3-22-2020 Sunday School for All: The Unmerciful Servant

This lesson outline is made available for you to work into your own home devotional life. As you read through the information below, please let Renae Belobraydich know if you have any questions, or if she can help make this transition easier for our Sunday School kiddos learning from home. 

Please also continue to practice the ‘Little Grey Donkey’ song in hopes that we are able to sing this on Palm Sunday together in front of the congregation.  Please let Renae know if you need another copy of the song!

Opening Prayer

Dear loving Father, please give me a forgiving heart like yours.  Because of Jesus’ innocent suffering and death for me, you keep no record of my wrongs.  Help me forget the sins committed against me and forgive others, just as you forgive me. In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

This Sunday’s Lesson: The Unforgiving Servant

In our Bible lesson, we hear a parable that Jesus told to teach us what to do when people sin against us.  Listen to Jesus’ parable about a king and his servant. Find out what the king expected the servant he had forgiven to do.

Read: Matthew 18:21-25

Aim: What did the king expect the servant he had forgiven to do?

TRUTH: The king expected the servant to forgive as he had been forgiven. 

 – Application: God has forgiven our sins, and he expects us to forgive others.

 – Response: We forgive others when they sin against us.

Lesson Summary: Jesus told the parable of a servant who owed a king a huge debt he could not pay.  the king felt sorry for the servant and canceled his debt. This same servant went out and demanded that one of his fellow servants pay a much smaller amount due him.  when the man couldn’t pay, the unforgiving servant had no mercy and immediately had him thrown into prison. when the king heard this, he punished the servant who had refused to forgive his fellow servant.

Ask the children what we deserve because of our sins.  (We deserve to be punished forever in hell.) Then remind the children that Jesus lived a sinless life, died, and rose to take away our sins and give us life in heaven.  Explain that we rely on God’s mercy – his forgiving love that we don’t deserve.

Ideas:

  • Draw a king large enough that you can write on his robe.  Label him ‘king’. Draw another person, label him ‘servant’ and leave room to write on him.  Have a Bible open to Ephesians 4:32. 
    • Say: Remember that parables are special stories that Jesus told to teach us something.  they are earthly stories that have heavenly meanings. Jesus told the parable of the unforgiving servant to help us understand why we should forgive those who sin against us.
    • Ask: What wonderful thing did the king do for the servant who owed him so much money? (He forgave his debt) Who is like the king in the parable? (God)
    • Do: Write ‘GOD’ on the king.
    • Ask: Who are like the servant? (We are!)
    • Do: Write ‘We sinners’ on the servant.
    • Say: We are like the servant because we cannot pay the debt of our sins.  We owe God perfect lives, but we can’t give him perfect lives. We sin.
    • Do: Write ‘Cannot pay for sins’ on the servant.
    • Say: The Bible says that those who sin deserve death and hell.  God is like the king because he knows we cannot pay for our sins.  Yet out of love and kindness, he forgave all our sins and set us free.  He did this by sending Jesus to take away our sins so that we could be forgiven.
    • Do: Write ‘forgave’ on the king.
    • Ask: Why did the king expect the servant to forgive the man who owed him money? (the king had been very kind to the servant.  The servant surely could have shown kindness out of thankfulness for what the king had done for him.)
    • Do: White ‘wants us to forgive others’ on the king.
    • Ask: What do you think the servant should have done when he saw the man who owed him money? (forgiven his debt)
    • Do: Write ‘forgive out of love for God’ on the servant.
    • Say: God expects us to forgive others just as he has forgiven us.
    • Do: Read the Ephesians 4:32 memory treasure.

Together: Draw a heart on paper as a reminder to love others and be concerned for them.  Then, draw a cross as a reminder to forgive as they have been forgiven through Christ.

Activity Ideas:

  • Stick Puppets: Make puppets to use in telling the story
  • Make ‘Forgive Me’ Cards: To provide a way to tell others we are sorry when we sin against them.
  • Music: Sing hymn 493: 1-4 – Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive – asking the Lord to help us forgive as he has forgiven us.
  • Art: Sponge Painting Collage – make a decorative reminder about loving one another
  • Memory Treasure Guessing Game: write each letter of each word of Matthew 22: 39b on a separate piece of paper and turn over to help with memorizing

Closing Prayer:

Dear Lord, you have forgiven the sins I do each day.  Now I can live in heaven, for you have shown the way. When others sin against me, Lord, help me to forgive and tell them how you suffered and died that we may live.  Amen.

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