The Two Greatest Commands

Leader: Today our verse in “Ten For Life” is Matthew 22:37-39. (All of a sudden the music theme from “NFL On Fox” or “Monday Night Football” begins playing. Referee Ricky comes running in blowing his whistle over and over)

Ricky: Hey there! How’s everyone doing this fine day?

Leader: Hey there, Ricky! Looks like you are in a great mood today!

Ricky: I sure am! Today is the day for our C.R.A.M.P. Ice Cream Social!

Leader: Oh really? What’s that?

Ricky: Are you kidding me? Only the biggest, creamiest, most amazing ice cream party this side of the Mississippi River.

Leader: Wow! So, I am guessing that your C.R.A.M.P. Bible Club are the sponsors?

Ricky: We sure are. I am in charge of choosing the ice cream flavors. (phone ringing) Excuse me. I have a phone call. (answers his cell phone) Hello? Yes? What do youmean you forgot to order the balloons? Are you kidding me? You are an idiot! Well, fix it, then! Fine!!! (Hangs up) What an idiot!

Leader: That sounded pretty harsh. Who was that?

Ricky: It’s only the world’s biggest idiot. His name is Paul. He’s one of the other Refs in C.R.A.M.P. He’s in charge of decorating. The dingbat forgot to order balloons. Now, what kind of party doesn’t have balloons? It’s all I can do sometimes to just be around that guy. He never does anything right!

Leader: Now, hold on a second, Ricky! That’s not a very nice way to talk about someone else.

Ricky: What do you expect me to do? The guy is a bozo! Last year he was in charge of bringing the milk to make the homemade ice cream. You know what he brings to the party? A COW! He thought it would be fun if we milked the cow ourselves instead of buying some milk. Is that ridiculous or what?

Leader: Well, that does sound a bit ridiculous. But, I don’t think that justifies treating him that way. Especially if you are a Christian. You are supposed to love others.

Ricky: Listen. I do my best to just stomach the guy. I don’t think God would expect me to care about a guy that is THAT dumb. I love God and all, but loving a guy like that is just too much to ask.

Leader: I don’t think so.

Ricky: I think so!

Leader: I don’t think so.

Ricky: I think so!

Leader: I don’t think so, Ricky!

Ricky: (blows whistle) I think so! God would never expect me to love someone like that. Period.

Leader: Oh really? Well, I want you to take a look at today’s Power Verse and tell me what you think about it.

Leader: So, what do you think?

Ricky: You mean Jesus said I am supposed to love EVERYONE as much as I love myself?

Leader: That’s right! It’s the number two commandment, just behind loving God! We must love others as we love ourselves.

Ricky: Well, why didn’t you tell me all of this before I went and said those horrible things to Paul? I could’ve used this information way before now!

Leader: I tried. But, you weren’t listening!

Ricky: (blows whistle) Well, I am certainly listening now. I better call Paul back and tell him how sorry I am. If I love God, then I must love others as well.

Leader: You got it!

Ricky: Of course I do! It’s in the Bible! I better get going! See you later, kids! (blows whistle as he exits while music plays)

In this game we were looking for LOVE. In today’s lesson, we will learn a lot about LOVE. We will learn that we are to LOVE God and LOVE others.

(hold up the book of riddles) I love riddles. This is a book of some of my favorite riddles. I want to read one to you and see if you can guess the answer. (read a riddle; allow the kids to answer; hand out a prize to the one who gets it right)

In our Bible Lesson today, Jesus finds himself being asked a riddle. Jesus is teaching a crowd, and is approached by one of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were a group of religious men who knew the scriptures very well. But, they were against Jesus. They thought he was getting too popular and taking away from their power over the people. So, one of the Pharisees raised his hand and asked Jesus a riddle.

The Pharisee asked Jesus, “What is the greatest commandment?” The Pharisee was hoping that he could trick Jesus into answering the wrong way. He was hoping to trap Jesus with this riddle. But, Jesus was much smarter than this Pharisee. Jesus answered, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.”

This is the greatest commandment of all. Jesus says we are to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.” We must remember that in everything we try to do in life, THIS is the number one most important thing. We must LOVE GOD. (hold up the side of the heart with the word “GOD” written on it). We must love God not just a little bit, but with ALL of our heart, ALL of our soul, and ALL of our mind.

What are some of the way we can show God that we love Him? (allow the children to respond with ways that we can show God we love Him; write their responses on the dry erase board; some examples are “sing worship songs to Him”, “pray and tell Him”, “go to church to learn about Him”, etc.)

There are many ways that we can show God we love Him. There’s no one way that is better than another. We must love God with everything we have. God doesn’t want us to love ANYTHING more than Him.

Most of us would agree with the fact that loving God is the most important commandment. But, Jesus followed up with something that I am sure blew the Pharisees mind. Jesus said, “You must love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is EQUALLY IMPORTANT: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Wait a second! Jesus said that the second most important commandment, which is just as important as the first one, is “Love your neighbor as yourself.” WOW! So, not only should we Love God, but we must...

(hold up the side of the heart with the word “OTHERS” written on it) This had to be hard for the Pharisee to hear. Why? Because it’s easy to love God—he is an amazing, loving God who has never done anything but wonderful things for us. It’s not so easy to love others. And, Jesus said we are not only to just love others, but we must love others as much as we love ourselves. WOW! Now, that is hard!

That means that you must love your brother or sister when they annoy you. That means you must love the kid at school that everyone makes fun of. That means you must love the bully on the playground who picks on you. That means you must love EVERYONE!

Why is loving others so important? (hold up the Barney doll) How many of you remember this guy? It’s Barney. Barney had a song that he sang at the end of every show. Does anyone remember what it was? (allow children to respond) It said, “I love you, you love me, we’re a happy family. With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won’t you say you love me, too!” This simple little song reminds me of why it is so important for us to love others.

You see, we are all God’s children. God created every human being. He loves every person exactly the same. And the Bible says in 1 John 4:7-8 that we must love one another because, “anyone who does not love does not know God.” That means that if we claim to love God, but don’t love others, then we are fooling ourselves. If we love God, we will love others. No matter who they are, what they have done, or how different from us they are.

Jesus wasn’t tricked by this riddle from the Pharisees. We shouldn’t be fooled either. If we are going to obey God’s commands, then we must remember the two greatest commands. “Love God” and “Love Others.” Jesus said that, “All the other commandments are based on these two commands.”

1. What was today’s Big Idea? Answer: “If I Love God, Then I’ll Love You!”

2. What was the name of the guest on “The Ten Show” today? Answer: Missy S. Nob

3. Was Missy a person who loved others? Answer: no

4. What was the group of people who were trying to trick Jesus in today’s Bible Lesson? Answer: Pharisees

5. What question did the Pharisees ask to try to trick Jesus? Answer: What is the greatest commandment

6. What did Jesus say was the greatest commandment? Answer: “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.”

7. What did Jesus say was the second greatest commandment? Answer: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

8. If we choose not to love others, what does that say about our love for God? Answer: if we don’t love others, then we don’t really love God

9. True or False: I can choose to love only those people I like to be around. Answer: False

10. Where was our Power Verse found? Answer: Matthew 22:37-39