5 Great Lesson Ideas
The “stewardship topic” comes up every year in church, and thus, I’ve taught it several ways in my computer labs. This page contains 3 Great Ideas for Teaching about Stewardship using our software. It also has a list of suggested Stewardship Bible Verses. And at the bottom of this page is my commentary and suggestion for improving on the “Gratitude List” idea.
Parable of the Talents is fully-treated in our Awesome Bible Stories CD
Matthew 25:14-30 …”the servant who buried his master’s money rather than invest it” is Jesus’ quintessential “stewardship” teaching. The passage is full of rich imagery and strange language, which makes it ripe for explaining, and that’s what Awesome Bible Stories CD does.
Your students see, hear and interact with the Parable of the Talents/Pounds by selecting different word and phrasing options as they go through it, which in turn affects the narration they hear. The narration options pop up about every 3 verses and are labeled “A” “B” “C” and “D” so that they won’t know which optional reading they’re going to hear. WHY? Each optional phrase/word they select helps ILLUMINATE and expand on the meaning of the reading. So each time your students go through the story, they hear it differently, and thus, learn more about its meaning in a kid-friendly way.
Throughout the story we also have clickable “notes” that further explain the language and meaning, …phrases such as “weeping and gnashing of teeth” and “outer darkness.”
After working with the story, students can play a one or two-player onscreen Stewardship Game.
Secret to the Game: It’s designed to teach simple things KIDS can DO to be good stewards. And…the ideas in the game are designed to promote further discussion.
To go along with the CD and game, I created a Stewardship Parable Handout for your kids. It guides them through the story on the CD and has follow-up questions.
Stewardship Bible Verse “Flash Mob”
Of course, you can’t use Parable of the Talents in Awesome CD every year, so here’s another lesson concept I developed for one of my churches. It has the kids learning various Stewardship Bible Verses in a fun way using Cal and Marty’s Scripture Memory CD and a stack of small dixie cups for popcorn.
Some suggested stewardship verses are listed below.
Here’s the basic idea, but as you can tell, it’s ripe for fun variations.
Three years ago in my lab we did a “flash mob” of memory verses about stewardship. A “flash mob” is when a group of people all show up in one place to do something together. It’s a fun way to describe the controlled chaos of the following “rotating memory verse” challenge.
We had Cal and Marty Scripture Memory Game CD running on our four computers. BUT…If you only have one or two computers, you can adapt your approach to fit your set-up.
Each computer had a different Stewardship memory verse entered into the game. I’ve listed many below.
ROUND 1: I assigned PAIRS of KIDS to each computer to work as a team and shouted “go”. First to complete their verse raises their hands and get a cup.
We gave them empty cups for each “win”, which they could eventually fill with popcorn. More cups = more popcorn. And of course, we made sure everybody won cups! Don’t give the popcorn out until after they are done on the keyboard.
If you don’t have multiple computers, have pairs take turns unscrambling the verse and make note of how much time it took them to do so (Cal and Marty’s timer is seen on screen). Just don’t let one team watch the other or they’ll figure out the verse while watching!
ROUND 2: Switch to the next verse.
ROUND 3: Switch to another scripture verse, and repeat. How many rounds? It depends on how many verses you want them to look at and how much time you have.
VARIATIONS AND INTERJECTIONS:
After Round 1, award “bonus popcorn cups” to those who can SAY the verse without looking at it. If they get it slightly wrong, award cups for who got it more right. (Make rules up on the fly).
After the rounds, I also awarded ‘cups’ to those who could explain what some of the verses meant! …and this was an opportunity for more discussion. Eventually, everyone had plenty of cups and we dug into the popcorn.
ROUND 4: SPECIAL GUEST COMPETITORS
We had our pastor come in at the end of the game and the kids tried to “BEAT THE PASTOR” completing the memory verse. Of course, the pastor took his time, and the kids were thrilled to beat him. You can invite parents or teens. We then had the pastor discuss a few things about the verses while munching popcorn. Very effective.
THE POINT IS TO KEEP GOING OVER THE VERSES.
Popcorn Discussion afterwards a must.
SOME SUGGESTED STEWARDSHIP VERSES
Below are some stewardship verses you can read and discuss with your students. BEFORE class, enter these verses you want them to memorize into the Cal and Marty Scripture Memory Game Verse Editor. For the LONGER verses, you can see that I have highlighted that part of the verse which I have entered into the Cal and Marty Verse Editor. Show your students the entire printed verse and that part they will be responsible for memorizing.
These are suggestions. Depending on your time, focus and age range, you might focus in on some of the entire longer verses if you choose, and of course, include other great stewardship verses!
2 Corinthians 9:6-7
6 The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have.
1 The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it;
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.
KID PIX STEWARDSHIP VERSE “SURPRISES”
Years ago before we had any Bible story software, we did a fun stewardship ‘sign printing’ project WITH A TWIST…
The kids mad STEWARDSHIP BIBLE VERSE SIGNS in Kid Pix and printed them. The signs had phrases from stewardship Bible verses (see my list above). Then we placed them in the strange “surprise” places around the church.
- The church bathroom stalls were the kids’ favorite location.
- We stuck a few inside people’s coats out in the hall.
- We taped a few on the rear windshield of several cars so they’d see it in their rearview mirror.
- And a couple of kids were brave enough to wear them on their backs out of class.
Each kid ALSO took one home to put in a surprise location for their parents to find, like the dishwasher. In a “year’s later” version, we typed up scripture passages, printed them, cut them into strips, and stuck them into people’s coat pockets out in the church coat rack. Quite effective.
This is a good follow-up activity to any of the ideas above.
Play and Learn Children’s Bible CD has the story of The Widow’s Mite for young children/non-readers. After viewing this story at least twice (the little guys love going over the clicky-hotspots), we played a game of “small things you could do to help others” …which might go unnoticed. I had the kids enter the room one at a time to do something HELPFUL but very SMALL in front of the rest of the class. After a few tries, they got into it, and wanted to keep doing it. So I gave each of them a small DIME and talked about how we could put our dimes together to help someone. How much can we buy for 50 cents? And what if our small gifts inspired a rich person to give much more? (which seems to be Jesus’ point in the parable as well!)
“Gratitude Lists are Not Enough”
A Point of View and Lesson Activity…
In the Parable of the Talents, all the servants are given an extraordinary gift, and each is quite likely VERY thankful. But Jesus praises the servants who go beyond simply recognizing the gift. Instead, the parable focuses on what you DO with the gifts you are given.
It’s a common practice in churches to LIST what we are grateful for. You hear it in “shopping list” prayers, and lately there is that “10,000 reasons” challenge. People are even doing it on Facebook.
Kids are especially good at making lists of things to be thankful for, “my dog, my sister, my teacher….” But as the parable teaches, “well done” is not reserved for those with the longest list, but for those who are using their blessings to bring heaven on earth.
- So you are healthy.
- So you love your dog.
- So you are grateful for your mother.
- So you thank God for your church.
- So what?
Merely listing it in prayer or on paper is the equivalent of burying it. Jesus wants you to think about what you can DO with every gift on your list.
To me, that’s the SECOND HALF of any GRATITUDE EXERCISE.
The Gratitude List Lesson Ideas:
So for example… my list might have two columns: “GRATEFUL FOR” & “EMPOWERS ME TO”
- Lord, I’m grateful for my health, which will allow me to take some cookies to a neighbor who is sick and offer to do their dishes.
- Lord, I’m grateful for my dog, who gives me a reason to get out and walk, lower my stress, and enjoy your world. Let me invite someone to walk with us.
- Lord, I’m grateful for my church, and need to ask ___________ to attend worship next Sunday with me.
I’m also thinking of a lesson idea for the Parable of the Ten Lepers Healed, and Only One Came Back to Say Thank You…
WHAT IF… we created skits for the “other 9” which showed how they practiced their gratitude for their healing, by serving others, instead of just assuming they were ungrateful? (This is similar to the story of the “Fourth Wiseman” who instead of bringing a jewel to the Christ child, kept getting “side-tracked” helping other and spent his jewel on them.)
~Neil MacQueen, Sunday Software