General Comments:

Good Sam was designed for ages 9 through 18. Some content will be over the heads of younger children.
There are far more questions salted throughout Good Sam than you will have time to discuss. This outline will help you pick your spots. There is more content than can be used in one session, however, by moving quickly through most activities on each page you can use most of the CD in one 40 minute lesson.

When Bildad the Bible Explorer welcomes students to the program, he will suggest the path they take through it. The content has been laid out like a lesson plan. This means, for example, that SaMtv (suggested as the last stop by Bildad) is more suited to the reflection/application stage of your lesson than the opening stage.

For those using the CD in ONE LESSON: Have students select only one of the scripture versions in Luke 10. View only two or three of the videos in Sam Cam. The Priest and Good Sam's videos are not to be missed. In Sam Land make sure to select the Jerusalem, Shechem, Samaria Region, and Samarian town locations. Play through the questions in Who Wants but skip the memory verses. Make sure to save time to view and discuss the video in SaMtv. Print the lyrics ahead of time. (Approximately 50 minutes)

Some teachers may find it helpful to create a worksheet using this outline to guide students and have them answer questions for each section.

For those using Good Sam over two lessons with the same group: Take two similar but slightly different paths through the CD each lesson. For example, in lesson one hear the verses in the NRSV, view and discuss The Priest and Good Sam videos in Sam Cam, examine the Samaria town and Samarian region notes in Sam Land, take the Who Wants quiz and go to the music video. Week two you can hear a different version of the Luke 10 story, play the Excuses, Excuses game in Sam Cam, view other regions in Sam Land, and take a look at the "more to do and learn" option in SamTV.

There are many variations on these suggested paths.

Outline:

Luke 10:25-37

Read/Hear from either NRSV, KJV or Bildad's version of the Samaritan story. Once one version is accessed, the TWIST BIBLE STUDY buttons are activated. Twist Text below.

Comment: Students will enjoy KJV version as it is done in Shakespearean English. We included this knowing kids will listen intently to an English voice and thus be interested in hearing the story in a different way. The actor who did the voice gave the Samaritan a SCOTTISH BROGUE because Shakespeare often signaled to his audience who the outsiders were by giving them a dialect.

Twist #1: Jesus picks a Samaritan to be the hero of the story!
Jesus knew that a lot of people didn't like the Samaritans. They were different. They lived in their own part of the country. They were ridiculed for their different religious beliefs and practices. How could someone like that be the hero of the story! Yet the Samaritan practiced his faith when it counted. And that's what counted with Jesus.

Twist #2: The Priest and Lawyer probably had good legal excuses for not helping.
Jesus knew that a lot of people looked up to the priests and teachers of religious law. He knew that many in his audience might excuse the two from helping the beaten man. Their religious laws had strict regulations about touching blood or what might be a dead body. It would make them ritually impure and unable to perform their religious duties for a time. They followed the letter of the law, but in doing so failed to follow the heart of the law.

Twist #3: Who is my neighbor?
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus says that not only are those in need your neighbor, but those who obey the heart of the law (which is love) are ALSO your neighbor! Imagine the look on the Lawyer's face when Jesus told him to go be like the Samaritan!

Sam Cam

Video Interviews with Priest, Lawyer, Innkeeper, Robbers and Samaritan. Each video is followed by a discussion question.

Notice the Priest parked in the handicap spot! Please discuss with your students the important idea that it is not the man's religion which Jesus condemns (i.e. Judaism) but the man's willingness to put rules over compassion.

Secret: The actor in the video is actually a Presbyterian minister outside a church. What would the dialog have sounded like had the video producers chose to make this fact apparent? What excuses might a minister use today to not help someone?

Notice Good Sam's surprise that the interviewer treats him like a hero. Why?
Notice the woman innkeeper is somewhat reluctant to speak about these matters. Why?
Notice the Innkeeper's ire at the interviewer.
The Lawyer's video uses psuedo-legalese for effect. The vocabulary will be difficult for younger children but they will pick up on his anger.

Here are the Questions/Comments that appear after each video:

Robbers: What stealing goes on around you that you could do something about?

Sam: How can a person 'lose their own soul' by not doing right?"

Lawyer: What is this guy trying to protect?

Priest: What does the concept of 'Higher Law' mean?

Innkeeper: What risks are involved when you help others?

 

Larger question: Is Jesus putting down the Jewish faith in the story of the Good Samaritan? (no, he wants love to be the rule).

(Please note: to stop the videos, click on the videos)

Excuses, Excuse Matching Game:

Students read an excuse some people use for not getting involved and match the Bible verse which counters the excuse. Suggested follow-up discussion: Which ones do you use the most?

1. Excuse: I don't like that person --- Verse: "Love your enemies and do good.... expecting nothing in return." Luke 6:35

2. Excuse: I'm too young --- Verse: "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example in speech and conduct...." I Timothy 4:12

3. Excuse: I don't know the person ---Verse: "When a stranger resides with you...you shall love them as yourself, ...for you were once aliens in the land of Egypt." Leviticus 19: 33, 34

4. Excuse: I don't have the time ---Verse: "Another disciple said to Jesus, 'Lord, first let me go and bury my father (before following you).' But Jesus said to him, 'Follow me....'" Matthew 8:21

5. Excuse: I'll be ridiculed for helping them ---Verse: "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account." Matthew 5:11

6. Excuse: Nobody will notice if I don't help ---Verse: "The eyes of the Lord are on every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good." Proverbs 15:3

7. Excuse: Somebody else will help them ---Verse: "What good is it if you say you have faith but do not do good works?" James 2:14

 

Discussion Ideas: Make a list of excuses people use at school, home, shopping malls and church which people use. Which of the excuses have you used? When it is appropriate not to help someone? (safety).

Sam Land Interactive Map

Students browse map to learn more about the history of animosity between Jews and Samaritans. Most locations have audio recording as well as picture. Many end with a question. This is an area of the program you can "go back to" and explore more during a second session. Below is a quick outline of the various map areas:

Samaria town: What is a Samaritan? What new meaning does Jesus give the term 'Samaritan' ?
Samaria region: History of region of Samaria.
Mt. Gerizim: What didn't Jews and Samaritans get along. What does Jesus say about the true center of Worship?
Judea: What made the Samaritans different? What would Jesus say about their differences?
Shechem: Jesus' encounters with people of Samaria and Samaritan woman by the well. Why is it that some believe and some don't?
Jericho factoid
Dead Sea factoid
Galilee factoid
Jerusalem factoid.... What town is 42 miles from you like Samaria was from Jerusalem? What are of school or town do some groups avoid so as not to meet other groups?
Hebron factoid
Joppa factoid
Caesarea factoid

Note: Even though Jesus made the Samaritan the hero it is doubtful that Jesus was any happier with the Samaritans who also made an exclusive claim on being the "true" faith. Jesus' audience at the time was a group of Jews in Jerusalem. He was teaching near the Temple and knew that the Samaritans had been despised because they built their own Temple in Samaria (only to have it torn down by the Romans about 100 years before the time of Jesus).

Fun Fact: You can play songs by rolling over the various areas. Our Ohio audio engineer specifically included the notes "Hang On Sloopy."

Additional Question to Ponder: (1) How might Jesus have changed the story if he had been surrounded by Samaritans and the Scribe who spoke to him had been a Samaritan? (2) Come up with a list of groups that don't get along. Substitute their names in the appropriate places in the story.

Who Wants to Be a Samaritan? Quiz Show

Here are the Questions that get asked:

• What is the Great Commandment?
• In which Gospel can you find the story of the Good Samaritan? (Luke)
• In which chapter of Luke's Gospel can you find the story of the Good Samaritan? (10)
• To whom did Jesus tell the story of the Good Samaritan? (crowd)
• What is the first "twist" in the story? (see above)
• What is the second "twist" in the story? (see above)
• What is the most likely excuse the religious leaders in the story would have given for not helping the beaten man? (blood)
• Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan to the Teacher of the Law to teach him that...
• Why didn't the Jews like the Samaritans?
• In the biblical version of Luke 10:25-37, we are told that the innkeeper is... (no gender given)
• The two denarii or silver coins paid by the Samaritan to the innkeeper are worth approximately ___ in today's money. ($200)
• The story of the Good Samaritan is often called The _______ of the Good Samaritan. (parable)
• How long did the Samaritan help the beaten man? (overnight)
  

Here are the solutions to the Scramble Verses:  (you can bypass these in the game)

• You | shall | love | the | Lord | your | God | with | all | your | heart | soul | strength | and | mind | and | your | neighbor | as | yourself
   
• What |does | the | Lord | require | of | you | but | to | do | justice | love | kindness | and | walk | humbly | with | your | God
   
• Which of these three | do you think | was a neighbor | to the man | who fell into | the hands of the robbers | the Lawyer said | the one | who showed him | mercy | Jesus said to him | go and do likewise

SaMtv

Music Video pulling together all the elements of the CD. Note the various images used to describe how God's love is there to help others, including Communion.  Discuss the various images. (please note: to stop the video, click on the video)

More to Learn and Do:
"Make a list of all your church's Samaritan-like mission projects."
"Discuss how your class could start a Good Samaritan project."
"Sing the song "Lend a Helping Hand" in worship or fellowship."
"Make posters for younger children's classrooms encouraging them to be Good Sams."
"Perform a skit of the Good Samaritan story set in Biblical and then modern times."
"Identify groups in your school or community that don't get along and think of ways to bring them together."

Bonus Hidden Song Track in "About the Artist" Page -- titled Radiance. A don't miss. "To laugh and to play, to live another day is what this life is all about...." The lyrics beg for discussion and fit in nicely with Sam theme.

Lyrics for Lending a Helping Hand can be printed out and discussed. The CD also contains a text file with both the chords and lyrics for those who might want to learn the song. Look for it on the Sam CD. Steve Lindsley's website is www.stevelindsley.com.

Bildad's Comments and Questions

Here's what Bildad says when he comes out and stops the program...

After Luke 10: Now here's a question I want you to think about and talk amongst yourselves about..."Have you ever been in a situation to lend someone a helping hand and NOT done it? What were YOUR excuses? How did it make you feel inside? Think and talk about it amongst yourselves.

After Sam Land: "People not getting along....it's one of the oldest diseases in the Bible and the only known cure is the love of God ...that leads to loving your neighbor no matter who you are, or who they are. Do you know of any groups in your school, or church or community that don't like each other? What could you do to bring a little mercy to the way people treat each other? Talk amongst yourselves.

After SaMtv: 'You may wonder who I am...' well, I'm Bildad the Bible Explorer, but when you and I show mercy and care for others, we're Good Samaritans too, the kind of people Jesus told us to be.

Note: you cannot skip these three presentations.

1) You can skip Bildad's main intro by pressing your spacebar, but we dont' recommend it. He is telling you the suggested order of exploring the CD.

2) Other Bildad animations cannot be skipped. Bildad is the teacher afterall.

3) The BACK bookmark will return you to the main menu page of Good Sam, except in the case of Luke 10 where is will return you to Luke 10 main page if clicked on while you're in the 3-D section. If you cannot see the bookmarks at the bottom of the screen make sure your screen resolutions is at least 800x600.

4) To stop any of the Sam Cam or SaMtv videos just click on the video itself.

5) There is no way to skip questions in the Who Wants Quiz Show but....'missed' questions will recycle and the scramble verses can be restarted as can the Lightning Round. There is a skip point toward the middle/end of the game.

If you would like to see LARGER printouts of each screen in the CD, go to www.sundaysoftware.com/sam.htm and click the thumbnail icons on that page.

Performance Enhancing Tips:

• Good Sam comes with Quicktime 4.0 --which installs automatically from the CD if a newer copy is not already on your computer. Good Sam can run on newer versions of Quicktime.
• We recommend a minimum 266 mhz, 32 megs of RAM, and 4 megabyte RAM videocard minimum. More ram will make Sam run smoother. Turn off all other programs, such as Ram eating anti-virus programs.
• If you're seeing slow video and animation performance, go to our Techie Troubleshooting page or Improving System performance page at www.sundaysoftware.com/techie2.htm.
• Adjusting your Windows hardware accelerator controls may improve sync of sound and video on some OLD computers. This should only be done by technically inclined adults.
• If you can't see the DONE and BACK bookmarks on your screen, make sure your screen resolution is set to 800x600. Anything smaller and you are cutting off the graphics!
• If the sound is hissy or dropping out of any of the videos/animations on an older computer try installing a newer version of Quicktime from www.quicktime.com (It's free and runs on both Windows or Mac). If you have older computers and are running Quicktime 4 or 5, you MAY need to select a different "sound out" mode in your Quicktime Properties Control Panel. Read our article about Making Adjustments to Quicktime (the program which runs this stuff) at www.sundaysoftware.com/quicktime.htm. This problem seems to affect about 5% of all computers and is a known issue with Quicktime 4.0, not Good Sam's program itself. It is easy to correct.

Version Notice: The original release of Good Sam version 1.1 was updated to version 2.0. The opening Bildad animation was adjusted to improve performance, a short sound file in Luke 10:31 Bildad narration was fixed and "Camelwax" graphic was added to the "Who Wants...." Gameshow.