The parable of the hidden treasure
Kids at home 14th February
Sometimes Jesus told stories when He wanted people to really understand important lessons. If the lessons were hard then Jesus sometimes told simple stories to help people understand the things that were hard to understand. These stories were called parables.
Over the next few weeks we are going to be learning some of the parables that Jesus told and looking at what Jesus is teaching us in each one!
Today we are learning about the parable of the hidden treasure!
Let’s start with some worship! Feel free to sing and dance or just watch and listen, Jesus doesn’t mind how we worship, he just loves it when we spend time with him and sing his praises!
You are Good – Bethel Kids
Our God is a Great Big God – Vineyard Kids
Alive – Hillsong Young & Free
This is Amazing Grace – Bethel Kids
Story time
The Parable of the hidden treasure
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” – Matthew 13:44-45 NIV
The Jesus Storybook Bible: Treasure Hunt (page 250)
Some important points to remember…
- Jesus was telling people about God’s Kingdom, he said God’s Kingdom is wherever God is King! Some people didn’t really understand what this meant so to help them, Jesus told people the parable of the hidden treasure.
- In the story, there was a man who dug, dug, dug and found some wonderful treasure! He knew that it was worth more than everything he had! It was worth more than his toys, his clothes, his bed and his house!
- He knew that the treasure was so special that he had to have it and he did everything that he could to have that amazing treasure! Jesus said that this is like coming home to God! When we find out that being with God and being his friend is the best thing ever and nothing can compare to that (no shoes or toys or clothes or houses) we find the greatest hidden treasure ever!
- The man in the story sold everything that he owned so that he would have enough money to buy the field and get to the hidden treasure. That treasure was worth everything to him! Jesus is teaching us that being with God and being in His Kingdom is worth everything that we have! God is the real treasure!
- God has treasure too, His treasure is His children! That’s you and me! You are worth everything to God. You are His greatest treasure and He loves you so much!
Some things to talk to your family about…
- Why do you think that the man in the story thought that the treasure was worth selling everything that he had? What do you think was so special about that treasure?
- Do you think that being God’s friend is the greatest treasure in the world? Why?
- You are God’s amazing and special and precious treasure too! He loves you so much! How does that make you feel?
Memory Verse
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever. – Psalm 136:1
Activity: Memory verse treasure hunt!
This verse reminds us to give thanks to God because He is good and His love for us endures (which means it lasts!) forever! Isn’t that an amazing promise? To help us learn and remember this amazing promise, write out the memory verse and cut each word out separately so that you have 13 small pieces of paper each with one word of the memory verse written on.
- Give
- Thanks
- To
- The
- Lord
- For
- He
- Is
- Good
- His
- Love
- Lasts
- Forever
Now, why don’t you (or one member of your family) go and hide these pieces of paper around the house and challenge the rest of the family (or another member of the family) to go and find them! When you’ve found all of the pieces, try and put them back together in order together! You could take it in turns to do this until you’ve remembered the verse by heart!
Prayer time
Why don’t you spend some time now thanking God for being the most wonderful treasure and for always loving us? Why don’t you have a think about some of the things that you can thank God for? Maybe you want to thank Him for providing certain things for you and your family or for helping you in certain situations? Maybe you want to thank Him for bringing special people into your life?
Dear God,
You really are the greatest treasure of all time! Nothing compares to you! Not toys or money or clothes. You’re the very best friend we could ask for. I’m so happy that I have you, because that means I have the greatest treasure ever! I pray for the people that don’t know you yet. I pray that people all over the world would discover your amazing hidden treasure! Thank you for everything that you do for me, thank you for always loving me and protecting me and guiding me.
Amen
