Needed: You will want to have a picture of Martin Luther King, Jr.
to show the children.
Gather your students and ask them, Do any of you know what holiday tomorrow is? Tomorrow is Martin Luther King, Jr.
Day.
Do any of you know who Martin Luther King, Jr.
was? What can you tell me about him? Martin Luther King, Jr.
was an African American pastor who saw that white people in our country weren't treating other people fairly based on the fact that their skin was a different color.
Have you ever seen someone making fun of someone or treating someone poorly because their skin was a different color? In Martin Luther King, Jr.
's time, African Americans were treated poorly when white people wouldn't let them go the same schools as they did, or go to the same restaurants that they did.
Do you think God cares what color our skin is? God loves everyone the same and thinks that it's neat for us to have different colors of skin.
That's why God made us to have different skin colors.
As a pastor, Martin Luther King, Jr.
knew that God loved everyone and that it wasn't right to treat people poorly or to make fun of them based on their skin color.
He gave a very famous speech one time that was called "I Have a Dream.
" In that speech, he talked about how he dreamed for a day when everyone would be treated the same, no matter what color their skin was or what other differences they might have.
He said that he dreamed about a time when all people would be 'Free at last! free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!' What do you think he meant when said he dreamed about a day when everyone would be free? What did he think people need to be freed from? Martin Luther King, Jr.
knew that people need to be free from being treated poorly or unfairly by others.
As a pastor, he also knew that people need to be free from sin.
" (Read, or have your students read, John 8:34-36.
) Sin is the major reason people treat others unfairly.
It's wrong to treat people poorly, but if we trust in Jesus to forgive of our sins, then He will set us free from doing those wrong things and will teach us how to do the right things.
When Jesus sets us free from our sins, He will teach us how to love other people and treat other people the way God does.
Can you think of any ways that you can show God's love to someone who has a different skin color than you do? Let's pray about that.
Sample prayer: Father God, we thank You for sending Jesus to forgive us for our sins, and we thank You for people like Martin Luther King, Jr.
, who remind us that You love everyone the same.
Please help us to love others the way You love them.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
to show the children.
Gather your students and ask them, Do any of you know what holiday tomorrow is? Tomorrow is Martin Luther King, Jr.
Day.
Do any of you know who Martin Luther King, Jr.
was? What can you tell me about him? Martin Luther King, Jr.
was an African American pastor who saw that white people in our country weren't treating other people fairly based on the fact that their skin was a different color.
Have you ever seen someone making fun of someone or treating someone poorly because their skin was a different color? In Martin Luther King, Jr.
's time, African Americans were treated poorly when white people wouldn't let them go the same schools as they did, or go to the same restaurants that they did.
Do you think God cares what color our skin is? God loves everyone the same and thinks that it's neat for us to have different colors of skin.
That's why God made us to have different skin colors.
As a pastor, Martin Luther King, Jr.
knew that God loved everyone and that it wasn't right to treat people poorly or to make fun of them based on their skin color.
He gave a very famous speech one time that was called "I Have a Dream.
" In that speech, he talked about how he dreamed for a day when everyone would be treated the same, no matter what color their skin was or what other differences they might have.
He said that he dreamed about a time when all people would be 'Free at last! free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!' What do you think he meant when said he dreamed about a day when everyone would be free? What did he think people need to be freed from? Martin Luther King, Jr.
knew that people need to be free from being treated poorly or unfairly by others.
As a pastor, he also knew that people need to be free from sin.
" (Read, or have your students read, John 8:34-36.
) Sin is the major reason people treat others unfairly.
It's wrong to treat people poorly, but if we trust in Jesus to forgive of our sins, then He will set us free from doing those wrong things and will teach us how to do the right things.
When Jesus sets us free from our sins, He will teach us how to love other people and treat other people the way God does.
Can you think of any ways that you can show God's love to someone who has a different skin color than you do? Let's pray about that.
Sample prayer: Father God, we thank You for sending Jesus to forgive us for our sins, and we thank You for people like Martin Luther King, Jr.
, who remind us that You love everyone the same.
Please help us to love others the way You love them.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
SHARE
