Welcome your students to class. As students are entering and getting settled, ask your students to share the bravest thing they’ve ever seen done in a movie (be sure to monitor the conversation to verify all sharing is appropriate).
If you’d like, continue the conversation by asking students the bravest thing they’ve ever seen in real life or the bravest thing they have done personally. When everyone is settled, share this video of brave health care workers being thanked for their service during COVID-19 [1:10].
CNN Heroes: Nightly salute to health care workers
In the last year, health care workers and emergency response workers have risked so much to care for sick patients! They’ve risked being exposed to the deadly virus that continues to affect millions of people in the U.S. alone. These workers have worked extra hours and added shifts doing this hard, risky work. Rather than being ruled by fear, they have chosen to care for the sick. That’s brave!
- Do you think medical staff are doing the right thing by taking the risk and caring for sick patients? Why or why not? (Answers will vary. Yes, they’re saving lives, it was the right thing to do. No, they could have died, that was way too risky.)
- What if patients die from the virus in spite of the workers’ determination? Or, what about health care workers who get the virus, spread it to their loved ones, or pass away from it? Would that change your answer? Why or why not? (Answers will vary.)
- What makes a risk worth taking? (Answers will vary. If it doesn’t come up, highlight the fact that risks that help others are usually worth it.)
Not all risks are the same. Sometimes we do risky things just for our own enjoyment or to show off. That type of risk, though, isn’t the same as taking a risk to help someone else.
Today’s Bible story features someone taking a huge risk in order to help others. Let’s see what happens.
