VBS Curriculum Day 3 Copy

Day 3

Overview

Bible Lesson—Rich Young Ruler

Key Verse— Acts 1:12 – “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that is given among men, by which we must be saved!”

Get Ready

You will need:

Bible Story signs that say, Jesus, Young Man, Rich Young Man
Something to mark boundaries for today’s game area.
Snack items such a popsicles or snacks and drinks.

Preparation:

Make sure your snack items are ready and that you have easy access to them
Mark off your game area.
Print or make the signs for today’s Bible story.
Have your Bible marked at Mark 10:17-22 and Acts 1:12

Get Started

Leader: “Who should be #1 in your life?” The kids: Jesus!

Sing a Song

Sing Al-la – You can find extra versions of this song in the VBS Training session on Leading VBS Songs.

Group Identity

Let your group know the winner of the Drawing Competition from yesterday.

Remind the kids of your group name and practice your group cheer. Remind them that toward the end of the week, you’ll send a video of your cheer to your VBS director.

Get Familiar

Ask the Kids — If could have 3 wishes and could ask for anything, what would you want? (Let everyone answer.)

A lot of people would ask for money, wealth and more stuff but in today’s lesson you’re going to see that there are things in life that are far more important than what you own.

Bible Lesson—Rich Young Ruler

Choose 2 volunteers.

Give one a sign that says Jesus. Give the other one a sign that says Young Man.

Ask the kids to act out the story as you tell it.

(NOTE: It is best to be prepared to tell the story, not read it from this lesson. Open the Bible and tell the story from Mark 10:17-22.)

One day Jesus was setting out on a journey and a young man ran up to him. This young man was very rich. (Give him the sign that says Rich Young Man.) He knelt down to Jesus (Have the kid act this out.) and said, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? (Have the kid say this, but don’t have the kid playing Jesus repeat.)

And Jesus said, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” In other words, he was saying, “Do you recognize who I am? That I am the Son of God?” Then he went on to say, “You know the commandments: Do not murder. Do not commit adultery, Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud. Honor your father and mother.”

Then the young man replied, “All these things I have kept from my youth up.” (Have the kid repeat this.) Give him the sign that says A Good Man. This was a good man, but Jesus wasn’t saying that if you keep the Ten Commandments or if you’re good that you’ll get to go to heaven. You see, Jesus already knew what this man’s problem was… Can anybody guess what it might be? That’s right. He had something in his life that was more important to him than God. It was his wealth.

So Jesus told him to give it all away and that he would have great treasure in heaven and to come and follow him. What do you think he did? He went away sad because he wasn’t willing to let Jesus be number one in his life. That’s what it means to let Jesus be your “Lord”. It means he’s the boss, number one.

For a person to be “saved” and to know for sure that they are going to heaven, a person must give their life to Christ. This means being willing to let go of anything else that is more important than Jesus and giving him first place in your heart. This man couldn’t do that.

He was good, but can being good get you to heaven? No.

Can going to church get you into heaven? No.

Can being baptized get you into heaven? No.

There is only one way and that’s by giving your life to Jesus.

What do we know?…(Children say, “Jesus Christ Saves!”)

If you have never given your life to Jesus and you would like to talk to someone about how you can know for sure that you would go to heaven, all you have to do is ask either one of us or any other leaders that might be around this week.

Sing a Song

Sing If You Love Jesus – Do variations from yesterday and feel free to add your own. Remind your group to be sure to follow Jesus in everything they do.

Leader: “Who should be #1 in your life?” The kids: “Jesus!”

Play a Game—Freeze Tag

Mark out boundaries for an area of play. Choose one person to be “it.” This person will run around trying to tag everyone else. When they are tagged, they have to put their arms out and spread their legs apart. This tells everyone that they are frozen. Other players can unfreeze them by running around them 3 times or by crawling beneath their legs and then saying “Be Free.”

Discussion

In the game you chasing people and in life people chase things too. Some people want money or fame or success. There’s nothing wrong with any of these but if anything in your life becomes more important to you than Jesus, that thing, no matter how good it might be, has become an idol. You’re chasing the wrong things, just like the man in our Bible story today.

He couldn’t let go of his wealth to follow Jesus. When Jesus told him to give away everything, He wasn’t saying that it’s bad to be wealthy or to have stuff. He was addressing this man’s problem. There’s nothing wrong with having things. The problem is that his stuff was more important to him than following Jesus. He needed to let go—to “be free” from what was holding him back.

Play the game again with a new “it”.

Snack

While you lead the next part, let your kids have a popsicle or a snack and drink. Since they’ve been active, they’ll be thirsty.

Key Verse

“There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that is given among men, by which we must be saved!” Acts 1:12

Give the children two choices and find out what they would choose. Here are some samples:

If you had rather play baseball go to my left. If you had rather play soccer go to my right.

If you had rather drink water go to my left. If you had rather drink milk go to my right.

If you had rather stay inside go to my left. If you had rather go outside go to my right.

If you had rather play a game go to my left. If you had rather talk with friends go to my right.

If you had rather be cold go to my left. If you had rather be hot go to my right.

If you had rather play football go to my left. If you had rather play soccer go to my right.

If you had rather buy a video game go to my left. If you had rather buy a movie go to my right.

If you had rather clothes go to my left. If you had rather food go to my right.

If you had rather buy make-up go to my left. If you had rather buy a football go to my right.

If you had rather buy something for yourself go to my left. If you had rather give food to someone who doesn’t have any go to my right.

If you had rather have a picture with your friends go to my left. If you had rather have a poster of a sport’s hero go to my right.

If you had rather buy baseball cards go to my left. If you had rather buy a book go to my right.

If you had rather be here this week go to my left. If you had rather be in the smelliest jail cell in the state go to my right.

Add other choices as you desire.

Then, when you’re finished, SAY: Everybody freeze. On the count of three, as fast as you can, please sit down. 1-2-3! Compliment who was first as well as who was the most considerate, the most…whatever good actions you see.

Every day we make choices. You choose what to eat, what to wear, where to go. But the greatest thing people can do is to choose to give their lives to Christ.

While I read Acts 4:12, count how many times I say the word “no.” Read Acts 4:12 from your Bible.

Ask the Kids—How many times did I say “no”?

This time while I read Acts 4:12, every time I say, “no,” I want you to shout out, “no!”

The most terrible thing a person can do is to say “No” to Jesus. He loves you and has great plans for your life. There is only one way to be saved, to have life and go to heaven that that’s by saying “YES” to Jesus and giving your life to Him.

On the count of three, I want everyone, as loud as you can, to shout out, “Yes!” 1-2-3…”YES!”

Jesus is God’s only Son who lived a perfect life, died on a cross and rose again three days later. When He died, Jesus took the punishment for all the wrong things you and I would ever do, so that if we are willing to give our lives to Him, He will “save us” and forgive our sins. This is the reason that Jesus is the ONLY way to go to Heaven.

After everything I say, say, “No way!”

Can going to church get you to heaven? (No way!)
Can being good get you to heaven? (No way!)
Can being baptized get you to heaven? (No way!)
Can being rich get you to heaven? (No way!)

Jesus is the only one way to Heaven and the best choice you can make is to give your life to Him.

In our Bible story today you saw a man who said “no” to God and went the wrong way. But the best choice you can make is to say “YES” to God and to following him every day. Don’t let anything hold you back from following Jesus.

Leader: “Who should be #1 in your life?” The kids: “Jesus!”

Photo Challenge

When the rich man walked away from Jesus, the Bible says that his face fell. In other words, he looked very sad. For our photo challenge today, we’re going to make faces. We’re going to take a picture of each of you making a sad face, a mad face and a goofy face. Then we’re going to submit all of these photos to our VBS Director. They’ll compare them to pictures from the other groups and tomorrow we’ll find out who the best face photos are.

Wrap It Up

Review

Take a few minutes to review today’s lesson:

What was our story about?
Who are the main characters?
What did they do?
What was our key verse?
What did you learn today and how does it affect your life?
Do you have any questions?
Is there anything you want us to pray for?

Pray

Ask your kids for prayer requests. Then pray and pray that your students will give their lives to Christ when the time is right and follow Him always.

Be sure to remind your kids that if they have any questions about what it means to give their lives to Christ or how to be saved, to just ask you.

Leader: “Who should be #1 in your life?” The kids: “Jesus!”

Announcements

Remind your kids of any announcements from your VBS director.

Thought and suggestions on this lesson – Let us know.

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