Scripture: Luke 10:38-42
Learning Objectives:
- Students will learn God wants us to make Him our first priority in life.
- Students will learn God wants us to avoid being distracted by worldly things.
- Students will learn God wants us to listen to His words.
- Students will learn how to write a proper letter to someone/a company that they would like to have change something.
Guiding Question: How does distraction lead us away from God?
Materials: Paper, pens
Letter writing resource: https://www.houselogic.com/home-thoughts/letter-writing-advocacy/
Procedure: Review the story of Mary and Martha. Remind students that Martha was easily distracted and busy preparing things for dinner. Ask students to share why they thought Martha was distracted by her chores. Explain that while it is fine for Martha to want to prepare a nice meal and have a clean house, she made those things a priority when listening and learning from Jesus should have been her first priority. Have students share what they think can serve as distractions for them today and how can they plan to minimize those distractions so they can focus more on Jesus. Share with students that God wants us to listen and learn from Him. One way we can help ourselves do this is to set aside time each day to spend with God praying and/or reading the Bible.
Introduce the activity. Have the students share a time that they have wanted to change something that was happening in an organization or somewhere in the world to make it better. (Provide appropriate examples as needed). Tell the students they are going to learn how to write letters to effect change. Using the ideas and tips from the letter writing resource in the Material section, teach the students how to write a letter for change. Have the students pick a place they would like to see change in and address that place in the letter. You may also allow students to mail letters.
Additional Questions: How can students stand up for what they believe in?
Supplemental Activity: Have students create a 2-3 minute speech about something they are passionate for that they can present to the class.