Middle-School Pew-work ...Page 2

¹ Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy. ² Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. ³ She said to her mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." ⁴ Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. ⁵ "By all means, go," the king of Aram replied. "I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing. ⁶ The letter that he took to	the king of Israel read: "With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy." ⁷ As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, "Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!" ⁸ When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: "Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel." ⁹ So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house. ¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed."	¹¹ But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. ¹² Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage. ¹³ Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!" ¹⁴ So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy

What does today Old Testament Lesson have in common with today's Gospel lesson?	_______________________ _______________________ _______________________
On a scale of 1 to 10, how complicated was it for Naaman to be cured of his leprosy ? On a scale of 1 to 10, how complicated was it for Jesus to heal the man who had leprosy?	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Jesus doesn't always require us to do something big and complicated. Sometimes what Jesus asks of us seems quite simple and ordinary. What are some simple things that Jesus may be asking of you right now?	_______________________ _______________________ _______________________
	Leprosy begins as a localized skin disease. Depending on the resistance offered by the body of its victim, it may remain localized, or it may spread. It causes nerve destruction in the infected areas, causing the victim to lose his sense of feeling in those areas. It is this loss of feeling which poses one of the greatest dangers to the leper. If he hurts himself in one of these areas, he may not recognize his injury, or the severity of it, until it is severely infected. Also, leprosy tends to destroy its victim's bone tissue in the extremeties. It is this bone destruction which sometimes causes the victim to lose fingers or toes.