Leader Guide

Video Leader Guide

Welcome (1 minute)

Hello and welcome everyone! Today we begin a new Superbook adventure called "Jesus––Friend of Sinners." Speaking of friends, Joy must make a hard decision when she is invited to a party by one of her old friends. Now, let's watch the video and see what that is all about.

Play Video 2: Intro to Bible Story(6 minutes)

Joy is excited to have a whole new set of Christian friends. But when an old friend invites her to a party on the same day as a church event, Joy isn't sure what to do. Is it okay to hang out with unsaved friends?

Intro to Bible Story

SuperTruth and Discussion (2 minutes)

What project were the children working on? Baking treats for the mission trip fundraiser.

Why did Joy's good friend Jolie show up at the door? They had plans to watch movies together.

What did Joy realize after Jolie left her house? She felt like she didn't fit in  with her old friends after becoming a Christian.

Joy asked whether it was wrong to hang out with Jolie since she wasn't a Christian. What do you think? (Children respond.)
Today’s SuperTruth is “Jesus invites all people to come to Him.” Let's say that together.

I think the SuperTruth helps answer the question we just discussed. Jesus spent time with all kinds of people. 

Let's watch the second part of the video to see what Joy decides.
We will also see how Jesus chose to spend time with people who others thought were sinful and unworthy.

Play Video 3: Bible Story and Resolution

(17 minutes)

Superbook takes Joy, Chris and Gizmo to witness three Bible stories: the parable of the great feast (banquet), the calling of Matthew the tax collector, and the woman caught in sin. Joy is surprised to see Jesus spend time with sinners, tax collectors, the poor, and those with disabilities. She decides to become more like Jesus by following His example.

Bible Story and Resolution

Video Discussion (1 minute)

At Simon's dinner, Jesus said that when you give a party, don't ask those who will invite you back or repay you. Instead, what kind of people should you invite? The poor, injured, lame, blind, etc.

Jesus reached out with love to people, especially those who faced challenges and couldn't do anything for anyone else. We should always reach out with Jesus' love to others ––including those who are not like us and people who don't seem likely to follow Him.

Play Video 10A: SuperVerse Graphic

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

10A: SuperVerse Graphic

SuperVerse Discussion (1 minute)

In Jesus' parable of the great feast, the people who were invited made excuses not to come. Today's SuperVerse is what the master said after so many people didn't accept his invitation. Let's say Luke 14:23 together:

The master in this parable represents God. Today, there are many ways to stay busy and avoid God's invitation to follow Him. Even so, He still continues to call all people to come to Him.

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

Prayer and Send-Off (1 minute)

Dear God, we don't ever want to be too busy to answer Your call. Please help us look for opportunities to invite people to meet Jesus. In His name we pray, Amen.

Raise your hand if you have ever tried to juggle objects such as balls or oranges.
In Small Group today, you will have a chance to juggle something very different––your time! Let's go find out how the game is played!

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.

Action Game

On Your Mark! Play a game about sharing time.

In the Superbook Adventure, why did Joy have trouble finding time for her old friends? Because she was doing so many things with her new Christian friends and the youth group.

In the Bible story, the religious leaders, or Pharisees, thought they were righteous––but they weren't really. They didn't think Jesus should spend time with anyone that they considered to be sinners. Yet Jesus knew that His mission was to save sinners! He spent time with His followers AND with people who didn't yet follow Him. And that is the goal in this game––balancing or juggling your time with other believers, and also with those who don't know Jesus yet. Joy "dropped the ball" with her friend Jolie. she totally forgot their movie night, and even worse, it wasn't the first time she disappointed her friend.
(Hold us a "Cross" balloon as you talk)
On this balloon is a cross. What group of people do you think the cross might represent? Christians, believers, followers of Jesus.

(Hold up the "?" balloon.) On the balloon is a question mark. The question mark represents people who do not yet know Jesus or believe in Him.
Your mission is to not drop the ball; I mean, the balloon. Volley the balloons in the air as you explain the instructions.

Each player will try to keep both balloons in the air at the same time for as long as possible. This represents juggling or balancing your time with each group of people. You will score one point for each bounce or hit while BOTH balloons are in the air. 

Appoint helpers to give the balloons to the players and count the number of hits for each player.

Make sure players give themselves plenty of distance from each other and objects in the room.

Two players play at the same time. Both players will have one of each balloon.

Write the two players’ names on the board. One point is awarded for every balloon “hit.”

You can only score points while both balloons are airborne.

Once one balloon hits the floor, scoring ends for that player. The second player keeps going as long as possible. Record the scores on the board, then have the same two children play a second round.

Add up the scores of the two rounds for each player and record them on the board.

Repeat with the next two children in line.

Optional Play:

1. If time permits, have a playoff with all of the winners and eventually declare a grand champion.         

2. For smaller classes, have one child play at a time. Use a timer to record each player’s time or the number of “hits” they have before a balloon touches the floor.

3. Play relay style by having the class stand in line, about an arm’s length apart. Each player must keep the two balloons aloft while passing them to the next player in line. When a balloon hits the ground, the player must stop, pick up the balloon and begin from that point. You may also divide the class in half and have two teams race as they relay the balloons two at a time down the line.

Close: That was hard! Awesome job! It isn’t an easy task to balance our time each day. Now, let’s learn more about how Jesus spent time with all types of people

Teaching

In the video, we saw how Jesus made time for everyone. It may be hard for you to imagine, but in Bible times, there were no computers, cell phones, or the internet. To communicate, you could talk face to face or send a message to someone. Do you think that if there had been social media back in Bible times that Jesus would have used it? (Children respond.) Why?
Jesus often used familiar things around Him to engage people. Through social media, He could quickly reach a lot of people and invite them to follow Him! I think He might constantly be saying, “Friend Me!”

God tells us in Isaiah 55:11:

Of course, social media can never replace personal relationships—and Jesus definitely wants to have a personal relationship with every single person. And we need to have personal relationships with other people, too!

Hold up the invitation. Raise your hand if you or your family have received something similar to this. Children respond.
Hold up the invitation. Raise your hand if you or your family have received something similar to this. Children respond.

Hold up the RSVP card. Often a card like this is included with the invitation. Can someone tell me the purpose of this card? To say if you are coming to the party or not.

The term “RSVP” originates from a French expression that means to “please respond.” By including this card or just writing RSVP on the invitation, the host is asking the guests to respond if they plan to attend or not. This helps the host plan for the event so they have enough food, chairs and tables for everyone.

Hold up the invitation. In the parable or story that Jesus told, the master sent out invitations to a banquet or feast. In Bible times, it was customary for the host to send two invitations to the guests. The first one was so they guests could make reservations or secure a spot at the event.

Hold up the RSVP card. That sounds a lot like an RSVP, doesn’t it! The guests had accepted the original invitation—in other words, they promised to come! The second invitation in those days was sent out when the feast was all ready!

Let’s think how this would feel if it happened to us. We’re giving a big party and a lot of people have promised to come. We worked very hard and spent a lot of money to put on a beautiful dinner—but then nobody actually came to the party! In the story, the master got upset because the guests made poor excuses about why they had changed their minds!     

In Jesus’ parable, the master represents God. The people who received the original invitation represent the Jewish people. Many of them rejected His invitation to accept Jesus as their Savior when He came into the world. This is described in John 1:11:

When the original guests failed to show up, the Master sent His servants out to invite other people to the feast. These people represent Jewish people considered unclean by the Pharisees—like the sinful woman or Matthew the tax collector who worked for the Romans! This would also include people who had diseases or were considered lower class.

Then, when the Master sent His servants out a second time, they extended the invitation to everyone. This represents non-Jewish people called Gentiles. They were looked down upon and considered very unclean. So the Jewish religious leaders must have been very shocked that Gentiles could be invited to God’s feast!  

The feast represents God’s Kingdom. Jesus came to invite all people into God’s kingdom regardless of who they were; all they needed to do was accept His invitation and believe in Him!

Jesus still invites people today. The invitation He sends is not through the mail. He invites people by speaking through His Word, through His Spirit, and through US!   

When we accept Jesus’ invitation to become believers, He continues to invite us to follow Him every day. In our walk as believers, there are times we may begin to stray or wander from God’s path.

Perhaps, like Joy, we may be doing good things—but we get too busy! These things may begin to replace our personal time with God. Jesus lovingly calls to us again and again, inviting us to come closer. In Revelation 3:20, Jesus says:

Jesus wants us to be very close friends who know all about each other. Let’s not make up excuses about being too busy—and let’s accept His invitation to spend time with Him each day!

Now, it’s time for our Discipleship Challenge where you will be challenged to spend time with Jesus and also with others—every day!        

Discipleship Challenge/Practical Application

Give each child a Disciple Card. Optional: Give each child three stickers to use on the card once they memorize the verses. Have the children write their names on the blank line. Use the model craft as you explain the challenge.

In the video, Joy said that true discipleship is thinking, feeling and acting like Jesus. That means following His example. Our Discipleship Challenge is about balancing our time each day so that we can be an effective disciple or follower of Jesus.

In Jesus’ parable, the invited guests made excuses not to attend. What were some of the excuses? They got married, bought oxen, bought land.

Raise your hand to name some activities that can fill our time. Hanging with friends, playing video games, internet time, soccer practice or a game, music practice, homework, chores, sleep, watching TV, family time, etc.

Lots of these things are very important, and we must do them. However, we always want to leave time to spend time with Jesus and to show others God’s love. If you’re too busy to love God and love others, you are just too busy! Jesus made time for everyone because every single person was important to Him.   

Hold up the Disciple Card. Read aloud the three daily challenges or, if time permits, have volunteers read them aloud.

1. Spend time with Jesus. Memorize Revelation 3:20

2. Spend time with Christians. Memorize 1 Thessalonians 5:11

3. Spend time with others. Memorize Matthew 5:16

Jesus took time to be alone with God, His Father, to pray for direction and strength. Your challenge is to spend time alone with Jesus each day, praying. Your extra challenge for this lesson is to memorize Revelation 3:20. Once you’ve memorized it, put a sticker on the circle or color it in.

The next challenge is to spend time with Christians each day. It may just be a minute or two, even by text or a phone call. The important thing is to be in contact with people who pray for us, love us, and help us stand firm in our faith. We need their wisdom and encouragement as we walk with Jesus. And they need our prayers, love and encouragement, too!

The third challenge is to spend time with others outside of your “inner circle” of close Christian friends and family. Jesus spent time with those who were not His followers. His goal was to care for them and show them the love of God so they would want to follow Him. That should be our goal too—to influence others for Christ by showing genuine love, compassion and mercy.

You will be challenged to learn the other two verses in the next two lessons. For this time, just focus on learning Revelation 3:20 and spending a few minutes each day with God, friends, family, and others. If you spend more time, great! The important thing is to learn to balance your time.

We will discuss how this challenge went for you the next time we meet.     

SuperVerse

As we discussed in the Teaching Time, these people represented the Gentile people or non-Jews. Since they would never expect to receive an invitation to a Jewish feast, they would be unlikely to believe the invitation was really for them. That is why the master said to MAKE or persuade them to come.

However, this does not mean that the people must come against their own will. God never forces anyone to accept His invitation. However, the Holy Spirit will gently draw and pursue individuals because God wants His spiritual kingdom to be full of people!

The master sent his servants to find replacements to fill the banquet. In this game, you are going to find replacements for the incorrect words in today’s SuperVerse.

Superbook in Motion. Memorize the SuperVerse with a group activity.

Let’s say today’s SuperVerse together. Luke 14:23:

Have the children lower and/or cover their eyes so they cannot see the board. Using the list below, change one word of the SuperVerse on the board at a time to alter the meaning of the verse, then have the children look at the board and raise their hands to tell you what word should be replaced (you may vary the order of the list). Write in the correct word, then repeat the process. 

• Change “master” to “neighbor.”
• Change “out” to “in.”
• Change “roads” to “yard.”
• Change “fence” to “corn.”
• Change “people” to “rich people.”
• Change “house” to “garage.”
• Change “full” to “empty.”
• Change “Luke” to “John.”

Conclusion: Does this look correct to you now? Children respond. 

Yes, I agree, this looks much better! God wants His house to be full and He sends us out to take His invitation to all people. 

Prayer

Need Prayers: Communicate with God.

Can someone say our SuperTruth from memory for us? Jesus invites all people to come to Him.

In Luke 14:12b–14, Jesus said to the Pharisee who was the host of the meal:

Does this mean that we should never invite our friends or family to anything? Certainly not. Jesus is saying that we need to interact with all kinds of people; not only with those we feel comfortable with or those who can do something for us. When we help or include people who are less fortunate and maybe looked down upon, God sees that our motives are right, and that we have a heart to care for others, not just to receive something back. When our heart is motivated with compassion and love, God sees and will reward us in heaven.          

Game

Make copies of the Shapes Page on cardstock, one per child plus extras.

Place a mark or taped line near one end of the room.

Tape one Shapes Page on the wall where it will be visible to the children as they play the game.

Give each child a Shapes Page and scissors. Have them carefully cut out the individual cards and write their names on the blank lines. Or, as an option, cut out the shapes before class and paperclip each set of four cards together. Give each child a set of cards and a pencil. Children will write their names on each card.

Have children gather in the center of the room. The game must have an even number of children and a minimum of four children to play. A leader may need to play to even the number.   

In Jesus’ parable, the master sent out invitations to many guests. But what happened when the feast was ready? The people who were invited made excuses not to come.

What did the master do? He told the servants to go out and bring others to the feast.

Point to the Shapes Page on the wall. The four different shapes represent four guests. Each of you is a servant sent out by the master to gather four different guests (shapes) to come to the feast.

Point to the mark on the floor. The mark represents the door to the feast. You must all work together as fast as you can to gather different people for the feast, to fill up the banquet in the quickest time!

Start the timer.

Each player begins with the same four shapes that they have cut apart: a square, diamond, circle, and triangle.

This is a race, with all children playing at the same time.

Every player must gather a new set of the four shapes with a different name on each card. The new set cannot have any cards with the player’s own name.

To do this, players must invite other players to exchange cards to assemble a new set.

If two players cannot exchange cards to help each other, they move on to other players.

Once a player has a new set of four different shapes with four different names, he/she will stand behind the mark until all players are behind the mark.

When all children are behind the mark, stop the timer.

Let’s play a second time and try to beat the score. Have children gather their original cards with their own name on them to begin the new game.

Now, let’s find out more about being invited into God’s Kingdom through Christ.  

Decorating Activity

Give a Cookie Page to each child, along with crayons, colored pencils, or washable markers to share. Give several stickers of each type to share between 3 or 4 children. Instruct the children to decorate their cookies with different colors to represent different flavors of icing and then add stickers to customize their creations.

Smile, then sniff your own Cookie Page. Mmmm! These cookies smell good! The smell of something baking in the oven is one of my favorite things! But be careful, these cookies are fresh from the oven so they may be too warm to touch! Joy and Gizmo had a lot of fun baking treats for the fundraiser. In this activity, you will be decorating your own batch of cookies, fresh out of the oven—well, out of the copier!

As the children decorate, lead a discussion using the questions below as children color their pages.

1. Have you ever baked and decorated cookies or cupcakes? If so, was it just for fun or for a holiday or special occasion? Children respond.     
2. Have you ever participated in a bake sale for a special cause? If so, what was the fundraiser for? Children explain. 
3. What were the Superbook children raising money for? A church mission trip.
   
4. What disaster happened with Gizmo and the cupcake frosting machine? It malfunctioned and sprayed frosting/icing all over Chris and Joy.
5. Why did Jolie, Joy’s friend, feel left out? Joy was always too busy with church activities to spend time with her. 
6. Do you remember why Jolie was unable to go to the church youth group activities with Joy? She spent the weekends with her father who lived out of town.
   
7. Have you ever had a similar experience to Joy’s and realized that you were spending most of your time with church friends and very little time with others? Please explain. Children respond. 

Allow the children to share their creations describe the flavors of icing they chose.

Pack the House Maze

Give a maze page and a pencil to each child. As the children work, lead a discussion using the questions below.

1. When the invited guests made excuses not to come to the feast, what two places did the angry master send his servants to invite others in their place? The back roads and fence rows.

2. What kind of animal did one of the invited guests say he had purchased? Oxen.

3. What did another invited guest say he needed to inspect? A field.     

4. Please fill in the blank. God wants His house to be _____. Full.  

5. What are some excuses people might make today for not coming to church? Too tired, only day to sleep in. Too busy with sports games or other activities, etc.

Allow the children to share their paths to the house.

Conclusion: God wants His church/house to be full—here and in heaven—for all of eternity. He invites everyone to come to Him and experience a life of joy here and forever through Jesus, His Son.           

Bible Activity

Give children a Bible if they do not have one.

Note that the suggested answers are from the New Living Translation. If children are using different translations, their responses will vary.

Sometimes people reject other people. But Jesus invites all people to come to Him, and we should invite them to know Him, too! Let’s look up and discuss some Bible passages about people who Jesus welcomed.     

Mark 10:46-52

1.   Who wanted to meet with Jesus? Bartimaeus.