Note to parent or teacher: Here is a 30- to 40-minute lesson plan on the life of Martin Luther that highlights the following lesson objective: “Learn of some of the well-known great men and women of God throughout history.” (Christian Life and Faith: Witnessing and Missionary Training: Great Men and Women of God-1b)

Find Germany on a map to see where this takes place.

Read “The Story of Martin Luther, Part 1.”

Learn about St. Martin, whom Martin Luther was named after. (Read the paragraph under the subtitle “Who Was St. Martin.”)

Look up the definition for “monastery,” or read about monks and monasteries in an encyclopedia.

Read “The Story of Martin Luther, Part 2.”

Talk about how little we’d understand about God if the Bible was still only available in Latin and hadn’t been translated into our own language. Just for fun, let the children try to read John 3:16 in Latin: “Sic enim dilexit Deus mundum ut Filium suum unigenitum daret ut omnis qui credit in eum non pereat sed habeat vitam aeternam.”

Memorize Ephesians 2:8–9 from the “Crazy Cool Card Set: Salvation through Jesus.”

Listen to “For by Grace (9)” and “Not by Works (21).”

Read John 3:3–8 to understand what Martin Luther meant when he said, “I feel like I’ve been spiritually born again!”

Read “The Story of Martin Luther, Part 3.”

Talk about why Martin Luther was so grateful for the printing press: how it made it possible to print Martin Luther’s teachings about the Bible for many to read; later after the Bible was translated into German, how the printing press made it possible to print large quantities of sections of the newly translated Bible to make it available for people to read in their own language.

Think about the example Martin gives of the dog concentrating on a piece of meat that it eagerly wishes to eat (see page 16 of “The Story of Martin Luther”), and how more effective our prayers would be if we always gave them our full concentration. Now, ask the children to choose a topic to pray for and to use that type of focused concentration while praying a short prayer for that topic.

Read “The Story of Martin Luther, Part 4.”

Sing with the children a song they know that will lift their spirits; remind the children of how Martin Luther sang songs while he traveled to Worms for his trial.

Read 1 John 1:7 and 1 John 1:9. Martin Luther used the Word to defeat the Devil’s lies, just like Jesus did in Matthew 4:1–11.

Close in prayer thanking Jesus for the life of Martin Luther. Things the children can be thankful for: (1) Luther taught scriptures proving that salvation was a free gift paid for by Jesus Christ; (2) Luther translated the Bible into German, which inspired William Tyndale to translate much of the Bible into English; (3) Luther fought for God’s Word to be taught to everyone.

Additional material:

• Audio: Salvation Rap