Our Responsibility to Serve

Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30, Luke 19:11-27

Learning Objectives:

  • Students will learn how the servants who used their talents/minas wisely were rewarded and honored above the one who did not.
  • Students will learn the importance of responsibly working together to use the talents and resources God gives us.
  • Students will participate in an activity that requires group work to put together school supply bags for other people who need them.

Guiding Questions:

  • What responsibilities has God given to us?
  • How can we use our resources, time, opportunities, and talents to serve God responsibly?

Materials: School supply items for “assembly line” ( pencils, pencil cases, erasers, paper, notebooks, glue sticks, scissors, rulers, crayons, markers, highlighters, pens, colored pencils, etc.), bags for items to go in once assembled, one large bag for each group which contains all their supplies for the assembly line, cards for tasks (see procedures)

Procedure: Review the story of the Parable of the Talents/Minas, focusing especially on how God expects us to use our talents and resources for his glory. This means we have the responsibility to put our faith into action by serving. Everything that we have is God’s first and foremost. So are our time and abilities. Explain being responsible means we do what we say we will do, we do the things that need to be done without being asked or reminded and we take the credit or blame for our words and actions. Divide students into groups. Give each group a bag that is already filled with multiples of each type of school supplies and small bags to put the school supplies in. Maybe have 10 bags and 10 of each type of school supply in each group’s big bag depending on your number of students. Tell students that they are going to work together to use their resources in order to make bags for students who need school supplies. Explain that each team is an assembly line. When you tell them to start, they are to take out the contents of their big bag, organize them and each person will take responsibility to complete one task on the enclosed card until they run out of items to complete their bag of school supplies. This is a race for both speed and quality. The team who has the quickest time and the highest quality finished product wins.

Assembly Line Instructions
• Remove items from large plastic bag.
• Place similar items in separate piles.
• Decide on a design for your paper bags. Besides a picture or logo, it must include the words “God Loves You” and your ministry name (optional).
• Create your assembly line. Each person on your team must perform at least one task to completion. (Ex: Amy is opening every paper bag without help from other team members.) A team member may perform more than one task if there aren’t enough team members for each task, but the person to whom it is given must complete every task assigned. Every team member must have at least one assigned task.
The assembly line tasks are the following:
• Decorate bag (You can divide this into more than one task if you wish. For example one person draws the logo, one person colors it, one person writes “God Loves You”.)
• Open each decorated paper bag
• Place one pencil in each bag
• Place one eraser in each bag
• Place one package of paper in each bag
• Place one pair of scissors in each bag
• Place one ink pen in each bag
• Place one highlighter in each bag
• Tape each bag shut with one small piece of tape
• (specify supplies for the ones you collected)

Teams will be judged on how quickly they assembled all bags, how well they worked together as a team and the high, consistent quality of each and every completed bag.

After the assembly line, have a brief discussion on responsibility and what would have happened if one person on the team did not do their part. Explain God set up the Church to be a type of team that helps take care of people, helps them become Christians and encourages them to follow God. Discuss how important it is for them to be responsible for the different things God has given them to do right now – schoolwork, their possessions, their friends and family, etc.

Additional Questions:

  • What other types of service could benefit from an assembly line?
  • What are specific places in our community that would benefit from free school supplies?
  • What are ways to get more school supply donations?
  • How are we responsible to the students receiving the bags?

Supplemental Activity: Let students take part in organizing a school supply drive by asking for donations from their community. Students can make posters, flyers, school supply wish lists, and advertise in front of markets and stores with donation boxes so that people who are shopping notice their service and want to contribute. Students may also choose a different organization or form of service to raise donations for.

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