Junior Soldiers. Consider & Prepare. Unit 7 : Lesson 1

Transcription

1 Junior Soldiers Unit 7 : Lesson 1 You can t stop God from loving you! PURPOSE : For children to explore and understand that nothing can ever separate them from God s love. I am sure that nothing can separate us from God s love not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord! Romans 8:38 39 Consider & Prepare Read: Romans 3:31 39 Ephesians 3:14 21 Psalm 139:1 12 We live in an increasingly short-term world. That is, recent generations have become accustomed to change and evolution more than previous generations ever had to. Do you buy an ipad now or wait for the new version next year? Is it trendy to wear a woolen scarf? No, that was last month. Should I watch this new show on TV? No, watch this newer show streamed live online. What about careers? The days of working as a postman for 40 years and retiring with a gold watch are long gone. On average now, an Aussie will work in three entirely different careers and with six different companies in their career. How about church commitment? Almost no-one now attends the same church for their whole life. On average, an Aussie Christian will attend a church for five years and then move on. So in this world where commitment and longevity and persistence are dirty words, how do we teach children about a God who will always love them, day in, day out, year after year, decade after decade? Will a child believe you when you say that the God who loves them today will still love them when they re 82 with great-grandkids of their own? This lesson will confirm God s love for the children and His faithfulness to us for the long-term. When talking about love and having a heavenly Father, remember to be sensitive toward the children, as not all children will have come from a healthy, loving home environment. Avoid throw away lines like This is how your mum and dad love you. You may need to assess whether more discussion or follow up is needed for some children at a different time.

2 What you will need: For Connecting In Cards with items from pairs list written/printed on them Items for brainstorming activity, e.g. kettle, wind-up car, torch etc. Large sheet of butchers paper/whiteboard and appropriate markers For The Main Thing Bibles Paper, textas, pens etc. Large, cheap rubbish bag (e.g. large enough to fit a child) A roll of good quality clear contact Sticky notes Sticky tape, masking tape and gaffa tape For Tying In A copy of The Jesus Storybook Bible (not essential but a great resource) You will need a variety of craft and creative resources for the children to choose from, e.g. paper, pens, textas, coloured paper, glue, scissors, musical instruments, playdough or paper Magiclay, craft supplies etc. For Print off the cards for each child. Connecting In Things that go together Think about things that go together, e.g. salt and pepper, shoes and socks, eggs and bacon, Will and Kate. For this activity you will need to write a list of things that go together and then write each item out onto a card. You will need to have at least one card per child and leader in your group. Explain to the children that they each have a card that goes together with a card that someone else has in the room. (It would be good to give some examples, but ones that are not represented on the cards you are going to hand out.) Hand out a card to each of the children. You might like to play some music in the background while the children/leaders go about finding the person who has the card that goes with the one that they have. Once they have found their pair they are to sit down with their hands on their heads. The first group to sit down is the winner but it would be good to see if all the matches can be made. When everyone is finished it would be good to go through and see what people had on their cards and if all the matches were made correctly. Link: Today we have had fun playing a game that looked at things that go together. There are lots of things, people and places that when we think of them we often think about something that goes with them just like the items that we have matched on the cards. Today we are going to explore something that will always go together with us, and that is God s love it is always there for us and nothing can separate it from us. When we think about God s love, the perfect match that should come to mind for you, is you!

3 How does it stop? For this brainstorming activity it would be good to have some props, e.g. a kettle, a wind-up car, a torch etc. You will also need a large sheet of butchers paper or a whiteboard and the appropriate markers. I have some items here that I can start, I can turn the kettle on, wind up the car and push the button on the torch to start it. Can you tell me: once I have started them, how do they stop? I wonder if you can think of some other items/objects that start and stop. Brainstorm them and write them up on the whiteboard or butchers paper. What about things like stopping people from doing certain things, e.g. how do I stop someone from bullying me? Allow some more time to think about how we might stop some of these behaviours. What about something like God s love I wonder how you could get that to stop? Allow some more time for the kids to come up with some suggestions as to how they might be able to get God to stop loving them. Link: We have been brainstorming about how things start and then stop and we have come up with some good suggestions and explored some great ideas. Even when we thought about how we might get God to stop loving us, we had some great suggestions but today we are going to explore some scripture that tells us that nothing that s right nothing, can separate us from God s love. (It would be important here thought to add that that doesn t give us permission to purposely go and do wrong things.) The Main Thing Can t get it off For this illustration you will need a large cheap rubbish bag (large enough to fit a child/volunteer) a roll of good quality clear contact, some sticky notes, some sticky tape, masking tape and gaffa tape etc. Talk about things that stick and cannot come off easily. Brainstorm what things stick, e.g. contact on books, glue, chewy gum, honey etc. Get a child/leader to put a cheap garbage bag on (make sure there is a hole in the top of the bag for their head to come through). Stick some post-it-notes to them and show how easily they peel off again. Get the children to say why these don t stick. Talk briefly about people who sometimes let us down and don t stick by us. Reiterate how God will always stick by us. Get a long piece of contact and wrap the volunteer right around. As you are doing that, talk about how sticky it is etc. Make sure it s good quality contact so that it sticks and, as you try to pull it off the garbage bag, the garbage bag rips. God is like the contact on the bag. He is/will always stick by us. Let s have a look at Matthew 28:20 together. Have someone read it out loud (you may even want to read it twice). I ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age. Now let s read Romans 8: together. I am sure that nothing can separate us from God s love not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord! In these verses we have some promises from God: I wonder what you think about when you hear these promises? I wonder how they make you feel?

4 Let s think about some things that stick: sticky notes: Some sticky notes are good and others are not so good, but even the good ones don t always stay stuck. Get a volunteer to stick some sticky notes onto the wall out the front or onto one of the leaders and you can show that they are easy to peel off. sticky tape: Again, with sticky tape, depending on the brand you have it can be sticky or not so sticky. Have some normal sticky tape, some masking tape and some gaffa tape. Get a volunteer to come and use the tapes to show the difference between how good they will stick but that you can peel them off if needed. Does anyone know what a limpet is? (You may like to show a picture after you have talked about them; you can find these on the internet and could either print one out or show it on a screen.) The name limpet is used for many kinds of saltwater and freshwater snails, specifically those that have a simple shell which is more or less conical in shape. Limpets attach themselves to surfaces using a liquid they produce (sort of like a mucus or snot when you have a runny nose) and some muscles in their base. This enables them to clamp down against a rock surface with considerable strength, despite the strong waves on exposed rocky shores. The ability to clamp down also seals the shell edge against the rock surface, protecting them during low tide, despite being in full sunlight. When limpets are fully clamped down, it is impossible to remove them from the rock using brute force alone, and the limpet will allow itself to be destroyed rather than stop clinging to its rock. This survival strategy has led to the limpet being used as an example for stubbornness. They simply will not be budged! I think about the promise that Jesus made about being with us always, day after day, and the promise that tells us that there is nothing that will separate us from God s love. It s not like the sticky notes or the sticky tape that can be taken off easily, it is more like trying to take the contact off the garbage bag and like the limpets that stick so tightly. Even limpets can be forced off eventually, however, God s love won t be budged. Amazing but true Explore the following scripture together read Romans 8:31 39 together. During this time of exploring the scripture, you might like to work as a whole group (especially if your group is smaller) or you might like to divide your group into smaller age-based groups (discussion in small groups can be very helpful). Reflect on how loved we are by God. How can we start showing that sort of love to others? I wonder what stands out for you in this passage. What do you like about this scripture passage? Take a moment to reflect on how loved we are by God. I wonder how that makes you feel. Re-read verse 31, If God is for us, who can ever be against us? What do you think that might mean? What can possibly separate us from each other? (e.g. marriage break-ups, friends moving away, moving house, moving school, the way we behave and sometimes the choices we make etc.) Talk with the children (using the contact and the garbage bag example) about how some of the choices we make and the way we behave could easily put us outside of God s love but, in fact, the harder we try to tear away from Him, the closer He sticks. I wonder if any of you ever feel as if you don t deserve God s love. Why? (Allow a few moments for the children to respond this will also need to be a sensitive time, creating a safe space for the children to share.)

5 You know, when we think like that about not deserving God s love we can feel like or think that we might be moving away from God. But God s pretty big where could you possibly go to move away from God? (Read Psalm 139:1 12.) The reality is that God loves us no matter what, and even if we feel we are a long way from Him, nothing can take us away from His love. Tying In What does it look like for you? For this section it would be good to have a copy of The Jesus Storybook Bible (it is not essential, as the key phrase we are referring to is below, but it would be good to be able to look at it in context and the book is a great resource to be able to use with the children on a regular basis). You will also need a variety of craft and creative resources for the children to choose from, e.g. paper, pens, textas, coloured paper, glue, scissors, musical instruments, playdough or paper Magiclay, craft supplies etc. If you have a copy of The Jesus Storybook Bible, read page 36 and then come back and reinforce the following statement included in the middle of that page. If you don t have a copy just share the following statement with them: You see, no matter what, in spite of everything, God would love His children with a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love. Share with the children how this statement makes you feel and what it might look like for you. How does this statement make you feel? If you were going to express how this statement makes you feel to others, how might you do it? What might it look like? Would it be a picture or a love letter, perhaps a poem, song or chant, maybe it is something made out of clay that shows how you feel or a collage created with many different things. Take some time to think about how you might do this and then create something that expresses how you feel when you read these words. When the children have finished, it would be great for them (if they would like) to be able to share what they have done and why with the others. When they have finished sharing, have one of the leaders pray for the group and the wonderful promise we are given in both the scripture that we have read and the statement from The Jesus Storybook Bible. Print off the cards attached. The children might like to keep these in their journals or notebook where they could write or stick the challenges, reflect, answer questions or complete activities each week. Special letters for amazing words Below is the key Bible passage and statement that we talked about in this session. You might like to re-write the Bible passage in your own words. You will need a sheet of paper and some magazines or newspapers for this activity. Cut out the letters from the magazines and newspapers to make up one of the texts below, and stick them onto your sheet of paper. You might like to get some others in your family to help you. While you are putting this together, share some of the things that you talked about in the session and how these statements make you feel. I am sure that nothing can separate us from God s love not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord! Romans 8: You see, no matter what, in spite of everything, God would love His children with a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love.

6 Below is the key Bible passage and statement that we talked about today. You might like to re-write the Bible passage in your own words. You will need a sheet of paper and some magazines or newspapers for this activity. Cut out the letters from the magazines and newspapers to make up one of the texts below, and stick them onto your sheet of paper. You might like to get some others in your family to help you. While you are putting this together, share some of the things that you talked about in the session and how these statements make you feel. I am sure that nothing can separate us from God s love not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, and not powers above or powers You see, no matter what, in spite of everything, God would love His children Below is the key Bible passage and statement that we talked about today. You might like to re-write the Bible passage in your own words. You will need a sheet of paper and some magazines or newspapers for this activity. Cut out the letters from the magazines and newspapers to make up one of the texts below, and stick them onto your sheet of paper. You might like to get some others in your family to help you. While you are putting this together, share some of the things that you talked about in the session and how these statements make you feel. I am sure that nothing can separate us from God s love not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, and not powers above or powers You see, no matter what, in spite of everything, God would love His children below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord! Romans 8: below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord! Romans 8: with a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love. with a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love. Special letters for amazing words Special letters for amazing words Below is the key Bible passage and statement that we talked about today. You might like to re-write the Bible passage in your own words. You will need a sheet of paper and some magazines or newspapers for this activity. Cut out the letters from the magazines and newspapers to make up one of the texts below, and stick them onto your sheet of paper. You might like to get some others in your family to help you. While you are putting this together, share some of the things that you talked about in the session and how these statements make you feel. I am sure that nothing can separate us from God s love not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, and not powers above or powers You see, no matter what, in spite of everything, God would love His children Below is the key Bible passage and statement that we talked about today. You might like to re-write the Bible passage in your own words. You will need a sheet of paper and some magazines or newspapers for this activity. Cut out the letters from the magazines and newspapers to make up one of the texts below, and stick them onto your sheet of paper. You might like to get some others in your family to help you. While you are putting this together, share some of the things that you talked about in the session and how these statements make you feel. I am sure that nothing can separate us from God s love not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, and not powers above or powers You see, no matter what, in spite of everything, God would love His children below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord! Romans 8: below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord! Romans 8: with a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love. with a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love. Special letters for amazing words Special letters for amazing words

7 Junior Soldiers Unit 7 : Lesson 2 You re the one God PURPOSE : For the children to explore and understand that God might ask us to do things we don t want to do, but with His help we can do it. Read: Read the book of Jonah Philippians 4:13 needs for the job! Consider & Prepare Christ gives me the strength to face anything. Philippians 4:13 The story of Jonah is one that is well known to many people not just church goers; Jonah and the whale/big fish is a popular tale that most children will have heard of. The focus is usually on the part where Jonah is swallowed by a big fish and three days later thrown up on a beach! It is a great story to engage the children s imagination. The difference between Jonah and the other prophetic books is that it only gives us one sentence of what he preached! The whole book is the telling of the story of Jonah s disobedience to do what the Lord asks and how he runs away from what he should do. This lesson is focused on the thought that God may ask us to do things that we think are impossible or just plain scary. Just as Jonah ran as far away as he could from his set task, so we also may find ourselves trying to avoid situations that will make us uncomfortable. As Christians we are called to share the word of the Lord (Matthew 28:19) and sometimes it will be easy to share the good news of Jesus love. However, there may be other times when the Lord asks us to deliver words that are more difficult just as Jonah found out! It is at these times in our lives that we must trust fully in the Lord and rely on His strength to sustain us for the task. It is important when engaging with children on this sort of topic that you, as a leader, are willing to share part of your own journey and experiences (you will, however, need to be wise in the amount/depth that you share). They need to hear of how you have navigated through tough situations and how you have relied on God s strength to give you all you needed at the time. This helps to connect a story from the scripture into real life experience. What you will need: For Connecting In Whiteboard/markers or butchers paper For The Main Thing Clip Overboard: the story of Jonah (

8 Computer, ipad or projector to play the above clip Bible readings and questions for each group Pens Bibles Whale/Jonah template Glue stick Butchers paper Textas For Tying In A ball (tennis ball or beach ball) For Print off the cards for each child. Connecting In Simon Says Play a game of Simon Says with your group. Start by giving simple instructions of fun and easy things to do: put your hands in the air, jump on one foot etc. You don t need to get anyone out at this stage, just keep it fun. After a while, start giving some harder or less fun instructions: lick your elbow, smell someone else s feet, do 20 star jumps etc. This time the children can choose not to do the task and go out of the game. Keep playing as long as it is fun but make sure that you let the children have time to complain about the tasks that are a little less fun! How did you feel about being told what to do when the instructions were easy? Did your feelings change when the instructions got a little less fun? How did you feel about doing some of those tasks? Put up your hand if you chose not to do the instruction and got out of the game! Link: We have had some fun playing a game where you might have made a choice not to do something, today we are going to explore the story of Jonah and how God asked him to do something that he didn t want to do. Jonah tried to get out of doing his task and got into a fishy situation. God didn t give up on Jonah, was patient with him and gave him another chance, and he chose to do the right thing that also made a difference for others. Brainstorm Using a whiteboard or some butchers paper, ask the children to list some things that they like to do (play soccer, read a book, watch a movie, go to the beach etc.) Then, on the other side of the page, brainstorm some things that they don t like to do (tidy their bedroom, homework, doing the dishes, taking the rubbish out etc.) I wonder why you like doing those things. I wonder if you try to get out of doing the things that you don t like doing? Can you tell us why you don t like to do those things? What do you think would make them more enjoyable to do? Link: There are things that you like to do and then those that you don t, just as we have looked at today, we are going to explore the story of Jonah and how God asked him to do something that he didn t want to do. Jonah tried to get out of doing his task and got into a fishy situation. God didn t give up on Jonah, was patient with him and gave him another chance and he chose to do the right thing that made a difference for others.

9 The Main Thing Jonah s story in four parts... For this section you will need to divide your group into smaller groups or if you have a smaller group you might like to take turns in reading the passages and explore the questions together. They will need to have Bibles and the questions to explore in their groups. You might also like to give each group some butchers paper and textas to help them explore this story. You will also need access to the YouTube clip below either on a computer, ipad or through the projector. This will be a great start for the children as they explore the story of Jonah. Clip Overboard: the story of Jonah ( Reading 1: Jonah 1:1 17 Jonah runs from the Lord I wonder what stands out for you in this passage. What was Jonah asked to do? Explore together why he didn t do it. Where did Jonah go instead? What happened? I wonder if you might have felt like doing something like this. Why? Reading 2: Jonah 2:1 10 Jonah s prayer I wonder what stands out for you in this passage. What did Jonah do while inside the big fish? How do you think Jonah was feeling about God? How do you think God was feeling about Jonah? What happened in the end of this chapter? Do you think there could have been a different outcome? Reading 3: Jonah 3:1 10 Jonah goes to Nineveh I wonder what stands out for you in this passage. What does God ask Jonah to do? Is this the first time God has asked Jonah? Is Jonah more willing to do it the second time? Why? Explore why Jonah didn t want to go to Nineveh the first time? Did the people do what Jonah told them and change their behaviour? Reading 4: Jonah 4:1 10 Jonah gets angry at the Lord I wonder what stands out for you in this passage. How was Jonah feeling about the people turning to God? What does Jonah pray to God about? Why? Do you think this was a good end to the story of Jonah? Why/Why not? I wonder what you learn from and about God from this story. Go fish! Make some simple whale shapes out of cardboard and make a hole big enough for a party blower to push through. Have enough Jonah figures cut out to write one word on each one for the memory verse. Cover the back of each Jonah cut-out with glue from a glue stick. Ask the children to blow their party blower out and catch a Jonah. Once all the Jonah s have been caught ask the children to assemble them in the right order and stick them down on some butcher s paper or cardboard. Memory verse: Christ gives me the strength to face anything (Philippians 4:13)

10 Tying In Sharing a message Sharing something that is important to you can be difficult at times; you might feel scared or worried about what you have to say and how the people you are talking to might react. Jonah had those same struggles about sharing the message that God wanted him to communicate. I wonder if you have had a time when you have needed to share an important message with someone, maybe it was telling someone about being a follow of Jesus. If you were sharing about your faith, I wonder who you might find it difficult to talk to? Why? What if what you had to say was going make someone sad or upset? We must be prepared to share the word of the Lord to everyone. God asked Jonah to do a very important job for Him. God wanted Jonah to tell the Ninevites: The Lord has seen your terrible sins. You are doomed! (Jonah 1:2) That was a very scary message to deliver to a bunch of strangers! It can be easy to share the love of God with friends and family but what about people that we don t know? What happens when we need to say things that others may not want to hear? God may want us to remind a friend about the promise that they have made as a Junior Soldier if they are making some bad choices. God may lead us to tell a bully at school about Jesus. These things may seem really hard to do but if we remember our verse from Philippians 4:13 ( Christ gives me the strength to face anything ) it will be easier. Remember, too, that God doesn t only want us to challenge someone or warn them of behavior that displeases Him sometimes God wants us to give someone a word of encouragement or praise or thanks. For some people, this can be a hard message to deliver, too. Imagine walking up to someone and saying, I think you did that really well, and I think even God is pleased with you. Trust God, He will give you the words to say. Note also that whenever we talk to someone as a Christian, we are representing God and should talk to someone in love (Ephesians 4:15), with gentleness (Galatians 6:1) and with the truth and grace that Jesus modeled (John 1:14). When Jonah finally did what God had asked and delivered the message of doom to the people of Nineveh a great thing happened they listened to him and they changed their behavior and were saved from doom! Prayer and reflection Ask the children to sit in a circle and quietly think about what God may be saying to them. Allow a few moments for quiet reflection (it can be hard to hear God when we are always talking make sure you help the children to stop and focus on God and clear their mind; this is something that will take time to get used to and need practice but it is an important thing that we need to help children explore and practice in a safe environment). Use a tennis ball or inflatable beach ball and as you roll it to a child say: I pray (child s name), that God will give you strength this week to share His words. That child can then roll the ball and pass the same prayer onto another child in the group. Continue until everyone has had a turn. Have a leader finish off with a prayer for all the children. Print off the cards attached. The children might like to keep these in their journals or notebook where they could write or stick the challenges, reflect, answer questions or complete activities each week. Stop & Listen Take time this week to stop and listen to God and pray about the things that come to mind. Write or draw anything that God shows you, says to you or reminds you of during this time. Share what you have drawn or written down with someone this week. Pray that God will give you the courage to share His messages with others.

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12 Take time this week to stop and listen to God and pray about the things that come to mind. Write or draw anything that God shows you, says to you or reminds you of during this time. Share what you have drawn or written down with someone this week. Pray that God will give you the courage to share His messages with others. Take time this week to stop and listen to God and pray about the things that come to mind. Write or draw anything that God shows you, says to you or reminds you of during this time. Share what you have drawn or written down with someone this week. Pray that God will give you the courage to share His messages with others. Stop & Listen Stop & Listen Take time this week to stop and listen to God and pray about the things that come to mind. Write or draw anything that God shows you, says to you or reminds you of during this time. Share what you have drawn or written down with someone this week. Pray that God will give you the courage to share His messages with others. Take time this week to stop and listen to God and pray about the things that come to mind. Write or draw anything that God shows you, says to you or reminds you of during this time. Share what you have drawn or written down with someone this week. Pray that God will give you the courage to share His messages with others. Stop & Listen Stop & Listen

13 Junior Soldiers Unit 7 : Lesson 3 Salvation! PURPOSE : For children to understand and explore the importance of being truly sorry and believing that God will forgive them as a necessary part of salvation. But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins awa y.. 1 John 1:9 We believe that repentance towards God, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and regeneration by the Holy Spirit, are necessary to salvation. Doctrine 7 We believe that to be saved we must be sorry for doing wrong and trust in Jesus, then the Holy Spirit will make us new people. Doctrine 7 (simplifi ed version) Consider & Prepare Read: Psalm 103:12 1 John 1:9 This lesson is one of two lessons (Lessons 3 and 4) covering Doctrine 7. This first one is a long lesson with lots in it, you might like to use all the material and do it over a two week/two session slot, or you can modify it to suit your group/structure. It would, however, be good to do all of the Connecting In section. While you can t really play favourites with the doctrines, there s no doubt that this is one of the more crucial ones in establishing a relationship with God. Children need to know how salvation is obtained and understand that it is a gift (of grace) given by God and not in response to our own hard work, effort or sacrifices. God wants us to be saved. All we have to do is declare our sinful state and place our trust in Jesus and we will be saved. The recipe to being friends with God can be used by anyone and is easy as 1, 2, 3: we need to be genuinely sorry for past sins against God, we need to trust Jesus, and the Holy Spirit will take away the heaviness of our sin and give us a fresh start. NOTE: Check if any of the children are allergic or sensitive to any of the ingredients included in the fudge recipe. If there are any allergies in your group you might like to use an alternative 3-ingredient recipe that is safe for all the children to enjoy. For example, fairy bread or a Vegemite sandwich.

14 What you will need: For Connecting In Microwave Microwave safe jug or bowl Slice tray Wooden spoon 500 grams milk chocolate Tin of condensed milk Packet of chocolate clinkers A copy of Shrek (optional) For The Main Thing A backpack (sturdy enough to hold bricks/rocks) 3 4 bricks or rocks Bibles Large area to play East and West game For Tying In Flash Paper* (cut up into note-sized pieces) Matches Textas or pens *Flash paper is a magic resource commonly also used in illustrations about taking sins away. You can enquire at local magic shops or it can be ordered from: phone (02) (New South Wales) phone (03) (Victoria) phone (03) (Victoria) NOTE: If you are unable to get a hold of Flash Paper you might like to use Lux Flakes (laundry soap) instead. If you opt for this alternative illustration you will also need a see-through bucket or container. For Print off a card for each child. Connecting In As easy as one, two, three For this activity you will need access to a microwave, a microwave safe jug or bowl, slice tray, wooden spoon, 500 grams milk chocolate, a tin of condensed milk and a packet of clinkers. NOTE: Before doing this activity with the children you will need to check if any of the children are allergic or sensitive to any of the ingredients included in the fudge recipe. If there are any allergies in your group you might like to use an alternative 3-ingredient recipe that is safe for all the children to enjoy. For example, fairy bread or a Vegemite sandwich (bread, butter and sprinkles/vegemite. Follow these simple steps to make some yummy chocolate fudge: 1. Crush the clinkers. 2. Place the milk chocolate and condensed milk in a microwave safe bowl/jug. 3. Microwave for 1 1½ minutes (depending on the microwave) to soften the chocolate. 4. Mix to combine. 5. Add crushed clinkers and stir through. 6. Pour into slice tray and refrigerate, ready for the children to share at the end of the lesson.

15 As you prepare the fudge you might like to invite some of the children to help you. It would be good to highlight a few times throughout this activity that there are only three ingredients you need to make this recipe. Link: Today we have made some yummy fudge to share. There were only three ingredients we needed to make this recipe; so easy to remember. After making it a couple of times, you could probably just make it off the top of your head without even looking at the recipe. I wonder if you can think of any easy meals you or others make at home without looking at the recipe? How many steps or ingredients are needed for them? Today we are going to explore one of the key beliefs of The Salvation Army. It talks about the thee ingredients that make up the recipe of being a friend of God and connected to Him. It s as easy as one, two, three just like the three ingredients that we used to make the fudge, there are three key ingredients to being connected with God. 1. Say sorry to God 2. Trust and believe in Jesus 3. Be changed by the Holy Spirit So in this lesson we are going to talk mostly about the first two parts, saying sorry to God and trusting Jesus, and next time we will look more at how it is important to let the Holy Spirit changes us. Are you really sorry? Watch a clip from the movie Shrek. Begin at scene 16 (when the counter reads 1 hour, 11 minutes, 24 seconds) where Shrek apologises to Donkey. Alternatively, you could have two volunteers act out the following scene. Script: Donkey: Come back here! I m not through with you yet! Shrek: Well, I m through with you! Donkey: Uh-uh. You know you are always, Me, Me, Me. Well, now it s my turn. So you just shut up and pay attention. You are mean to me. You insult me, and you don t appreciate anything I do. You are always pushing me around or pushing me away. Shrek: Oh yeah? Well, if I treated you so bad, how come you came back? Donkey: Cause that s what friends do. They forgive each other. Shrek: Oh yeah, Donkey, I forgive you for stabbing me in the back! Donkey: Oh! You are so wrapped up in layers, Onion Boy, you re afraid of your own feelings! Shrek: Go away! Donkey: See! There you go, doin it again just like you did to Fiona. All she ever did was like you, maybe even love you. Shrek: Love me? She said I was ugly. A hideous creature! I heard the two of you talking. Donkey: She wasn t talking about you. She was talking about somebody else. Shrek: She wasn t talking about me? Then who was she talking about? Donkey: Uh-uh. No way. I ain t sayin anything. You don t want to listen to me. Right? Right? Shrek: Donkey Donkey: No! Shrek: Okay, look: I m sorry. Alright? I m sorry. I guess I am just a big, stupid, ugly ogre. Can you forgive me? Donkey: Hey, that s what friends are for, right? Shrek: Right. Friends? Donkey: Friends! Link: Donkey and Shrek are angry and disappointed with each other. They are having some friendship trouble. Can you think of a time when you ve had friendship troubles or had a fight with someone in your family? How was the problem solved? Do you think Shrek was truly sorry? Do you find it hard to say sorry?

16 Roleplay: Choose a scenario (such as lying to a parent or gossiping about a friend) to help illustrate a comparison between what a genuine apology might look like and what a fake one would. Invite one or two children to help you roleplay a scenario where either you or a volunteer respond with a sharp, fake apology. Repeat the scenario responding with a genuine apology. Do you think that I was really sorry? Why/why not? How can we tell if an apology is heartfelt/real? (e.g. tone of voice, facial expression, using name, change in attitude/behavior following the apology.) The Main Thing Backpack For this illustration you will need a backpack (sturdy enough to hold bricks/rocks) as well as 3 4 bricks or rocks. You will need to choose a child (or leader if you would prefer) that could hold the weight of a few bricks or rocks in a backpack for a few minutes. Place the empty backpack on the child s shoulders/back. We are going to use this backpack today to represent us/our heart. I want you to have a think about what happens if you don t say sorry? How do you feel? (Guilty, worried, afraid, yucky, disappointed, problem remains or gets worse, hard to be close or talk to loved one/friend, your heart feels heavy.) When we hurt other people or make poor choices, the feelings and consequences of our actions stick with us. (As you repeat some of the children s responses place a brick into the backpack, e.g. we feel guilty when we don t say sorry put in brick we can feel sad when we hurt others put in a brick etc). We carry the guilt and the disappointment and the worry and it starts to weigh us down and get heavy. (Ask your volunteer ) Is that starting to feel heavy? Do you think it would make it harder to do things with these bricks on your back all day? Well, God loves us so much and doesn t want us to carry our mistakes and heavy feelings around with us. If we say sorry to God and truly mean it and we trust and believe in Jesus, God will help to take away that heaviness. (Remove the bricks from the backpack as you talk ) God can remove our guilt and fear if we trust and believe in Him. He can take away the heaviness and yucky feelings. (Ask your volunteer ) Does that feel better without the bricks weighing you down? Find and read 1 John 1:9 together: But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away. (CEV) Find and read Psalm 103:12 together: He has removed our sins as far from us as east is from the west. (NLT) You might like to share this short passage with the children to help them grasp this bible verse a little better. It is from a great children s devotional book called Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing by Sally Lloyd-Jones: Far, Far Away When God says he forgives us, he is saying, I ve sent all the wrong things you ever did far, far away from me. I ve hurled them away where no one can ever look on them not even me! Where is the farthest place you ve ever traveled? God has sent your sins farther. What s the farthest place you can even imagine? Galaxies twelve billion light years away? God sends your sins even farther away than that! You won t ever see them again. (page 47)

17 Imagine if you stood in the desert in the middle of Australia and looked to your left and you could see just flat land for a few kilometres before it got hazy and too far away, and then you looked to your right and saw the same thing. Now, imagine getting those points as far as you can see to your left and as far as you can see to your right to come together. Impossible, yeah? Well, that s what God says he will do with our sins. He will remove them from us as far as the east is from the west, that is: as far apart as those two points you almost can t even see. We don t have to think about the bad things we ve done previously; we don t have to remember them; we don t have to be upset by them. They re gone. History. Disappeared. They re outta here! That s how God forgives our sins, and that s how we should forgive people; we forgive them fully/entirely/totally. Wow, those scripture verses are amazing, I wonder what you think... I wonder how these verses make you feel. What are they telling us about the sins/wrong choices that we make? These verses are some promises that you can remember to help you know how God deals with us when we say sorry and what he does with our sins. They are something strong that you can hold on to. East & West Game This game has been adapted from the traditional Port & Starboard game. The leader calls out a direction and the players respond by doing the action associated (listed below). If a player responds with the wrong action or is too slow to follow, they are out of the game. The last player still in the game is the winner. To make the game less competitive, players do not get out. Instead, they can be considered lost and stand out for a count of 20 seconds before being found and returning to the game. You might like to add some of your own directions to make the game more challenging. Game directions: East move to east of room/area West move to west of room/area Mountain join hands above head in a mountain shape Valley lie down Bottom of ocean hold nose with one hand and wiggle arm above head as if going under water Birds of the sky flap like a bird Playing the game of East and West today, we have been only been thinking about how far one side of the room is to the other but if we think about the verse from Psalm 103, it talks about how much farther God will take our sins away from us. We can also think about in in relation to the bottom (depths) of the ocean to the unending heights of the sky (universe). I think it is comforting to know that God will take our wrong choices so far away from us when we truly say sorry and believe in Him.

18 Tying In Just like that For this activity you will need some Flash Paper* (cut up into note-sized pieces), matches, textas or pens. (*Flash paper for more information see note at beginning of lesson.) This activity needs to be done by the leader and is a very powerful illustration. When you set Flash Paper alight, it doesn t leave any ash/residue. It is a great way to help illustrate how once God forgives our sins they are gone for good. Today we have talked about being truly sorry for the things we ve done and the choices we ve made and believing that God will take them away just like He reminds us in 1 John 1:9 and Psalm 103:12. (Think of something you are sorry for and share it with the children. You might even like to write it on the piece of Flash Paper. As you are talking, hold up the piece of paper.) If I just hide this piece of paper will it be gone forever? It is the same with our mistakes and unwise choices if we hide them from God, they are not really gone but if I say sorry to God and trust Jesus (light the paper) He will take my sin away for good! Invite the children to think of something that they might be sorry for and repeat the process with them. Finish this section with a prayer for all the things that people have said sorry for. *If you are unable to get a hold of Flash Paper you might like to use Lux Flakes (laundry soap) to illustrate this message instead. When you place a small amount of Lux flakes into water they dissolve completely. You will need to just talk about the things you are sorry for if you use this alternative illustration as you will not be able to write on the flakes. Print off the cards attached. The children might like to keep these in their journals or notebook where they could write or stick the challenges, reflect, answer questions or complete activities each week. Before & after But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away. 1 John 1:9 (CEV) Read 1 John 1:9 with your family or Big Bud While you are at home or at school this week, you might see or hear some apologies taking place. If you do, stop and think about the difference between a true apology and a fake one. Pin up your card with the verse on it (or write it our fancy for yourself) and read it as a reminder to talk to God about the things that you are sorry for.

19 or hear some apologies taking place. If you do, stop and think about the difference between a true apology and a fake one. Pin up your card with the verse on it (or write it our fancy for yourself) and read it as a reminder to talk to God about the things that you are sorry for. or hear some apologies taking place. If you do, stop and think about the difference between a true apology and a fake one. Pin up your card with the verse on it (or write it our fancy for yourself) and read it as a reminder to talk to God about the things that you are sorry for. But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away. 1 John 1:9 (CEV) Read 1 John 1:9 with your family or Big Bud While you are at home or at school this week, you might see But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away. 1 John 1:9 (CEV) Read 1 John 1:9 with your family or Big Bud While you are at home or at school this week, you might see Before & after Before & after or hear some apologies taking place. If you do, stop and think about the difference between a true apology and a fake one. Pin up your card with the verse on it (or write it our fancy for yourself) and read it as a reminder to talk to God about the things that you are sorry for. or hear some apologies taking place. If you do, stop and think about the difference between a true apology and a fake one. Pin up your card with the verse on it (or write it our fancy for yourself) and read it as a reminder to talk to God about the things that you are sorry for. But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away. 1 John 1:9 (CEV) Read 1 John 1:9 with your family or Big Bud While you are at home or at school this week, you might see But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away. 1 John 1:9 (CEV) Read 1 John 1:9 with your family or Big Bud While you are at home or at school this week, you might see Before & after Before & after

20 Junior Soldiers Unit 7 : Lesson 4 PURPOSE : For children to understand and explore how, when we are friends with Jesus, the Holy Spirit can change how we live and who we are. People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things. Romans 8:5 We believe that repentance towards God, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and regeneration by the Holy Spirit, are necessary to salvation. Doctrine 7 We believe that to be saved we must be sorry for doing wrong and trust in Jesus, then the Holy Spirit will make us new people. Doctrine 7 (Simplifi ed version) Read: Romans 8: 1 11 Galatians 5: Ephesians 3: Salvation! (part2) Consider & Prepare This lesson is one of two lessons (Lessons 3 and 4) covering Doctrine 7. Lesson 3 focused on saying sorry and trusting and believing in Jesus, this lesson explores how we can be changed by the Holy Spirit. It then brings all the elements of the doctrine the three ingredients of the friendship recipe together. You might also like to have a look at Unit 5, Lessons 5 and 6; these focus on the Holy Spirit and might be helpful to support your teaching. Being changed by the Spirit includes the growth within us of the nine fruit of the Spirit. As was said at the start of the last lesson, this is one of the more crucial doctrines about establishing a relationship with God. Children need to know how salvation is obtained and understand that it is a gift (of grace) given by God and not in response to our own hard work, effort or sacrifices. The recipe to being friends with God can be used by anyone and is easy as 1, 2, 3: we need to be genuinely sorry for past sins against God, we need to trust Jesus, and the Holy Spirit will take away the heaviness of our sin and give us a fresh start.

21 God wants us to be saved. Once we have said sorry to God and placed our trust in Jesus, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in us. This work of regeneration and renewal is vital to us starting afresh (Jesus referred to it as being born again in John 3) and children need to know that they don t have to wait until they re an adult for this to happen the Holy Spirit wants to help them be the best they can be now! NOTE: You will need to check if any of the children are allergic or sensitive to any of the ingredients included in the fudge recipe. If there are any allergies in your group you might like to use an alternative 3-ingredient recipe that is safe for all the children to enjoy. For example, fairy bread or sandwiches with different spreads (bread, butter and sprinkles/spread). What you will need: For Connecting In One chair for each child Paper (9 sheets of A4 and a page cut up into 9 small cards) Textas Small container/bowl (to draw small cards out of) Blu-Tack CD player and music (optional) For The Main Thing Backpack and bricks from Lesson 3 Glass Water Stones Tray or towel to catch spilt water Jelly beans (nine different colours) Bibles For Tying In Microwave Microwave safe jug or bowl Slice tray Wooden spoon 500 grams milk chocolate Tin of condensed milk A packet of mini jelly beans (or chopped up normal ones) or Jelly Belly lollies. Mini patty pans (5 or 6 per child) Small spoons (for children to spoon mixture into patty pans) Extra jelly beans (for prayer time) For Print off a card for each child Print off a fudge recipe for each child

22 Connecting In Fruit salad For this game you will need one chair for each player, placed in a circle. To play this game you will need to have at least six or more people participating. Game Rules: 1. Have everyone sit in a chair, arranged in a circle, facing inwards. 2. Select one player to be in the middle and remove his or her chair from the circle. 3. Everyone (including the player in the middle) is allocated with one of three different fruit names (e.g. orange, apple, banana). 4. The player in the middle calls out one of the fruits and the children who have been allocated the matching fruit name need to move seats with others with of the same fruit name, before the person in the middle steals their seat. If the player in the middle of the circle calls out fruit salad, everyone must move. 5. Players cannot move to seats on their immediate left or right (i.e. right next to their current position). 6. The player in the middle has to try and get a seat once they have called out a fruit name, and the player left without a chair then chooses the next fruit name to call: this player will be the next player in the middle of the circle and will start a new round by calling out one of the fruit names. Link: Today we have played a game about fruit. Fruit is food that is very good for our bodies and essential to a healthy diet. There is a different kind of fruit that is talked about in the Bible that is good for us, too. Has anyone here heard of this other sort of fruit? (The fruit of the Spirit) Can you tell us what you know about this? In our last session we talked about what we can do to become friends with God and be connected to Him. I wonder if anyone can remember the first two ingredients? (Saying sorry to God and trusting in Jesus.) Today we are going to explore the third important ingredient that relates to our friendship with God being changed by the Holy Spirit. When we are connected with God, the Holy Spirit comes and hangs out with us and teaches us the fruit of the Spirit, things like love and joy, peace and patience, kindness and gentleness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control. Having the fruit of the Spirit in us helps our thoughts and words and actions to become much healthier. Nine Corners This game is a variation of Four Corners. You will need paper (9 sheets of A4 and a page cut up into 9 small cards), textas, a small container or bowl (to draw small cards out of), some Blu-Tack, a CD player and music (optional). Have the group draw nine different types of fruit, one per page, to be used as posters and have them write the name of each fruit on one of the small cards. These cards will be drawn out of the container during the game (you might prefer to print or draw the posters and cards yourself and stick them up before the lesson). Place the nine posters up at the children s eye level in different places around your space/room and place the small fruit cards into a small bowl/container ready to play the game. The children move around the room to some music (optional) and when the music stops (or the leader can call out stop if there is no music) each player chooses one of the nine fruit posters to stand beside. Once everyone has decided where they are going to stand, the leader will draw out one of the small cards, call it out and anyone standing beside that fruit poster is out. Return the fruit card to the bowl and begin another round. The last player left in the game is the winner.

23 If you would like to shorten the length of this game choose one of the following variations. Remove each poster as its matching card is drawn out. The players standing at the last remaining poster win. Play for nine rounds of music and on the tenth round say the players standing beside the fruit I draw out this time will be our winner. Link: Using the posters or cards to help you, count how many different types of fruit were involved in today s game. If we cut up all nine of these different pieces of fruit it could make a yummy fruit salad. In the Bible there are nine other types of fruit that make up what is called the fruit of the Spirit. I wonder if anyone can name the nine fruit of the Spirit. In our last session we talked about what we can do to become friends with God and be connected to Him. I wonder if anyone can remember the first two ingredients (saying sorry to God and trusting in Jesus). Today we are going to explore the third important ingredient that relates to our friendship with God being changed by the Holy Spirit. When we are connected with God, the Holy Spirit comes and hangs out with us and teaches us the fruit of the Spirit, things like love and joy, peace and patience, kindness and gentleness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control. Having the fruit of the Spirit in us helps our thoughts and words and actions to become much healthier. The Main Thing Replacing the stones As you start the Main Thing section, it is important to reconnect with the illustrations from the last lesson. Bring the backpack in and recap what the bricks represented (it would be good to go back and read through the backpack illustration in Lesson 3 to have continuity in what you are sharing with the children). In our last session we talked about how our heart might feel if it is filled with guilt and worry about poor choices we might have made. We also talked about how God will take away our heavy bricks if we talk about these things with Him and say that we are truly sorry and want to trust and believe Jesus. He will remove our sin and make us free to be friends with God without hiding anything from Him. Have a glass on the table, a tray or towel underneath the glass and a jug of water ready to fill the glass. You will also need your stones and jelly beans ready for this illustration. Today we are going to use a glass to represent ourselves/hearts instead of the backpack that we used last time. (Fill the glass with water as you explain ) God made us and loves us and when we choose to be friends with Him, it is like He is part of us and with us all the time. You might say that if we are the glass that God might be like this water that I am pouring into the glass. The bricks that we used last time in the backpack won t fit in this glass so we are going to use stones to represent our poor choices instead. So we might gossip and say unkind things about a friend (drop a stone into the glass of water) and we might get jealous that our brother or sister got to visit Grandma while we had to go to school (drop another stone in). (Continue dropping stones into the water as you talk about other poor choices/sins that the children might make until the water starts to overflow over the top of the glass. It would be good to have a tray or towel underneath the glass that you are using for the illustration.) What is happening as the glass is filling up with stones?

24 Yes the water is overflowing from the glass this can show us that there is less and less room for God in our hearts and lives and we start to get heavy with guilt and fear, just like we talked about with the bricks weighing us down in the backpack. It is really hard to be friends with God and follow his plans for us when we have sin taking up lots of space in our hearts and lives. Can you see that there is less and less room for the water when we have lots of stones in the glass? I wonder if you remember the recipe from last time not the fudge one but the one in relation to being friends with God. It s as easy as 1, 2, 3 (say sorry, trust and believe in Jesus and be changed by the Holy Spirit). So when we tell God that we are really, truly sorry, and that we want Him to remove those things we are sorry for, Jesus can help to take them away (remove the stones from water). Can you see that once the stones are gone there is extra room in the glass? Once Jesus has made room in our hearts and lives by taking away our wrong choices, God wants to fill us up again, but this time it is with good stuff. This good stuff comes through Him sending His Spirit to hang out with us and fill up our empty space (top up the water leaving enough room to drop some jelly beans in.) When we have the Holy Spirit hanging out with us we can change and start to become more and more like Jesus. I wonder what sorts of ways we might change when the Holy Spirit hangs out with us (e.g. we love people more, we are more patient etc.). (Drop a different coloured jelly bean into the glass of water to represent each fruit of the spirit e.g. love = red, joy = pink, peace = blue etc. as you talk about them.) The Holy Spirit hangs out with us and fills us up with His fruit, all these things start to change the way we look and how we behave. We start to think differently, speak differently and act different when we are filled with the fruit of the Spirit. Read Ephesians 3: together: When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (NLT) Eating fruit gives us energy to work and play, gives us vitamins to help our bodies grow and keeps us nice and healthy. Let s have another look at this passage and see if we can spot some of the benefits of being filled with the Holy Spirit and having Him hang out with us? (Strength, Jesus makes his home in our hearts, we understand God s love better etc.) I wonder how others might notice that the Holy Spirit has changed you. (Give opportunity for the children to share what they think.)

25 Tying In Back to one, two, three Now that you have explored the third and final ingredient of the friendship recipe (or Doctrine 7), it would be good to link the three parts back together and emphasize the importance of each involved in our salvation. For this activity you will need access to a microwave, a microwave safe jug or bowl, slice tray, mini patty pans, wooden spoon, 500 grams milk chocolate, a tin of condensed milk and a packet of clinkers. NOTE: Before doing this activity with the children you will need to check if any of the children are allergic or sensitive to any of the ingredients included in the fudge recipe. If there are any allergies in your group you might like to use an alternative 3-ingredient recipe that is safe for all the children to enjoy. For example, fairy bread or sandwiches with different spreads on them (bread, butter and sprinkles/spread). Making the chocolate fudge a second time with the children will help this concept become more concrete for them. Because there will be less time for the fudge to set in the fridge, we have suggested that the children put some fudge into 5 or 6 mini patty pans for them to take home. Can anyone remember the three ingredients we used to make chocolate fudge last time? (chocolate, condensed milk and clinkers) Not only does this easy recipe make a yummy treat, I hope that it also might help you to remember the three things that we have explore in relation to being friends with God. (Hold up the chocolate ) The chocolate is the first ingredient and might help remind us that we need to say sorry to God for our poor choices. (Hold up the condensed milk ) The condensed milk is the second ingredient and this might help to remind you that we need to trust Jesus and ask him to remove sin from our hearts. The clinkers were the third ingredient and can help to remind us that the Holy Spirit changes us. (Hold up the jelly beans.) But today I thought we could add jelly beans to our fudge instead of clinkers to represent the fruit that the Holy Spirit can add to our hearts and lives. While you are making the fudge with the children, you might like to explain that there are lots of different things you can add as the third ingredient. For example, chopped up cherries and coconut, or rocky road (mini marshmallows/rice bubbles/maltesers/raspberries) make a great mix-ins. Encourage the children to get creative at home and try experimenting with their own ideas for different mix-ins. It would be helpful at this point to clarify that even though there might be more than one ingredient in a mix-in, it is still classified as one ingredient of the three. You might also like to say something like: Rocky road has more than one thing in it but it is still considered one ingredient in our fudge recipe, just like the Holy Spirit is one ingredient of being friends with God, there are nine things that make up that one ingredient and instead of calling it rocky road we call it the fruit of the Spirit. Follow these simple steps to make some yummy chocolate fudge: 1. Place the milk chocolate and condensed milk in a microwave safe bowl/jug. 2. Microwave for 1 1½ minutes (depending on the microwave) to soften the chocolate. 3. Mix to combine. 4. Add jelly beans and stir through. 5. Either pour the mixture into a slice tray and refrigerate or get the children to places small spoonfuls of the mixture into mini patty pans so that it is easy for them to take some home.

26 Jelly bean prayers For this activity you will need enough jelly beans for all the children in a container that you can pass around. You might like to sit together in a circle. We are going to take a jelly bean each out of the container as it goes around the circle. The colour of your jelly bean will match to one of the fruit of the spirit that we talked about previously. Each person will share a prayer that God would help us all with the characteristics of the Holy Spirit that matches your jelly bean colour. For example, if you choose a red jelly bean you might pray that God would show us ways that we could love our families more. You might like to conclude the prayer and tie all the children s prayers together by praying something like: Heavenly Father, Thank You that You made us and You love us. It is exciting to know that You want to be our friend. Help us to be truly sorry when we make wrong choices and hurt You and others. Help us to trust Jesus and believe that He will take away our sin. We pray that you will send your Holy Spirit to hang out with us And that He would help us to be more like you in what we say, think and do. Amen Print off the cards and the Chocolate Fudge recipes attached. The children might like to keep these in their journals or notebook where they could write or stick the challenges, reflect, answer questions or complete activities each week. Trust in Him I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God s love and keep you strong. Ephesians 3:16 17 (NLT) Make chocolate fudge with your parents/prayer pal/big Bud. You might like to be creative and try a new mix-in instead of clinkers or jelly beans. While you are cooking together, share the three things that this recipe can remind you of in relation to being a friend of God.

27 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God s love and keep you strong. Ephesians 3:16 17 (NLT) Make chocolate fudge with your parents/prayer pal/big Bud. You might like to be creative and try a new mix-in instead of clinkers or jelly beans. While you are cooking together, share the three things that this recipe can remind you of in relation to being a friend of God. 1. Place the milk chocolate and condensed milk in a microwave safe bowl/jug. 2. Microwave for 1 1½ minutes (depending on the microwave) to soften the chocolate. 3. Mix to combine. 4. Add your choice of mix-in and stir through. 5. Either pour the mixture into a slice tray and refrigerate or place small spoonfuls of the mixture into mini patty pans so that it is easy to have small serves or give away to friends. You will need 500g milk chocolate, a tin of condensed milk and your choice of mix-in, e.g. clinkers, jelly beans, cherries & coconut etc. Trust in Him Fudge Recipe I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God s love and keep you strong. Ephesians 3:16 17 (NLT) Make chocolate fudge with your parents/prayer pal/big Bud. You might like to be creative and try a new mix-in instead of clinkers or jelly beans. While you are cooking together, share the three things that this recipe can remind you of in relation to being a friend of God. 1. Place the milk chocolate and condensed milk in a microwave safe bowl/jug. 2. Microwave for 1 1½ minutes (depending on the microwave) to soften the chocolate. 3. Mix to combine. 4. Add your choice of mix-in and stir through. 5. Either pour the mixture into a slice tray and refrigerate or place small spoonfuls of the mixture into mini patty pans so that it is easy to have small serves or give away to friends. You will need 500g milk chocolate, a tin of condensed milk and your choice of mix-in, e.g. clinkers, jelly beans, cherries & coconut etc. Trust in Him Fudge Recipe

28 Junior Soldiers Unit 7 : Lesson 5 The perfect match! PURPOSE : For the children to explore and understand that The Salvation Army has a rich heritage of meeting people s physical needs as well as their spiritual needs and tackling social justice issues head-on. This lesson is to celebrate past achievements, specifi cally the impact the Army had on the match-making industry in Victorian England. Don t be jealous or proud, but be humble and consider others more important than yourselves. Care about them as much as you care about yourselves. Philippians 2:3 4 (CEV) Consider & Prepare Read: Isaiah 58 Philippians 2:1 5 While this lesson falls within the Salvation Army category it also has a strong social justice flavour and ties in well with the following lesson (Unit 7, Lesson 6) about child labour in cocoa plantations today. Many Junior Soldiers are unaware of much of The Salvation Army s social work. The game in the Connecting In section seeks to introduce some aspects of our social work, both past and present. History can be dull and boring or it can be exciting and vibrant. It is essential for the leader to be familiar with the material so that this lesson can be presented in an interesting manner. Try to build a sense of drama will the Army s endeavours succeed or fail? The Salvation Army has a brief but rich heritage. We don t want to live in the past but it can teach us and inspire us for the present and into the future. History is dead if we don t learn everything we can from it! Dates, as well as facts and figures have been kept to a minimum in this lesson but further information can be found from the following sources: Social Evils the Army has Challenged by S. Carvosso Gauntlett (chapter 3) The History of The Salvation Army Vol 3 by Robert Sandall (chapter 21, section 5) The Shocking Story of Phosphorus by John Emsley (chapter 6) You can also read about Army history on the international web site (click on About us and then History ) or at the Wikipedia page on the Army.

29 What you will need: For Connecting In Choose 8 10 scenarios from the list to use in your game A TRUE and FALSE sign For The Main Thing Bibles, preferably Contemporary English Version (e.g. The Big Rescue Bible) Whiteboard or sheets of butcher s paper with appropriate markers Pens, paper, textas or coloured pencils Printed copies of the photos or a projector or computer/ipad that you can show them on For Tying In Whiteboard or sheet of butcher s paper with appropriate markers Pens, paper, textas or pencils For Print off cards for each child You might like to give each child a glowstick to take home to remind them of the dangerous situation that was changed by The Salvation Army s work in England Connecting In The Army at work For this game you will need to choose 8 10 of the following statements to use. Make sure that you have a mix of historical and present day examples. Historical examples are highlighted in bold. Feel free to add some of your own statements about the social work that The Salvation Army is involved in in your local area. It is important to make sure that you finish with statement 20 about the match factory. You will also need to label one side of the room as TRUE and the other side of the room as FALSE. 1. The Salvation Army has homes for elderly people who are no longer able to look after themselves. 2. The founder of The Salvation Army, General William Booth, wrote a book about lots of problems in England and how to fix them called In Darkest England and The Way Out. 3. Children from underprivileged families receive toys from The Salvation Army at Christmas. 4. During the First World War, female Salvation Officers became known as doughnut girls because they cooked doughnuts (donuts) for the American soldiers. 5. The Salvation Army operates programs for people who are addicted to alcohol, other drugs and gambling. 6. The Salvation Army once kidnapped a girl to show how laws needed to be changed to protect children. 7. People who have lost contact with members of their family are often able to find them with the help of the Army s Family Tracing Service. 8. The Salvation Army used to operate maternity hospitals for unmarried mothers. 9. The Army has hostels where homeless people can get a bed for the night and a hot meal 10. A Salvation Army officer invented a hand loom (weaving machine) to help people in India make material faster. 11. The Salvation Army teaches people how to budget and better manage their money. 12. The Salvation Army stands up for suffering and underprivileged people. 13. When affordable accommodation was hard to find, The Salvation Army opened motels called People s Palaces. 14. Employment Plus is a service of the Army that helps unemployed people to find work. 15. During times of natural disaster such as floods and bushfires, the Salvos supply meals to displaced people as well as emergency workers (fire brigade, police, etc).

30 16. The Army used to have farms where boys were taught how to be farmers. 17. People who can t afford to buy food for themselves and their family can get assistance from The Salvation Army. 18. The Salvation Army had a Prison Gate Brigade where officers would meet prisoners leaving jail and help them to lead honest lives. 19. In some countries where the government doesn t operate schools, The Salvation Army does. 20. In the late 1800s, the Salvation Army operated a match factory in England. Label one side of the room True and the other side False. Explain to the children that they must listen to each statement as it is read out and decide whether it is true or false. They must then run to the correct side of the room. After each statement and the children have chosen which side of the room they are going to go to, ask one of the children from each side of the room why they think the statement is true and why they think it is false. After you have gone through all the statements let the children know that in actual fact, all of these statements are true. Link: We have been playing a true and false game as we looked at some of the ways that The Salvation Army makes a difference in people s lives today and how they have also in the past. Today we are going to explore further how passionate those in The Salvation Army were to make a difference for people in a variety of ways, they truly love and care for others above themselves. The Main Thing Matches that made a difference For this section you will need a copy of the family making matches together (either printed or for the screen) and a whiteboard/butchers paper and appropriate markers. You will also need some paper and drawing implements for the children. When we want light or heat today, all we need to do is simply turn on a switch, but this has not always been the case. When The Salvation Army started in the 1800s there was no electricity. People relied on candles or gas lamps for light and had fire places in their homes for heating. Even food was cooked on stoves that burnt wood or coal. All of these things needed to be lit with matches. Today we might only use matches a few times a year, to light a camp fire, birthday candles or perhaps a candle when the power goes out. I wonder when the last time you remember either you or someone in your family using a match. Think about how many times during a day you turn on a light switch and how often mum or dad might turn on the stove or oven and imagine how many matches people must have used each day before electricity. In the early days of The Salvation Army, making matches was not a nice job. It was a job that poor people did and they were paid very low wages and this was based on how many matches or match boxes they made. Sometimes they even worked in extremely crowded factories, however, most of the time the whole family worked together at making matches and match boxes in their own home. Show attached picture of family working to make matches (use either a printed copy of the picture or show it on a computer or through a projector) Imagine for a moment if you had to work from early in the morning until you went to bed at night. I wonder what sorts of things you would miss out on. (Allow the children to think about their responses and come and write them on the whiteboard/butchers paper, e.g. playing, having fun with their friends, getting out in the sunshine, going to school, watching television, doing nothing, meals, sports etc.) Now you might think that it would be a good thing if you missed out on school BUT...if you couldn t go to school, you wouldn t be able to learn to read and write so when you grew up you would have great difficulty in getting a good job or perhaps a job at all. You might then have to do something like making matches and match boxes, just like your family had to do.

31 Another big problem with making matches in those days was the poisonous chemicals that were used. Matches were made by dipping small pieces of wood into white phosphorus. Because the workers were paid based on how many matches they made, they couldn t afford to stop for meals so they often ate as they worked. This meant that along the way they swallowed some of the phosphorus. The factories were dark and stuffy, without good airflow, so the workers also breathed in the poisonous phosphorus. Being around the phosphorus caused a disease called necrosis or phossy jaw. One of the first symptoms was that their faces would glow in the dark! That sounds cool, doesn t it? But really it wasn t and then things would begin to get much more serious. Their faces would ache and their teeth would fall out. Eventually the victim died a slow and very painful death. This was a really serious problem and one that The Salvation Army decided that they were going to do something about. I am going to share with you now what they did back in the 1890s to make a difference for so many people. While you listen to what they did, you can use the paper and drawing implements and choose one of the following: Design a match box for a match company called Lights in Darkest England, or Create a newspaper advertisement for Lights in Darkest England. When the Founder of The Salvation Army, General William Booth, heard about the conditions that the match and match box makers worked under, he sent some officers to investigate and check out the situation. They reported the poor working conditions and the dangers of phossy jaw, all for the sake of the match company owners making matches cheaper and, therefore, making more profits for themselves. We shouldn t buy things just because they are cheap. We need to make sure that no-one was taken advantage of or put into unfair work circumstances to make the products for such a low price. As Christians, we should care for other people as well as ourselves. (Read together Philippians 2:1 4 and stress verse four, in particular.) Jesus wants us to treat others as we would like to be treated, and to consider the interests and well-being of others. This is how Jesus lived, and in this passage in Philippians, Paul reminds us to imitate Christ. In order to prove that matches could be produced without taking advantage of anyone or putting people in danger, The Salvation Army bought a building and set up a new style of factory. General William Booth, himself, opened this factory in May It was bright and airy a comfortable place to work. The employees were paid a fair pay for a fair day s work and had time off for morning and afternoon tea as well as a lunch hour. Most importantly, the factory only produced matches made without the dangerous white phosphorus that caused phossy jaw. By introducing the safe red phosphorus, The Salvation Army revolutionized the match-making industry. When you use a match today with a red head, you can thank the Salvos for introducing the change. The match factory was a great success and Lights in Darkest England, as the matches were called, became very popular. Advertisements appeared in The Salvation Army s magazine, The War Cry every week. Other newspapers offered The Salvation Army free advertising as well. Show pictures of match boxes, and advertisements (either printed copies or through a projector). However, after a few years the sales of these matches began to drop. Someone tried to ruin The Salvation Army s work by bringing fake Lights in Darkest England matches in from Sweden. Lots of people didn t want to pay the higher price for the Army s safety matches and chose to buy cheaper matches, even though the people who made them were exposed to danger and not well paid either.

32 Again something had to be done! New machinery from the USA was added into the factory which meant the matches could be produced faster and more cheaply. An officer was put in charge of sales and advertising and another officer was put in charge of running the factory. Large batches of matches were sold direct to large institutions like hospitals, prisons and railway companies. A special club called the British Match Consumers League was started and anyone who wanted to become a member had to promise only to buy matches made in Britain without white phosphorus. Groups of young boys sold boxes of matches on the streets. People wrote poems, songs and clever advertisements to promote The Salvation Army s matches. Because lots of people did their bit, eventually the other match factories started to treat their employees fairly and the use of white phosphorus was made illegal. The Salvation Army then closed down its factory; it had achieved its goal; to make a change in the match industry with fair and safe conditions for their workers along with a fair rate of pay for their work. Optional Extra Creative Activity You will need to supply the appropriate resources for the children if you choose to do this creative activity. Imagine that you are living back in the 1890s when the Army had its match factory. Use your creative skills to do one of the following: Write a newspaper report about The Salvation Army s match factory. Write a poem, song or advertising jingle about The Salvation Army s safety matches. You could write or storyboard a drama about working in a match factory or The Salvation Army s matches, Lights in Darkest England. Tying In Discussion There are still lots of problems in our world today not unlike the match production situation. We may think at times that the problems we see are too big for us and that there is not a lot that we can do to make a difference. There were a lot of people who played a role in changing the match industry all those years ago. It wasn t just done by one person and things did not change overnight. Who were some of the people who helped to make a difference in this unfair situation? Write up the children s suggestions to the whiteboard/butchers paper and help them to think of some of the others below if they miss some of the people that contributed. General William Booth - Saw that people were not getting paid fairly and were getting really sick from their work Salvation Army officers - Investigated and reported on the situation in the factories Scientists - Invented safety matches that did not use the poisonous white phosphorus The Salvation Army - Opened a new factory Newspapers - Gave The Salvation Army free advertising Writers - Created poems and clever advertisements to sell the matches Small boys - Sold boxes of matches in the streets Housewives - Paid extra to buy the safety matches Christians - Prayed that God would help them to change this unfair situation Politicians - Made laws about changes in the factories Businessmen - Promised not to buy matches made with dangerous white phosphorus Artists - Drew cartoons and pictures that helped people see the changes that were needed What do you notice about the list of people? (Allow some time for the children to observe and share their thoughts.)

33 Think about some people, places, businesses or situations that you know of that are unfair and show that others are not cared about. Can we share these and make a list of what some of them are? I wonder what you would like to see change in these situations. (Allow the children some time to think about and share their responses add them alongside their particular situation on the list that you have just made.) If these are the unfair situations and the things that you would like to see change, I wonder what sorts of things you might be able to do to help support or make a difference to these issues. You might not be able to change the situation by yourself, but you may be able to play a part; prayer is always a powerful way of helping in these situations. Read Matthew 12:9 14. In Jesus day, Jewish Law decreed that you couldn t do any work on the Sabbath (the day of worship), not even healing someone like Jesus did! But Jesus knew that was a silly law. He said to the Pharisees (who maintained and policed Jewish Law), So if a sheep fell into a hole on the Sabbath, you d just leave it there until the next day because you couldn t work to pull it out on the Sabbath. How silly s that! Of course you d help the sheep. Now a man is more important than a sheep, so shouldn t I help a man even though it s the Sabbath? Does Jesus argument make sense or has he got it all wrong? Prayer Activity Let s pray, asking God to show us what we can do about the unfair situations we have looked at today: Jesus, we can see that there are lots of situations in our world that we see and know are unfair. These are some that we have been thinking about (ask the children to volunteer to take turns reading out the unfair situations that were listed.) We know from your scripture that you want us to care about all people and to do what we can to make our world a better place for everyone. Please help us to be strong and brave people who do what we can to make a difference. We want to love and care for others as we would want to be loved and cared for. Amen. In our next lesson we will explore a situation where people are being exploited and treated unfairly in our world today and how we can play our part in changing that situation. Print off the cards attached. The children might like to keep these in their journals or notebook where they could write or stick the challenges, reflect, answer questions or complete activities each week. Reflect For this it would be good for you to reflect on some of the things we have talked about today. You might like to write or draw some of the things that God is saying to you as you think about how you can make a difference. I wonder how you are loving and caring for other s around you is it in a fair or unfair way. Can you make a difference by the way you act, speak, think or treat others? I wonder if there is one thing you can do differently to help make things fairer for someone that you know. Choose one day this week and keep a tally of the number of times you switch on a light. Think about how many matches you would need to light this many lamps! I pray that this will help you to remember how The Salvation Army made a difference in a big way by everyone doing their part I wonder what part you are going to play in making a difference for others.

34 Reflect For this it would be good for you to reflect on some of the things we have talked about today. You might like to write or draw some of the things that God is saying to you as you think about how you can make a difference. I wonder how you are loving and caring for other s around you is it in a fair or unfair way. Can you make a difference by the way you act, speak, think or treat others? I wonder if there is one thing you can do differently to help make things fairer for someone that you know. Choose one day this week and keep a tally of the number of times you switch on a light. Think about how many matches you would need to light this many lamps! I pray that this will help you to remember how The Salvation Army made a difference in a big way by everyone doing their part I wonder what part you are going to play in making a difference for others. Reflect For this it would be good for you to reflect on some of the things we have talked about today. You might like to write or draw some of the things that God is saying to you as you think about how you can make a difference. I wonder how you are loving and caring for other s around you is it in a fair or unfair way. Can you make a difference by the way you act, speak, think or treat others? I wonder if there is one thing you can do differently to help make things fairer for someone that you know. Choose one day this week and keep a tally of the number of times you switch on a light. Think about how many matches you would need to light this many lamps! I pray that this will help you to remember how The Salvation Army made a difference in a big way by everyone doing their part I wonder what part you are going to play in making a difference for others. Reflect For this it would be good for you to reflect on some of the things we have talked about today. You might like to write or draw some of the things that God is saying to you as you think about how you can make a difference. I wonder how you are loving and caring for other s around you is it in a fair or unfair way. Can you make a difference by the way you act, speak, think or treat others? I wonder if there is one thing you can do differently to help make things fairer for someone that you know. Choose one day this week and keep a tally of the number of times you switch on a light. Think about how many matches you would need to light this many lamps! I pray that this will help you to remember how The Salvation Army made a difference in a big way by everyone doing their part I wonder what part you are going to play in making a difference for others. Reflect For this it would be good for you to reflect on some of the things we have talked about today. You might like to write or draw some of the things that God is saying to you as you think about how you can make a difference. I wonder how you are loving and caring for other s around you is it in a fair or unfair way. Can you make a difference by the way you act, speak, think or treat others? I wonder if there is one thing you can do differently to help make things fairer for someone that you know. Choose one day this week and keep a tally of the number of times you switch on a light. Think about how many matches you would need to light this many lamps! I pray that this will help you to remember how The Salvation Army made a difference in a big way by everyone doing their part I wonder what part you are going to play in making a difference for others.

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36 Junior Soldiers Unit 7 : Lesson 6 It s just not fair! PURPOSE : For the children to explore and understand that some children in our world are not treated fairly and that we can have a positive impact on seeing them receive fair treatment. Whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it.. Proverbs 3:27 Good News Consider & Prepare Read: Matthew 19:14 Children are special to Jesus Luke 18:15-17 Children are special to the Kingdom and are an example of how we enter the Kingdom. Galatians 6:2 Bear one another s burdens John 13:34 35 We re commanded to love one another Proverbs 22:6 Treat seriously the training of children in right living Proverbs 3:27 Don t withhold goodness Since its formation, The Salvation Army has been active in confronting social issues involving oppression and exploitation. We believe it is God s desire that all humanity should be able to live without being exploited or enslaved. In Unit 7 Lesson 5 we looked at the Salvation Army s work in the late 1800s and the establishment of a match factory to alleviate the exploitation of workers in that industry. Today s lesson has a social justice focus and looks specifically at the topic of child labor. It is really important for us to spend time with our children considering the reality of these situations around our world as well as how we can respond in a Godhonouring way. Over the past few years there has been a lot of media coverage about the exploitation of people, including children, in the harvesting of cocoa. One of the main responses has been to advocate with those that place the demand on the suppliers, seeking to support buying ingredients that have been produced fairly and humanely. We ve chosen the cocoa industry as it will be good to emphasise, with the children, an injustice that has seen some positive development in recent years, but still needs further resolution. The positive changes are worth celebrating and are a testament to the impact that people can have when a stand is made against injustice. Children may not know that in some countries it is quite normal for the children to work hard as a part of their family or community, pitching in to help; this involvement not only allows for a sharing of duties but is also a way that life skills are passed on to each generation. Note, however, that a child still has rights to be fed, be safe, be protected, be sheltered etc.

37 The International Labour Organisation describes the unfair treatment of children in the workplace in the following way: unfair work deprives them of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and it is harmful to physical and mental development. This could mean that it is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children, and interferes with their schooling by: depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; obliging them to leave school prematurely; or requiring them to go to school and work long hours or be involved in heavy work. This deprivation is particularly evident in the cocoa industry because of the poor living conditions in many areas where cocoa is harvested and processed and the lack of governance to uphold order. Cocoa is produced in many developing countries where it is difficult to monitor conditions of workers. Cocoa is also farmed by millions of small producers, and these producers set the conditions that people work in. On top of all that, the workers on the farms depend on the work to survive so they have to make hard choices between survival and unfair labour conditions. Here are some facts: million people worldwide depend on cocoa production for their livelihood Small cocoa farmers provide more than 90% of the world cocoa production 5 6 million cocoa farmers exist worldwide In 2012, 3.9 million tons of cocoa was produced On average, people living in New Zealand and Australia consume kg of cocoa products per person per year Africa is home to 73% of cocoa production *From the World Cocoa Foundation March 2012 newsletter, Important things to consider: The exploitation of children is a sensitive topic to address with children. The concept of systemic exploitation of children and the enduring existence of it in our world can be very difficult for a child to comprehend. In this lesson we have chosen to focus on an issue which has had a significant amount of media attention over the past few years, this will also enable us to focus on some of the positive change that is happening. We want our kids to have a courageous hope as we wrestle with the challenges in our world. It also needs to be clear that what we re discussing is different from a child contributing to the functioning of a family home or business (or farm) where chores are reasonably limited and contribute to the comfort and benefit of the whole family. Any complaints about household efforts ( I have to do chores! ) that children make in your group need to be matched up against the International Labour Organisation statement a few paragraphs above. GO FURTHER: GROUP PROJECT This would be a really exciting and satisfying opportunity to do a project together. You could have the children work on a way to share about child labour with others (e.g. another group, church, home league, or their school) as well as providing a way for people to respond and make a difference. For example, the message of cocoa production and the injustices surrounding it could be shared in the meeting as well as some of the things that the children have learnt and felt about this. This could then be followed up with a fundraiser after the service where fair trade chocolate or baked goods using fair trade cocoa are served. 1. Simply buy 10 bars of fair trade chocolate and make them available to be sold. This shows people that their choice of product really matters. 2. With a bit more organizing you could hold a fair trade fundraiser and donate the funds to a developing nation. 3. Hand out fair trade cocoa to some home cooks in your corps and ask them to bring a plate to sell; use the funds to help a developing nation.

38 What you will need: For Connecting In If using Option 1, you will need a range of chocolate bars: include at least one fair trade If using Option 2, you will need the ingredients to make hot chocolate including cocoa (fair trade), milk and sugar Print out pictures of stages of cocoa production from the end of the lesson, cut into individual pictures For The Main Thing Print off the Fairtrade symbol sheet For Tying In Fair trade chocolates for prizes (Cadbury dairy milk share packs are a good option) If exploring option 3, look up a current advocacy campaign For Print off the cards for each child Cadbury dairy milk share pack chocolates enough for one per child to share with someone else Connecting In Option 1 Explore Where does it come from? Have a series of chocolate products made from in range of different places. It would be good to include at least one fair trade chocolate. Get the children to look at the products and see if they can work out Where was it made? Where was it packaged? What are the ingredients? Where did the ingredients come from? (This information will not necessarily be on the packet.) Point out that cocoa is common to all chocolate products. Option 2 Make hot chocolate by using milk, fair trade cocoa and sugar, showing children that various products go together to make the things we enjoy. Link:Today we have enjoyed some chocolate/hot chocolate together. The cocoa used is sourced from lots of places around the world and, to keep the final product s cost low for people to buy, companies bargain for the cheapest price for the cocoa that they need to produce their product. Attached to the end of the lesson you will find some pictures to show the different steps in the making of the cocoa powder. You will need to print these pictures out as separate pictures for the children to use. Using the pictures, read out the different steps of making cocoa powder and get the kids to order them. Once ordered, have the children describe what they think is happening at each stage.

39 Cocoa pods grow on the tree People pick the pods Cocoa seeds are taken out Seeds are dried in the sun Seeds are roasted Seeds are ground into powder There are many steps in the process of making cocoa, have a think about some of the people that you think might be involved. (Give the children an opportunity to make some suggestions before talking through the list below.) Own the farms of trees Take care of the trees Pick the fruit Carry the pods Take out the seeds out of the pods Carry the seeds to the drying mats Transport the dried seeds to the roasters Grind the seeds Cocoa is commonly grown in places where the residents are very poor and will work for low pay simply so they can afford to eat and live. At the same time, employers are desperate to make as much money as they can, so they employ fewer staff than they should (this saves money), then they work their existing staff hard and pay them low wages. This sounds bad enough and unfair, but then remember, too, that some of this forced labour are children as young as three or four. The Main Thing In developing countries around the world (i.e. countries with inadequate finances and services for their citizens) it is normal for children to play an active role in working to meet the needs of the family and community. This involvement is also a way the children are taught the skills they will need for later life in that community. Even though this is normal in many communities, there still needs to be a standard of fair treatment for all. However, this is not always the case: the reality is that there are far too many children in our world who are not treated fairly or don t have their basic needs met. How would you feel if you worked for ten hours today doing hard work, got paid 50 cents, only had one meal to eat all day and, if you complained, the boss just sacked you immediately and gave your job to someone else? Now you don t get your 50 cents, can t afford to eat and don t have a job. To be treated like this is not fair, but it s how millions of children are treated day after day. Your choice Read the list of statements below to the children and ask them to make a choice about whether they think each is FAIR or NOT FAIR and have them explain why. Get the children to show their choice by running to the side of the room that is identified as FAIR or NOT FAIR (you can make up some signs if you like or just nominate which side of the room is which). You re not allowed to go to school because you need to work. Clear the table after dinner. You can t have a toilet break all day. Pick vegetables from the garden for dinner. You can t drink water all day, even when it s a boiling hot day. You can t have desert after every meal. You ll get only one meal per day, even if you ve worked hard. You ll be paid very little for your work. You re not allowed to watch television all day. You ll be locked in our living quarters when you re not working. Carry heavy sacks of cocoa all day, sun up till sun down. We can hit you with sticks if you don t work fast enough.

40 NOTE: It s important to ask some debrief questions after raising some of these topics. Have you heard of any other unfair things about how children are treated? What unfair item (from our activity) would be the worst for you? What worries you about this? Do you have any questions about this? What might happen if we did something about this? Children in our world are made to work in unfair conditions to produce the ingredients for some of the foods that we love. The answer is not for us to stop buying chocolate I love chocolate! but to buy smarter. When we buy chocolate we need to make choices that will make a difference, this includes purchasing items that are produced by using fair practices for their workers. Read Proverbs 3:27 together Whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it and explore the following: I wonder who you think might need help in our community. How might you find out who needs your help? In the verse it says whenever you possibly can. What do you think that means? Do you recall any stories of Jesus helping people or talking about helping people? Who has helped you when you needed it? It can be hard to know how to help people who are far away from us, in different places all over the world, especially like those who are being treated unfairly. There are, however, things that we can do to help others. (Show the children the Fairtrade symbol attached to the lesson.) This is the Fairtrade symbol and when you see this on a product you know that the product has been made fairly. It tells you that: Workers are treated fairly Farmers are supported in knowing how to look after their people The way farming is done looks after the environment The farmers receive a fair price for their produce Profits made in the process go to helping build up people in the local community. There have been lots of people that have tried to make a difference in these areas and have gathered others to help pressure companies to make a difference in the choices they make. In the past few years there have been companies that have been working to make sure their products are made with the Fairtrade guarantee. For example: In 2008, Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate family blocks have become Fairtrade in the UK and Ireland. In 2010, Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate family blocks have become Fairtrade in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. In 2006, Nestle took over and now promotes Green and Blacks chocolate, which is Fairtrade. Kraft has now taken over Cadbury and has pledged to honour Cadbury s Fairtrade agreements. Apart from chocolate, there are many Fairtrade producers now stepping into other unfair situations and changing the way people shop. This change came about by people, including Junior Soldiers, who spoke up about their desire to see chocolate produced in a fair way. This prompted the chocolate companies to start making plans to ensure that cocoa is bought from suppliers that ensure the fair treatment of their workers and fair pay otherwise people wouldn t buy their chocolate! Note that Proverbs 3:27 doesn t say do good to those you know or do good to those who live in your street, it simply says do good to those who need it. It s amazing to think that you can do something where you are that might help someone on the other side of the world have a better life. Doing good doesn t have to be limited to your community!

41 Tying In Below are some options that you might like to explore with your group and decide what you can do together to make a difference and impact conditions for others. There is also an option to reflect on Scripture it may be that, time permitting, you choose either option 1, 2 or 3 but also do option 4 anyway. Option 1 Where is the chocolate in your life? Get the children to name all the things in the past week they have eaten that would have had chocolate in them, e.g. chocolate bars, chocolate cake, chocolate chips, hot chocolate, etc. Give the children each a piece of paper that they can use to create a collage of the chocolate/cocoa that they have consumed this week. Give the children the opportunity to reflect on the choices they have made in relation to the chocolate that they eat/consume on a regular basis and ask them to think about how they might be able to make a difference by making different choices. Option 2 Fair chocolate prizes For this option it would be good to have some chocolate to hand out to the children, Cadbury share packs have small dairy milk blocks in packets of 15 that could be a good option. Ask the kids to share something that they learned that will change their thinking or that has challenged them today in relation to fair trade chocolate and the production of cocoa. When the children have shared they can take a chocolate emphasise that the chocolate is fair trade and that by supporting fair production we are helping make conditions better for those who work in the industry, including children. Option 3 Write a letter Work on a message/letter together as a group that you can send to a current chocolate producing company that hasn t gone fair trade yet. Check out current campaigns on or other sites; see the additional resources section at the end of the document. Option 4 Learn from Scripture The Bible has much to say about children and also about how Christians should treat others. Read the following verses and briefly discuss the main point/learning of each reading. Maybe each child could also select the reading that most appeals to them or challenges them and use it during their devotions this week. Matthew 19:14 Children are special to Jesus Luke 18:15-17 Children are special to the Kingdom and are an example of how we enter the kingdom. Galatians 6:2 Bear one another s burdens John 13:34 35 We re commanded to love one another Proverbs 22:6 Treat seriously the training of children in right living Proverbs 3:27 Don t withhold goodness For this, you will need to give each of the children one of the small Cadbury snack chocolates from the share packs to share with someone else as they tell them about the important message that they have learnt. Sharing the message Share what you have learned today with someone at home or your Big Bud or someone at church, and share a fair trade chocolate with them. Have a look in your pantry and find a few products that have cocoa in them, are they fair trade? Can you influence the choice to buy different cocoa products next time? When going shopping next, see how many fair trade products you can spy.

42 Share what you have learned today with someone at home or your Big Bud or someone at church, and share a fair trade chocolate with them. Have a look in your pantry and find a few products that have cocoa in them, are they fair trade? Can you influence the choice to buy different cocoa products next time? When going shopping next, see how many fair trade products you can spy. Share what you have learned today with someone at home or your Big Bud or someone at church, and share a fair trade chocolate with them. Have a look in your pantry and find a few products that have cocoa in them, are they fair trade? Can you influence the choice to buy different cocoa products next time? When going shopping next, see how many fair trade products you can spy. Sharing the message Sharing the message Share what you have learned today with someone at home or your Big Bud or someone at church, and share a fair trade chocolate with them. Have a look in your pantry and find a few products that have cocoa in them, are they fair trade? Can you influence the choice to buy different cocoa products next time? When going shopping next, see how many fair trade products you can spy. Share what you have learned today with someone at home or your Big Bud or someone at church, and share a fair trade chocolate with them. Have a look in your pantry and find a few products that have cocoa in them, are they fair trade? Can you influence the choice to buy different cocoa products next time? When going shopping next, see how many fair trade products you can spy. Sharing the message Sharing the message

43 Additional Resources Stop the Traffik Stop the Traffik has prepared some great resources on this topic that will be helpful in exploring the topic with children ( Especially note a powerful story called Chaga and the Chocolate Factory. It is quite a confronting story including a child s experience being lured away from their family, enslavement, disturbing conditions and the death of a child etc. While these are realities, please be sensitive in sharing this story, if you choose to use it. Do a thorough debrief with the children. A good example of a debrief is in the chocolate lesson guide that goes with the Chaga and the Chocolate Factory lesson. Also consider connecting with the parents/carers about what you have covered. Other resources sites:

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45 Junior Soldiers Unit 7 : Lesson 7 Prayer is important! PURPOSE : For the children to understand that praying is an important part of being a follower of Jesus, and to explore a little about what prayer is and how we communicate with God. Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere. Ephesians 6:18 (NLT) Consider & Prepare Read: Ephesians 6:18 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Luke 11:1 This lesson focuses on the importance of prayer to someone who is a follower of Jesus and is designed to go hand in hand with the next lesson that focuses on the importance of the Bible. Praying and reading the Bible are important disciplines that help us connect with God, which is why they are included as key sec ons within each level of the Junior Soldiers passports. It would be ideal to use some me in each of these lessons to inten onally support and encourage your children who are Junior Soldiers to con nue working through these sec ons in their passports. It would also be good to refresh yourself with previous lessons that have focused on prayer, including: Unit 3: Lesson 7 Talking to God (Adora on and Thanksgiving) Unit 3: Lesson 8 Talking to God about myself and others Unit 6: Lesson 2 Prayer Walk Clearly, God values and encourages the prayers of His children, no ma er what their age. Josiah became king as an eightyear old boy. In 2 Kings 23:25, Scripture says of him: Neither before or a er Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did with all his heart, and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses. If God values the prayers of children, why are they in the back room watching videos and playing games while the adults are doing the work of prayer in the church? This communicates to the adults that children are not ready to pray and communicates to the children that they have to wait un l they re an adult before they can pray. We don t want to rob our children of their righ ul heritage as poten al prayer warriors. An example of this can be found in Ma hew 21:15 16: But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shou ng in the temple area, Hosanna to the Son of David,

46 they were indignant. Do you hear what these children are saying? they asked him. Yes, replied Jesus, have you never read, From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise? If we will let them, our young people will teach us how to worship God! Seeking the face of God is not reserved only for those who have age or experience in the body of Christ, it is for all of God s children. If we choose not to include children in big people prayer ac vi es un l they ve come of age, we are op ng to raise up a genera on of dysfunc onal pray-ers! Do you remember how you learned to pray? Most of us learned by example. Those who have vibrant prayer lives today most likely received encouragement and were given much opportunity to pray. That s how prayer lives grow and expand. It intrigues me that young infants can communicate so well, even before their ability to form words has developed. They know how to ask, and believe that they will receive what they ask for. Children can approach their devleoping prayer life in the same way talking to God as they can best do, knowing that God will understand and care for them. Children pray from trus ng hearts and have a natural ability to cry out to Jesus from a very early age. What you will need: For Connec ng In Post-it notes with the names of celebri es or cartoon characters wri en on them (ensure that the personali es you choose are ones that the children in your group would be familiar with). Some props that hang on a wall (e.g. picture frame, calendar, clock etc.) Plaster of Paris A bucket A spoon Small disposable plates Paint Permanent markers Taboo game cards and mer (op onal) For The Main Thing Props to help tell story (paper, block of wood, wooden toy car, racing start flag etc.) Paper and pens Bibles For Print off a card for each child. Connecting In Who Am I This game is adapted from the popular game Celebrity Heads. Depending on the size of your group, you might like to play the tradi onal game where you choose three volunteers to come out the front and ask ques ons to the whole group. The ac vity below is focused on working in pairs. For this ac vity you will need some post-it notes with the names of celebri es or cartoon characters wri en on them (ensure that the personali es you choose are ones that the children are familiar with). In partners, children find a space in the room and you go around and put one of the post-it notes on one

47 partner from each group, being careful not to let them see which character they are. Their job is to then guess who they are, but the catch is that their partner can only answer yes or no. For example ques ons need to be phrased like: Am I male? or Am I on TV? etc. Once the children have guessed who they are, they can then swap roles using a new character for the next round. You might like to throw in a few local celebri es, like the corps officer or one of the Junior Soldiers leaders. Link: Today we have played a fun guessing game trying to work out who we were. I wonder what you found challenging about this game? Is there anything that might make this game easier? In order to get help from your partner in working out who you were, you had to say things a certain way. You were limited in how you could ask ques ons in order to get only a yes or no answer. It s a li le bit tricky when you can only ask things in a par cular way. I wonder if you might some mes feel a bit like this with your friends and family. Some mes you might feel that you have to be careful in what you say to certain people, or some friends might not want you to talk about how you are feeling about something, or you might really want to talk with someone in your family but you have to wait un l they stop talking on the phone or playing on the computer. Today we are going to talk about something really exci ng there is someone you can talk to about anything and you can say it in any way you like and at any me you like and He is never, ever too busy to listen to you. God! In the game we played we were restricted in what we could say/ask but when we pray to God we don t have to follow a set pa ern we get to talk with Him about anything. (Alterna vely, if you are familiar with it, the game Taboo is a great resource to illustrate this link. It is a guessing game that also limits what players can say. Visit h p://ingilizceogretmenligi.com/games/board-games/319-english-taboo-cards.html to print out some kids Taboo cards if you don t have access to the board game.) Prayer Reminder For this ac vity you will need things that hang on a wall (e.g. picture frame, calendar, clock etc.), plaster of Paris, a bucket, a spoon, small disposable plates, paint and permanent markers. Prior to the lesson, mix up a fairly thick mix of plaster of Paris and put it into the plas c disposable plates. Hold up the things you would hang on a wall as you talk about their purposes with the children. I wonder why you think we might hang things on our walls. What are some things that you have hanging on your bedroom walls? Today we are going to make something that you might like to hang on your wall at home to remind you of the importance of talking with God. When the plaster of Paris has par ally set (if you make the mixture fairly thick and on a hot day it should only take 1/2 hour or so) get the children to put their hand prints in it. When it has fully dried, it can be painted with thin paint and then you can write on an appropriate message such as: Prayer - Anywhere, Any me, Anything. You could put a paper clip in the mix while it is drying so it can be hung up or put on a display stand for children to keep, reminding them about taking the me to pray. Link: We have a range of things hanging on our walls, things that remind us of fun memories, special mes and people and some mes even messages, quotes or inspira onal messages we want to remember (you might like to hold up some of the props again that you bought in for the beginning of this sec on). Praying is something we might forget to do: we can get busy doing lots of other things and forget to talk to God. Prayer talking with God is so important for people who say they are followers of God. Today we have made something to hang on our wall, something to remind us to talk to God, because he loves us and wants to hear from us just like any of our other friends.

48 The Main Thing Any me, anywhere, anything One of the really special things about being one of God s children is that you can talk to God at any me, anywhere and about anything. In fact, God loves it when his children talk to him. And the best thing about talking to God is that you don t have to wait un l you get home from school, you don t need a phone or computer to contact him, you don t need to wait un l he is finished talking with someone else, you don t need to be careful about what you say, and you re never on a me limit. Talking to God, as most of you would be aware, is called prayer. Some mes when we think about prayer or talking to God we think about a certain me of the day that we might pray, for example, when we get up in the morning or perhaps before we go to bed each night. We might think of a par cular place that we hear about people praying, like at Junior Soldiers, church or beside your bed. We even have prayers that we might say or use everyday like a rhyming grace prayer or a prayer that you say before going to sleep. I want you to think for a moment about a family member or friend you are close to. Now imagine you wake up in the morning and all you say to that person for the whole day is, Thank you for my breakfast, Thank you for my lunch, Thank you for my dinner, Thank you for a good day, and please help me to sleep well and could you please make my Nana well. I wonder what would happen to your friendship. How do you think that person might feel? I wonder how you would feel? Would this be enough to communicate your love and friendship? God doesn t want to hear from us just every now and then. He doesn t want to hear from you only when things are going bad. He doesn t want to hear from you only at meal mes. These thing are all important but are only a part of being friends with God. He made you and he loves you and wants to be your closest friend. Think about your closest friend this is someone you usually want to hang out with and don t really want them to go home at the end of the day. That is what God wants with you: he wants you to communicate with him like he is your closest friend anywhere, any me and about anything. And don t worry about how significant or insignificant your prayer is, God won t laugh at you or ignore you for saying a silly prayer or a boring prayer or a prayer about something that may not be world news God just wants to be part of your life. Here is a story about someone who prayed because they needed some help with something God Answers a Surprise Prayer Request Use props (paper, block of wood, wooden toy car, racing start flag etc.) to help you tell the following story. There was a boy called Gilbert. He was eight years old and had been in Scouts only a short me. During one of his meetings, he was handed a sheet of paper, a block of wood, and four res and told to return home and give all of it to his dad. That was not an easy task for Gilbert to do. Dad was not recep ve to doing things with his son. But Gilbert tried. Dad read the paper and scoffed at the idea of making a pine wood derby car with his young, eager son. The block of wood remained untouched as the weeks passed. Finally, Mum stepped in to see if she could figure this all out. The project began. Having no carpentry skills, she decided it would be best if she simply read the direc ons and let Gilbert do the work. And he did. She read aloud the measurements, the rules of what they could do and what they couldn t do. Within days, Gilbert s block of wood was turning into a pine wood derby car. A li le lopsided, but looking great (at least through the eyes of Mum). Gilbert had not seen any of the other kids cars and was feeling pre y proud of his, named Blue Lightning ; it was the pride that comes with knowing you did something on your own. Then the big night came. With his pine wood derby car in his hand, they headed to the big race.

49 Once there, Gilbert s pride turned to humility. His car was obviously the only car made en rely on his own. All the other cars were a father-son partnership, with cool paint jobs and sleek body styles made for speed. To add to the humility, Gilbert was the only boy without a man at his side. A couple of the boys who were from single parent homes at least had an uncle or grandfather by their side, Gilbert had his mum. As the race began, it was done in elimina on fashion. You kept racing as long as you were the winner. One by one, the cars raced down the finely sanded ramp. Finally, it was between Gilbert and the sleekest, fastest looking car there. As the last race was about to begin, the wide eyed, shy eight-year-old asked if they could stop the race for a minute, because he wanted to pray. The race stopped. Gilbert went down on his knees, clutching his funny looking block of wood between his hands. With a wrinkled brow, he set to talk with God. He prayed desperately for a very long minute-and-a-half. Then he stood, with a smile on his face and announced, Okay, I am ready. What do you think he prayed for? As the crowd cheered, a boy named Tommy stood with his father as their car sped down the ramp. Gilbert stood, watching his block of wood wobble down the ramp with surprisingly great speed and rushed over the finish line a frac on of a second before Tommy s car. Gilbert leapt into the air with a loud Thank you as the crowd roared in approval. The Scout Master came up to Gilbert with microphone in hand and asked the obvious ques on, So, you prayed to win, huh, Gilbert? To which Gilbert answered, Oh, no. It wouldn t be fair to ask God to help you beat someone else. I just asked God to make it so that I didn t cry when I lost. Gilbert didn t ask God to win the race; he didn t ask God to fix the outcome; Gilbert asked God to give him strength in the outcome. When Gilbert first saw the other cars, he didn t cry out to God, Not fair, they had a father s help. No, he went to his heavenly Father for strength. Perhaps we spend too much of our prayer me asking God to make us number one, or too much me asking God to remove us from the struggle, when we should be seeking God s strength to get through the struggle. Remember in Philippians 4:13 it says: I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. Gilbert never doubted that God would answer his prayer request. He didn t pray to win and, maybe, hurt someone else; he prayed that God would supply the grace to lose with dignity. Gilbert, by stopping the race to speak to his heavenly Father, also showed the crowd that he wasn t there without a dad. Explore Scripture together For this ac vity it would be good to have the children split into three groups and then have each group look up one of the following references. You might like to get them to write their verse out. They could then write some of their answers to the discussion ques ons around it and share their thoughts with the whole group at the end. Thessalonians 5:17 Phillipians 4:6 Ephesians 6:18 What does God says about prayer? Why do you think God says these things? What do you like about what you have read? Are there any ques ons you have from these verses? Never stop praying and pray at all mes don t mean that we spend our whole day focused on God. We can talk to God and listen to God while we are doing other things. It s a bit like breathing. You need to breathe all the me. You can t stop breathing. Breathing is just a natural part of your life praying can be, too.

50 Tying In In the promise that Junior Soldiers sign when they are enrolled, it says: I promise to pray. I wonder why you think this is included in the Junior Soldiers promise. Praying is an important part of being a follower of Jesus, just like talking to a friend or family member is important. God doesn t want us to talk to Him because we have to or just because we want something from Him. He wants us to talk to Him because we love and want to be close to Him and share our lives with Him. What are some things you talk about with those closest to you? (e.g. sad mes, worries, exci ng news, achievement, ask for advice) What things do you share with God at the moment? What areas of your life/day might you not be including Him in at the moment? What are some different ways we can talk to God? (Make a list together.) How do you think you could remind yourself to talk to God throughout your day? (It would be good to give some ideas of what prayer in different places and situa ons looks like for you and how you remember to talk to God throughout your day. For example, When someone asks me to pray for them or I think about someone I would like to pray for, I write a reminder on a bright coloured s cky note and put it on my desk at home or work to help me remember to pray for that person. ) You might like to choose a prayer ac vity from the following sugges ons or think of your own. You might even like to have a range of ac vi es listed for the children to choose from. Group the children according to their current Passport type (i.e. Bronze, Silver, Gold, Crest) and have them choose a Corporate prayer ac vity to complete together. Encourage the children to use this me to complete one of their Personal prayer op ons. Have children take turns praying for each other in pairs. Have the children make a prayer rock. Print the a ached poem out. You can add a mosaic for children to colour (just lines around the border). A er reading the poem, the children wrap the poem around the rock. Print off the cards a ached. The children might like to keep these in their journals or notebook where they could write or s ck the challenges, reflect, answer ques ons or complete ac vi es each week. OR You could print a photo of each child and get them to add details about themselves (e.g. what grade they are in, hobbies, family members, etc). Laminate the cards and then put them all in a basket. Have each child draw one out to take home and s ck up so that they can remember to pray for that person this me around. Pray at all mes and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Chris ans everywhere. Ephesians 6:18 (NLT) Your card has been le blank for you to write one or two ways you would like to pray this week. Don t forget to check out the Prayer sec on in your Junior Soldier Passport, too. You might like to place this card somewhere to remind you of how you are going to pray this week. You might like to share the ways you have been talking to God next me we meet.

51 I m your li le prayer rock and this is what I ll do: Just put me on your pillow ll the day is through Then turn back the covers and climb into your bed And WHACK! your li le prayer rock will hit you in the head. Then you will remember, as the day is through, To stop and say your prayers, as God wants you to. Then, when you are finished, just dump me on the floor; I ll stay there through the night- me to give you help once more. When you get up next morning CLUNK! I ll stub your toe And then you will remember morning prayers before you go. Put me back upon your pillow when your bed is made And your clever li le prayer rock will con nue to your aid. Because your Heavenly Father cares and loves you so, He wants you to remember to talk to him, you know! My Prayer Rock I m your li le prayer rock and this is what I ll do: Just put me on your pillow ll the day is through Then turn back the covers and climb into your bed And WHACK! your li le prayer rock will hit you in the head. Then you will remember, as the day is through, To stop and say your prayers, as God wants you to. Then, when you are finished, just dump me on the floor; I ll stay there through the night- me to give you help once more. When you get up next morning CLUNK! I ll stub your toe And then you will remember morning prayers before you go. Put me back upon your pillow when your bed is made And your clever li le prayer rock will con nue to your aid. Because your Heavenly Father cares and loves you so, He wants you to remember to talk to him, you know! My Prayer Rock

52 Junior Soldiers Unit 7 : Lesson 8 The Bible: a letter from God PURPOSE : For the children to understand that reading, exploring and engaging with God s Word is an important part of being a follower of Jesus. Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. I ve promised it once, and I ll promise it again, I will obey your righteous regulations. Psalm 119: (NLT) Consider & Prepare Read: Psalm 119: Psalm 119:15 16 Proverbs 4:12 14 Psalm 33: 4 This lesson focuses on opening our Bibles and reading them carefully. It can be used as a standalone lesson but has been designed to go along with the previous lesson that focused on the importance of prayer. Engaging with God s Word and talking to Him are vital for anyone wan ng to be in an authen c and meaningful rela onship with God, which is why they are included as key sec ons in each of the Junior Soldiers passports. It would be ideal to use some me in each of these lessons to inten onally support and encourage your Junior Soldiers to con nue working through their passports. It would also be good to look again at Lesson 5 and 6 from Unit 2 that explore the first doctrine, about the importance of reading and trus ng what the Bible says. Considering the purpose of this lesson, it is important to give opportunity to the children to gain some understanding about how they can engage with the scripture they read, and also have prac cal opportuni es to experience this during the lesson so that they feel confident with similar ac vi es at home. The Bible is the founda onal and central text of the Chris an faith. It is a source of great teaching and theology and more books have been wri en about the Bible than about any other topic in the world. You can start studying the Bible when you re eight and s ll be studying it when you re 80! This doesn t mean it s too hard to understand the Bible and you shouldn t bother star ng it means you need to start familiarising yourself with the Bible as soon as you can! The earlier in life we can help children both appreciate the Bible and form a habit of reading it, the be er. God s Word is full of amazing insights into the human condi on (life-skills and rela onships); it offers informa on on the background to and then the forma on of the Chris an Church (history); it teaches

53 us about the nature of God (theology); it stresses the need to care for others (altrusim and social responsibility); it includes informa on on coming days (prophecy and revela on); it offers advice and wise counsel (ethics and wisdom); and, most importantly, it informs us of the life, teaching, mission and purpose of Jesus Christ (salva on). You can t claim to be a Chris an if you don t read the Bible. What you will need: For Connec ng in Print off the two instruc on cards a ached at the end of this lesson Prizes or lucky dip box for the whole group For The Main Thing 2 4 tables An unopened le er from a friend Listed scripture printed or wri en on paper for the children to brainstorm around Bibles Dic onaries (op onal) Pens, textas and/or highlighters SOAP pages For SOAP pages Junior Soldiers Passports Paper Pens, textas and/or highlighters Connecting In Following Instruc ons For this ac vity you will need to print the instruc on cards a ached at the end of this lesson, an envelope to put each card in and some small prizes. This is a great game that teaches the importance of reading the Bible carefully and following its instruc ons instead of just trying to wing it spiritually by only looking at li le bits of what the Bible has to offer us. Ask for two volunteers that are outgoing and willing to look a li le silly for a prize. But men on that they must be good at reading and following direc ons. (You will need to pick replacement volunteers as the game con nues, as it is quite likely that a majority of the children who a empt this ac vity will be unsuccessful at following the instruc ons correctly. You might like to divide the children into a team of boys and a team of girls or just split your group down the middle so you can easily pick one from each side, as you pick replacements.) When they come up, give each volunteer an envelope with the instruc ons inside. Explain that they are exactly the same instruc ons, only in a different order. They can t just follow what the other person, they need to read their card. It will be difficult to tell who is winning un l the end of the game so don t try judging how you are going by looking at the other person playing. Below are the instruc ons included on the cards that you will find at the end of the lesson:

54 Instruc on Card 1 Read these instruc ons all the way through and then do what they say. 1. Jump up and down ten mes. 2. Run and touch the back wall, come back and yell I m back! 3. Say the alphabet backwards. 4. Pat your leader on the head. 5. Go and knock on the door. 6. Sing Row, Row, Row your Boat all the way through fast. 7. Turn around three mes. 8. Sit on the ground and yell, I m so silly! 9. Say Supercalifragelis cexpealidosious loudly three mes. 10. Only do number 4 and yell I m all done! Instruc on Card 2 Read these instruc ons all the way through and then do what they say. 1. Turn around three mes. 2. Sing Row, Row, Row your Boat all the way through fast. 3. Jump up and down ten mes. 4. Run and touch the back wall, come back and yell I m back! 5. Sit on the ground and yell, I m so silly! 6. Pat your leader on the head. 7. Say the alphabet backwards. 8. Say Supercalifragelis cexpealidosious loudly three mes. 9. Go and knock on the door. 10. Only do number 6 and yell I m all done! It is important to note here that the first line in small print is the key instruc on! Most kids will start by doing each instruc on as they read it, failing to no ce the first line that say, Read these instruc ons all the way through and then do what they say. Let the children go for awhile (they may even finish) and then announce that nobody won, because they did not follow the instruc ons properly. Choose another child to have a go. A er awhile you can start interrup ng the volunteers a empts sooner announcing they were unsuccessful. Eventually someone will read it all through first and then only do number ten. Declare them the winner and discuss why. Link: Today we have played a fun game that has reminded us how important it is to read things carefully before we start responding. Many of you missed the first line, or you read it but didn t follow it carefully. I wonder if anyone might like to share a me where they have not read something carefully or failed to follow instruc ons properly. (You might like to start by giving an example of your own. For example, missing an ingredient in a recipe, reading a text message incorrectly or misreading the due date of a bill or form to be submi ed.) I wonder what you think might happen if a builder didn t read all the instruc ons carefully before se ng off to build a house. (He might do things in the wrong order, he could miss important instruc ons and make the house unsafe, it might take him a long me to finish the house because he has to go back and fix parts that he didn t read about properly.) The builder might finish the house quicker if he does things his way rather than reading all the instruc ons and he might even save money, but when the house is finished it probably won t match the designer s plans. This is some mes what happens when God s children don t read His special book the Bible carefully or at all and follow His instruc ons properly. Today we are going to talk about why it is important to read the Bible carefully and how we can follow what God says to help us live the life He designed for us.

55 The Main Thing A Le er from God For this ac vity you will need a sealed envelope addressed to you from a good friend who lives far away (make sure the stamp has been processed to make your illustra on more authen c). Show the envelope to the children and explain that you have just received this exci ng le er in the mail. (You could tee up another leader or volunteer to deliver it to you right there in front of the kids or you might even know a postman or courier who could deliver it to you.) I have just received this le er. I am so excited! It is from a really good friend of mine who I really like. I haven t seen this person for a long me. We haven t spoken to each other for ages either. I wonder how they have been going and what they have been doing. Oh, we are such great friends. (You could add in some extra details here, maybe tell a funny story from the past.) I am just so excited that they have sent me this le er! I wonder what it says. I wonder how they are going. (With a really excited facial expression and a deep breath ) maybe they got married...maybe they even have kids now! WOW! I would love to know more about what life is like for them right now! They are really such a good friend and I miss having contact with them. (By now the children are most probably telling you that you should open it. If not say, I wonder how I could find out what they are up to or how they are doing? It is important to be commi ed to the drama that you are trying to create with this le er using body language, facial expressions and large movements.) (Hopefully the children will suggest opening the le er and reading it and you can respond by saying ) Oh, no! I would never open this le er. I like it just the way it is. It is really important to me, very special. I don t want to open it. I like the stamp, and the handwri ng is so nice. I don t want to rip it. Receiving this le er made me feel so special and cared about. Why would I open it? I just want to carry it around. Ideally, drag it out a bit and over drama se it, the kids will be strongly encouraging you to open it and read it! This can then lead into a discussion about how effec ve and sensible your way of thinking is. You might ask Does it make sense to say that I love this person and want to know them be er but then not open the le er they wrote to me? What do you think? Why? What do you think is more important: protec ng the le er and keeping it nice and showing it to everyone or opening it, reading it and then wri ng back? How do you think my friend who wrote the le er might feel if they found out I haven t opened it? Some mes people talk about how much they love God and they get really excited about being a follower of Jesus. They might even say things like, I want to know God be er or I want to be more like Jesus. This is a li le like me not opening my friend s le er: I wanted to know more about what they were up to but I didn t take the me to read the le er. It doesn t make sense not to open the le er and read the informa on and find out more about what is happening for them. Just like it doesn t make sense to not read the message God has sent to us... the Bible! Some people carry a Bible around in their bag and others have it on their phones these days but they don t OPEN it and READ it! The Bible is not going to help us get to know God be er or give us instruc ons to live a life following Jesus if we don t take the me to sit down, open it, and read it. Many people who follow Jesus have a Bible and read it. However, o en people only read certain parts of the Bible or they read it really quickly because they want to go and watch TV instead or they might read it carefully but choose not to follow what it says, only pick out the bits that they want to listen to and put into prac ce. When we read the Bible like this we can some mes miss out on God s important instruc ons for us. We can also miss out on the special blessings that He has for us. Reading the Bible carefully and with the right a tude and focus helps us to find out more about our God, the one who created us and gives us important informa on and instruc ons about the best way for us to live. So if reading the Bible is so important to those that are followers of God... we d be er do some reading and exploring of the Bible.

56 Exploring Scripture with SOAP For this ac vity you will need 2 4 tables, the listed scripture wri en or printed out (it is best to use the CEV version of the Bible for the best language to connect with the children) on paper for the children to brainstorm about, Bibles, dic onaries (op onal), pens or textas and the SOAP page (a ached) printed out for each child. The number of children you have in your group will dictate how many tables you set up ideally you will have one set up for each of the passages below and one set up with the SOAP pages (instruc ons below). It is important to have a leader at each table to help facilitate the discussion and ques oning as the children explore what they see, think and feel about the passages displayed. Ma hew 25:14 30 (The parable of the talents) Mark 4:35 41 (Jesus calms the storm) Luke 8:16 18 (A lamp on a stand) John 10:1 5 (The good shepherd) Have the children highlight what stands out to them, what parts they like, parts that concern them. They can write down any ques ons or they can note words they might not understand in the passage. You might like to encourage them to look up dic onaries to help them discover the meaning to unfamiliar words. Maybe get them to have a go at rewri ng a verse in a way that would help them to remember something they would like to take away from the passage and apply to their daily life. Explain each sec on of the SOAP model: S is for Scripture look up the Bible passage for today and record the main part of it. O is for Observa on read the passage and jot down anything that stands out for you. A is for Apply write about what God might be saying to you through this passage. P is for Prayer write a prayer about what you have discovered today. Have the children choose a passage of scripture to read and follow the SOAP guide to help them explore what they have read. NOTE: It is important when children are exploring scripture that it is just that, exploring this is not a me to read through the scripture for the sake of a school reading comprehension exercise. We need to be crea ng a space and environment for the children to sit with and explore what God has to tell them through His word this also means we don t have to always have the answers. You will be aware that God talks to us all a li le differently through the very same scripture; what you see is not always what God is wan ng to show others. However, we do need to be mindful that we are guiding the children in healthy ways of engaging with scripture and God. Tying In In the promise that Junior Soldiers sign, it says I promise to read my Bible. I wonder why you think it is important for this to be included in the Junior Soldiers promise. Reading your Bible is an important part of being a follower of Jesus. God doesn t want us to just get excited about owning or carrying His special book around. He wants us to read the Bible so that we can find out more about who He is and who He created us to be. Imagine carrying around your favourite chocolate bar and telling others how good it is and showing them, but not opening it and enjoying ea ng it.

57 God wants us to read His Word carefully to ensure we receive important informa on and instruc ons about the best way for us to live so that we can get the goodness out of what is wri en in this special book. What do you think are some things that might distract you or stop you from reading the Bible? What are some ways you might remind yourself to read the Bible regularly? (Make a list together.) I wonder if there is anything you could do if you are finding it difficult to understand stuff in the Bible. You might like to choose a scripture ac vity from the following sugges ons or think of your own. You might even like to have a range of ac vi es listed for the children to choose from. Group the children according to their current Passport type (i.e. Bronze, Silver, Gold, Crest) and have them choose a Memorisa on or Bible ac vity to complete individually or together. Encourage the children to use this me to complete a SOAP page with a partner or on their own. Have children choose their favourite Bible story or passage and repeat the Bible Brainstorm ac vity from above, individually or with a partner. Have children draw up a Bible Reading Plan for the week ahead by wri ng down each day of the week with a Bible reference next to it. For example, they might decide to read a chapter from a gospel and split it up into seven sec ons, one for each day of the week, or they might read the first seven Psalms, one each day of the week. Encourage them to be easy on themselves to begin with and make their plan realis c. You might also provide them with some of the SOAP pages to help them engage with their chosen scripture each day. Print off the cards a ached. The children might like to keep these in their journals or notebook where they could write or s ck the challenges, reflect, answer ques ons or complete ac vi es each week. Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. I ve promised it once, and I ll promise it again: I will obey your righteous regula ons. Psalm 119: This week, show God how much you love Him, by taking his le er and spending some me reading about Him. Your friendship with God will grow even closer! Your card has been le blank for you to choose how you might like to read your Bible this week. You might like to use the SOAP page to help you each day or check out the Bible sec on in your Junior Soldier Passport. You might like to ask someone special to you to read with you each day and discuss what you read with them. You might like to place this card somewhere that will help to remind you how you are going to read the Bible this week. You might like to share the ways you have been reading God s Word next me we meet.

58 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. I ve promised it once, and I ll promise it again: I will obey your righteous regula ons. Psalm 119: Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. I ve promised it once, and I ll promise it again: I will obey your righteous regula ons. Psalm 119: Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. I ve promised it once, and I ll promise it again: I will obey your righteous regula ons. Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. I ve Psalm 119: Psalm 119: promised it once, and I ll promise it again: I will obey your righteous regula ons.

59 Instruction Card #1 Read these instruc ons all the way through and then do what they say. 1. Jump up and down ten mes. 2. Run and touch the back wall, come back and yell I m back! 3. Say the alphabet backwards. 4. Pat your leader on the head. 5. Go and knock on the door. 6. Sing Row, Row, Row your Boat all the way through fast. 7. Turn around three mes. 8. Sit on the ground and yell, I m so silly! 9. Say Supercalifragelis cexpealidosious loudly three mes. 10. Only do number 4 and yell I m all done! Instruction Card #2 Read these instruc ons all the way through and then do what they say. 1. Turn around three mes. 2. Sing Row, Row, Row your Boat all the way through fast. 3. Jump up and down ten mes. 4. Run and touch the back wall, come back and yell I m back! 5. Sit on the ground and yell, I m so silly! 6. Pat your leader on the head. 7. Say the alphabet backwards. 8. Say Supercalifragelis cexpealidosious loudly three mes. 9. Go and knock on the door. 10. Only do number 6 and yell I m all done!

60 Date: Reading the Bible with... Write or draw your response to the following... S is for scripture: what did you read today? O is for observe: what stands out for you? A is for apply: what is God saying to you? P is for prayer: what do you want to say to God? S O A P cripture bserve pply rayer SOAP!