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Aim: For each child to learn how to be empowered for kindness

Core Competency: Kindness

Objectives: The children will

• Pray as a means to become kind
• Learn practical acts of kindness they can use this week

Key Verse: ...Make every effort to add to your faith...brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. ( 2 Peter 1:5-7 )

Story: "Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane " ( Matthew 26:36-55 )

Materials Required:

• paper clips, 2
• $1 bill (or equivalent)

Eye on Science:

Advance Preparation: None.

In Class: Discuss the story in your own words, pointing out three times in which Jesus demonstrated kindness.

• Matthew 26:36-38 - Disciples wait in the garden during Jesus' agony. It is kind to pray for those in need.
• Matthew 26:39-46 - Jesus prayed for submission to God's will while encouraging His disciples. It is kind to encourage those who are failing.
• Matthew 26:47-56 - Jesus permitted Judas' kiss of betrayal, while protecting His disciples from both physical and spiritual death. It is kind to focus on the needs of others instead of your own.

Point out that even facing death, Jesus was kind and good in His relationship with His disciples, His enemies, and His Father. Recall to mind the intense prayer life that Jesus led, especially during times of temptation ( Matthew 4 ).

Shape the $1 bill (or equivalent sheet of paper money) into an "S" shape, and attach two paperclips as shown. Explain that one paper clip represents prayer, the other kindness. Grasping both ends of the bill with opposite hands, quickly snap the bill open - the paper clips should fly off of the paper. Retrieve the paper clips - they will be linked! Point out that under stress, prayer yeilds kindness.

Story: A king announced a cross-country race with a sack of gold as the prize. Many runners entered, and the crowded excitedly watched the group as they passed out of the town on the way.

After two hours, a cry rang out from the parapet - a runner was returning! He entered the gates to the approving cheers of the crowd, but to everyone's surprise, the king did not award him a sack of gold. Soon the second place finisher arrived, but he received no gold either. After some fifteen minutes, all but one of the runners had returned. Still the people waited.

At last, a good half-hour later, the final runner appeared - dirty, torn clothing, not a fit competitor for such a royal competition. However, he explained to the king that he had encountered a large pile of rocks blocking the road on his return. He could have climbed over them, and the other runners had, but he worried that someone old or less agile would be unable to pass over them, and thus be unable to reach the markets in town. So, he had stopped and removed all of the rocks to clear the road.

At the bottom of the rock pile, he had found a sack of gold. The king promptly pronounced this competitor the winner of the race, because the prize was not for the swift but for the kind.

Application: Jesus set the pace for us in the Garden of Gethsemene - He showed us how to win in life. God's prize doesn't go to the most athletic or the most clever, but to he who is kind to those in need.

Used: KIDZ 11/98 , KIDZ 08/02