Today we are going to make a craft that helps us tell the story of the four friends who brought a paralyzed man to Jesus.

First, take your piece of cardstock and fold it in half. Stand it up like a tent. The folded top will become the roof of the house.

Next, cut a door in the front of the house. Cut three sides so the door can open and close. Then cut a small slit in the middle of the roof. We will use that opening later when we tell the story.

Now let's decorate the outside of the house. Draw a ladder going up one side of the house so the friends can climb to the roof. Draw a window on the other side. Add plants, bushes, stones, clay jars, or anything else you would like around the outside of the house.

Open the doors and look inside. This is where Jesus is teaching. Draw Jesus inside the house. Then draw many people gathered around Him listening. The Bible says so many people came that there was no room left, not even near the doorway.

Now let's make the people. Take a regular sticky note and cut it into four smaller pieces. Draw one friend on each piece. These will be the four friends who help bring the paralyzed man to Jesus. Place them beside the ladder.

Take another sticky note piece and draw the paralyzed man. Stick him onto the end of the popsicle stick. At the beginning of the story, draw him lying down on his mat.

Your craft is finished and ready to tell the story!

Move the four friends up the ladder and onto the roof. Place them around the roof opening. Slowly slide the popsicle stick through the slit and lower the paralyzed man down into the house until he is standing before Jesus.

When Jesus heals the man, turn the sticky-note figure so he is standing upright instead of lying down. Jesus has made him well.

Now slide the healed man back up through the roof and move him to the front of the house. Open the door and let him walk out.

As you play with your craft, remember two important lessons from this story. The four friends cared enough to bring someone to Jesus, and Jesus had the power to forgive sins and heal the paralyzed man. Every time you move the friends, lower the man, and open the door, you can retell the story and remember what Jesus did.