During the lesson, the information for you to know is written in regular type, and what we suggest speaking or reading aloud to children is in bold. All resources for this lesson, including the Teacher Guide, Student Page, Family Connection Card, and other resources can be downloaded in a ZIP file by clicking on the following link:
In some lessons you will find "resource articles." These are articles written by experts from around the world to help equip you for your work with children and adolescents. Share them with parents or guardians if you consider it appropriate.
Before class, set a chair in the front of your space. If possible, make the chair look like a king’s throne by decorating it with fabric or ribbon. Make a crown out of about 60 cm of material. You may tie the ends of the piece of yarn, twine, or grass to make a circle. You may also tape together pieces of paper in a circle. Place the crown on the chair.
Jesus asked his disciples to come to him. He said, “What I’m about to tell you is true. That poor widow has put more into the offering box than all the others. They all gave a lot because they are rich. But she gave even though she is poor. She put in everything she had. That was all she had to live on.”
Mark 12:43–44
Honouring God through worship simply means we offer Him our best—even if we think that we do not have much to give. If we feel that we do not have enough money, time, or resources to meet our needs, offering those things to God in worship can be a sacrifice. However, we see in the story of the poor widow that although she had very little, she gave everything she had. No matter how little or how much we may have, true worship means offering our full selves to God.
What part of your life can you surrender to God this week? As you prepare for this week’s lesson, consider the poor widow who gave everything in worship. Ask God what it would look like for you to offer all of who you are to Him. Whatever you choose to surrender, remember that this sacrifice is a beautiful act of worship.
Encourage the families to name some ways they show honour to others. Ask the family members to talk at the end of the week about how they honoured someone. If they are Christians, they can talk about how they honoured God.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Welcome the children as they enter and ask them to sit in a line facing the “throne.” When the children are settled, stand next to the throne.
Let’s pretend this chair is a throne. A throne is a chair where a king or a queen sits to make decisions. In this throne, a queen or king might listen to people talk about their problems and make decisions about what to do.
Imagine a king sitting on this throne right now. This king is very kind. He loves the people of his kingdom. He helps the people. He is a good king, and everyone loves him. You decide to do something to bring Him honour.
What are some ways you could honour a king?
Allow 3–4 children to respond.
A king is honoured when we bow, kneel, give gifts, and praise him. Choose one of these actions to do when you come up to the throne. Please stand up. When you know how you want to honour the king, come to the throne and do the action. Then return to your seat.
Allow about 2 minutes for the children to step forward and honour the king. When the children are all seated for the lesson, continue.
Today we will learn how to worship and honour our King in heaven, God.
During His time on earth, Jesus taught people about God’s kingdom. He taught them how to honour God. That means to honour who God is and what He has done. In a moment, I will read from the Bible about a poor widow who showed God that He was important to her.
What does it mean to be a widow?
A widow is a woman whose husband has died.
The Bible tells the true story of a widow who did something incredible to honour and worship God. In that time, widows were usually very poor and were not noticed by many people.
Jesus was in the temple where people were worshipping God. They would give an offering of money at the temple to honour God. Listen to what happened as Jesus watched the crowd giving their offerings.
Read these verses directly from your Bible.
Jesus sat down across from the place where people put their temple offerings. He watched the crowd putting their money into the offering boxes. Many rich people threw large amounts into them. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins. They were worth only a few pennies. Jesus asked his disciples to come to him. He said, “What I’m about to tell you is true. That poor widow has put more into the offering box than all the others. They all gave a lot because they are rich. But she gave even though she is poor. She put in everything she had. That was all she had to live on.”
Mark 12:41–44
Optional: If possible, show the image from The Action Bible
What did the rich people give?
They gave large amounts of money.
What did the widow give?
She gave a small amount of money. She gave everything she had.
Why did Jesus say the widow put more in the offering than the rich people?
She gave everything she had. The rich people gave some of what they had, but they still had more money.
Yes, there were rich people who gave a lot of money in the offering box to honour God at the temple. There was a poor widow woman who only gave 2 coins. Jesus noticed her. He said she gave more than the others because she put in everything she had. This showed her love and honour to God. The widow’s offering was a way of worshipping God. I need 3 girls and 3 boys to act this out as I read these Bible verses again.
Choose 2 girls and 3 boys to be the rich people and ask them to stand on 1 side of the throne. The other girl will be the poor widow and will stand on the other side of the throne.
The 5 children on this side of the throne are rich people, and this other child is the poor widow. Pretend there is a box on the throne where the people are giving their money as an offering to honour and respect God. I will read the verses that say many rich people placed large amounts of money into the offering box. One at a time, each of you 5 will walk over to the throne and pretend you are putting a lot of money in the offering box. Do this quickly, and then continue walking. I will pause as one by one you put money in the offering box. When I continue to read about the poor widow, she will begin walking up to put her 2 small coins into the offering box. She will pause and look up to God as she does this. Listen carefully and act it out as I read.
Reread Mark 12:41–44 again, motioning to the children to encourage them to act and pausing as they act it out. Afterwards, lead the children in clapping for the actors.
The poor widow did not give a lot of money. That did not matter to Jesus because she showed her love for God by giving Him everything she had. The poor widow’s money was not important to God. It was her love for Him that was important. Listen to what Jesus said was one of the most important things God wants us to do.
Read Mark 12:30 aloud from your Bible.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your mind and with all your strength.
Mark 12:30
When we worship God, we must do so with every part of us: our hearts, our souls, our minds, and our bodies. Worshipping God with everything we are and everything we have shows our love for Him.
Read Mark 12:30 again. Each time you say the word “all,” the children will clap once. The word “all” is underlined in the verse above.
In today’s story, the poor widow expressed her love for God because she gave Him everything she had. She worshipped God by honouring Him. Honouring God does not just mean giving money like the rich people in our story did. It also means you honour God when you give yourself and all you have to Him.
Remember we learned last week that God wants us to worship Him in Spirit and in truth. That means we are honouring God in the way we live our lives. We show honour to Him when we listen and participate in church, and we honour Him when we are kind to others. We honour God when we sing songs of praise to Him.
When we give what we have to God, we can give our time, our talent, or our treasure. When you take time to pray to God, you honour Him. When you use what you are good at to praise Him or help God’s people, you honour Him. When you give your treasure to God, you honour Him.
When we worship God, we honour Him as our loving God. At the beginning of class, you all imagined being in front of a good and kind king.
Do you remember how you said you would feel if you were near the good king?
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
I would have a feeling of deep respect. I might kneel or bow before the king to show my respect. God is honoured when you do these things to worship Him. When you take time to worship, bow in respect, and give Him all that you have, you honour God.
Help the children form 6 groups with about the same number of children in each group.
Look at me and listen as we review all the different ways to honour God in worship.
Raise your hand and call out 1 way to honour God through worship.
Be thankful, express love to God, give, bow, kneel, clap, sing, pray, raise your hands, shout.
In your group, think of ways to act out honouring God through worship. The widow showed her love and respect by giving money at the temple. There are other ways to give to God without giving money. Think of ways you can love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. How can you show God He is important to you? In your group, think of ways to love and honour God in worship. Think of how to act it out in a skit, practice it, and then you will present it to the rest of the class.
Allow about 5 minutes for each group to create a skit. As each group acts, have the children discuss what was demonstrated and why it was an act of worship. If you are short on time, have groups pair up and perform for each other instead.
Optional: If you are using Student Pages, give the children crayons and allow about 3 minutes for them to draw what they want to give to God. If you have a box or container, allow children to come to the front of your space and give these offerings to God.
You did a great job acting out how to worship God. Let’s practice our memory verse.
Read the aloud from your Bible.
God is spirit. His worshipers must worship him in the Spirit and in truth.
John 4:24
Read the memory verse again with the children. As you read it, do the following movements. Then repeat the verse and the movements with the children 3 times.
End class by saying this blessing, based on Hebrews 12:28, over the children.
Blessing: May you seek first the kingdom and God and be thankful. May you worship God with a deep respect and put Him first in your life.
Life on Life ©2020 David C Cook. Reproducible for home or classroom use only. All other uses require written permission from David C Cook [email protected]. All rights reserved.
