August 29-30, Samson. Judges 13-16; Proverbs 3:5-6. God uses unlikely people.

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1 rd 3 5 August 29-30, 2015 Samson Judges 13-16; Proverbs 3:5-6 God uses unlikely people. Connect Time (20 minutes): Five minutes after the service begins, split kids into groups and begin their activity. Large Group (30 minutes): Begin 20 minutes after the service starts. Model what it looks like to be engaged in large group. th If you ve got kids who aren t cooperating with you, try giving them two appropriate options. For example, offer them the choice between participating in small group and sitting quietly to the side. Or sitting on the floor or on a chair for Large Group. Small Group (10 minutes): Keep kids in small groups until parents arrive. If you all have extra time at the end, you can review the video and songs together. Encourage kids to tell their parents why they made bracelets out of hairy yarn today! Today s story has many parts that are hard for kids (or adults) to understand. What we do know for sure is that God uses unlikely people, and he used Samson to deliver his family and be part of his story. He wants to use each of us as a part of his story, too!

2 GOAL: Connect Time is all about engaging kids in an activity that allows them to connect with each other right away while simultaneously piquing their curiosity for Large Group and preparing their minds for what they re going to hear. TALENT BASED THUMB WAR *Break kids into small groups if possible. Tell kids you re looking for their hidden talents. List off the following skills/traits and let kids see if they can do them (choose a few of the following): o Roll their tongue o Wiggle their ears o Raise one eyebrow at a time o Touch their nose with their tongue o Wink o Wiggle their nose o Do the splits o If you have time, let kids share talents for others to try out! Then split kids into two groups (or groups of about 6 if you re breaking up a large group). Make the split based on skills (e.g. have a group of ear wigglers and a group of eyebrow-raisers). Teams should line up across from each other. Have all kids face their opponent in a big thumb war. Then see which team has the most winners! Debrief: o Did your talent help you win the thumb war? Why or why not? o o What other talents/abilities has God given you? (More serious ones.) How do you think you could use those abilities to honor God? (Share a personal example from your life so kids at least hear one serious example.) Before you go to Large Group, you can also remind kids of the expectations for Large Group behavior: (1) be kind, (2) listen when somebody speaks, and (3) follow the leader s instructions.

3 Goal: Kids will (1) retell the story of Samson, (2) understand that God gives each of us abilities to be used for him Why? Samson can be a tough story to understand. But God was serious about saving his family from the Philistines and he gave Samson the tools to do it. He gives each of us tools to serve him, too! Tip: If you want, you could do the strength challenges with other small groups or even compete against other small groups. Decide ahead of time how you d like to do it! REVIEW THE STORY 1. What special job did God give Samson before he was born? (he would be a judge and defeat many Philistines, who were enemies of God s family) 2. How was Samson different from others? (he was a Nazirite, couldn t cut his hair, stronger than anyone) 3. Why is it surprising that God chose Samson? (he messed up a lot and ended up weak for a long time) 4. What did Samson do at the end of his life? (gave his life to save God s family) 5. Who else gave up his life for God s family? (Jesus) What was different about Jesus? (he was perfect) MAKE IT PERSONAL Part 1: Give each kid a post-it Have them write ONE word to describe a way God might want to use them (it could be what they thought of during Large Group). Put post-its in the middle and share (if you know the kids, affirm the abilities they share; if you don t, call out anything you ve observed in them) Part 2: Let each kid choose up to 6 pieces of yarn Tell them this is like hair : their job is to create a bracelet with it. (They can braid it, twist it, create knots, etc. Encourage them to teach each other ways to do it.) When they wear the hair, they can remember to use their abilities to follow God and be part of his story. As they make their bracelets, help them decide how to use their abilities to serve God. Then put on those bracelets! (Continue on the following page)

4 2 *After kids finish, pray together and ask God to use each kid to be a special part of his story. Thank him for the way he created each of them. Extra time? Have another thumb war. Or do some strength tests! Here are some ideas: See who can o do the most push-ups o stare at each other the longest without blinking o stand on one foot the longest o jump the highest (off the ground) o hold a piece of paper on their head the longest (testing posture)

5 1 You ll have to refer very specifically to Connect Time for today s intro to make sense. Make sure you re familiar with the whole plan for the hour. There are several videos, so practice your pacing ahead of time. Make sure to stay on track so you can view all videos and give kids a chance to worship! (If you have to cut Small Group time a little short to do it, that s OK.) WELCOME AND INTRO (7 min.) Hi everybody! Welcome to Kids Club. It s great to see you here. (Click to show thumb war image) Before we go any farther, I d like us to get serious about our thumb war. I need 10 winners from Connect Time (choose ten kids and line them up so that there are 5 pairs ready to compete). OK, we re going to have to help with this. (To non-competitors): When I say Go!, I want you to yell , I declare a thumb war! (To competitors): Then you guys can compete. (Click to begin the theme music; then say to everyone): Ready? GO! I declare a thumb war! (Pause while kids compete; lead the crowd in cheering.) Good job! Alright, if you lost, sorry but you have to have a seat. (Let kids who lost sit. Click next slide to stop music.) These are our thumb war champions! (Keep winners up with you.) Now I want to find out if you all had the same hidden talent. What talent was your Connect Time group based on? (Let each kid share whether they were a winker, ear-wiggler, etc.) Wow, look like all kinds of people can win thumb wars! Well done. Now go ahead and have a seat. (Let kids sit.) BELIEVE IT OR NOT! (2 min.) Just like some of the stories we ve been hearing this month, today s story is kind of hard to believe even though it s true. It s about a guy with a crazy talent like you guys. So to start, we re going to watch a video about another guy who has a crazy talent. Let s take a look: Video: Man Who Creates Gum Sculptures (about 1 min.) Oh wow, when I chew gum, it looks all wadded up and gross. That s pretty remarkable. SAMSON INTRO (5 min.) You know, we re going to hear a story today of a guy who got to be part of God s Story. To do

6 that, he had a really special job and an amazing talent. And if he were here today, he would have DEFINITELY won that thumb war and probably broken all of our thumbs. See, his special talent was having super-human strength. Before he was even born, God told Samson s parents that their son would be strong enough to save God s family, the Israelites, from an army called the Philistines. Samson was called a judge. We can find his story in the book of the Bible called Judges. A judge was a special leader who could lead God s family into battle and help keep them safe from enemies. After Moses and Joshua, different judges led God s family until they got their first king. Samson was also a Nazirite, which means he was set apart by God. He was supposed to avoid certain foods and drinks and never cut his hair. That might seem a little strange, but Samson knew he would lose all of his strength if he cut his hair. The crazy thing is, Samson might not be the person you d expect to be such an important part of God s story a judge and a Nazirite! We re going to watch a video about Samson. As you watch, see if you can figure out why it s surprising that God chose Samson. Video: Samson (about 2 min.) Why is it surprising that Samson got to lead God s people? (Let kids respond.) That s right, he didn t really listen to God. He told Delilah about his hair and ended up completely weak and unable to help God s family for many years. He really didn t seem to follow God at all. But at the very end of the video, what did Samson do? (Let kids respond.) Yes, he gave his life to get rid of as many Philistines as he could and save God s family! WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM SAMSON S STORY (4 min.) Think about a very important question in your heads for a second: What do you guys think Samson s story shows us about God? (Pause.) When you ve got something in your head, give me a thumbs up (let kids respond). Great! Now turn and tell a friend one thing this story shows us about God. (Let kids tell a friend.) Anyone want to share? (Let a couple kids share.) Wow, you re right. And you know what I love? This story shows me that God can use all kinds of people even ones who mess up a lot to tell his story. It s kind of like how all kinds of people can win thumb wars. So no matter who you are, where you ve come from or what your abilities are, God wants you to be part of his story by following him! FOLLOWING GOD VERSE (4 min.) Our verse for this month can help us remember that we can trust God because he s in control. It s Proverbs 3:5-6 and it says this: Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Let s say that out loud together. (Lead the kids in repeating the verse.) Remembering this can help us to think about trusting God all the time and being part of his story by following his path. We re going to see if we can memorize it. But we ve actually got a few friends who have

7 already tried to do that! Let s take a look. Video: Verse-O-Dome Proverbs 3:5-6 Oh no! That monkey didn t play the game right, did he? If you want to try it out too, you can do it in your small group. Or you can just practice at home! And the good news is, no pie in the face for you. RESPOND AND PRAY (4 min.) Now let s take time to ask God how he wants to use US. We re going to listen to a song. As you listen, say in your head, God, how do you want to use me? If you get an idea or picture in your head, it might be from God! This is time for just you and God to talk, so get comfortable and close your eyes or watch the screen whatever helps you best focus on God. Music Video: Who I Am Great worship, everybody! Now let s pray: (lead to model prayer for the kids) God, thank you for making us. Thank you that we can be part of your story, even if we mess up. Please help us to follow you and trust you with our whole hearts. WORSHIP (3 min.) Now let s worship God by telling him we ll give everything we have to follow him. You can declare to him that you ll use your abilities for his glory. Music Video: Take It All *Dismiss kids to small groups

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9 1 2 none Per kid 6 pieces of yarn (approx. 1-2 ft long; supply a variety of colors) one post-it Per group Markers 1 Bible scissors Bible Slide: Believe It or Not! loop Song slide: for when kids enter the room (All that You Need instrumental; mp3 only; can be downloaded on website) Image: thumb war (will be created by DFalt) Image with music: thumb war image with THIS behind it ( J_fFVS9cGwl&index=14) Video: Man Sculpting Gum ( Video: Samson (in Keynote folder and on server in Videos>Miscellaneous) SLIDE: Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in Tell me about Samson. How was Samson part of God s story? the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. 8. Video: Verse-O-Dome (Proverbs 3:5-6; 9. Song: Who I Am ( 10. Song: Take It All (already on server;