Thank you for purchasing this curriculum series from High Voltage Kids Ministry. All material, both written and recorded, is protected under

Transcription

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2 Thank you for purchasing this curriculum series from High Voltage Kids Ministry. All material, both written and recorded, is protected under universal copyright laws. As the purchaser of this product, you are given permission to photocopy necessary materials found in this volume for your workers and volunteers. Please do not photocopy materials for another church to use. Additional volumes of this and other valuable Children s Ministry resources can be ordered online at

3 Lessons Written By: Brian Dollar, Gary Tomlinson, and Josh Clinton The Cast: Cherith: Cherith Dollar Flint McThornbody: Josh Clinton Skittles: Brian Dollar Kids On The Street : Simone Thomas, Nathan Thomas, Amelia Thomas, Joshua Dudte, Morgan Harding, Victor Rodriguez, Braden Mitchell, Mattie Sukraw, Gabi Pennington, Dustin Yoder, Christian Wright, Averyion Fresh, Christopher Bryant, Lauren Barnes, Junius Mugambi, Leah Jones, Mark Sullivan, Madeline Lancaster, Taylor Wankum, Morganne Jumper, Coltan Linker, Ciara Linker, Conley Hillegas, Riley Hillegas, Bill Johnson, Humphrey Wanjala, Stephen Sharps, Vashonski Johnson, Brooklyn McCown, Bailey Baxendale, Rebecca Holland, Jonathon Liles, Taylor Schmitt, Victoria Holloway Interviewed Guests: Josh Clinton (Fear), Simone Thomas (Depression), Rod Loy (Stress), Joshua Dudte (Anger) Directed By: Brian Dollar and Gary Tomlinson Camera Operators: Gary Tomlinson & Brian Dollar Edited By: Gary Tomlinson & Brian Dollar Scriptures from the New Living Translation, 1996, Tyndale Charitable Trust, Wheaton, IL. Used by permission. All photos/images used are royalty free images and/or are public domain. Used by permission. Deal With it Credits

4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction.page 1 The Elements..page 2 How To Use The Lesson Plan Worksheet.. page 3 Music CD Track Listing.. page 4 Lesson 1: Fear Factor (Fear) page 5 Lesson 2: Don t Get Burned (Peer Pressure)... page 14 Lesson 3: Why Can t We Be Friends? (Conflict)... page 23 Lesson 4: Hard To Say I m Sorry (Forgiveness)...page 32 Lesson 5: Under Pressure (Stress).... page 41 Lesson 6: All By Myself (Loneliness)....page 49 Lesson 7: Attitude Adjustment (Bad Attitude).... page 57 Lesson 8: You Make Me Mad (Anger)...page 67 Lesson 9: The Caveman Blues (Depression)... page 75 Lesson 10: World s Most Dangerous Weapon (The Tongue)... page 83 Deal With it Table Of Contents

5 Introduction Issues. Problems. We all have issues and problems that we face. For some, it is their attitude. For others, it s a habit that they can t seem to break. For many, it is something they have faced their whole life. The goal of this series is to take on each of those issues and problems and learn how to Deal With It! Not just our own way, but the BIBLE WAY! We need to find out what God has to say about how we should Deal With It! God wants us to live victoriously over habits, problems, and issues. He doesn t want things to hold us back from becoming all that He has planned for us to be. Often, we try to deal with issues and problems on our own, but God is there to help us if we ask Him. Many issues are just too big for us to handle by ourselves, we need His power and His strength in order to Deal With It once and for all. We trust that by the time you complete this series, your children will have a better understanding of how to address everyday issues in their lives. So, buckle your seat belt, put on your fighting gear and let s get ready to Deal With It! For This Generation, Brian Dollar Kids Pastor Deal With It Introduction

6 The Elements The DVD: Included on the DVD are the Lesson Intro Video segments and Rap It Up Videos featuring Skittles, a five-minute Deal With It Countdown to begin each service, plus several bonus Interview videos with real life people who learned to Deal With It. You also get a bonus Bloopers segment. The Music CD: Contained on this music disc are instrumental game songs, the BIG IDEA sound byte, Let s Play A Game intro song, and the world famous OFFERING TIME song to introduce the Offering. The Data CD: This CD contains graphics and artwork of the Deal With It logo for you to use for promo. Also included are PowerPoint games, slides for use during illustrated sermons, and PowerPoint slides for each Big Idea and Power Verse. In addition, you will find a Family Devotion for each lesson. These are designed to either send home with the parents (to reinforce the lesson during the week), OR they can be used as small group segments in your service (to reinforce the lesson right away). The BIG IDEA: This is the main thought you want to get across to the kids during the week s lesson. The BIG IDEA is a simple statement that sums up the entire week s lesson. Sometimes it rhymes, sometimes it relies on rhythm, and other times it is just crazy fun! The plan is to have the kids learn the BIG IDEA by repetition. Included on the CD is the sound byte Hey! What s The Big Idea? (track #1). This is a sound byte that your sound engineer can play as many times during the service as desired. Each time the kids hear the sound byte, they should stand up on their feet and say the week s BIG IDEA. We have also embedded the sound byte within the BIG IDEA slide in the PowerPoint presentation each week. The Intro Video: This video clip introduces the topic we will be tackling each week as well as teaches the BIG IDEA and Power Verse. Each segment lasts five to ten minutes! We suggest you open your service with this segment to help set the tone for the rest of the lesson. Game Time: Each week a game has been provided. Most of them are themed with the lesson being taught that week. There are also high energy instrumental game songs included on the Music CD. Some of them are 60-second versions (to be used for games with a one-minute time limit), and some of them are extended versions. More music can be found on our Crazy Kids Game Music CDs at Puppet Skits: Use your favorite puppets to perform these skits. Most of them are puppets interacting with humans, which can be you or any member of your team. Names can be changed for each specific church and situation. If you do not have puppets, use the skits with a human character you create. Illustrated Messages: Because kids tend to learn best if you combine speaking the truth with visual illustrations, we have written an illustrated sermon to be used each week. Materials are listed, and manuscripts are provided. Each illustrated sermon comes with a PowerPoint slide for each main point. The Elements Page 2

7 How To Use The Lesson Plan Worksheet The first page of each lesson includes a lesson plan for the service with a suggested order of service that you may follow. On the second page of each lesson is a worksheet with a schedule of events for your service with blanks that you fill in and photocopy for your team of workers. Please note that each lesson worksheet includes Intro Video, Game Time, Illustrated Sermon, and the other lesson segments we provide with the curriculum. Just fill in the blanks as you plan your service and give them to the people who help with your service. How To Use The Lesson Plan Worksheet Page 3

8 Sound Effects and Weekly Songs 1. What s The Big Idea? 2. OFFERING TIME 3. Let s Play A Game 60 Second Game Songs 4. Flowin 5. Boom! 6. Powerhouse Extended Game Songs 7. Reaction 8. Trampoline 9. Electric Pulse *BONUS* Songs 10. Mr. Crabbe s Blues Track 11. Just Be-You-Ti-Ful by Skittles Music CD Track Listing Page 4

9 God is always with us and will help us deal with our fears! Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. - Joshua 1:9 Bring On The Scary, Bring On The Fear! I Know That My God Is Near! Intro Video What Are You Afraid Of? Puppet Skit Mr. Crabbe Is Scared! Offering Time Praise Songs Game Time Name That Phobia 2 Fear is a big deal in the life of a child. Some are plagued by the fear of the dark. Some are afraid of water. Some wrestle with the fear of animals, or strangers, or heights. No matter what the fear, God has promised us that we do not have to live our lives in fear. All we have to do is call on the name of Jesus and ask for boldness, and He will deliver us from our fear. In this lesson, the kids will study the moment when Joshua was called to lead the nation of Israel. It was a scary time for Joshua, but he knew he had to Deal With It! God gave him the promise that He would never leave Joshua. He would always be with him and help him Deal With It! Power Verse Review Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. - Joshua 1:9 Worship Songs Illustrated Message Fear Factor Rap It Up Video Review Questions Lesson One - Fear Factor (Fear) Page 5

10 God is always with us and will help us deal with our fears! Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. - Joshua 1:9 Bring On The Scary, Bring On The Fear! I Know That My God Is Near! Intro Video What Are You Afraid Of? Puppet Skit Mr. Crabbe Is Scared! Offering Time Praise Songs Game Time Name That Phobia 2 Power Verse Review Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. - Joshua 1:9 Worship Songs Illustrated Message Fear Factor Rap It Up Video Review Questions Lesson One - Fear Factor (Fear) Page 6

11 Puppet Skit Character: Mr. Crabbe is a grouchy old man puppet that struggles with his attitude. (You can use any puppet your kids are familiar with.) Leader: Sometimes we are afraid. To know that God is always with us no matter what is so nice... (Mr. Crabbe comes running in screaming at the top of his lungs!) Mr. Crabbe: Mice! Did you say mice? Where? Where are they? They re gonna eat me!!!!! Leader: Mr. Crabbe, calm down. Mr. Crabbe: Calm down? You calm down! I m running from the giant puppet-eating mice! Leader: Mr. Crabbe, there are no mice! Mr. Crabbe: Sure there are. You just said so yourself. Leader: No, I said nice. Not mice. Mr. Crabbe: Nice? They are not nice. They are mean! They eat little puppets like me. They nibble on our noses. They gobble on our eyebrows. They re nasty little critters! I m scared of mice! Mommy!!!! Leader: Mr. Crabbe, seriously. There are no mice in here. There s nothing to be scared of. Mr. Crabbe: But, I am scared. I hate mice. I always think there might be mice around. When I go into my kitchen, I can t go near the fridge because there might be mice underneath it. When I close my eyes at night, all I see is mice. I can t eat. I can t sleep. It s all because of MICE! I am afraid of MICE! Leader: I understand. A lot of people are afraid of mice. A lot of people are afraid of a lot of things. But, you know what? Mr. Crabbe: What? Leader: You don t have to be afraid. Mr. Crabbe: Well, sure that s easy for you to say. You re not afraid of them. But, I am. Leader: But, you don t have to live with that fear forever. God can deliver you from that fear if you ask Him. He can take that fear completely away. (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson One - Fear Factor (Fear) Page 7

12 Puppet Skit (continued) Mr. Crabbe: He can? Leader: Of course He can. Anything is possible with God. Mr. Crabbe: But, I am really, really, really afraid of them. Can God handle those kinds of fears? Leader: Absolutely! It doesn t matter what you are afraid of...the dark, scary dogs, mean bullies, or even little itty bitty mice. God can help you to take that fear and DEAL WITH IT! Mr. Crabbe: WOW! Well, then, can we DEAL WITH IT right now and pray that God will take my fear away? Leader: You bet. Let s pray. Mr. Crabbe: Dear God, I am afraid of mice. I don t want to be afraid anymore. Please take my fear away. Give me the courage to face my fear. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. Leader: There. You did it. Mr. Crabbe: I sure did. I am ready to take on any mouse. Bring em on! I ll take on a field mouse, a house mouse, a Mighty Mouse, Mickey Mouse, any of em! I ain t afraid of no mouse! Leader: There ya go! God did take away your fear. Now, go face your fear with courage! Mr. Crabbe: I will! Thanks for praying with me! Leader: You bet! Mr. Crabbe: Bye! Bye! Everybody! Leader: See ya later, Mr. Crabbe! Lesson One - Fear Factor (Fear) Page 8

13 Game Time Name That Phobia 2 Items Needed For Game: The Data CD; open to Lesson 1 and begin with the slide titled Name That Phobia 2 How To Play: Choose one boy and one girl to compete in this crazy game. As we DEAL WITH fear today, the contestants will see if they can guess the definition of these phobias in this sequel to our popular game of the same name. Get the kids in the audience to weigh in with their opinions. The team with the most correct answers wins! Lesson One - Fear Factor (Fear) Page 9

14 Illustrated Message Fear Factor Materials Needed: The Data CD; an army helmet or a large fake sword; a Styrofoam cup; magic slush powder (sold at any magic store or online at bottle of water; the DVD Preparation: Open the PowerPoint presentation on the Data CD titled Lesson One, begin with the slide titled Fear Factor. There is a slide for each point in the message. Place a small amount of magic gel powder in the bottom of the Styrofoam cup (not plastic, glass, or any other cup), making sure not to spill it. Cue the video clip titled Interview: Fear. The Message: (title slide) Fear! It s a huge thing in our lives. We all have things that we are afraid of. Some people are afraid of dogs. Some people are afraid of the dark. Some people are afraid of their own shadows. What are some of you afraid of? (allow some students to respond) As I said before, everybody has some something he or she is are afraid of. (share one of your own personal fears) The great news is, we don t have to let that fear control us. We can learn to DEAL WITH IT! Can you believe that even some of the biggest heroes of the Bible had to learn to DEAL WITH fear? It s true. In our Bible story today from Joshua chapter 1 we find just that. Moses, who was the leader of God s people, the Israelites, has just died. Joshua was very sad. He loved Moses. Moses was a great and powerful leader. But, now God has told Joshua that HE is going to be the new leader of the army of the Israelites. Can you imagine being told that you are now the general of the army? (bring up a young boy and place the helmet on his head or the sword in his hand) Imagine, one day you are just a young man minding your own business and the next day you are told you are going to be the new general of the army! What would you do? Probably the same thing Joshua did. Joshua freaked out! He is afraid the people won t follow him. He s afraid he will fail as the leader of God s people. When he tells God about his fear, God says something vey important! He says, Be strong and courageous...do not be afraid What does that tell us? That tells us.. 1. God Doesn t Want Us To Be Afraid (slide) (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson One one - Fear Factor (Fear) Page page 10 7

15 Illustrated Message (CONTINUED) God doesn t want us to be afraid. He did not create us so that we would walk around being afraid. In fact, the Bible says in 2 Timothy 1:7, For God has not given us a spirit of fear That means fear does not come from God. It s not something God wanted for us to have to live with. I know what you are probably thinking. Well, that s nice that God doesn t WANT me to be afraid, but I am. I still have fear! I know we all have things we are afraid of. So did Joshua. But, we can do what he did and call out to God for help. When we pray and ask God to take away our fear, He can and will do it. 2. God Can Take Away Our Fear (slide) Let me show you what I mean. (hold up the bottled water) You see this water? It s going to represent FEAR. Let me drink just a little bit of it to show you that it is really only water. (drink about half of it) Now, you see this cup? (hold up the Styrofoam cup) It is going to represent our lives. Sometimes FEAR comes into our lives and fills us up. (pour the water into the cup slowly) FEAR comes into our lives, and we feel as if we can t do anything about it. Suddenly, we are full of FEAR and we feel helpless. Here s what we have to do...pray! We have to pray that God will take that fear away and fill us with courage! Just like Joshua, we can pray, God, I know you don t want me to be afraid. I know that you have the power to do anything. So, I pray right now that you would take this fear away and give me the courage to DEAL WITH IT. In Jesus name, Amen. Do you know what God will do when we pray that prayer? He will take that FEAR completely away! (By this time, the water will have turned to a solid gel in the cup and will stick to the sides of the cup. When you say the words, completely away, turn the cup upside down giving the illusion that the water has disappeared.) Isn t that awesome? I want you to watch this short video as we see just how God can take away fear when we ask Him to. (Play the video Interview Fear ) You see, kids, God can take away our fear when we ask Him to. Now, I know what you are saying. But, what if the fear comes back? What do I do then? Well, Joshua probably thought that as well. That s why God told him something very important. In our Power Verse today we see what God said....for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. 3. God Is Always With You! (slide) God says in Isaiah 41:10, Do not fear, for I am with you. He also says in Joshua 1 5, I will never leave you You see, kids. We don t have to fear because God is always with us. He is a (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson One one - Fear Factor (Fear) Page page 11 7

16 Illustrated Message (CONTINUED) powerful God. Not only is He powerful enough to take away your fear, He is powerful enough to defeat anything that would stand in your way. And He will NEVER leave you. EVER. That is why our BIG IDEA says, Bring On The Scary, Bring On The Fear, I Know That My God Is Near! ALTAR RESPONSE: (play soft music) Pray for God to take away the fears that each child has. Have them pray for each other, that God would take away their fears. Then, remind them that the same God who is in the room with them right now is the same God who is with them in their beds at night or on the playground at school. He will never leave them! Lesson One one - Fear Factor (Fear) Page page 12 7

17 Review Questions 1. What was today s Big Idea? Answer: Bring On The Scary, Bring On The Fear, I Know That My God Is Near! 2. What was Mr. Crabbe afraid of? Answer: mice 3. Does God want us to be afraid? Answer: No 4. What was the name of the man who took over for Moses? Answer: Joshua 5. According to our lesson, what does God do with our fear if we ask Him? Answer: takes it away 6. In the illusion, what was the water used to represent? Answer: Fear 7. What happened to the fear water when we prayed? Answer: It disappeared 8. We don t have to fear because WHO is always with us? Answer: God 9. What s the name of the Survival Specialist who taught us the Power Verse? Answer: Flint McThornbody 10. Where was our Power Verse found? Answer: Joshua 1:9 Lesson one page 7 Lesson One - Fear Factor (Fear) Page 13

18 Don t try to fit in with the crowd, but rather stand for what s right. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world Romans 12:2 I Won t Bow To Peer Pressure Intro Video What Is Peer Pressure? Puppet Skit Silly Willy Steals The Show Offering Time Praise Songs Game Time Blindfold Relay Everybody wants to be accepted. There s nothing harder than being in a crowd and standing out because you look differently, act differently, or talk differently than everyone else. Children are daily faced with the pressure to fit in by doing things that are contrary to what the Bible teaches and what God wants for their lives. That pressure can be very difficult to DEAL WITH. But, God can give us the courage to stand for what is right even when no one else will. In today s lesson, we see how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego chose NOT to give in to peer pressure and worship the idol. It wasn t easy, but in the end God helped them be victorious! Power Verse Review Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world Romans 12:2 Worship Songs Illustrated Message Don t Get Burned By Peer Pressure Rap It Up Video Review Questions Lesson Two - Don t Get Burned! (Peer Pressure) Page 14

19 Don t try to fit in with the crowd, but rather stand for what s right. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world Romans 12:2 I Won t Bow To Peer Pressure Intro Video What Is Peer Pressure? Puppet Skit Silly Willy Steals The Show Offering Time Praise Songs Game Time Blindfold Relay Power Verse Review Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world Romans 12:2 Worship Songs Illustrated Message Don t Get Burned By Peer Pressure Rap It Up Video Review Questions Lesson Two - Don t Get Burned! (Peer Pressure) Page 15

20 Puppet SKIT Character: Silly Willy (a hyperactive puppet that thrives on scaring the leader; feel free to use any puppet character that your kids are familiar with from your services) Leader: It sure never does us any good to give in to peer pressure. We have to DEAL WITH IT and stand up for God. Silly Willy: (comes up and scares the leader) Ha! Ha! I love it when you do that! Leader: Well, I hate it when you do that. You always come up here and scare me. Right when I think I am teaching well, you come up and steal the show. Silly Willy: (acts very sad) Oh, please don t say that word. Leader: What word? Show? Silly Willy: No, the other word. Leader: Steal? Silly Willy: That s the one. Leader: Why don t you want me to say the word steal? Silly Willy: Because it reminds me of something I did bad this week. Leader: (shocked) Silly Willy! You stole something this week? Silly Willy: Well, it wasn t my fault! It was my friend s fault. Leader: Your friend? Who? Silly Willy: Thievey Stevey! (pronounced Thieve - E Steve - E ; a play off of Silly Willy ) Leader: Thievey Stevey? You should have known he was no good the moment you heard his name. Silly Willy: Yeah, well all the other puppets think he s cool. So, I was hanging out with him and we went to the mall. We went to the music store and saw that Kidz Bop vol. 35 was out, and I just love Kidz Bop. So, I wanted to buy the CD. But, I didn t have any money. So, Thievey Stevey told me he knew a way I could get the CD and not have to pay for it. Leader: And what way was that? (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Two - Don t Get Burned! (Peer Pressure) Page 16

21 PUPPET SKIT (CONTINUED) Silly Willy: Steal it. Leader: Steal it? Silly Willy, you know better than that. Silly Willy: I know, I know. But, he stole one. So, I thought I would do it, too. That way he would think I was tough. He kept saying it wasn t a big deal and that I wasn t cool if I didn t do it. Leader: So, what happened? Silly Willy: Well, I put the CD in my backpack, and started to walk out the door and the alarm goes off. I got so scared, I froze. Thievey Stevey started running off. The owner of the store grabbed me and held me until the police got there. Leader: What happened then? Silly Willy: I got in big trouble. I had to give the CD back, apologize to the store owner, and now I have to pay a BIG $250 fine. Leader: $250? WOW! That s a lot of money! Silly Willy: I know. And just think how many CD s I could have bought with that money. Or even better how many boys and girls could have gotten saved if I gave that money to missionaries. I learned my lesson on this one. Leader: Oh really? What lesson did you learn? Silly Willy: I learned that no matter who they are or who they say they are...if somebody tries to pressure you to do something that you know is wrong...don t give in. That s PEER PRESSURE and you can t give in. You have to DEAL WITH IT and stand up for what is right! Leader: That s right. Wow, you really did learn a lot through this. I hope you never do anything like this again. Silly Willy: Oh, I won t! I promise! Well, I gotta go. I have ten lawns to mow after church today in order to start earning that money. This is going to be tough. But, I am glad I learned my lesson. Bye bye! Leader: Bye, Silly Willy! You know kids, we can learn the same lesson. If we give in to peer pressure it will always turn out bad for us. But, if we learn to DEAL WITH IT and stand for what is right, God will make sure we come out on top! Lesson Two - Don t Get Burned! (Peer Pressure) Page 17

22 Game Time Blindfold Race Items Needed For Game: Two blindfolds, some chairs, and a bag of candy Setup: Place the chairs in a random order, creating somewhat of a maze for the participants to get through. Place the bag of candy at the end of the maze. How To Play: Choose one participant from each team and blindfold them. When you say go, the boys and girls are to scream out directions to them all at once. The participants are to try to follow the crowd s instructions in order to get from the start line all the way to bag of candy at the end. The first one to make it to the candy wins the bag of candy. After the game say, Life is a lot like the blindfolded people trying to find their way to bag of candy. There are so many voices telling you which way to go, it can seem almost impossible to make the right decision if you listen to your friends. Many times they are telling you the wrong direction to go. But, when we listen to God s voice and follow Jesus, He will always lead us the right way. We can t give in to peer pressure. We have to DEAL WITH IT! Lesson Two - Don t Get Burned! (Peer Pressure) Page 18

23 Illustrated Message Don t Get Burned By Peer Pressure Materials Needed: The Data CD; an old rag, one cup of alcohol, two cups of water, metal tongs, a bowl, a lighter, a metal trash can (optional) Preparation: Open the PowerPoint presentation on the Data CD titled Lesson Two, begin with the slide titled Don t Get Burned By Peer Pressure. There is a slide for each point in the message. Prepare a mixture that is one cup of water and two cups of rubbing alcohol. Put the mixture in the bowl. Place the rag next to the bowl along with the metal tongs. The Message: (title slide) We ve been talking today about Peer Pressure. It is something we all have to DEAL WITH. We probably all have been in a situation where some of our friends were wanting to do wrong and wanted us to do wrong with them. Maybe some of your friends got together and wanted to cheat on some homework. They pressured you to do the same. Perhaps you were with some friends who wanted to watch a movie that you knew was filled with things you shouldn t be watching. When you didn t want to watch it they started making fun of you and pressuring you to watch it with them. Or maybe you have even been in a situation where several of your friends had cigarettes or beer or even drugs and they were pressuring you to try it. It s not easy to DEAL WITH peer pressure. When those around you are doing wrong and trying to get you to do wrong with them, sometimes that is very hard to DEAL WITH. Sometimes we make the wrong choice and we end up getting burned by peer pressure. Today, in our Bible story, we meet three strong young men of God named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They loved God very much and wanted to do what s right. But, there was a wicked king named King Nebuchadnezzar. He decided one day that he was going to build a large statue and force everyone to worship it. He built a 90-foot statue made of pure gold. He ordered everyone in the kingdom to stop what they were doing, turn toward the statue, and worship it when they heard the trumpets blast. (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Two - Don t Get Burned! (Peer Pressure) Page 19

24 Illustrated Message (CONTINUED) Kind of a weird plan, I know. But he was serious. He said that if anyone did NOT bow down and worship the image of gold, he would throw them into a furnace of fire. WOW! That s one major punishment. If you don t worship, you will burn to death. The time came, the trumpets blew, and everyone in the kingdom bowed down and worshipped the statue. Well, almost everyone. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had every reason to bow down and worship. Not only were they surrounded by an entire country who was doing it, but if they didn t do it they could be killed. Now, that is some MAJOR peer pressure. But, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego chose not to bow down to the idol. They knew that God only wants us to worship Him. There s a very important lesson to learn here, kids. Often, our peers will try to pressure us by saying, Everybody is doing it! They say this to try to pressure us into doing wrong. But when you are having to DEAL WITH peer pressure you have to remember several things. First: 1. Remember: Everybody Is Not Doing It! (slide) They may say, Everybody is doing it. But, as long as you are willing to stand up for God and do what s right, NOT EVERYBODY is doing it. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego decided that they were going to be the ONLY ones who were doing right. But, doing what s right is not always easy. The King ordered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to come before him. He gave them another chance to bow down to the statue. He warned them that if they did not do as everyone else and bow down to the idol, then they would be thrown into the fiery furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow, so the King ordered them thrown into the fire. What does that teach us, kids? It teaches us that when we DEAL WITH peer pressure we must: 2. Remember: It s Never Easy To Stand Up For God! (slide) Well, the King got hot (pardon the pun) and commanded that they be thrown into the furnace of fire. And that is exactly what happened. (take the old rag and dip it in the alcohol mixture, making sure to wring out the excess so it is not dripping) The soldiers threw them into the fire. (take the rag in the metal tongs and light the rag on fire) The fire was so hot, it instantly killed the soldiers who threw them in. (let the rag burn all of the alcohol out of the rag while you tell the rest of the story; the rag will not be consumed because of the water that is involved) Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were now in the fire. The King watched the fire burn and burn. But then something happened. The king called his officials and said, Hey! Didn t we throw three men in the fire? I am looking in the furnace, and there are not three men, but FOUR men. They are (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Two - Don t Get Burned! (Peer Pressure) Page 20

25 Illustrated Message (CONTINUED) walking around in there like there s nothing wrong. The fourth one looks just like the son of God. Wow! Not only did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego survive the fire, but Jesus shows up in the flesh to be with them. What does that teach us? It teaches us that when we are having to DEAL WITH peer pressure, we have to: 3. Remember: When I Stand Up For God, He Shows Up For Me (slide) God was with them the whole time. Not only that, but when the King took them out of the fire, (blow out the rag; if it is still burning pretty well you may have to put it in the metal trash can to get it to smother out; pick it up with your hand since the water in the alcohol kept the rag from being burned and it s not even hot) the Bible says they didn t even smell like smoke. God protected them completely. God will be with you when you go through the fire and face peer pressure as well. I know it is tough. It seems like you are the only one who is not doing wrong. It may feel like you are all alone, but God is there with you. You don t have to be worried. God will protect you. You don t have to get burned by peer pressure. You can choose to not give in and follow God s plan for your life. If you choose to STAND UP for God, He will SHOW UP for you and do an awesome miracle. Boys and girls, that is what happened with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Because they stood up for what was right and didn t give in to peer pressure, God spared their lives. Not only that, but the King was so amazed that he began to praise the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered everyone in the country to never speak a word against their God for their God is the ONLY God who could do a miracle like this. WOW! Kids, when we stand up for God we can help others see that God loves them and is the only one true God. ALTAR RESPONSE (play soft music) Pray for those children who feel like they are facing major peer pressure. Pray that God will give them courage just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to stand up for what is right and not just go along with the crowd. In doing so, pray that God will show up for them and cause many of their friends to give their lives to Jesus as well. Lesson Two - Don t Get Burned! (Peer Pressure) Page 21

26 Review Questions 1. What was today s Big Idea? Answer: I Won t Bow To Peer Pressure! 2. What did Silly Willy do with the CD? Answer: stole it 3. Does it pay to give in to peer pressure? Answer: No 4. The names of the young men in the story were Shadrach, Meshach, and? Answer: Abednego 5. If we stand up for God when others are doing wrong, is it easy? Answer: no 6. What happened to the young men when they refused to worship the idol? Answer: they were thrown into the fiery furnace 7. Who showed up in the fire with them? Answer: Jesus 8. According to our lesson, When we stand up for God, He for us. Answer: shows up 9. Can God use our standing up for Him to cause others to turn to Him? Answer: Yes 10. Where was our Power Verse found? Answer: Romans 12:2 Lesson Two - Don t Get Burned! (Peer Pressure) Page 22

27 We must learn to disagree with others without fighting with them. In everything you do, stay away from complaining and arguing. Philippians 2:14 If Eye To Eye You Can t See, You ve Gotta Learn To Agree To Disagree! Intro Video Why can t we Be Friends? Puppet Skit Mr. Crabbe s Dilemma Offering Time Praise Songs Game Time We CAN Work Together Conflict is going to happen. It s nearly impossible to have relationships with people and not have conflict. Our different personalities, ideas, and desires can cause conflict with each other often on a daily basis. The key question is not, Will we have conflict? Rather, the key question is, How can we deal with conflict in a way that brings glory to God and does not harm our friendship? This is not an easy question to answer. Paul and Barnabas faced a difficult decision. They both had strong opinions as to what was the right way to handle it. Rather than get angry with each other, they chose to agree to disagree. This is what the children will learn how to do in today s lesson. Power Verse Review In everything you do, stay away from complaining and arguing. Philippians 2:14 Worship Songs Illustrated Message How To Have A Good Church Fight! Rap It Up Video Review Questions Lesson Three - Why can t we be friends? (conflict) Page 23

28 We must learn to disagree with others without fighting with them. In everything you do, stay away from complaining and arguing. Philippians 2:14 If Eye To Eye You Can t See, You ve Gotta Learn To Agree To Disagree! Intro Video Why can t we Be Friends? Puppet Skit Mr. Crabbe s Dilemma Offering Time Praise Songs Game Time We CAN Work Together Power Verse Review In everything you do, stay away from complaining and arguing. Philippians 2:14 Worship Songs Illustrated Message How To Have A Good Church Fight! Rap It Up Video Review Questions Lesson Three - Why can t we be friends? (conflict) Page 24

29 Puppet Skit Character: Mr. Crabbe (or any puppet that your kids are familiar with) Leader: Today we are talking about how to DEAL WITH conflict! It s very important to... Mr. Crabbe: What s going on here? Leader: Well, hey there Mr. Crabbe! I was just talking to the kids about what we re learning about today! Mr. Crabbe: Oh, yeah, what s that? Leader: We are learning about what the Bible says about how to DEAL WITH the times when we have conflict with another person. Mr. Crabbe: Conflict? What s conflict? Leader: Well, it s when you and another person disagree on something and just can t seem to work it out. Mr. Crabbe: Oh, yeah, well that s exactly what happened between me and my aunt. Leader: Your ant? I didn t know you had a pet ant. Mr. Crabbe: No, not ant. I am mad at my Aunt Alice! She s made me very very mad! Leader: Really? Well, what happened? Mr. Crabbe: Well, she s a part of this Bible study group that I am a part of. We meet each Monday at the local YMCA. They told us they were going to put some new carpet in the room where we meet and they were going to let us pick the color. The other day we had a meeting to decide what color of carpet to buy. I wanted to buy brown, but my Aunt Alice wants green. We argued for a long time. I got so mad, I stormed out! I am never going to talk to her again! Leader: What? Now, Mr. Crabbe that s no way to handle yourself. Mr. Crabbe: Well, if she can t see things my way, then she can just forget about getting my help on anything. Can you believe she wants the carpet GREEN? Green!? Who wants carpet the same color as boogers? Leader: Mr. Crabbe! Mr. Crabbe: She thinks it s a good color, but it s SNOT! (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Three - Why can t we be friends? (conflict) Page 25

30 Puppet Skit (Continued) Leader: Now, Mr. Crabbe! Please! Let me ask you a question. Didn t you say that this carpet is for the Bible study? Mr. Crabbe: That s right. Leader: Did you ever stop to think what the Bible says about this? Mr. Crabbe: The Bible talks about green carpet? Leader: No, but it does talk about how God s people shouldn t fight and argue. We are supposed to love each other and work together in unity as a team. Mr. Crabbe: Well, what about when somebody doesn t want to do things the way you want them to? Leader: Well, we are not always going to agree. But, when we disagree, we should try our best to talk it out nicely and see if we can t find a compromise. Nothing hurts God more than when His people treat each other mean and work against each other. Mr. Crabbe: You mean, like me saying I am not going to talk to my aunt anymore? Leader: That s exactly right. Instead, you should try to figure out a way you can work together with your aunt and find a color you both like. Mr. Crabbe: That s a good idea. I know we both like blue. Maybe we could do the carpet blue. Leader: Now, you re talking. Instead of fighting, we should work together. That s what a team does. We are a team working together to do God s work! Mr. Crabbe: Well, I think I ll go talk to my aunt and see if we can t work together and choose blue. After all, we both love God. I think we would hate to break God s heart by fighting. Leader: That s great! We ll see you later, Mr. Crabbe. Mr. Crabbe: Bye bye! Everybody! Leader: Well, Mr. Crabbe learned a lesson I think we all should learn. We have a huge job to do. We are supposed to show God s love to the world! We can t do it all by ourselves. We have to learn how to DEAL WITH our conflict the Bible way! Lesson Three - Why can t we be friends? (conflict) Page 26

31 Game Time We Can Work Together Setup: Say, Since we are talking about learning how to DEAL WITH conflict so we can work together for God, we are going to work together in this game. Let s play We CAN Work Together! Items Needed For Game: The Music CD (play one of the extended versions of one of the game songs), two empty soda cans, two chairs How To Play: Choose two kids from each team to compete in the game. Choose a point in the room to place the two chairs, equal distance from the starting point. The two kids from each team will pair up. Both pairs will race against each other, placing one can between their heads (forehead to can, not touching the can with their hands at all) and walking together from the starting point to the chair, around the chair, and back to the starting point. The first pair to work together as a team and make it back to the starting point will be the winners! Lesson Three - Why can t we be friends? (conflict) Page 27

32 Illustrated Message How To Have A Good Church Fight! Materials Needed: The Data CD; boxing gloves; cell phone Preparation: Open the PowerPoint presentation on the Data CD titled Lesson Three, begin with the slide titled How To Have A Good Church Fight. There is a slide for each point in the message. Read through the events of Acts 15:35-41 The Message: (title slide) Have you ever had a disagreement with someone? Maybe it was your brother or sister or someone at school. It might even have been someone at church. Probably ALL of us have had a time when we were in a conflict with someone. It s almost impossible to live around other people and NOT have conflict. After all, we are all so different. So, when you have a conflict with someone, what should you do? (pull out the boxing gloves and put them on, pretending like you are punching someone) Should you punch their lights out? After all, they shouldn t have disagreed with you. You re gonna knock them out! No. Even though there may be a part of us that thinks we would feel better by punching them, that is NOT the way the Bible teaches us to DEAL WITH conflicts. So, if we don t punch them out what should we do? (pull out the cell phone) Should we call a bunch of other people and talk bad about the person? (pretend to call someone and talk) Oh, I know it Mabel. Can you believe what they did? They are a sorry no good trouble-maker! No, even though we may think that we can settle the disagreement by bad-mouthing the other person, that is NOT what the Bible teaches us about how to DEAL WITH conflicts. So, what DO you do when you have a conflict with someone? We are going to find out by looking at two very important people in the Bible and how they handled a BIG conflict of theirs. How many of you have ever heard of Paul in the Bible? How about Barnabas? Paul and Barnabas were both very important leaders in the New Testament. They traveled all over preaching about Jesus. With God s help, Paul wrote nearly 2/3 of the New Testament. One day, Paul and Barnabas were discussing their future plans. Paul said to Barnabas, Hey, why don t we go on a trip to visit all of the churches we have taught about Jesus? We can go from city to city checking up on how the churches are doing. Barnabas thought that was an awesome idea. He suggested they bring along his cousin, John Mark. (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Three - Why can t we be friends? (conflict) Page 28

33 Illustrated Message (CONTINUED) Paul did not want John Mark to come along at all. You see, John Mark had been on one of their missionary trips before and had not stuck it out. He ended up quitting and going home early. Paul was afraid he was going to do this again, so he told Barnabas that John Mark needed to stay home. But, Barnabas really thought John Mark should come along. Paul didn t. Barnabas did. But, Paul didn t. As you can see, they are definitely having a conflict. So, how do they deal with it? Let s see what the Bible says. 37 Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark. 38 But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not shared in their work. 39 Their disagreement over this was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus. 40 Paul chose Silas, and the believers sent them off, entrusting them to the Lord's grace. 41 So they traveled throughout Syria and Cilicia to strengthen the churches there. Well, there you have it...the plan for how to DEAL WITH conflict. Did you notice it? (probably they didn t) Just in case you missed it, I want to teach it to you step by step. Here is how to have a GOOD church fight. 1. Focus On What Is Most Important (slide) A lot of times when we have conflicts with people we start to argue over the silliest things. We argue over what game we should play or who is the captain of the team. This conflict between Paul and Barnabas was over whether or not to take John Mark on the missionary journey. It was an important issue because if John Mark were to go and then bail on them again, things could really be bad for Paul and Barnabas. Notice Paul and Barnabas didn t argue over what song to sing in church when they got there or what color shoes to wear on the journey. They focused on what was most important and didn t get distracted by arguing over small stuff. That s the first step in how to DEAL WITH conflict. The second is: 2. Don t Involve Others (slide) One thing Paul and Barnabas did not do is bring a bunch of other people into their argument. Paul could have gone and got some of the people from church and said, Can you believe what Barnabas wants to do? Barnabas could have gotten some other Christians and said, Paul is so mean. He won t take John Mark on the trip. But, did they do that? No! They simply talked to each other. As a matter of fact, they didn t even get John Mark involved in it. They discussed it just between the two of them. Sadly, many people get others involved in their arguments. They try to gang up on the other (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Three - Why can t we be friends? (conflict) Page 29

34 Illustrated Message (CONTINUED) person by getting other people to agree with their side of things. That is not what God wants us to do. He wants us to only keep it between the two people who are having the conflict. There is no reason to bring others into it. That only makes more people get into conflict. And that NEVER is good for God s family. The third step in DEALING WITH CONFLICT IS: 3. Stick To The Facts (slide) Often, when we are in a conflict with someone and we start to lose the argument, we start bringing up a bunch of other things that don t even matter. We might start bringing up something the other person did a long time ago or even things other people have said. Paul and Barnabas did not discuss anything else...only the facts. They stuck to the matter at hand. You and I should do the same thing. 4. Use God s Word As A Guide (slide) If we are ever confused as to how we should handle something, God s Word is the place to start. Our Power Verse today says, In everything you do, stay away from complaining and arguing. That s what Paul and Barnabas did. They didn t fight and yell and scream and complain. They talked about their disagreement. They followed what the Bible had to say about how to DEAL WITH CON- FLICT. Finally, after talking and discussing their conflict, Paul and Barnabas didn t get angry at each other. They didn t hate each other. They did what we need to do when we can t agree on something: 5. Pray And Move On. (slide) Paul and Barnabas dedicated their trips to God, separated, and went separate ways. We NEVER hear them talk bad about each other. They even praised each others work in other parts of the Bible later on. They prayed, chose to agree to disagree, and moved on. Now, THAT is how to deal with conflict the BIBLE way. ALTAR RESPONSE: (play soft music) There may be children present who are in the middle of a conflict at home or at school. They may have been handling it all wrong, but realize now they need to deal with it the right way. There may even be children in the room that are in conflict with each other. Allow them to reconcile and make a decision to handle conflict the right way in the future. Pray that God would help them to get along. Lesson Three - Why can t we be friends? (conflict) Page 30

35 Review Questions 1. What was today s Big Idea? Answer: If Eye To Eye You Can t See, You ve Gotta Choose To Agree To Disagree! 2. Who was Mr. Crabbe angry with? Answer: his aunt 3. What color did his aunt want to make the carpet? Answer: green 4. What were the names of the two men in the Bible story? Paul and Answer: Barnabas 5. John Mark was Barnabas. Answer: cousin 6. Did Paul want John Mark to go on the trip? Answer: no 7. Why not? Answer: John Mark had left them on the last trip 8. According to our lesson, should we involve other people in our conflict? Answer: no 9. If we can t agree on something we should agree to. Answer: disagree 10. Where was our Power Verse found? Answer: Philippians 2:14 Lesson Three - Why can t we be friends? (conflict) Page 31

36 When someone hurts us, we must choose to forgive them. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Colossians 3:13 God Forgave Me, So I Forgive You! Intro Video I m Offended! Puppet Skit Silly Willy is sad Offering Time Praise Songs Game Time Mummy Dearest I m sorry are two of the hardest words for someone to say. Even when the person who hurt us finally says those two words, it can be even harder for us to say, I forgive you. Forgiveness is hard to deal with, but not dealing with it is even worse. For a Christian, that s not an option. We must not live our lives holding unforgiveness towards someone, no matter what they have done to hurt us. If we do, it hurts us much more than it ever hurts them. In this lesson, the children will look at the parable of the Unforgiving Servant and learn that we must choose to forgive others because God has forgiven us of so much more. Power Verse Review Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Colossians 3:13 Worship Songs Illustrated Message Hard To Say I m Sorry! Rap It Up Video Review Questions Lesson Four - Hard To Say I m Sorry (FOrgiveness) Page 32

37 When someone hurts us, we must choose to forgive them. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Colossians 3:13 God Forgave Me, So I Forgive You! Intro Video I m Offended! Puppet Skit Silly Willy is sad Offering Time Praise Songs Game Time Mummy Dearest Power Verse Review Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Colossians 3:13 Worship Songs Illustrated Message Hard To Say I m Sorry! Rap It Up Video Review Questions Lesson Four - Hard To Say I m Sorry (FOrgiveness) Page 33

38 Puppet SKIT Character: Silly Willy (a hyperactive puppet that thrives on scaring the leader; feel free to use any puppet character that your kids are familiar with from your services) Leader: As we talk about dealing with forgiveness today, I am reminded of a story of... Silly Willy: (comes up looking very sad; nothing like usual) Leader: Hey, Silly Willy. Are you OK? Silly Willy: No. Leader: What s wrong? Are you sick? Silly Willy: No. Leader: Are you sad? What s wrong. Silly Willy: Oh, nothing. You wouldn t understand. Leader: Why don t you tell me about it. Maybe I will understand. Silly Willy: Oh...ok. You see, I was on the playground at school the other day just minding my own business. I was playing kickball with my friends when this group of girls walked up. Well, I was trying to look really cool when it was my turn to kick, so I brought my leg back real far and kicked as hard as I could. Leader: (getting excited) Did you kick a home run? Silly Willy: No. I slipped on the grass and fell on my behind! I looked like a dummy in front of everyone, especially the girls. Leader: Oh no. Then what happened? Silly Willy: Well, I got up and went over to the girls because they were laughing at me. I told them to stop it. Then, one of the girls named Susan pointed at me and said, Has anyone ever told you that you look like a frog? You have huge eyes and a weird shaped head! Leader: (shocked) Silly Willy, are you serious? I am so sorry she said that. That s not nice at all. Silly Willy: You better believe it s not nice. I hate that girl. Leader: Now, Silly Willy. I know that what she did hurt your feelings. But, you can t hate her. God does not want us to hate people, even if they do something that hurts us. We have to forgive them. (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Four - Hard To Say I m Sorry (FOrgiveness) Page 34

39 Puppet SKIT (CONTINUED) Silly Willy: Forgive her? Are you kidding me? There s no way in the world I could forgive her. She s just lucky I don t punch her in the nose... Leader: (interrupts) Now, Silly Willy. Silly Willy:...or put chocolate pudding in her socks... Leader: (interrupts) Now, Silly Willy. Silly Willy:...or put a thumbtack in her chair so it pokes her behind when she sits down... Leader: (loudly) Silly Willy, STOP THAT! Now, we are learning today about how we are supposed to forgive those who hurt us. When someone does something mean to us, we can t hate them and hold bad feelings toward them, or try to pay them back. If we do that, we are only hurting ourselves. We must choose to forgive them just like God forgave us. Silly Willy: Well, yeah, but when God forgave me it wasn't from me saying He looked like a frog. Leader: That s true. It was much worse. When God forgave you it was from all of the sins that you had in our life. You had broken God s laws and God s heart by going against Him and choosing to sin. But, He loved you so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on a cross to pay for your sin. When you have been forgiven of so much, it s the least you can do to forgive Susan. Silly Willy: Wow, I never thought of it like that. God forgave me of so much, and if He wants me to forgive Susan, then that is exactly what I am going to do. Leader: Good for you. Silly Willy: You sure I can t just put ONE thumbtack in her chair? Leader: (shocked) Silly Willy!? Silly Willy: I m just kidding. I forgive her. See you later, kids! Leader: Goodbye, Silly Willy. (turn to kids) You know, it s never easy to forgive someone when they hurt you. But, today we are going to learn how we can DEAL WITH IT! Lesson Four - Hard To Say I m Sorry (FOrgiveness) Page 35

40 Game Time Mummy Dearest Items Needed For Game: The Music CD (play one of the sixty second versions of one of the game songs), two rolls of toilet paper; two chairs How To Play: How To Play: Choose three boys and three girls to compete in this game. Choose two leaders from the audience to come sit down in a chair. Give each team a roll of toilet paper. When you say, Go, each team begins to try to wrap the leader up in toilet paper. The team that has the leader covered the most by the time the music ends, wins. After the game, say this: We just saw what it looks like when they bury a mummy. It looked pretty funny. But, kids, there are times when someone hurts us and we try to BURY the pain inside and refuse to DEAL WITH IT. We refuse to forgive them and just BURY our hurt and bitterness inside of us. When that happens, it certainly isn t funny. It hurts us a lot. Today, we are going to learn how to take that un forgiveness and DEAL WITH IT! Lesson Four - Hard To Say I m Sorry (FOrgiveness) Page 36

41 Illustrated Message Hard To Say, I m Sorry! Materials Needed: The Data CD; a fake crown Preparation: Open the PowerPoint presentation on the Data CD titled Lesson Four, begin with the slide titled Hard To Say, I m Sorry. There is a slide for each point in the message. Read through the parable in Matthew 18:23-35 The Message: (title slide) Two of the hardest words in the world to say are, I m sorry! When you do something wrong to someone else, even if you feel bad about it, for some reason it is very difficult to go to the person and say, I m sorry. But, there are three words that are even tougher to say. Those words? I forgive you. You see, as tough as it is to say, I m sorry when you hurt someone, it is even harder to say, I forgive you to someone who has hurt you. We ve all been hurt. Maybe you were physically hurt by someone who beat you up or hit you out of anger. You don t want to forgive the person who did it. Maybe you were emotionally hurt...that means that someone hurt your feelings...by someone who made fun of you or said they would not be your friend. You don t want to forgive them because it still hurts when you think about it. I am sure we could all tell stories of how we have been hurt by people at school, our friends, maybe even our families. But, as hard as it is to do, we must forgive them. So, today, we are going to tell you how to take the hurt that you are feeling, DEAL WITH IT, and choose to forgive the person who hurt you. You say, Well, I am not sure I can do it. They really did hurt me bad. I understand what you are feeling. The disciples also understood what you are feeling. One day they were asking Jesus how many times we must forgive someone when they hurt us? Jesus answered by telling a story in Matthew 18. (Choose a volunteer from the audience to come up and play the part of the King. Place the fake crown on their heads and declare them the King of the world! Then, choose someone in the audience to come up and play the part of the servant. Tell them to act out the story as you tell it. Have them repeat after you when you say one of the lines they are supposed to say.) The story Jesus told went like this: Once there was a King who decided it was time to collect all of the money he had loaned out to his servants. There was one servant in particular who owed him millions and millions of dollars. So, the King said, Bring that servant to me. The servant came into the King s court and knelt down in front of the King. The King said, Servant, you have a debt of several (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Four - Hard To Say I m Sorry (FOrgiveness) Page 37

42 Illustrated Message (CONTINUED) million dollars. You must pay it now or else I will have to sell your entire family into slavery to pay your debt. The servant was desperate. He said back to the king, Oh, King. Please have mercy on me! I promise I will pay it back. Give me more time! The king felt sorry for the servant and said, I have decided to forgive you of your debt. You no longer owe me ANY money. The servant jumped for joy. He was so excited to be forgiven of the debt. He skipped out of the king s court whistling a tune. (now, pick another volunteer to come up and play the part of the second servant) On his way out, he ran into a fellow servant. This servant had borrowed some money from the first servant. It wasn t a lot, just a little over a hundred dollars. The first servant grabbed the second servant by the throat and screamed, Give me my money! You owe me money! The second servant began to beg, Oh, please, sir. Give me more time. I will pay you back. Have mercy on me. But, the first servant demanded that the second servant be thrown into prison until he was able to pay the debt. Meanwhile, the King heard about what the first servant had done. He demanded the servant come back to his court. He said, You wicked servant! I forgave you millions of dollars and you can t forgive your fellow servant of a hundred dollars? I command you to be thrown into prison until you pay back every penny of the money you owe me! And, that s exactly what happened. THE END. (Have your audience give your volunteers a hand and send the volunteers back to their seats.) What an amazing story, kids. Can you believe that the first servant would be SO mean as to not forgive the second servant even after he had already been forgiven of so much? Well, this story is very important because Jesus was telling it to make a point. You see, boys and girls, the King in the story represents GOD. The first servant represents you and me. The second servant represents those who hurt us that we need to forgive. Many times we are just like the first servant. We refuse to forgive those who have hurt us even when we know that God has forgiven us of so much more. We must choose to DEAL WITH our unforgiveness. We can t hold those feelings inside and refuse to forgive. That is sin. We must choose to forgive! Why should I forgive? 1. Because God Forgives Me (slide) That s really all the reason we should need. Because God forgives us, we should forgive others. How terrible that we would not be willing to give others the same forgiveness that God gives to us. But, many times we forget just how much God forgives us. He says we must give the same level of forgiveness to others. But, there is another reason why we should forgive others: 2. Because Not Forgiving Hurts Me (slide) (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Four - Hard To Say I m Sorry (FOrgiveness) Page 38

43 Illustrated Message (CONTINUED) I know what you are thinking. No, it doesn t. It makes me feel good NOT to forgive others. But, there s something that happens when you choose not to forgive others that hurts you more than you can ever imagine. At the end of the story, after the part where the King threw the first servant in jail and refused to forgive him, Jesus says these words, This is what My Father will do to those who refuse to forgive others. WOW! You mean if we refuse to forgive others, God will refuse to forgive us? That s what the Bible says. That is more hurt than we could ever imagine. Not forgiving hurts ME more than it ever hurts the other person. And, that is why we have to make a huge choice: 3. Choose To Forgive! (slide) It won t just happen. We must make a choice to forgive that person. That doesn t mean you pretend like it never hurt. It doesn t even mean that you have to be best friends with the person who hurt you. But, you do have to let go of the bad feelings you have toward them and forgive them in your heart. Maybe you even should let them know that you have forgiven them. If you do, then your Father in Heaven will be able to forgive you. And, THAT is the greatest thing of all! ALTAR RESPONSE: (play soft music) Pray for those who have been holding bad feelings and unforgiveness in their hearts toward others. Many of the children may have been holding feelings in their heart against their parents, brothers, sisters, friends, or enemies. Some of them may need to go to the person this week and tell them that they are forgiven. There s an amazing freedom that is felt when we CHOOSE to forgive! Lesson Four - Hard To Say I m Sorry (FOrgiveness) Page 39

44 Review Questions 1. What was today s Big Idea? Answer: God Forgave Me, So I Forgive You! 2. What did the girl tell Silly Willy he looked like? Answer: a frog 3. When someone hurts us, should we try to get revenge? Answer: no, we should forgive them 4. How much did the first servant owe the King? Answer: millions of dollars 5. When the second servant couldn t pay back the money to the first servant, what did the first servant do? Answer: had the second servant thrown into prison 6. We should forgive others because forgave us. Answer: God 7. We should forgive others because if we don t, God will not us. Answer: forgive 8. Is it always easy to forgive someone who hurt you? Answer: no, sometimes it is hard 9. According to our lesson, we must to forgive. Answer: choose 10. Where was our Power Verse found? Answer: Colossians 3:13 Lesson Four - Hard To Say I m Sorry (FOrgiveness) Page 40

45 When we feel the pressure of life getting to us, God will give us rest. Then Jesus said, Come to me, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 If You re Stressed, Come To God For Rest! Intro Video Under Pressure Puppet Skit Mr. Crabbe is Stressed Offering Time Praise Songs Game Time Ping Pong Blow Many adults think children don t know the first thing about stress. And, while children may not know what to call it, they certainly deal with their fair share of it every single day. From pressure to do drugs, to pressure to do well in sports, to pressure to make good grades, to pressure to have a lot of friends and act a certain way: life can be pretty overwhelming to a child. No matter who we are, when we begin to feel the stress and pressures of life beating down on us, there is one place we can go for rest...the presence of God. It is there we can find peace for our tired and stressed out souls. His peace is amazing and can only be found in His presence. Power Verse Review Then Jesus said, Come to me, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 Worship Songs Illustrated Message Under Pressure! Rap It Up Video Review Questions Lesson Five - Under Pressure (Stress) Page 41

46 When we feel the pressure of life getting to us, God will give us rest. Then Jesus said, Come to me, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 If You re Stressed, Come To God For Rest! Intro Video Under Pressure Puppet Skit Mr. Crabbe is Stressed Offering Time Praise Songs Game Time Ping Pong Blow Power Verse Review Then Jesus said, "Come to me, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 Worship Songs Illustrated Message Under Pressure! Rap It Up Video Review Questions Lesson Five - Under Pressure (Stress) Page 42

47 Puppet Skit Character: Mr. Crabbe (or any puppet that your kids are familiar with) Leader: Today we are talking about how to DEAL WITH... Mr. Crabbe: (comes up all frantic and hurrying around) What are you doing just standing around? They re gonna be here any minute! Hurry up! We got too much to do! Hurry it up I tell ya! Leader: Who s going to be here, Mr. Crabbe? Mr. Crabbe: My grandkids! They re coming to visit. And this place looks like a bomb went off in here. And look at you, you look like you just rolled out of bed! Could your hair be any MORE messed up? You look like a wet poodle who just went through the dryer at the Laundromat! Do something with that hair! They re gonna get here and we won t be ready! HURRY! HURRY! Leader: Mr. Crabbe, I am glad your grandkids are coming, but do you really need to be freaking out like this? Mr. Crabbe: Well, what do you expect me to do, sit around holding hands and singing Kumbayah? I gotta get things ready. I gotta pick up the mess. I gotta (suddenly looks like he slips and flies up in the air screaming) AHHYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAA! Leader: Mr. Crabbe, are you ok? Mr. Crabbe: No, I am not OK, and I sure wish the next time you see Silly Willy you can tell him to pick up his cotton picking skateboard when he s done with it. I nearly sprained my spleen! Leader: Mr. Crabbe, you sure seem way too stressed. Mr. Crabbe: Well, of course I am stressed. I have my grandkids coming and the place ain t ready. What do you expect me to do except run around here like a cross-eyed porcupine? It s all you can do when you re as stressed as me. Leader: Well, actually there is something else you can do. Mr. Crabbe: What s that? Run away? Leader: No. The kids are learning today that when you feel the pressures of life coming down on you and feel all stressed out...the place to go is God s presence. His peace fills our hearts and he calms our stress. Mr. Crabbe: Well, I don t think I have time to pray. I am in a hurry. (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Five - Under Pressure (Stress) Page 43

48 Puppet Skit (CONTINUED) Leader: Actually, Mr. Crabbe, you really can t afford NOT to pray. If you keep going the way you re going...you might have a heart attack or a nervous breakdown. It s time to chill out and let God bring His peace into your life. Mr. Crabbe: (still a bit worked up) Well, OK. I am willing to try. What do I do? Leader: Just close your eyes...take a deep breath and let s pray. Dear God, I thank You that Your presence is always with us. I thank you that when we feel stressed out, all we have to do is close our eyes and breathe in Your presence. It doesn t matter where we are or what we are doing. If we close our eyes and just let you come in and fill us with your peace...all the stress just melts away. Help Mr. Crabbe not to be so stressed out. Let his visit with his family be wonderful and not filled with all this stress and pressure. In Jesus name, Amen. Well, how do you feel now? Mr. Crabbe: My goodness gracious. I feel so much better. I mean, feel that...my heart s slowed down and it ain t beatin a hundred miles a minute like a hyperactive jackrabbit. I feel so much more at peace. Thanks for helping me out. Leader: Oh, it was our pleasure, Mr. Crabbe. Just remember, If You re Stressed, Come To God For Rest! Mr. Crabbe: I definitely will! Gotta go before my grandkids show up. See ya later, kids! Leader: Bye, Mr. Crabbe. Kids, when you feel stressed from school, family issues, friends, sports, or whatever...just stop, take a minute to breathe in God s peace, and watch the stress just melt away. Lesson Five - Under Pressure (Stress) Page 44

49 Game Time Ping Pong Blow Items Needed For Game: The Music CD (play one of the extended versions of one of the game songs), two ping pong balls, ten straws How To Play: Choose five boys and five girls to compete in this game. Give each of them a straw and have them stand in two lines at the starting line. Tell the first person in each line to get on their hands and knees. Place a ping pong ball in front of them. Pick a point at the other end of the room as the turnaround point. When you GO the children must use the straw to blow their team s ping pong ball (no touching with any part of your body) to the other end of the room and back. When they get back to the starting line, the next person in line takes over and does the same thing. The first team to have each player complete the task WINS! After the game say, Kids, sometimes we can feel just like the ball in this game. We feel pushed and blown in a hundred directions because of all the stress and pressure on us. When we feel stressed, we have to come to Jesus and allow Him to fill our lives with peace. Lesson Five - Under Pressure (Stress) Page 45

50 Illustrated Message Under Pressure! Materials Needed: The Data CD; a table; a cutting board (or any wooden board approximately 12 in. X 12 in.); a tomato; a large glass of water; The DVD Preparation: Open the PowerPoint presentation on the Data CD titled Lesson Five, begin with the slide titled Under Pressure. There is a slide for each point in the message. Read Luke 10:38-42 and familiarize yourself with the story. Cue the video clip titled Interview: Stress pt. 1 on the DVD. The Message: (title slide) Life is hard. There are so many things to do, so many people to please, and so much pressure to be the best. Even kids face stress every single day. How many of you have ever felt really stressed out when you are about to take a test? (allow the kids to raise their hands) You wonder if you re going to make a good grade or if your parents and teachers are going to be pleased with you, huh? How many of you have ever felt stressed when you were playing in a sports game? (allow the kids to raise their hands) You feel like everyone is watching you and if you mess up you are letting your team down. How about when you were about to give a report in front of the class or about to pray in front of a group or about to sing in a contest? (allow the kids to raise their hands) There s a lot of things that make us feel stressed out. Just going through life and doing all the things we have to do: school, tests, sports, friends, family, etc. causes us so much stress. Do you know what stress is? It s that feeling that there is so much to do and so many things going on in your life that you are totally being pressed down and crushed. (pull out the cutting board and the tomato and place them on the table) Pretend this tomato is you. When you are feeling stress, it s almost as if life is pressing down on you (begin to press the cutting board down on the tomato, making the juice spew out as you crush it) and crushing you. There are so many things to do and so much pressure that you feel like you are being crushed. I want you to watch this video clip about a man who had a VERY stressful time as a child. (play the video clip Interview: Stress pt. 1 ) Some of you know what he is talking about. You deal with stress all the time at school and at home. What happens when you are stressed? You get angry easier, you complain more, and most of the time you are sooooo tired. There was a woman in the Bible who felt this way, too. Her name was Martha. Martha and her sister, Mary, were having Jesus over for dinner. Jesus was sitting in the living room teaching and spending time with everyone. Martha was running around the house trying to get everything taken care of: cleaning, cooking, preparing, and stressing out! She was so upset because her sister, Mary, was in the living room with Jesus while Martha was taking care of all the details. Martha was stressed out big-time. She ran into Lesson Five - Under Pressure (Stress) Page 46

51 Illustrated Message (CONTINUED) the living room and said to Jesus, Lord, isn't it so unfair that Mary is in here with you while I am taking care of everything else? Jesus said something very interesting back to her. He said, Martha, Mary is exactly where you need to be...with me. Instead of stressing out over all these details, you should be right here with me as well. You see, kids, if we try to take care of all the stress of tests, pressures, quizzes, sports, family, and friends all by ourselves we will end up hurting ourselves. (pick up the glass of water and hold it out to your side with your arm straight out) How much do you think this glass of water weighs? (allow the children to guess) Well, the truth is when you hold this simple glass of water for about five minutes, it doesn t seem like a big deal. But, if you tried to hold it up for an hour, your arm would start to get sore. If you tried to hold it for three hours, you would start to hurt very bad. If you tried to hold it up all day long, we might have to call an ambulance. But, if you set it down for awhile and rest, then come back and pick it up it doesn t seem so heavy. If we try to hold up all the stress of life by ourselves, we can do ourselves a lot of harm. So, how do we DEAL WITH IT? We should do what Jesus says in our Power Verse. If you are stressed 1. Come To Jesus (slide) Jesus says that when we are stressed and feel worn down by the pressure and stress of life, come to Him and He will give us rest. He can give us the peace we need to make it through the stress. Just like when you put down the glass of water and come back to it you can carry it so much longer than if you tried to keep going without stopping. Jesus said if we STOP, come to Him, and allow Him to give us rest, we will be able to handle the stress of life so much better. Just watch and see what happened when the man in our video did just that. (play the video clip Interview: Stress pt. 2 ) So, today, many of you are stressed. You have been feeling like that tomato...crushed. You may feel like Martha...worried about all the things you have to do, what people are thinking about you, and other things. Well, this morning we are going to do exactly what our Power Verse says. We are going to come to Jesus and just sit in His presence and allow His peace to fill our lives. ALTAR RESPONSE (play soft music) Have the children who are dealing with stress find a place at the front of the room. Instruct them not to pray at first, but just sit and allow themselves to soak in God s peace. As the soft music plays, let them allow Jesus to surround them with His peace and take all that stress and pressure off their shoulders and place it on His. Lesson Five - Under Pressure (Stress) Page 47

52 Review Questions 1. What was today s Big Idea? Answer: If You re Stressed, Come To God For Rest! 2. Who was coming to visit Mr. Crabbe? Answer: his grandkids 3. What did Silly Willy leave out that made Mr. Crabbe fall down? Answer: his skateboard 4. What was the woman s name in the Bible Story who was stressed? Answer: Martha 5. What was Martha s sister s name? Answer: Mary 6. Where was Mary while Martha was working on the house? Answer: in the living room with Jesus 7. What did Jesus say Martha should have been doing instead of working? Answer: spending time with Him 8. If we are stressed, we should come to. Answer: Jesus 9. Can Jesus help us with our stress? Answer: yes 10. Where was our Power Verse found? Answer: Matthew 11:28 Lesson Five - Under Pressure (Stress) Page 48

53 We are NEVER alone! God is always with us! I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. - Hebrews 13:5 No Matter Where I Am, No Matter Where I Go, God Is With Me This I Know. Intro Video I m so lonely Puppet Skit Silly Willy is lonely Offering Time Praise Songs Game Time Power Verse Mix-up Being lonely is a hard thing to deal with. You can be in the middle of a crowd and feel lonely. Your mind starts telling you that nobody cares about you at all. It may not be true, but you sure feel like that s the way it is. When we are lonely, we forget that Jesus has promised to always be there for us no matter what. When loneliness sets in, we end up cutting ourselves off from others instead of reaching out to others. In this lesson, the children will learn about how to deal with loneliness. When you feel like there is no one else who cares for you, just remember that Jesus is always there. Power Verse Review I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. - Hebrews 13:5 Illustrated Message All By Myself Worship Songs Rap It Up Video Review Questions Lesson Six - All By Myself (Loneliness) Page 49

54 We are NEVER alone! God is always with us! I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. - Hebrews 13:5 No Matter Where I Am, No Matter Where I Go, God Is With Me This I Know. Intro Video I m so lonely Puppet Skit Silly Willy is lonely Offering Time Praise Songs Game Time Power Verse Mix-up Power Verse Review I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. - Hebrews 13:5 Illustrated Message All By Myself Worship Songs Rap It Up Video Review Questions Lesson Six - All By Myself (Loneliness) Page 50

55 Puppet Skit Character: Silly Willy is a hyperactive puppet that thrives on scaring the leaders/workers. (You can use any puppet your kids are familiar with in your services.) Leader: Kids, today we are talking about how to DEAL WITH being (Silly Willy pops up singing the song, Mr. Lonely by Bobby Vinton which can be purchased on I- tunes) Leader: Silly Willy! What are you doing? Silly Willy: (continues to sing) Leader: Silly Willy, hold on! Cut the music! (music stops) What are you singing about? Silly Willy: I m singing about the fact that I am soooo lonely! Leader: You are? Why do you feel lonely? Silly Willy: Because nobody likes me at all. NOBODY! Leader: Silly Willy, now that s not true. Silly Willy: It sure is. The other day, I wanted to play video games, but my friends wanted to go to the mall. So, I told them that if they wanted to go to the mall, then they could just go without me. So they did. Leader: Well, that doesn t mean they don t want to be your friend. Silly Willy: Sure it does. But, that s not all. There was Ginger, this girl at school I really like. I asked her to go to the School Dance with me. Leader: Really? What did she say? Silly Willy: She said she would rather not. Can you believe that? She must think I smell like a camel s armpit or something. NOBODY likes me at all! I am all by myself! LONELY!!!! Leader: Well, Silly Willy, I know it is easy to feel lonely when you think no one wants to be your friend. But, it doesn t sound like that is what has happened. It sounds like you have had a couple of misunderstandings with a few people. Even though it may seem like you are all alone, you really aren t. Silly Willy: I don t get it. What do you mean? (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Six Three - All - Born By Myself Again? (Loneliness) (Salvation) Page 51

56 Puppet Skit (CONTINUED) Leader: Well, the Bible says that we are NEVER alone. It tells us that God is always with us. It says that no matter what happens in our life, God will never leave us alone. So, even though you feel like you are all alone, you really aren t. Silly Willy: But, I still FEEL alone. Leader: I know. Sometimes our feelings can play tricks on us. We FEEL like we are alone, but it s never as bad as we really FEEL. Besides, even when it seems like we have no one, God is always there. He will take care of us and never leave us. Silly Willy: That s awesome! You know, I probably shouldn t have told my friends to leave anyway. I could have handled that better. And, Ginger probably doesn t think I stink. Maybe she just wants to be friends. Leader: Now, you re talking. Just remember that you are never truly alone. No matter how lonely you may feel, God is always there. Silly Willy: Thank you so much! I am going to go try to make things right with my friends. See you later! Leader: See you later! You know, kids, today we are going to learn how to deal with the same thing Silly Willy was dealing with...loneliness. It s not easy, but God can help us to DEAL WITH IT! Lesson Three Six - All - Born By Myself Again? (Loneliness) (Salvation) Page 52

57 Game Time Power Verse Mix-Up Items Needed For Game: Large pieces of cardstock with one word of the Power Verse written on each one; some sort of removable adhesive; stopwatch; someone to keep time How To Play: Choose one boy and one girl to compete in this game. Decide which one will go first. Send both players out of the room. Mix up all the pieces of cardstock and adhere them to a wall or game board. When you say, Go, (start the game music) the first player runs into the room, up to the wall or game board and begins rearranging the pieces of cardstock until they have put them in the correct order of the Power Verse. When they finish, stop the timer. Then, mix up the pieces of cardstock again and have the next player do the same thing. Whichever player puts the Power Verse in the right order in the fastest amount of time wins. Lesson Six - All By Myself (Loneliness) Page 53

58 Illustrated Message All By Myself! Materials Needed: The Data CD; a dozen or so cinder blocks or fake bricks Preparation: Open the PowerPoint presentation on the Data CD titled Lesson Six, begin with the slide titled All By Myself There is a slide for each point in the message. The Message: (title slide) (Start the message by sharing a personal story from your life that describes a time when you felt lonely.) We all have to deal with loneliness at some time in our life. When we are feeling it is so easy to think that no one cares and no one even knows we exist. The truth is, we are never really alone, no matter how lonely we feel. The Bible says that God is everywhere all the time. Our Power Verse today teaches us that God will never leave us and will never forsake us. So, when you find yourself feeling lonely, there are several things you must do Remember God Is Always There (slide) God is always there with us, no matter how lonely we feel. We may not always feel Him there with us, but He is still there. (choose a volunteer from the audience; have them stand in front of you facing the audience; position yourself right behind them) It s just like this person. I am here behind them. Do they see me? No, they can t see me because they are looking straight ahead. Can they feel me? No, they can t really feel me standing here. But, just because they can t see me or feel me here with them, does that change the fact that I am right here? No, it sure doesn t. Kids, sometimes we can t feel God s presence with us because we are so focused on the feeling of loneliness that we have. But, just because we can t see or feel God with us doesn t change the fact that He IS there with us. We may feel alone, but we are never alone because God will never leave us and will never forsake us. (allow your volunteer to sit down) So, when you are facing a time of loneliness, you have to DEAL WITH IT first by remembering that God is always there with you no matter how lonely you feel. There is something else we must do (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Six one - All By Myself (Loneliness) Page page 754

59 Illustrated Message (CONTINUED) when we begin to deal with loneliness Stop Building Walls, Start Building Bridges (slide) When we feel lonely, we convince ourselves that no one wants to have anything to do with us. We end up shutting ourselves off from the people around us. (as you speak, begin to build a wall with the bricks) We look at others and we say, They don t want to be my friend. They never said that, but because we feel lonely we assume that s what they think. We begin to build a wall between ourselves and those around us. When we build a wall, does that help people get close to us or does it push people further away? (allow response) That s right, it pushes people away. Instead of convincing ourselves that no one wants to be our friend and building walls between us and those around us, we should begin to reach out to others. We need to work on BEING a friend if we want to HAVE a friend. When we see someone who needs help, reach out to them and help them. That builds a bridge between you and them. Suddenly, they know they can count on you as a friend and you are no longer lonely...you have a friend. It s all because you CHOSE to reach out, build a bridge, and BE a friend to someone. Stop building walls when you feel lonely. Start building bridges. There s one more thing that you can always do when you feel lonely Worship! (slide) You say, Well, why do I want to worship when I am dealing with loneliness? I will tell you why. When you feel all alone, just begin to worship God, sing songs to Him, and let His presence fill your heart. Suddenly, in the middle of worship, do you know what happens? God s presence surrounds you and you begin to almost feel His arms surround you and hold you. When we worship, God responds. He responds by allowing us to feel His powerful presence. He reminds us that we are not alone. He is right there with us. He will give us the strength we need to build bridges, build friendships, and DEAL WITH loneliness. ALTAR RESPONSE: (begin worship music) Tell the children that we are going to DEAL WITH loneliness right now. We are going to worship God for the next several minutes and allow Him to let His presence fill our hearts. Towards the end, have the children who are struggling with feeling lonely come forward for prayer. Then, end by thanking God that He is always with us, no matter how lonely we feel. Lesson Six one - All By Myself (Loneliness) Page page 755

60 Review Questions 1. What was today s Big Idea? Answer: No Matter Where I Am, No Matter Where I Go, God Is With Me This I Know! 2. Where did Silly Willy s friends want to go but he didn t? Answer: the mall 3. What did Silly Willy say Ginger must have thought he smelled like? Answer: a camel s armpit 4. Who is always with us, no matter how lonely we feel? Answer: God 5. Do we always feel God s presence with us? Answer: no, not always 6. True or False: God is with us whether we feel Him or not. Answer: True 7. Instead of building walls when we feel lonely, we should build. Answer: bridges 8. What is the name of the Survival Specialist on our videos? Answer: Flint McThornbody 9. Our Power Verse said, I will never leave you, I will never you. Answer: forsake 10. Where was our Power Verse found? Answer: Hebrews 13:5 Lesson Six - All By Myself (Loneliness) Page 56

61 We must make the right choice and have the right attitude! Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. - Philippians 2:5 You ve Got A Choice, Don t Be Rude, Choose To Have A Good Attitude! Intro Video Bad Attitude Puppet Skit Mr. Crabbe s attitude stinks Offering Time Praise Songs Game Time Wake Up Sleepyhead! All of us have bad days. Things don t always go our way all the time. Sometimes, we face difficulties with people or things and are tested to see if we will have a Godly attitude or not. Too often, we let our attitudes be determined by what our day is like. If things go well, we have a great attitude. If things go badly, we have a bad attitude. This week, we will learn how to take that bad attitude and DEAL WITH IT! We must remember that we have a choice whether or not we have a bad attitude. Our attitude is a choice. It is not determined by others. We should have the same attitude that Jesus had. Power Verse Review Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. - Philippians 2:5 Worship Songs Illustrated Message Attitude Adjustment Rap It Up Video Review Questions Lesson Seven - Attitude Adjustment (Bad Attitude) Page 57

62 We must make the right choice and have the right attitude! Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. - Philippians 2:5 You ve Got A Choice, Don t Be Rude, Choose To Have A Good Attitude! Intro Video Bad Attitude Puppet Skit Mr. Crabbe s attitude stinks Offering Time Praise Songs Game Time Wake Up Sleepyhead! Power Verse Review Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. - Philippians 2:5 Worship Songs Illustrated Message Attitude Adjustment Rap It Up Video Review Questions Lesson Seven - Attitude Adjustment (Bad Attitude) Page 58

63 Puppet Skit Character: Mr. Crabbe is a grouchy old man puppet. (You can use any puppet your kids are familiar with in your services) Leader: Today we are going to be learning how to DEAL WITH a bad attitude. Mr. Crabbe: (pops up) What s going on here? Oh, it s just you. I knew something smelt funny. Leader: Mr. Crabbe! That s not very nice. Say you are sorry. Mr. Crabbe: OK, I m sorry. I m sorry you smell so bad. Leader: Mr. Crabbe! You shouldn t be mean to people like that. Mr. Crabbe: Whatever. I can t help it. I m having a bad day. Leader: What s wrong? Mr. Crabbe: Everything. First of all, my alarm clock didn t go off this morning, so I was late for church. The clothes I wanted to wear were dirty, so I had to wear this ugly thing. The little bit of hair I have won t cooperate. It s going crazy! To top it all off, I had to bump into Silly Willy this morning, and he s being annoying as usual. I am just not having a good day! Leader: Well, I understand things aren t going well for you, Mr. Crabbe. But, that s no reason to have such a bad attitude. Mr. Crabbe: Well, of course it is. I can t help it if I have a bad attitude. I am having a bad day, so my attitude s not my fault. Leader: Well, actually it is. You see, we are learning today about how to DEAL WITH a bad attitude. A lot of times, when things don t go the way we want them to, we choose to have a bad attitude. But, it doesn t have to be that way. You see, our attitude is our choice. We don t have to have a bad attitude. We can choose to have the same attitude that Jesus had. Mr. Crabbe: I don t know what you re talking about. If you want me to have a good attitude, then you better fix all my problems. Leader: I don t think that s what Jesus was like. You know, things didn t always go perfectly for Him either. Some days people followed Him and listened to Him. Other days, people were angry with Him. One day, people even got so mad at Him that they beat Him and nailed Him to a cross. But, He never ever treated them bad or had a bad attitude. (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Seven - Attitude Adjustment (Bad Attitude) Page 59

64 Puppet Skit (CONTINUED) Mr. Crabbe: Really? Well, I don t know if I can do that. Having a good attitude is not easy. Leader: I know. But, just because it s difficult doesn t mean we can t do it. I want you to stick around and listen to what we learn today. I think you will find out that our attitude is our choice, and we should always have the same attitude that Jesus had. It s not easy, but He can help us. Mr. Crabbe: All right, I guess. But, I am not sure this will work for me. I m Mr. Crabbe remember? Leader: I know it won t be easy, but I think God can take care of even the stinkiest of bad attitudes. Mr. Crabbe: All right, fine. But, in the meantime can you tell the boys to keep their shoes on? Otherwise, there ll be more than attitudes that are stinky. Leader: Oh, Mr. Crabbe. Say goodbye. Mr. Crabbe: Goodbye, stinky boys! Leader: Goodbye, Mr. Crabbe. I tell you what, kids. Today s lesson is going to help us a lot. We all struggle with our attitudes from time to time. I think today will help us to learn how to take that bad attitude and DEAL WITH IT. Lesson Seven - Attitude Adjustment (Bad Attitude) Page 60

65 Game Time Wake Up, Sleepyhead! Setup: Say, You know kids, one of the hardest times of the day to have a good attitude is when we first get up in the morning to get ready for school. We re tired, we re cranky, and our attitudes can be pretty stinky. So, let s play a game called, Wake up, sleepyhead! Items Needed For Game: 2 sets of oversized pants, 2 oversized shirts, 2 pop tarts, 2 glasses of milk, 2 backpacks filled with books; A great song to use for this game is the theme song to the Saved By The Bell TV show from the 1980 s (available on I-Tunes by the artist TV Mania Orchestra); if you do not find Saved By The Bell, use the Music CD (play one of the extended versions of one of the game songs), How To Play: Choose two kids to compete in the game. Have the kids lie down as if they are asleep in bed. When the alarm clock goes off (music begins) they are to get up, put on their clothes, eat breakfast (pop tart and milk), get their backpacks and rush off to school. The first one to make it through all the tasks and to the finish line is the winner. The key is: They MUST have a smile the whole time (no bad attitudes)! Lesson Seven - Attitude Adjustment (Bad Attitude) Page 61

66 Illustrated Message Attitude Adjustment Materials Needed: The Data CD (PowerPoint presentation Lesson Seven, beginning with the sermon title slide Attitude Adjustment ); a large candy sucker; a band-aid; a hand-held video game or video game control pad; a large amount of books; Choose several of your leaders or children to play the parts that will be acted out in the message. Preparation: Prepare each of your leaders or children by rehearsing with them the parts they are acting out. Make sure they know their cue when to come on and off the stage. Open the PowerPoint presentation on the Data CD titled Lesson Seven, begin with the slide titled Attitude Adjustment. There is a slide for each point in the message. The Message: (title slide) Today we are learning about how to DEAL WITH a bad attitude. Many times we have an attitude that is terrible and needs an Attitude Adjustment. An Attitude Adjusment means that we have to DEAL WITH the bad attitude and turn it into a good attitude. If we are going to have the right attitude and not a bad attitude, we need to be able to tell the difference, right? We need to be able to identify when we see a Godly attitude and when we see a bad, stinky attitude. So, we re going to do a little exercise to help us do just that. I have a few helpers who are going to act out scenes from our lives and we are going to decide whether they have a Godly attitude or a stinky attitude. (First person comes up with a large sucker.) Attitude #1: Hey Mom. I know we are about to eat dinner, but could I have this sucker? (pause, then begin to complain) But, Mom, why not? That s not fair! I want to eat it! I want to eat it! Well, what do you think? We are going to vote. If you think it was a Godly attitude, say, WOO HOO! (wait for response) If you think it was a bad, stinky attitude, say, PEE YEW! (wait for response) That s exactly right. That was a stinky attitude. We shouldn t argue with our parents or complain when they tell us to do something we may not agree with. That s not what Jesus would have done. (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Seven - Attitude Adjustment (Bad Attitude) Page 62

67 Illustrated Message (Continued) (Second person comes up with a band-aid on their finger.) Attitude #2: It s OK, Randy. I know you cut my finger, but I am sure it was an accident. I forgive you. How about that one, kids? WOO HOO or PEE YEW? (wait for response) That s right! That was the right attitude, so we give it a WOO HOO! Even though the friend had accidentally hurt his (her) finger, he (she) still had the right attitude and forgave them. (Third person comes up with a video game controller in his or her hands, acting like he or she is playing a game.) Attitude #3: (Off-stage a woman yells, Jeffery? ) Yes, Mom? (Voice says, I need you to take out the trash for me, please. ) But, I am playing a game. ( I need you to do it anyway, please. ) But, MOM! I don t want to take out the trash! ( Jeffery, NOW! ) Man, it s so dumb that I have to do everything you say all the time. How about that one, kids? WOO HOO or PEE YEW? (wait for response) That s right! That was a rotten attitude, stinky as they come. When we are asked to help around the house, we should be willing to do whatever it takes to help our family. Well, how about one more. You want one more? OK, here it is. (Fourth person comes up with a pile of books in his or her hands.) Attitude #4: I wanted to go over to my friend s house this weekend, but Mrs. Barnes gave us a whole lot of homework. I am really disappointed, but I know my schoolwork has to come first. I can go over to my friend s house another day. How about that one, kids? WOO HOO or PEE YEW? (wait for response) That s right! That was the right attitude so we give it a WOO HOO! Even though he (she) was disappointed about having so much homework, he (she) didn t complain and made the right choice. Let s give a hand to our helpers today! Well, now that we know the difference between a Godly attitude and a bad attitude, the BIG question is HOW do we make the right choice and choose the Godly attitude. It s not the easy choice, but it is the right choice. You must remember three things if you are going to make the right choice and have the Godly attitude and DEAL WITH the bad attitude: (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Seven - Attitude Adjustment (Bad Attitude) Page 63

68 Illustrated Message (Continued) 1. My Attitude Is My Choice (slide) There s no way to avoid problems. Your hair is going to mess up, people are going to get mad at you, and things are not going to always go your way. A lot of people think that just by becoming a Christian you end up having a perfect life. Not so. Problems come to Christians just like they come to everybody. Many people are just like Mr. Crabbe and try to blame their bad attitude on others. They say, Well, so and so made me act that way. Or they might say, Well, if such and such hadn t happened, I would ve had a better attitude today. Basically, they are saying they have no control over their own attitudes and that everything is determined by someone else. The truth is, our attitude is our choice. Nobody can choose your attitude for you. It s like the little boy who was sitting down in church and his mom told him to stand up. He said he would rather sit down. She told him he had to stand up. He stood up and told her, I may be standing up on the outside, but I am sitting down on the inside. You see, his mom could make him stand up, but she could not choose his attitude for him. On the inside he still had the stinky attitude. 2. I Will Choose To Have The Right Attitude (slide) I wish I could tell you that the moment you ask Jesus into your heart everything will be perfect, but it just isn t true. Even Jesus Himself had bad days. There were days that people treated him unfairly. There were days when His own disciples disobeyed Him and turned their backs on Him. We must make the right choice every day to have the same attitude as Jesus. 3. I Will Choose To Become Like Jesus (slide) Our Power Verse today says, Your attitude should be the same as Jesus Christ had. What kind of attitude was that? Well, when His disciples turned away from Him and disappointed Him, He didn t get mad at them and scream at them. He forgave them. When He was a little boy and His parents asked Him to do things He didn t want to do, He didn t kick and scream and throw a fit. He obeyed. The Bible says He never once sinned by disobeying His parents. (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Seven - Attitude Adjustment (Bad Attitude) Page 64

69 Illustrated Message (Continued) When people came against Him and arrested Him, beat Him, and nailed Him to a cross, even though He was innocent and had done nothing wrong, He didn t get angry with them, He prayed for them. You see, it s not easy to have the right attitude when things don t go our way; but, if we are going to do what God wants us to do, we have to make the right choice and choose to have a Godly attitude, not a bad attitude. Is that easy to do? No, we need God s help to DEAL WITH IT. But, with His help we can make the right choice for the right attitude. ALTAR TIME: (play soft music) Lead the children in a prayer of repentance for having the wrong attitudes at times. Pray that God will help them to choose the right attitude, just as Jesus did. Pray that with God s help, they will make the right choice for the right attitude. Lesson Seven - Attitude Adjustment (Bad Attitude) Page 65

70 Review Questions 1. What was today s Big Idea? Answer: You ve Got A Choice, Don t Be Rude, Choose To Have A Good Attitude! 2. Was Mr. Crabbe s attitude right when he first came up? Answer: no 3. When we have a bad attitude, is it always our fault? Answer: yes, because our attitude is our choice 4. Do Christians ever have bad days? Answer: Yes 5. When things don t go our way, whose choice is it as to what kind of attitude we will have? Answer: it s our choice 6. True or False: It s OK to have a bad attitude sometimes. Answer: False 7. Did Jesus ever have a bad attitude? Answer: No 8. Do we have a choice as to what kind of attitude we have? Answer: yes 9. Our Power Verse said, Your attitude should be the same as had. Answer: Christ Jesus 10. Where was our Power Verse found? Answer: Philippians 2:5 Lesson Seven - Attitude Adjustment (Bad Attitude) Page 66

71 We must not allow anger to control us, we must control our anger. "Don't sin by letting anger gain control over you." Ephesians 4:26 Don t Give In To The Anger Infection, Turn And Head In God s Direction! Intro Video You Make Me Mad! Puppet Skit Silly Willy Blows His Top Offering Time Praise Songs Game Time Shave My Nose Please don t make me angry. You wouldn t like me when I m angry. These words were uttered at the beginning of every episode of The Incredible Hulk. David Banner would lose control and become a large, green, muscular monster and wreak havoc on his enemies. Although we may not turn green and muscular, many times we seem no different from Hulk when we lose control of our anger. Someone hurts us, things go wrong, and we allow our anger to turn into some kind of monster and hurt those around us. In this lesson, the children will learn that although anger itself is not a sin, when we allow our anger to control us, it will ALWAYS lead to sin. Power Verse Review "Don't sin by letting anger gain control over you." Eph. 4:26 Worship Songs Illustrated Message You Make Me Mad! Rap It Up Video Review Questions Lesson Eight - You Make Me Mad (Anger) Page 67

72 We must not allow anger to control us, we must control our anger. "Don't sin by letting anger gain control over you." Ephesians 4:26 Don t Give In To The Anger Infection, Turn And Head In God s Direction! Intro Video You Make Me Mad! Puppet Skit Silly Willy Blows His Top Offering Time Praise Songs Game Time Shave My Nose Power Verse Review "Don't sin by letting anger gain control over you." Eph. 4:26 Worship Songs Illustrated Message You Make Me Mad! Rap It Up Video Review Questions Lesson Eight - You Make Me Mad (Anger) Page 68

73 Puppet Skit Character: Silly Willy is a hyperactive puppet that thrives on scaring the leaders/workers. (You can use any puppet your kids are familiar with in your services.) Leader: Kids, today we are talking about how to DEAL WITH (Silly Willy pops up with a rope tied around his neck with a large rock tied on the other end) Leader: Silly Willy! What are you doing? Why is this rock tied around your neck? Silly Willy: Because I did something terrible!! I did something so bad that the Bible says I deserve to die. Leader: Silly Willy, hold on! Now, tell us what in the world you are talking about. Silly Willy: Well it all started when I was outside working on my go-kart. It s been so cold the past few weeks and my go-kart started acting real funny like. So, I removed the big bacon classic pump and replaced it with a wire wrap. Then, I switched the tail pipe with the fuel injection, thought that might do some good. I drained all the gasoline out and filled that puppy up with extra hot chocolate... Leader: HOT CHOCOLATE?! Silly Willy: Yeah it s cold so I figured hot chocolate might help it run better. After I switched everything around I got inside and cranked it up, but it still wouldn t start! I was so angry! I was angrier than a coyote with his tail on fire. So, I got out of my go-kart, I went up to the engine and I gave it the biggest kickin it had ever gotten in its life. Leader: Silly Willy, now that wasn t very smart. Silly Willy: It sure wasn t. When I did that I broke my toe, and then I got even more angry and picked up a giant rock and threw it at my go-kart! Leader: You did what?! Silly Willy: Yep! But the rock busted a hose and all the EXTRA HOT chocolate that I put in it was spraying all over me. I got so angry that I began to shake, and I even said some of those words that we re not supposed to say. Leader: Silly Willy that seems pretty bad that all those things happened to you. Not to mention you reacted the way that you did, but that still doesn t explain why you have the rope around your neck with a rock tied to it. (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Eight - You Make Me Mad (Anger) Page 69

74 Puppet Skit (CONTINUED) Silly Willy: Well that s the worst part about the whole story. You see, I had some family in town, and I didn t know it but my little cousin was right behind me the whole time when I was angry and saying those words that I shouldn t have been saying. I read in the bible one time that it s better to tie a rock around your head and throw yourself into the ocean than to lead a little child down the wrong path, so that s what I m going to go do. Leader: Now Jimmy wait just a second. You don t have to do that! From now on, why don t you follow what today s Power Verse says? Silly Willy: What does it say? Leader: It says, Don t sin by letting anger gain control over you. - Ephesians 4:26 Silly Willy: That s just it, I got angry so I deserve to die!!!!!! Leader: No, no, no. Getting angry isn t a sin. It s how you act when you get angry that determines whether or not you sin. Now, the fact that you got angry was not the problem. We all get angry. But, the fact that you lost control, kicked your go-kart, said those terrible words, and everything else you did...that s what made it a sin. Silly Willy: You mean that it s ok to get angry as long as I don t let that anger control me and make me do things that I m not supposed to do? Leader: Exactly! Silly Willy: Well, then why in the world do I have this rope attached to me? I m going to go pray and ask God to forgive me for losing control. Then, I am going to go apologize to my little cousin and tell her that I what I did was wrong. But, you better believe that I m not going to let anger control me when I get mad again. See you later! Leader: Bye, Silly Willy! Kids, we all get angry sometimes. But, we have to not lose control when we get angry. We have to take that anger and DEAL WITH IT! Lesson Eight - You Make Me Mad (Anger) Page 70

75 Game Time Shave My Nose! Items Needed For Game: two pairs of swimming goggles, two small water guns, two towels, two large trash bags (with holes cut out at the top), one can of shaving cream, the Music CD How To Play: Choose two boys and two girls to compete in this game. Decide one person on each team to be the shooter and the other member of the team will be the target. Place the trashbag over the target s head (to keep them clean) and place the goggles over their eyes (to protect them from the menthol in the shaving cream). Place a fair amount of shaving cream in a ball on the end of the target s nose. Have the shooter stand approximately 4-5 feet away from the target. When you say, Go, (start the game music) the shooters try to shoot their water gun at the shaving cream on the nose of the target. The first team to get ALL the shaving cream off their partner s nose wins! Lesson Eight - You Make Me Mad (Anger) Page 71

76 Illustrated Message You Make Me Mad! Materials Needed: The Data CD (PowerPoint presentation Lesson Eight, beginning with the sermon title slide You Make Me Mad ); a hand grenade; the DVD Preparation: Place the hand grenade somewhere out of sight; prep one of your workers to knock something over towards the beginning of your lesson. Cue the video clip titled Interview: Anger. The Message: (title slide) Today we are learning about how to DEAL WITH anger. We all get angry at times. How many of you have ever gotten angry at a brother or sister? (have a child stand up and tell about a time they got angry at a brother or sister) Or maybe you got angry at a friend because they did something that hurt you. (have a child stand up and tell about a time they got angry at a friend) Or maybe you even got angry at your parents because they wouldn t let you do something you wanted to do like see a certain movie or spend the night over at someone s house. There are many things that make us angry. We all get angry. And, there is something you need to understand 1. Getting Angry Is Not A Sin (slide) It s true. Anger is an emotion. God created us to have emotion. Anger is an emotion just like happiness is an emotion. Anger is an emotion just like sadness is an emotion. It s not a sin for us to be angry any more than it is a sin for us to be happy. How do I know? Because the Bible says in Psalm 4:4, In your anger, so not sin That must mean that it is possible to be angry and NOT sin. (About this time, have your assistant accidentally knock over a drink or a chair or something like that. When they do, you need to act annoyed and ask them to pick it up. When they go to pick it up, they actually make it worse by knocking something else over. While they apologize over and over, you begin to show anger. When they appear to be taking too much time cleaning up, you begin to yell at them. Say, Why do you pick NOW of all times to knock something over? Can t you see I am trying to teach a lesson. All you ever do is mess things up. You are such a loser! By this time, your kids will probably be sitting with their jaws hanging to the ground. Freeze, turn to them and say ) Kids, it s OK. I planned this with. I wanted you to see the difference between being angry and letting anger gain control over you. Did you notice at the beginning, I was angry, but I was patient. I didn t lose control until later when I began to yell at. That s when my anger (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Eight - You Make Me Mad (Anger) Page 72

77 Illustrated Message (CONTINUED) gained control over me and it became sin. You see, getting angry is not a sin, but Losing Control Is A Sin (slide) We have all seen people lose control and yell hurtful things at someone, hit someone, throw something (like this man and his computer). When we lose control and let our anger gain control over us we do things we wish we never would have done, say things we wish we never would have said, and hurt people we wish we never would have hurt. That s why losing control is a sin. So, what should we do? Do we have a choice? Do we HAVE to lose control? We sure don t. When we get angry and we start to feel ourselves losing control we can DEAL WITH IT. How? 3. With God s Help, I Can Control My Anger (slide) We don t have to lose control. We can control our anger. You say, But, I can t control my anger. It s just too much for me to handle. That may be true, but God can help you DEAL WITH IT! You see, kids, our anger is like this hand grenade (take out the hand grenade). By itself, just sitting here it is pretty harmless. But, if I were to pull this pin...within moments it would explode and do a whole lot of damage. It could even kill a person. We get angry and lose control, then we explode all over everyone around us, hurting people in the process. What we have to do when we get angry is NOT pull the pin. Don t allow that anger to become sin by losing control. When you are angry, stop, pray, and ask God to help you. Take some deep breaths and pray while you do it. Then, God can come on the scene and help you DEAL WITH IT before you lose control, explode, and hurt those around you with your words and actions. I want you to watch this clip of a young man who allowed God to help him do just that. (play the video clip titled Interview: Anger on the DVD) ALTAR RESPONSE: (play soft music) There are probably several children present who have lost control when they were angry and hurt those they love and care about. Some of them have lost friends because they allowed anger to gain control over them. Pray with them that God will help them not to pull the pin the next time they are angry. Pray that God will help them to DEAL WITH IT! Lesson Eight - You Make Me Mad (Anger) Page 73

78 Review Questions 1. What was today s Big Idea? Answer: Don t Give In To The Anger Infection, Turn And Head In God s Direction! 2. What was Silly Willy mad at? Answer: his go-kart wouldn t start 3. What did Silly Willy have around his neck? Answer: a rock & a rope 4. Is it a sin to be angry? Answer: no 5. True or False: Anger is an emotion that everyone has. Answer: yes 6. When we lose control of our anger, is it sin? Answer: Yes 7. Is it possible to be angry and not sin? Answer: yes 8. Who can help us DEAL WITH our anger? Answer: God 9. Our Power Verse said, Do not sin by letting anger over you. Answer: gain control 10. Where was our Power Verse found? Answer: Ephesians 4:26 Lesson Eight - You Make Me Mad (Anger) Page 74

79 We don t have to live in depression. God s joy can be our strength. Don't be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!" Nehemiah 8:10 The Joy Of The Lord Is My Strength! Intro Video Down In The Dumps! Puppet Skit Mr. Crabbe Is Singing The Blues Offering Time Praise Songs Game Time Don t Make Me Laugh! Depression is a serious issue for people, including children. Childhood depression is affecting more and more children every single year. We can choose to ignore this fact, or we can choose to DEAL WITH IT. God did not design us to live life depressed and sad. Certainly depression is NOT a sin, but that doesn t mean we have to just sit by and let it control us either. We can DEAL WITH IT by allowing God s joy to fill our lives. In this lesson, the children will learn how David dealt with depression when it seemed that everything was going South in his life. He worshipped himself out of depression and allowed the joy of the Lord to be his strength. Power Verse Review Don't be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!" Nehemiah 8:10 Worship Songs Illustrated Message The Cave Man Blues Rap It Up Video Review Questions Lesson Nine - The Cave-man Blues (Depression) Page 75

80 We don t have to live in depression. God s joy can be our strength. Don't be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!" Nehemiah 8:10 The Joy Of The Lord Is My Strength! Intro Video Down In The Dumps! Puppet Skit Mr. Crabbe Is Singing The Blues Offering Time Praise Songs Game Time Don t Make Me Laugh! Power Verse Review Don't be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!" Nehemiah 8:10 Worship Songs Illustrated Message The Cave Man Blues Rap It Up Video Review Questions Lesson Nine - The Cave-man Blues (Depression) Page 76

81 Puppet Skit Character: Mr. Crabbe is a grouchy old man puppet. (You can use any puppet your kids are familiar with in your services) Leader: Today we are going to be learning how to DEAL WITH depression... (Suddenly the music from Track #10 on the Music CD begins. Mr. Crabbe comes up with sun glasses on and begins singing the following lines along with the blues music.) Mr. Crabbe: (singing the blues) I woke up this morning with bad case of the blues; I decided to stay in bed and get me a little snooze; I don t even want to get up and face this cruel old world; so, I guess I ll just stay depressed and watch my toenails curl... Leader: (interrupts) Cut the music! Cut the music! Mr. Crabbe! Why are you saying all these things? That doesn t sound like you are feeling very happy today. Mr. Crabbe: You better believe I ain t feeling happy. I am depressed. I got a bad case of the blues! Leader: Well, why? What s the matter? Mr. Crabbe: What s the matter? Why, what AIN T the matter? I woke up and looked in the mirror and saw my hair was falling out. Plus, I made some breakfast and the bread was all moldy! Then, I got a call from my nephew who told me that my subscription to Crab Apple magazine had been cancelled. On top of all that, my back hurts, my feet ache, and my spleen is creaking! I just figure I am doomed to feel this way the rest of my life. Leader: Well, that s not true. Mr. Crabbe: Sure, it is. I m sad and depressed and there s nothing I can do about it. I guess God wants me to be this way. Leader: Well, I can tell you this, Mr. Crabbe. It s certainly not what God wants for you to feel all sad and depressed. The Bible says that Jesus came to give us LIFE, not sadness! Our Power Verse says that the joy of the Lord is our strength! God doesn t want you to live life all sad, He wants you to have JOY! Mr. Crabbe: Well, if God wants me to be happy, then why do I feel so sad? Leader: I wish I could tell you that you will never feel sad or depressed. The fact is, that s just some thing that happens to all of us every once in a while. Sometimes it stays even longer than we really want it to. But, we re going to learn today how to DEAL WITH IT! Mr. Crabbe: I certainly want to know how to DEAL WITH IT! (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson one page 7 Lesson Nine - Cave-Man Blues (Depression) Page 77

82 Puppet Skit (CONTINUED) Leader: Well, then I tell you what I want you to do. You can start by not singing those blues songs anymore. That probably isn t going to help you feel better. It will just make you feel worse. Then, you can also listen to our Bible story today as we learn just how to DEAL WITH depression. Sound good? Mr. Crabbe: Sounds more than good. Sounds great! I certainly can t wait to find out. In the meantime, I am going to take these shades off and start paying attention to the lesson. See ya! Leader: See you later, Mr. Crabbe. Kids, depression is a tough thing to DEAL WITH. But, we re going to learn how to do it in today s lesson. Lesson one page 7 Lesson Nine - Cave-Man Blues (Depression) Page 78

83 Game Time Don t Make Me Laugh! Items Needed For Game: one chair; a stopwatch How To Play: Choose one boy and one girl to compete in this game. Choose one of your leaders to be the Funny Person. Before the game say: Kids, today we are talking about the JOY of the Lord. So, we are going to let you practice your JOY today by getting our resident FUNNY PERSON to try to make you laugh. Choose which contestant will go first. Have them sit in the chair. When you say, GO!, start the stopwatch. The goal is to keep from laughing as long as possible. The FUNNY PERSON s job is to try to make the child laugh without touching them at all. They can make faces, tell jokes, do whatever they wish. See which contestant can go the longest without laughing. The one with the longest time wins! Lesson one page 7 Lesson Nine - Cave-Man Blues (Depression) Page 79

84 Illustrated Message The Cave-Man Blues! Materials Needed: The Data CD; a box of tissue; a cell phone; The DVD Preparation: Open the PowerPoint presentation on the Data CD titled Lesson Nine, begin with the slide titled The Cave-Man Blues There is a slide for each point in the message. Cue the video titled, Interview: Depression. The Message: (title slide) We ve all been sad. Sometimes we are sad and can t shake out of it. That is called being depressed. Many times when we are depressed, we feel like we are weird. We think we are the only ones who have ever felt that way. The truth is, there are many people today who suffer from depression. There were even people in the Bible who suffered from depression. Did you know there was a cave-man in the Bible who suffered from depression? No, not a cave man like the one on the screen, but a different sort of caveman. Do you remember David? He s the guy who killed the giant Goliath with a small stone. He s the guy who was anointed to be King of Israel even when he was only a shepherd boy. Pretty cool, huh? Well, it didn t stay that way. The current King of Israel, Saul, got angry at David for being anointed as the next King and he began to chase David all over the country trying to kill him. David had to run for his life. He ended up hiding in a cave called Adullam. Here we find our cave man sitting and feeling very lonely and depressed. Do you know what David did? He wrote a song. He did that a lot. He wrote almost the entire book of Psalms, which are songs to God. You would think maybe David would write a sad song. But, he didn t. Most Biblical scholars think he wrote Psalm 34 while in the cave. We are going to look at several things David wrote in that Psalm to teach us what we need to remember when we are depressed. 1. Remember: It s OK To Cry! (slide) A lot of times, we are embarrassed when we are sad. We hide the fact that we are depressed by putting on a fake smile. But, David didn t do that. He knew that it s OK to be sad. It s OK to cry. He wrote in Psalm 34:6, I cried out to the Lord in my suffering Does that sound like he was hiding the fact that he was sad? Not at all. When we are sad, we don t need to hide our sadness, and act (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Nine one - Cave-Man Blues (Depression) Page page 780

85 Illustrated Message (CONTINUED) like we are not sad. (pull out the tissue box) Sometimes we have times when we feel like crying. Don t hold it in, let it out. Feel free to cry and be honest about your feelings. David did. He said he was suffering and sad. He admitted his feelings. He wasn t ashamed to cry. David also teaches us something else we need to remember when we are depressed 2. Remember: I Am Not Alone In The Cave! (slide) David says in Psalm 34:18, The Lord is close to the brokenhearted When we are sad, we feel we are facing our depression all alone. But, we aren t. God is close to us at all times, especially when we are sad. He is there to help us. All we have to do is call on Him. And, do you know what? 3. Remember: God Hears Me When I Call! (slide) David remembered what we need to remember: The Lord hears his people when they call to Him for help. When you are sad and depressed, call to God for help. He hears every time I call. (hold up the cell phone) Ever tried to call someone on a cell phone and it kept dropping the call OR it said they were out of range. Or maybe you tried to call someone and got a busy signal. That s annoying. Well, God is ALWAYS in range and he is NEVER busy! When you call on Him, He answers. I want you to watch this story of a young girl who struggled with depression for a long time, but then called on God and He answered. (play video Interview: Depression ) Isn t it awesome? When we call on God, He hears us and will give us the joy we need. 4. Remember: The Joy Of The Lord Is My Strength! (slide) David says in Psalm 34:5, Those who look to Him will be radiant with joy. And, our Power Verse tells us that The joy of the Lord is my strength. When we are sad and depressed, God will give us the joy we need for strength to make it through our sad time. Depression doesn t have to last forever. Call on God and let Him fill you with His joy. ALTAR RESPONSE: (Play soft music) Pray for those who have been struggling with sadness and depression. Pray that God will fill them with His joy so they will have the strength they need to deal with depression. Lesson Nine one - Cave-Man Blues (Depression) Page page 781

86 Review Questions 1. What was today s Big Idea? Answer: The Joy Of The Lord Is My Strength! 2. What kind of music was Mr. Crabbe singing? Answer: the blues 3. What was the name of the cave-man in our Bible story? Answer: David 4. Even when we go through hard times, are we ever alone? Answer: No, God is with us 5. True or False: God created us so that we would be depressed all the time. Answer: False 6. Is it a sin to be depressed? Answer: No 7. In our lesson we learned that it is OK to. Answer: Cry 8. When David was depressed he wrote a. Answer: song 9. Our Power Verse said, Do not be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your. Answer: strength 10. Where was our Power Verse found? Answer: Nehemiah 8:10 Lesson nine - Cave-Man Blues (Depression) Page 82

87 We must not let our tongue get out of control! keep your tongue from speaking evil, and keep your lips from telling lies. 1 Peter 3:10 I Will Learn To Control My Tongue Intro Video Controlling The Tongue Puppet Skit Silly Willy s Tongue Twisters Offering Time Praise Songs Game Time The Big Squeeze Watch your mouth! This phrase has been uttered by many a parent, teacher, or Children s Leader when dealing with children. Too often, children speak WAY before they think! More often than that, the words that are spoken do a lot of damage to others. Learning to control the tongue is one of the hardest lessons a child can learn. We should use our tongue for helping others instead of hurting them, for telling the truth instead of lies, and for sharing the gospel instead of spreading gossip. In this lesson, the children will learn the destructive power of the tongue and how to DEAL WITH IT when we start to lose control of our tongue and our words. Power Verse Review keep your tongue from speaking evil, and keep your lips from telling lies. 1 Peter 3:10 Worship Songs Illustrated Message Watch Your Mouth! Rap It Up Video Review Questions Lesson Ten - Watch Your Mouth (The Tongue) Page 83

88 We must not let our tongue get out of control! keep your tongue from speaking evil, and keep your lips from telling lies. 1 Peter 3:10 I Will Learn To Control My Tongue Intro Video Controlling The Tongue Puppet Skit Silly Willy s Tongue Twisters Offering Time Praise Songs Game Time The Big Squeeze Power Verse Review keep your tongue from speaking evil, and keep your lips from telling lies. 1 Peter 3:10 Worship Songs Illustrated Message Watch Your Mouth! Rap It Up Video Review Questions Lesson Ten - Watch Your Mouth (The Tongue) Page 84

89 Puppet Skit Character: Silly Willy is a hyperactive puppet that thrives on scaring the leaders/workers. (You can use any puppet your kids are familiar with in your services.) Leader: Kids, today we are talking about how to DEAL WITH the tongue (Silly Willy pops up) Silly Willy: Oh, I love those! I have a good one! Leader: You have a good what? Silly Willy: Oh, I have a great one. You ready? Leader: A great one what? Ready for what? Silly Willy: Do you wanna hear it or not? I said, Are you READY?? Leader: Sure, I m ready. Silly Willy: OK, try this one Silly Sally swiftly shooed seven silly sheep. Leader: What? Silly Willy: Now, you try to say it. Silly Sally swiftly shooed seven silly sheep. Leader: Silly Willy that seems pretty goofy! Silly Willy: JUST SAY IT!!!!! Leader: OK, fine. What is it again? Silly Willy: Silly Sally swiftly shooed seven silly sheep. Leader: All right. (tries to say it, but messes it up) Oh, I can t say it. Silly Willy: That s OK, I have a better one. Betty better butter Brad s bread. Say that! Leader: This is starting to get annoying. Silly Willy: JUST SAY IT!!!!! Betty better butter Brad s bread. (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Ten - Watch Your Mouth (The Tongue) Page 85

90 Puppet Skit (CONTINUED) Leader: (tries, but messes it WAY up) Now, Silly Willy, can you please tell me what all this nonsense is about? Silly Willy: Well, you said we were learning to DEAL WITH tongue twisters, so I thought I would teach you some. Leader: No, Silly Willy. We are not learning to DEAL WITH tongue twisters. We are learning to deal with THE TONGUE. You know, learning to control our words. Sometimes people let their words get out of control and they lie, say things that hurt others, and even gossip. Silly Willy: Oh, that s not good. Leader: No, that s not good at all. That s why we re learning how to control the tongue and DEAL WITH IT today. Silly Willy: Well, why didn t you say so? I better get going so you can get back to the lesson. But, in the meantime I would like to share a little bit of Words Of Wisdom from Silly Willy. Leader: Words of wisdom? From you? Well...ok, go ahead. Silly Willy: Boys and girls, if you ever are in a situation and you don t know what to do, just ask yourself this question: Can you can a can as a canner can can a can? Leader: Oh, Silly Willy, get out of here with your tongue twisters! Silly Willy: A big black bug bit a big black dog on his big black nose! Leader: Silly Willy, GO! Silly Willy: OK, I m going! Bye Bye! Lesson Ten - Watch Your Mouth (The Tongue) Page 86

91 Game Time The Big Squeeze! Items Needed For Game: two large tubes of toothpaste; two pairs of plastic gloves; the Music CD How To Play: Choose two boys and two girls to compete in this game. Choose one contestant on each team to put on the plastic gloves. The other contestant on each team will be the squeezer. Tell the kids that when the music begins (play one of the one-minute version game songs) they have to try to squeeze all of the toothpaste out of the tube and into the hands of their partner. (it will probably only take them about 30 seconds to do it, so once they both are done, stop the music) Once both tubes are empty, tell them, Very good. That was part one of the competition. Now, for part two. When the music starts, you have to take all the toothpaste and shove it back into the tube. You have sixty seconds...go! (obviously, they are going to have an impossible time with this portion of the game, but keep playing along and cheering for them) When time is up say, Wow! It was easy getting the toothpaste out of the tube, huh? But, it was nearly impossible to try to shove the toothpaste back in once it was out. Kids, that is the same way with our words. It s easy to let words fly out of our mouth and we don t even think about how much they will hurt others. And once the words are out there, it s impossible to take them back. The damage has already been done. That s why it is soooo important for us to be careful with our words and DEAL WITH our tongue. (call the game a tie and reward both teams) Lesson Ten one - Watch Your Mouth (The Tongue) Page page 787

92 Illustrated Message Watch Your Mouth! Materials Needed: The Data CD; a cow tongue (you can get one at almost any local supermarket meat department); an ice chest; plastic serving gloves; ice; matches; Spider Man action figure or mask; surgical mask; stethoscope; pack of tongue depressors Preparation: Open the PowerPoint presentation on the Data CD titled Lesson Ten, begin with the slide titled Watch Your Mouth. There is a slide for each point in the message. Place the cow tongue inside the ice chest with ice. The Message: (title slide) Boys and girls, how many of you watch the news? (have them raise their hands) Some of you. Well, if you watch the news you probably hear about wars and weapons and things like that. (pull out the ice chest and put the plastic serving gloves on your hands) Today, I have in this box one of the most powerful weapons the world has ever known. It s not a bomb or a grenade or a gun. It s (pull out the cow tongue) a TONGUE! (have a little fun showing it off; the kids will love touching it) Now, you are probably thinking, How is a cow tongue a powerful weapon? Well, today I am not talking about a cow tongue that moos or chews grass. I am talking about the human tongue that uses words that can sometimes be a very destructive weapon. 1. The Tongue Is A Powerful Weapon (slide) James 3:5 says, The tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. How many of you know that is true? Have you ever been the victim of the damage the tongue can do. Someone lies about you and it destroys you. Or maybe you had a friend that talked about you behind your back and that destroyed your friendship. Perhaps you have had someone make fun of you and put you down. That certainly causes damage to us, huh? The tongue is a powerful weapon that we ALL possess. We have to understand that. We used to say a little saying when I was a kid. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but. (let them finish the saying) Words will never hurt me. You know, kids, that is NOT true. Words hurt. Words hurt a lot. We have to be aware that our words can cause MAJOR damage if we are not careful. (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Ten one - Watch Your Mouth (The Tongue) Page page 788

93 Illustrated Message (CONTINUED) (pull out the Spider-Man action figure or mask) How many of you know who this is? Of course, it s Spider-Man. In the Spider-Man movie, Peter Parker finds out that he has amazing super powers. His Uncle tells him something very important. Does anyone remember? With great power comes great. (Responsibility) That s right. Peter had to understand that now that he has great power, he has to be responsible and use it only to help others, not to hurt others. Kids, we have to learn the same lesson With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility (slide) We have to understand that we can t just say whatever comes to our mind. We have to THINK before we speak. We have to THINK whether or not what we are about to say is going to help others or hurt them. If it is going to hurt them...then don t say it. Yeah, but what if they deserve it? If it is going to hurt them, don t say it. Just because they may deserve it doesn t mean we have to hurt them. That s not the way Jesus was. That s not the way we should be. There s something else about our tongue that we need to understand. (pull out the surgical mask, stethoscope, and tongue depressors; grab a volunteer to come up and be your patient) When I was young, I used to go to the Doctor and he would tell me to stick out my tongue and say, Ahhh. Then, he would look at my tongue and he would know whether or not I was sick. I was always amazed by this. How can looking at my tongue tell the doctor whether or not I am sick? You know, it is the same way with our spiritual lives. A lot can be seen about what s going on in our heart simply by looking at what is coming out of our mouth. 3. A Sick Tongue Is A Sign Of A Sick Heart (slide) It s true. The Bible says in Luke 6:45, Whatever is in your heart determines what you say That means that if there are lies, bad words, cut-downs, and other negative stuff coming out of your mouth, then your heart is probably not filled with the things of God. Whatever is in your heart will determine what you say. If your heart is filled with the things of God, good things will come out of your mouth. But, if your heart is filled with sin, bad things will come out of your mouth. It s sad, but it s true. Maybe you are here and you say, WOW! I never thought about that before. I don t want to be like that. I want to DEAL WITH my tongue! How do I do it? Well, how many of you have ever heard of Smokey The Bear? (put the Smokey the Bear slide up on the screen) Smokey the Bear has a saying, Only YOU can prevent forest fires. (pull out the matches) You see, some people play with matches like these and they don t take care of where the matches fall. They end up burning down trees and entire forests because they didn t do what it takes to control their matches. (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Lesson Ten one - Watch Your Mouth (The Tongue) Page page 789