Being like Simon

To understand our call to be like Jesus

The children will be able to recognize that we are called to be like Jesus.

• Bibles

• Ask the children: How can we care for the people around us who need help? (by offering our time or friendship, by praying, and so on)
• When you feel the children are ready, ask them to open their Bibles to Luke 23:22-26.
• Invite a volunteer to read the passage aloud.
• After the reading, spend some time discussing the story and ways in which we can learn to be like Simon.
• Gather the children into small groups and ask them to think of situations when they might be called to be like Simon.
• Then ask the groups to role-play their situations by demonstrating the right way to respond to a difficult situation.
• After the presentations, invite the children to form a seated circle and share, one at a time, a way they have learned to be more like Simon and to make the right decision when faced with a difficult choice.
• Say to the children: We are all called in our own time to be helpers of Jesus by caring for the people Jesus loves, by helping the people around us who need help.

People Smart, Word Smart

Prepare a list of situations that arise in our lives when we encounter difficult situations.

Be aware that some children may not be comfortable role-playing in front of others. Suggest to these children that they act as directors of the skit or narrators of the scene being presented.