Opening

What are some things that make children sad? What did you do when you saw your friend sad? What did you tell your friend? Help the children
brainstorm on sad situations of a friend or even loss of something very dear to them and help them answer the questions.
Game: Band Aid Relay Before you play, ask the kids what they would do to help a friend who was hurt. After taking their answers, explain that one thing that can make a scrape feel better is to put a bandaid on it. Band aids help us feel better when
we are hurt. Divide the class into two or three teams, depending on the size of your class. Line the teams up along one side of the room. At the other side of the room, lay out band aids. (You may want to unwrap them for younger kids.) The object of the game is to be the first team with band aids on every team member. To play, the first child from each team will run across the room, grab a band aid, and adhere it to the next person in line. Place the
band aids on the back of hands only, to make them visible and easy to remove later. After the first runner places a band aid on the hand of the
second runner, the second runner then runs and grabs a band aid and places it on the hand of the third team mate. Play continues until the first team
mate who ran has a band aid too. The first team to have a band aid on the hand of every teammate wins. Tell the kids what a great job they did providing comfort for their hurting friends.

Bible Story

● Today’s lesson we discuss the third beatitude “Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth” We are going to learn about meekness. Meekness means to be quiet, gentle, humble, submissive or patient.
● Remember the Beatitudes tell us what our attitudes should be.
● As the old saying goes, “Good things come to those who wait.” And, don’t forget, patience is a virtue. That’s what the third Beatitude means. Wait patiently, without creating a fuss, and work toward your goals without whining or complaining.
● Simple Terms: Happy is the person who can control their emotions, for they will be rewarded. Meekness is strength under control.
● The word “meek” is not one that many kids will know. When Jesus is talking about “the meek”, He is referring to someone who is gentle and does not take out their frustrations and emotions on others; or in other words someone who “controls their actions or behaviors”.
● Being meek is being patient, not easily angered and not thinking of yourself too highly. A bad example of this in the Bible were the Pharisees. They would make sure people knew that they were fasting and praying and seemed proud about what they were doing for God. Except God is looking for us to do these things without putting on a show for others but doing it just for God, not for approval from others. Doing a nice, kind thing for someone is super, but we can always keep on doing that, plus more.
● Jesus gave an example of a meek person using a parable. What is a parable? It is a simple story used to illustrate a spiritual lesson. So here is a parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.
● Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner. “I tell you that this
man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who
humble themselves will be exalted.”
● From the parable we learn that when we go before God we should acknowledge our failures and that we are not worthy before God except for his mercy. We should not look down on other people because just like we are loved by God, God also loves them. We learn that when we are proud God will not listen to our prayers.

Questions

1. What is a parable? Simple story given to illustrate a spiritual lesson.
2. Who are the two people mentioned in the parable? Tax collector and Pharisee
3. Who among the two made the correct prayer? Tax collector
4. Who was meek? Tax collector