Locations & Times

In this four-part series, kids will watch a fun, French-style cooking show where each recipe calls for a special ingredient that makes the dish possible. Through stories of Jesus, kids will see that God’s love is our “special ingredient,” and because of it, we can do things that might seem impossible. Because God loves us so much, enough to send us Jesus, we can respond by loving others as he does, even when it might be hard.

WORSHiP

BIBLE VERSE

"We love because God first loved us," 1 John 4:19

GROUP Q&A

1. What is leprosy and why did people who had it have to yell, “unclean” when they walked by other people? (Leprosy is a disease that gives you bad, painful sores all over your body. People feared they would get leprosy if they were anywhere close.)
2. What did Jesus do when he saw the lepers? (He healed them when they asked.)
3. Why do you think only one person came back after Jesus healed him? (No wrong answers; take responses.)
4. How would you feel if you weren’t able to be around your friends and family? (Take responses.)
5. How did Jesus show God’s love? Do you think he loves us no matter what? (Discuss.)

PARENT BIBLE STUDY

Read: Luke 17:11-19

When Jesus healed people, he always had a double concern. First, he had compassion. He understood suffering and didn’t want people to be sick. Imagine the Creator looking at his creation before him diseased and broken. That was not the original design. Of course, Jesus would want to fix it. But secondly, Jesus also knew that everyone he healed while he was on earth would still someday die. He saw their mortality and therefore was intent on preserving more than their body—which was impossible. So, Jesus was also concerned about their eternal soul. He knew that he could reconnect people to God and save more than their body. He could provide a way for them to live forever with him.

 So when Jesus came across a group of lepers he was concerned for their suffering. He was compassionate towards them because he knew that their disease had ostracized them from their community and taken them away from family. But Jesus was also concerned with their faith. He saw their belief in him as they flagged him down and asked him to heal them. They knew that he was powerful. They had heard about other miracles no doubt. He tested them further by telling them to go to the priest, something required by the Jewish law, even before the physical evidence of their healing was there. They were obedient and took steps of faith.

 Sometimes when people talk about this story they focus on good manners. Like we should learn gratitude and be polite like the 10^th leper, who was the only one to return and thank Jesus for healing him. When you see that action only as civility you miss the point that Jesus took from it. The man who returned understood the double nature of his healing. His body was healed. His skin was clean. But his faith was also restored. He believed in Jesus. Jesus told him that his “faith had saved him.”

Are you taking steps of faith toward something, believing you’ll be healed on the way?

Do you understand your healing in spiritual ways? How is your faith saving you?

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