Keep Calm and Respect Your Leaders

Transcription

1 Keep Calm and Respect Your Leaders Bible Truth: Keep Calm and Respect Your Leaders (David Spares Saul) 1 Samuel 24 Bottom Line: You respect God when you respect the people He s put in charge. Key Question: How can you show respect to your leaders? Memory Verse: Show proper respect to everyone. 1 Peter 2:17a, NIV Life App: Respect showing others they are important by what you say and do. Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what. Social: Setting the Tone for the Experience (9:00, 10:15, 11:30) Get Your Head in the Game Chair Set of keys Rolled up newspaper or magazine A blindfold Bible: Communicating God s Truth in Engaging Ways (9:15, 10:30, 11:45) Bible Presentation in Large Group Prayer (9:50, 11:05, 12:20) Toilet paper squares Markers Dismiss (10:00, 11:15, 12:30) 1

2 Keep Calm and Respect Your Leaders Bible Truth: Keep Calm and Respect Your Leaders (David Spares Saul) 1 Samuel 24 Bottom Line: You respect God when you respect the people He s put in charge. Key Question: How can you show respect to your leaders? Memory Verse: Show proper respect to everyone. 1 Peter 2:17a, NIV Life App: Respect showing others they are important by what you say and do. Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what. Social: Providing Time for Fun Interaction (Small Groups, 15 minutes) Welcome kids and spend time engaging in conversation and catching up. Get ready to experience today s Bible Truth. Before kids arrive, spend some time praying that kids hearts would be prepared for the truth they re going to be presented as you wrap up this series on respect. Ask God to bring to mind the people they have a hard time respecting and also reveal to them ideas of ways that they could show those leaders in their lives more respect. Get Your Head in the Game Made to Play: an activity that encourages learning through following guidelines and working as a group What You Need: Chair, set of keys, rolled up newspaper or magazine, a blindfold. What You Do: Ask everyone to sit in a large circle. Place a chair in the middle of the circle and put the set of keys on the seat. Ask for a volunteer to use the rolled up newspaper to guard the treasure from everyone else the thieves. The trick is that the volunteer will be blindfolded. Blindfold the guard and then pick a thief by quietly pointing to a student. Challenge the thief to sneak up to the chair without alerting the guard and snatch the treasure (keys). Encourage the guard to listen carefully and try to swat the wannabe thief with the newspaper/magazine baton. Tell them that if the thief is swatted, he must return to the circle. But if he succeeds in stealing the treasure and returning to the circle, the prize is to become the new guard. Play as long as time and interest allow. What You Say: I love having fun with you all in small group each week. Let s keep having fun as we go to large group today. Lead your group to the Large Group area. 2

3 Keep Calm and Respect Your Leaders Bible Truth: Keep Calm and Respect Your Leaders (David Spares Saul) 1 Samuel 24 Bottom Line: You respect God when you respect the people He s put in charge. Key Question: How can you show respect to your leaders? Memory Verse: Show proper respect to everyone. 1 Peter 2:17a, NIV Life App: Respect showing others they are important by what you say and do. Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what. Bible: Communicating God s Truth in Engaging Ways (Large Group, 35 minutes) 1. Opener/Closer What You Need: Host GETTING READY 2. Bible Truth What You Need: Communicator Bible 3 kid volunteers 3. Worship What You Need: Power Praise Team Music and Sound Effects (SFX): At the Top of My Lungs Movin Me Forever Reign 3

4 Keep Calm and Respect Your Leaders Bible Truth: Keep Calm and Respect Your Leaders (David Spares Saul) 1 Samuel 24 Bottom Line: You respect God when you respect the people He s put in charge. Key Question: How can you show respect to your leaders? Memory Verse: Show proper respect to everyone. 1 Peter 2:17a, NIV Life App: Respect showing others they are important by what you say and do. Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what. Bible: Communicating God s Truth in Engaging Ways (Large Group, 35 minutes) Engage kids hearts through a dynamic and interactive Bible Truth, worship, and prayer experience in a Large Group setting. SFX: Play high-energy music as kids enter. SFX: 10-second countdown Welcome HOST: Host has lots of energy as he or she welcomes everyone to the Base. Host is relatable and inviting. Host can talk about something that happened culturally throughout the week like a big sports game, movie opening, a viral video on YouTube, etc. Host tells them how excited he or she is that they re there and briefly runs through what they can expect. This is especially helpful for first-time guests to make them feel like they know what s happening. HOST: Good morning everybody! Let s welcome the Power Praise team in here. Power Praise team enters as Host joins the audience. Worship POWER PRAISE: Hey, everybody. Stand to your feet. I know you love this song! Sing with us. SFX: At the Top of My Lungs POWER PRAISE: Yeah! We will choose to go God s way every day. It s always good to see you here at church because I know how you re taking steps to know God more. I believe that we are part of a generation that is rising up and living our lives to obey God and His Word. Your life, your choices, and your example make a difference. Let s sing this song because we are a generation living for God. SFX: Movin Me POWER PRAISE: It s always good to hear you sing God s praises. Psalm 47:1-2 says: Clap your hands, all you nations. Shout to God with cries of joy. Do this because the Lord Most High is wonderful. He is the great King over the whole earth. Let s give all we are to sing that no one is higher than our God. Let these words flow from your heart as you give worship to the One who deserves all of our praise. Sing this out. 4

5 SFX: Forever Reign We love singing God s praises with you. We hope that you all have a great wee! See you soon. Host retakes the stage as Power Praise exits. Host transitions to the opening game. Opener HOST: Alright, so how many of you have played a rousing game of Rock, Paper, Scissors? Sure, we ve all had to settle a choice with some good old paper beats rock! So if you ve played Rock, Paper, Scissors, you have everything you need for our game today... only this is more like Rock, Paper, Scissors with a bit of twist... because Rock, Paper, Scissors would just be too easy for kids like you, right? Right. Let s see the slide and check out how this is gonna work. CG: Rock Paper Scissors Levels HOST: In this version of the game, there are five levels. Level 5 on the bottom is the lowest. You don t want to stay on Level 5. The goal is to make it up to the top at Level 1. All of these levels feature people you might find in an ancient kingdom. Everybody in the room starts out as a Pauper on Level 5. When I say go, find someone to play Rock, Paper, Scissors against. If you win, you move up to Level 4: Cupbearer. If you lose, you stay at your current level. Then go find a new opponent, but you can only play the same level. If you win, you move up a level. If you lose again, you stay at the same level. Level 3 is Knight. Level 2 is Prince/Princess. And, finally, Level 1 is King/Queen. The first person to become a King who runs up on stage and tells me is the winner. Play against as many opponents as you can, one at a time, until we have a KING or QUEEN and winner of the game. Ready, set, go! Play until you have a winner. If time allows, play again. HOST: That. Was. Amazing! Please welcome [Communicator s Name]. Communicator enters as Host exits. The introduction starts out with a personal story. 5

6 INTRODUCTION COMMUNICATOR: Hey, guys! Any of you watch baseball? Yeah, I know... for some people, watching baseball on TV just isn t their thing. But I gotta tell you; I can t get enough of it! There was this one game I watched and the batter... he cracks this shot to the right field corner (motion of swinging a bat)! The batter got on his horse and rounded first base (running) and headed into second. He probably should have stopped there, but he was hauling! So he rounded second with a full head of steam and made his way to third. The right fielder dug the ball out of the corner and threw a laser to third base (throwing). The ball arrived just as the runner slid headfirst into the base! Everyone looked over to the umpire holding his or her breath and waited for the call... then... it happened... (Motioning) You re out! And in a moment the place went NUTS and the runner... And you wanna know what that he did? (Get response) Are you sure? (Pause for response) Alright, I ll tell you... He got up and he went berserk! He started SCREAMING in the ump s face. But it didn t stop there. Then the manager came out of the dugout looking like he was going to stop his player, but NOPE! HE started yelling at the ump! It sorta looked like this... CG: Video Clip of Manager and Ump fighting Yeah. It was crazy! But you know what s really crazy? When they played that replay, the runner was actually safe. Yeah, the ump got it wrong. He should have been safe. Sometimes, the people who are in charge get it wrong. It s like this teacher I once had... (tell a personal story about a time where a teacher/coach/etc. got it wrong with you, like the following) Example: I was in 5th grade and I had a teacher who accused me of cheating. He found a cheat sheet on the ground and said it was mine, but it wasn t! I tried to explain that it wasn t my handwriting, but he wouldn t hear it. Instead, he called me a liar and told me I had failed the test. But you know what, he got it wrong. I really didn t cheat. Sometimes, the people who are in charge get it wrong. TENSION When everything is going well, when leaders do the right thing and act like they re supposed to act, it s easy to show respect to those sorts of leaders, right? But what about when somebody who is charge gets it wrong? I mean, what about when an umpire or ref blows an important call and your team loses the game? Or a teacher or parent accuses us of something we didn t do and we get in trouble? We might want to act like that manager in the video... say whatever mean thing comes to mind and make them pay for what they ve done. I know that s what I wanted to do when that teacher accused me of cheating, because deep down all of us want things to be right. But they aren t always right, are they? So then what? There was this time when someone in the Bible had a choice to make when the person who was in charge blew it... big time. Let s see if this helps us make sense of these feelings to show disrespect. 6

7 TRUTH We find this moment recorded for us in the Old Testament of our Bible. Israel had asked God to give them a human king like the nations around them. The first king of Israel was a tall, strapping guy named Saul. From his appearance, he looked like he d make the perfect king of God s people. But when it came right down to it, King Saul struggled to follow instructions God had for him. On top of that, he was losing popularity to some kid who defeated this giant name Goliath. By now you ve probably guessed his name... who is it? (Get response) Right, David! It didn t take long for Saul to become extremely jealous so much so that Saul tried to KILL David! There was this one time when Saul was returning from war against the Philistines and somebody told him where David was hiding. Turns out that David was in this place called the Desert of En Gedi. Now, before we go on, here s something you should know about En Gedi. This place was like an oasis in the desert with waterfalls, shade trees, and hundreds if not thousands of caves. These caves were a great place for getting out of the hot sun or, you know, hiding from someone who is trying to kill you. OK, so back on track. Saul headed out to En Gedi to track down David. Oh, and he took a few men with him. Ok, maybe more than a few. More like THREE THOUSAND to be exact! I think we can safely say that Saul was committed to making sure David would no longer be a threat! Before we go on, I need some help. Who can help me out with some sound effects? I need three kids. Choose 3 confident volunteers. Introduce kids to the rest of the audience. Like we said, this Bible Truth takes place in the desert. There are a several key words in the Bible Truth that I think could use some sound effects to help us really picture what was happening when this Bible Truth actually took place! Let s quick go over the words that need your sound-effect-making expertise! Go over the following sounds with the volunteers and agree on a noise they will make when they hear that keyword. Saul make a crown motion and say, King me David swing a sling over your head and make a wind-circling noise En Gedi Ah, an oasis! Toilet sound of toilet flush Cave echo, echo, echo Cut off snip, snip Anointed drip, drip, drip (like the sound of oil dripping) Begged please, please Kill Ugh! (a dying sound) Bowed thud sound Run through these quickly a few times. 7

8 Sounds good! I think you got it. Let s read the Bible Truth. Reading from 1 Samuel 24:1-6 NIrV Saul returned from chasing the Philistines. Then he was told, David is in the Desert of En Gedi. So Saul took 3,000 of the best soldiers from the whole nation of Israel. He started out to look for David and his men. He planned to look near the Rocky Cliffs of the Wild Goats. He came to some sheep pens along the way. A cave was there. Saul went in to go to the toilet. David and his men were far back in the cave. David s men said, This is the day the LORD told you about. He said to you, I will hand your enemy over to you. Then you can deal with him as you want to. So David came up close to Saul without being seen. He cut off a corner of Saul s robe. Later, David felt sorry that he had cut off a corner of Saul s robe. He said to his men, May the LORD keep me from doing a thing like that again to my master. He is the Lord s anointed king. So I promise that I will never lay my hand on him. The Lord has anointed him. Looking up from Bible Then Saul left the cave. He didn t have a clue what had just happened while he was... uh... taking care of business. Reading from 1 Samuel 24:8-10 NIrV Then David went out of the cave. He called out to Saul, King Saul! My master! When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down. He lay down flat with his face toward the ground. He said to Saul, Why do you listen when men say, David is trying to harm you? This day you have seen with your own eyes how the LORD handed you over to me in the cave. Some of my men begged me to kill you. But I didn t. I said, I will never lay my hand on my master. He is the LORD s anointed king. Looking up from the Bible. That was amazing! You three did so great. Thanks for your help! OR (OPTIONAL: If time allows) Excellent job, but you know what? I think we should do that again. Even faster this time! That was great! Give our volunteers a hand! Reread the Bible Truth above with sound effects. Dismiss volunteers to their seats. 8

9 APPLICATION When we first started, we talked about how it s hard to show respect to a leader when he or she gets something wrong. Kinda like what s happening in this Bible Truth, right? I mean talk about a leader getting it wrong and not just any leader but the king of God s people, the nation of Israel! The jealousy. The rage. The trying to kill David! But something unexpected happened, didn t it? David didn t stoop down to Saul s level. When given the chance to get back at Saul, he passed on it. Wow. I don t know about you, but I m thinking, WHY did he do that? David had the perfect chance to finish this whole thing once and for all and become the king like God had promised. Well, David realized something. Even though God had promised to make him king one day, this wasn t the way it was supposed to happen. David trusted God no matter what and believed that God s timing was better than his was. David realized that Saul was still Israel s king the one God had chosen and it was not David s place to kill him and take over. And when that happened, when Saul realized what David did, his reaction was also pretty unexpected. Check this out: Reading from 1 Samuel 24:17-19, NIrV You are a better person than I am, he said. You have treated me well. But I ve treated you badly. You have just now told me about the good things you did to me. The LORD handed me over to you. But you didn t kill me... May the LORD reward you with many good things. May he do it because of the way you treated me today. Wow! Isn t that cool?! Saul recognized the wrong he had done because of the right David did. The respect David showed for Saul opened Saul s own eyes to what he had done. Now, if we look at the rest of Saul s life, we see that he ended up angry with David for the rest of his life. And eventually God made it possible for David to become king. But for this moment, Saul understood David s heart and took a break from trying to harm him. All of that due to one decision to respect. Read our memory verse with me. CG: Memory Verse Slide Show proper respect to everyone. 1 Peter 2:17 NIV LANDING So with all that s been said, what about for you? What does it look like when your mom or dad punishes you for something you didn t do? Or a teacher makes a mistake? Or a coach benches you? We have people in charge of us now, and we ll have people who will lead us for the rest of our lives. How can we be sure that no matter how well they lead us that we show them respect? No one is perfect, everyone who is in charge will at some point make a mistake. How should we respond? That s a lot to think about. Actually, that s a lot we should be praying about. How about we do that now? Let s pray. If you have an offering or a tithe to give today, come on up and put that in the bucket. 9

10 Well, as you head to small groups, I want you to think about something: CG: Key Question Slide Communicator prays related to what was communicated. How can you show respect to your leaders? Good or bad, we need a plan when it comes to how we ll respect them. Have a great time with your groups, and we ll see you next time! SFX: Play high-energy music as the kids exit. Transition to Small Groups. Pray and Dismiss (10 minutes) [Pray to God Prayer Activity] Made to Reflect: an activity that creates space for personal understanding and application What You Need: Toilet paper squares, pens What You Do: Pass out toilet paper squares and pens/thin markers so everyone has one of each. Encourage each students to write the name of a leader he or she is having a hard time respecting. Challenge your students to crumple their square up in their hands and pray with you about these situations and their potential responses. Ask if anyone wants you to pray with him or her individually. You could go off to the side, or he or she could stay for a little while after others leave. Follow his or her lead in what to say. Dear God, thank you for our time today. You say that everyone in charge is put there by you. When leaders are great and easy to follow, we can easily believe that they are put in charge by you. But we need help with the leaders in our lives who don t seem worthy of our respect. Help us the next time we are with these leaders to be respectful in our responses. Help us not to be controlled by our feelings or to do anything extreme to retaliate or go against their leadership, even if it seems fair or right. Help us to trust you and to remember that the reason we are really showing respect to this leader is because we respect whom You are. We love you. In Jesus name, amen. Pass out Parent CUE cards as adults arrive for pick-up. 10