Week 42 · about 45 minutes
Let the Children Come
Mark 10:13–16 · Memory verse Mark 10:14
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Let the Children Come), the matching word search and answer key (Jesus Blesses Children), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a rope barrier that gets taken away
Hold up a rope barrier that gets taken away. In about five minutes, tell the class this: Jesus is indignant when children are turned away, and he blesses them in his arms. Show the prop and ask, “What does this have to do with Let the Children Come?” Let two children answer. Then read Mark 10:14 together: “But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation, and said to them, “Allow the little children to come to me! Don’t forbid them, for God’s Kingdom belongs to such as these.” Close by asking one child to say the lesson back in their own words, using the prop.
Story script
People were bringing little children to Jesus so he could place his hands on them and bless them. The disciples rebuked the parents. Maybe they thought Jesus was too busy or too important for small people with sticky fingers.
Jesus was indignant. That means the dismissal made him rightly upset. “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Anyone who will not receive the kingdom like a little child will never enter it.”
He took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them, and blessed them. The kingdom is not a club for people who have impressive speeches. It is received with trust, the way a child receives a gift.
You are not in the way. Jesus wants you near. Grown-ups who love him should make the path to him clear, never blocked. Tonight you can come close, just as you are, and receive his blessing.
Group game
Helpers hold a rope and say Jesus is busy. Then Jesus removes the rope and calls the youngest children first.
Craft
Draw Jesus with children close to him. Write let them come.
Memory verse
Mark 10:14
“But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation, and said to them, “Allow the little children to come to me! Don’t forbid them, for God’s Kingdom belongs to such as these.””
Take-home prayer
Jesus, thank you for wanting children close. I come to you. Please bless me and help me trust you. Amen.