Preparation: You need a bag of small individually wrapped candies.

Have all the children sit on the floor. They should spread out as much as possible. Encourage them to listen closely to the lesson. Explain that since this lesson teaches us about thankfulness, they should listen for the word "thank". Every time you say thank, thanks, thankful, thank you or Thanksgiving, the first child who stands up pointing their finger at you and says, "You're welcome!" will be given a piece of candy. Explain in advance that in close cases, the decision of the judge (that's you) is final.

As you share the lesson be sure to use as many "thank" words as possible. As you're sharing the lesson do not emphasize these words at all. However, if you do say “thank”, and no one jumps up, repeat the line you just said with slight emphasis. The children will listen closely. However, since they will pay more attention to the "thanks" than the content, be certain to review the lesson.

When you give the children the candy, quickly say the child’s name that it’s intended for, and toss it to them and continue with the lesson. This should be fun, and perhaps a little controlled chaos.

When you complete the lesson, thank everyone individually for listening to the lesson and give them a piece of candy or two so no one is left out.

Following is a sample of how you might tell the account of the ten lepers Jesus healed. Before starting with the actual lesson, say "thank you" a couple of times to get them started.

Beginning now, when you hear “thank” jump up and say, "You're welcome!" Is everyone ready? Okay, Thank you!

The bible is divided in two parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament. Today's lesson is from the New Testament. The bible is a book of books. Today's lesson is from the book of Luke, chapter 17. (Now would be a good time to "drop" a piece of paper near the children. When a child hands it to you, say thank you.)

On His way to Jerusalem Jesus passed through a certain village where ten lepers came to see Him. A leper is someone who has a disease called leprosy. It was a terrible disease. It was a painful and deadly disease and was very contagious. People who had that disease weren't allowed to get close to anyone and even had to move away from their families. If anyone approached them, the lepers would have to cry out "unclean, unclean!" so people would know to stay away from them.

When Jesus came to their village these ten men stood far away from Him, and cried out "Jesus, Master, Have mercy on us!"

When Jesus saw them, He told them to go show themselves to the priests. In that day, the priests determined if a person had leprosy and must stay away from others, or if they were well and could live a normal life.

As the men started to go to the priests, they were cleansed. They all should have been very thankful. When one of the men saw he was healed, he was thankful. He was so thankful that he turned back and with a loud voice, he glorified God. He thanked God with all his heart. The man fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked Him.

Jesus asked "Were there not ten that were cleansed? Where are the other nine?"

The other nine men did not come back and thank Jesus. They should have been thankful too. They should have come back and thanked Jesus.

Jesus said to the man who came back and thanked Him, "Arise and go your way. Your faith has made you whole."

Jesus healed ten men and only one man came back to give Him thanks. We should be thankful for all that Jesus does for us. We shouldn't just remember to be thankful at Thanksgiving. We should be thankful all year long. When we get up in the morning, we should be thankful Jesus gave us another day. When we eat, we should pray over our food and be thankful we have something to eat. We should be thankful because Jesus loves us so much.

Explain this portion of the lesson is over, and everyone should return to their seat.

Reviewing The Lesson

Today's lesson was taken from the New Testament, the book of Luke, chapter 17. When Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, He passed through a village were ten lepers cried out to Him from afar. They cried out "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"

When Jesus saw them, He told them to go show themselves to the priests. As they went, they were cleansed. When one man saw he was healed, he turned back and with a loud voice he glorified God. The man fell at the feet of Jesus and gave Him thanks.

Jesus asked "Were there not ten? Where are the other nine?" Jesus told the man who came back and thanked Him, "Rise and go your way. Your faith has made you whole."

The following Questions can be used for discussion and review, or as quiz questions.

1. Was today's lesson from the Old or New Testament?

2. What book of the bible was today's lesson from?

3. What chapter of Luke was today's lesson from?

4. How many men cried out to Jesus?

5. What was wrong with the men who cried out to Jesus?

6. What did the men cry out to Jesus?

7. What did Jesus tell the men to do?

8. How many men came back to Jesus?

9. What did the man come back to do?

10. What did Jesus ask?

11. What did Jesus say made the man whole?

12. What city was Jesus on His way to when he passed through this

village?

13. When the ten lepers cried out, what did they call Jesus?