Use this children’s Sunday School lesson to teach kids that Jesus has the power over death.
Needed: Bibles
Intro Game: Get Up!
Have students lie down on the floor. Sitting is fine if you don’t have enough room for everyone to lie down. When you yell, “Get up!” everyone should get to their feet and jump into the air as quickly as they can. The first person to jump gets to be the next caller. Play as long as time allows. Be sure to give everyone a chance to be the caller, even if you have to ask someone who’s already done it to give up their turn.
Lesson
Ask students, How many of you know someone who has died? Who was it?
It’s very sad when someone dies, but I have some good news for you today.
(Read Luke 7:11-12.)
“Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and His disciples and a large crowd went along with Him. As He approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.”
What bad thing happened in this story? (A woman’s son died.)
How do you think the woman felt when her son died? (Sad.)
(Read Luke 7:13.)
“When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her and He said, ‘Don’t cry.’”
When Jesus saw the mother and the people carrying the dead son, how did Jesus feel? (He felt bad for the mother.)
Do you think Jesus feels bad for you when something bad happens to you? (Yes.)
Jesus loves you and cares about you and doesn’t want to see bad things happen to you.
(Read Luke 7:14-15.)
“Then He went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, get up!’ The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.”
What did Jesus do for the mother whose son had died? (Jesus brought the son back to life.)
Someday, Jesus will come back to Earth and He will bring everyone who believes in Him back to life who has died, and He will make it so that everyone who hasn’t died and believes in Him will never die. He’ll make our bodies perfect so that we can’t get sick, or get hurt, or get old anymore. And we will all live with Jesus and God forever.
Game: Get Up!
Play the intro gameagain and remind students that Jesus will tell us all to get up and come back to life one day, just like he told the dead boy to get up and brought him back to life.
Game: Resurrection Tag
Pick one student to be It. That student is Death. Pick another student to be Jesus. When Death tags someone, they fall down and lie on the ground like they’re dead. Jesus can then come to tag them, and they can get back up. If Death tags Jesus, Jesus must count to three (because Jesus was dead for three days), but can then get up again. If Jesus tags Death, the round is over. Play until everyone has had a chance to be both Death and Jesus or as long as time permits.
Remind students that Jesus will come back one day and will raise everyone who believes in Him back to life.
Closing Prayer
Jesus, we thank You for caring about us, and we thank You that You will bring all of us back to life if we believe in You. Help us to believe in You until You come. Amen.
You can also find this lesson for Kindle or in print in my book, The Miracles of Jesus.