OVERVIEW
Luke 18 is a busy passage in the book of Luke! While you have several stories that could all stand alone as a weekly entry in a Kids Church series, I thought it would be best this week to look at what Luke was doing by placing these stories in sequence. In Luke 18 you have:
- The Parable of the Persistent Widow (1-8)
- The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (9-14)
- Jesus Blesses the Children (15-17)
- The Rich Man (18-30)
- Jesus Again Predicts His Death (31-34)
- Jesus Heals a Man who is Blind (35-43)
As I looked at these stories as a whole, I saw how there is a key theme of persistence and perseverance throughout the chapter. The widow knocks on the unjust judge’s door over and over until the judge answers; the tax collector continues to pray even though he faces scrutiny from the Pharisee; the parents bring the children to Jesus through the obstacle of the disciples trying to block them; Jesus continues on to Jerusalem, knowing what waits for Him there; the man who is blind continues to call out to Jesus even when everyone around him tells him to be quiet.
Jesus is not bothered by us coming to Him – even if it is again and again! He wants us to come to Him! He’s not bothered by kids, sinners, or persistence. Nothing will stop Jesus from doing what He came to do: show us how to love God and love others — even if that means His death and resurrection in the end.
The only negative example of perseverance here is the Rich Man who refuses to continue pursuing God if it means he has to give up something so precious to him as all of his money. He gives up when everyone else doesn’t.
BIG IDEA
This week’s big idea was: Don’t give up on Jesus; He won’t ever give up on you.
Jesus will not give up on us. He gives us chance after chance to follow after Him, and He is not bothered by us. He wants to hear from us even when everything around us seems busy!
WELCOME / EXPECTATIONS
We started the morning out with a welcome and our expectations reminder. We always have three expectations:
- Respect Each Other.
- Respect the Leaders.
- Respect the Stuff.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Take prayer requests and have the kids pray for each other after each individual request. You can also split the kids up into groups to pray for each other as well.
ACTIVITY: Perseverance Challenges!
ITEMS NEEDED: Paper, Pencils
Have the kids stand along a wall and compete in multiple challenges to test their perseverance.
- WALL SITS: Have the kids sit along the wall with their legs at a 90 degree angle, and their back flat against the wall. Time them for one minute or see how long the kids can go before they are too tired to keep going!
- HOLD A NOTE: Have the kids take a deep breath and sing a note for as long as they can before they have to take a breath.
- TIPTOE TALLY: Have the kids stand on their tiptoes for as long as they can before they have to put their feet down.
- PAPER PUSH: Give the kids each a piece of paper and a pencil. Have them draw a line for as long as they can without crossing over their line at any point. As soon as they have to cross over a line, they’re out!
After the challenges, ask the kids:
- What was the easiest challenge for you? What was the hardest? Why was it easy? Why was it hard?
- What does it mean to “give up”?
- Why do you think some people give up? (they’re tired, etc.)
- What’s something really hard you had to do and didn’t give up?
Say: Today we’re talking about PERSEVERANCE. That’s a big word that means not giving up. It means that someone keeps going, no matter what.
GAME VIDEO: “Racing Into the New Year”
ITEMS NEEDED: “Racing Into the New Year” (Click here to purchase!)
Play one of the “Racing Into the New Year” videos as a transition back to their seats after the perseverance challenges. Hype up the kids by asking them who they think will make it to the end!
WORSHIP SONGS
ITEMS NEEDED: “10,000 Reasons” by Doorpost Songs (Click here to purchase!) + “See A Victory” by Children’s Ministry Deals (Click here to purchase!)
To introduce the songs, remind the kids to stand for the first song and engage with hand motions and to sing out as they worship God with their voices and movement! For the second song, you can have the kids continue to stand, or sit down to take a more reflective tone as they think about the words and sing them.
PASTORAL PRAYER
Pray for the kids as you open up Scripture to read together. Ask God to remind you and the kids of God’s presence wherever they go.
SCRIPTURE: Luke 18 (NLT)
NARRATOR
One day Jesus told His disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.
JESUS
There was a judge in a certain city who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly.
WIDOW
Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.
JESUS
The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself:
JUDGE
I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!
JESUS
Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to His chosen people who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will He find on the earth who have faith?
NARRATOR
Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and made fun of everyone else.
JESUS
Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer:
PHARISEE
I thank You, God, that I’m not like other people — cheaters, sinners, people who steal other people’s wives. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my money.
JESUS
But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow.
TAX COLLECTOR
O God, be merciful to me, because I’m a sinner.
JESUS
I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. Because those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
NARRATOR
One day some parents brought their little children to Jesus so He could touch and bless them. But when the disciples saw this, they scolded the parents for bothering Jesus.
Then Jesus called for the children and spoke to the disciples.
JESUS
Let the children come to Me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.
NARRATOR
Once a religious leader asked Jesus this question:
LEADER
Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?
JESUS
Why do you call Me good? Only God is truly good. But to answer your question, you know the commandments: “You must not steal someone else’s spouse. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother.”
LEADER
I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.
NARRATOR
When Jesus heard the man’s answer, he said this.
JESUS
There’s still one thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you’ll have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.
NARRATOR
But when the man heard this, he became very sad, for he was very rich.
When Jesus saw this, He said this.
JESUS
How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God! In fact, it’s easer for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!
THOSE WHO HEARD
Then who in the world can be saved?
JESUS
What is impossible for people is possible with God.
PETER
We’ve left our homes to follow You.
JESUS
Yes, and I assure you that everyone who’s given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, will be repaid many times over in this life, and will have eternal life in the world to come.
NARRATOR
Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus spoke to them.
JESUS
Listen, we’re going up to Jerusalem, where all the predictions of the prophets about the Son of Man will come true. He’ll be handed over to the Romans, and He’ll be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit upon. They will flog Him with a whip and kill Him, but on the third day He’ll rise again.
NARRATOR
But they didn’t understand any of this. The significance of His words was hidden from them, and they failed to grasp what He was talking about.
As Jesus approached Jericho, a beggar who was blind was sitting beside the road. When the man heard the noise of a crowd going past, he asked what was happening. They told him that Jesus the Nazarene was going by. So he began to shout.
MAN
Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on Me!
PEOPLE IN FRONT
(yelling)
Be quiet!
MAN
(shouting louder)
Son of David, have mercy on me!
NARRATOR
When Jesus heard him, Jesus stopped and ordered that the man be brought to Him. As the man came near, Jesus asked him a question.
JESUS
What do you want Me to do for you?
MAN
Lord, I want to see!
JESUS
All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you.
NARRATOR
Instantly the man could see, and the man followed Jesus, praising God. And all who saw it praised God, too.
MESSAGE: Don’t Give Up on Jesus; He Won’t Give Up on You!
ITEMS NEEDED: A Calendar, Candle, Lighter, Red PlayPit Ball, Yellow PlayPit Ball, Green PlayPit Ball
Think about the stories you just heard from Luke 18.
- Who didn’t give up in these stories?
- Who did give up in these stories?
Earlier we did a bunch of challenges. Some were easy; some might have been more difficult. In each of those challenges, you had to keep going and not give up in order to finish the challenge. In these stories from Luke 18, there are a lot of people who didn’t give up!
- The woman at the beginning didn’t give up knocking on the judge’s door. She kept asking for help, and finally, the judge gave her the help she kept asking for.
- The tax collector kept praying even though people around him might have been saying and thinking terrible things about him.
- The parents brought their kids to Jesus even when the disciples were trying to stop them from bringing their kids!
- The man who was blind kept calling out for Jesus’ help even when everyone told him to be quiet.
- Jesus kept traveling to Jerusalem, even though Jesus knew what would happen to Him there: He would be killed on the cross.
These people didn’t give up, no matter what! They kept going.
Jesus calls us to follow Him. That’s not a one-time thing we do; that’s an every single day thing we do!
Hold up the calendar and flip through the pages. What if someone said: I’m only going to follow Jesus on this day? Pick a random day on the calendar and point to it. We can’t choose to be a follower of Jesus only one day; we follow Jesus every single day!
Read LUKE 9:23. In Luke 9:23, Jesus said this: “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow Me.” How often did Jesus say we follow Him? Every day! We don’t follow Jesus one day, decide it’s too hard the next day and give up. We keep following Jesus, every single day.
But what about when it does feel too hard?
Hold up a candle and light it. Jesus didn’t tell us to just do this on our own. Jesus gave us a Helper: the Holy Spirit! When someone decides to follow Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of them. The Holy Spirit changes us from the inside out: making us more and more like Him every single day! And the Holy Spirit is always with us because the Holy Spirit is God! There’s nowhere we can go where the Holy Spirit isn’t there. The Holy Spirit helps us to follow after Jesus every single day.
Jesus didn’t give up on us. Jesus kept going to Jerusalem because He knew that He would die on the cross and come back to life three days later. He did that because He loves us and wants to free us from sin and death forever!
Hold up the Red PlayPit Ball. This reminds me of a traffic light. The red color means… what? It means STOP!
As you follow Jesus, STOP and remember who God is and what God has done for you.
Hold up the Yellow PlayPit Ball. The yellow color in a traffic light means… what? It means SLOW DOWN!
As you follow Jesus, SLOW DOWN and worship God in every moment.
Hold up the Green PlayPit Ball. The green color in a traffic light means… what? It means GO!
As you follow Jesus, GO and love God and love others every single day in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Don’t give up on Jesus; He has never given up on you. And when you feel like giving up, STOP – remember who God is; SLOW DOWN and worship God; and GO love God and others wherever you go!
Finish by praying for the kids.
CRAFT: Finger Print Fireworks
ITEMS NEEDED: Black Cardstock Paper, Paper Plates, Hand Wipes, Plastic Tablecloth, Masking Tape, Gold Finger Paint, Yellow Finger Paint, Silver Finger Paint, White Finger Paint, Orange Finger Paint, Red Finger Paint, White Crayon or Colored Pencil
Put some dollops of each color of finger paint onto a paper plate for each kid. Place the hand wipes out where the kids can easily reach them. Give each child a piece of black cardstock paper and have them place two pieces of masking tape in the middle of the paper to create a cross shape. Then kids should dip their finger into the paint and make little fingerprints across the paper, often overlapping over the masking tape.
Once the kids are finished, write their name on the bottom with white crayon or colored pencil. Then slowly peel back the masking tape to reveal the cross shape in the middle of the fireworks.
Say: Just like the cross shows up in the middle of the page, we can remember that no matter how noisy or busy it gets, the Holy Spirit is always with us! We can keep going because Jesus is always there!
(C) 2024 by Shaun Stevenson.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.