Junior Soldiers. Matching words. with hearts. Consider & Prepare. Unit 9 : Lesson 1

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1 Junior Soldiers Unit 9 : Lesson 1 Matching words PURPOSE : For the children to explore, understand and demonstrate that they can examine their hearts and then match their prayers with the real state of their hearts. Read: Luke 18:9 14 (CEV) The Lord sneers at those who sneer at him, but he is kind to everyone who is humble. Proverbs 3:34 (CEV) Consider & Prepare with hearts In Lessons 2 and 3 of Unit 8, you will have covered many aspects of prayer by studying the Lord s prayer and then wri ng your own version. In this lesson we examine prayer again, focusing on integrity in prayer. The parable in Luke 18 to above highlights the contrasts between the two main characters in the story. Jesus tells the parable using unlikely heroes and villains and it takes place at the most sacred space in all of Israel, the temple. Into this place, where people prepared themselves and come to meet with God, the two men arrived. The first, a trusted man of religion and the law, and the second, an almost universally untrusted man who stole money, used in mida on and high interest rates as well as the arm of the Roman oppressors as his enforcers. Yet it is the untrustworthy man who receives what every good Jew desires when they come to the temple, to be right with God. In this brief parable, Jesus is poin ng out the difference between the two men s prayers, their hearts and God s response. The pharisee s prayer is like a psalm of praise and thanksgiving but it is warped. Instead of thanking God for all He has done, the Pharisee points out to God the great list of things he does (and it is impressive; the Pharisee would seem to need nothing from God) and that he is be er than other people. The tax collector s prayer has become very famous. He has nothing to commend himself to God. He beats his chest, a tradi onal sign of grief, of mourning, and dares not even li up his eyes to pray his prayer of confession. This is what God longs to hear: a sinner who knows the truth about themselves and is humble towards God. O en in our lives, we are taught to judge the poten al of a person or the quality of an item that we are presented with, however, this parable tells us not to expect God to judge the same way that we do.

2 Read Mark 7:1 23 and Ma hew 23:27. What is God looking for in his people? How does Jesus story challenge you? How does his story give you hope? Pray for the children in your group. NOTE: Please be aware that older boys (in par cular, but not only) that are in your group might not be so comfortable with heart-shaped post-it notes and talking about what is in their hearts. It is important to think crea vely about the language that you use to engage them in thinking about integrity and authen city when they pray. What you will need: For Connec ng In The lesson plan with ac vity instruc ons. For The Main Thing Select a surprise item to make with the children and collect what you need to make it. You may need bananas and cooking skewers; scones, tomato chutney, sour cream, crackers and a block of hard bu er. For Tying In You will need some heart-shaped post-it notes A4 paper Journals Pens, textas or pencils for wri ng/drawing For Print off the cards for each child. A family pack of post-it notes for each child. Connecting In The I m Doing Well Game Leader s Note: there are no wrong answers for this game, it is simply to help get children touch with their own ideas and choices, and how sa sfied they are with how they are managing in life s challenges. To set up this game, indicate two different ends of your ac vity space. In this game the players need to choose their answer to the given situa on and run/move to the area that has been indicated, or the children can space themselves out along an imaginary line between the two. The leader will call out a specific challenge that might be presented and the children can choose I m doing well, or I m NOT doing so well, or a spot somewhere between the two answers. 1. When I have a choice to either tell the truth or lie to avoid ge ng into trouble I m doing well [indicate which end of the room] or I m NOT doing so well. 2. When I have the opportunity to share with others who aren t my friends I m doing well [indicate which end of the room] or I m NOT doing so well. 3. When it comes to including other children in my games and my circle of friends I m doing well [indicate which end of the room] or I m NOT doing so well.

3 4. When it comes to sharing things I love or sharing my me with my favourite people I m doing well [indicate which end of the room] or I m NOT doing so well. 5. When I m asked to help at home and do it cheerfully I m doing well [indicate which end of the room] I m NOT doing so well. 6. When I need to do my homework and I want to be doing something else I m doing well [indicate which end of the room] or I m NOT doing so well. 7. When I m irritated by someone in my family and I need to respond kindly and consistently I m doing well [indicate which end of the room] or I m NOT doing so well. 8. When I talk to God honestly about the wrong things I do and say, and tell him I m sorry I m doing well [indicate which end of the room] I m NOT doing so well. Link We are o en asked to look at something and judge what it is, what it can do, and if it is of good quality or not (or perhaps somewhere in between). In the game we just played we were judging ourselves and how we are doing in rela on to a number of situa ons. We were looking at how we think we are going with doing well. This means we were judging the quality of our faith in ac on. Some mes in life, we can think that it s more important to present a good outside image to God and others, rather than being honest about who and how we really are. In our session today we will hear about a parable that Jesus used to help us think about how important it is to match our words about ourselves with what is truly in our hearts and minds; because God can see straight to our hearts and isn t fooled by a tricky outside layer. The Main Thing Not always what it seems Have you ever seen a magic trick, op cal illusion or a joke that seems like one thing but is actually something else that gives you a big surprise? Maybe something that looked like one thing on the outside or how it was presented, but was something else on the inside? (Give children me to share examples). Today we re going to look at the Bible and build a surprise together. The story from the Bible is one that Jesus told; he used it to talk to people about what was really in their hearts and their a tudes when they pray. Read together: Luke 18:9 14 (CEV) Make it For this ac vity you will need to choose one of the tricks below and the appropriate items needed to create your choice. Make one of the following and explore the ques ons below while you are working. A banana that looks fine on the outside but is completely brown inside: (done by using either a metal or wooden cooking skewer pushed from either end of the banana to meet in the middle and then taken out). You will need a couple of beau ful, yellow, almost under-ripe bananas; and two either metal or wooden cooking skewers. With the banana unpeeled, choose an entry point at both

4 the top and the bo om of the banana that will create a small tunnel all the way through the banana le ng air enter the inside of the banana and making it go brown rapidly from the inside out whilst s ll looking yellow on the outside. A cracker with fake cheese on it: (slices of bu er). You will need nice looking crackers, and a block of hard bu er. Cut slices of bu er and arrange them on crackers on a serving plate to look like cheese and crackers. Scones with jam and cream: You will need some scones, tomato chutney (that looks like jam) and some sour cream. You will need to cut the scones and add some of the tomato chutney and some sour cream to make them look like delicious scones with jam and cream. Arrange them on a plate. Ask the ques ons while the children are making their fake food trick (the idea of asking these ques ons is to reveal some specific characteris cs of people who are fake about who they are, and what God really sees and knows): What do you think about this trick? Who are you going to give it to? Do you think they will work out what it is before they bite into it? I wonder if you think that life can some mes be like this, i.e. you think you know what you will get and it turns out to be something very different or even no good at all. To make this illusion work really well, what do you think you might have to do? (Create a great illusion; something that looks like something it is not) How long do you think the illusion will fool people? (Un l it s opened or bi en into or someone inves gates closely.) Re-read the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector How are both of the men similar to the illusion we have just created? (They are not what they appear to be. People have judged them based only on their appearance, this is not how God judges them.) How much of what was in their hearts and minds did God already know? (Everything.) I wonder if what was truly in their hearts was seen in their prayers. (Both men revealed lots of their hearts; dig deeper with the children, what did their prayers reveal?) How much of what is in our hearts and minds does God know? (Everything.) Are you sure? (Yes, God really does know all about what is in our hearts.) I wonder what God really wants to hear from us in our prayers? (To honestly talk about who we are and what we need from him, and he wants us to remember who he really is too the pharisee had forgo en who God is and was rambling on about how great he was!) I am sure there are mes when you are really not sure what to say to God; grown-ups have the same trouble at mes. God really just wants us to be truthful. There is a really cool verse in the Bible that tells us that when we don t know the words to say, the Holy Spirit will communicate on our behalf. In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don t know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words (Romans 8:26). The Holy Spirit will also help us to focus on what needs to be prayed about if we ask him for help.

5 Tying In Prayer For this prayer me you will need some paper, the children s journals, some heartshaped post-it notes and some pens/textas or pencils for wri ng and drawing. You might like to divide into some small groups to help facilitate this prayer me and give opportunity for the children to share with each other before or a er they have thought about their prayers. The way that we pray and connect with God is not just about the words that we use, it might be communicated silently or through pictures or images. Today, God wants to hear prayers that come from what is truly in your hearts. Take some me to pray and connect with God. (You may like to play some music to help create a nice space for the children to reflect individually.) You might like to write or draw a prayer (on some paper or in your journals), you might like to write some words that will help you pray about specific things, you might like to write or draw something that is in your heart on a post-it note and add it to your journal. It might be a prayer about a concern that you have for yourself or someone else, it might be about your a tude to someone or something that you are struggling with, it might be asking for forgiveness about an un-wise choice that you have made or it might be saying thanks to God for something that He has provided for you or your family, maybe even for God s uncondi onal love. Then all pray together: Dear God, Thank you that you know ALL about what is in our hearts. Thank you for wan ng to hear about the real me and not just a fake picture. Please help us to show who we really are in all that we do. Help us this week to pray and talk to you about what is truly in our hearts. Amen. 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. This is to encourage the children to take a bunch of heart-shaped post-it notes (or others that might be appropriate or be er suited to the makeup of your group) that can be used for prayers throughout the week. Prayers of the heart Use the post-it notes you have been given this week to write prayers about what is truly on your heart. Invite other members of your family, your Big Bud or some other special people to also share the prayers of what is truly on their heart. These prayers can be added to a sheet of paper that you might like to s ck on your fridge or up in your room or you might like to collect them and keep them in your journal.

6 Use the post-it notes you have been given this week to write prayers about what is truly on your heart. Invite other members of your family, your Big Bud or some other special people to also share the prayers of what is truly on their heart. These prayers can be added to a sheet of paper that you might like to s ck on your fridge or up in your room or you might like to collect them and keep them in your journal. Use the post-it notes you have been given this week to write prayers about what is truly on your heart. Invite other members of your family, your Big Bud or some other special people to also share the prayers of what is truly on their heart. These prayers can be added to a sheet of paper that you might like to s ck on your fridge or up in your room or you might like to collect them and keep them in your journal. Prayers of the heart Prayers of the heart Use the post-it notes you have been given this week to write prayers about what is truly on your heart. Invite other members of your family, your Big Bud or some other special people to also share the prayers of what is truly on their heart. These prayers can be added to a sheet of paper that you might like to s ck on your fridge or up in your room or you might like to collect them and keep Use the post-it notes you have been given this week to write prayers about what is truly on your heart. Invite other members of your family, your Big Bud or some other special people to also share the prayers of what is truly on their heart. These prayers can be added to a sheet of paper that you might like to s ck on your fridge or up in your room or you might like to collect them and keep them in your journal. them in your journal. Prayers of the heart Prayers of the heart

7 Junior Soldiers Unit 9 : Lesson 2 I will be his loving PURPOSE : For the children to explore and understand the decision they have made to be loving and obedient to Jesus. Read: John 14:15 23 Psalm 139: John 4: John 5:3 John 15:10 14 and obedient child Love means that we do what God tells us. And from the beginning, he told you to love him. 2 John 1:6 (CEV) We love because God loved us fi rst 1 John 4:19 (CEV) Consider & Prepare Throughout the Bible we read of God s love; how he loved us each before we were even born, and how he showed us love in the way he has created each of us. He showed us love in the promise he gave through the rainbow. He showed us love through giving his son to come and live amongst us and be a sacrifice for us all. Throughout the scriptures and history, his love is everywhere for us to see. Today we will be looking at the Junior Soldier promise and the sec on that says I will be his loving and obedient child. This part of the promise talks about our love and obedience to Jesus and, today, the children have the opportunity to explore what that means for them. We know that God loves us and that he wants us to love him. However, he doesn t force us to do this he leaves it as our choice. Naturally, if we choose to love God, we will also want to trust and obey him. A er all, if we love God, why would we want to disobey him? The children will also explore how love can be shown through ac on. God asks us to show our love and obedience for him by showing love to others around us. But he does not just expect us to know how to do this, instead he sent his son Jesus as an example of how to love others. Jesus showed us love in ac on during the me he spent interac ng with others.

8 What you will need: For Connec ng In You Are Mine by Max Lucado (this book is available in many libraries if you do not have a copy yourself). For The Main Thing Answers for the Jeopardy game wri en out on pieces of card and divided into their topic area Bibles For Tying In Coloured paper squares (approximately A5 cut in half) Pencils/extas or pens Small boxes or round containers for the children to keep their vouchers in Items for decora ng the boxes if you choose For Print off the cards for each child. Connecting In The detec ve s game Gather all the children in a circle and appoint one child as the detec ve for this game. The child chosen to be the detec ve needs to go aside with a leader away from the rest of the group. When the child and leader have le the main group, another leader should appoint one child in the circle to be the group leader. The group leader will need to select and start doing some ac ons which the other children in the circle should follow, e.g. tapping their head, waving their arms in the air, nodding head or clapping their hands. The detec ve s role in the game is to try and work out who the group leader is. This will be an easy task if all the children in the circle are looking directly at the leader. Encourage the children to think of ways to disguise who the leader is while they are playing the game. Once the group leader has been chosen and everyone in the circle is ready to begin following the ac ons, ask the detec ve to return to stand inside the circle. They need to try and work out who the leader is and will have three guesses to do so. The game is finished once the detec ve has either used up all three guesses or has guessed the leader of the group correctly. The group leader then becomes the detec ve and leaves the group while another group leader is chosen and the game con nues. Play as many rounds as you have me to fit into your session. If you have a large group, you may like to have two games being played at the same me to allow more children to have a go. Link Well, today we have had some fun playing the detec ve game. For most of you playing the game, the main thing that you needed to do was to follow the ac ons of the leader. I wonder if the game would have worked or been as much fun if we didn t follow the group leader and the ac ons they were doing. Why did we follow the group leader today? (They were the instruc ons given for the game and we wanted to play, have fun and par cipate, if we didn t, then the game wouldn t have worked.) Who are some other people that you might follow and obey the instruc ons they give?

9 Today we are going to explore how following and obeying Jesus might look for each of us. I wonder if this is something we do just because people tell us we should, or if it is something we want to do because we love Jesus. You are mine Read to the group the story You Are Mine by Max Lucado. Link I wonder what parts of the story you liked. Why? I wonder what God might be saying to you from the story. Who do you think Punchinello is like? Who do you think Eli is like? This is a special book that helps us to remember how special we are to God and how much he loves us. He has created us each in a special way and loves all the unique things about us. I wonder how being loved like this makes you feel. I don t know about you, but when I know that God loves me that much for who I am, I feel I want to love him back. I wonder what that love back to God might look like. Do you think that will include obeying him? The Main Thing Before you start this sec on, you will need to have the Jeopardy game set up. This will involve wri ng the names of the people we follow (outlined below) on a piece of card and s cking them facedown to the whiteboard or wall so that you cannot see what is wri en. On the front write the amount of points that each sheet is worth. It is important to have the names under the correct heading/sec on. Exploring Scripture Look up the scripture 1 John 4:7 21 together. Ask one or a few children (or a leader) to read the verses out to the group. Explain that someone will read the verses again, but this me, as certain words are read we will do the ac ons outlined below to help us to remember some of the important message. Outline and prac ce these before you read the passage again. You may even like to get some of the children to come up with the ac ons that you are going to do or see what other words and ac ons the children might like to add. Love - Act out that their heart is bea ng God - Point upwards We - Arms around each other s shoulders Son - Pretend you are holding a baby These are very powerful words - I wonder if others will see something of God because of the way you live and love others. Let s leave them here for now as we play an interac ve game about love and come back to these verses again later.

10 Jeopardy Jeopardy is a fun quiz game that has a unique answer-and-ques on format in which players are presented with clues in the form of answers, and must phrase their responses in ques on form e.g. Ques on - A movie that has characters who belong to Andy. Answer - What is Toy Story? Divide the group into two teams (this can also be played as individuals if needed). Today we are going to be playing a game of Jeopardy. The instruc ons are: People in each team will take it in turns to choose which topic and number of points they are going to play for e.g. Our team selects the Family topic and the 200 point ques on. Once they have been given their ques on from the chosen category, everyone in the team can work together to discover the answer, however, only the child who chose the topic can answer. Let the children know that the answers will be people who we follow, listen to instruc ons from and obey. NOTE: The correct response from the children should be worded as a ques on - if your children are having difficulty with this then you might like to start the answer for them, e.g. Who are As a leader, if you are having difficulty with the way the game of Jeopardy is played, there are plenty of examples on YouTube that will give you the idea. Family: Q: We are a lot older then you are. We might look a er you from me to me. Some mes we love lots of cuddles and kisses! A: Who are grandparents? (100 points) Q: We look a er you and raise you. We usually drive you to different places. We love you. A: Who are parents? (200 points) Q: Some mes we can be a bit annoying. We were born before you. We are part of the same family. A: Who are older brothers/sisters? (300 points) Church: Q: I see you every me we have Junior Soldiers. I love to help you explore things about God. I help you with your passport. A: Who is my Junior Soldier Leader? (100 points) Q: You might see me up the front during a church service. I look a er the church. I am usually in uniform. A: Who is an officer? (200 points) Q: I love you uncondi onally. I made you. I know all the hairs on your head! A: Who is God? (300 Points) Officers: Q: I look a er people s houses or shops. Some mes I drive around in a car at night on patrol. I will come if your alarm system has gone off. A: Who is a security officer? (100 Points) Q: I wear a uniform. I work at a sta on when I am not out patrolling. I encourage people to follow the law. A: Who is a police officer? (200 Points) Q: I drive around in a van. I help people who are sick or injured. You can call me on 000 for help. A: Who is an ambulance officer? (300 Points) School: Q: I only work a few hours a day. I help you cross the road on your way to school. I hold a sign in my hand to stop traffic. A: Who is a crossing supervisor? (100 points) Q: I am the head of your school. I need to make important decisions about all the children and their educa on that are in my care. A: Who is a principal? (200 Points) Q: I see you most weekdays. I help you to learn and explore lots of things. I am responsible for your class. A: Who is a teacher? (300 Points) A er all the clues have been given and topics guessed, tally the points to see which is the winning team. Ask the children to come back together as a group and explore the following ques ons with them:

11 There were lots of people in our game today that we follow and need to obey for various reasons. I wonder why you follow or obey some of them. (Some of the answers you may receive are: because we trust them; because we love them; because we are told to; to keep us safe, or because it s the rules) There are some people we follow because we know we can trust them. Because of their job, we know they are asking us to do things or follow them because it is the best thing to help us learn or to keep us safe. Some mes we follow people like our parents and grandparents because we love them, we know that they love us and want the best for us so we follow their instruc ons. Have a look at 1 John 4:7 21 again. In verse 19 it tells us that God loved us first and that is why we love. I wonder what your love for God looks like. Is it like a loving and obedient child? Have a look together at 2 John 1:6 and see what it says about loving God. Love means that we do what God tells us. And from the beginning, he told you to love him. 2 John 1:6 This means that God is asking us to be obedient to him because we love him. What do you think it means to be obedient? We can trust God no ma er what; God knows what is best for us! The most important instruc on that God gives us is found in Ma hew 22:36 40 and talks about how we need to love God with everything we have and love others as we love ourselves. This means that one way we can show our love and obedience to God is to show love to everyone around us through our words and ac ons. Tying In For those of you who are Junior Soldiers, I want you to think about the sec on of the Junior Soldier promise that says, I will be your loving and obedient child, or you might like to reflect on the scripture verses that we have been exploring today. I wonder what this means to you. If you love God and want to follow him, I wonder what your life looks like. How do you think about others? How do you talk to others? What might be some of the things you do for others? Give the children some me to think and reflect about the ques ons above; you might even like to give the children the opportun ty to write or draw some responses in their journals. Encourage the children to pray about their responses and thoughts and have a leader pray for all the children at the end of this me of reflec on. Vouchers: For this ac vity you will need some small squares of coloured paper (approximately A6 size and enough for at least 10 per child), pencils/textas or pens for wri ng/drawing and some small boxes or containers for the children to keep their vouchers in (you may also like to have some items to decorate the boxes/containers). We have just been reflec ng on being Jesus loving and obedient child and what that might look like in the things we think about, the words we say and the things we do. The way we interact and respond to others can be an important way to show our love as well as our love for God: you might say, love in ac on.

12 During this ac vity the children will be making some vouchers that will show love in ac on. They can be taken and used at home, at church or with some of their friends. To create these vouchers, children should write/draw on the slips of coloured paper provided, how they are going to show love in a variety of se ngs and situa ons. They can decorate them if they like and con nue un l they have made at least 10 vouchers. All the vouchers can then be placed into the small box/ containter (if you prefer you might like to staple vouchers together into a small booklet). Explain to the children that because we show love and obedience to God by the way we love others, today we are going to create a special love in ac on voucher book. The vouchers will each have different ways that we are going to show love towards people in your home, school or church. For instance, one that you might give to your mum is I will make my bed everyday this week. You could also give her one that says I am good any me for hugs. Think about different ways that you show your love, care or respect to people in your life. (It might be good to brainstorm some ideas together to help some children that might have difficulty coming up with sugges ons for their vouchers.) 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. Love in ac on This week use your love in ac on vouchers with a variety of people and situa ons. As you hand out and use the vouchers, reflect about the following: Why you are giving out these vouchers? How does this show love to other people? How does this show God that you love him and want to follow him? Remember to tell each person that you are doing this because you love them and want to share God s love with them!

13 This week use your love in ac on vouchers with a variety of people and situa ons. As you hand out and use the vouchers, reflect about the following: Why you are giving out these vouchers? How does this show love to other people? How does this show God that you love him and want to follow him? This week use your love in ac on vouchers with a variety of people and situa ons. As you hand out and use the vouchers, reflect about the following: Why you are giving out these vouchers? How does this show love to other people? How does this show God that you love him and want to follow him? Remember to tell each person that you are doing this because you love them and want to share God s love with them! Remember to tell each person that you are doing this because you love them and want to share God s love with them! Love in ac on Love in ac on This week use your love in ac on vouchers with a variety of people and situa ons. As you hand out and use the vouchers, reflect about the following: Why you are giving out these vouchers? How does this show love to other people? How does this show God that you love him and want to follow him? This week use your love in ac on vouchers with a variety of people and situa ons. As you hand out and use the vouchers, reflect about the following: Why you are giving out these vouchers? How does this show love to other people? How does this show God that you love him and want to follow him? Remember to tell each person that you are doing this because you love them and want to share God s love with them! Remember to tell each person that you are doing this because you love them and want to share God s love with them! Love in ac on Love in ac on

14 Junior Soldiers Unit 9 : Lesson 3 Worship Only One! PURPOSE : For the children to explore and understand that God is the only person/ object that we worship. We believe that there is only one God, who is infi nitely perfect, the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all things, and who is the only proper object of religious worship. Doctrine 2 There is only one God, and he is altogether perfect in every way. He is the Creator, Preserver and Governor of all things. We should not worship anyone or anything else. Doctrine 2 (simplifi ed version) Consider & Prepare Read: Exodus 20 Ma hew 5:17 John 14:5 14 Handbook of Doctrine, chapter 2, in par cular pages 25, 26, We believe that God is the Creator of the world and sustains it by his gracious purpose. The world and all that is in it was created fundamentally good because it was brought into being by a holy, wise, powerful and loving God. Handbook of Doctrine, p.25. This is part one of a two-part lesson on the second doctrine of The Salva on Army. The first lesson is about God being the only proper object of religious worship and the second lesson explores God s con nued involvement with His crea on and how he is s ll in charge. As Chris ans, we worship God and God alone. This belief is founda onal to our faith. If a Chris an says he worships God and someone/something else, he/she is not a Chris an. We don t worship the Bible, we don t worship the Church, we don t worship William and Catherine Booth, we don t worship The Salva on Army. All of these may have a special place in our hearts and in our faith life, but the only true object of our worship is God.

15 During this lesson we will touch on other religions, it is important not to be disrespec ul of what they believe and what/who they worship (it may even be that some of your children have friends or family members of other faiths), but we want the children to be clear on who Chris ans worship. Once we ve established this point, in the next lesson we will look at something of the func on of God as Creator, Preserver and Governor of the universe. What you will need: For Connec ng In Items that you may have gathered from a recycle art factory, cra supplies like wool, boxes, icy-pole s cks, paper, cardboard, foil, ribbon, clay etc. S cky/masking tape For The Main Thing Whiteboard/blackboard or large sheets of butchers paper and the appropriate wri ng implements Symbols printed out for each of the five main world religions (a ached) For Tying In Bibles (preferably CEV) Butchers paper or journals Textas or other wri ng/drawing implements For Print off the cards for each child. Small tub/container of playdough or paper magiclay for each child Connecting In Build an idol For this ac vity you will need to have a range of supplies available for the children to use e.g. items that you may have gathered from a recycle art factory, cra supplies like wool, boxes, icy-pole s cks, paper, cardboard, foil, ribbon, clay etc. You will also need some s cky tape or masking tape to help with this ac vity. Some of you may have seen or heard of the reality television show Australian Idol, can you tell me what the aim of the show is? I wonder if you can tell me what an idol is. (Give the children an opportunity to contribute what they think and what they know about this word.) The defini on of idol is: An image or representa on of a god used as an object of worship. A person or thing that is greatly admired, loved, or celebrated, e.g. movie idol Tom Cruise. Today we are going to work in small groups for an allocated me and create an idol; an idol that you think might be something that could be worshipped. (Give the children an allo ed me, e.g. five minutes, to complete this task.) We are looking for the most crea ve idol you can create in your group in this me. Ready, set, go. Link Great job everyone! How crea ve are some of those idols that you have put together in your groups! We have had some fun today pu ng these together but there are some very interes ng things in our world that people worship and that we might class as an idol. Who do we worship? Anyone else? (Make sure that if they men on God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit that we talk about them as one God, the Trinity.) Today we are going to explore one of the beliefs that we have in The Salva on Army, in fact in the Chris an Church we are part of. We worship only one God and believe that He is the only true God that we should worship nothing else no-one else zippo!

16 The Main Thing Idolise, worship, love or enjoy For this sec on of the lesson it would be good to have use of a whiteboard/ blackboard or large sheets of butchers paper as well as the appropriate wri ng implements in order to collate the children s responses to the categories below. It is important that you also have some answers to the following ques ons/ categories for children to see part of your story, you might even like to show some pictures/images for this sec on. Who is your favourite singer or music group? Who is your favourite television show or movie star? Who is the spor ng team that you support? Who is your favourite sports star? What is your favourite restaurant, take away or food item? What is your favourite toy, game, book or play item? Explore the above areas with the children to help iden fy things that they love, follow, support or enjoy. I am sure that some of these things take up a lot of our me and energy and some people might even say that they idolise some of these people, teams or items. We can certainly love cricket, playing cricket, watching cricket, cheering for your cricket team and even following a par cular cricket player but we are not to worship cricket. Lots of the things that we love and enjoy spending our me on are fabulous but it is really important that these things, people and teams do not become more important in our lives than following and connec ng with God. I wonder if you had to put all the things that you love in a list of things that are most important to least important where God would fit in. Other religious worship I wonder what you might have heard or know about other main religions around the world. Let s have a look at some symbols of the five biggest religions from around the world and see if you might know something about them or about who they worship. (You will need to print off the symbols that are included at the end of the lesson you might like to hang them up or just hold them up individually to see if the children can iden fy which symbol goes with which religion.) Buddhism Hinduism Judaism Islam Chris anity These are the symbols for the five biggest world religions; I wonder if you know what or who they worship. Buddhism Buddha, he was a wise man whose name was originally Siddharta Gautama Hinduism 330 million gods; the main ones are called Siva, Rama and Krishna Judaism Yahweh, this is another name for God (but they don t believe Jesus was part of God)

17 Islam Allah, their holy book is not the Bible but the Koran Chris anity God; the religion is named a er His son, Jesus Christ. These are the symbols and who each of these religions worship, but we want to highlight today that as Chris ans, as people who want to live like Christ taught and showed us and, as members of The Salva on Army, we believe that God is the only proper object of religious worship. There are many things that we love and enjoy but, as we cha ed about earlier, it is important that we do not worship these things and that they do not become more important than God in our lives. There are also heaps of other things and people that others worship today we have just looked briefly at the five biggest world religions but today we want to highlight that we only believe in God and He is the creator of our world, our universe and of us, too. Let s have a look at what the scriptures say about worshiping God. Tying In Explore the scripture There are a number of places in scripture where it talks about there being only one God that we worship. We are going to have a look at two passages today and see what stands out for you. Divide your group into small groups (depending on the size of your group). They will need Bibles, butchers paper or journals and textas or other wri ng/drawing implements. In your groups read together: Ephesians 4:4 6 (CEV) All of you are part of the same body. There is only one Spirit of God, just as you were given one hope when you were chosen to be God s people. We have only one Lord, one faith, and one bap sm. There is one God who is the Father of all people. Not only is God above all others, but he works by using all of us, and he lives in all of us. Exodus 20:3 5a (NIV) You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affec on for any other gods. I wonder what stands out for you in these passages. What do you like? I wonder what God is saying to you today from these passages. Are there any ques ons or wonderings that you might have from what you have read or heard? (It is a great opportunity to let children wonder about the scripture, e.g. I wonder where Jesus fits in if we are saying there is only one God or I wonder why God is a jealous God etc.) Take some me to pray and worship God. You might like to play some music or sing a song together or open up for the children to pray if they would like.

18 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. For this you will need a small tub/container of playdough or paper magiclay for each child. Just one Today we explored how as Chris ans (Christ followers), we worship only one God. We want our one God to be number one in our lives and sit above everything else. Use the material that you ve been given to make something that reminds you that there is only one God and that He needs to be number one in our lives. When you have finished, place your item somewhere where it will remind you to pray and worship our number one God.

19 Use the material that you ve been given to make something that reminds you that there is only one God and that He needs to be number one in our lives. When you have finished, place your item somewhere where it will remind you to pray and worship our number one God. Use the material that you ve been given to make something that reminds you that there is only one God and that He needs to be number one in our lives. When you have finished, place your item somewhere where it will remind you to pray and worship our number one God. Today we explored how as Chris ans (Christ followers), we worship only one God. We want our one God to be number one in our lives and sit above everything else. Today we explored how as Chris ans (Christ followers), we worship only one God. We want our one God to be number one in our lives and sit above everything else. Just one Just one Use the material that you ve been given to make something that reminds you that there is only one God and that He needs to be number one in our lives. When you have finished, place your item somewhere where it will remind you to pray and worship our number one God. Use the material that you ve been given to make something that reminds you that there is only one God and that He needs to be number one in our lives. When you have finished, place your item somewhere where it will remind you to pray and worship our number one God. Today we explored how as Chris ans (Christ followers), we worship only one God. We want our one God to be number one in our lives and sit above everything else. Today we explored how as Chris ans (Christ followers), we worship only one God. We want our one God to be number one in our lives and sit above everything else. Just one Just one

20 Junior Soldiers Unit 9 : Lesson 4 Always Involved! PURPOSE : For the children to explore and understand that God is still involved in and in charge over all creation. We believe that there is only one God, who is infi nitely perfect, the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all things, and who is the only proper object of religious worship. Doctrine 2 There is only one God, and he is altogether perfect in every way. He is the Creator, Preserver and Governor of all things. We should not worship anyone or anything else. Doctrine 2 (simplifi ed version) Consider & Prepare Read: Psalm 33:6 9 John 1:1 3 Genesis 1:23 31 Psalms 8 and 121 Handbook of Doctrine, chapter 2, in par cular pages This is part two of a two-part lesson on the second doctrine of The Salva on Army. The first lesson is about God being the only proper object of religious worship and this lesson explores God s con nued involvement with His crea on and how he is s ll in charge. The Handbook of Doctrine: reminds us of Genesis 1:1, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth ; it also says that God has not ceased his crea ve ac vity. Crea on is changing and the universe is developing. God is crea vely sustaining his crea on (p.32); and it adds, God s authority over the created order does not mean rigid and overbearing control but rather a caring, dynamic, interac ve rela onship with his crea on. He works in co-opera on with his crea on to fulfill his purposes for it. He is in control, but invites us to share responsibility for his world (p.33).

21 That is: God created the world, He sustains or preserves it, and he governs over it. This doctrine, while based in the Bible and taught in one way or another throughout Church history, became vital for the Church in the 18th century. Prior to that, in the age known as the Enlightenment, the explosion of scien fic research and methods (led by Isaac Newton) had seen many people decide that now we can understand how the world works ourselves; we don t need God. What became popular was a mechanis c view of God: the universe was really like a big glorified machine, it was made by God and set running, but God had no ongoing role in the universe. Natural laws were in place, and they now dictated how the world worked. To counter this, the Church began to emphasize that God created the universe but also sustains it and rules over it. That is: God is s ll ac ve in His crea on. This is an important lesson for allowing your children to see and explore that God is s ll ac ve and present he did not create the world and then just abandon it. What you will need: For Connec ng In Large serving tray/board or a large slab cake Ingredients listed below to tell the crea on story For The Main Thing Computer, laptop, smartphone and tablet device Images of an elephant, alligator and orangutan For Tying In Bibles (NLT) or sheets with Psalm 121 printed on them. Cra supplies that the children can choose from, e.g. clay, playdough, paper magiclay, large sheets of paper, textas, crayons, pastels, paint, pencils etc. For Print off the cards for each child. Connecting In Crea ng the Crea on Story NOTE: You will need to be aware of any children in your group who have food allergies and make changes as appropriate so that they can be involved. You will need: large serving tray/board or a large slab cake; blue icing and chocolate icing or blue sprinkles and chocolate sprinkles; white marshmallows; blue jelly; coconut coloured with green food colouring; yellow jelly crystals or sugar coloured with yellow food colouring; chocolate sultanas or honeycomb; chocolate malt finger biscuits or musk/fruit s cks; M&Ms or Smar es, small jubes or freckles; caramel buds and yellow fruit s cks; 100s & 1000s or star-shaped sprinkles; snakes or sour worms (some cut into small pieces); Tiny Teddies biscuits

22 Assemble the items on a clean serving tray/chopping board/iced large slab cake as listed below to tell the crea on story. Divide the space in half so you can have day me and night me. Remember to use wondering statements to engage the children in the ac vity, e.g. I wonder why God made day me first..., I wonder what was the very first animal God made. Day one day and night (add blue icing/sprinkles/coloured sugar and chocolate sprinkles/chocolate icing) Day two sky and atmosphere (add a marshmallows for clouds, blue jelly for sea) Day three land (add green coconut for grass, yellow jelly crystals for sand, choc sultanas or honeycomb for rocks), plants (add trees: choc malt fingers or fruit s cks with mint leaves, flowers: mini M&Ms/Smar es, jubes, freckles). Day four sun, moon, and stars (sun: caramel bud with fruit s cks as sun-rays, moon: white marshmallow, stars: 100s&1000s or star-shaped sprinkles). Day five birds and fish (add snakes/sour worms; the smaller pieces of snake are the fish). Day six animals (add Tiny Teddies) Once the story has been told, encourage the children to retell the story to you as you eat it together! Link Well that was a fun way to look at how God created the world. Are there any things that you wonder about crea on and how God went about things? There are plenty of things that come to mind for me, e.g. I wonder how He came up with all the ideas for the animals or I wonder what made Him think to create a person like Adam and Eve. (Give the children some me to share their ques ons and wonderings, it would be great for you to have a few, too, and ask the children what they think.) Well, as part of The Salva on Army and the Chris an Church, we believe that God created the world just like we have been looking at again today. Do you think that once God created everything He just forgot about His wonderful crea on? I think that God is s ll very much involved with His world and His crea on, and today we are going to check this out a li le bit more. The Main Thing S ll in control For this part of the lesson you might like to have a computer, laptop, smartphone and tablet device available to help in engaging the children with the topic. Hands up if you have ever used a computer before? Do you have a computer at home? What about at school? I wonder if you can imagine what life without a computer would be like. (I am sure that you will have some very interes ng responses from the kids.) Well, it wasn t that long ago that nobody had access to a computer at home and even less me ago that we had access to computers that we took everywhere, like a laptop, or even less me ago, access on a smartphone or tablet device.

23 Computers were used in businesses, manufacturing, the defence forces, research facili es, universi es and government, but they were not accessible for people to have in their homes. Computers that were used in these other places were very big and expensive. In the 1970s there were a number of people that worked at the idea of crea ng a computer that everyone could have and use in their homes, a personal computer. Bill Gates someone that you might have heard of is one of the people who was very influen al in this personal computer revolu on. He was a student at Harvard University in America when he started working on an opera ng system that would help to make computers in homes a reality. He developed the first popular personal computer (or PC) and launched his company, known as Microso, which quickly grew to be the world leader in providing computers to people. He ran the company and con nued to develop more and more changes to the home computer, including the introduc on of an easy opera ng system called Windows. A er many years, and a er making billions of dollars, Bill Gates is s ll involved in the Microso company, currently as nonexecu ve chairman. He was a part of crea ng something very special and is s ll involved today in what happens with all the changes in computers and technology within the company. He didn t just create this great thing and then sell it to someone else and walk away he created Microso and is s ll involved with it and cares about what happens to it. I think that looking at someone s story about how they created something and are s ll involved with it because they care about it can help us a li le when we try to understand how God is s ll involved in His world. We believe that God created the world, just like we explored earlier in the lesson, but what we know and understand about God doesn t just stop there. We also believe that God cares for us, loves us and wants to be a part of our lives. This is not a God that just created the universe and everything in it and then just stepped aside; this is a God that is s ll involved with, cares for and provides for His crea on. Let s stop and think about mothers and their babies, more specifically let s stop and think about animal mothers and their babies. Elephants, alligators and orangutans (you might like to have some images of these animals to help connect the children with the topic) are all animal species where the mothers love and care for their young. Once the babies are born they don t just stand by and leave them to grow alone; they nurture them, provide for them, watch over them and train them so that they will develop the skills needed to be a full-grown elephant, alligator or orangutan. The way that some animal mothers care and look over their babies can help us also to see something of our rela onship and connec on with God. He is con nually connected with His crea on and cares about what happens to it.

24 Tying In Psalm 121 For this Tying In segment you will need some Bibles (NLT) or sheets with the following Psalm printed on them. You will also need some cra supplies that the children can choose from, e.g. clay, playdough, paper magiclay, large sheets of paper, textas, crayons, pastels, paint, pencils etc. Have one of the leaders share Psalm 121 (NLT): I look up to the mountains does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth! He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protec ve shade. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever. I wonder how you feel when you hear these words about God watching over us. (Give the children and opportunity to share how these verses make them feel.) Read the Psalm again. Today we have looked at how God has not stepped away from His crea on but is s ll involved in and cares about all He has created. Thinking about these verses from Psalm 121 and God caring for you, take some me to create an image or model to show God looking over and caring for you as part of His crea on. (Give the children some me to do this.) 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. Inves ga on During our lesson we have been exploring about how God is the creator of the world and all that is in it but we also checked out how He is s ll involved with all of crea on including us. I wonder where you see God at work in His world. Maybe it is in nature. Maybe it is in words spoken or wri en by someone else. Maybe it is through other people and the way they show God s love. Maybe it is a special way that He shows you that He loves you. Think about it this week. You may like to write or draw some of the things that you find out about how God is ac ve in crea on, or chat to someone in your family or your Big Bud about it.

25 During our lesson we have been exploring about how God is the creator of the world and all that is in it but we also checked out how He is s ll involved with all of crea on including us. I wonder where you see God at work in His world. Maybe it is in nature. Maybe it is in words spoken or wri en by someone else. Maybe it is through other people and the way they show God s love. Maybe it is a special way that He shows you that He loves you. Think about it this week. You may like to write or draw some of the things that you find out about how God is ac ve in crea on, or chat to someone in your family or your Big Bud about it. During our lesson we have been exploring about how God is the creator of the world and all that is in it but we also checked out how He is s ll involved with all of crea on including us. I wonder where you see God at work in His world. Maybe it is in nature. Maybe it is in words spoken or wri en by someone else. Maybe it is through other people and the way they show God s love. Maybe it is a special way that He shows you that He loves you. Think about it this week. You may like to write or draw some of the things that you find out about how God is ac ve in crea on, or chat to someone in your family or your Big Bud about it. Inves ga on Inves ga on During our lesson we have been exploring about how God is the creator of the world and all that is in it but we also checked out how He is s ll involved with all of crea on including us. I wonder where you see God at work in His world. Maybe it is in nature. Maybe it is in words spoken or wri en by someone else. Maybe it is through other people and the way they show God s love. Maybe it is a special way that He shows you that He loves you. Think about it this week. You may like to write or draw some of the things that you find out about how God is ac ve in crea on, or chat to someone in your family or your Big Bud about it. During our lesson we have been exploring about how God is the creator of the world and all that is in it but we also checked out how He is s ll involved with all of crea on including us. I wonder where you see God at work in His world. Maybe it is in nature. Maybe it is in words spoken or wri en by someone else. Maybe it is through other people and the way they show God s love. Maybe it is a special way that He shows you that He loves you. Think about it this week. You may like to write or draw some of the things that you find out about how God is ac ve in crea on, or chat to someone in your family or your Big Bud about it. Inves ga on Inves ga on

26 Junior Soldiers Unit 9 : Lesson 5 Following Instructions PURPOSE : For the children to explore and understand how they might honour their dads or other signifi cant men who have a positive infl uence in their lives. Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Honour your father and mother which is the fi rst commandment with a promise- that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth. Ephesians 6:1 3 (CEV) Consider & Prepare Read: Exodus 20:12 Proverbs 31:10 31 Watch Evan Almighty This is a special occasion lesson; the key event the lesson is wri en for is Father s Day. It is important to remember that not all children have a dad at home that they have an ideal rela onship with, and some children may not even know their dad. However, there are, hopefully, men in the lives of the children that present a posi ve role model/influence. It would probably be good to get the children to iden fy who these people are at the beginning of the lesson if you are not familiar with this informa on. God is the best example of a posi ve parent that we can have in our lives. God has instructed us as followers of Jesus to honour and love our parents regardless of their shortcomings. This as all of us know is not always the easiest thing to do but an important thing to explore with our children. If there are children in the group with a parent(s) who is not a great role model for them, maybe they can be encouraged to consider God as an example of someone who loves and cares for them and wants the best for them. It may be easier for them to iden fy this sort of persona with a loving grandparent, uncle or aunt, their Big Bud or a family friend. The third doctrine of The Salva on Army talks of our belief in the triune Godhead, including the Father. Some mes, as an evangelical church, we can become so focussed on preaching and teaching about Jesus and salva on and the cross and Christ-centred New Testament passages that we forget about the Father and the Holy Spirit! Yet our doctrine says they are undivided in essence and co-equal in power and glory. This lesson is a good one to help redress that imbalance and talk about our heavenly Father. Before this lesson, you may like to watch the movie Evan Almighty. It is referenced in the lesson and has some great ideas and thoughts that will be helpful when teaching this lesson. This gives you permission to go and sit down for a while and do some research while taking some me out too!

27 What you will need: For Connec ng In Newspaper Popsicle s cks S cky tape Straws Five dolls Tub of water, big enough to try and float some boats For The Main Thing or DVD of Evan Almighty Bibles For Tying In Paddle pop s cks S cky tape or glue Paper For Print off the cards for each child. Connecting In Build a boat For this ac vity you will need to provide each child or group with the same amount of materials. This might be some newspaper, icy-pole s cks, s cky tape, straws, cardboard etc. If you have a large group, you may like to get the children to work in small groups on this ac vity. Explain to the children that they need to build a boat using only the materials provided and that it needs to be able to float on water. Give them the materials and let them get started. A er they have been working for about a minute, stop them and explain that you forgot that you had some extra instruc ons to give them. At this point, you can start to give them instruc ons that are almost impossible and ridiculous. Some examples you might like to use are: Your boat needs to have a one metre tall mast Your boat needs to be able to turn into a submarine Your boat needs to be able to fit these five dolls in it (have these with you) The children might not go any further once you give them the unrealis c instruc ons! Once they have expressed their frustra ons have a go at tes ng what they have done so far on the water. Link Well done for trying so hard to build your boat with all those crazy instruc ons you had to try and follow! I am sure that building that boat seemed fairly easy and straigh orward at the start when all you had to do was make it float, but with all of those ridiculous instruc ons, the task became almost impossible, especially with the resources that you were given! How did you feel at the start of the ac vity? I wonder how those feelings changed when I started to give you more and more instruc ons. I wonder if you have had a me when your dad or another adult told you to do something that you thought was crazy or unfair or even perhaps silly. Maybe you even thought that you didn t need to follow the instruc ons because you knew be er. Well, today we are going to explore a li le bit about Noah and his family who were given many instruc ons to follow, and even though Noah s children might have thought that they were ridiculous, they followed them anyway to show honour to their father (Noah) and honour to God (their heavenly Father).

28 Simon Says Explain to the children that you are going to play Simon Says and they need to follow your instruc ons. When you are playing, start off with easy instruc on such as Simon says put your hands on head and Simon says stand on one foot. Then start to give out silly and ridiculous instruc ons. Some examples you might like to use are below; Simon says : Hop on one leg while poking out your tongue Touch your head to your feet Make one ear touch the other Put your nose on your elbow Make all the hairs on your head stand straight up in the air Link They were some very silly instruc ons that you had to follow. Well done for giving them a try without hur ng yourself! I wonder how you felt when I started to give you harder and crazier instruc ons. Some mes our dads and other adults can give us instruc ons and we think they sound really hard and some mes even a li le crazy, just like the ones we had to follow during the game. Well, today we are going to explore a li le bit about Noah and his family who were given many instruc ons to follow, and even though Noah s children might have thought that they were ridiculous, they followed them anyway to show honour to their father (Noah) and honour to God (their heavenly Father). The Main Thing Evan Almighty I wonder if any of you have even seen the movie Evan Almighty. (Give the children me to respond.) What did you like about the movie? My favourite part was (it would be really good for you to have your personal favourite spot to put into the lesson at this point.) The movie is a modern take on parts of the Noah story that we find in the Bible in the book of Exodus. I am sure that most of you will be familiar with the story and how Noah followed some crazy instruc ons from God. Today we are going to watch a small segment from the movie as we explore how Noah showed his love for God by following what God asked of him even though it might seem crazy. The website provides the following explana on about the clip as well as some helpful thinking around the selected sec on. The clip that we are using is a major transi on in the movie. At this point in the story Joan (Evan s wife) and their three boys have been feeling that Evan is irra onal and ruining the family by building the ark. They ve le Evan to build the ark by himself and are on their way to stay with Joan s parents. Stopping at a diner on the way, Joan meets God but doesn t realize who she s talking to. God encourages Joan and gives her some insight on life and prayer. Introducing the clip: Today we are going to watch a short clip from the movie Evan Almighty. This movie is about a man named Evan who wants to change the world. God visits Evan and tells him to build an ark that is just like the one from the story of Noah in the Bible. Evan eventually listens to God s instruc ons and starts to build an ark.

29 I wonder what you would do if your dad said he had to build an ark because God told him to. I wonder what you would do if he asked you to help him What if it was you that God asked to build the ark? Evan s family, Joan (his wife) and three sons, start to think that he has gone crazy and decide to go and stay at their grandma s. The clip starts at a cafe that they have stopped at on the way. Listen carefully to what God (the character) says to Joan when the boys go to the bathroom. Play clip star ng at around 59:54 and stop it at around 1:02:15 (or play YouTube clip). Joan stopped and thought a lot about how she needed to act in her situa on a er her conversa on with God. I wonder what you think she came to understand. How do you think this clip might show us how we should act with our fathers or other adults in our lives? Let s open up our Bibles for a moment and read out something else that God has told us. Read Ephesians 6:1 3 to the children; you might even like to read it twice or have someone else read it from a different version. What do you think God is asking us to do? I wonder why you think God has asked us to honour our dads (and mums or other important adults in our lives.) Some mes it can feel like the instruc ons we are being given, or what we are being told to do by our dads (including our heavenly Father) can be a bit difficult or crazy or perhaps not the right thing to do. Some mes this can make us feel like we don t want to follow their instruc ons, do what they say or obey them! But God asks us to honour our fathers, which means following and listening to them (and Him) even when we don t want to. Those of you with a younger brother or sister or younger friends will know that some mes you have to teach them something: how to e a shoelace, how to feed the dog, how to read a hard word, how to use s cky tape, how to make a piece of toast. You have experience and wisdom that they don t have. Well, think about the experience and wisdom someone much older than you might have. Our parents only want what is best for us, so we should listen to their advice and obey them, even if we don t always know why something should be done. We should honour them and respect their wisdom. Now think about how much smarter (and older!) God is. So we should honour God even more. He deserves our honour and our respect, even our love. Tying In Instruc ons I wonder if your dad has ever given you an instruc on or asked you to do something that didn t make sense; a direc on that seemed to be a bit odd or a bit difficult to understand, or perhaps why he might be asking you to do that. Evan and his family had difficulty at first in following the instruc on that God (in the movie) had given him. Evan was not able to see the full picture. Some me this can be like us where we don t see the full picture of everything that is going on, which can make it difficult when our parents ask us to do certain things. Can you remember what Ephesians tells us about following the direc ons of our dad? Of course there will be mes that our dad (or our parents or other adults) give us instruc ons that we don t fully understand because we can t always see the big picture.

30 I want you to think about a me (or maybe you have more than one) when you received an instruc on to do something that you didn t fully understand. (Get the children to go around and share their examples with each other.) As they are sharing, ask these ques ons: Why did you think this was a silly instruc on? Would it have been hard to follow? What do you think God would have wanted you to do? A er reading Ephesians, what do you think might be a good way to respond to our parents/adults when they ask us to do something that we don t understand? (Ask them to help you to understand.) Boats As we reflect on Evan and his family who were obedient (eventually) to God s instruc ons like Noah was with building the ark, we see that even when they didn t see the full picture, they trusted in God (their Father). There are mes when we need to follow the instruc ons of adults and just trust them. Provide children with paddlepop s cks and s cky tape or glue and allow them to make a small boat. If you are using glue, you may want some paper to put underneath for them to glue the s cks to. As you are making these boats, think about how you can follow the instruc ons of the adults that care about you. This is just like God caring for us. We want to be obedient and honour him because he loves and cares about us, and some mes this means being obedient to those around us, even when we don t see the bigger picture. A er the children have finished making their boats, invite everyone to sit in a circle with them. As the leader, pray for the children that they will honour their dads and other adults in their lives that care for them by following instruc ons, even when it is hard. 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. Following Instruc ons Think of some ways that you can honour your father and show him that you love him (or someone important in your life) this week. Perhaps you could: Listen to him. Help him out with cooking/cleaning etc. Ask him to do something with you: play a game, read a book, watch a TV show, go out for a milkshake etc. Share some of the good things you have done with your dad (or other person) at school or with your friends. Leave a special message/s cky note somewhere he will find it during the day. Don t forget to honour your Father in heaven as well. Take some me to talk with Him this week.

31 Think of some ways that you can honour your father and show him that you love him (or someone important in your life) this week. Perhaps you could: Listen to him. Help him out with cooking/cleaning etc. Ask him to do something with you: play a game, read a book, watch a TV show, go out for a milkshake etc. Share some of the good things you have done with your dad (or other person) at school or with your friends. Leave a special message/s cky note somewhere he will find it during the day. Don t forget to honour your Father in heaven as well. Take some me to talk with Think of some ways that you can honour your father and show him that you love him (or someone important in your life) this week. Perhaps you could: Listen to him. Help him out with cooking/cleaning etc. Ask him to do something with you: play a game, read a book, watch a TV show, go out for a milkshake etc. Share some of the good things you have done with your dad (or other person) at school or with your friends. Leave a special message/s cky note somewhere he will find it during the day. Don t forget to honour your Father in heaven as well. Take some me to talk with Following Instruc ons Following Instruc ons Him this week. Him this week. Think of some ways that you can honour your father and show him that you love him (or someone important in your life) this week. Perhaps you could: Listen to him. Help him out with cooking/cleaning etc. Ask him to do something with you: play a game, read a book, watch a TV show, go out for a milkshake etc. Share some of the good things you have done with your dad (or other person) at school or with your friends. Leave a special message/s cky note somewhere he will find it during the day. Don t forget to honour your Father in heaven as well. Take some me to talk with Think of some ways that you can honour your father and show him that you love him (or someone important in your life) this week. Perhaps you could: Listen to him. Help him out with cooking/cleaning etc. Ask him to do something with you: play a game, read a book, watch a TV show, go out for a milkshake etc. Share some of the good things you have done with your dad (or other person) at school or with your friends. Leave a special message/s cky note somewhere he will find it during the day. Don t forget to honour your Father in heaven as well. Take some me to talk with Following Instruc ons Following Instruc ons Him this week. Him this week.

32 Junior Soldiers Unit 9 : Lesson 6 Working in the PURPOSE : For the children to explore and understand the variety of ways that people serve within The Salvation Army. Read: Titus 3 James 2:14 26 Salvation Army Our people should learn to spend their time doing something useful and worthwhile. 1 Titus 3:14 (CEV) Consider & Prepare Because The Salva on Army includes churches and also a wide range of social service programs, it means there are many avenues of service for members of The Salva on Army to work in, either in paid employment or as a volunteer. It s important that we explain to children early in their Chris an journey that it s not just ministers (corps officers) who work for the church there are many, many ways someone can serve God and, simultaneously, The Salva on Army. In this lesson the children will be asked to consider how old they will be in 10 year s me and then to set a 10-year ministry goal. Do not be alarmed if the goals are unrealis c. Allow the children to dream and explore their ideas about how they would like to serve Jesus in the future. As they plan the steps they will need to take in order to achieve these goals, they may begin to gain a sense of whether their goals are achievable in a 10-year me frame. Take a copy of the plans that are made in this week s Home and Beyond. Return these to the children a er six months. At this me it may be appropriate to gently help them reassess their goals and modify them if necessary.

33 What you will need: For Connec ng In Several CEV Bibles. Write out the list of roles/jobs onto slips of paper Container for the slips of paper Glue s ck Butchers paper For The Main Thing Plan and invite three or four guests who serve within The Salva on Army. It would be good to choose people who cover a range of roles such as someone with morning tea responsibili es, Family Store manager, welcome person, officer, street ministry worker, chaplain, welfare worker etc. Video camera and person to make a video For Print off the cards for each child. Photocopy plans a er they have made and put in a sealed envelope with the date and the child s name. Return it to the child a er six months so they can be reminded of their goal and assess their progress towards it. Connecting In 20 ques ons For this ac vity you will need to write the following roles onto a slip of paper and place them into a tub, hat, container etc. Corps officer Prison chaplain Youth worker Missionary Street ministry team Dona ons collector Emergency services worker Welcomer Person who does announcements Aged care chaplain Singer Hotel ministry collector Manager of shelter for homeless people Rural chaplain Outback flying service pilot Salvos Stores manager Morning tea organiser Social worker Crèche leader Employment Plus consultant Musician School chaplain/ counsellor

34 Offering collector Junior Soldier leader Newsle er or magazine editor Cleaner Hospital chaplain I wonder if you have thought about what you would like to be when you grow up. (Allow a short amount of me for the children to share some thoughts/ideas that they have had.) There are lots of jobs that we can do and some mes it is difficult just to pick one, some people get to do a couple at a me or even combine a few together, e.g. a teacher helping in an area of poverty overseas is both a teacher and an aid worker. For some jobs that you think would be cool to do, you might find that you can do them within The Salva on Army. Today we have a number of jobs or roles that you could do within The Salva on Army wri en down on slips of paper in this container. We are going to have a game of 20 ques ons, each person choosing a role from the container and seeing if the rest of the group can ask ques ons that will help them to guess what role or job it might be. The ques ons that the group can ask can only be answered with a yes or no. Have one of the children to keep a tally on a white board or butchers paper as to how many ques ons have been asked. The group must guess the role within 20 ques ons. If there is only one child, the leader and the child can take turns at guessing. A er each role/job has been used, s ck it onto a sheet of butchers paper. When your allocated me for this ac vity is finished ask the children to help glue the le over cards onto the butchers paper. Link The Salva on Army is well known in our community for being an organisa on that helps other people. There are so many different ways that people can help and serve others within our churches and local community. It doesn t ma er who you are, how old you are, how much me you have, what you are interested in or what you are good at, there is a job or opportunity for you to serve. I wonder what you might like to do for others. The Main Thing Some special guests For this sec on of the lesson you will need to invite three or four guests to a end to share with the children the role they play in The Salva on Army. Explain to them that they will have about five minutes to outline the role they play and then a few minutes to answer any ques ons the children might have. It would be good to choose people who cover a range of roles such as someone with morning tea responsibili es, Family Store manager, welcome person, officer, street ministry worker, chaplain, welfare worker etc. Today we are going to learn some more about the different jobs that people do within The Salva on Army. Maybe you will learn about something you would like to be a part of. Perhaps it will give you an idea about something different you would like to do for Jesus within The Salva on Army. Introduce the guests you have invited. Our guests today all have jobs that they do within The Salva on Army. They have come along today to tell you about what they do to serve others and because they love Jesus. They are going to tell you a li le bit about what they do and then they will answer any ques ons that you might have.

35 You might like to ask the following ques ons if they do not get covered. They could also be given to the interviewees beforehand to serve as a guide for them to prepare: What is the main job you do in The Salva on Army? How much me do you spend doing this job each week? What is the hardest thing about your role? What is your favourite thing about your role? Do you also do have other roles in The Salva on Army? Why did you start doing this job? Can you share a story about how someone has come closer to Jesus because of what you do? How long have you been doing this job for? Do you get paid for this work? Is there something else you dream about doing for Jesus? NOTE: It would be great to have one of the children video the interviews. Make sure that you get the permission of those visi ng before you arrange this. Depending on your me frame you might like to have the visitors stay for some morning/ a ernoon tea where they can chat with the children more about what they do and ways they might like to serve in The Salva on Army. Have a child lined up to thank each of the visitors for their me and willingness to share what they do for God and The Salva on Army. Tying In Serving Jesus Today we have heard about what some people are doing for God in The Salva on Army. You might have done or s ll be doing some things for Jesus in your church or community also. (Give the children an opportunity to share what they have been doing for Jesus.) Take a moment to stop and think about the things that you are really good at or the things you love to do. I wonder if any of these things might fit into some of the different jobs or roles that we have already talked about today, or perhaps fit with some of the needs you might see in this church and in our community. (Again, give the children some me to respond.) How old are you now? In 10 years, how old will you be? Imagine that! Some of you will officially be adults by then. Ask the children to think about the following sentences and how they would fill in the blanks. (You might like to give them some examples like below to help them think about what they might say or like to do in another 10 years.) My name is and I am years old. I (something you are already doing for Jesus) In 10 years I will be years old and I think it would be cool to be serving Jesus by (ministry posi on). For example: My name is Isabel and I am eight years old. I help to set out the chairs before church. In 10 years I will be 18 and I think it would be cool to be serving Jesus by teaching Junior Soldiers. Video the children as they each take turns sharing their version of the statement above. OR Photograph the children holding an A4 page with their statement on it.

36 You could then organise to play the video in church in the coming weeks to share how others can support and encourage the children but also how it might encourage the adults to think about how they are serving God. (Make sure you have the permission of the children and their parents first.) OR Make a PowerPoint presenta on with the photos to play in church as above. OR Display the photos on a no ceboard within your church building. (Make sure you have the permission of the children and their parents first.) Ask the children to form pairs or small groups and pray for each other as they work towards their 10-year ministry goal. Come back together and lead the children in a prayer. Dear Jesus, thank you that all your children have a mission to share your love with other people. We can see that you have also made each one of us unique and special. Every single one of us has things that we can do really well. Please help us to use the special gi s that you have given us to do your work. It s exci ng to think about what we might be serving others and showing our love for you in the future. Help us to remember that we can be doing your work right now too. At the same me we can be learning and growing so that we can do even more for you and for your people. Keep on reminding us to encourage each other as we grow and learn together. Amen. 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. Serving Jesus Talk to your Big Bud or someone in your family about your 10-year goal for ministry. Ask them to help you to make a plan for how you can meet that goal. Who will you need to ask for help? What will you need to do? Are there other goals you can set along the way? Think about what you can do right now to get started. When you have made your plan, bring it back to your leader and Big Bud who can help to support and encourage you in your service for Jesus.

37 Talk to your Big Bud or someone in your family about your 10-year goal for ministry. Ask them to help you to make a plan for how you can meet that goal. Who will you need to ask for help? What will you need to do? Are there other goals you can set along the way? Think about what you can do right now to get started. When you have made your plan, bring it back to your leader and Big Bud who can help to support and encourage you in your service for Jesus. Talk to your Big Bud or someone in your family about your 10-year goal for ministry. Ask them to help you to make a plan for how you can meet that goal. Who will you need to ask for help? What will you need to do? Are there other goals you can set along the way? Think about what you can do right now to get started. When you have made your plan, bring it back to your leader and Big Bud who can help to support and encourage you in your service for Jesus. Serving Jesus Serving Jesus Talk to your Big Bud or someone in your family about your 10-year goal for ministry. Ask them to help you to make a plan for how you can meet that goal. Who will you need to ask for help? What will you need to do? Are there other goals you can set along the way? Think about what you can do right now to get started. When you have made your plan, bring it back to your leader and Big Bud who can help to support and encourage you in your service for Jesus. Talk to your Big Bud or someone in your family about your 10-year goal for ministry. Ask them to help you to make a plan for how you can meet that goal. Who will you need to ask for help? What will you need to do? Are there other goals you can set along the way? Think about what you can do right now to get started. When you have made your plan, bring it back to your leader and Big Bud who can help to support and encourage you in your service for Jesus. Serving Jesus Serving Jesus

38 Junior Soldiers Unit 9 : Lesson 7 Generosity! PURPOSE : For the children to explore and understand why it is important for us to be generous and how our attitude to being generous is important. Each of you has been blessed with one of God s many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. So use your gift well. 1 Peter 4:10 CEV Consider & Prepare Read: 1 Timothy 6: Luke 21:1 4 Ma hew 25: Timothy 4:12 If you are interested in doing a few lessons on giving and generosity, you might like to also look at Lesson 3 in Unit 2, Sharing is Caring. As Chris ans, we are encouraged to think about the importance of being generous, especially in giving from out of what God has blessed us with. O en, in churches, we will talk about thing or giving our money to support certain projects. However, we are also told in the Bible that we need to be generous in other ways as well. Today the children are going to be learning about offering their treasure and me and talents. We have all been given gi s by God that we can use to serve him and others, and our thing only covers one aspect. As adults, we constantly talk about having no me or how precious me is for us. Many will plan out their days, weeks and years so that they know they have just enough me to get everything done. However, what can o en be missed or pushed aside is the offering of our me to God. God is looking for me set aside just for Him that will include me in prayer, reading the truths in Scripture, and engaging in ways that help us to connect with Him. God wants us to love Him with all our strength, heart, soul and mind and also to love others as we love ourselves, so giving our me to care for or serve someone else is an important way of showing God that we love Him. Our me is precious to us, so it is important to show generosity and share this precious resource with others. We have also all been given many talents. Whether they are drawing, singing, cooking, wri ng or any other skill. We need to remember that these talents were given to us by God, and that they should be used for God. We can do this by using our talents in ways that honour God.

39 A very important thing to remember when teaching this lesson is that children may want to give their me, talents or treasures, but don t feel they are worthy, good or old enough to give. Remember 1 Timothy 4:12 when teaching this lesson: Don t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. Ensure that the children know they are good enough to give and, more so, can set an example for others! What you will need: For Connec ng In Lollies Newspaper Instruc on sheets For The Main Thing Butchers paper Bibles Textas For Tying In Small box or container for each child Textas or other wri ng/drawing implements Three different coloured pieces of A4 paper per child For Print off the cards for each child. Connecting In The Shoe Game For this game you will need to split the group into teams (depending on the size of your group). Each team will need a tub, hoop or a specific area marked out in the middle for their pile of shoes. You might like to set each group up in the corners of the room, but make sure players in each team are an equal distance from the pile of shoes in the middle. Start by ge ng everyone to take their shoes off and place them in the middle of the room (all shoes from all teams together in the middle). Explain to the children that the object of the game is to fill up others team s tubs with shoes and for their team to end up with no shoes or the smallest amount possible in the me allocated. You might like to play some music for this game and finish when the song finishes or you can have someone ming an allocated me. One person at a me from each team is able to go to the middle and take one of the shoes and place it into another group s tub. Once all the shoes are gone from the middle, children are able to take shoes (one at a me) from tubs and place them into another groups. When the music or me frame finishes, ask everyone to sit in their groups and count how many shoes they have in their tubs. The winning team is the one with the least amount of shoes.

40 Link What a lot of fun we had today trying to get rid of all the shoes from our own tub. I wonder if you have ever played a game like that before. Generally you will be trying to get as many items as you can into your teams tub rather than giving things away. Did it feel weird? I wonder if, like the game we played today, you like giving things to others, or if you prefer games where you have to get the most to win. Today we are looking at how we can be generous. We played a game about giving away to show that we can share our things with others. But we will explore today that it s not just our possessions or money that God asks us to share and be generous with, it s also our me and our talents! Pass the Parcel Play a game of pass the parcel with your group. To set up for this game you will need to make a parcel by wrapping layers of newspaper together with a lolly (make sure that you are aware of any food allergies in your group) and an instruc on sheet (as outlined below) as part of each layer. At the center of the parcel have a piece of paper with 1 Peter 4:10 (CEV) wri en on it. Children will sit in a circle and pass the parcel around the circle un l the music stops. When it stops the child who is holding the parcel gets to open a layer (if possible have enough layers for all children to par cipate.) When the child opens the layer of the parcel, they will receive a lolly and an instruc on with what to do with the lolly. Some examples of instruc ons are listed below, make sure that you add enough to include all those in your group: Give the lolly to a person who is really good at singing Give the lolly to a person who is a really good friend Give the lolly to a person who is really funny Give the lolly to a person who is always smiling Give the lolly to a person who is very helpful Give the lolly to a person who is encouraging of others Play the game un l you get to the center of the parcel and have the final person read the verse to the group. Link What a great verse. I wonder if that verse reminds us of the game of pass the parcel we have just played (allow some me for the children to add their thoughts about the verse and the game.) Normally when we play pass the parcel we want it to land on us because we get to keep the prize. Today you needed to give the lolly away to someone else and give it to them for a par cular thing that they do, perhaps a skill or talent. How did you feel when you had to give the lolly to someone else? We can feel good when we are generous to others. God asks us to be generous, but He is not just looking for us to be generous with our money or things that we have, some mes it is about taking me to help and serve others or to use a skill or talent or to be generous to others. Today we are going to explore how we might be generous with our me and talents.

41 The Main Thing Time, talents and treasures To prepare for this sec on you will need three sheets of butchers paper laid on the floor with some textas for the children to use. Label one sheet Treasure, another one Talent and the last one Time. (Note: you may have to explain to the children that the word treasure, in this context, means possessions not pirate s treasure!) The three main things that God encourages us to be generous with are our me, talent and treasure (that is, what we own). It would be easy to give just one part of our life to God s service and withhold other parts from Him, but God wants us to give ourselves fully to Him. God has given us everything, it shouldn t be hard to give back just some of what we have been given. We have three pieces of paper laid out for you to brainstorm about these three areas and what it might look like for you to be generous with your treasures, me or talents. You might like to write (or draw) some examples of how we can use each of these to be generous. (It would be good to have a leader at each of the brainstorming sheets to help children think about and explore what this might look like for them.) You might like to give the children some examples to get them going: Talent: Making a get well card, helping someone else with their homework, singing at church, making cra s. Time: Praying for others, helping with chores, going to church, spending me with a grandparent. Treasure: Tithing from pocket money each week, giving your clothes/toys to the op shop, sponsoring a child. When they have finished brainstorming, collect the sheets of paper and look at the examples together. As you are reading through the examples for each page, read out the following explana ons of using our me, talents and treasure to be generous. Time: We should be generous giving me to serve God, the church and others. The me we give can be anywhere, not just at church. We can consider what por on of our daily lives we give to God. Talent: We should use all the skills and abili es we have to serve God and help others. Using skills that God has given to us shows his love in our daily lives and brings him glory. Treasure: Being generous with our money and possessions means looking at how we use what we own to help God and others. This includes thing (give money to the church) and looking a er others (sponsoring a child or giving money to support the social work of The Salva on Army). If we do all of these three things and are generous in our giving, then we are being generous for God. But we also need to remember that we do need to do these things for the glory and honor of God and not for our own benefit or reputa on. Exploring the Bible Split the group into two (if there is not enough children for this, then just choose one Bible reading for the whole group to do and read the other passage). Give each group one of the Bible passages listed below and ask them to read through it and act it out for the other group. It would be good to have a leader with each group and allow a few minutes to prepare. Ma hew 25:14 30 Luke 21:1 4 Once they have finished ac ng out the Bible passages, explore the following ques ons: I wonder what Jesus is saying to us in these passages. What sort of behavior do the people who are generous show? Who do you think was more generous in each of these stories? Why? I wonder what it would look like for you to be as generous as the people in these stories. (Encourage the children to share how it would look for them personally.)

42 Tying In Offering boxes For the following ac vity you will need a small box or container for each child, three different coloured pieces of A4 paper that the children can cut into strips, scissors and wri ng implements. If you have me you may like to provide some cra resources for the children to decorate their boxes. Explain to the children that we are going to be making our own offering boxes where we can put all our ideas that will help us to be generous with our me, talents and treasures. They will use the three different coloured pieces of A4 to cut up strips that they can write/draw their sugges ons and ideas onto (it would be good to have the three sheets of brainstorming accessible for the children to help them with what they want to put into their offering box). They will use one colour for me, another for treasure and the last one for talent. As the children write/ draw their ideas they will fold them up and put them into their offering box. Encourage them to write as many as possible and assist them if they are not sure by helping them to work out what talents they might have. To finish this ac vity, get everyone to bring their boxes with them to sit in a circle. Get a few children to pray, or get everyone to say a sentence prayer going around in a circle commi ng their boxes to God and asking him to help them to be generous and to have a generous a tude. 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. Offering Boxes During the week: Use your offering box by selec ng a piece of paper and seeing how what s on that slip will encourage you to be generous today. Pray and ask God to help you to be generous and have a generous a tude to others. See if there are some more offering ideas that you can add to your box. Perhaps your family or Big Bud might like to add some, too. Next me you meet with your group, share how you have been generous.

43 During the week: Use your offering box by selec ng a piece of paper and seeing how what s on that slip will encourage you to be generous today. Pray and ask God to help you to be generous and have a generous a tude to others. See if there are some more offering ideas that you can add to your box. Perhaps your family or Big Bud might like to add some, too. During the week: Use your offering box by selec ng a piece of paper and seeing how what s on that slip will encourage you to be generous today. Pray and ask God to help you to be generous and have a generous a tude to others. See if there are some more offering ideas that you can add to your box. Perhaps your family or Big Bud might like to add some, too. Next me you meet with your group, share how you have been generous. Next me you meet with your group, share how you have been generous. Offering Boxes Offering Boxes During the week: Use your offering box by selec ng a piece of paper and seeing how what s on that slip will encourage you to be generous today. Pray and ask God to help you to be generous and have a generous a tude to others. See if there are some more offering ideas that you can add to your box. Perhaps your family or Big Bud might like to add some, too. During the week: Use your offering box by selec ng a piece of paper and seeing how what s on that slip will encourage you to be generous today. Pray and ask God to help you to be generous and have a generous a tude to others. See if there are some more offering ideas that you can add to your box. Perhaps your family or Big Bud might like to add some, too. Next me you meet with your group, share how you have been generous. Next me you meet with your group, share how you have been generous. Offering Boxes Offering Boxes

44 Junior Soldiers Unit 9 : Lesson 8 Sanitation! PURPOSE : For the children to explore and understand that access to clean water is a signifi cant problem around the world and that there are many ways we can help. Set up a place outside the camp to be used as a toilet area. And make sure that you have a small shovel in your equipment. When you go out to the toilet area, use the shovel to dig a hole. Then, after you relieve yourself, bury the waste in the hole. You must keep your camp clean of fi lthy and disgusting things. The Lord is always present in your camp, ready to rescue you and give you victory over your enemies. But if he sees something disgusting in your camp, he may turn around and leave. Deuteronomy 23:12 14 (CEV) Consider & Prepare Read: Deuteronomy 23:12 14 Gala ans 6:2 John 13:34 35 Proverbs 3:27 Today s lesson has a social jus ce focus and looks specifically at the issue of poor access to safe water. It is really important for us to spend me with our children looking at the reality of these situa ons around our world as well as how we can respond in a God-honouring way. In Australia, with our stringent building and town planning regula ons, we do not commonly experience poor quality of water. However, this is not the same throughout our world. Poor economy, educa on and town planning o en mean that people do not have reliable and safe access to water. Many web sites have relevant sta s cs on this topic, one example is onmaster.com/graph/hea_acc_to_sanhealth-access-to-sanita on: More than one billion people worldwide live without access to safe drinking water. 40% of the world lives without adequate sanita on.

45 Only 15% of the world s popula on have the luxury of water on tap. The average person in the Australia uses 282 litres of water every day; the average person in the developing world uses just 10 litres. Every 15 seconds, a child dies from diseases caused by lack of water. Unsafe drinking water and poor living condi ons kill 4,000 children every day. There is very li le teaching in the Bible about sanita on apart from the verses noted above. The Israelites were given these clear instruc ons thousands of years ago. However, there is much to say in the Bible about our responsibility to love and care for others. What responsibility do we have to ensure that everyone has adequate sanita on today? Verse 14 in Deuteronomy 23 talks about how this command was given to keep the camp holy, but the prac ce would also have kept the camp healthy. God was aware of the need for good sanita on long before people understood about the diseases caused by it. Physical cleanness is linked to moral holiness. Do our sanita on prac ces and personal hygiene show that we care about our own health and the health of our families? Does our way of life cause others to suffer illness because of lack of hygiene in and around our homes? Note that the lack of access to water and sanita on for some children in the world may be disturbing for some children in your group and, so, could be a sensi ve topic to address. In this lesson we have chosen to focus on a topic where good progress has been seen so the challenges can also be pi ed against posi ve change that is happening. We want our kids to have a courageous hope as we wrestle with the challenges in our world. Other resource sites h p:// on h p:// onmaster.com/graph/hea_acc_to_san-health-access-to-sanita on h p:// What you will need: For Connec ng In Roll of masking tape, Some rolls of toilet paper, A stop watch or me keeper Bible For The Main Thing A large tray to hold sand Heaps of sand (20 kg is about $6 from Bunnings) Food colouring A cardboard roll Water in a container For Tying In Butchers paper and textas For Print off the cards for each child.

46 Connecting In Toilet, toilet, flush As children are arriving, have them join in on a game of toilet, toilet, flush (it s played the same as duck, duck, goose, but with different words). To play this game, have the children sit in a circle. Choose one child to be the person who is it. Walking on the outside of the circle, they gently place their hand on each child s shoulder as they move around the circle, saying toilet each me. They keep on saying toilet un l they finally choose a person by saying flush. At this point, the person who is it must run as fast as they can whilst being chased by the person who has been flushed around the outside of the circle to arrive at the space where the other person (the flushed person) was si ng. If they make it around before the person chasing them then the other person is now in. If they are caught/tug, then they are s ll in and must begin the game again. Link Well, we ve had some fun playing a different version of duck, duck, goose today using the words toilet, toilet, flush. We are going to explore an issue today that affects lots of people in our world and it involves toilets; not only toilets but a lack of access to clean water. I wonder how you might feel if you couldn t have clean water to have a shower, cook, drink or wash your clothes. Well, there are lots of people who face this problem every day. Today we will look at how this affects some people but also as people who are followers of Jesus, what our responsibility might be. Wrapped up relay You will need a Bible, toilet paper, masking tape and a watch with a second hand/or mer for this ac vity. You will also need to create two parallel masking tape lines on the floor, a few metres apart. Help the children form two teams and take their shoes off. Have each team stand in lines behind one of the masking tape lines, facing the other line. Tell the children that each team member will run, one at a me, to the far line and back. No one may run, however, un l both their feet are completely wrapped in toilet paper, each foot separately so that they can s ll run. Only one person in each team may have both feet wrapped at any me. Give each team some rolls of toilet paper. Encourage the children to help each other wrap the first runner s feet. When the runner has the run to the other line and back, encourage the children to help wrap the next runner s feet. While the second runner runs, children will help the first runner to unwrap his/her feet. You might like to have the relay twice, encouraging teams to improve on their mes. Link Well I hope you had some fun running with your feet wrapped in very special shoes today. If your feet were wrapped in toilet paper today, I wonder what topic you think that we might be exploring. When you helped one another today, the job of wrapping feet went faster. How does serving others make life easier? We are going to explore an issue today that affects lots of people in our world and it involves toilets; not only toilets but a lack of access to clean water. I wonder how you might feel if you couldn t have clean water to have a shower, cook, drink or wash your clothes. Well, there are lots of people who face this problem every day. Today we will look at how this affects some people but also as people who are followers of Jesus, what our responsibility might be. How we might be able to help and serve other people just like in our relay.

47 The Main Thing Exploring the sanita on situa on In Australia we take running water for granted. When we re thirsty we turn on a tap. When we go to the toilet we press the bu on and the waste flushes away. If we re dirty we jump under a shower or in a bath. If we re hot we go to a swimming pool, the beach, a lake or safe river. This however is not the reality for more than one billion people in our world today. The recent figures on sanita on place the following countries in the bo om 10 in the world: Access to sanita on: 1. Senegal (Africa) 8% of people can access clean water 2. Djibou (Africa) 13% 3. Vanuatu (South pacific) 17% 4. Mali (Africa) 20% 5. Chad (Africa) 21% 6. Guinea (Africa) 23% 7. Guinea-Bissau (Africa) 25% 8. Yemen (Middle East) 28% 9. Togo (Africa) 28% 10. Botswana (Africa) 28% There are 28 countries that have less than half of their en re popula on with access to clean and healthy water sources. Only 21 countries in the world have 100% access to clean sanita on. In Australia we have a very small percentage of the popula on (who live in remote outback areas and on islands) that experience difficul es accessing good sanita on and clean water, but we are s ll classed as a country with 100% sanita on for all people who live here. When you look at the figures above, you no ce that Vanuatu has only 17% of their popula on (i.e. 17 people out of 100) who have access to good sanita on and clean drinking water. Vanuatu is not very fair from the east side of Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane) only a three-hour flight, just like going from Cairns to Melbourne. Tourism is their largest source of income and they have some wonderful resorts and holiday a rac ons; you might have been there for a holiday. However, built next to some of the resorts are what we might call slums. They, the Ni-Van people, call them villages. These villages consist of housing made from woven grasses and palm fronds, besser (concrete) blocks, corrugated iron sheets and wood (see handout one). In villages, there is usually a small building to the side of the main home that is used for toilet use. These are generally built over a pit that is dug, then either a slab is placed with a small hole or a box seat is constructed. Once the pit is full of waste, the hole is filled in and a new hole is dug and the structure is moved over that new hole. No sewerage treatment plants, flushing toilets or sweet smelling air fresheners here (see handout two). What does it look like Build a model to demonstrate how water is polluted in village se ngs. For this ac vity you will need a large tray to hold heaps of sand (20 kg is about $6 from Bunnings), food colouring, small cardboard roll, water in a container In your tray area, build a sand castle, and at the back of the sand castle have a sand toilet (use a small cardboard roll to represent this), and a clean water spring that is higher up the geography. Put food colouring in the toilet waste area and then have a flood using water and see where the waste goes. What happened when the flood occurred? I wonder if having a rain water tank would have made a difference. I wonder how long it might take for the spring water to be safe to drink from. There are so many people around the world that have situa ons like this where there might be access to water but because of a lack of good sanita on the water is not clean for washing, bathing or safe to drink. I am sure that you would not like to be in a situa on like this, I wonder what our responsibility might be.

48 Exploring scripture Today we are going to explore our responsibility to help others who are disadvantaged, as we think par cularly about those with a lack of access to good sanita on. Read Deuteronomy 23:12 14 together. Why do you think God wants our camp clean? What could we replace the word camp with? House, life, school, etc Do we keep our living spaces clean today? How? I wonder how children living in developing areas might keep their camps clean. Do you think we have a responsibility to help? (Hopefully they ll say yes as this leads to the next scripture.) Look up Gala ans 6:2, John 13:34 35 and Proverbs 3:27 together. You might want to divide this up around the group or find them and read them one at a me. In these passages we read that, we re obedient to God by lending a helping hand, and that we love others because Jesus loves us. And the wisdom from Proverbs reminds us to do all we can for everyone who deserves your help. I wonder how that might look for us in Australia today. How do we show love and assistance to other children/people with no access to sanita on and safe drinking water? We may not live in developing countries where sanita on is an issue, but we can s ll help other children who live in these situa ons. We can serve them by helping to alleviate the issue of poor sanita on. But how can we serve from so far away? Tying In Go further This would be a really cool opportunity to do a project together. Below you will find some examples, but you may also like to look at the leader s notes/projects notes that are available on the Junior Soldier page on the website. You could have the children work together on a way to share what they have learned with others (e.g. another group, the whole church or their local school) as well as providing a way of invi ng others to respond and support. Allow the children some me to brainstorm around how they might like to make a difference and how they might go about it. Provide them with some large sheets of butchers paper and perhaps divide up into small groups to chat about some ideas and then come back together to make a whole group decision. Below are some examples that you might like to suggest: You could share the message of clean water and sanita on in the mee ng, and follow this up with a water fundraiser a er the mee ng. Buy some trays of bo led water; a ach tags to them saying all proceeds will go to help provide access to water for others. Make them available to be sold. Use the money raised to help an overseas sanita on project. о To sponsor water projects in The Salva on Army look up h p://salvos.org.au/said/projects/ for the Eastern Territory or h ps://secure.salva onarmy.org.au/justsalvos/justgi s/ for the Southern Territory о You can purchase hygiene packs, toilets, rain water tanks etc. to help and support in this way. Perhaps you could also set a task for the children to make posters highligh ng the living condi ons in one of the ten countries men oned earlier in the lesson and use these to adver se your fundraising events, or just use them to raise the awareness amongst the older sec on of your corps/church. This would be ideal to do just before or during the Self Denial period which will be set out on your corps calendar.

49 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. Toilet talk Talk to a grandparent or someone older who may have grown up in Australia or overseas. Ask them what their home sanita on was like when they were young. Did they have clean water on tap? Did they have an outdoor toilet? Help raise funds for your Junior Soldier sanita on fundraiser. Don t forget to tell others why you are doing this and help them to understand the issue.

50 Talk to a grandparent or someone older who may have grown up in Australia or overseas. Ask them what their home sanita on was like when they were young. Did they have clean water on tap? Did they have an outdoor toilet? Help raise funds for your Junior Soldier sanita on fundraiser. Don t forget to tell others why you are doing this and help them to understand the issue. Talk to a grandparent or someone older who may have grown up in Australia or overseas. Ask them what their home sanita on was like when they were young. Did they have clean water on tap? Did they have an outdoor toilet? Help raise funds for your Junior Soldier sanita on fundraiser. Don t forget to tell others why you are doing this and help them to understand the issue. Toilet talk Toilet talk Talk to a grandparent or someone older who may have grown up in Australia or overseas. Ask them what their home sanita on was like when they were young. Did they have clean water on tap? Did they have an outdoor toilet? Help raise funds for your Junior Soldier sanita on fundraiser. Don t forget to tell others why you are doing this and help them to understand the issue. Talk to a grandparent or someone older who may have grown up in Australia or overseas. Ask them what their home sanita on was like when they were young. Did they have clean water on tap? Did they have an outdoor toilet? Help raise funds for your Junior Soldier sanita on fundraiser. Don t forget to tell others why you are doing this and help them to understand the issue. Toilet talk Toilet talk

51 Picture Handout One

52 Picture Handout One

53 Picture Handout Two Some villages have public toilets in which you have to pay for the privilege. Here, a ladies toilet adver ses that toilet paper is 30 Vatu (equivalent to AUD$0.32). If you want to urinate it is AUD$0.21; to wash your bo om cost AUD$0.32 and to wash your hands a erwards is a further AUD$0.21. So, to go to the toilet in this village will cost you about AUD$1.00. Guest s toilet in village Local s toilet in village

54 Junior Soldiers Unit 9 : Lesson 9 Fiery Furnace! PURPOSE : For the children to explore and understand that if we stand for what is right, others are able to see God. My dear friends, stand fi rm and don t be shaken. Always keep busy working for the Lord. You know that everything you do for him is worthwhile. 1 Corinthians 15:58 CEV Consider & Prepare Read: 2 Thessalonians 3 1 Corinthians 15:58 Ma hew 5:14 16 Daniel 3 One of the hardest things that we face as followers of Christ is persecu on. People turn away from us because of our beliefs, watch for and judge us with different eyes when we slip up and make unwise choices, and can show blatant disrespect to us simply for standing up for what we believe in. In some countries, of course, it s even worse, with Chris ans physically a acked and their houses and churches burnt or desecrated. There were more Chris an martyrs in the 21st century than in all previous centuries combined. So don t believe for a moment that persecu on of Chris ans in the world is a thing of the past. For our Junior Soldiers, bullying is one of the worst things they can go through, which can mean that standing up for their beliefs is a very difficult thing. The lesson today looks at some men who were persecuted for standing up for their faith in God. This lesson is designed to help children explore one of the reasons why we should stand up for what we believe. Understanding the reason why we are doing something is key to helping us stay strong and make a commitment to what we believe. Looking through the scriptures above, you will see that one of the key ideas is how God wants us to stand up for our belief in Him. We are shown how God was present with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego as well as how others were able to see clearly how these men stood up for their faith in God. Through this lesson it is important that you help the children understand that when mes of persecu on and difficulty happen, God will be with us no ma er what, and that others might see something of God because of the way we respond in such situa ons. When it comes to persecu on, remember that it s something God understands only too well: He watched his son whipped, beaten and crucified. God empathises with all those who are persecuted in His name, just as if they are His own children.

55 What you will need: For Connec ng In Icy-pole s cks Lego Straws S cky tape Balloons Nerf guns Music For The Main Thing Bibles Paper Textas Play dough/magiclay Lego Props For Tying In Butchers paper Textas For Print off the cards for each child. Connecting In Strong Structures For this ac vity you will need a range of supplies (icy-pole s cks, Lego, straws, s cky tape, balloons etc.) and also some nerf guns. Split your group into a number of small groups depending on the number of children you have in your group. Each group must be given the same number of resources for this ac vity. Explain to the groups that their task is to create the strongest structure they can within the meframe given e.g. 2 5 minutes. At the end of the me, leaders are going to shoot at the structures with Nerf guns and the longest standing (i.e. most stable) structure will win. As they are building, you may want to have some music that represents strength playing in the background such as the Rocky theme song or Eye of the Tiger. When the leaders are trying to knock down the structure, you might like to have a Nerf gun for each of them to shoot at the same me, and the last structure le standing wins, or if you only have one Nerf gun, count the number of shots it takes to get each structure to fall and the one that takes the most bullets wins. Link Today you have been trying to build structures to see whose was the strongest. Well done to this group, who were the winners! Some of the structures were easier to knock down than others and there were some that had a sturdy base and were able to stay strong under pressure. I wonder if you have ever found it difficult to be strong in a difficult situa on. (Give the children some me to respond about their experiences.) Today we are going to explore a passage in the Bible that looks at three guys who were able to stand up for what they believed in even in very difficult circumstances. We will also have a look at how people were able to see something of God because of the way that they responded in these difficult circumstances.

56 Musical statues Explain to the children that we are going to play a game of musical statues, but there is a small difference we are going to include in the game today. When the music stops you are going to be asked to make to make a pose that represents strength/something strong/being strong. You will need to choose some music for this game and it would be good if it was something that represented being strong it might be the Rocky theme or Eye of the Tiger, or it could be something like My God is So Big. Start the music playing and encourage the children to dance and move as the music plays. When the music stops the children should strike a pose. Last child to be s ll (like a statue) in their pose, is out. Encourage the children on their choice of pose and also encourage them to try a different pose each me, not just doing the same pose every me. Play the game for as long as you would like; if you don t want to send children out, you don t have to just play the game with no-one eliminated. Link Today we have been making different strength ac ons. Some of my favourites were Standing strong can some mes be a difficult thing. I wonder if you have ever found it difficult to be strong in a difficult situa on. (Give the children some me to respond about their experiences.) Today we are going to explore a passage in the Bible that looks at three guys who were able to stand up for what they believed in even in very difficult circumstances. We will also have a look at how people were able to see something of God because of the way that they responded in these difficult circumstances. The Main Thing Exploring Daniel 3 For this sec on of the lesson, depending on the size of your group you might like to split into two or three groups, or stay and work together as a whole group. Have a leader read the passage from Daniel 3. Encourage the children to follow along as the passage is read. To get the children to think about some crea ve ways to retell and explore this scripture, ask the following ques ons: Who were the main characters in this passage and what were they like? What were the main or key events that stood out to you? What do you think God is trying to say to us through the events outline in the passage? Once you have read this passage and answered the ques ons above, explain to the groups that they will need to choose a crea ve way to explore and retell the message from Daniel 3. They could do this in any of the following ways or you might like to come up with some other op ons: Rewrite the scripture to make your own drama Create a story board using a number of key images Use Lego to create the passage and take some photos of the key points that they have iden fied Use some props and children in the group to take s ll photos to outline the key points from the passage Use play dough/paper magiclay to create the key sec ons of the passage; it would also be good to take some photos of this to use at another stage or share in church Rap: you might like to write a few verses to help share the key sec ons of the passage Once they have completed this task, if they have divided into more than one group it would be good to share their results with each other. (If they are taking photos, you will need to have the appropriate equipment available to show these or you could share them at a later stage with the whole church).

57 Tying In Unpacking the story For this ac vity, get your children to go back into the groups they were in for the previous sec on. Provide them with butchers paper and textas and have a leader at each group ask the ques ons listed below. Allow me for children to write or draw their ideas. If the children have created something visual it would be important for them to be able to see this as they go deeper into the passage. Today we have looked at Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and recreated their journey as they stood strong against others. The king and others wanted these guys to go against their faith in God and bow down and worship the golden statue, but they stood strong and would not abandon their belief in God. As a result of them standing up for what and who they believed in, they found themselves in a very s cky or, should I say, hot situa on; they were thrown into the fiery furnace because they did not bow down to the golden statue. Well, yes, you know the rest of the situa on and how God was with them through it all and they helped others see something of God because of their strong faith. I wonder if there is anything we can learn from Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Do you think these guys are crazy or courageous for standing strong for their beliefs? I wonder if you were in this situa on what you would do. Why? Have you ever had a situa on where you chose to stand strong for what you believed in? How does looking at this story be er prepare you for the next me you need to stand strong for what is right? How does us standing strong for what is right help others to see God? Is there anything that you might be wondering about this situa on, e.g. I wonder if the king got rid of the golden statue, or I wonder if anyone else decided not to bow down because of what they guys did and chose to follow God instead. (It is a great opportunity to allow the children to sit and wonder about the scripture and all that happens in and around it; I wonder, too, what you might be wondering about this passage.) Praying Strong Get all the children to stand together in a circle and make a strong pose. Encourage all the children, as you go around the circle, to ask God to help them stand strong in tough situa ons. When you have been around the circle have a leader pray (in a strong pose) for all the children and that God will be with them through any persecu on/tough mes they may encounter and that others may see something of God in them because of how they respond during these mes. 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. Don t be shaken My dear friends, stand firm and don t be shaken. Always keep busy working for the Lord. You know that everything you do for him is worthwhile. 1 Corinthians 15:58 CEV Make up some ac ons to help you remember this verse. Make sure you include a strong/firm pose that won t be shaken! Ask your parents or Big Bud to share a me with you when God has helped them to stand strong.

58 My dear friends, stand firm and don t be shaken. Always keep busy working for the Lord. You know that everything you do for him is worthwhile. 1 Corinthians 15:58 CEV Ask your parents or Big Bud to share a me with you when God has helped them to stand strong. My dear friends, stand firm and don t be shaken. Always keep busy working for the Lord. You know that everything you do for him is worthwhile. 1 Corinthians 15:58 CEV Ask your parents or Big Bud to share a me with you when God has helped them to stand strong. Make up some ac ons to help you remember this verse. Make sure you include a strong/firm pose that won t be shaken! Make up some ac ons to help you remember this verse. Make sure you include a strong/firm pose that won t be shaken! Don t be shaken Don t be shaken My dear friends, stand firm and don t be shaken. Always keep busy working for the Lord. You know that everything you do for him is worthwhile. 1 Corinthians 15:58 CEV Ask your parents or Big Bud to share a me with you when God has helped them to stand strong. My dear friends, stand firm and don t be shaken. Always keep busy working for the Lord. You know that everything you do for him is worthwhile. 1 Corinthians 15:58 CEV Ask your parents or Big Bud to share a me with you when God has helped them to stand strong. Make up some ac ons to help you remember this verse. Make sure you include a strong/firm pose that won t be shaken! Make up some ac ons to help you remember this verse. Make sure you include a strong/firm pose that won t be shaken! Don t be shaken Don t be shaken