YEA Lesson Library
The Best Day of the Week
About This Lesson
The lesson teaches about Jesus’ miraculous healing of the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath.
Scriptures
Genesis 2:2-3
Exodus 20:8
Exodus 20:8-11
Deuteronomy 5:12-14a
Isaiah 58:13
Matthew 12:10-14
Mark 2:27-28; 3:1-6
Luke 6:6-11
Colossians 2:16-17
Words to Know
SABBATH - the seventh day of the week set aside for rest and worship of God
HOLY - dedicated to religious use; set apart for God
Daily Devotions
Sunday - Genesis 2:2-3
Monday - Exodus 20:8
Tuesday - Deuteronomy 5:12-14a
Wednesday - Isaiah 58:13
Thursday - Mark 2:27-28
Friday - Mark 3:2-4
Saturday - Colossians 2:16-17
YEAH — At-Home Activity
1. Color My World. Read the lesson/tell the lesson to the students. Then give them markers, crayons, colored pencils to create a picture which shows them doing their favorite Sabbath activity.
2. Snow globe. Bring a snow globe to class. Shake it up and let the students watch everything settling down again. Discuss how the Sabbath is like a snow globe: all week long we’re busy, busy, busy. Things are chaotic. On Sabbath, we stop what we do normally (going to work, going to school) and we worship God. We honor Him on the day that He set aside as holy. We acknowledge that God made it holy and we likewise set it aside as holy, that is, we treat it differently than we do the other six. We are intentional to seek God, praise Him, honor Him. After this introduction, read the lesson to the students. Then help the students make snow globes of their own. You’ll need small jars, a small plastic figure, some pebbles, fish tank foliage (etc), a hot glue gun, water, glitter, glycerin. Glue the figure/pebbles/foliage to the bottom of the jar with the glue gun. Fill the jar with water, a few drops of glycerin, and the glitter. Run a bead of hot glue around the lid of the jar so that the students don’t open the jar. Be sure to get the lid on tightly before the glue hardens.
3. Rest. Read the lesson to the students. Write the word “rest” in big bold black with a thick marker on one piece of card stock. On another piece of card stock, write “rest” in bubble letters that can be colored and designed with multiple colors and shapes. Discuss how too many people think that a sabbath rest means doing nothing - hold up the solid black rest. But sabbath rest means two things: honoring God and not doing your normal routine/job/making money. Sometimes that means helping people (Jesus healed on the Sabbath.), being helpful at church (The Levites and priests worked every Sabbath and were guiltless before God.), or helping someone that you come across (like finding an ox in the ditch). Encourage the students to talk with their parents about appropriate Sabbath activities.
4. Rest - The Audible Version. Give the students noise makers: whistles, drums, tambourines, pots/pans with wooden spoons, harmonicas, etc. Tell them that they have permission to make noise as long as your hand is up. When you put your hand down, they must stop. (You’re likely to have a few who makes lots of noise and a couple who put their hands over their ears.) Once you put your hand down, ask the students to sit down in a circle in front of you and read the lesson to them. Ask them what making noise has to do with Sabbath observance. Children are smart. You’re likely to get answers like: My parents don’t want me to make noise on Sabbath morning; this is not what we should do at church; it was too loud. Take their answers and build on them. Drive home the point that even though our lives may be noisy the rest of the week, the sabbath is special. We are to rest from all the noise and busyness and chaos and rest. Then ask the students to show you how to use their noise makers appropriately on the sabbath. You could have soft drums or tambourines. You could work together to make a pleasing song of praise to God. But you want to avoid the “weekly noise.”
5. Keeping the Sabbath Holy. Read the lesson with the students. Then make a list of what they can do each sabbath to make it special, to set it apart as holy. (I know one four-year old who makes pictures every sabbath to give to people after church. As she is coloring and putting stickers on the pages, I know she’s listening to the sabbath message. Having her hands busy may actually be helping her listen more closely to the sermon. And she brightens the day of the adult to whom she gifts her creations.) Ideas might include: creating a thank you note/get-well card/miss seeing you card for someone; helping a parent make a special Friday night meal; rubbing your Mom and/or Dad’s feet/back after church, going for a walk, singing hymns Friday evening, lighting a candle before the Sabbath meal, making pancakes for Sabbath morning breakfast, helping pick up hymnals at church, helping to clean up after services. This age group will likely have lots of suggestions. If time permits, let them make a card to give to someone. (Be prepared with stickers, crayons, markers, colored pencils, paper. You’ll likely have to do the writing since many of the kids in this age group are beginning writers or non-writers.)
Objectives
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
1. Explain that the Sabbath is a special day of rest.
2. Tell that Jesus wants us to do good on the Sabbath.
3. State that Jesus wants us to prepare for the Sabbath.
4. Tell how Jesus healed a man’s hand on the Sabbath.
Topics & Themes
Creation
Jesus, His Ministry
Jesus, His Miracles
Healing
Sabbath
Sabbath Conduct
Sabbath Preparation
Ten Commandments
Sabbath
Materials Needed
Bible, YEA Students’ and Teacher’s books, attendance and memory verse charts, stars, crayons, 18” square piece of cloth, rubber band, buttons, ribbon, red and black markers, yarn, cotton balls, yellow paper plates, green crepe-paper streamers, glue, scissors, hole punch, sunflower seeds, CD, CD player
Preparation
Before class, make a simple puppet by using an 18 inch square of cloth. Stuff the very center with cotton balls to make its head. Put a rubber band around the neck, leaving it loose enough to insert your index finger into the head. Tie a ribbon around the neck making a bow in front. Sew two small buttons on the face for eyes, and one for the nose. Draw eyebrows with a black marker and make lips with a red marker.
Add yarn on the head to make hair. Cut two slits in the cloth at the sides for your thumb and second finger, which will look like arms. This puppet can become an old friend you can use in many classes to help focus attention on the lesson.
The Sabbath should never be a drudgery. It is a wonderful gift, and we have the responsibility to keep it holy. This lesson is designed to help children look forward to the Sabbath and think of it as the best day of the week. Make it special by being prepared, and by doing good for others.
When all the children have arrived, introduce them to your little “friend,” Samantha. Go around the room and have each child tell Samantha his or her name. Move your finger up and down slowly, to make Samantha nod after each name. Move Samantha’s face close to your ear, as if whispering. Say: “Samantha says she really likes all of you. She is glad to be here today.” Put Samantha back up to your ear. Say: “Samantha says it is time for us to hear our Bible story about the best day of the week.”
Review Questions
Help the children remember the Sabbath by doing the following motions:
1. The Sabbath is a special day of rest. (Bend your head toward your shoulder with hands together by your face.)
2. How can we help Mommy prepare for the Sabbath? (Act as if you’re sweeping with a broom.)
3. How can I do good on the Sabbath? (Shrug your shoulders.)
4. I can take a meal to someone who is sick. (Hold your hands like you are carrying a tray.)
5. The Sabbath is a special day of rest. (Bend your head toward your shoulders with your hands to- gether by your face.)
6. The Sabbath is the best day of the week. (Clap.)
Teacher-Directed Activity
Help children make sunflower wind dancers (see diagram). Give each child a yellow paper plate. (Or, have children color one yellow.) Help them cut triangles out of the edge of the plate to form petals. Give each child three 20" strips of green crepe-paper streamers and some sunflower seeds. Allow them to glue the streamers to the edge of the paper plate, and the seeds to the middle of the plate. Punch two holes at the top of the plate and thread a piece of yarn to make a handle. They can take these wind dancers to someone who is sick to help cheer them.
REACH Activity
Letter: S
Words: Sabbath, seventh, sun, six, seven, services
Sentence:
THE SABBATH IS THE SEVENTH DAY. SUNSET FRIDAY TO SUNSET SATURDAY WE WORSHIP GOD. WE GO TO A WORSHIP SERVICE ON THIS SPECIAL DAY!
Song
“Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam” is on page 21 of the Kids Classics Collection.
Closing Prayer
Dear God, Thank you for giving us such a wonderful day. You rested after creating the earth, the trees, the animals, and the birds. You want us to rest, too. Help us to do good on the Sabbath. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Printable Pages
