Series 4 – Giving • Lesson 2Give God Your Best
Key Verses: Acts 20:35 • Mark 12:41–44
Session: ~60 Mins
Trek Mission: What Trekkers Will Discover
Along this trail expedition, young trekkers will discover that:
1. Worship Time
Begin with joyful worship, clapping along to the rhythm, energetic actions, and singing aloud to Jesus. Help young trekkers focus their hearts on God’s goodness and celebrate His boundless generosity to us.
2. Introduction – Object Lesson: The Half-Eaten Chocolate
Materials Needed
- A half-eaten chocolate or leftover snack (kept hidden until the reveal).
Introduction: Ask a few review questions from the previous lesson. Announce enthusiastically that you have a special prize for the student who answers best. Then, present the winning child with the half-eaten chocolate!
Discussion: Say: “What’s the matter? Why are you looking at me surprised? Oh! Is it because the chocolate is half-eaten? I’m sorry, it looked so tempting on my way here that I ate some of it!” Ask the child and class how it feels to receive leftovers.
Transition to the Lesson:“Is that how a winner or someone we love should be treated? Of course not! Yet sometimes, that is how we treat God—we give Him only our leftovers. God deserves our very best! After all, everything we have belongs to Him. Today’s story is about someone who gave her very best to God.”
3. Story Time: The Widow’s Offering
In a bustling city filled with people, there was a magnificent place called the Temple where everyone came to pray and worship God.
One sunny afternoon, Jesus and His disciples sat near the Temple treasury, watching the crowds bring their offerings. Many rich people marched up wearing luxurious robes, loudly clinking large bags of coins into the collection box so everyone would whisper: “Look how wealthy and generous they are!” But Jesus knew their hearts—they were only giving from their extra leftovers after buying everything they wanted for themselves.
Then, Jesus saw a poor widow step forward quietly. Her husband had died, and she had very little to eat or wear. All she had in the world were two tiny copper coins (mites).
Waiting patiently until the crowd cleared, the widow dropped her two small coins into the treasury box with a happy heart and quietly walked away. Jesus called His disciples over and said: “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others! They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
It’s never about the size of the gift; it’s about giving our best to God with a happy, trusting heart. Even the smallest gift becomes huge in God’s eyes when given with genuine love!
4. Experiment: Magnified Gifts
Materials Needed
- A magnifying glass.
- Small objects (tiny coins, buttons, pebbles).
Demonstration: Place the small items in a bowl. Hold the magnifying glass over a tiny coin and let each child look through the lens to see how large the coin appears.
Discussion: Explain that just as the magnifying glass makes small objects look gigantic, God magnifies our gifts when we give our best with a cheerful, loving heart! The widow gave just two tiny coins, but in Jesus’ eyes, her gift was magnified above all the riches in Jerusalem.
5. Memory Verse Time
🙌 Simple Hand Motions to Aid Memorization
6. Game: Colorful Generosity
Materials Needed
- Printout of S4L2 – Game – Colorful Generosity.pdf for each child.
- Crayons or colored pencils.
- Timer.
Instructions:
- Round 1 (The Rush): Set a timer for 30 seconds. Instruct children to quickly color the first picture using only two colors. They will end up with a rushed, scribbled picture.
- Round 2 (Giving Our Best): Now, tell the kids to take all the time they need, using as many colors and creative details as they want to color the second picture beautifully.
- Discussion: Compare the two pictures. Explain: “When we rush and give leftover effort, the result isn’t great. But when we take time and give our very best, it is beautiful! That is how God wants us to give Him our TIME, TALENTS, and TREASURE.”
7. Craftivity: My Giving Coin Box
Materials Needed
- Paper cups or small cardboard boxes for each child.
- Child-safe scissors (for the teacher to cut a coin slot on top).
- Decorative stickers, glitter, markers, and colored paper.
Instructions: Cut a coin slot in the bottom of each inverted paper cup. Have children decorate their personalized Giving Box with stickers, drawings of hearts, and their names. Encourage them to place small coins inside each week to bless others in need!
8. Prayer Time
“Heavenly Father, thank You for Your endless love and blessings. You gave us Your very best when You gave Your one and only Son Jesus to pay for our sins. So the least we can do is give our best back to You in everything we do! Help us be like the poor widow, willing to give from our hearts without holding anything back. May we always remember that giving is a way to show our love for You and help those in need. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”
9. Workshop Summary
- Giving > Receiving.
- Giving our best to God with a happy heart magnifies our gifts.
- We must give God the best of our TIME, TALENTS, and TREASURE!
1. Worship Time
Engage older students with energetic, heart-centered worship. Encourage them to lift their voices in praise, reflecting on the truth that God gave His absolute best for us on the cross, and deserves the highest devotion in return.
2. Introduction – Object Lesson: Leftover Rewards
Materials Needed
- A half-eaten chocolate bar or worn, used item.
The Scenario: Conduct a rapid-fire quiz on previous lessons. Award the highest-scoring student with the half-eaten chocolate bar!
Discussion: Ask: “How does it feel to be handed somebody else’s leftovers as a grand prize? Is that honoring to anyone?” Connect this directly to our relationship with God: “Too often, we give God our leftover energy at the end of the day, leftover minutes in prayer, and leftover pocket money after we bought everything we wanted. But God is our Creator, King, and Savior—He deserves our FIRST and our BEST!”
3. Story Time: The Widow’s Offering
Sitting across from the Temple treasury in Jerusalem, Jesus observed how the crowds deposited their offerings. Many wealthy elites paraded forward, tossing substantial sums into the collection horns, reveling in the public admiration of their peers. Yet Jesus knew their offerings required zero faith and zero sacrifice—they were merely giving from their surplus.
Then a poor, destitute widow arrived. Her husband was gone, society offered her no support, and she possessed only two lepta (tiny copper coins worth a fraction of a cent). Without fanfare, she quietly dropped both coins into the treasury.
Jesus immediately called His disciples together and declared: “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
4. God’s Math: The Magnified Gift Formula
Human math measures the dollar amount of a gift; God’s math measures the sacrifice of the heart! God gave us His ultimate best when He gave His only Son Jesus to die for our sins. When we give Him our best with joy, He supernaturally magnifies the impact of our gifts to accomplish His eternal purposes!
5. Memory Verse Time
6. Craftivity: The Split-Page Challenge
Materials Needed
- Drawing paper and colored markers/pencils for each participant.
Activity Instructions:
- Have each student fold their paper in half to form two distinct sides.
- Round 1 (The Hand-Tied Rush): Give students 30 seconds to draw a gift box using only their non-dominant hand and a single color, keeping their dominant hand behind their back. The result is messy and incomplete.
- Round 2 (Giving Our Best): On the second half, give students ample time, both hands, and full color palettes to design a magnificent gift box.
- Core Discussion: Relate this contrast to how we serve God. When we rush through prayer or give grudging leftovers, our offering is weak. But when we invest our whole heart, creativity, and energy, our offering becomes deeply meaningful and glorifies our Creator!
7. Interactive Game: The Triple T Race
Materials Needed
- Printouts of Triple T Currency.pdf with cutout notes of Time, Talent, and Treasure.
Game Rules:
- Divide students into teams and distribute a set of Time, Talent, and Treasure currency notes to each team.
- The leader reads aloud real-life scenarios. Teams must race to raise the correct currency note(s) that match the scenario and articulate their reasoning!
- Example Scenarios:
- Spending 20 minutes in prayer and Bible reading before starting your day → TIME
- Singing or playing an instrument in the church worship team → TALENT
- Donating pocket money to buy food for families in need → TREASURE
- Spending an afternoon painting colorful scripture murals on Sunday school walls → TIME + TALENT
- Hosting a bake sale where you bake cakes and donate all proceeds to an orphanage → TIME + TALENT + TREASURE!
8. Prayer Time
“Heavenly Father, thank You for Your endless grace and blessings. You gave us Your ultimate best when You sent Your only Son Jesus to pay for our sins on the cross. We commit to giving our best back to You in our daily lives! Help us be like the poor widow, trusting You completely and holding nothing back. Teach us to steward our Time, Talents, and Treasures for Your glory. In Jesus’ mighty name, we pray. Amen.”
9. Recap & Key Takeaways
- God gave us His best when He gave His one and only Son Jesus. We must give our best back to Him in everything we do!
- God’s Math: Happy Heart + Our Best = Magnified Gift | Giving > Receiving.
- We must give God the best of our TIME, TALENTS, and TREASURE!
Printables & Slide Deck Vault
Download the official slide deck, teacher guides, and game printables for this workshop below:
📑 Presentation Slide Deck
Complete 9-slide visual presentation featuring the Widow’s offering, Acts 20:35, and God’s Math recap.
📘 Beginners Teacher Guide (ENG)
4-page guide with the half-eaten chocolate object lesson, magnified gifts experiment, and coin box craftivity.
🎨 Colorful Generosity Game Sheet
Printable coloring challenge sheet contrasting rushed leftover effort with giving our creative best.
📗 Intermediate & Primary Guide (ENG)
5-page comprehensive guide with the split-page challenge, God’s Math formula, and the Triple T race.
💵 Triple T Currency Printout
Printable currency notes of Time, Talent, and Treasure for the interactive team competition.
📁 Google Drive Workshop Folder
Access the complete master folder with all raw PDFs, assets, and supplemental resources.
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