Aim to learn that people needed to believe in Jesus to be healed
Aim
* to learn that people needed to believe in Jesus to be healed
* to learn that belief in God is called faith
Materials
* Children’s Bible story – The healing of the paralysed man (Mark 2: 1-12)
* Visual aids – pictures of the story
* Materials for making a paralysed man walk (picture, card, glue, brass fastener, scissors)
* Worksheet – a maze to find Jesus
* Video – The Miracles of Jesus (The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible) 30 mins
Key words
Paralysed – when you cannot move your body.
Faith – to believe in God
Lesson Outline
1. Introduction
2. The Paralyzed Man
3. Discussion
4. Activities – help a paralyzed man walk, maze, video
5. Review the aims
6. Prayer
1) Introduction
* Ask the children the different ways in which we can use our legs.
(e.g run, walk, skip, tiptoe, tap, march, balance on one foot, wriggle toes).
After each suggestion, let the children try that movement.
* Ask the children how they would move if they couldn’t move their legs. They would have to use their arms and hands. Try moving across the room only using your arms and hands. Sit on the ground and try to raise yourself onto a chair.
* A person who cannot move his legs is paralysed and has to sit in a wheelchair and use his arms and hands to move. At the time of Jesus people who couldn’t walk, heard that Jesus could perform miracles and cure people of sickness. Today’s story is about one man, who wanted to see Jesus
2) The Paralysed Man – (Mark 2: 1-12)
Jesus returned to the city of Capernaum. When the people learned that he had come home, they went to him. Before long, so many people had gathered there that there was no room in the house, nor even outside the door. He was teaching the people God’s word.
A group of four men carried a paralysed man on a mat to Jesus. They could not reach Jesus because of the crowd, so they made an opening in the roof above Jesus. Then they lowered the paralysed man to Jesus.
The faith of the men impressed Jesus. He spoke to the paralysed and said, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Some teachers of the law who were sitting nearby did not approve of Jesus saying that a man’s sins were forgiven. They thought that the words of Jesus were blasphemy, because only God forgive sins.
Jesus knew the thought in their hearts, and he asked these men a question. He wanted to know if it were easier to tell the man his sins were forgiven or to tell the man to get up and walk. Jesus did not wait for an answer. So that those men would know he had authority to forgive sins, he turned and told the paralysed man to “get up, take your mat and walk.” The man did this and walked out in full view of everyone. Everyone was amazed. They gave praise to God , saying, “We have never seen anything like this!
3) Discussion
Ask questions to find out what the children remember
1. What was Jesus doing in the house? – teaching God’s word
2. What do we call a person who cannot move his legs? – paralysed
3. How many people carried the paralyzed man? – four
4. Why couldn’t they get into the house? – There were too many people
5. What did they do? – Made a hole in the roof and lowered the man inside
6. What did Jesus think about the men? He thought they had great faith
7. What did Jesus tell the man to do? – Get up, take your mat and walk.
8. Why could the man be healed?
– The men believed Jesus could cure him. Jesus told people that God can do great things for us if we believe He can. Belief in God is called faith
– The power of God’s love healed him. Jesus felt great love from God for the man.
– God gave Jesus special powers to heal people
Retell the story
Ask the children retell the story in their own words using the pictures.
4) Activities
* Help the paralysed man to walk
– Cut out the circle. Back it with card.
– Make holes at the centre of the circle and on the man.
– Fix a brass fastener through both holes, putting the circle underneath.
– Spin the circle to make the man walk.
* Act out the story
– Four people gently carry the paralysed man
* Complete the maze
– Help the men find the way to Jesus through the maze
* Watch a video of Jesus miracles
5) Review the lesson aims
* to learn that people needed to believe in Jesus to be healed
* to learn that belief in God is called faith
6) Prayer
Say a prayer to thank God for Jesus who healed so many sick people. Let us learn to love people the way Jesus did.
