Another Good Samaritan

Here is another story that I wrote for this year's street camp in Galveston. This is another one of the good Samaritan story written for children.

As with any of my stories, you have my permission to use this however you feel it will be helpful in working with children. Please do not put anyone else's name on the story. While it didn't cost me anything to write the story, it did take my time, effort and thoughts.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan Luke 10

The scripture is copied and pasted from www.biblegateway.com

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d]”

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Who is your neighbor? written by Judy Johnson

Ask the children, “Who is my neighbor?” Allow them time to reply. Then ask, “Are people that live in Houston your neighbor? How about me? I live in _______________. Am I your neighbor? I'm going to tell you a story that Jesus told about who our neighbor is.”

One day, a man that we will call Daniel was traveling to another town. Now back in those days they didn't have cars like we do today so most people had to walk everywhere they went. Now Daniel had been walking for quit a while and he was probably tired already so he was walking a little slower. All of a sudden, 5 robbers jumped out from behind some rocks and started attacking Daniel. They were beating him up pretty badly and had knocked him out. They stole all of his clothes and all of his money. They took everything Daniel had and left him lying in the ditch to die.

Later Preacher Bob was walking down the same road. The robbers had already left. Preacher Bob could see that there was something bloody in the ditch up ahead. He looked and saw that it was a man. “Oh, no,” Preacher Bob said. “I can't take the time to do anything about this. I've got to be a my church in time for our church dinner. Besides, I don't know anything about medicine anyway. I couldn't do anything to help him.” Preacher Bob walked across to the other side of the road so that he wouldn't have to look to closely at how bad Daniel was hurt.

Next, Lawyer Johnson was walking down the same road. He could see that there was someone in the ditch that was hurt. “Oh, no,” said Lawyer Johnson. “ I've got to hurry. I have to be at the court house by 11 o'clock. I don't have time to do anything for him. Besides, I'm a lawyer, not a doctor!” Lawyer Johnson walked across the road to the other side so that he wouldn't have to look at poor Daniel laying in the ditch bleeding.

Even later, a man named Sam was walking down the road. Sam was from another country called Samaria. He hadn't been this way before and didn't really know anyone in this country. He saw Daniel laying in the ditch and Sam felt sorry for him. He knew that if he were laying somewhere knocked out and bleeding, that he hoped someone would stop and help him. So Sam stopped so see what he could do for Daniel. Sam didn't have a lot of things with him but he did have a donkey that he would ride when he was tired of walking. Sam picked Daniel up very carefully and laid him across the back of the donkey. Sam walked with Daniel on his donkey for a little ways until he saw an inn where he could stay for the night. He took Daniel to a room and washed his cuts and let him sleep in the bed overnight. The next morning, Sam told the owner of the inn, Simon, that he was going to leave Daniel there. He asked Simon to take care of him and feed him until Daniel was well enough to travel on is own. Sam gave Simon all the money that he had saved for his trip to use to take care of Daniel. He told Simon, “ I'm traveling to the next town to get a job. After I work for a while, I will come back here to see how Daniel is doing. When I come back, I will pay you whatever extra it cost to take care of Daniel.”

Which of these three people, Preacher Bob, Lawyer Johnson, or Sam from another country, do you think was a neighbor to Daniel, who had been robbed and beat up?”

Let the children respond on what they think about their neighbors. Explain how Sam, the foreigner, showed mercy on Daniel. Tell the children how much God loves us and how He showed mercy on us when He sent His son, Jesus, to die on the cross for us.

Modern Day Builders

Here is one of the stories that I wrote for this year's street camp in Galveston. It is the story about the wise and foolish builders found in Matthew 7:24-28.

As with any of my stories, you have my permission to use this as you work with children. I only ask that you do not put anyone else name as the author. I don't see myself as the world's greatest children's author but I did put my time and thought into this story and did not copy it from anyone else.

I did not make any puzzles or games to go with this as the format of the street camp has changed.


scripture was copied and pasted from www.biblegateway.com

The Wise and Foolish Builders Matthew 7

24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

The Two New Houses written by Judy Johnson

One bright, sunny summer day, two friends, Isaiah and Joshua, were walking along the beach. The water looked cool and refreshing as Isaiah ran on ahead. When he stopped, Isaiah jumped up and down and called out to Joshua, “This is it! This is the place!”

Joshua looked at Isaiah, puzzled and asked, “The place for what?”

“The place we are building our new house. See, over there,” Isaiah said pointing, “that's where my bedroom is going to be. All I'll have to do is just walk out the door and jump into the ocean to go swimming. It will be great fun to live so close to the ocean.”

Joshua shook his head back and forth and frowned. “I heard my dad talking about someone building a new house right on the sand. He said that's not a good idea. Dad said that a house needs a solid foundation or it won't stand during the storms. When the storms come, your house will crash down. That won't be good.”

Isaiah stalked off mad. He yelled at Joshua, “You're just jealous because your dad didn't think of it first.”

Joshua called back for Isaiah to wait. “Come with me.” he said. “Let me show you where my dad is building our new house.”

Isaiah followed Joshua as they walked away from the beach. They walked a long time before Joshua looked at Isiah and said, “This is where my dad is building our house.”

“Here?” questioned Isaiah. “This is a long way from the beach. This is just a big, old rock. I mean, it's huge. Who wants to live here? This won't be a fun place to live. It's way too far from the beach.

“It is a long way from the beach,” Joshua agreed, “but our house will be on a solid foundation. Nothing is going to blow this rock away. When the storms come, we will be safe.”

Weeks past and summer was almost over. The houses were almost finished being built. A few small rains had come and Isaiah was happy that nothing had happened to the house they were building on the beach. “See,” Isaiah said to himself. “Joshua doesn't know what he's talking about. Our house on the sand is just fine.”

One day, a short time later, Isaiah and Joshua saw each other at school. They were both very excited. “We move into our new house tomorrow!” they both exclaimed at the same time. The houses were both finished and they would all start moving tomorrow.

“I'll be able to go swimming every day,” Isaiah said excitedly. Joshua just shook his head.

That night, as they were all at their old houses, packing boxes to get ready for the move, a big storm came. The rain came down hard for a long time. The wind was blowing and the boys could each see the wind whipping the trees around outside their windows. Both boys worried about there new houses. They knew a storm like this could cause a lot of damage to even the strongest of houses. The storm went on all night long.

The next morning the sun came out and the rain stopped. The wind wasn't blowing any more. There were puddles on the ground but they would still be able to move to their new houses. All of Isaiah's family and all of Joshua's family loaded up their things ready to move. When Joshua's family got to the huge rock where their house was built, Joshua was relieved to see that the house on the rock stood firm and strong.

Joshua looked down the long way to the beach to see if he could see Isaiah's new house. He couldn't see anything. Later, when there was time, Joshua and his dad walked to the beach. There they found all of Isaiah's family sitting in the sand. There was wood and stones all over the beach around them. Isaiah's mom and his sisters were all crying because the house on the sand was not able to stand.

Joshua's dad talked to Isaiah's dad. “Why don't you come and build a house next to us up on the solid rock. We have plenty of room next to us for your house too.”

Not only should we build out homes on a solid foundation, we should also build our lives on a solid foundation. The best foundation for our lives is Jesus Christ.

Storyteller take time to tell the children how to know Jesus as personal savior.