Mark 9 v 31 – 37

Lesson Aim

To understand that Jesus performed miracles to encourage faith in God.

Hook 1: post-it notes, masking tape, earphones

Have another leader settle the children then enter with a sign saying that you cannot speak or hear. Place a strip of masking tape over your mouth and put on your earphones (if you wear a hearing aid, remove the hearing aid). Have the story written out in short sentences on post-it notes and get different children in turn to read out the story. The story can be written as if you are the deaf and dumb man. When you reach the part of the story when Jesus heals the man, remove the tape and earphones and finish telling the story yourself.

Story tip:

Simply say that Jesus touched the man’s tongue without referring to saliva. This will prevent an adverse reaction from any children.

Hook 2: Question – Can you keep a secret?

Jesus told some people in today’s story to keep a secret. Do you always keep a secret? Let’s find out whether these people in today’s Bible story kept the secret when Jesus told them.

Application

The people who saw today’s miracle were astonished and told lots of other people about the miracle, even though Jesus told them to keep it a secret! Jesus could only perform this miracle if he was the Son of God. Would we believe that Jesus was the Son of God if we saw a miracle like this?