Leader Guide

Video Leader Guide

Welcome (1 minute)

Welcome back, everyone! Today is the second lesson of our Superbook adventure, “The Good Samaritan.” In this story, we will learn who our neighbors really are and how we should treat them. Jesus loves everyone in the world: all nations, all races, all people, rich or poor. Our music video today is called “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” Let’s stand and worship Jesus for showing us His unfailing love!

Play Video 11: (Song) What a Friend We Have in Jesus (3 minutes)

Be sure to preview the song so you can sing along and do the motions with the children.

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

SuperTruth and Discussion (2 minutes)

Our SuperTruth today says: “I will love my neighbor as myself.”

If you were here for the previous lesson, tell us in your own words: who is your neighbor? Everyone, no matter how alike or different from us that they seem.

How should this change our thoughts and actions regarding other people? We should look for ways to be kind to people—not just our friends, family, and those who have the same beliefs. We should be willing to help others who are very different from us.

Loving your neighbor as yourself means that you treat people as you would like to be treated.You love others as you would like to be loved. You show mercy as you would like to receive mercy. You forgive as you would like others to forgive you.

Introduce Condensed Bible Story (1 minute)

If all children watched the Bible story video in the previous lesson, you may skip it here and go straight to the Bible Background Video.

If you saw the full video last week, why was the owner of the pizza shop frustrated with the girl and her brother? They never bought food; they took all of the ketchup packets.

What did Chris want to do? Share their pizza with them.

How did Joy react? She was frustrated with the girl.

For those who haven’t seen our Superbook video yet, we are going to watch a short version of “The Good Samaritan.” If you have already seen the full video, notice how an expert in the law tried to test Jesus.

Play Video 4: Condensed Bible Story (8.5 minutes)

Condensed Bible Story

Superbook takes Chris, Joy and Gizmo to meet Jesus, who tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. In the story, a wounded man is ignored by his countrymen as they pass by, but rescued by a foreigner who stops to help him in his time of need.

Discussion (2 minutes)

When the expert in Jewish law asked Jesus who his neighbor was, what do you think he expected Jesus to say? That his neighbors were other Jewish people.

The man who asked the question was Jewish. How might he feel about a story in which two important Jewish men ignore a wounded Jewish man, but a Samaritan—a despised foreigner—stops to help him? Anger, shock, disbelief.

Do you think the man who asked the question changed his thinking after hearing Jesus tell the parable? Why or why not?

Introduce Bible Background Video (1 minute)

In the Bible Background video, we’ll see why Samaritans and Jews were enemies. We’ll also learn more about the dangerous road between Jerusalem and Jericho. When Gizmo asks a question, wait for him to suggest some answers, then call out the one you think is right!

Play Video 5: Bible Background (9.5 minutes)

Bible Background

Play Video 10B: SuperVerse Graphic 2

Graphic loops 2.5 minutes without audio; turn off or freeze video after children repeat the verse.

SuperVerse Graphic 2

SuperVerse Discussion (1 minute)

Let’s say our SuperVerse. Luke 10:27b:

“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.” And, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Who said this in the video? An expert in the Jewish law; a lawyer or scribe.

Scribes and experts in the Jewish law were usually Pharisees. They copied, preserved, and taught God’s written Word. They were considered experts in interpreting the Law of Moses.

When someone says, “with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind,” that means with our whole being—every single part of us. We must put our whole self into loving God! We also must love our neighbor as ourselves. That means we must care for others as we do ourselves and treat them as we desire to be treated.

Children will have more time to learn the SuperVerse in Small Group. If younger children are not able to memorize the entire verse, be sure they understand its meaning.

Prayer and Send-Off (1 minute)

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, we give You all of ourselves today—our heart, soul, strength, and mind. Please help us love others as we love ourselves; for when we do this, we bring glory to You! In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Let’s go to Small Group, where we will travel on the dangerous road from Jerusalem to Jericho!

Teachers take children to Small Group classes for Grades 1–3 and 4–6. If the combined group is small, all children may stay together for Small Group time.

Game

Let’s look at the board and say our SuperVerse together. Luke 10:27b:

“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.” And, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Demonstrate how to travel the course while holding a disposable plate with a balloon on it in each hand. In this game, you will each travel on the dangerous road from Jerusalem to Jericho, then return to Jerusalem.

Each of you will start from Jerusalem. Begin walking from the starting line.

You must always keep your balloons on your plates, one in each hand. What do the balloons say? “Love God” and “Love Neighbors.”

No matter what happens, we must remember to love God and other people. So if one balloon falls off, you must stop and put it back on. The plates represent the action of serving God and others. True love is active love!

On your journey you will step over rocks and hills. Take a huge step over the pillow or towel.

You must also be on the lookout for robbers! Step on a plate on the floor and spin around, searching for danger. Sixth grade helpers may pretend to surprise you there.

Continue to Jericho, then explain that the children should turn around and return to Jerusalem, repeating their actions. If time is short, you may have players return to Jerusalem by walking quickly on the outskirts of the course, not doing the obstacles again.

• Divide the class into two equal teams. One player may play twice if necessary.
• The teams form two separate lines behind the line or mark.
• Hand two plates and two balloons, marked “Love God” and “Love Neighbors,” to the first player on each team.
• Say Go! Both players travel the course, stepping over hills and rocks, spinning in a circle, then going to the Jericho mark where they turn around and repeat the actions on the way back to Jerusalem.
• Players then hand the plates and balloons to the next player.
• The team whose players all return to Jerusalem first wins.

Conclusion: What was the funniest part of that game?

What was the hardest part?

Let’s learn more about what it means to love God and our neighbors.

Teaching

Divide the class into four groups. As much as possible, each group should be a mixture of boys and girls, various ethnic backgrounds, older and younger children, members and visitors, etc. Have each group sit close together, but apart from the other groups. Number the groups 1–4.

First, let’s answer the question from Large Group. How did the man who was an expert in the Jewish law try to test Jesus? First, he asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Later, he asked Jesus who his neighbor is. (See Luke 10:25–29.)

That same man spoke the words of our SuperVerse today. When he asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus answered by asking the man how he understood what the law said about it. And the man answered with the words of today’s SuperVerse!

Let’s look at the board and read it together. Luke 10:27b:

“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.” And, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Was the man’s answer right?

Let’s find out. Read Luke 10:28:

“Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”

Yes, the man answered Jesus’ question correctly. He said that we need to love God and our neighbor as ourselves. However, he wasn’t finished with questioning Jesus. He wanted to test Jesus’ definition of a neighbor. The man probably thought his neighbors were only other Jewish people—and since he cared about his fellow Jews, he thought he was safe! What if I were like that today? How would I act toward others? Let’s see ...

Walk to Group 1 and nod your head approvingly. I really like Group 1; I like the music they listen to, I like the sports teams they cheer for, and I like the kind of food they eat. I fit in nicely with them. I will have no problem loving them as myself! Wave to the group. Hi, neighbors!

Walk to Group 2 and shake your head disapprovingly. Hmmm, I don’t feel like I connect with Group 2 very much. After all, we cheer for different sports teams. They are not exactly like me. I don’t think I could be their neighbor.

Walk to Group 3, put your nose up in the air and look down on the group to seem arrogant. Group 3 listens to different music than I do, and we don’t like the same kinds of food! I don’t see how I can ever be their neighbor!

Walk toward Group 1, then look back at Group 4 as if they are really far away. Put your hand to your forehead as if searching in the distance. Oh yes, I almost forgot Group 4! But they are so far away, they couldn’t possibly be my neighbors. I don’t know where they came from, and they may not even speak my language. So, I don’t need to care about them, or even go over there and say hello.

Drop your pose and address the entire class.

Okay, let’s talk about my attitude toward the different groups.

Group 1, how did you feel when I said I approved of you and liked you?

Groups 2 and 3, how did you feel when I said I didn’t think we could be neighbors?

Group 4, how did you feel when I wouldn’t even come over and say hello?

Should I pick and choose my friends like that?

Can I love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, yet still think that some people God made are not my neighbors?

Have a volunteer reader read 1 John 4:20–21:

²⁰ If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? ²¹ And He has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.

Those are strong words, aren’t they! Can we truly love God if we hate or look down on others? No!

When Jesus spoke to the expert in the law, He exposed his false belief that he could say he loved God yet not love his enemies.

Jesus didn’t only tell the Jewish lawyer to love the Samaritans; He made a Samaritan the hero of the parable—as a role model for everyone to follow! How do you think that made the Jewish lawyer feel? Embarrassed, angry, humbled, etc.

It’s not always easy to love others, especially our enemies! The Samaritan may have been on a very important errand. He could have easily ignored the hurt man. The robbers could have been lurking behind some rocks to attack him. Yet he chose to take the time to stop, get down off his donkey, use his own money, and care for a Jewish man.

Here’s something important that you should always remember: If you’re too busy to love, you’re too busy. Say that with me. If you’re too busy to love, you’re too busy.

Sometimes loving our neighbor means stepping out of our comfort zone. That’s why we need God’s help! When we ask Jesus to live in our hearts, His Holy Spirit gives us the power to love others—even our enemies! Love is a Fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit also produces joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness in us. We need His fruit in our lives to be a good neighbor, especially to those who are unkind to us or who are different.

Have a volunteer reader read 1 John 4:7:

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.

When we really know God, we will love others! The love we have in our hearts is from God. We must allow His love to shine through us by our actions, attitudes and words! That is how we love our neighbor as ourselves—not in our own strength, but by the grace and power of God!

After Jesus told the parable, He told the Jewish man to do something. What was it? Show mercy to your neighbor.

If you were here last time, can you say our SuperVerse from Lesson 1? Job 34:19:

And God created us all; He has no favorites, whether rich or poor.

As you speak, give one end of the rope to Group 1 and have all the children hold onto it. Continue to walk the rope by each group and have all children hold onto it. There are people all over the world; some are thousands of miles away. Raise your hand if you think they are still our neighbors.

Yes, everyone is our neighbor, whether nearby or far away. Why? Because God created us all in His image. We are all connected! This rope represents the invisible connection we have with each other. Yes, there are differences between us, yet God loves every single person—and we must love others as He loves us!

Discipleship Challenge/Practical Application

Give the Golden Rule Pattern to children who missed the previous lessons so they may assemble their crafts at home. They can use the pattern to engage in the discussion today.

Our Discipleship Challenge is about the Golden Rule. Who can say the Golden Rule with your eyes closed?

See Matthew 7:12a:

“Treat others as you want them to treat you.”

What does treating others this way have to do with loving our neighbors as ourselves?

Did you discuss the Lesson 1 situations on your Golden Rule Card at home?

If time allows, lead a discussion about situations 1A and 1B on the card.

1A) A classmate has made fun of you for years. Now some of your friends are making fun of this classmate at lunch.

How would you want to be treated if you were in the other person’s place?

Why would it be tempting to join in with the others to make fun of your classmate?

1B) Your sister forgot to return your phone charger again, and now your phone is dead when you need it.

What would you be tempted to do to your sister, and why?

How would you like to be treated if you accidentally forgot to return something?

Continue with the Lesson 2 Golden Rule Card questions and you will have a chance to discuss your answers the next time we meet! In the meantime, look for opportunities to demonstrate God’s love and mercy to others—beyond just our friends and families!

SuperVerse

Let’s read our SuperVerse on the board together. Luke 10:27b:

“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.” And, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

The Bible tells us to love God above anything or anyone. Yet that is not all we are required to do. Who else must we love? Our neighbor.

Yes, and who have we learned is our neighbor? Everyone.

Let’s read our SuperVerse twice more together. Luke 10:27b:

“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.” And, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Write: love, heart, soul, strength, mind, and neighbor in random order at the top of the board, then erase these words from the verse. Now, read the verse and stop at each space where a word was erased. Have the children raise their hands to fill in the words. If someone answers incorrectly, call on another child until the correct word is given. Now, erase the words on the top of the board and do the activity again, stopping at each space and having children supply the missing words from memory.

You did really well learning this long verse! Let’s all love God with our total person and also be on the lookout for ways to show others His love.

Younger children may not be able to memorize the entire SuperVerse. Be sure all children understand its meaning.

Prayer

Raise your hand if you would like God to help you make wise choices with one or all of the following. Do you want His wisdom for:

• your health and wellbeing?
• your relationship with God?
• your relationship with others?
• your education and future career?

Yes, we all want to make wise decisions in our life; why? Children discuss.

We want to honor God with everything that we say and do. When we ask Jesus to be our Savior, He comes inside us and lives in our hearts. We are to treat ourselves as His Temple. We are made in God’s image, and we are His creation.

Read Psalm 139:14:

Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

Just as you are wonderfully made, so is your neighbor! Just as we love ourselves and want the best for ourselves, God tells us to love our neighbors the same way! As we learned in Lesson 1, God created us equal—He has no favorites!

Read Ephesians 5:29:

No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church.

Jesus loves and cares for everyone, and we must too!

Let’s close our eyes. First, the most important thing we can do is to love God completely. Quietly ask God to help you love Him with your total person—every part of you. If there are any areas of your life that you have kept from Him, surrender those areas to God right now and invite Him in. Be honest with yourself, have you tried to walk closer with Him, or have you been tempted to walk a little farther away from Him? Have you loved God with all of your strength? Ask the Holy Spirit to help you today. Pause a few moments to allow children to pray.

Now, we cannot say we love God and hate others. We must love our neighbors as ourselves. Ask God to fill your heart with His love today. Pause a few moments to allow children to pray.

Close in prayer: Dear God, help us love You with our total persons—all of our hearts, souls, strength, and minds—and to love others as ourselves. Help us to always remember that Jesus died for all people, and all people are our neighbors. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Neighborly Game

Let’s say our SuperTruth together: “I will love my neighbor as myself.”

Jesus’ parable taught that our neighbors are everyone around us, not just our “inner circle” of family, friends, and people like us. In this game, you will need to interact with all the other teams who are your neighbors to accomplish your goal.

Divide the children into six teams of 2–5 children depending on class size. Teams do not need to be equal.

Assign each team a number from 1–6. It is important for each player to know their team number! Be prepared to help children with special needs.

Have each team sit in their own circle in the four corners of the room, in the middle, etc.

The game is played like “Go Fish.”

Shuffle all the sets of cards together, then give each team six random cards.

Each team places any cards with their own team number face-up near the middle of their circle. Cards with other numbers are turned over and placed in a pile near the center of the circle. (For example, if Team 1 has two cards with the number 1, the team places those two cards face-up, in the order they would be spoken in the SuperTruth; then turns all the extra cards with different numbers face-down.)

The goal is for each team to build the complete SuperTruth using only cards that have their team’s number.

Start the game. One player from each team will go to a neighbor team and ask, “Do you have any team number __ cards?”

The neighbor team checks their extra cards without revealing the card numbers. If they have a card with the requested number, they must give it to the asking player. If they have more than one card with that number, they should not say so, and they should only give one card to the asking player.

The asking player then returns with the card to their team and the next player goes to ask for a card from a neighbor team—either the same team as before or a different team.

Once a team has built the SuperTruth with their numbered cards, they stand up and shout it together.

Continue until all teams have built the SuperTruth.

Conclusion: In this game you couldn’t complete the task within your team. You needed to go outside your circle not only to your close neighbors but also those further away. Jesus said to treat others as you want to be treated. You needed cards and you gave cards to others to help them. You weren’t focused on just yourself; you helped each other, too!

Activity

Let’s say our SuperTruth together: “I will love my neighbor as myself.”

Jesus told a parable to show us that everyone is our neighbor. How did Jesus say we are to love our neighbor? As ourselves.

In this bag are nine objects. You will take turns pulling an item and then share what you think the item represents in the Bible story. Here’s a hint: One of the items represents an event in the Bible story before Jesus told the parable!

Choose children to come up one at a time and remove an item from the pillowcase without looking.

The child can share what the item represents in the Bible story.

Open up discussion to the class for additional thoughts about the object’s significance. Ask additional questions to explore more deeply.

Object List

• Dirt and stones: The road between Jerusalem and Jericho. (See Luke 10:30.)
• Torn and ripped cloth: The robbers beat and stripped the man’s clothes. (See Luke 10:30.)
• Bottle of olive oil: The Samaritan poured oil on the man’s wounds. (See Luke 10:33–34.)
• Bandage: The Samaritan cared for the man’s wounds. (See Luke 10:33–34.)
• Two silver coins: The Samaritan paid for the injured man’s care. (See Luke 10:35.)
• Do Not Enter sign: Samaritans did not welcome Jesus and His disciples. (See Luke 9:53.)
• Donkey: The Samaritan placed the hurt man on his own donkey. (See Luke 10:34.)
• Bed: The Samaritan took the hurt man to the inn to heal. (See Luke 10:34–35.)
• Mercy sign: Jesus told us to show mercy to our neighbor. (See Luke 10:36–37.)

Conclusion: Jesus’ parable teaches us who our neighbor is and how we should show compassion, love and mercy to others. When we have God’s love in our hearts, we will find it easier to love others as ourselves and treat them as we would like to be treated.

Coloring Page

Give each child a Good Neighbor Coloring Page and crayons, colored pencils, or washable markers.

In our Bible story video, when did this scene take place? At the end of the video when Jesus was explaining the meaning of the parable to Joy, Chris and Gizmo.

Lead a discussion with the questions below as the children color:

• Can you say today’s SuperTruth with your eyes closed? “I will love my neighbor as myself.”
• Who did Jesus say our neighbor is in the parable? Everyone is our neighbor and deserves our love.
• At the end of the Bible story, what did Jesus tell us to show our neighbors? Mercy.
• How do you think the expert in the law felt after Jesus told the parable and asked him who was a neighbor to the injured man? Why would the answer be difficult to say for the expert in the law? The two Jewish men in the story did not help their fellow Jew. Their enemy, a Samaritan, was the hero of the story and was the true neighbor to the wounded man. It would be embarrassing and humbling for the expert in the law to admit that a Samaritan was a true neighbor, when the Jewish men didn’t show love and mercy.

Note that the expert in the law didn’t even say “Samaritan,” he simply said, “The one who showed him mercy.” (See Luke 10:37).

Conclusion: Jesus taught us that everyone is our neighbor—even our enemies—and we must show love.

Bible Study

Jesus told us to love God and our neighbor, and He said these are the two most important commandments. Let’s discuss the meaning and how to apply Jesus’ teaching.

Depending on the time available, choose two or three passages to study. Have the children take turns reading the Bible verses, then discuss with the questions below.

1. Romans 12:9–11, 13:

⁹ Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. ¹⁰ Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. ¹¹ Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. ¹³When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

• What does verse 9 mean to you; to really love and not pretend? Consider verse 10 in your response. It is about being real and honest, not acting. Having God’s love in us. He didn’t just say He loved us, He sent His Son to die for us - that’s loving with genuine affection.
• In verse 9, how does hating what is wrong and holding tightly to what is good relate to loving others? If someone is being mistreated, don’t ignore it—stand up for them. Also, genuine love and affection looks and talks about the good in someone rather than pointing out mistakes or negative traits, habits or actions.
• How can we take delight in honoring others? What does that mean to you? To delight means to treat with respect. To acknowledge the good things others do, rather than only the negative or bad. You look for ways to show love, you don’t wait to be honored first, you’re proactive and are pleased to do it.
• In verse 11, how could laziness affect our relationships with others and the Lord? Why is it important to be enthusiastic, and to serve God and others with energy and dedication? Attitude and energy go a long way in showing people your love is genuine; that you’re willing to put yourself into whatever you do, and that you want to and are not being forced or doing it out of guilt.
• In verse 13, what must we be ready to do? Help others in need.
• What does enthusiastically mean? You want to, look forward to, can’t wait to serve and help. You’re not lazy in your approach.
• What is hospitality? Making someone feel comfortable, giving a warm welcome and accepting them. Attentive to their needs.

2. Philippians 2:3–5:

³ Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. ⁴ Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. ⁵ You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

• How can humility help us to be a good neighbor? We think of others as more important than ourselves, so we care about their needs.
• If you think you are superior to your neighbor, how can that affect honoring them? People can tell when you look down on them; they don’t feel loved or respected.
• What does verse 4 say to you? Express it in your own words.
• Why is it so easy to concentrate only on our own needs and wants? It’s easy to be selfish; we don’t take time to think about what other people are going through, etc.
• What can we do to look outward instead of inward each day? Does God provide help to do this? Yes, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide and lead; He will show us opportunities to love and serve.
• In verse 5, what was the attitude Christ had? He came out of love; He sacrificed His life for us and served. He loved God with His total person; He loved others equally and came to serve, not to be served.

3. 1 John 3:16–19:

¹⁶ We know what real love is because Jesus gave up His life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? ¹⁸ Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. ¹⁹ Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God.

• What does verse 16 say real love is? Giving your life for someone. It is the ultimate sacrifice to be willing to give of yourself completely for someone.
• According to verse 17, when God’s love is in us, what should we show to others, and what should we do? Show compassion; try to help them with a need.
• Is it possible to have God’s love, yet not care about others? Why or why not? No. God is love, and He made us all. If we love God, we must love the people He has made.
• What important thing does verse 18 tells us about love? It is active not passive. Words are not enough; we must put love into action. Actions show the love is genuine.
• Have you heard the saying, “Actions speak louder than words”? Does it apply here?
• What does verse 19 say our actions show? We have God’s truth in us. Our love is real, that we belong to God; that we have His love inside.
• How can actively loving and serving others make us more confident? We know we have obeyed God. When we serve and love others, it is because God’s love lives in us and the Holy Spirit is active in our lives. We are walking in His love and free of guilt.