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.
Suppose you see your neighbor’s ox or sheep wandering away. Then don’t act as if you didn’t see it. Instead, make sure you take it back to its owner.
Deuteronomy 22:1
It is so easy to be focused on ourselves and not those around us. Sometimes, it is easier to serve ourselves than it is to serve others. However, God calls us to obey Him, and one of the 2 most important commandments is to love our neighbours. A neighbour could be anyone outside of ourselves who we come in contact with.
A neighbour could be someone in your family, someone who has no home, or someone who lives in your community. This could even be someone who lives in another community but shares a bus or train ride with you. Who are your neighbours? What do your neighbours need to help them live better, more successful lives? When you shift your focus from yourself, and even your family, to the community, it is amazing what you might see. Ask God to help you serve others in obedience to Him. When you love others, you honour God!
Encourage families to examine their neighbourhoods and find someone who might need help with something. Ask them to help as they are able and as it is appropriate. Helping others builds a stronger community.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Greet the children as they come to class. Ask the children to sit in 4 groups.
Welcome! I am so excited for our lesson today! Let’s start by doing an activity and watching what happens. For this, I will hand 1 person in each group a rock. That person will put the rock on the ground. Another person from the group will then gently push the rock. Before we do our experiment, let’s make a prediction.
Raise your hand if you think the rock will stay where it is (pause). Put your hands down. Raise your hand if you think the rock will move when it is pushed (pause). Put your hands down. Let’s find out what happens!
Give 1 person in each group a rock and have them place it on the ground. As you give each group the rock, ask them to choose 1 child to push it.
What happened to the rock?
It moved when someone pushed it.
This may seem obvious. Of course a rock moves when you push it. But, do you know why the rock moves? There is a scientific law of motion that says an object will not move unless something pushes or pulls on that object. In this case, your rock would have stayed in place, but someone in your group pushed it. This law cannot be changed.
Give the other children in each group 1 minute to take turns pushing the rock.
As long as you are on earth, when an object is pushed hard enough, it will move. This is a law that must be obeyed. There is no way an object cannot obey this law. When you think about laws, you probably think of the rules we obey in our community.
What rules or laws are you supposed to obey?
The children may respond with: I do not take things from other people. I walk safely in the teaching space. I listen to and follow directions.
These are laws and rules we are asked by those in our community to obey. Unlike the law of motion, you can choose whether to obey laws in your community. When given a choice between obeying a law created by your community or not obeying, it is usually best to obey. Obeying laws is a way of helping the community. Also, when the laws ask us to do things that keep us from getting hurt or hurting others, they help us to live in ways that are good.
The Bible tells a true story about some laws God gave to His people. These are called the 10 Commandments. He gave them these laws to help them live in good and right ways. The first few laws told the people how to honour God in their lives. The rest of the laws told the people how to treat each other.
If followed, these laws would help people to live peacefully together. They included things like do not hurt others and do not steal, lie, or want anything that belongs to someone else. Let’s read an example of how following these laws could help a community.
Read this verse directly from your Bible.
Suppose you see your neighbor’s ox or sheep wandering away. Then don’t act as if you didn’t see it. Instead, make sure you take it back to its owner.
Deuteronomy 22:1
How might obeying this law help those in a community live in peace?
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
If you give something that belongs to someone in your community back to the person who has lost it, that person will be honoured and pleased with you. If you were to take that thing instead, the person would not be honoured and might get angry with you if he discovered you had what once belonged to him.
The explanation of this law continues with information about what to do if you do not know who something belongs to.
Read these verses from your Bible.
Its owner might not live near you. Or you might not know who owns it. So take the animal home with you. Keep it until the owner comes looking for it. Then give it back to them. Do the same thing if you find their donkey, coat or anything they have lost. Don’t act as if you didn’t see it.
Deuteronomy 22:2–3
This is not easy to do. It might seem easier to take something that belongs to someone else. It is not always easy to do the right thing and obey laws. However, it is what is right, and it helps your community.
What do you think might happen if you are honest with others in your community?
You will bring honour to God and your neighbour. You will build trust in your area.
The laws given to God’s people in the Bible were given many, many years ago. However, they are laws that can still help us now. When we obey God, we honour Him. When we obey His laws, we can live in ways that honour God and honour others in our communities. When we obey what God wants, we are asked to do so out of love. Listen to what the Bible says:
Do not try to get even. Do not hold anything against any of your people. Instead, love your neighbor as you love yourself. I am the Lord.
Leviticus 19:18
Jesus tells us this is one of the most important commandments. The only one that is more important is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul.
Who is your neighbour?
Allow 2–3 children to answer.
When we think of neighbours, we often think of the people who live near us. What if I asked you to turn to a neighbour in this classroom? This would not necessarily be someone you live near. It would be someone who is near you right now. Go ahead, turn to a neighbour now.
Give the children a few seconds to do this. Help any given child who does not have a neighbour near him to join another group, or to go sit near another child who does not have a neighbour.
Your neighbour could be anyone other than you. Most often, we think of our neighbours as those people who are part of our communities. Communities can be found in neighbourhoods, towns, cities, and at church or at school. These communities are filled with people. A neighbour could also be someone who is near you when you are traveling or doing something outside your own community.
Now, tell your neighbour how you can show love to a neighbour. This could be something you do to help your neighbour or something you say to show kindness toward her. You have 1 minute to share.
Allow about 1 minute for the children to share, or until most pairs seem to be done responding.
What do you think God means when He says, “Love your neighbour as yourself?”
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
When you love your neighbour as yourself, you are kind toward that person and treat him the way you would want others to treat you. When you choose to obey God’s laws, you choose to live in peace with your neighbours. Let’s talk about what happens when you obey the laws of your community.
Optional: If you are using The Action Bible, allow the children to review the 10 commandments on page 155.
What might happen if you do what your teacher tells you to do?
When you obey the rules set by your teachers, you stay safe and you learn new things.
Optional: If you are using Student Pages, give the children crayons and allow about 2 minutes for them to complete their pages. If the children have not completed a connect-the-dots activity before, show them how to connect 1 dot to another using a line.
God wants us to love all these people. When we do, we obey Him and we obey the rules that help the people in our community.
Ask the children to stand in a circle, and get the ball for the game.
Let’s play a game to help us understand more about how we can help a neighbour. We will pass this ball around the circle. When you have the ball, you will name 1 way you can obey in one of the groups we talked about: school, church, or community. For example, you could obey at school by listening to the teacher and following instructions.
Close your eyes and think of 1 way you can obey this week: at school, at church, or in the community where you live. How can you show respect and honour to your leaders? How can you do what is right by following rules and laws?
Allow the children a minute to think of an action step. Pass the ball to the first child. When the child names a way to obey, he or she will pass the ball to the next child. Continue doing this until everyone has a turn, or for about 5 minutes.
Many benefits can come from obeying within our communities. We experience peace and order. We accomplish greater things together than we can separately. And we please God. The Bible reminds us of the importance of obeying those in our communities, including leaders.
Read the verse aloud from your Bible.
If you are using the Memory Verse Poster, show it to the students.
You must obey the authorities. Then you will not be punished. You must also obey them because you know it is right.
Romans 13:5
Repeat the verse in the same way as last time. Divide children into 2 groups. Say the first sentence of the verse together. Then have 1 group ask the question and the other group answer it.
All: You must obey the authorities.
Say the verse together 3–4 times. End class by saying this blessing, based on Hebrews 13:17, over the children.
Blessing: May you trust the leaders God has placed in your communities. May you put yourself under their authority and make their work a joy.
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.
