Proclaim His Name to the Nations: Two Miracles for Two Faith-filled Persons

This is the fifth of a series of rotation lessons for Silverdale United Methodist Church (SUMC) on the theme “Proclaim His Name to the Nations…” written for September 2003, through May 2004 rotation Sunday school at SUMC. The lesson material sometimes contains information and ideas posted on http://www.rotation.org by various other authors; that material is available without copyright restrictions as long as credit is given to the original authors and it is not used for commercial purposes. Gail Smith is the author of this present series of lessons for SUMC; resources are listed in the “references” section.

SUMC’s rotation Sunday school is called Kids’ Faith T.R.E.K. (Totally Receiving and Embracing God’s Kingdom).

Lessons will be taught in the following workshops:
· Creation Cove – Art/Games - pyramid shaped artwork with 3 drawings (or suggestion for a "Where's Waldo"-type collage)
· Master’s Mountain Theatre – Drama - write scripts and act out both stories
· Scripture Tent – Storytelling - tell stories and talk about life application
· Video Viewpoint – Video - Animated Stories: Miracles of Jesus
· Hallelujah Hill – Assembly - no info given


Scripture References: (Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the NIV Bible.)
The healing of the Canaanite Woman’s daughter: Matthew 15:22-28 and Mark 7:25-30
The healing of the Centurions’ servant: Matthew 8:5–13 and Luke 7:2-10
Memory Verses:
· Mark 11:22 “Have faith in God.”
· Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

Theme: Although Jesus came first to proclaim God’s Kingdom to His chosen, covenant people, the Jews, God’s Kingdom is for all peoples. God hears the prayers of each person who asks with faith in Jesus.
Goals:
-To teach that God is good and faithful.
-To teach that God is fully worthy of our faith.
-To teach that God honors the prayer of any person who seeks him and asks with faith in Jesus as the Son of God, our Savior from sin
-To teach that God answers our prayers in his own perfect and good way according to what is best for us
-To teach that God honors our love for one another when we pray in faith for others

Concepts:
1. God’s character is holy, loving and good; He is faithful to His Word.
2. Since God is holy, loving and good, He is fully worthy of our faith. He is trustworthy.
3. If we have faith in Jesus, the Son of God and our own personal Savior from sin, he hears the prayers we ask in faith.
4. God’s answers to prayer come with His perfect timing and wisdom for what is best.
5. God has commanded us to love one another, and when we pray for another person in faith, he delights to answer our prayers.

Biblical Explanation and Background
According to the New Compact Bible Dictionary, a “miracle”, in Biblical terms, is never “magic”, but a work of God that demonstrates who God is for us. It is “an extraordinary event, inexplicable in terms of ordinary natural forces” wholly dependent upon the will of God.
The miraculous healing of the centurion’s servant and of the Canaanite woman’s daughter have many similarities and a few differences that teach us about faith and about answered prayer. Without overwhelming our students with details, we can teach some basic principles of faith and prayer from these miracles that clearly demonstrate the goodness and love of God even to persons who were not part of God’s covenant people, the Jews.
Both the centurion and the Canaanite woman urgently sought Jesus for a person each of them cared about. Although the centurion had Jewish friends who seemed to have also pleaded with Jesus for him, both individuals were from non-Jewish cultures that worshipped many gods rather than the one true almighty God. The centurion was Roman, and the Canaanite (Syrophoenician) woman was Greek (Mark 7:26).
In spite of each person’s cultural background, each one showed great faith in Jesus as the Son of God. The Roman centurion showed his faith as he expressed understanding of Jesus’ authority in both the physical and spiritual realm, saying, “I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” (Luke 7:8) He said this after saying that Jesus need not come to his house to heal his servant; he knew that just a word from Jesus would be sufficient.
Likewise, the Canaanite woman called Jesus “Lord” three times in the Matthew story. First she said, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Matthew 15:22) Then she said, “Lord, help me!” (Matthew 15:25) Finally she said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” (Matthew 15:27) “Lord” means she believes Jesus has authority, and by calling him “Son of David”, she was saying that Jesus was the promised Jewish Messiah, God’s Son in human flesh.
Both the centurion and the Canaanite woman persisted in urgently requesting Jesus to heal their loved one. It’s apparent that the centurion was concerned that Jesus might not be willing to receive his request. Members of the synagogue in Capernaum told Jesus the centurion deserved his attention: (Luke 7:4-5) “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” Then again, as Jesus approached the centurion’s home, he sent friends to say, (Luke 7:6) “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.” He humbled himself before Jesus, and he showed respect for the fact that Jesus, being Jewish, would be considered ceremonially unclean if he entered the centurion’s house. The Canaanite woman persisted in her request although Jesus told her twice that he came first of all to the Jews. He seemed to reject her as he said, “First let the children eat all they want…for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” (Luke 7:27) She, too, humbled herself as she replied that the dogs eat the crumbs under the master’s table.
Jesus commended each person for great faith. He said of the centurion, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” (Luke 7:9) He said of the Canaanite woman, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” (Matthew 15:28) What a commendation to receive from the Lord; not only an answer to prayer for an urgent need, but also recognition of great faith!
These events from the ministry of Jesus are unique in that they were miraculous answers to prayer for non-Jewish persons who expressed faith in Jesus. It appears that all or most of the other miracles recorded in the gospels were done to Jewish believers. Jesus’ promise for us that “the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name” (John 16:23) is for all who believe in Jesus for forgiveness of sin and in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. Jesus says it is both our right and our responsibility to pray in faith and to expect God to answer.
He teaches us to be persistent in our praying, like the widow woman who kept asking the unjust judge for justice (Luke 18:2 – 7) Our memory verse from Matthew 7:7 says to “ask, seek and knock”. That’s persistence, like the persistence of the Canaanite woman. God answers us in His perfect wisdom at the perfect time. Sometimes we receive an immediate “yes” or “no” to our prayers, but often we must patiently wait, persistently ask, and honor God with faith. Faith is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)
Jesus also teaches us that God expects us to be in right relationship to Himself and in right relationship to other people before our prayers will be answered. If we ask selfishly, God will not answer; we are not putting Him first in that case. “When you ask you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (James 4:3) The Lord’s Prayer includes the need to be forgiven as well to forgive anyone who has offended us; “forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12)
God promises to answer according to what is best for us and according to what will give Him glory when we ask in faith. “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.” (I John 3:21 – 23)
Jesus said the faith of children is honored; faith and obedience in humility before God from a loving heart are what God wants. So Jesus said in Matthew 18:3 – 4, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” We must encourage our children to exercise their faith in God as they practice persistent, Holy Spirit directed prayer.

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Creation Cove – Art Workshop
There are two or more possibilities for art that might reinforce the stories of the centurion and the Canaanite woman and the application to practicing prayer in faith. One would be to do a collage in the style of “find Waldo” except that it would be “find Jesus”. It would be fairly easy for the younger children (grades 1 & 2) to make a collage using small cut out pictures from magazines glued onto an 8 ½” X 11” sheet of construction paper. The picture of Jesus would either have to be drawn by the child on paper similar to the other magazine paper using felt pen, or it might be a cutting from an old Sunday school paper. The result would be a sea of people doing various things, with Jesus among them. It would reinforce Matthew 7:7, concerning asking, seeking and knocking, because the viewer would have to search for Jesus. Children enjoy making puzzles for other people to solve.
The other possibility is a three part picture drawn by the child showing the centurion story, the Canaanite woman story, and a story of the child exercising faith in God and praying. The following material list and instructions are for such a picture that would stand up as if it were a pyramid with three triangular faces. Alternatively, a person could use some other kind of wooden craft sticks and could make square or rectangular frames for the three pictures. It seems reasonable to link them together into a standing piece of art so their equivalence is part of the art, and the idea of “standing in faith before God” is seen.

Materials (to be prepared ahead of time)
Heavy paper for drawings (The number of pieces each child needs will depend on how large you decide to have the drawings. Small rectangular drawings linked by craft sticks could be made by folding one 8 1/2” X 11” sheet of paper in half both ways and cutting our the resulting rectangles. Children could share the leftover fourth rectangle from each sheet so that you need not prepare a ratio of one sheet per child. If you chose to use triangular papers 8 ½” tall, each child would need three sheets of 8 ½” X 11” paper. Folding the paper in half top to bottom, opening it again, and then creating a triangle by folding from one edge of the fold line to each of the opposite corners would result in a roughly equilateral triangle.)
glue
felt pens or crayons
craft sticks (optional)

Teacher preparation:
Read the Scripture passages prayerfully, asking God to show you what He has to say to you and to those He’s given you to teach.
Study the Biblical Explanation and Background, and prepare to teach the necessary concepts.
Prepare the necessary materials, and prepare a sample project, if appropriate, but do not show the children what to draw, since that is part of their own creative understanding of the concepts

Welcome the children and their guide(s) to the workshop, introduce yourself, and open in prayer. Please try to start on time and end on time, and focus your attention on the children.

Attendance: Guides take care of this. The children will be wearing nametags, so you can call them by name. Include the guide(s) in class discussion and prayer, and give them opportunities to interact with the children. They will also help with the journal time at the end of the lesson.
Post the two Bible memory verses (Mark 11:22 and Matthew 7:7); the children will have their own copies. Repeat these two verses with the class before beginning to teach the lesson, and ask the children to be ready to tell how each of the verses goes with the lesson.
Teach about the centurion’s servant and the Canaanite woman and the extension and application of their stories to practicing prayer. Use necessary scripture references, and finally ask children how the two memory verses work with the teaching.
Children will need to hear the stories before they can begin the art projects this time, so time management is important.

Art activity directions: (only given for the drawings)
Have the guides pass out three paper rectangles or triangles (choose one shape) to each child.
Ask the children to draw a scene from the centurion’s servant on one sheet (any part of the story they especially think is important), and a scene from the Canaanite woman on another sheet. On the third sheet they can draw themselves praying or talking to Jesus.
If you chose to use triangular shaped papers, when the drawings are completed have the child apply glue (glue stick will work for this) on the back side of the two vertical edges of each triangle. They can then press the two glued surfaces together so that the glued seam protrudes to the front and forms a strong ridge, making a three-edged pyramid.
If you chose to use the rectangles and craft sticks, have the child frame each of the three drawings with glued-on craft sticks. The three pictures can be linked together by applying masking tape to the back side of adjoining craft stick frames.

Discussion:
You may find it useful to use these questions during the art activity to save time.

1. When the centurion told Jesus that he felt unworthy for Jesus to even come to his house and told Jesus that he had men under his command and was himself under command from a higher officer, what did he mean? (ANS: He meant that he understood that Jesus had authority in the physical and spiritual realm, and that he had faith that Jesus could heal his servant even if Jesus didn’t touch or see his servant at his house.)

2. When the Canaanite woman told Jesus that “even the dogs can eat the crumbs the children spill under the table”, what was she saying? (ANS: She meant that she believed that God loved her and would answer her prayer.)

Journal: The third picture of the child in prayer or conversation with Jesus suffices for the journaling in this workshop. Children will write about their third picture in another workshop.
Close with a circle of prayer. This is an especially good rotation in which to take time to pray.


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Master’s Mountain Theatre – Drama Workshop

Teacher preparation:
Read the Scripture passages prayerfully, asking God to show you what He has to say to you and to those He’s given you to teach.
Study the Biblical Explanation and Background, and prepare to teach the necessary concepts.
Welcome the children and their guide(s) to the workshop, introduce yourself, and open in prayer. Please try to start on time and end on time, and focus your attention on the children.

Attendance: Guides take care of this. The children will be wearing nametags, so you can call them by name. Include the guide(s) in class discussion and prayer, and give them opportunities to interact with the children. They will also help with the journal time at the end of the lesson.
Post the two Bible memory verses (Mark 11:22 and Matthew 7:7); the children will have their own copies. Repeat these two verses with the class before beginning to teach the lesson, and ask the children to be ready to tell how each of the verses goes with the lesson.
Teach about the centurion’s servant and the Canaanite woman and the extension and application of their stories to practicing prayer. Use necessary scripture references, and finally ask children how the two memory verses work with the teaching. (See note with “teach” below first, however.)
Two parallel plays: Since there are a number of similarities in the two stories of the faith of the centurion for his servant’s healing and the faith of the Canaanite woman for her daughter to be healed, it might be possible to have the children first do a short play about each one, based on lines created by actually reading the Bible words, and to follow the plays with the teaching this time. That would save some time, and it would follow up on the impact of the plays. If time permitted, they could repeat the plays (but swap cast members) after the teaching, or you could use the time for journaling.
The Centurion’s Servant: The shortest version is from Matthew 8:5-13, with the characters being only the centurion, Jesus, and some onlookers or disciples. The longer version is from Luke 7:1-10, and requires a centurion, “elders of the Jews”, friends of the centurion, Jesus, and onlookers. For which ever version you choose, copy the lines of scripture into a separate script with character lines that are easy to read, and make enough copies of it so that each character has one. Younger children, such as grades 1 and 2, would probably do better with the Matthew version.
The Canaanite Woman: The version from Matthew 15:21-28 has more dialogue and seems like the better story to use, rather than Mark 7:24-30. However, the Mark passage has the woman returning home and finding her daughter healed, so perhaps combining the two passages would work best, using Mark 7:30 instead of Matthew 15:29b. A minimum of two characters, Jesus and the woman, are needed. One could add the daughter at the end, and there can always be servants and the on looking crowd. Again, make a copy of the script using the actual Bible verses for the dialog, and make enough copies for each character to have a copy.

Teach the application of the story last this time. Precede it with the following questions which will lead into your teaching:

1. Why do you think Jesus commended the centurion for his great faith? (ANS: The centurion recognized Jesus’ authority over physical and spiritual things and compared it to his own authority over soldiers and to his own submission to authority. Jesus was always obedient to his Father’s authority, so the centurion was recognizing Jesus as the Son of God. Many of the Jewish people had less faith in Jesus than the Centurion did.)

2. Why do you think Jesus said to the Canaanite woman, “Woman, you have great faith!” in Matthew 15:28? (ANS: When Jesus told the woman that he had come first to serve and save his own Jewish people, she replied that she needed and expected help from God. She also called him “Lord”, meaning that she worshipped him, that he was the Son of God.)

3. Why do you think Jesus chose to respond to the requests made by the centurion and by the Canaanite woman instead of ignoring them? (ANS: God loves all persons and people groups at all times, and He sent Jesus for all people. When Jesus responded to the faith of the centurion and of the Canaanite woman, he demonstrated Father God’s love through his own works.)

Possible journal topic: If Jesus were here today at our church, what would you say to him, and how would you expect him to respond?
Close with a circle prayer.

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Scripture Tent – Storytelling Workshop

Teacher preparation:
Read the Scripture passages prayerfully, asking God to show you what He has to say to you and to those He’s given you to teach.
Study the Biblical Explanation and Background, and prepare to teach the necessary concepts.

Attendance: Guides take care of this. The children will be wearing nametags, so you can call them by name. Include the guide(s) in class discussion and prayer, and give them opportunities to interact with the children. They will also help with the journal time at the end of the lesson.
Post the two Bible memory verses (Mark 11:22 and Matthew 7:7); the children will have their own copies. Repeat these two verses with the class before beginning to teach the lesson, and ask the children to be ready to tell how each of the verses goes with the lesson.
Teach about the centurion’s servant and the Canaanite woman and the extension and application of their stories to practicing prayer. Use necessary scripture references, and finally ask children how the two memory verses work with the teaching.
The healing of the centurion’s servant:
In the time when Jesus was alive in Israel there was a great foreign army ruling the land. The Roman emperor, called “Caesar”, was king over the kings and authorities in Israel, and he enforced Roman law through the powerful Roman military. Jesus was living in a conquered land; Roman soldiers were everywhere, especially in the cities.
Jesus liked to visit in the little city of Capernaum, on the north shore of beautiful Lake Galilee. The people there were friendly, and Jesus had friends and followers there. Once he stayed at Peter’s house in Capernaum and healed Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever. (Matthew 8:14-15) However, that happened after Jesus had healed the centurion’s servant.
The centurion was a fairly powerful and well-to-do Roman officer. He had authority over one-hundred soldiers, and he was himself under the authority of the leader of the “legion” of 60 groups of 100 soldiers, so he was one of 6000 men under the chief of the legion. This particular centurion in Capernaum loved the Jewish people. We don’t know why; perhaps a Jewish person had shown him great kindness, or maybe he was one of the foreigners who earnestly sought to know the one true God of Heaven, the God of the Jews.
Since this centurion loved the Jewish people he decided to do a kindness to them. The little city of Capernaum had a very dilapidated Jewish worship place, the synagogue. When he found out the synagogue needed major repairs, the centurion gave the leaders of the congregation the money they needed to do the work. They were very grateful to him, and they thought well of him.
The centurion, being fairly well off financially, had servants working for him at his house. We don’t know anything about whether or not the centurion had a family, nor do we know anything about his servant or servants, but we do know that he cared about his servants.
One day a servant he cared very much for became very sick, so sick that it seemed he would soon die. When the men at the synagogue heard about the servant’s sickness, they came to the centurion, their friend. They told him about the man called Jesus who had been healing people and doing miracles. The centurion thought to himself, “This man must be the Son of God. I wonder if he would heal my servant who is so ill?” The friends said, “We will ask Jesus to come and help you. We’ll tell him how much you have helped us, and how you care for our people.”
The friends came to Jesus, and they told him about the centurion and about his very sick servant. They said the centurion needed and deserved Jesus’ help, and Jesus listened to them and went with them. Before they got to the centurion’s house, the centurion sent a messenger to Jesus. He knew Jesus would be considered “unclean” if he stepped inside the house of a foreigner, a Roman soldier. He also believed that Jesus, the Son of God, was under God’s authority, just as he was under the authority of Caesar. And just as he commanded men under himself, he believed that Jesus, the Son of God, commanded the forces of heaven and earth, so Jesus could heal his servant no matter where he was. His friends told Jesus that the centurion said, “Just say the word, and my servant will be healed.”
Jesus was amazed when he heard these words. No one else in the crowd of disciples and other people around him had expressed such faith. He replied, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” (Luke 7:9) When the men returned to the centurion’s house, they found the servant up and doing his job. He was completely well, just as the centurion, in faith, had said he would be.

The healing of the Canaanite woman’s daughter:
Jesus was on a trip with his disciples outside the northern boundary of Israel. They needed a little time alone together, and they went north along the seacoast to a place near the cities of Tyre and Sidon where many Canaanite or Phoenician people lived. They went to a house there to stay awhile, trying to get away from the crowds of people who always wanted Jesus to help them or teach them. However, when people heard who was staying at the house, they began to talk among themselves. They probably said things like, “It’s Jesus! I heard about how he healed my uncle’s child in Capernaum in Israel!” and “I hear that some people think he’s the Jewish Messiah, the Son of God!”
There was a woman living nearby whose daughter was very ill. It wasn’t a sickness in her body, however; it seemed to be a sickness in her spirit. The woman said, “She has an evil spirit. I must ask this man Jesus to help, or else there is no hope for her.” So the woman went to the house where Jesus was staying and tried to talk to him.
When she saw Jesus, she fell down at his feet. She had seen his face, and somehow she recognized that he might respond to her humble, worshipful entreaty. She said earnestly, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession.” Jesus looked at her kindly, but his disciples said, “Master, send her away! She keeps crying out to us!”
Jesus stern reply was, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman continued to kneel before Jesus. Her voice came in loud, gasping sobs, “Lord, help me!” Again, Jesus’ reply seemed stern, for he said, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” The woman looked up at Jesus, saying, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
Jesus smiled at her. He said, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” The woman returned home, and she found her daughter lying on the bed, completely well again.

Discussion questions:
1. What do you think it was that the centurion had heard and learned about Jesus that convinced him that Jesus was the Son of God? (ANS: Maybe the centurion had been learning the Old Testament scriptures in the synagogue or from some Jewish friends as he searched to know the living and true God. The scriptures told about Messiah, the Son of God, coming. Or maybe he’d heard stories of the miracles done by Jesus, and thought, “Only the Son of God could do such things.”)

2. What do you think the Canaanite woman had heard about Jesus that she would call him “Lord”, and desperately ask him to heal her daughter? (ANS: Maybe she’d also heard the stories of his miracles, and had heard some of the things he taught. His teachings also revealed that he was the Son of God. Since her faith was “desperate”, she was willing to believe he could and would help her; there was not other hope for her daughter.)

3. What do you think of Jesus after hearing these stories? (Personal answers)

4. Does God hear you when you ask in faith, when you ask “in Jesus’ name”? What does it mean to ask “in Jesus’ name”? (ANS: Yes, he hears you, and he answers your prayer. Faith “in Jesus name” is faith like the centurion had that believes the Jesus, the Son of God, has authority in heaven and earth. He also has authority to forgive your sins, although that is not mentioned in these stories. He died on the cross and rose again to take the punishment you deserve for your sin, so he deserves to have authority over you, if you let him.)

Journaling: Write or draw about your faith in Jesus, how you love him, and about a question you would ask him if he were here in this very room.
Close with a circle of prayer.

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Video Viewpoint – Video Workshop

No material for the Video Workshop is included for this rotation because we at SUMC are anticipating a missions speaker, Mary Eyer, who visited the Dominican Republic with Children of the Nations (COTN) in November, 2003. We will use the video Animated Stories: Miracles of Jesus if Mary is unable to report at the anticipated time.

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REFERENCES:
Halley’s Bible Handbook by Henry H. Halley, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan 1962

The New Compact Bible Dictionary, Zondervan Publishing House, 1976

The Gospel of Matthew by A. Wetherell Johnson, Bible Study Fellowship, 1973

The Thompson Chain-Reference Bible, New International Version, 2nd edition by B.B. Kirkbride Bible Co., Inc. 1990



Exchange Volunteer modified title of post for clarity and improved readability of lesson material. - Carol
Exchange Volunteer added description of lessons to summary. - Amy

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