Bible Study – Service and Giving Thanks
Share: Your highs (something that made you happy) and lows (something that made you sad) this week with others around you or write them down.
In this season after Pentecost, we hear stories of Jesus’ ministry in the world and our call to engage in that mission. This season is also known as Ordinary Time coming from the word “ordinal” which means counted time. This time is not ordinary as in common or regular, but it is the time of counted weeks between Pentecost and Advent. The color for this season is green and it is often referred to as the green growing time as we hear stories of what God is calling us to do in the world, we join in that call, and we grow in our faith.
This is the culmination of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew, (and for us it is also the finale of the church year) and Jesus does not mince words telling those gathered around him about what we are all called to do and what we all can do each and every day. This is not rocket science. It’s about treating each person we meet as if they were Jesus, because they are and therefore should be given all the same respect and honor as our Lord.
Opening Prayer: Loving God, we thank you for our time together to hear your word and learn more about you. Be with us as we discover more about you and what it means to live with you in our lives. Amen.
Please open your Bibles to Matthew 25:31-46 and read or read the scriptures below.
Matthew 25:31-46
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Questions:
- What do you remember about our story today?
- What message was Jesus trying to get across?
- What does it meant when Jesus said, “just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”
Click here for the young learner’s lesson
Videos (Click on url)
The Sheep and the Goats Matthew 25:31-46: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCVSi3YjaaE
Sheep and Goats Bible Story LifeKids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWSkdx-XwWY
Gospel of Matthew Summary: A complete Animated Overview (Part 2) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGCF3OPWN14
Song: Cedarmont Kids – Jesus Loves The Little Children: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWXGubEi8hY or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5LCvWddQHw
Activities:
Imagine a World: Imagine what the world might look like if we all did as Jesus tells us in our lesson today. Imagine what it would be like if the hungry were fed, the thirsty were given something to drink, the stranger was welcomed, the naked were given clothing, the sick were taken care of and the people in prison were visited.
What would that world look like? How would be different than it is now?
How can we as individuals or how can the church make a difference? How can we live out this call that Jesus gave us today?
Research, brainstorm, and create ways that you can do as Jesus instructs you today. (There is a sheet at the end of this lesson with loads of ideas that you can look at and get inspiration from as you ask these questions.) How can you feed the hungry? How can you give drink to the thirsty? How can you welcome a stranger? How can you give the naked clothing? How can you take care of the sick? How can you visit those in prison?
Think about how you can do this as an individual AND as a GROUP? You might want to take on a service project for the remainder of the year?
Following are some ideas:
What can you do to:
Feed the Hungry
- serve in a soup kitchen
- adopt a family for the holidays
- serve at a Thanksgiving and Christmas community dinner
- collect food for your local shelter or food pantry
Give drink to the thirsty
- raise money for an organization that helps communities get clean water (like ELCA World Hunger)
- serve at a soup kitchen
- bring special drinks (juice, milk, etc.) to a local shelter
Welcome a stranger
- create welcome kits for your church,
- make welcome cards for those who are new to their school or church
- write letters and send care packages to service men and women
Clothe the naked
- do a clothing drive for a shelter or homeless drop-in center
- raise money or work with a local organization that helps to cloth those in need
- make scarves out of fleece! All you need is fleece that is cut into strips about 5 feet long and 10 inches wide. Have the children cut 1-2 inch fringe at the bottom and you have a scarf! By going to your local fabric store and telling them what you are doing, you may get a discount.
Care for the sick
- write notes to those from your congregation that are sick
- make center pieces, holiday cards, birthday cards, and notes for those in assisted living, children’s hospital, or hospice
- set up a time to visit a hospital or assisted living unit and bring the gift of song, cookies, art, or simply your presence.
Visit those in prison
- write notes to those in prison
- create a prayer that they can pray for those who are in prison
- make “hygiene kits” Find out from the prison you will deliver them to, what kinds of items the prisoners can have and collect them into small baggies or kits for the prisoners.
General Service Project Ideas
- Donate presents for Christmas and birthdays (look into programs like the Angel Tree program that can give you tags with children’s Christmas wishes)
- Host a “Penny Harvest” where each child brings in as many penny’s as they can find in their home. Count them up and see how much money you can raise! You can also do fun things like weight them, see how high you can stack them, find your birth year on the coin, etc. Then, when you are done, take them to the bank and have them turned into cash to donate to your local shelter or food pantry.
- Make “hygiene kits” for people who are homeless, in prison or in need of extra help. Ask your local shelter or your church.
Come up with a game plan for the next few weeks or for the next year on how you can live into this vision that Jesus has for us to take care of one another as a part of our calling as children of God. Make sure you invite your family to get involved and educate them about what you want to do to live into this Gospel lesson.
Hopefully you were able to give non-perishable food for a local food pantry or for a Thanksgiving food drive.
It’s the End of the Year, For What Do You Give Thanks? This is the final session of our church year, so it’s like our New Year’s Eve!
Next Sunday is the First Sunday in Advent, which marks the beginning of the Church Year. So today is our day to think about the people and things that we want to give thanks for as we think back over the last year.
What are some people or things you want to give thanks for? Write your thoughts on a piece of paper.
It is sometimes easy to forget all that we are thankful for and all the things that have blessed us in the last year. Today we are going to create something that you can string up in your room, so you will remember and continue to give thanks.
Note: there are many activities here. You can choose one or two and have fun thinking about how you want to give thanks.
Streamers of Thanks: Take a LONG length of streamers or ribbon and write or draw on the full length of the streamer all the people or things you want to give thanks for in your life. Hang it in your room.
Links of Thanks: Take strips of paper in a wide variety of colors and write or draw something for which you are thankful for from this last year, putting only one thing on one strip of paper. Staple or tape each strip into a circle and then connect them all to make a paper chain of thanks. Hang them in our room as a reminder of all the things you are thankful for in your life.
Notes of Thanks: Take nice paper or even notecards to write or draw thank you notes that you can give to people as a way of appreciating what someone has done for you this past year.
The Sheep and the Goats- Crossword: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/sheep-or-goat
The Sheep and the Goats - Word Search: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/sheep-or-goat-3
The Sheep and the Goats – Decoder: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/sheep-or-goat-1
The Sheep and the Goats – Multiple Choice: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/sheep-or-goat-2
Prayer: Gracious God, thank you for spending time with us today. Help us to remember to serve those around us as just as we would serve you. Be with us as we go into the world and help us see you in each person we meet. Amen.
