Children's session

Read Bible notes on Luke 13.31-35

While on the surface it appears that Jesus is reciting his to-do list, he’s actually declaring his core values – the very reason for his ministry. It’s nearly spring and that, for many of us, means spring cleaning time and having a list of jobs we want to get done. But this passage encourages us to look at more than just a to-do list. Take a moment to consider your core values. How do they reflect your faith? Children may well have been looking at values in school. Some schools may have them displayed in the playground or school hall. Explore how these familiar values can be applied to the life of faith.

Value behaviour…    W E A

You will need: cards with the different values written on them: kind, mean, generous, selfish.

• Ask the children to pick a card and then describe how someone whose value is (insert value) behaves.

Read the story and pause at the  to share these points with the children (see Stop and share below). Then use the activity to explore the passage together. (10 mins)

Click on the image to view a PDF.

 Stop and share

• The Pharisees were a group of people who tried to keep every part of the Jewish law very strictly. Most of them felt that Jesus was not strict enough.
• This Herod was not a king, but he was the ruler of the area of Galilee.
• It was thought that people who were very disturbed or distressed had a demon inside them, changing their behaviour. We understand the causes of mental illness very much better now.

Spot the values        W E

• As you read, stop and ask the children what value is being shown by the characters in the story (see below - values are in brackets). If you have space, ask the children to move to different areas of the room to ‘vote with their feet’ as you ask each ‘value’ question in turn, e.g. Were the Pharisees kind or devious? – stand at the front of the room for ‘kind’, and at the back of the room for ‘devious’. 

  Bible passage

  A group of Pharisees came to Jesus saying, ‘You must go! You must get away from here immediately! Herod is looking for you. He is going to kill you.’ (kind or devious?)

  But Jesus responded, ‘Go and tell him – tell that fox, that I will not stop what I am doing. (brave or scared?) I will carry on driving out demons and healing people, today and tomorrow. (giving up or determined?) On the third day I will finish my work. But I must carry on my way today, tomorrow and the next day, for a prophet can only die in Jerusalem.’ 

  Jesus was sad (honest or truthful?) as he continued to talk about Jerusalem. ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem,’ he said, ‘you are the city that kills the prophets and God’s messengers. So many times I have wanted to gather your people together – gather and protect them, like a mother hen keeps her chicks safe under her wings. (caring or cold-hearted?) But you wouldn’t let me. You turned away from me. And now it is too late. (strong or weak?) You won’t see me again until the day you say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”’

Values bracelet     E S A 

A reminder to live according to our values

You will need: coloured beads, elastic, scissors. 

• Ask the children to think of some values they would most like to have. How might those help them to behave?
• Invite the children to choose different-coloured beads to represent each value.
• Encourage everyone to use their beads to make a bracelet that they can wear, to help them remember the values they want to live by. 

Sing

'Keeper of My Heart' - FREE! download(s) from Same Boat Music.

Preview song, then buy online and download.

0-5s song(s)

Stuck in the mud   E S

Play and think about how our values affect our behaviour

• Play a game of ‘stuck in the mud’. Choose one child to be ‘on’. The other children have to run from one side of the room to the other. The child who is ‘on’ has to ‘tag’ the children as they cross the room. If a child is tagged, they have to stand still. The other children, as the game continues, can free those stuck in the mud by running around them in a circle. Once they have been freed, the ‘stuck’ child can re-join the game.
• After a few goes, ask everyone to play the game while being guided by different values, i.e. the first could be ‘success’ (winning the game) and the second could be ‘kindness’ (helping others).
• After the game, ask the children whether they played differently each time? Were they looking out for themselves and trying to ‘win’, or willing to be generous and kind by ‘releasing’ others? What was more important to them?

Activity sheet

• Provide pots of bubbles for each child.
• Ask the children to think about their core values. As they think about these, invite everyone to blow their bubbles. In the same way that we can’t see our breath, our core values are not visible. But we can see the effect of our breath on the bubbles, and we can see the impact of our values on our behaviour.

Go with God 24/7

Encourage the children to put their faith into action

Each morning,  strike a ‘James Bond’ pose and set yourself a mission for the day. 
E A

Before you finish, give out the ROOTS at home resource to encourage faith at home.