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L E S SONYear A2nd QuarterLesson 9The Poor Widow’s OfferingWORSHIPWe worship God by what we do.ReferencesLuke 21:1-4; Mark 12:41-44; The Desire of Ages, pp. 614-616.Memory Verse“God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7, NIV).ObjectivesThe children will:Know that giving is an act of worship.Feel joy when giving.Respond by giving willingly and cheerfully.The MessageWe worship God when we give cheerfully.Getting Ready to TeachThe Bible Lesson at a Glance of two small coins of very little materialIn the Temple one day Jesus watchesdifferent people putting their offerings inthe treasury. Rich people throw in largeamounts of money, but one widow slipsin two very small copper coins. Jesus callsHis disciples to Him and declares that thepoor widow has given more than all theothers.This is a lesson about worship.Jesus recognized the widow’s gift90value as an amazing act of worship. Shegave the last that she had out of herdevotion to God. We too worship Godby what we do and give.Teacher Enrichment“Not the great things which every eyesees and every tongue praises does Godaccount most precious. The little dutiescheerfully done, the little gifts whichmake no show, and which to human eyes

NINEProgram OutlineLESSON SECTIONWelcome1*23MINUTESACTIVITIESongoing Greet students at door; hearpleased/troubledMATERIALS NEEDEDnoneReadinessup to 10A. Coin RubbingsOptions coins of different denominations,crayons or colored pencils, paper,scissors (optional)B. Heads/Tails FlipcoinsC. Hidden Treasure two bags of coinsPrayer andPraise*up to 10Bible Lessonup to 20See page 96.*Prayer and Praise may beused at any time during the program.Experiencing the Story Bible-times costumes, small denomination coins or pebbles, collectionboxBible StudyBibleMemory Versetwo coins, song on page 95, BibleApplyingup to 15Showing Our Lovelarge bag or box, dish towel,the Lesson toy, child-sized article of clothing,spoon, watering can, songbook,picture of children, nonperishablefood item4Sharingup to 15Cheerfully Loving Godtwo coins for each child or cointhe Lesson rubbings from Readiness Activity Amay appear worthless, often stand highest in His sight. A heart of faith and loveis dearer to God than the most costly gift.The poor widow gave her living to do thelittle that she did. She deprived herselfof food in order to give those two mitesto the cause she loved. And she did it infaith, believing that her heavenly Fatherwould not overlook her great need. It wasthis unselfish spirit and childlike faith thatwon the Savior’s commendation” (TheDesire of Ages, p. 615).Can your students tell that you cheerfully give of yourself to them? Have youever denied yourself to give as the widowdid? Ask God to give you the courage to doso.Room DecorationsSee Lesson 1.91

LESSON 9Teaching the LessonWelcomeWelcome students at the door. Ask how their week has been—what theyare pleased/troubled about. Encourage them to share experiences from lastweek’s lesson study. Have them begin the Readiness Activity of your choice.1Readiness ActivitiesSelect the activity most appropriate for your situation.A. Coin RubbingsYou Need:qc oins ofvariousdenominationsqc rayonsor coloredpencilsqp aperq s cissors(optional)Show children how to make an image of the face of a coin by placing a pieceof paper over the coin and gently rubbing a crayon or colored pencil over thesurface. If you wish, you may allow the children to cut out their rubbings and usethem during Experiencing the Story.DebriefingAllow response time as you ask: What are some things shown onyour coin? (face or building, date, etc.) Is your tracing a real coin?Could you take it to the store and use it to buy something? No,the storekeeper would tell you your coin is worthless. Our Biblestory today is about a woman who gave an offering that was sosmall, some people thought it was worthless. But Jesus said hergift was of great value. Our story for today will tell us why. Ourmessage for today is:We worship God when we give cheerfully.Say that with me.B. Heads/Tails FlipYou Need:qc oin foreach childGive each child a small denomination coin and keep one for yourself. Flip yourcoin and note heads or tails (“heads” is when the coin’s top lands faceup; “tails”is when the opposite side lands faceup). Instruct the children to flip their coinsand note heads or tails. For this game their coins are worth something only if theymatch yours. Those whose coin matches yours are still in the game. The othersmust sit down. Continue until only one child is left.DebriefingAllow response time as you ask: In this game what made your coinvaluable or worth something? (When the teacher’s heads or tails matchedmine.) How did you feel when your coin was no longer valuable for92

LESSON 9the game? (sad, embarrassed, didn’t care, etc.) Our Bible story today isabout a woman who was embarrassed to bring an offering becauseshe didn’t think it was worth enough. She felt like those of you whowere out of the game right away. But Jesus said this woman’s giftwas very valuable. What made the difference is that she gave her giftcheerfully. And that leads me to today’s message:We worship God when we give cheerfully.Say that with me.C. Hidden TreasureIn advance: Hide the two bags of coins (treasures) somewhere in yourYou Need:classroom, the church, or outside on the grounds.Divide the class into two teams. Give each team instructions to find theqb ag full oftreasure and bring it to you. Assign an adult helper to each group. (Large classcoinsoption: hide more than two treasures; have more than two groups looking for q b ag withthem.)two coinsDebriefingAllow response time as you ask: How did you feel about going on atreasure hunt? How did you feel when you found your treasure? (Forone team, excited or happy. For another, perhaps disappointed with how smallthe treasure was.) Was one treasure better than the other? Why? Holdup the sack with two coins in it. Jesus said this treasure was worth morethan this treasure. Hold up the sack with a lot of coins in it. How can thatbe? The difference was in how willingly and happily it was given.That makes me think of today’s message:We worship God when we give cheerfully.Say that with me.*NOTE: Prayer and Praise appears on page 96.93

LESSON 92Bible LessonExperiencing the StoryCharactersYou Need: several rich people widowqB ible-times Jesus (adult)costumes several disciplesq s mallDress the children in Bible-timesdenominacostumes. Wrap a scarf or toweltion coinsaround the head of the child whoor pebbleswill play the widow. Give each ofqc ollectionthe children who are to play richboxpeople a handful of coins. Give thewidow two small coins. Position your offering box so it is visible to all.Prompt the children to act out theirparts at the appropriate time.Read or tell the story.One day Jesus was sitting with Hisdisciples in the Temple, watching thepeople who were bringing their offerings. Back then people took their offerings to the Temple court and droppedthem into the collection boxes.Many rich people lived in Jerusalem.They lived in nice houses. They worefancy clothes. They had plenty to eat.After they had paid for their nice housesand fancy clothes and good food, theywould take some of the money left overand give it as an offering at the Temple.Dressed in their finest clothes, they wentto the Temple when they knew a lot ofpeople would be there. They would lookaround to be sure people were watching. Then they would pour their moneyinto the collection box. [Prompt thechildren who play the rich people to dropin their money, making as big a show aspossible.]The rich people liked it when people turned to see who had brought somuch money. They hoped people werewhispering about them behind their94backs. “See how much offering so-and-sobrought? Why, he certainly is a rich man,and so generous, too.”Jesus saw those people who broughtsuch large offerings to the Temple. AndHe knew that they brought only whatwas left over after they bought all thethings they wanted. He knew they hadn’tgiven up a single thing in order to bringa big offering.Then Jesus noticed one more personat the collection box—a woman. Shewasn’t dressed in fancy clothes. Herhusband had died, so she was a widow.Many times she might have gone withoutfood. She might have gone without newclothes also.The widow waited until all the peoplewith big offerings were gone. Then she toolooked around to see if anyone was watching. When she felt sure no one would seeher, she slipped two tiny coins into the collection box and hurried away. [Prompt thechild playing the widow to drop in the twocoins and then walk past the person playingJesus.]But Jesus had seen her. He had seenher slip those two coins into the offeringbox. And she had seen Him watchingher. As she walked away He said to Hisdisciples [have your adult playing Jesussay this part]: “This poor widow hasgiven more than all the others. Theygave gifts knowing that they have everything they need. But poor as she is, shegave all she has.”She might not have had money tobuy bread for supper that night. But shedidn’t care. As she heard Jesus’ words,“tears of joy filled her eyes as she feltthat her act was understood and appreciated.”* And even though everything sheowned was just a tiny, tiny bit—less thanone [name your smallest coin]—Jesus said

LESSON 9she gave more than all the others, because she gave out of her love for God.*The Desire of Ages, p. 615.DebriefingAllow response time as you ask: Whobrought offerings to the Templethat day when Jesus was watching?Why do you think Jesus said thewidow put in more than all the others? How do you think the widowfelt when she heard Jesus say shehad given more than others? Whydo you think the widow put all hermoney into the offering box? Howdo you think we should feel aboutgiving our offerings? Rememberour message? Let’s say it together:We worship God whenwe give cheerfully.Bible StudyOpen your Bible to Luke 21:1-4.Point to the text andYou Need: say, This is wheretoday’s story isq Biblefound in God’sWord, the Bible. Point to each verseas you read the text aloud.DebriefingAsk: What did the rich peopleput in the offering box? What didthe widow give as an offering?What did Jesus say about her offering? How much did you give inSabbath School today?Memory VerseOpen your Bible to 2 CorinthiansYou Need:9:7 and say: This is where wefind our memory verse. Pointq Bibleto each word as you read the textq t wo coinsaloud. “God loves a cheerfulqm usic forgiver.” Then proceed to teach the“Cheerfulmemory verse as outlined below.Giver” (seeSing the memory verse to thebelow)tune at the bottom of this page.Or use no. 29 of Little Voices PraiseHim.God loves a cheerful giver,Cheerful giver,Cheerful giver,God loves a cheerful giver;Cheerful givers God loves.When the children have learned thesong, ask them to sit in a circle. Passthe two coins from child to child whilethe music plays and everyone sings thesong. When the music stops, note whois holding the coins. Continue until everychild has had a chance to hold the coins.Then have everyone say the verse together.95