Matthew 21

Book of Matthew: Chapter 20

The workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16)

Jesus tells us that the first will be last, and the last will be first.

God's amazing generosity - children's talk

Quick questions

An interactive talk about the Parable of the Vineyard workers
In this story the workers who worked hard the whole day were angry. Why was that?

Was it because they didn’t get the money they had been promised? Had the work been too hard?

No, it was because the workers who arrived later got given the same amount of money even though they only worked for a few hours. The full-day workers felt mad that the Vineyard Owner was so generous! They couldn’t stand the thought that others would get a whole day’s pay even though they hadn’t earnt it. They lost focus of the fact that none of them deserved to have been given a job that day at all. It was only because the Vineyard owner hired them that they were able to work and be paid that day.

We can sometimes feel this way about God’s generosity. He is so generous, He loves to give good gifts and bless people...just look at our beautiful planet.

We know He has blessed us. Let’s stop for a minute and you tell me some things in your life you are thankful to God for…

Sometimes we think there are some people who don’t deserve God’s gifts. People who ignore God still get good things. People who do things wrong still seem to have a great life. We can feel mad like the Vineyard workers and focus on being mad about what others have rather then giving God thanks for what He has given us. The truth is we always have something we can be thankful for.

Lets look up a verse. Can we find Matthew 5:45?
This verse says that God “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
What do we think that means?
It means God doesn’t just give good people blessings. The sun shines on everyone. Neither does He let bad things only happen to evil people, we all have times when it "rains" in our lives.

So we musn’t be mad when people get good things we don’t think they deserve. It's God's very nature to be generous to all people and we should be pleased that He is like this. Instead of being mad we should give God thanks for the good things He has given us.

Let's pray together and say thanks to God right now...
(Could also link this parable to that of the Prodigal Son and the older sons jealousy)

That's not fair! Bible story

A family-friendly story that recounts the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard from the Sermons 4 Kids website.

vineyard_bingo.pdf
File Size:	1716 kb
File Type:	pdf

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What do you think Jesus meant by “Everyone who is now first will be last, and everyone who is last will be first.”
Have you ever come first in something? What was that like?
Have you ever come last in something? What was that like?
Do you prefer to win or lose? Why?
Do you think a person can win badly? How?
Do you think it was fair that all the workers in the story were paid the same amount? Why/Why not?

Vineyard bingo

What you need (per game) set of leaders cards, a set of 16 counters per game board, 6 game boards (all on cardboard.) Plastic resealable bags for the counters.

What to do: colour in the six game boards. Make 6 sets of 16 counters. Decorate them and put each set of counters in a plastic resealable bag.

How to play: Give each player one game board and one set of counters. The leader shuffles the leader’s cards. Then takes a card and shows the players. All the players then cover the matching square on their board with a counter. Keep going until someone gets four in a row!

Note: You can either get each child to make their own set of the game so that they can take it home and play with it; or you can just get them to make their own set of counters and then play the game as a group.

Rob the nest game

Topic: This game could help you introduce the topic of what it feels like to work with or against others or the topic of generosity.

Equipment: A hula-hoop per team and one for the center, 10-20 small objects/balls/bean-bags

Instructions:

Put one hula-hoop in the middle as the central nest, fill this with all the balls
Place the other hula-hoops/"nests" at equal distance away from the centre-hoop
Split group into teams of 3-5 people and have them stand around their "nest"
Explain to the children that their job is to be the team at the end with the most balls/"eggs" in their nest
On the count of 3 children are able (one at a time from their team) to raid the central nest and fill their team nest
Once the central-nest is emptied their job is to raid other groups and take their balls/"eggs" back to their home nest
Let the game "play" for a few minutes before blowing the whistle at which point all team members must return to their nests. Count up the balls and see which team has managed to rob the most.

Rob the Nest Reverse: As an alternative, start the game as normal with teams raiding the central nest but then have the children give the eggs to the other teams...still the team with the most eggs in their nest will be the winners at the end...the aim is to out-give others.

Possible debrief questions: How did it feel to have items taken from your team nest? How did you feel doing the robbing? Which version of the game did you enjoy the most? To the winning team...how did it feel to win even though you didn't you didn't fill your nest for yourself?