God wants us to love others (especially when they are different). That’s the point of the parable of the Good Samaritan. Use the link above to download this complete lesson plan, coloring pages, and Bible teaching skits.
For more help – you can watch the video example of our children’s sermon on the Good Samaritan.
This Love Your Neighbor Sunday School Lesson can be used in Sunday school or Children’s church. It is based on Luke 10:25-27 where Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. The point is that we must love our neighbors and the story hints at the mission of Jesus to rescue us too.
Luke 10:25-37 Lesson for Children: The Parable of The Good Samaritan
Learning Objectives: After this lesson, children will demonstrate understanding of Parable of the Good Samaritan, by giving personal examples of how they could love their neighbors.
Target Age: Kindergarten – 5th
Teaching Setting: This lesson was first taught in our broadly graded children’s church on Sunday morning to about 35 children. Our kids begin in the sanctuary with their families and are dismissed to children’s church before the pastor’s sermon. Before the lesson the children participate in several songs and group Bible memory exercises. I aim for no longer than 15-25 minutes with each lesson plan depending on learning activities.
Items Needed:
- Marked Bible for this passage. Prepare the copy in advance by highlighting the significant points to emphasize. Underlining words or ideas that will need additional explanation. I typically make small notes in the margin.
- If you prefer, you can use visual aids to help tell the story.
- A marker board or piece of paper displaying the word “love” large enough for the class to see.
- Love Your Neighbor coloring activity
- Mission Bible Class has some more teaching ideas for this Bible story
Need More Help? You can watch a video of the Good Samaritan Bible Story. You could show this to your class or learn a good approach for telling this story to children. Download the Good Samaritan Coloring Page
Explanation: This text begins with Jesus’ conversation with a Jewish teacher of the Law. After Jesus taught the great commandments, the man was trying to justify himself. His questions were aimed to lower the ethic bar Jesus had presented him.
So, the Great Teacher tells a story to make the point stick. This is a wonderful story for creative expression. It speaks to our prejudice and hard hearts toward suffering. In the context, Jesus is showing the Kingdom of God consists in action – not just talk.
This is a great story to use creative teaching methods. Have fun!
The Parable of the Good Samaritan – Love Your Neighbors
Luke 10:25 – 37 Sunday School Lesson
Hook
Write the word “love” on the board (or a piece of paper to display). Ask the children to close their eyes and imagine someone they love. Then, take volunteer answers. Try to restate the children’s answers into statements about who we should love.
- If a child says “mom” … you say “Good answer, we should love our moms – God wants us to love our moms.
- If a child says “friends” … you say “Good answer, we should love our friends – God wants us to love our friends.
Say: These are all good answers, but today we are going to learn that God wants us to love everyone in our lives. Even people that we normally wouldn’t like!
Book
Active Listening: In the story we are going to read from the Bible, Jesus tells a man what it really means to love your neighbor. In that story there are three characters. Listen carefully to see which person really showed love.
Read (and summarize) Luke 10:25-37. Be sure to engage the children with good story telling. Characters the children are listening for:
- Priest
- Levite
- Samaritan
Another Way To Say: Jesus said that we should love our neighbors as ourselves. Have volunteers suggest another way to say the same thing with different words.
Look/Took:
Agree or Disagree: Tell the children that you are going to read some statements that might be ways to love your neighbor. Ask them to stand if they agree. If they disagree they should sit down with arms crossed. Relate each example back to the idea of loving your neighbor.
- We don’t need to help people if we are watching our favorite TV show.
- We should be extra nice to kids at school who have trouble making friends.
- We should obey our parents right away.
Act It Out: Ask for volunteers to act out the story. For variation, assign several older students as ‘project leaders’ to coach a group of younger students to act out the parable.
Test: Ask for volunteers to suggest ways they can show love to people in their lives.
Prayer: Lead the children in a time of prayer.
Kids Bible Lesson from Luke 10:25 – 37
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Footnotes:
- Luke 10:27 Deut. 6:5
- Luke 10:27 Lev. 19:18
- Luke 10:35 A denarius was the usual daily wage of a day laborer (see Matt. 20:2).
Luke 10:25-37 from the New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
This looks really usable for my Kids Club children
There is so much going on in this lesson. Thank you so much for your ideas, I will use them this morning.
This is a good lesson, thank you. I really like the questions that were given to all the children.
Lovely. The questions are apt to the topic.
Thank you (From Nigeria)
I’m going to teach The Good Samaritan to children in Sunday School tomorrow. This looks like a very good piece of material to uss. Thank you so much.
Thank you for your lesson. And thank you for pointing people toward the resources on my website!
Have a blessed day,
Mary Nelson
Mission Bible Class
This is such a great work.
The Good Lord grant you more insight and the special grace for more
I pray and wish to learn more from your site.
I love your lesson plan to teach Sunday school.