Jesus teaches about making oaths. (Matthew 5:33-37)
Big Idea
Be a believable person.
Bible Verse
Matthew 5:37 - "Just let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes.' Let your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more than this comes from the evil one. " (NIrV)
What We Did
1. We talked about the story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf to see what happens to unbelievable people.
2. We played the game "Two Truths and a Lie."
3. To understand what Jesus was talking about when he said things like "Don't swear on heaven" or "Don't swear on your head," we acted out a little made-up story. We had my friend, Kaleb, hold an Xbox 360. I then spent the whole lesson trying to convince me to let me borrow it for the weekend. I made a promise. I swore on my mother's grave. I did the "Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye." I did a pinky swear. I even had a stack of Bibles to swear on. But after each one of these, Kaleb said "No!"
And that's because I also described how I was a person who tended to break things. Like the time I broke my dad's laptop when I tried to use it as a frisbee. Or the time I broke the telephone because I tried to see if it would work underwater. (Remember, this is a made-up story!)
So, the kids saw how, even though I made all sorts of crazy promises, Kaleb wouldn't let me borrow his Xbox 360 because I wasn't a believable person. I was just a person who broke everything I touched. If I wanted to someday borrow his Xbox 360, I'd have to prove that I was a believable person by not breaking things for a while.
This is just what Jesus taught. We don't have to make crazy promises and swear on stacks of Bibles to get people to believe. We just need to be people whose "Yes" means "Yes" and our "No" means "No."
Materials We Used
1. Lesson Plan
2. Small Group Leader Sheet
3. Verse Activity
Big Idea
Be a believable person.
Bible Verse
Matthew 5:37 - "Just let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes.' Let your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more than this comes from the evil one. " (NIrV)
What We Did
1. We talked about the story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf to see what happens to unbelievable people.
2. We played the game "Two Truths and a Lie."
3. To understand what Jesus was talking about when he said things like "Don't swear on heaven" or "Don't swear on your head," we acted out a little made-up story. We had my friend, Kaleb, hold an Xbox 360. I then spent the whole lesson trying to convince me to let me borrow it for the weekend. I made a promise. I swore on my mother's grave. I did the "Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye." I did a pinky swear. I even had a stack of Bibles to swear on. But after each one of these, Kaleb said "No!"
And that's because I also described how I was a person who tended to break things. Like the time I broke my dad's laptop when I tried to use it as a frisbee. Or the time I broke the telephone because I tried to see if it would work underwater. (Remember, this is a made-up story!)
So, the kids saw how, even though I made all sorts of crazy promises, Kaleb wouldn't let me borrow his Xbox 360 because I wasn't a believable person. I was just a person who broke everything I touched. If I wanted to someday borrow his Xbox 360, I'd have to prove that I was a believable person by not breaking things for a while.
This is just what Jesus taught. We don't have to make crazy promises and swear on stacks of Bibles to get people to believe. We just need to be people whose "Yes" means "Yes" and our "No" means "No."
Materials We Used
1. Lesson Plan
2. Small Group Leader Sheet
3. Verse Activity
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