Commit yourself fully to God

Transcription

1 Commit yourself fully to God Suspendisse feugiat mi sed lectus aoreet nec interdum By Trenz Pruca Year 2 Quarter 3 Lesson 10 1

2 Lesson Overview The disciples commi-ed themselves fully to God and history was changed people were healed, the dead were raised to life, and the Gospel was spread. If only twelve men could start the primary Gospel movement in church history, then what would happen if the children in your community also catch the vision? What would happen if those children commi-ed themselves to God? God is looking very carefully for those who are fully commi-ed to Him. He not only wants to use them, but when God sees that people are fully commi-ed to Him, He will fight for them. Bible Lesson: King Jehoshaphat (1 Chronicles 20:1-29) King Jehoshaphat and his army were not prepared to fight. As the enemy army approached the outskirts of his kingdom, King Jehoshaphat needed God to fight for him. The Bible says the king inquired of the Lord and then called his people to fast and pray. He commi-ed himself fully to God, and God fought for him and defeated the enemy. Object Lesson 1: Admit to Him your weakness This skit highlights the struggle of a young kid who is trying to lik a heavy box but refuses to ask for help. Unfortunately, people oken take that same approach when it comes to God - they refuse to admit to Him their weakness. Everyone wants God to fight for them, but how is God supposed to do that when you try to do everything by yourself? Object Lesson 2: Look to Him for help This personal tespmony of the teacher takes the children to a dark street where a man is a-acking her. The woman prayed, "God, you promised in Your Word that you would protect me. AKer she prayed this, the man froze in his tracks. He couldn t move because the woman looked to God for help, and God fought for her. Object Lesson 3: Give Him all of you God wants you to give all of yourself to Him. When you hold back your fears, your hurts, your dreams, or even the friends you hang out with, you are not giving God all of you. God wants to fight for you, but He cannot do that if you only give Him pieces of your life. Teacher's Responsibility You have the opportunity to challenge these kids to let go of their pride, sin, and hurts. It only takes one moment for the kids to encounter God and to commit their lives fully to Him. Pray and intercede for the Word to be preached powerfully and for the kids to experience a sincere change in their lives. God will fight for you when you... Sub 1: Admit to Him your weakness Sub 2: Look to Him for help Sub 3: Give Him all of you Power Point: Commit yourself fully to God Direction: And God will fight for you Memory Verse: "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him" 2 Chronicles 16:9 (NIV) 2

3 Lesson Intro Props Boxing gloves, karate costume, giant heart, big spck Actors Boxer: Karate person: PresentaPon: I remember when I was in the first grade there was a class bully who made everyone's life miserable. She was so mean and she wanted to fight all the Pme. I hated going to school. What I wanted more than anything was for someone to come with some boxing gloves (actor enters with boxing gloves) and fight for me. But there was no one to fight for me. As I grew older, I started to nopce that my father had a really bad temper. When he would become angry, he would physically abuse us. SomePmes he would slap us so hard that we would fall to the ground. What I really wanted when I was younger was for someone to show up and fight for my family (actor in karate costume enters). I wanted them to do kicks and punches and show my father how it feels to be slapped around but there was no one to fight for me. I faced many different situapons and in the end it was always the same - there was no one to fight for me unpl I fully commiued my life to God. I remember this guy named Tommy who would always make fun of me. He would point his finger at me and laugh because I was a ChrisPan. He would make up jokes about me and everyone around him would laugh. I wanted to curse him out. All of these things that Tommy did to me affected my heart (show giant heart). I wanted to pick up a huge spck (pick up big s9ck) and fight but people who are fully commiued to God don't act that way. Instead, they pray and ask God for help. I began to pray about Tommy. I remember saying to God, "Help me to not treat Tommy the same way that he treats me. Help me to not give in to the pressure and stop living for you." One day, Tommy came to me and started laughing again. I felt God speak to my heart and say, "Tell Tommy that when he cried himself to sleep last night, I was there and I care for him." I told Tommy what God said and his eyes filled with tears. "How did you know that? he asked me. "God told me," I said. He started to run away. For the next two weeks Tommy didn't bother me again. I realized in that moment that if I fully commit my life to God, God would fight for me. In fact, today's memory verse says, "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully commi-ed to Him" (2 Chronicles 16:9). That means that God is looking very carefully for those who are fully commiued to Him. When God sees that you are fully commiued to him, He will fight for you. When God fights for you, it means that He is working everything out on your behalf. It doesn't mean that He will come down with a knife or gun or spck and starpng beapng people up. It means that God will look down at your situapon and start to work everything out. In my situapon, He didn't beat Tommy up but He gave me the right words to say and those words stopped Tommy for two weeks. AKer the two weeks were up, Tommy came back and God told me to say other things to him. Every Pme Tommy would start to run away unpl one day he gave his life to Jesus. When you commit yourself fully to God, God will fight for you. The key to today's memory verse is to make sure your hearts are fully commiued to Him. So commit yourself fully to God and He will fight for you.

4 Bible Lesson King Jehoshaphat Props Actors King costume, 3 soldier costumes, 2 bible costumes, 3 swords King Jehoshaphat: Prophet: Messenger: 3 enemy soldiers: PresentaPon: Have you ever been told news that totally surprised you? Maybe you didn't expect to hear it and you didn't know what to do. That's exactly what happened to King Jehoshaphat. (Jehoshaphat enters) One day he was told some news that surprised him and completely caught him off guard. (Messenger enters and runs over to him) Messenger: King Jehoshaphat! There is a vast army advancing against you and your people. They aren't very far away at all! This news alarmed King Jehoshaphat. He wasn't ready for it; his army wasn't prepared to fight. But it was in that moment that King Jehoshaphat did something very important. The Bible says that he resolved to inquire of the Lord. That means that right then and there he made a decision to fully commit himself to God and to seek Him. He gathered all the people together and he declared a fast (Jehoshaphat mo9ons for everyone to pray - messenger kneels down with him to pray). On that day everyone stopped eapng and they all came together to pray and seek God. King Jehoshaphat didn't know what to do but he knew one thing and that was that he needed God to do something. He needed God to fight for him. And many of you are in the same situapon as him. Maybe you've found out some news that someone in your family is very sick and in the hospital and you just don't know what to do. You're scared, worried, and there's nothing you can do about it. You need to ask God to do something about it and change that situapon. King Jehoshaphat did exactly that. He fully commiued himself to God. With the people all gathered together, he stood up in front of everyone and said this: Jehoshaphat: O LORD, God, you are mighty and powerful. No ma-er what comes upon us, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears Your Name and will cry out to you in our distress. We believe that you will hear us and save us. For we have no power to face this vast army that is a-acking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you. AKer he prayed this, a prophet stood up and spoke this message from God (prophet stands up in front of everyone) Bible Lesson - Page 1

5 Bible Lesson King Jehoshaphat Prophet: This is what the LORD says - do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. The ba-le is not yours, but God's. March down against them tomorrow but you will not have to fight this ba-le. Just take up your posipons; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you. Teacher: So the next day, with new encouragement and strength King Jehoshaphat marched out to meet the army (Jehoshaphat, prophet and messenger gather together and praise God). He appointed men to praise and worship God on the way and as they worshipped, God started to fight for them. (Three enemy soldiers enter the other side of the stage). As the people were singing and praising God, God caused the army that was coming against them to turn and fight each other (all three enemy soldiers start figh9ng each other and fall to the ground). It was so incredible King Jehoshaphat and his men didn t even have to pick up their swords! God fought for Jehoshaphat and just like that God will fight for you when you fully commit yourself to Him. God will fight for you when you: 1. Admit to Him your weakness 2. Look to Him to help you 3. Give God all of you Bible Lesson - Page 2

6 Object Lesson 1 Admit to Him your weakness Props Actors PreparaPon Large cardboard box Kid: Adult: Place large box in the middle of the stage PresentaPon: New York City is known for a lot of different things. It s known for the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, New York Cheesecake, and also for its people being tough. In New York, everyone is tough and they don t need help from nobody, just like this kid here: (Kid enters and over- drama9cally tries to lig the box) Kid: Argh! Aaaaaaaaargh! (Adult enters) Adult: Oh let me help you with that, you're not strong enough to lik it. Kid: What? I'm strong enough! Watch me! (Larger than life, the kid tries to lig the heavy box again and can't do it) Adult: Look, you're obviously not strong enough to lik it. It's too much for you to carry. Kid: No, I got this! (Pushes adult away) Adult: If you would just admit that you are too weak to lik this and that you need my help, I would be more than happy to help you. Kid: Now you re calling me weak? You think I can't do this and that I need your help? Adult: Look; I'm a lot stronger than you... Kid: (interrup9ng) I don't think so. I don't need your help. I can do this on my own. Teacher: Freeze! It's obvious that this kid isn't strong enough to lik this box on his own and he needs help but the problem is, he won't admit it. He's fighpng all on his own because he won't admit his weakness. He's got too much pride. He thinks that admizng his weakness will make him look like a sissy and that s exactly how people are. They like to look strong and tough; they like to act as if they don't need help from anyone. Unfortunately people oken take that same approach when it comes to God they will go through problems and struggles but refuse to admit to Him their weakness. Everyone wants God to fight for them, but how is God supposed to fight for you when you never admit to Him how weak you are without Him? It's no different than this kid here. (Point to the kid with the box) I know that you go through things that are too big for you to deal with on your own. You face problems at school and at home that seem impossible for you to change. Maybe there s a big kid who is always talking about you and you just can t get them to stop. You feel powerless against it and you don t know what to do. That s when you need to say "God, I can't do this without you. I don't know what to do and I need your strength to get through this." When you do that and you admit to Him your weakness, God can step in and fight for you. The Bible says that His power is made perfect in your weakness. That means when you are weak, then God will be strong for you. Commit yourself fully to God. He will fight for you when you admit to Him your weakness.

7 Object Lesson 2 Look to Him for help Props Actors 3 tall trees Creepy guy dressed all in black Music Tension building background music PreparaPon Place the three trees on stage as if they were on a path. PresentaPon: There was a Pme in my life when I really needed someone to fight for me. I lived in Chicago, I had no friends, and I didn't know much about the place. I was spll figuring out how to catch the city bus to different places and get back to my house. One day I went out and I got a li-le bit lost. I nopced that this weird looking guy was following me (actor enters and starts following the teacher, but from a distance). He kept driving by really slowly and staring at me. I felt nervous. I didn't know what he would do. I ran as fast as I could to my house. The next day, that same man started following me. This Pme he rolled down his window and said some really horrible things that men should not say to ladies. Man: Hey ma, come over here. Hey baby (Man exits the stage) Teacher: I was so nervous. What if he tries something? He's too big for me to fight. I really wished there was someone around who would fight this man for me, but there was no one. I called the police but the only way they could help me was if the guy actually hurt me. I was so angry and afraid. I was afraid to leave my house. Whenever I went to work I would rush home and hope he wasn't around. One night I had to work late. I took the bus home but I had to walk 10 minutes in order to get home. There was an abandoned lot with a lot of trees and overgrown grass. I heard some rustling in the trees (man start rustling the trees). My heart started to beat really fast. I started to panic on the inside. I turned around to see who it was and I could see the man hiding (man hides behind one of the trees). There was nobody around who could help me. That s when I stopped and looked to God to help me. I began to pray, "God, you promised in Your Word that you would protect me. You promised in Your Word that you would keep me safe. I'm not running this Pme. I'm going to stand right here and wait for you to perform Your Word." I started praising God right there on the sidewalk. I turned around. As the man ran towards me, he froze (man runs and freezes). He couldn't move. Right there on the sidewalk, I looked to God for help and He fought for me. God didn't beat the man with a spck or shoot him with a gun. He simply froze him in place unpl I could get to a safe place. God worked everything out for me that night. The police said, "I can help you when he hurts you". Psalm 46:1 says, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever- present help in trouble." When you look to God to help you, God will fight for you. When you get into a situapon where you don't feel safe, take a few minutes and tell God, "You promised that you will help me. I'm not going to go crazy. I'm not going to fall apart but I'm going to look to you for help." When you get into a situapon that causes you to panic on the inside, stop right there and make a commitment to look to God for help. He will fight for you just like he fought for me. When you commit yourself fully to God, God will fight for you.

8 Object Lesson 3 Give Him all of you Props PreparaPon Poster board pie chart in 8 different colored segments, push pins. Put the corkboard on the stage and pin the 8 segments of the pie chart to it. PresentaPon: Most people don t fully commit themselves to God because they rather just give God pieces of themselves - a piece here and a piece there. Let me show you what I mean. This here represents your life (teacher refers to the pie chart). As you can see there are many different things in your life and God wants you to give Him all of you. The problem is a lot of you don t give God all you. Maybe you struggle with fear. You hear your parents fighpng and yelling everyday and you are afraid that they will get a divorce. Instead of giving God your fear by praying when you feel scared, you hold it inside. When you do that, you are not giving God all of you (rip off two of the segments). Maybe you have you problems at school. You can t keep up with your schoolwork but you don t come to God when you feel that you re not good enough. Instead, you stay home when you have a test and you sit in the back row in class so the teacher won t call on you. When you do that, you are not giving God all of you (rip off two more segments). Maybe it s completely different. Maybe you choose to hang out with the wrong group of friends who always get you into trouble. You know that God doesn t want you to hang out with them but you do it anyway. When you do this, you are not giving God all of you (rip off two more segments, so now only two segments remain in the pie chart). God doesn t want pieces of you. He wants all of you. The Bible says, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30). The key word in this verse is all. God wants everything you are and everything you have. He wants your fears, your thoughts, your love, your dreams, your friends, and the language you use. You can t just give God pieces of your life and expect God to be pleased and fight for you. Look up at this chart. Do you think God wants these li-le pieces? No He wants all of you. Commit yourself fully to God and God will fight for you when you give Him all of you.

9 Life Lesson Fargo Frog Music Phone ringing, truck motor, war combat. Frame 1: Fargo Frog had always dreamed of being an FBI Agent (Frog Bureau of InvesPgaPon). When he was old enough, he joined the Bureau and began to live out his dream but it wasn t long before he was suspended for a whole year for failing on a mission because he was too afraid. The year was almost up. One night as Fargo was asleep in bed, the phone rang and woke him up (play sound of phone ringing). Agent Fargo, this is Sergeant Macabee from the FBI. I know your suspension period is not over yet, but we need you to come down to the Bureau immediately. I have a new mission and most of our agents are just too busy to work on it so I need your help. Be here in 20 minutes. Fargo didn t waste a second he quickly got dressed and jumped into his car. Frame 2: Alright Agent Fargo, let s get straight to it, Sergeant Macabee said as soon as Fargo arrived at the headquarters, There is a li-le girl frog by the name of Lily and she has been kidnapped. Your mission is to save Lily and bring her safely back to her family. There s one condipon though: you cannot carry any guns with you to fight the kidnappers. We need them alive. Sergeant Macabee started walking out of the room. Oh, I almost forgot - you ll be working with Agent Terrence Toad, he said over his shoulder. What!? Fargo hated Terrence. Terrence was the reason he had been suspended in the first place! It was a known fact that Terrence put his partners down and lied so that he would look good in front of the Sergeant. Fargo wasn t sure that he could complete the mission if he had to work with Agent Terrence, but he gave it a shot. Frame 3: Fargo and Terrence began working on the top- secret mission right away. They looked through maps, researched informapon on the kidnappers, and tried to figure out what kind of weapons they could use instead of guns. They finally decided to use slime ball slingshots because they were the only weapons that wouldn t cause life- threatening damage. The more they worked together though, the angrier Fargo became. Frame 4: One day when Fargo couldn t control his anger anymore he pushed the table over, threw the paperwork everywhere, and started to yell at Agent Terrence. I hate you! I can t work with you! How could you get me suspended? You, you, YOU Fargo moved towards Terrence to hit him but right at that moment Sergeant Macabee came charging through the door, Agent Fargo, stop! You need to spend Pme concentrapng on the mission so that you can get out there and save Lily frog. I m truspng you. Don t fail me like you did the last Pme! Preaching Point: Just like Agent Fargo, some of you know what it s like to go through a tough situapon and you wish someone would fight for you. Maybe your mom can t pay the bills. Every akernoon, you come home from the school and check the cupboard, only to find out that it is empty. You need someone to fight for you. Or maybe you re mom s boyfriend comes home drunk every day. He hits your mom, and somepmes he hits you too. As you cry yourself to sleep, you realize that you need someone to fight for you. Your mom can t make the pain go away. Your friends can t fix your problems. You need God to fight for you. The Bible says, Do not be afraid of them; the LORD your God himself will fight for you (Deuteronomy 3:22). God is more powerful than your problems. He wants to step in and fight for you but before that can happen you need to commit yourself fully to God. ou need to get on your knees and say, God, I give myself fully to You. I want to do what pleases You. Then you need to get rid of the things in your life that don t please God like your music with bad language and your friends who always get you into trouble. You need to commit yourself fully to God. Once you do that, God will fight for you. Life Lesson - Page 1

10 Life Lesson Fargo Frog Agent Fargo took a deep breath and realized it wasn t worth it. He decided to commit himself fully to the mission. Frame 5: Finally they were ready to head out. They gathered their slime ball slingshots and put on their bulletproof vests to protect themselves from the kidnappers. Fargo was driving the truck as fast as he could through all the mud bogs (play sound of truck motor). It wasn't long before they arrived at the house where the kidnappers had Lily frog. Frame 6: There were at least 30 heavily armed kidnappers situated around the enpre house! On the count of three, we re going to run towards the house, he told Fargo, Use your slime ball slingshot to fire at as many of the kidnappers as possible. One two No, I can t do this! We re gonna die! Fargo screamed. Don t do this Fargo. Remember what happened last Pme you gave up on a mission? You need to give all of yourself to this mission. It s all or nothing. Preaching Point: Agent Fargo had a choice - was he going to give all of himself to the mission? Each of you has a similar choice. Are you going to give God all of you? God doesn t want just pieces of you. He wants you to give Him all of you. Fargo thought about his choice for a moment, took a deep breath, and decided he was ready to give all of himself to the mission. On my count, Agent Terrence whispered, One two three! Frame 7: Fargo and Terrence leapt out of the bushes. The kidnappers started to fire their guns at the two FBI agents (play sound of war combat). They were dodging bullets lek and right, slinging slime balls as fast as they could. Before they knew it, every single one of the kidnappers was stuck to the ground with slime. Inside they could hear Lily screaming for help. Frame 8: Fargo carefully peeked through the window to assess the situapon inside. Lily was bound with ropes to a chair. Her kidnapper had two machine guns. Agent Terrence, Fargo said, there s a heavily armed kidnapper inside. We need to fire our slime balls quickly! With a deep breath Terrence started to count, One two three! Frame 9: They kicked the door down and before the kidnapper could even react, they shot him down with a slime ball. Agent Terrence ran to free Lily. Frame 10: AKer he made sure the kidnapper wasn t going anywhere, Fargo hurried over to help Terrence free Lily from the ropes. They carefully carried her to their vehicle and drove her directly to where her parents. Agent Fargo was successful in his mission because he commiued himself fully to it. Point of Decision Many of you are going through a terrible situapon and you need God to fight for you. Maybe some of you have even asked God to help you before, but nothing changed. If that s you, then it is Pme to commit yourself fully to God. God will not fight for you unpl you give Him everything. Bow your heads and close your eyes. I want you to think of one area in your life that you need to commit to God. Maybe it s the way you joke around with your friends, or maybe it s the way you treat your parents. Let s pray and ask God to take every part of us. Closing Prayer Dear God, I haven t always given You all of me. SomePmes, I hang out with the wrong group of kids. SomePmes, I watch movies with curses and bad scenes. SomePmes, I talk back to my mom. Today, I choose to give up all those things. I want to commit my life fully to You. I also pray that You would be with me through my problems. Thank You for fighpng for me when I look to You for help. In Jesus Name, Amen. Life Lesson - Page 2