GKidz Barnabas Club Music & Media Lesson 1 God s Story Is Everywhere

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1 Date: 24 & 25 October 2015 GKidz Barnabas Club Music & Media Lesson 1 God s Story Is Everywhere Key Verse: My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never die. No one will steal them out of my hand. John 10:2728 (NIrV) Lesson Objectives: Children will learn that: 1) Culture s original intention was to glorify God and tell of His great story 2) The evil one has filled culture with many different voices that draw us away from God 3) God is still speaking through today s culture and we can discern His voice through the help of our parents and GKidz leaders NOTE TO LEADERS Series Overview Music and media have the potential to speak into our lives. It can shape how we think and what we believe. Music and media are part of what we call popular (or pop) culture it is everywhere, whether in the shows we watch on TV, or the games we play on our smart phones, or the music we listen on itunes. It s on advertisements at the bus stops, MRT stations, and shopping malls, and on every other page of the newspaper. We can t run away from it. Behind every song, show, or movie though, is a voice that has the potential to shape our thoughts and beliefs. Some of these voices have been crafted by God to draw us closer to Him, but there are voices that have been crafted to steal, kill, and destroy our identity and purpose as children of God (John 10:10). The overarching aim of this series is to help our children develop their discernment muscle. Author Tim Stevens describes this in his book Pop Goes The Church as a mental muscle that helps us filter our response to what is good and bad. We aim to disciple and guide our children to be able to respond to the pop culture around them in a Godanchored manner, so that those around them will be able to taste and see that the Lord is good. (Psalm 34:8) We pray that through this series, our children will be the salt and light, in a world desperately needing a new flavour, and a new light. To that end, there are two specific thrusts that we are weaving into this series to help our children develop discernment: Barnabas Club

2 1) Every child will be able to G.O.A.L We want our children to be able to identify the voices behind music and media, and be able to discern whether the voices are telling God s story, or the evil one s story. They will use the following template: Group to the themes of eternity & supernatural, relationships, and desire for purpose Observe the lyrics/scenes Ask their parents or GKidz leaders for help to discern Leave out if it does not glorify God 2) Every child will have the guidance of his/her parents or GKidz leaders Our children cannot do this on their own. They will need their parents, and your help to navigate today s popular culture and discern what will draw them to God, and what could draw them away from God. As such, one important area we are introducing in this series is a parent takehome that they can access at The takehome will be uploaded weekly, during the duration of this series, and will contain all relevant content for parents to process and guide their children through music and media. Through the teaching, we will explain to the children that having the input of their parents and leaders are vital to developing their ability to discern. We would encourage you and your child s parents to be equally convicted that we must equip and disciple our children to make wise choices to what they watch and hear, choices that will draw them to God and not to the evil one. We aim to see that you and your child s parents will be able to use the G.O.A.L template above to help your child navigate today s popular culture. If your child s parents can t or are unable to engage their children to either do the take- home or the G.O.A.L template, then you as the child s leaders would have to stand in that role. Lesson Schedule Date Lesson 24/25 Oct God s Story Is Everywhere 31 Oct/1 Nov P6 Graduation Party 7/8 Nov What s In The Story: Jewel Or Mud? 14/15 Nov I Am Part Of God s Story Lesson Overview: God s Story Is Everywhere This week, we aim to introduce the series by explaining to the children about culture and its original intent which is to bring glory to God. Ephesians 6 reminds us that we are engaged in a battle, set in the spiritual realm. One way that satan tries to win this battle is through music and media. We want our children Barnabas Club

3 to not only know that they are engaged in this battle, but we want them to be equipped to respond to the bombardment of messages that come at them through the music and media. As leaders, your aim through this lesson is threefold: 1) To be aware of what your children are watching and listening to on a regular basis. It is quite remarkable that music and media have a regular influence over the lives of our children, and help shape their worldview. 2) To ensure that children know that the chief end of music and media is to glorify God and draw people to Him and His great story. 3) To create a safe environment where they can start to ask honest questions about what they hear or watch as part of them developing their discernment muscle. PLATFORM TEACHING (25 MINUTES) Logistics Needed: PowerPoint Slides (GKidz will provide) Teacher 1: Hey children! Today we are going to start on a very exciting series on Music & Media! It s going to be a very exciting series where we (notices Teacher 2 watching something on his/her phone) Hey you! What are you watching? You re not supposed to be on your phone during GKidz! Teacher 2: Shhhhh! I am finishing the last episode of Phineas and Ferb! I want to see if Perry the Platypus finally defeated Dr Heinz Doofenshmirtz!! I am only watching now because my mummy did not allow me to watch until after my exams, and I cannot waste time, all my friends have watched it... I must watch it now!! Teacher 1: Well, it looks like the episode is saved on your phone, I m sure you can watch it later after GKidz! Anyway, I ve got something more exciting to show you in this new lesson series, and it has something to do with music. Teacher 2: (looks up from phone excitedly) Music? Is it KPOP? Do you know I m the president of the ultimate KPOP fan club, called the KPOP KPOH KPOCK POCK KEH Club! I can sing the songs of 2NE1, Big Bang, Girls Generation I even have my own homemade fan of all the KPOP bands see? (takes out a hand fan and starts playing with it) Teacher 1: Hello hello! Before you get too excited, this is not about KPOP or your fan club But in this new series, we are going to go into the world of the music and media! Before we go any further, we are going to play a game to see if the children know their music and media! Barnabas Club

4 GAME: GUESS THE STAR Logistics Needed: PowerPoint Slides (GKidz will provide) Teacher 1: This game is really simple. I am going to show you pictures of some people, they could be singers, or actors, or maybe characters that you recognize. Your job is to guess who they are! Teacher 2: Oh this is going to be so easy! Let s play this game, boys versus girls! Teachers 1 & 2 are to facilitate the game, and let the children guess the following personalities: Taylor Swift (American pop singer) Thor (from Avengers) Sadness (from Inside Out) 2NE1 (KPOP girl group) Katniss Everdeen (from Hunger Games) Super Junior (KPOP guy group) James Bond (hero guy) Teacher 2: Wah this group of children (either boys or girls, or both) really know their pop stars very well ah! You can join my happening club! Teacher 1: ehhem There is a reason why I showed you all pictures of those people. Those people are either singers or actors playing certain characters. More importantly, it is their job to make music or act in our TV shows and movies. And you know what, music, TV shows, movies, all form part of what we call culture! Teacher 2: Huh? What is culture? The only culture I know is in Yakult.. It says on the bottle that it is a cultured milk drink! You see? (show slide) Teacher 1: That s not what I m talking about (show slide) Culture refers to how we express our thinking and our beliefs. And all those people and characters I showed you earlier belong to what we call, popular culture, or pop culture for short! Teacher 2: Oh I see, so the shows I watch on TV or on my phone, like Phineas and Ferb, or even my favorite KPOP bands are part of culture? Teacher 1: That s right! Culture is made up of many other things too, like design, theatre plays, and art, and even books! (show slide) And do you know what the original purpose of culture was for? Teacher 2: Errrh so that we won t get bored at home when we ve finished all our homework? Barnabas Club

5 Teacher 1: (show slide) Well, the original purpose of culture is to glorify and express our worship to God! Culture was to be used to tell of God s great story of how much He loves you and I, and wants to be with us. Let us take a look at the Bible, and we ll find the first recorded moment when culture was used to glorify God It s in Exodus 31:16 Teacher 2: (Reads Exodus 31:16 from slide) Wow! This guy Bezalel was given so much creativity so that he could make beautiful stuff to fill God s temple and display God s glory! Teacher 1: That s right! Culture s original purpose was to glorify God and tell of His great story, that He loves us and wants to be in a relationship with us! Not only do we know that, but someone else knows that as well, satan! He is a very creative person. Before he rebelled against God, he was in charge of all expression of worship in heaven! Teacher 2: Wow. He must have been a very important person why did he want to disobey God? Teacher 1: That s because he wanted to be God. He believed that He was stronger and better than God! He wanted to have the same power as God had! But as we all know, he did not succeed! But satan is still trying, he still wants what God has! And one thing that God has is the power to know our every thought! Let s take a look at Psalm 44:21 Teacher 2: (reads Psalm 44:21 from the slide) Wow! God knows my every thought and my every secret! But satan doesn t have that privilege right? Teacher 1: He doesn t! But he wants to know what we are thinking, and influence how we think as well. He does this through culture, like in the music we listen to and in the shows and movies we watch. Teacher 2: Wait, so what you are saying is although satan doesn t know my every thought, he wants to influence my thoughts and how I think? Teacher 1: That s right. Our mind is actually very precious. It is not only intelligent, but our mind shapes our beliefs and gives us dreams as well. It gives rooms to our thoughts and stores our memories. What we see and listen around us actually stays in our mind for some time, and so satan tries to use culture, the music we listen to, the shows we watch, to quietly convince us of stories and things that draw us away from God. Teacher 2: Wow this reminds me of a verse in the Bible (show slide of John 10:10) that satan is like a thief who comes to kill, steal and destroy! He doesn t want us to be children of God! Teacher 1: That s right... satan has filled our culture with many other voices that tell us things like God is not real and God doesn t care about us. Some of these voices hidden in the songs we listen or the movies we watch will try to tell us that a life that does not Barnabas Club

6 have God, a life that dishonours God, is a life much more attractive than a life with God. Some voices in these songs and movies will tell us that true happiness can be found when you are finally able to do what you want, and you don t have to listen to anyone, not to your parents, not even to God Himself. Teacher 2: I m sure there s a way to stop satan! It cannot be that we are so helpless and we can t do anything to protect ourselves! Teacher 1: That s a good question, let s take a look at John 10:2728 Teacher 2: (reads slide of John 10:2728) Hmm So what you are saying is, even though satan tries to surround us, through the music and the media, with so many voices that hope to draw us away from God... Because we are God s children, we can recognize His voice? Teacher 1: That s right! The point is NOT that satan tries to fill our minds with his thoughts through the music and media, but the point today is that even though there are so many voices in the music and media that try to draw us away from God, (show slide) God s story is still everywhere and can be seen in music and media as well! He is still speaking, sometimes directly, and sometimes indirectly! Because we are His children, we can recognize and hear His voice! Let me share with you an example of how God is still speaking through music. This is a song by a hip hop artist called Lecrae called Messengers this song talks about how we all need to speak up about God! For this song, he won a Grammy Award, which is the highest music award that can be given by Hollywood. (play video: Teacher 2: Wow! God is still speaking! I am excited because over the next few weeks, I m going to learn more about how I can hear God and His truths in a culture that is filled with so many other voices! Teacher 1: That s right, and we also have our parents and our GKidz leaders to help us as learn more about how we can hear God s voice through music and media. My prayer for each of us is after going through these truths, we will be God s messengers I pray that all of us will be able to find God and His truths, whether through a song we hear on the radio, or through a movie we are watching in a cinema. We will be able to use the culture we are in speak God s truths! Let me pray for all of you Father God I pray that we will not be afraid of the music and media that are around us, because we now know that satan uses what we hear and see to influence our minds. Lord, train our ears and our eyes to hear and see You and Your truths. We are Your children and we know Your voice! May we always respond to Your voice, even in Barnabas Club

7 a world that is filled with so many other tempting voices. In Jesus name I pray, Amen! SMALL GROUP TIME (40 MINUTES) A. Connect (5 minutes) Get the children to share briefly about the following questions: What is a movie they watched recently? Is there a song that they heard on the radio or YouTube recently? What are some of the movies and songs that they know their friends like? *Leaders should collate and share the information on the above to your Team Leader or GKidz Pastor B. Rapid Recap (5 minutes) Quickly recap the platform teaching with the children by asking the following questions: What is culture? (Ans: How we express our thoughts, beliefs and thoughts) What makes up our culture? (Ans: Music, movies, TV shows, books, theatre etc) What is the original purpose of culture? (Ans: To glorify God and tell of His great story) Why does satan want to distort culture? (Ans: So that he can influence our thoughts with his voice and draw us away from God) How does satan try to influence how we think? (Ans: By speaking in different voices through music and media to promote his story of how life is attractive without God) Transition to Into The Word: Children, we live in a world filled with songs and TV shows and movies. Each song, TV show episode and movie can speak to us. Satan uses music and media to whisper lies to us, and draw us away from God. It might seem scary, to look around and hear all these voices drawing us away from God. But God is still speaking in our music and media! We can still hear His voice and we don t have to be afraid! Let s learn from one person in the Bible who saw the culture around him, and instead of being scared, chose to listen carefully and found God speaking to Him! B. Into The Word (10 minutes) Logistics Needed: Picture cutouts (GKidz will provide to return after use to Team Leader) **Leaders to refer to Recommended Resources below for additional reading so that you can provide context for the children as they read this passage** Read Acts 17:1634 aloud to the children, using the picture cutouts provided. Barnabas Club

8 After reading the passage, explain to the children that the Greek culture was very well known during the time of the Bible. The Greeks were very influential with their thoughts, and their art and design was well known! It s quite possible that the idol statues that Paul saw in Athens were very well designed and were very beautiful. It reflected the high standards the Greeks had in their culture, which they were using to worship idols instead of the one true God. Ask the children to respond to the following questions: How did Paul feel when he saw all the idol statues in Athens? (Ans: He was upset) Why do you think he felt upset? (Ans: Because they were using culture to worship idols instead of God) What did Paul decide to do after he felt upset? (Ans: He decided to start talking to anyone and everyone about the one true God) How did the Greeks respond to Paul? (Ans: There were some who made fun of Paul, but there were also some who believed in Jesus after they heard from Paul) C. Going Deep (10 minutes) Logistics Needed: Picture cutouts (GKidz will provide to return after use to Team Leader) Explain to the children that Paul knew that culture was meant to glorify God and to tell of His great story of how much He loves us and wants to be in a relationship with us. That is why when he saw how the Greek culture was glorifying idols instead, he was very mad. Paul knew God s story, he knew that God still loved the Greeks and it was his mission to tell them how much God is still speaking to them and wants them to know that He loves them. Share with the children that Paul did not allow the popular culture around him to dictate how he could share God s truths. Instead, Paul used the popular culture then around him, something the Greeks already understood, as a way to illustrate the truth that we are all children of God and need to return to the Father. Point the children to Acts 17:2931, where Paul explained to the Greeks that God is not like any of idols that they ve created, but Someone who loves them and wants to give them a chance to turn away from their sins before they are judged. Share with the children that after Paul shared with the Greeks about God, there were some who believed, they heard God s voice! They finally saw God s story through their culture. But there were some who did not believe! Reiterate the theme verse in John 10:2728 to them again. Today s moral of the story is how in our popular culture that is filled with so many voices that could draw us away from God, if we are God s children, we will be able to still hear His voice! Barnabas Club

9 D. Application (10 minutes) Logistics Needed: Music & Media Cards (GKidz will provide) Tell the children that the culture we live in is filled with many examples of music and media that are being used to glorify idols. It could be the idol of self (there is no God, you are god), the idol of money, or the idol of relationships, or the idol of success. The evil one has been able to use culture to draw many away from Him. But we are God s children, we know God s story and can recognize His voice! Give each child a Music & Media Card. Walk through with them how this card is to help remind us that culture is to be used to glorify God and tell of His great story! So when we watch a movie or listen to a song this coming week, we must ask ourselves this question, Does what I watch listen glorify God and tell of His great story? E. Parent TakeHome Logistics Needed: Series Overview (GKidz will provide) Hand each parent a copy of the series overview. Explain to the parents that we are starting a new series on music and media, which includes a component for the parents to have faithfilled conversations with their children at home. The weekly takehome can be found in our Parents Download section at RECOMMENDED RESOURCES: Commentary on Acts 17:1634 Please refer to these links for commentary on the selected passage. Pay attention to verses 1621 which describes the culture of the day: 17.html Barnabas Club

GKidz Barnabas Club Music & Media Lesson 3 I Am Part of God s Story

Date: 14 & 15 November 2015 GKidz Barnabas Club Music & Media Lesson 3 I Am Part of God s Story Key Verse: My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they