Teaching

Who can remember from our last lesson why Joy was upset with Sharon? Joy saw Sharon bully other children and steal a bike; she thought the principal should punish Sharon instead of giving her another chance.

Before Superbook took Joy to meet Jonah, Joy only wanted to see Sharon punished.

God gave Jonah a message to give Nineveh, and He has given us a message to give people, too! Hold up the envelope.

He wants us to deliver His Word and mercy to others. Have you ever received an envelope in the mail and couldn’t wait to see what was inside?

Take the “Mercy” sheet out and show it to the children, then put it back in the envelope.

God had a message for Jonah to take to the city of Nineveh, but Jonah didn’t want to deliver it! When we see someone breaking the rules or disobeying God’s Word, we may want them to be caught and punished—no questions asked—just like Joy in the Superbook adventure. Jonah was filled with so much anger about the Ninevite people that he did not want to deliver God’s message to them. Hold up the envelope.

Sometimes though, there may be important things to consider. I am going to slowly read our SuperVerse today. See if you can pick out a reason that God might not immediately judge and punish the Ninevites.

Read Jonah 4:11 (cev):

“In that city of Nineveh there are more than a hundred twenty thousand people who cannot tell right from wrong. … Don’t you think I should be concerned about that big city?”

Hold up the envelope. Did anyone hear a reason not to judge Nineveh right away?

You are good listeners. God told Jonah:

“In that city of Nineveh there are more than a hundred twenty thousand people who cannot tell right from wrong.”

The people didn’t know what was right or wrong. They didn’t even know God’s law at the time. God was telling Jonah that He was concerned about those people, and He wanted them to know that what they were doing was wrong!

Have you ever been punished for breaking a rule that you didn’t even know was a rule?

How did that feel?

Can you see why God was willing to give the people of Ninevah a second chance? How awesome that we serve a God who knows everything about us and sees all our sins—yet He still loves us, He understands where we are in our faith walk, and He is filled with mercy! Hold up the envelope.

What does the SuperTruth tell us? “God wants us to show mercy.”

Hold up the envelope.

Optional: have an older child read Hebrews 4:13 aloud:

“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before His eyes, and He is the One to whom we are accountable.”

God knows everything, yet He still shows us mercy. In the same way, we should offer God’s mercy to people. Hold up the envelope and display the “mercy” sheet.

This reminds me of our Discipleship Challenge that we began last time.

Discipleship Challenge/Practical Application

Hand out the Fish Necklace Patterns to any children who were not present for Lesson 1.

What does the fish remind us of? Jonah.

Does anyone remember what the Greek letters inside the fish stand for?

They stand for “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.” Christians would make the sign of the fish to let others know they were followers of Jesus.

Did anyone use their necklaces from last time as a reminder to show mercy to someone?

What happened when you did? Allow volunteers to share about showing mercy. Did anyone receive mercy from someone this week?

As time allows, briefly ask the challenge questions from Lesson 1 about Zaccheus, and allow children to share their answers from Luke 19.

Your challenge this time is to look at the back of the fish for Lesson 2, read the Bible passage about mercy, and answer the questions on the card. It also has a challenge for you to show mercy to someone. Next time, I’ll ask you to share with us what happened. 

Our craft is based on Proverbs 3:3:

Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.

Just because someone does something wrong, we are not to give up on people, but to show mercy. Kindness is another word associated with mercy. We should freely give mercy and kindness to others, just as God has given them to us.