Needed: You’ll want a picture of Martin Luther King, Jr. to show the kids.
Gather your students and ask them: Do any of you know what holiday is tomorrow?
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 were not treating other people fairly because their skin was a different color.
Have you ever seen someone make fun of someone or treat someone badly because their skin was a different color?
In the days of Martin Luther King, Jr., African-Americans were mistreated when whites wouldn’t let them go to the same schools as them or to the same restaurants as them.
Do you think that God cares about the color of our skin?
God loves everyone equally and thinks it’s okay for us to have different skin colors. This is why God made us to have different skin colors.
As a pastor, Martin Luther King, Jr. knew that God loved everyone and that it was wrong to treat people badly or make fun of them because of the color of their skin.
He once gave a very famous speech called “I have a dream.” In that speech, he talked about how he dreamed of a day when everyone would be treated equally, regardless of the color of their skin or what other differences they might have. He said that he dreamed of a time when all people would be ‘Free at last! finally free! Thank God Almighty, we are finally free!
What do you think he meant when he said he dreamed of a day when everyone would be free? What did you think people need to be delivered from?
Martin Luther King, Jr. knew that people should be free from being mistreated or wronged by others. As a pastor, he also knew that people need to be free from sin.”
(Read, or have students read, John 8:34-36.)
Sin is the main reason people treat others unfairly. It’s wrong to treat people badly, but if we trust Jesus to forgive our sins, He will deliver us from doing those wrong things and teach us how to do the right things. When Jesus frees us from our sins, He will teach us how to love other people and treat other people as God does.
Can you think of any way you can show God’s love to someone who has a different skin color than you?
Let’s pray for that.
Sample Sentence: Father God, we thank you for sending Jesus to forgive us of our sins, and we thank you for people like Martin Luther King, Jr., who remind us that you love everyone equally. Please help us to love others as You love them. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
