STORY 25 MINUTES WORSHIP 10 MINUTES GROUPS 25 MINUTES

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1 PRELUDE SOCIAL 15 MINUTES STORY WORSHIP HOME Chief Executive Officer Reggie Joiner Creative Team Kristen Ivy Mike Clear Molly Bell Elloa Davis Elizabeth Hansen Brandon O Dell Greg Payne Phil Pierce Dan Scott Jon Williams Contributing Writers Becky Jarrett Julie Tiemann Editors Molly Bell Elloa Davis Illustrations & Graphic Design Brian Bascle Mike Davis Joe Goode Technical & Web Support Hadley Brandt Orange Specialists Amy Grisham Abbey Carr Amy Fenton Leslie Galema Misty Phillips Stephanie Porter Courtney Templeton Statement of Faith ABOUT GOD God is the one and only true God, yet He exists in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God is the Creator, so everything belongs to Him and is under His control. God is holy, so He is righteous, majestic, and loving. God is all knowing and purposeful, so He s at work to bring about His will. No person, thing, or idea compares to God. ABOUT THE SCRIPTURES God reveals Himself to us through the Bible, and it is 100% accurate, reliable, and authoritative. ABOUT PEOPLE People are made in God s image and for His pleasure. But everybody falls short of God s intention, or ideal, for people. In other words, everyone has sinned. As a result, we are all separated from Him, even though He wants an intimate relationship with each of us. ABOUT SALVATION That s why Jesus God s Son came and lived on this earth, died, and rose again. God offers His free gift of salvation to all who believe in Jesus and accept Him as Savior the only way to be forgiven and reconciled to God. Anyone who accepts this gift is adopted as a son or daughter into God s family and will live with Him forever in heaven. User Agreement Orange gladly grants permission to churches, schools, and other licensees to tailor 252 Basics materials to fit their unique leadership requirements, locale and format preferences, and physical environment needs. However, if you wish to edit the content substantively, including Bible stories, learning activities, scripts, and any other content in which biblical principles and concepts are presented, you are obligated to do so within the doctrinal guidelines we ve expressed in our Statement of Faith. These resources are intended to be downloaded and printed for use by the subscribing entity only and may not be electronically transferred to or duplicated by other non-subscribing entities. Any unauthorized reproduction of this material or incorporation into a new work is a direct violation of US copyright laws The rethink Group. All rights reserved. 252 Basics and the 252 Basics logo are trademarks of Orange and the rethink Group. Scripture marked NIrV is taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL READER S VERSION. Copyright 1996, 1998, 2014 Biblica. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of Biblica. Scripture marked NIV is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

2 PRELUDE SOCIAL 15 MINUTES STORY WORSHIP HOME BIBLE STORY Dude, Where s Your Forgiveness 77 Times / Unmerciful Servant Matthew 18:21-35 BOTTOM LINE Since God forgave you, you should forgive others. MEMORY VERSE Put up with one another. Forgive one another if you are holding something against someone. Forgive, just as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13, NIrV LIFE APP 15 MINUTES 25 MINUTES 10 MINUTES 25 MINUTES PRELUDE: Setting the tone for the experience For Leaders Only Create the Environment SOCIAL: Providing time for fun interaction Ideas for Early Arrivers Pop Scramble STORY: Communicating God s truth in engaging ways Opener Worship Bible Story Prayer Closer WORSHIP: Inviting people to respond to God Happy Day from Live It Out Let Revolution Start from Living Inside Out : Creating a safe place to connect Hammer and Claw 77 Seconds Tools of the Trade Prayer HOME: Prompting action beyond the experience GodTime Parent Cue Forgiveness deciding that someone who has wronged you doesn t have to pay. BASIC TRUTH I should treat others the way I want to be treated. PAGE 2

3 PRELUDE SOCIAL 15 MINUTES STORY WORSHIP HOME BIBLE STORY Dude, Where s Your Forgiveness 77 Times / Unmerciful Servant Matthew 18:21-35 BOTTOM LINE Since God forgave you, you should forgive others. MEMORY VERSE Note: This version of the curriculum is designed especially for churches with fewer leaders and kids. You may want to use it if you have just one or two leaders and if you combine all your kids in both Large and Small Group time. GETTING READY SOCIAL: PROVIDING TIME FOR FUN INTERACTION (Choose one or both of these activities.) Early Arriver An offering container (Optional) A level, some house keys, measuring tape, and a hammer Pop Scramble Twenty-four popsicle sticks Markers Put up with one another. Forgive one another if you are holding something against someone. Forgive, just as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13, NIrV LIFE APP Forgiveness deciding that someone who has wronged you doesn t have to pay. BASIC TRUTH I should treat others the way I want to be treated. STORY: COMMUNICATING GOD S TRUTH IN ENGAGING WAYS 1. Opener/Closer WHAT YOU NEED: Leader Work coveralls Ball cap Music and Sound Effects (SFX): Upbeat music to use as kids enter and exit the room Large Group Visuals (downloadable from the website): Forgiveness Slide Bottom Line Slide Memory Verse Slide Download the music from a resource such as itunes and have it ready to play. If possible, remove all of the chairs from the room. PAGE 3

4 PRELUDE SOCIAL 15 MINUTES STORY WORSHIP HOME 2. Bible Story WHAT YOU NEED: Leader Bible Pre-selected Small Group Leader or other adult volunteer Monopoly /fake money in an envelope Monopoly Board with playing pieces Go to Jail Chance Card from Monopoly Game or use the card from the Large Group Visual PDF. Monopoly properties (Optional) If you don t have access to the game Monopoly, make your own version by printing the Game Board, Go To Jail Card, and on Game Pieces on cardstock (See What You Do below) Thick, black marker Construction paper in two different colors; 4 of one color and 3 of another color Prop box 1-2 dice Large Group Visuals (downloadable from the website): (Optional) Game Board, Go to Jail Card, and Game Pieces Bottom Line Slide Download the slides and have them ready to use. If you do not have CG capabilities, you have Orange s permission to enlarge and print the slides on paper. (Optional if you don t have access to a Monopoly game board) Print the Game board pieces from the 17Mar_LgGrp_Visual_Week4 PDF onto the cardstock and write the property names. We suggest using locations from your town or area. Write prices on the cards based on how much fake money you have. Tape the pieces together (Optional) Print the Go to Jail Card and Game Pieces from the 17Mar_LgGrp_Visual_Week4 PDF onto the cardstock and have it available during the game. Cut out the Game Pieces before you use them. The construction paper will be used as markers for the properties the SGL owns in Monopoly. Pre-select a Small Group Leader or other adult and make sure they read the script to learn their role and one line. Place all of the game paraphernalia in the prop box along with the Bible and place it on the stage out of the way for the Opener. 3. WORSHIP WHAT YOU NEED: Leader(s) Music and Sound Effects (SFX): Happy Day from Live It Out* Let Revolution Start from Living Inside Out* *Live lyrics video available from PAGE 4

5 PRELUDE SOCIAL 15 MINUTES STORY WORSHIP HOME Download all songs (available on AmberSkyRecords.com) and have them ready to use. Download and print this week s tech sheet for everyone helping with Large Group. 4. Additional Resources GET REEL: This month with Get Reel 2.0, we re discovering what kind of work goes into true forgiveness. This week, we recommend playing the One Thing video to inspire kids to Personalize Scripture and learn to Articulate Their Faith. Also on Get Reel 2.0, you can enhance your environment with a Countdown video to create anticipation and set up your Large Group production. : CREATING A SAFE PLACE TO CONNECT (Choose as many of these activities as you like.) * If you don t have time to do all these activities, be sure to do activity #2. 1. Hammer and Claw (application activity / review the Bible story) Several hammers or wooden blocks Golf tees; 2 for each kid Flat pieces of Styrofoam; 1 piece for each kid Hammer and Claw Story Script Activity Pages, one per small group * Seconds (application activity) A few clear cups of water Alka-seltzer tablets, at least one per student Paper bag with a $ sign on it Timer 77 Scenarios Activity Pages; one set per small group Place the Alka-seltzer tablets into the moneybag. 3. Tools of the Trade (memory verse activity) Bibles Tools of the Trade Code Activity Pages; one per kid Pencils or pens Prayer A hammer from Activity #1 PAGE 5

6 PRELUDE SOCIAL 15 MINUTES STORY WORSHIP HOME Additional Resources: Make copies on cardstock or this week s GodTime and Parent Cue cards. Tell parents about our additional family resources: Studio252.tv, CUE Box, and the Parent Cue app. To find out more about these great resources, go to PAGE 6

7 PRELUDE STORY WORSHIP HOME SOCIAL 15 MINUTES SOCIAL: PROVIDING TIME FOR FUN INTERACTION (SMALL, 15 MINUTES) Welcome kids and spend time engaging in conversation and catching up. Get ready to experience today s story. Before kids arrive, pray for each regular attendee by name. Pray for those who might visit your group for the first time. Ask God to help kids realize the great forgiveness God has made available to them. Pray that they would fully embrace the love He has offered them and be excited to share it with others. 1. EARLY ARRIVER IDEA WHAT YOU NEED: Offering container, (Optional) A level, some house keys, measuring tape, and a hammer Welcome kids as they arrive and guide them to place their offering in the container. Talk about all the tools you ve used this month to explore the topic of forgiveness. If you have the tools, let each kid have a turn holding the level, keys, and measuring tape, and saying something they remember about that Bible story or Bottom Line. Get out the hammer and tell them that this is our final tool and it is pretty powerful. Let them guess why we re using it today. 2. POP SCRAMBLE WHAT YOU NEED: Twenty-four Popsicle sticks, markers Write several antonyms on the popsicle sticks (lose/find, hot/cold, happy/sad, laugh/cry, wake/sleep, stand/sit, etc.); be sure to include the pair give/get. (One word on each popsicle stick. If you have some older kids who want to help, let them!) Then, scramble the pile of popsicle sticks at one end of your small group area and let kids race to put together the antonym pairs. If you have mostly older kids, just prepare the give/get sticks and let them write their own antonyms on the sticks before playing the game. (Give them the examples mentioned above, but let them come up with some of their own too.) WHAT YOU SAY: There is a really important pair I want to show you. (Hold up the give/get pair) [Transition] Let s go to Large Group to hear what these two words have to do with forgiveness. Lead your group to the Large Group area. PAGE 7

8 PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME STORY: COMMUNICATING GOD S TRUTH IN ENGAGING WAYS (LARGE GROUP, 35 MINUTES) Engage kids hearts through a dynamic and interactive Bible story, worship, and prayer experience in a Large Group setting. SFX: Play high-energy music as kids enter. Leader enters, wearing work coveralls and a ball cap. OPENER LEADER: Hey, everyone, welcome back to [your environment s name], where all month long we ve been working on a project together. It s a little something I call Fix It Up and it s a forgiveness project. When we forgive each other, we fix our relationship. But what does it mean to forgive? CG: Forgiveness Slide Forgiveness is deciding that someone who has wronged you doesn t have to pay. It s not easy to fix things when we mess up, but God gives us the power to forgive. We ve been fixing up a lot this month, haven t we? You guys won t believe it that chair that I worked so hard to fix these last few weeks? Well, it s finally perfect! OK, well maybe not perfect, but it is looking amazing and it doesn t wobble at all anymore. I decided it was time to give it a permanent home on my front porch. Since we don t have any chairs up here today, we re going to be our OWN chairs. If you have fewer than eight kids, divide them into pairs and have them sit back to back and link arms and try to stand halfway up into a squat pose. The winning group is the one who can get to the chair position and stay there the longest. If you have more than that, divide them into two groups and have them sit in a circle with their backs facing inward, arms linked (they have to sit really close to make it work). Without unlinking their arms, everyone tries to stand halfway up into a squat pose. The trick is to push against each other for leverage to stand. The winning group gets everyone to the chair position and stays there the longest. If this goes really quickly, you can do a best out of three, or shuffle partners/groups and play additional rounds. That was hilarious and challenging! SETTING UP THE STORY LEADER: Even when things are hard, it s worth seeing them through, isn t it? Before you guys got here, [Small Group Leader or other adult volunteer s name] and I were playing another game that was pretty hard, but we haven t finished it yet. I think we should finish it now, don t you? PAGE 8

9 PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME Bring the SGL up and set out the board game pieces. Place a piece of one color of construction paper down on four of the properties. These will represent all the ones that the SGL has already purchased. We ve been playing the game of Monopoly. I m the banker, and [SGL s name] has been buying up properties on the board. So far she s got [names of property s already purchased by SGL]. Okay, let s get back to playing. SGL rolls the dice and when she lands on a property she hasn t already purchased, she pays her last money to the bank and gets her color of construction paper to put down on the property to mark it as hers. She rolls again but is out of money. The leader/banker gives her the property anyway. Repeat one more time, so it s clear that the SGL owes the bank a lot of money and all but one of the properties are owned by the SGL. Keep things moving at a quick pace. You know, this would be a lot more fun if we had someone else playing with us. Let s get a kid up here to play. Select a volunteer. Give the kid just a tiny bit of money just enough to buy the one remaining property in case they land on that. Allow the kid to roll the dice. If the kid lands on a property not owned by the SGL, the kid can buy it. But if the kid lands on the properties owned by the SGL, they have to pay the SGL. After just one or two rolls of the dice, the kid should be out of money. The next time the kid lands on a property that is owned by the SGL, the SGL should demand the money. (Note: If somehow it ends up that the kid needs money to buy a property, the banker can lend the kid money too the main point is that the SGL won t extend the same grace that the banker did.) The SGL should be forceful in demanding the money from the kid, but not at all mean. Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Are you seriously going to pressure [kid s name] to pay you after I showed you all that grace?! [SGL s name], here s your Go to jail card. (Hand the card to the SGL.) Why don t you both have a seat and let s talk for a minute. I think today s story about Peter will help us all figure out what we should do next. Peter was one of Jesus most passionate followers and closest friends. But even he didn t always understand that following God isn t about rules... it s about what s going on in your heart. One day Peter came to Jesus with a question. Perhaps he d just had a fight with his brother Andrew. Or maybe he and Judas had argued over who should be in charge of the money. Let s read what He asked Jesus and what Jesus said. I m reading from Matthew 18. (Open your Bible and read Matthew 18:21.) Peter came to Jesus. He asked, Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times? (NIrV). Peter probably thought being willing to forgive seven times made him pretty awesome stuff. But Jesus had a different answer. (Read Matthew 18:22.) Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but 77 times, (NIrV). Jesus didn t actually mean we should stop forgiving after 77 times. He simply meant that it s not about numbers; we should forgive as many times as it takes. And like Jesus was known to do, he told a parable, a story He made up to make PAGE 9

10 PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME it easier for His followers to understand something important about following God. He used this next story to explain something to them about forgiveness. If Jesus told that story today, it might sound something like this. Throughout the story Leader can use the Monopoly money and game board as props. Use the Top Hat game piece to represent the king in the story. KING FORGIVES SERVANT LEADER: There once was a king who lived in a glorious palace. One afternoon he called for his bookkeeper. He had decided he wanted to collect all the money his servants owed him. There was one servant in particular who owed the king a LOT of money. I mean, a LOT. In the Bible it says it was 10,000 bags of gold. That s somewhere around 29 MILLION DOLLARS. Yeah, like I said, a lot of money. Hold up all of the Monopoly Money. But there was a problem: the servant didn t have the money to pay the king back! So the king ordered his servants to sell everything the man owned and then hire him and his family out to work for the rest of their lives until the servant could pay him back what he owed. Make two of the Monopoly pieces act out what s happening in this part of the story. The servant fell down on his knees in front of the king and begged him for mercy. He begged for more time so that he could pay the king back. The king felt sorry for him, so he not only gave the man more time, he actually completely forgave the debt and said the servant didn t have to pay him back. Whoa. That s some serious forgiveness right there. SERVANT DOESN T FORGIVE LEADER: It sounds like a wonderful story if it ended there, but unfortunately, the servant didn t learn from his mistakes. After he left the king s palace where he had experienced great forgiveness, he found one of the other servants who owed him 100 silver coins, which is around a couple of hundred dollars. Use a third Monopoly piece to serve as the second servant. The servant grabbed the other servant and began to choke him, demanding him to pay back what he owed! And just as the first servant had fallen down on his knees and begged for mercy from the king, this second servant also fell down and begged for more time to pay back the money he owed. But the first servant refused to forgive the debt. (Pick up Go to Jail Chance Card) He actually had the second servant thrown into prison. He could not pass go. He had to go directly to jail until he could pay back what he owed. Send the third Monopoly piece to jail. The first servant had made such a fuss the other servants saw what happened. They went and told the king. PAGE 10

11 PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME KING THROWS SERVANT IN JAIL LEADER: The king was furious. He called the first servant back in to see him. Let s see what Jesus said the king said to the servant. (Open your Bible and read Matthew 18:32-33) Then the master called the first servant in. You evil servant, he said. I forgave all that you owed me because you begged me to. Shouldn t you have had mercy on the other servant just as I had mercy on you? The king was so angry at the first servant for the way he refused to forgive that he threw the servant in prison. He would now have to stay there until HE could pay the KING back everything he owed. Remove the second servant game piece from jail and replace with the first servant game piece. WRAPPING UP THE STORY LEADER: As Jesus finished the story, He studied Peter and His other friends and followers who had gathered to listen. Check out what He said to them. (Open your Bible and read Matthew 18:35) This is how my Father in heaven will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart, (NIrV). Jesus meaning was clear. God has forgiven us of SO much. He wants us to forgive others in the same way even if we have to forgive over and over and over. CG: Bottom Line Slide [Bottom Line] Since God forgave you, you should forgive others. Small Group Leader loudly clears her throat. SMALL GROUP LEADER: I m pretty sure I see what went wrong here. [Kid s name], I m really sorry I didn t show you the same forgiveness that [Leader s name] showed me. Will you forgive me? And here, you take this property as a part of my apology. As the kid responds, the SGL should place the kid s color down on the property. LEADER: Way to go, [Small Group Leader]. You can leave jail now and you both can go back to your seat. Thanks for playing with me. You guys showed us how this forgiveness stuff isn t easy, but it definitely is possible when we remember what God has done for us. Let s pray and ask Him to help us. PRAY LEADER: Dear God, thank You most of all for forgiving us. You didn t have to send Jesus, but You did, out of Your great love for us. We love You too, and we want to follow Your example. Please help us forgive others just as You have forgiven us. In Jesus name, we pray, amen. PAGE 11

12 PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME WORSHIP LEADER: Everyone, stand up to your feet. This is a party song. It s a celebration song that we sing because of how God has forgiven us. I m pretty sure you guys know it well so stand up and sing Happy Day! SFX: Happy Day / track 5 from Live It Out Yeah! Make some noise and give thanks for what Jesus has done for you and me. (Pause for response.) Oh yeah. Well, now that we know what forgiveness and love look like because of Jesus we need to extend that same love to others. Romans 12:10 says: Love one another deeply. Honor others more than yourselves (NIrV). Let s sing about loving one another and starting a revolution! Let me hear you. SFX: Let Revolution Start / track 5 from Living Inside Out CLOSER LEADER: Great singing, everyone! Let s recap what we learned today. The first servant owed a LOT of money. Way more money than he could make in a lifetime of hard work. But the king wiped out that debt in an instant! Instead of passing it on, the first servant refused to forgive the debt of a guy who owed him just a few weeks wages. Ouch! It s easy to forget, but truth is, we re all like that first servant. God has forgiven you and me of all the wrongs that we ve done. That s big. HUGE. The Bible says what we deserve for our sins is death. But God wipes that out 100% when you ask His forgiveness! It s just like our memory verse this month says: CG: Memory Verse Slide Put up with one another. Forgive one another if you are holding something against someone. Forgive, just as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13 (NIrV) So when someone wrongs you, it s your chance to pass on God s forgiveness. Now, that doesn t mean you have to be best friends with that person or even be their friend at all. But forgiveness frees YOU from staying angry and becoming bitter. And it can free the other person to change, too. Maybe a kid at school has been writing mean things about you online. You DO need to talk to a parent or teacher, but even if that bully never says they re sorry, you can still forgive them. That frees YOU to move on, whether or not you ever end up being friends. That s why this is the most important thing to remember today: CG: Bottom Line Slide [Bottom Line] Since God forgave you, you should forgive others. Say that with me. LEADER and KIDS: [Bottom Line] Since God forgave you, you should forgive others. PAGE 12

13 PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME LEADER: Forgiveness is NOT easy. It doesn t come naturally. But it s worth it to forgive. Forgiveness allows you to get over the hurt, even if it takes time. It s been a lot of hard work, all this forgiveness and fixing things up. But it s also been really great and even fun to see what can happen when we forgive each other. And we re just getting started. Life is one giant forgiveness project, so let s head on to our Small Groups and figure out together how we can keep forgiving like God forgave us! Dismiss children to their small groups. Play high-energy music as kids exit. PAGE 13

14 PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME : CREATING A SAFE PLACE TO CONNECT (SMALL, ) Create a safe place to connect and learn how the Bible story applies to real life experiences, through interactive activities and discussion questions. 1. HAMMER AND CLAW (application activity / review the Bible story) WHAT YOU NEED: Several hammers or wooden blocks, golf tees; 2 for each kid, flat pieces of Styrofoam; 1 for each kid, Hammer and Claw Story Script Activity Pages; one per small group. Hold a hammer and show the kids the pounding face and the claw end. Explain that a hammer can pound nails in or pull nails out. Give each child a Styrofoam piece and a few golf tees If you have mostly older kids, give each a hammer, either real or toy If you have mostly younger kids, they can pound in the golf tees with wooden blocks and remove them with their fingers. Instruct the group to listen to the story and hammer their golf tees into the foam when they hear that anyone gives forgiveness and to pull them out when they hear that anyone gets forgiveness. Read the story aloud and let them pound/pull accordingly. After the story, gather the hammers, blocks, tees, and Styrofoam and set them aside so they re not a distraction while you discuss the story. WHAT YOU SAY: This story had a lot of giving and getting forgiveness. Who gave forgiveness in this story? (Allow for answers.) That s right, the king. Who got forgiveness in this story? (Allow for answers.) The first servant was forgiven by the king. Now, did anyone both get and give forgiveness? (Allow for answers.) No, not in this story. The first servant could have gotten forgiveness from the king and then given forgiveness to his friend, the second servant. Why do you think he did not forgive his friend, even though the king forgave him? (Allow for answers.) The thing is, it doesn t really matter what his was reason for not forgiving. Jesus didn t say, forgive someone if they really deserve it. He just told us to forgive as we have been forgiven. God didn t wait until we were worth forgiving or until we had done enough things to show we were sorry. The Bible says that while we were still far from God and still choosing to sin, He sent Jesus to pay the penalty for our sins so that we could be forgiven. (This would be a good time to introduce salvation to your group. If your church has a process for involving parents at this stage, you can invite kids to talk to you and their parents after small group to learn more. If your church has another tradition or policy, feel free to discuss it here.) You don t need a reason to forgive and you can let go of the reasons you have for not forgiving. Think of forgiveness like our hammer there s a side for giving forgiveness and a side for getting forgiveness. We have gotten so much forgiveness from God, we should be ready to generously give forgiveness whenever we can. That s why you need to keep in mind that [Bottom Line] since God forgave you, you should forgive others. * SECONDS (application activity) WHAT YOU NEED: A few clear cups of water, Alka-seltzer tablets; at least one per student, Paper bag with a $ sign on it, timer, 77 Scenarios Activity Pages; one per small group PAGE 14

15 PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME Set the moneybag (with Alka-seltzer tablets inside) and the cups of water in the center of a circle. Explain to the group that these coins are a bit like the ones in our story today about the unforgiving servant. Also, they dissolve in around 77 seconds, which is close to the amount of times that Jesus told us to forgive others! So, they will get a chance to forgive in 77 seconds and right the unforgiving servant s wrongs all in one activity! One at a time, kids should drop a tablet in the water. They have the 77 seconds before it dissolves to answer a forgiveness scenario. You can read the scenarios before they drop the tablet so that doesn t take up their time. For older kids, be prepared with a few quick follow up questions if kids just say I would forgive them. Ask how would you show that? Or, what happens if they do it again? For younger kids, they can take turns dropping the tablets in the water and repeating our Bottom Line Since God forgave you, you should forgive others. WHAT YOU SAY: That was tricky, to come up with a way to forgive others in 77 seconds! Usually, we don t have to forgive that fast. But sometimes, keeping control of our thoughts, words, and actions does need to happen quickly. Like if you come into a room and see that your brother spilled juice all over your homework. What you say in those first few moments will either show that you are willing or unwilling to forgive him. Or your friend accidentally blurts out a secret you told him, in front of the whole class. You could go with your first reaction and tell the class that he still sleeps in a onesie, or you could, in that first split second, decide to forgive and not try to get back at him. I ve had a situation where I had to think quick about forgiveness. [Make it Personal] (Share an age-appropriate time when you had to choose to forgive someone in the moment an accident you had to react to, or mean words spoken when emotions were high, etc.) It was a difficult choice to make, but I remembered that [Bottom Line] since God forgave you, you should forgive others. 3. TOOLS OF THE TRADE (memory verse activity) WHAT YOU NEED: Bibles, Tools of the Trade Code Activity Pages; one per kid, Pencils or pens Hand out the Tools of the Trade code sheets and pencils/pens. See if kids can work out the verse from the code. Pair up older kids with younger kids so the younger ones have some help. After everyone has finished their sheets, gather together and read Colossians 3:13 from the Bible out loud. WHAT YOU SAY: Our verse has had a lot to say about forgiveness. The first part talks about how we forgive each other we put up with each other and don t hold grudges. That doesn t mean that you have to be best friends with people who hurt you or treat you unkindly. It just means that you forgive them so that there s not bitterness in your heart, weighing you down. The last part of the verse even sounds like what we ve been learning today. Forgive as the Lord forgave you is another way of saying [Bottom Line] Since God forgave you, you should forgive others. Optional Additional Discussion Questions for Older Kids How would you feel if you were the first servant and the king forgave your million-dollar debt? What would you think of the king if he forgave your debt? How is the king s forgiveness similar to God s gift of forgiveness for us? PAGE 15

16 PRELUDE SOCIAL STORY WORSHIP HOME How did the first servant respond to the king s gift of forgiveness? How do you think the first servant should have responded? What does the first servant s response teach us about how we should respond to God s forgiveness? What can you do to help yourself forgive when you don t feel like it? PRAY AND DISMISS WHAT YOU NEED: A hammer from Activity #1. Gather the group in a circle and encourage them to be reverent. Tell them their phrase of the prayer, I will forgive as God forgave me. When you raise the hammer up, they should say their part of the prayer. WHAT YOU SAY: Dear God, we know that we mess up and that You forgive us when we ask. Thank You for loving us and forgiving us so we can start again, over and over. This week, please help us to remember Your forgiveness so that (raise hammer) I will forgive as God forgave me. When people are unkind to us, help us to think of your mercy and say, I will forgive as God forgave me. When we are angry or hurt by someone else s actions, help us to remember your grace and say, I will forgive as God forgave me. When we are confused or discouraged by another s reaction, help us remember your peace and say, I will forgive as God forgave me. When we are tempted to hold a grudge and put ourselves in a prison of bitterness, help us remember your peace and say, I will forgive as God forgave me. Thank You for Your forgiveness and for always being with us, no matter what we face or who we must choose to forgive this week. Amen. As adults arrive to pick up see if they can guess how long it takes an Alka-Seltzer tablet to dissolve. Guide kids to tell them why the number 77 was important to our story, and share the Bottom Line together. PAGE 16