(5–10 minutes, easy set-up)
Students will list blessings in their lives and consider the true meaning of the word blessed.
(5–10 minutes, easy set-up)
For each student, provide a pencil and paper. Provide dictionaries or Bible dictionaries.
Give each student a slip of paper and a pencil. Instruct students to list all the blessings they can think of in their lives. Allow a couple of minutes before calling on students to share from their lists. Ask: Would you consider these true blessings? Do you really know what a blessing is?
Distribute some dictionaries and Bible dictionaries. Instruct students to look up the word blessed or blessing. (Students should return with answers such as happiness, joy, God’s favor or protection, holy, and consecrated.) Lead students to read through the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:1–10 and choose a synonym they could use to replace the word “blessed.” Ask: What do you think the difference is in the kinds of blessings you’ve just listed and what it means to be blessed in these verses? Explain that the sort of joy Jesus talked about in these verses goes beyond material things or even people. State that, although both material things and people can be blessings, Jesus spoke of an attitude of joy that goes along with the attitudes He listed. Say: Having these blessings means you are counted as part of the Kingdom of God, which is the greatest blessing.