CrossKids Devo | Woman In Pain
Activity – Tell Me Thumbthing
Say: When people like a movie, they sometimes give it a thumbs-up. Demonstrate. Really like the movie? Two thumbs-up. If they dislike or really dislike the movie, they give it one or two thumbs-down. Demonstrate.
Please rate how this past week has gone for you. Was it a one or two thumbs-up week? A one or two thumbs-down week? Or maybe you'd give it one thumbs-up and one thumbs-down--it was a good and bad week.
Rate your week now.
After kids rate their weeks, give kids 30 seconds each to explain why they rated their weeks as they did. You'll go first, sharing a story that models the sort of brief, personal stories you hope kids will share too.
Children will express themselves more over time, and hearing their stories will help you adapt this session to make it even more relevant to your kids' lives. Bible Time – Woman In Pain – Luke 13:10-13 Jesus' awesome promise to the woman who had been doubled over for eighteen years: she'd be healed. Even better, she'd be healed immediately. Jesus kept his promise and, with a touch, gave the woman back her ability to stand upright.
Two things to notice:
The woman didn't ask Jesus for his help. She was just in the synagogue, coming to worship, when Jesus saw her. He called her over to where he was teaching and gave her back the gift of her health.
Her response was as immediate as her healing: she praised God!
As you share this session with your kids, be open to experiencing what the woman experienced. Be open to God's reaching into your life and offering you healing in some way. And be open to reacting the same way the woman did--by praising God.
Ask the kids to see if they can bend at the waist and touch their toes. Have them try twice to limber up; then ask them to bend over and touch their toes--and keep touching their toes as you read.
Read: Luke 13:10-13
Ask kids to slowly straighten back up and then to sit with you. As you discuss:
What was it like being bent over? How would your life change if you were stuck in that position?
How has Jesus helped heal you--or has that ever happened?
If you could choose one person for Jesus to heal, who would it be? Why?
Say: The woman Jesus healed was happy about being healed. She praised God for Jesus' awesome promise to her--that her sickness had left her. And I'll bet she sent any of her friends who were in pain to see Jesus too! Let's go to Jesus now to tell him about people we know who are in pain--and ask that he heal them. Before You Pray:
Ask kids to create space to lie on their backs on the floor.
Say: Imagine that you can't move, that you're trapped in the position you're in. (pause) Now imagine that you can move, but every move hurts terribly. (pause) There are many people in both those situations--they're paralyzed or injured. Or like the woman Jesus healed, they're bent and weak.
Please think of someone you know who needs to be healed. Perhaps it's someone who has been injured or has a disease. Or whose body is fine, but the person is in another sort of pain. Perhaps the person's family member has died, or the person lost a job or is hurting (or sad) for some other reason.
Now silently pray for that person. Ask Jesus to please heal that person, if he will. I'll close the prayer in a minute.
After 60 seconds, Pray: God, thank you that you know the people we've been telling you about. You know everything. Thank you that you have the power to bring those people comfort and healing. We ask you to help the people we've prayed for. And if you want to use us to bring them comfort, help us to do that. In Jesus' name, amen.