth it out with your hands. If the rock is pointy or bumpy, you have to find a way to build around the points and the bumps.
What's even worse, most of the time when people want to build a house on rock, the rock is underground, covered by tons of dirt! You need to get a shovel and dig for a really, really long time. While you dig, you'll see bugs and tree roots, and you'll get all dirty and tired. It might take many days to dig down, but wise builders will dig through all that dirt because they know it's worth it. They're doing what it takes to make a great house that will never fall down. Jesus says that this person is wise. This person's house will be safe, and they won't have to build it again every time there's bad weather.
Application
SLIDE 18
That's how it works if we want to do things Jesus' way. His words are like rock. They are strong and they will help us even when we are in the worst kinds of trouble.
SLIDE 19
But, Jesus' words are not easy to work with. Just like it's not easy to build on top of a rock that's bumpy or sharp, it's not easy to build our life on Jesus' words, because He tells us to do things we don't like.
SLIDE 20
Sometimes if we really want to know Jesus' words, we have to work hard to learn what His words mean. Sometimes it can feel like we’re digging through a lot of dirt just to get to the rock of His words.
SLIDE 21
It's not easy to listen to what Jesus says, but it's always good to listen to Him anyway, because He's wiser than all of us.
SLIDE 22
Discussion Question
Let's pause for a discussion question:
What is something that God wants you to do this week?
SLIDE 23
Conclusion
Let’s wrap up our lesson by going over the big ideas again.
Our big question was: How do we know if we are doing things right?
Our big idea was: We are doing things right if we do what Jesus says.
Hearing alone doesn't help us; obeying Jesus is the best thing for us.
Main Activity: Marshmallow and Toothpick Houses
All this talk about building houses brings us to our main activity! We will be making houses from marshmallows and toothpicks! We'll split into groups of 3 or 4, and we'll see which group can build the biggest, nicest house.
Our main activity reminds us of our lesson because it makes us think about what's really important. The most important thing about a house is that it can stand up and not break, so we need to build carefully. It’s like that in real life too. We need to build our lives carefully the way that God tells us to. If we do that, we will be truly safe.
Teacher: have the class form small groups, and distribute marshmallows and toothpicks. You may want to play some fun music in the background while they construct their houses.
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