Joyful Moments in Christ

An Invitation to the Great Feast

This Sunday School lesson is intended for upper elementary students. All lessons on this website are protected by copyright, but you can use them for free in small groups or Sunday School classes. You may share a link to this page, but please do not copy these pages and put them on other websites.

The Big Idea

Jesus teaches us to be humble and to show the love of God by inviting everyone to his kingdom, especially those who are often left out.

Lesson Objectives

1. Students will learn that true honor comes from being humble and putting others first.
2. Students will understand that God’s grace is a free gift offered to people from all walks of life.
3. Students will recognize that following Jesus is more important than any earthly excuse.

Class Setting Notes

1. Recommended for upper elementary Sunday School.
2. Lesson length: 45 to 60 minutes. Can be shortened or extended based on activities selected.

Opening Activity: The Seating Gallery

1. Set up the room with a variety of chairs in a circle. Use one or more of the following: a very fancy chair with a pillow, an average chair, and a small stool or crate.
2. As students enter, let them choose any seat they like.
3. Once everyone is seated, ask the class to look around and describe the different types of seats they see.
4. Ask the group why someone might naturally want to pick the fanciest seat and how we decide who should get the best spot in different places, like at home or at school.

This activity helps introduce the concept of social status and sets the stage for the story Jesus told about choosing where to sit at a feast.

Bible Reading

Ask the class to read Luke 14:7-24 aloud together or have one person read it.

• Very Easy: Easy-to-Read Version: Luke 14:7-24 (ERV)
• Very Easy: New International Reader’s Version: Luke 14:7-24 (NIRV)
• Easy: Good News Translation: Luke 14:7-24 (GNT)
• Medium: New Living Translation: Luke 14:7-24 (NLT)
• Hard: New International Version: Luke 14:7-24 (NIV)
• Very Hard: English Standard Version: Luke 14:7-24 (ESV)

Additional Reading: Choosing the Right Bible Translation

Suggested prompts:

As the class reads aloud, consider asking some of these prompts:

1. Notice how the guests were trying to get the most important seats at the table.
2. Think about why it might be embarrassing to be asked to move to a lower seat.
3. Watch what happens when Jesus tells the host to invite people who cannot pay him back.
4. Listen for the different excuses the invited guests give for not coming to the feast.
5. Pay attention to how the master of the house fills his home with people from the streets and lanes.

Teacher Background Notes

1. In the time of Jesus, where you sat at a meal showed everyone how important you were in society.
2. A wedding feast was the most significant social event in a village, and the seating chart was a very serious matter.
3. The excuses given in the parable, like buying a field or oxen, were actually quite weak because these things could have waited until after a feast.
4. By inviting the poor and the crippled, the master in the story was doing something that would have shocked the rich leaders of that day.
5. This passage reminds us that the invitation to the gospel is urgent and should be our highest priority.

Theological Insights

1. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, which is a key theme throughout the Bible.
2. The great feast is a picture of the joy and fellowship found in the Kingdom of God both now and in Heaven.
3. Our good works should be done for the glory of God rather than for a reward from other people.
4. The rejection of the invitation by the first guests shows that worldly riches can sometimes keep a heart from seeing its need for God.
5. God’s house will be full, showing that his plan to save his people will always succeed regardless of human excuses.

Discussion Questions

Understanding the Text

1. What did Jesus say would happen to someone who makes himself important?
2. Why did Jesus tell the host not to invite only his friends and rich neighbors?
3. What were the three excuses people gave for missing the great feast?
4. Who did the servant bring to the feast when the first guests refused to come?

Personal Reflection and Application

1. Can you think of a time when you wanted to be first or get the best thing? How can you practice humility next time?
2. Why is it sometimes easier to make excuses than to spend time with God or his people?
3. Who are the people in your school or neighborhood who might feel like the poor or lonely people in the story?
4. How can our class show the hospitality of Jesus to someone new or someone who is hurting?

Suggested Activities

The Excuse Wall

1. Give each student a brick shaped piece of paper and have them write down a common excuse people use for not following God.
2. Tape the bricks to a wall to show how excuses can build a barrier between us and God.
3. One by one, remove the bricks and talk about how the love of God breaks down those barriers.

This activity helps students see how everyday distractions can keep us from the most important invitation of all.

The Humble Seat Game

1. Play a version of musical chairs where the goal is not to be the last one standing, but to find a way to offer a better seat to someone else.
2. After the game, discuss how it feels to put someone else’s comfort before your own.
3. Read Luke 14:11 again to reinforce the lesson.

This activity practices the physical act of stepping back so that someone else can be honored.

Banquet Invitation Design

1. Provide art supplies for students to create a beautiful invitation to the great feast of God.
2. Encourage them to include words from the passage like “Come, for everything is now ready.”
3. Ask them to think of someone they could give the invitation to in real life.

This activity emphasizes the outward mission of the church to invite everyone to hear the gospel.

Memory Verse

Closing Prayer

Father,
Thank you for inviting us to your great feast through the work of Jesus. Help us to live with humble hearts and to joyfully invite others to know your great love and mercy.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

The ESL Version

I also create materials for adult English Language Learners (ELLs) and ESL students. You can find my ELL Bible Study based on Luke 14:7-24 here:

• ELL Bible Study: Luke 14:7-24 — Humility and the Great Feast

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English Standard Version (ESV): Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.