Lesson 4: Mary and Martha.
Passage: Luke 10:38-42 - Once Jesus visited the home of Mary and Martha. Mary sat with Jesus and listened to his words, while Martha was busy and distracted with preparations. Martha got frustrated and asked Jesus to tell Mary to come and help her. Jesus answered with compassion, saying that Martha was worried and upset about many things but that only one thing is needed, and that Mary had chosen the better thing, which would not be taken away from her.
Big Idea: Two ways of loving God.
For Teachers:
Lesson plan.
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Welcome Activity: (10 minutes) - All leaders
Have one leader greet the children with the iPad roster outside the classroom door. Check-in the children in your classroom as they arrive.
Have another leader invite the children in to sit in a circle on the circle time rug.
Leader: Hi kids it’s good to see you this morning! I have a question for you today? Have you ever hosted a big dinner at your house or a party and you had to decorate for it? Or clean up your toys because people were coming over? (Let everyone have a chance to answer by raising their hands.) Well that has to do with our bible lesson today.
Transition to Bible Lesson
Leader: Today we’re going to be learning about two women who were sisters of named Mary and Martha. They were friends of Jesus and they had Jesus over to their house for dinner.
Could you find a seat so you can see the pictures? Can you give me a thumbs up when you are ready? Okay Let’s begin..
Read: The Big Bible Storybook ‘The Friendly Sisters’ Pg 176-177
Leader: Can anyone remember what Mary did when Jesus came to visit her home? (Listened to Jesus talk). And what was Martha doing? (She was busy preparing food and her home for Jesus)
Do you think that both Mary and Martha loved Jesus, but maybe they had different ways of showing it? (Yes)
Do you think both of those things are pretty important? What do you think was the most important to Jesus?
Prayer: “Dear God, Thank you that we learned that there are different ways to show our love for you. We can do things to serve you, like Martha who worked hard for Jesus. And we can also spend time with you, talking and listening to you, like Mary. We know that both things are important, but that what you want the most is for us to spend time with you so we can grow closer to you. Please help us remember that we can talk to you whenever we want through prayer, because you’re always listening. In Jesus' name, Amen.”
Transition to Play
Leader: Alright friends I think we should get some wiggles out before we do our craft could everybody stand up?
Brain Break Activity: — (3 minutes) Balloon Keep Up Game
Have the kids stand up and form a circle
Instruct the kids that the object of the game is to keep the balloon from hitting the ground.
Following brain break move to the tables for craft time.
Craft Activity: Colouring Page Activity Jesus and the sisters
Children will use crayons to decorate their their activity pages.
If a child is uninterested in the activity, allow them to move to free play.
Dismissal: Dismiss children manually with Roster iPad and make sure each child leaves with their caregiver.
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Welcome — All Leaders
Welcome children to the front of the classroom.
Introduce yourselves.
Have a leader check-in the children using the roster iPad.
Warm Up Activity: Duck, Duck, Goose Game - Activity Leader
Transition to Bible Story:
Today is the last day that we’ll be talking about the followers of Jesus.
Does anyone remember which of Jesus’ followers we’ve talked about so far? (Peter, Philip, Matthew)
Jesus had a lot of followers that were men, but did you know that he also had women followers too?
Today we’re going to be learning about two of the women followers of Jesus who were sisters named Mary and Martha. Let’s watch the video to find out more about them…
Video Lesson — Play video God’s Story: Mary and Martha Video from Lesson Plan Playlist
Follow Up Discussion — Bible Story Leader
Can anyone remember what Mary did when Jesus came to visit her home?
And what about her sister Martha, what did she do?
Do you think that both Mary and Martha loved Jesus, but maybe they had different ways of showing it?
Do you think both of those things are pretty important? What do you think was the most important to Jesus?
Can you think of some ways that we can serve God like Martha? What are some things we can do to show our love for God?
And what are some ways that we can grow closer to God and spend time with God, like Mary?
Prayer — Bible Story Leader
“Dear God, thank you for the story we learned today about your followers Mary and Martha. Thank you that we learned that there are different ways to show our love for you. We can do things to serve you, like Martha who worked hard for Jesus. And we can also spend time with you, talking and listening to you, like Mary. We know that both things are important, but that what you want the most is for us to spend time with you so we can grow closer to you. Please help us remember that we can talk to you whenever we want through prayer, because you’re always listening. In Jesus' name, Amen.”
Activity: Martha and Mary Activity Pages - Activity Leader
The kids will colour and create fortune tellers related to the story of Martha and Mary.
Additional activity pages will be provided.
Dismissal: Dismiss children using the iPad roster and make sure each child leaves with their caregiver.
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Welcome — All Leaders
Introduce yourself and welcome the kids to class, ask about their week.
Warm Up Activity: — Plate on head drawing challenge game
Each child receives a paper plate and a sharpie marker.
The leader will read a series of instructions that the child needs then will attempt to draw while the plate is on their head.
After the drawing is complete they may remove the plate to see their art.
They will receive points based on how close the art resembles the description.
Preliminary Discussion — Bible Story Leader
Today is the last day of our series about the followers of Jesus.
Does anyone remember which of Jesus’ followers we’ve talked about so far? (Peter, Matthew, and Philip)
What are some things that you remember about each of them? (Fishermen, Tax collector)
So far we’ve learned about some of the men who were disciples of Jesus, but did you know that Jesus also had women who were followers too? We are going to learn about 2 of them today.
Could I get a volunteer to read our passage for today?
Read: Luke 10: 38-42
Let’s watch the video to find out more about their story…
Video Lesson — Play God’s Story: Mary and Martha Video from Lesson Playlist
Follow Up Discussion — Bible Story Leader
Can anyone remember what Mary and Martha were each doing when Jesus came to visit their home?
Do you think that both of them loved Jesus, but just showed it in different ways? How would you describe each of their ways of loving Jesus?
Do you think that both ways of loving Jesus or God are important? But which one did Jesus say was more important? Why do you think that is?
What do you think are some ways that we can love God through service like Martha? And what are some ideas for ways we can love God more relationally like Mary?
Prayer — Bible Story Leader
“Dear God, thank you for what we learned today about Mary and Martha, and how they each can represent different ways of loving you. We know that there are so many different ways that we can show our love for you through serving you, but also that the most important thing is our relationship with you. Please give us wisdom to know when to serve and work hard for you, but also when to slow down and just listen and learn like Mary. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Activity: Martha and Mary Activity Pages— Activity Leader
Kids will create fortune tellers about today’s bible story.
Additional activity pages will be provided.
Dismissal: Use iPad roster to manually dismiss each child making sure they leave with their care-giver.
For Parents:
Follow-up questions.
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What was the story you learned about in class today?
What did Mary and Martha do when Jesus came to visit them?
Do you think both of them were doing good and important things? But which one did Jesus say was most important?
Would you rather have friends who always did things for you or friends who always spent time with you?
What are some ways that we can become closer to God?
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What was the story you learned about in class today?
What was the difference between Mary and Martha’s ways of loving Jesus?
Do you think both of those things are pretty important? But what did Jesus say was the most important thing?
Why do you think Jesus preferred Mary spending time with him instead of Martha serving and doing things for him? Do you think you’d like it better if your friends played with you and talked to you or if they did things for you?
What are some ways that we can be like Mary and grow closer to God?
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What was the story you learned about in class today?
How would you describe the difference between Mary and Martha’s ways of loving Jesus?
What are some ways that we can serve God like Martha? What are some ways we can build our relationship with God like Mary?
Do you think both of those ways of loving God are important? Why do you think Jesus preferred one over the other?
Would you say that the story teaches us that God sees us more as servants or as friends?
