Forgiveness
Posted by: Buffalo Dream Center
Topic: Being A Peacemaker
Verse: Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God. Matthew 5:9
Props:
Signs – Feel, Forget, Excuse, Guarantee
Volunteers for story with some costumes
Instructions:
Discussion:
Introduction: Today we are going to talk about one of the good ways to deal with conflicts:
FORGIVENESS
Later in the lesson we will talk more about what forgiveness is. Right now lets talk about what it is not. (Lay the 4 keywords face down on the floor in front of the class and let a volunteer pick one word at a time). Talk about that
1. Forgiveness has nothing to do with the way you feel.
-Lots of times we do not “Feel” like forgiving someone who upset us.
-If we waited until we felt like forgiving someone we may be waiting a long time, or we may never forgive him or her.
-It is considered a sin to never forgive someone.
2. Forgiveness has nothing to do with forgetting what happened.
-If someone did something really upsetting to you, you may never forget what he or she did.
-If we waited until we forgot about something to forgive we may never forgive.
3. Forgiveness does not excuse sin.
-Once you forgive someone who did something bad towards you that do not make what they did (or you did) okay.
-If someone did something wrong it is still considered sin no matter what.
4.Forgiveness is not a guarantee that someone won’t hurt you again.
-You cannot wait to forgive someone until they stop doing something wrong
-Forgiveness starts now.
-Someone asked Jesus “How many times should I forgive someone. He said that we should forgive someone -
Story - The Unforgiving Servant
Jesus told a story in the Bible to help us understand why it is so important to forgive others and overlook what others do. The names aren’t real but the story is.
Characters needed:
Hezekiah
The king
Jacksoniah
Part 1
This is Hezekiah. Hezekiah learns a very important lesson one day.
Once upon a time in a far off land, there lived a happy king who had many servants. Everyone loved him. The king was working hard, trying to figure out who owed him money. Things just did not add up until he discovered that one of his servants name Hezekiah owed him millions of dollars. So the royal prison guards volunteered to find Hezekiah.
The king waited for the prison guards to return with Hezekiah. It seemed to take them a long time. When they finally arrived, Hezekiah fell on his knees and begged and pleaded with the king to forgive him of his debt. Hezekiah could not pay back the king the millions of dollars he owed the king.
The king thought and thought about it. He was a good and kind ruler. Everybody loved him. The king finally decided he would forgive Hezekiah of the debt he owed. Hezekiah was so excited, and so was everybody else in the kingdom because everybody knew the king was good and kind.
Break:
-Who thinks the king handled the conflict in a good way?
-Who thinks Hezekiah was very happy and lucky?
Part 2
Not long after Hezekiah left the palace he ran into another servant named Jacksoniah. Jacksoniah owed Joe about $100.00. It was not really a lot compared to the millions Hezekiah had owed the king. Hezekiah ordered Jacksoniah to pay his debt immediately. Jacksonian could not pay the debt. He was flat broke. Jacksoniah begged and begged Hezekiah to forgive the debt. Hezekiah wouldn’t hear of it. Hezekiah ordered that Jacksoniah be thrown in jail.
Break:
-Who thinks Hezekiah handled his conflict well?
-How do you think Jacksoniah felt?
-What do you think is going to happen to Hezekiah?
-Hint: All choices have ____________________________
-Hezekiah made a bad choice so what kind of consequence is he going to have?
Part 3
As soon as the king heard about what Hezekiah had done to Jacksoniah, the king became very angry. He sent the prison guards to get Hezekiah immediately. The angry king ordered that Hezekiah be put in prison for his actions.
The angry king had forgiven Hezekiah for so much debt. However, Hezekiah could not forgive Jacksoniah for such a small debt.
Conclusion:
-Were the consequences of Hezekiah’s bad choice good or bad?
-When we make bad choices there are bad consequences.
-When we make good choices, like forgiving someone, there are good consequences.
-Who forgave us for all the bad things we do? (Jesus)
-What should we do when someone does something to us? (Forgive them)
Prayer:
Right now we are going to take some time to think if there is someone we need to forgive. Hand out paper and let the kids write down the name(s) of people they need to forgive. Pray. Give the kids the chance to throw out their paper, representing their decision to forgive.
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