Aims to learn about faith from stories of Jesus healing people

Aims
* To learn about faith from stories of Jesus healing people
* To learn Jesus words, “ Everything is possible for him who believes.” Mark 9:23

Materials
* Bible stories
– The Faith of the Centurion (Luke 7:1-10)
– Jairus’ Daughter & The Sick Woman (Luke 8: 40-56)
* Visual Aids – large pictures of the stories
* Worksheets
* “Going to see Jesus” board game, dice, counters
* Coins, blindfold

Lesson Outline
1. Introduction
2. Tell the Stories
3. Teaching Points
4. Activities – games of trust, worksheet, game – ‘Going to see Jesus’, heads or tails?
5. Review the aims
6. Prayer

1) Introduction
Discuss the word faith. Faith is to believe and trust in the power of God. To believe something we cannot see. You can begin with some trust games to illustrate what faith is or go straight into the stories.


2) Tell the stories
Today’s stories are about people who had great faith in Jesus.

The Faith of the Centurion – Luke 7: 1-10
When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion
heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with them.
He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent
returned to the house and found the servant well.

A Dead Girl and a Sick Woman – Luke 8: 40-56
Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. Then a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to
his house, because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.
As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
“Who touched me?” Jesus asked. 
When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”
But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”
Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly
healed. Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”



While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. “Your
daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher any more.”
Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”
When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.”
They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.

3) Teaching Points
* In the stories Jesus used the power of God to heal people and demonstrate God’s love. Through these miracles, he could also show that God was working through him. It was a way to get people
to listen to his message. 

* Healing didn’t just depend on Jesus. People also need faith, to believe that he could heal. That’s why Jesus said, “ Everything is possible for him who believes”. When we believe in the power of
God anything is possible. Today there are people who have the gift to heal just like Jesus. But it also means that they have to believe they can be healed, otherwise it is harder for the healer to be
successful

* In the story of the centurion’s servant, the soldier had so much belief in the words of Jesus, he didn’t need Jesus to come and lay his hands on the sick servant. It wasn’t just Jesus healing, but
the man’s faith in the power of Jesus. He said, “But say the word, and my servant will be healed.”
Jesus was really impressed by his faith and said “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”

* The sick woman didn’t need to even talk to Jesus. She believed by touching his cloak she could be healed and she was. Jesus even felt power leave from him, it wasn’t just Jesus who healed, but
her faith that Jesus could. Jesus told her “your faith has healed you.”

* Jairus believed Jesus could heal his daughter. When they got the news that she was dead Jesus himself kept faith that she could be healed and told Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she
will be healed.” Jesus needed Jairus to believe the girl was only sleeping, not dead. Believing in Jesus words helped to heal his daughter

4) Activities
* Play games of trust
1. Minefield – Objects are scattered on the ground. In pairs, one person verbally guides his/her  partner, a blindfolded person, through the minefield.
2. Trust Lean – One child stands still with arms by their side. They fall backwards and are caught by the teacher. Each time they fall the teacher stands further away, testing their faith
3. Willow in the Wind – One person in the middle of a group, closes his/her eyes, does a “trust lean” and is “passed around” the group. 

* Complete the worksheet – Colour the picture & write the words “ Everything is possible for him who believes.” Mark 9:23

* Play “Going to see Jesus, a board game. Roll the dice and move towards Jesus. When you land on a black square, you lose your faith you go back to the same square. The one who reaches Jesus
first has the most faith. Encourage the children to think of a certain number on the dice and really believe they will get it. How many times are they right?

* Heads or tails? Toss a coin 10 times. How many times do they make the right call ?

5) Review the lesson aims
* To learn about faith from stories of Jesus healing people
* Faith is to believe and trust in the power of God
* Jesus used the power from God to heal
* It wasn’t just Jesus who healed. People needed to believe
* To learn Jesus words, “ Everything is possible for him who believes.”

6) End with a prayer