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The Parable of the Pearl

Unit 16 / Lesson 1

The Parable of the Pearl

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Teacher's Prep

  • Games

    • Marshmallow and Toothpick Tower

      • Materials:

        • Roughly 100 toothpicks per child 

        • Roughly 100 mini marshmallows per child.

        • Have tables available for children to build on. Alternatively, they can build on the floor.

    • Would You Rather

      • Materials:

        • A whiteboard

        • A whiteboard marker

      • The whiteboard will help the children to decide where to stand. At the beginning of the game, mark the whiteboard with the letters “A” and “B” in a very large font, on two opposite sides of the whiteboard. Children will move to the letters to indicate their choice during the game.

    • Traffic Yam

      • Materials:

        • A bag of large marshmallows -- enough for each child to have two (one to put on the floor, and one to eat as a prize).

      • This game is based off of a Minute To Win It game called Traffic Yam. 

      • For reference, watch this video:

      • Normally, Traffic Yam is a relay race between two teams in which each team moves a yam across the floor of the room using only their noses. To make this easier and more comfortable, we are using marshmallows.

      • Alternatively, you can have them move a gummy bear across a table.

  • Main Activity (Making Boba):


    Intro

    SLIDE 1

  • Gathering

    • How was your week?

  • SLIDE 2

  • Intro Game: Marshmallow Toothpick Towers

    • Instructions

      • We'll start our lesson with a game! We'll be making towers out of marshmallows and toothpicks. Some of you may have done this before, but you can always get better, and you can always build higher.

      • Your goal in this game is to build the highest tower you can in 10 minutes

      • Let's get into groups of 2 or 3, and you'll all get some toothpicks and marshmallows. You can work together as a team to build a tall tower.

      • Teacher: put toothpicks and marshmallows at each table for easy access. Give the children ten minutes to build, using your discretion to shorten or lengthen the construction time as necessary. When the time is up, go around and praise each team for their effort, and for the cleverness of their strategies.

    • Debrief

      • In this game we played, you want to build as high as you can, but you need to make sure that it doesn't fall over. Sometimes people build really high but then it falls over and it’s really sad. But, if you want to build a great tower, you will need a great idea, and you'll need to work hard to make it happen. And if you do that, you'll win.

  • Relevance

    SLIDE 3

    • And, real life is like that too. In real life, some people make bad choices and they lose everything. Other people have a good idea, but they don’t do anything about it. But our Bible story today teaches us a better way to do things, and it teaches us how to win at life.

    SLIDE 4

  • Big Question

    • Our big question today is: How can we win at life?

  • Big Idea

    • Our big idea today is: 

    • We need to CHOOSE and TRADE. 

    • We need to CHOOSE the most important thing, and then we need to TRADE what we have, so we can get the most important thing. And we’ll learn along the way that the most important thing is something called the kingdom of heaven. 

  • Bible Reference

    SLIDE 5

    • That’s what we’ll learn from the Bible today. Let’s read what Jesus said::

    • Matthew 13:45-46 (NIV)

      • 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.


    Point 1

  • The first thing we learn from this story is: we need to CHOOSE

    SLIDE 6

  • Game: Would You Rather

    • Instructions

      • Teacher: mark a whiteboard with the letters “A” and “B” in a very large font, on two opposite sides of the whiteboard. Children will move to the letters to indicate their choices during this game.

      • We'll start off this point with a game of Would You Rather. It’s really simple. We'll have eight questions. I'll read out a question, and then we'll see who likes the first option or the second option. If you like the first option, you can move to the letter “A” on the whiteboard, and if you like the second option, you can move to the letter “B.” Let’s try it!

    • Questions

    SLIDE 7

    • Question 1: Would you rather lick a dirty trash can or the bathroom floor?

    SLIDE 8

    • Question 2: Would you rather be the worst player on a team that always wins or the best player on a team that always loses?

    SLIDE 9

    • Question 3: Would you rather have one eye in the middle of your head or two noses?

    SLIDE 10

    • Question 4: Would you rather eat donuts or candy?

    SLIDE 11

    • Question 5: Would you rather be the funniest person alive or the smartest person alive?

    SLIDE 12

    • Question 6: Would you rather be able to fly or be invisible?

    SLIDE 13

    • Question 7: Would you rather never have to shower again or never have to clip your toenails?

    SLIDE 14

    • Question 8: Would you rather be able to control the weather or have the ability to talk to animals?

    • Debrief

    SLIDE 15

    • We played this game because it’s about choices. Sometimes the choice is between two good things, like having different superpowers. Other times, the choice is between two bad things, like licking a dirty trash can or the bathroom floor. Our Bible story is about a man who had to make a hard choice.

  • Explanation

    SLIDE 16

    • Our story is about a merchant. A merchant is a person who runs a store. Running a store is an important job.

    SLIDE 17

    • Can you imagine a world without stores? That would be terrible! But, running a store is hard work.

    SLIDE 18

    • The merchant has to use his money to buy things. And then, he has to sell those things for more money. And if he’s really good at his job, everyone wins. You get to buy things at a store so you don’t have to travel across the world to get what you need, and the merchant earns some money. 

    SLIDE 19

    • Anyway, the hero in our Bible story is a merchant. He’s the kind of merchant who would travel to a really faraway place. He would buy pearls from a place far away, and then he would bring them home and sell them for more money.

    • Well, one day, he was in a land far away and he found a great pearl.

    SLIDE 20

    • It was the greatest pearl ever! And, he knew that if he could just bring it home to sell it, he would be able to earn so much money! But in order to get that pearl, he would have to sell everything he had. He couldn’t have the pearl AND everything else. He had to sell everything else to get that pearl. So, he had a tough choice.

  • Application

    SLIDE 21

    • Jesus told this story because actually all of us are like that merchant. We can't have everything in life, and we can't make everyone happy. We need to make tough choices. These tough choices happen every day.

    SLIDE 22

    • For example, will you study or you will play video games?

    SLIDE 23

    • Will you have an argument or stay silent?

    SLIDE 24

    • Will you keep a good attitude when things don’t go your way, or will you complain?

    • We all need to make choices. And, the best way to make choices is to follow the wisdom that God gave us in the Bible. Then, we will know what to choose.

  • Discussion Question

    SLIDE 26

    • Let’s pause for a discussion question:

      • Can you think of a hard choice that you have had to make?


    Point 2

  • We need to TRADE.

    • We need to trade what we have, in order to get the most important thing.

    SLIDE 27

  • Game: Traffic Yam

    • Instructions

      • We'll start this point with a game! It’s called Traffic Yam, because sometimes it’s played with yams. It's a relay race, so we will have two teams. Everyone on your team will take a turn moving a marshmallow across the floor of the room with just their nose! When it's your turn, you'll start touching the wall, and then you'll roll the marshmallow to the other side of the room. You’ll touch the far wall while your nose is still on the marshmallow, then you’ll roll the marshmallow back with your nose and touch the wall where you came from. Then the next person on your team will do the same thing. If you finish, you will get a new, clean marshmallow to eat for all of your effort.

      • Teacher: you will want to demonstrate how to play, at least at key parts of the relay, e.g. how to begin, how to roll, how to touch the far wall while your nose is on the marshmallow, and how to end one's turn at the near wall.

    • Debrief

      • We played this game because it takes hard work. You need to get a bit uncomfortable to play.

      • And it was like that for the merchant in our Bible story too.

  • Bible Reference

    SLIDE 27

    • Let’s read our Bible passage again:

    • Matthew 13:45-46 (NIV)

      • 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

  • Explanation

    • In our Bible story, the merchant didn't just have a good idea. He actually did something about his good idea! He sold everything he had and bought that pearl which was worth more than everything else.

    SLIDE 28

    • And, Jesus explained, that’s what the kingdom of heaven is like. The kingdom of heaven is so great that it’s worth trading everything we have so we can have it.

    • By the way, what is the kingdom of heaven? Some people think the kingdom of heaven is a place. They’re not wrong.

    SLIDE 29

    • Heaven is a place. But, the kingdom of heaven is more than just a place, it’s a friendship with the king of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is every place where God is king. We want Him to be king in our hearts, and we want Him to be king of the whole world.

    • Because, when God is king of our hearts and king of our world, He will make everything better.

  • Application

    SLIDE 30

    • So, we need to ask, how can God be king in our heart today? If we want Him to be our king, we need to do what He says. That means giving up the things He wants us to give up.

    SLIDE 31

    • We need to give up our time and our attention for Him.

    SLIDE 32

    • We need to TRADE our time and our energy to be friends with God.

    SLIDE 33

    • Then, we will have the greatest treasure, and then we will win at life.

  • Discussion Question

    SLIDE 34

    • Let’s pause for a discussion question:

      • What is something God wants us to give up?


SLIDE 35

Conclusion

  • Let’s wrap up this lesson by going over the big ideas again:

  • Jesus told a story about a merchant because every Christian has to be like that merchant. We all need to make hard choices. And, we all need to give up our time and energy. But, if we give up those things for God, we will have a friendship with God, and that is the greatest treasure.


    SLIDE 36

    Main Activity: Making Boba

  • Now it’s time for our main activity. Today we are making bubble tea!

  • The pearls in bubble tea remind us of the merchant who had to trade all he had for a precious pearl.

  • For us, we don't have to trade all we have to get this bubble tea. But, we do need to put in some work. We need to give up some time and some energy.

  • And, the whole Christian life is like that. We need to give up time and energy, so that we can have the kingdom of God.

  • Teacher: make boba with the class. Please refer to the teacher’s instructions for the main activity at the beginning of this lesson plan.

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