GKidz Barnabas Club Small Group Guide Faithfulness Lesson 5 Fix Your Eyes on God

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1 Date: 30 & 31 May 2015 GKidz Barnabas Club Small Group Guide Faithfulness Lesson 5 Fix Your Eyes on God Memory Verse: And that's not all. We are full of joy even when we suffer. We know that our suffering gives us the strength to go on. The strength to go on produces character. Character produces hope. And hope will never let us down. God has poured his love into our hearts. He did it through the Holy Spirit, whom he has given to us. Romans 5:3-5 (NIRV) Bible Passage: 2 Kings 6:8-23 Learning Objectives: 1. Children will learn that they have to fix their eyes on God if they want to be faithful. 2. Children will learn that when they fix their eyes on God, His Spirit will open their eyes to see His ways and His purposes. Materials Needed: Find Wally (Annex A & B - GKidz to provide) Open Our Eyes Activity Page (GKidz to provide) A. CONNECT (10 mins) Split the children into groups of 3, and hand out the Find Wally pictures (Annex B). The children s aim is to find Wally (show them how Wally looks like in Annex A). If time permits, let each group find Wally from 2 pictures. Ask the following questions after the activity: 1. What was difficult about finding Wally? 2. How did you feel when you finally noticed Wally? TRANSITION INTO THE WORD Leader says: Sometimes things are right in front of our faces, but we don't seem to see them until we re looking in the right spot. Today we are going to learn about some people who were blinded to the amazing things right in front of them. Let us turn to 2 Kings 6:8-23 now. Background During the last couple of weeks, we have learnt about Elijah, a prophet of God. He was known as one of God s greatest prophets because of his passion for God. God told Elijah to anoint a man named Elisha to succeed him as the next prophet. Elisha travelled with Elijah and learned from him as he continued his ministry. Elijah and Elisha had similar sounding names, but that is because both names have meanings related to God. Elijah means my God is Yahweh and Elisha means my God is salvation. 1

2 B. INTO THE WORD (15 mins) Have the children read 2 Kings 6:8-23. Ask the following questions: 1. Why did king Aram want to capture Elisha? (Ans: The king of Aram was trying to take Israel by surprise and catch them in an ambush. He would secretly set up his camp and plan to attack the Israelite soldiers when they passed by. But God was protecting His people He spoke to Elisha so Elisha knew exactly where the king of Aram was setting up camp. Elisha would then warn the king of Israel about it. As a result, the Aramean soldiers were never able to take Israel by surprise. When the king of Aram found out about Elisha, he wanted to capture Elisha so that he could no longer protect Israel. ) 2. What did the servant of Elisha see when he got out in the morning? How do you think he felt? (Ans: He saw that an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. He must have been fearful as he knew that he was overpowered.) 3. What did Elisha see? (Ans: Elisha saw that he was surrounded by horses and chariots made of fire, and those who were with him and his servant were more than those who were with the Aramean soldiers.) 4. Why do you think Elisha could see the army of God before his servant did? How was the servant able to see God s army? (Ans: Elisha was able to see God s supernatural ways because he was close to God. He was a man who always knew that God was with Him. His eyes were always fixed on God and he was always faithful in doing what God told him to do. As for his servant, he could see God s army only after Elisha prayed and ask God to open his servant s eyes to see it. ) 5. Why do you think Elisha was always so faithful in doing what God told him to do as a prophet? (Ans: Elisha was always faithful because his eyes were always fixed on God s ways and purposes, he knew that God was at work in ways humans eyes could not see or comprehend. Elisha allowed God to show him His ways and he did not doubt but always obeyed what God told him to do. ) Transition from INTO THE WORD to APPLICATION Leader to say: Are you more like Elisha or the servant? Are your eyes opened to see God s ways? Or are you always blinded? How are we able to see what God is doing around us and understand His ways and His purposes? Do you have issues in your life that you only see trouble and problems and not God s ways? C. APPLICATION/ MINISTRY (15 mins) Let the children share about the trouble or problems that they see in their lives right now. (Be sensitive and do not force the children to disclose details that they are not comfortable with. However, do encourage openness amongst the children to share about their lives in the small group.) Share with the children: Elisha s servant also only saw the trouble that was in front of him. Only when God s Spirit opened his eyes, then he could see that God had surrounded the 2

3 city with protection. He let them see something supernatural and amazing. It is God s Spirit that is still alive today who will help us see what God is doing around us. Let s take some time to think about what it means for God to open our eyes to see His ways as we face the trouble in our lives. Hand out the Open Our Eyes activity pages and let the children take some time to look up the passages and write down their answers to the question. After they have finished, encourage some of them to share what they have written. Share with the children that as we face challenges in life, we can only be faithful to live a life of faith for God only if we fix our eyes on Him and allow Him to open our eyes to see His ways and His purposes. Ask the children if they really want God to open their eyes to see His ways and His purposes instead of the trouble that they are facing. Pray for those who desire it. As we desire to be faithful to God, let s remember that it is His Spirit that has been given to us that enables us to do so. Have everyone read the memory verse. And that's not all. We are full of joy even when we suffer. We know that our suffering gives us the strength to go on. The strength to go on produces character. Character produces hope. And hope will never let us down. God has poured his love into our hearts. He did it through the Holy Spirit, whom he has given to us. Romans 5:3-5 (NIRV) D. OUTREACH (15 mins) Ask the children if they have been faithful to go and invite the friends whom God told them to invite for Champion Camp or the Holiday Programme last weekend. Allow them to share their experiences. Spend time praying in the Spirit for the lives of the friends whose names God has revealed to them last week. Ask the Holy Spirit to open their eyes to see God s ways and purposes over their friends lives. Encourage the children to continue inviting their friends for Champion Camp and the Holiday Programme. Give them step by step instructions to invite their friends if necessary. Reference: RIO Preteen Leader s Guide, Summer

4 Annex A This is Wally 4

5 Annex B

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