2.1 Small Group Lesson Elementary

Transcription

1 September 2 nd, 2018 Slime Time God Chooses Abraham BIG IDEA: God keeps His promises, so I can wait patiently for Him BIBLE BASIS: Genesis 15:1-6; 17:1-8; 18:1-19; 21:1-6 KEY VERSE: The Lord is faithful and will keep all of his promises. He is loving toward everything he has made. Psalm 145:13b (NIrV) 7 15 minutes minutes 7 15 minutes minutes 2017 Mooblio. All rights reserved. 1

2 Scripture marked NIV is taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of Biblica. Scripture marked NIrV is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Reader s Version, Copyright 1995, 1996, 1998 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. All scripture references are taken from NIrV unless otherwise stated. User Agreement: The GO! curriculum by Mooblio is intended for download and print by subscribing entities only. It may not be transferred electronically to or duplicated by other non-subscribing entities. If the GO! curriculum is cost prohibitive for your organization, please contact us about assistance. We are awesomely generous! All use must be in accordance with the Terms of Use agreement as described on the website In the book Streams in the Desert, author L.B. Cowman tells the following story: There was a boy about 10 years old whose Grandma promised him a stamp collecting album for Christmas. The day had come and gone and he didn t receive the stamp album. One day the boy's friends came over to see his Christmas presents and as he listed all his gifts he included a stamp album from my Grandma. After hearing this, his mom called over her son and said Son, you did not receive a stamp album from your Grandma. Why did you say you had? Confidently and quite puzzled the boy replied, Well, Mom, Grandma said, and that is the same as. A month passed and he still hadn t received the stamp album. Finally, one day, his mother said to the boy, I think Grandma has forgotten her promise. Oh no, Mom, he quickly responded. She hasn't. Soon after a letter arrived in the mail from Grandma that read: Dear Grandson, I have not forgotten my promise to you for a stamp album. I could not find the one you wanted here, so I ordered one from New York. It did not arrive until after Christmas, and it was not the right one. I then ordered another, but it still has not arrived. I have decided to send you the money so that you may buy the one you want in Chicago. Love, Grandma. After the son read the letter, his face was full of victory and he said, Now, Mom, didn't I tell you? All that time the boy trusted the promise even with nothing seen or heard of the promise. And all the while, Grandma was working, and in due time the boy's faith became sight. Sometimes when we are waiting for a promise to be fulfilled from God, we have a hard time trusting and truly believing it will become sight. If only we could catch a glimpse of how the promise will be fulfilled, then we could continue to wait patiently. Often times we forget to have faith like the boy and believe that God SAID, and that is the same AS. As you prepare to discuss the story of Abraham with your kids, think about some promises in your life that you were able to confidently wait on God. What promises are you relying on today from God and how are you doing waiting patiently? Take a minute to ask God to help you confidently wait in His trustworthy hands until all of His promises are fulfilled. Mindy Rausch GO! Team Member 2017 Mooblio. All rights reserved. 2

3 The Magic Circle When it comes time for you to sit down with your small group, there is no better configuration than a circle. If you have a group of younger kids who find it difficult to seat themselves in a nice circle, have them first hold hands in a circle and then sit down. The benefits of sitting in a circle are well worth the time it takes to organize your kids in the beginning. Here s why: Everybody feels like they are a part of the group. When your group is arranged in a big clump, the kids sitting toward the outside often times don t feel like they re a part of what s going on and their attention goes elsewhere. In a circle, no one is on the outside. The kids will talk to one another, not just you. You are the facilitator of conversation, not the center of it. If you organize your group like a miniature classroom, kids will become accustomed to talking and listening to only you. A circle allows kids to feel like they re connected to everyone in the group. It s easier to manage. When there s a direct line of site between you and all of the kids, they re more apt to behave. You can quickly and easily address interruptions. Are there two kids distracting each other? Separate them in the circle. Is there a kid who is more difficult to manage? Seat him next to you in the circle. You can use eye contact to your advantage. Eye contact invites participation. If you have a kid who seldom participates, consider placing him across from you in the circle where he ll get more eye contact. Conversely, you can place kids who dominate conversation next to you Mooblio. All rights reserved. 3

4 SLIME TIME STORY PICTURE Say: For the next 4 weeks, we re going to be hearing some stories from the ooeyer and gooeyer side of the Bible. The best part is that we re going to help tell the stories by creating some slime pictures. Directions: Decide ahead of time which groups are going to create which pictures. (If you have more groups than pictures, more than one group can work on the same picture. If you have fewer groups, have each group work on multiple pictures.) The following is the list of pictures to split among your groups: Star Clock Laughing face Baby Set the slime in the middle of the group on top of a cookie sheet. Tell your group they ll have to work together to mold and form the slime into their designated picture. Encourage your kids to allow everyone in the group to contribute something to the slime picture. While your group is working on their slime picture (or when they are finished), ask them the following questions: Question: Is it easy or hard for you to wait patiently for things? Why? SMALL GROUP LEADER NOTE: Bring your groups slime picture with you to the large group area. The picture will be used during the telling of the story. If your groups slime picture begins to melt into a blob, help the kids quickly reshape it before they show it during the story. ADDITIONAL TIME ACTIVITY THUMBS UP, THUMBS DOWN If you have additional time before Large Group begins, play Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down. Simply ask the kids in your group to share one good thing that happened this week (thumbs up) and one not-so-good thing (thumbs down). This is a great way for your group to share celebrations and struggles with one another. THE BIG BIBLE STORY QUESTIONS Directions: During the Large Group program, kids will be asked to turn briefly to their small group and answer the following questions: For Younger Kids: 1. Why do you think God waited so long to give Abraham and Sarah what He promised? 2. Why do you think Abraham and Sarah had a hard time waiting patiently for God to do what He promised? 2017 Mooblio. All rights reserved. 4

5 For Older Kids: 1. What do you think this story teaches us about God? 2. Why do you think God waited so long to give Abraham and Sarah what He promised? SLAP THE SLIME (Application Activity) Say: Sometimes we can get frustrated with God because we think He has promised us something that He really hasn t. If we re going to wait patiently for God, it s important for us to know what God does and does not promise to give us. So we re going to have a little competition to figure that out. Directions: Place the Slime that you used earlier to form the pictures on the cookie sheet in the middle of the group. Choose two kids to face off. Have each of them sit or kneel on either side of the slime with their hands behind their back. Read one of the God s Promise/Not Promise statements from below. The two kids will have to quickly decide if that statement is a promise from God or not. When one of the kids thinks they know the answer, they will have to slap the slime in the middle. The first kid to slap the slime will give their answer. After she gives her answer, ask the rest of the kids in the group if they agree with that and why or why not. After they ve talked about it for a little bit, tell them the answer. If the statement was a promise from God, and if time permits, have someone in your group look up the Bible reference and read it aloud. Repeat the above instructions until you have read all of the statements. When finished with the statements, ask your group the questions below. GOD S PROMISE OR NOT PROMISE STATEMENTS If you pray to God. He will always hear what you say. PROMISE (Ps 116:1) If you follow God really closely, your life will be really easy. NOT PROMISE God will always give you everything you need. PROMISE (Phil 4:19) God will comfort you when you are sad. PROMISE (Jer 49:13) If you love God with your whole heart, you will never be sad. NOT PROMISE If you pray for something really hard. God will give it to you. NOT PROMISE God will love you always, no matter what you do wrong. PROMISE (Rom 8:39) God will always give you everything you want. NOT PROMISE God will stop people from ever hurting you. NOT PROMISE God will always be with you, no matter where you go. PROMISE (Josh 1:9) God will make you good at everything you try. NOT PROMISE If you believe Jesus has died for you and you choose to follow Him, you ll have eternal life. PROMISE (Rom 6:23) God will give you strength when you feel weak. PROMISE (Isa 40:29) Everyone will go to heaven, no matter what they believe. NOT PROMISE 2017 Mooblio. All rights reserved. 5

6 For Younger Kids: Question: Is it hard for you to be patient or is it easy? Can you tell a story about a time when you were really patient? Question: Out of all the promises we just talked about, do you have a favorite? (You might want to repeat some of the promises for the kids.) Why is that your favorite? Question: Why do you think we sometimes have a hard time waiting for God to give us what He has promised? For Older Kids: Question: Have you ever been frustrated because you felt like God didn t answer your prayer? Is it possible that you just needed to be more patient? Is it possible that you were expecting God to give you something He didn t promise to give you? Question: Which of the promises that we talked about do you think you need to remember the most often? Question: Why do you think we sometimes have a hard time waiting for God to give us what He s promised? Say: Sometimes it s really hard to be patient with God. Even Abraham and Sarah had a hard time being patient. But when we remember that God always keeps His promises it helps us to be more patient. No matter how long it takes, God will always do what He says. SLAP VERSE (Bible Memorization Activity) Directions: Give each kid in your group a blank slap bracelet and some markers. Place the Bible verse sign in the middle of the group and tell the kids to copy it onto their bracelet. Let them decorate the bracelet however they want. Today s verse is: The Lord is faithful and will keep all of his promises. He is loving toward everything he has made. Psalm 145:13 (NIrV) When your group is finished decorating the bracelets, have them stand in a circle. Choose one kid in your group to say the first word of the verse. That kid will then slap her bracelet on the arm of the kid next to her. The kid with the bracelet on her arm will then say the second word of the verse and slap her bracelet on the arm of the next kid who will say the third word. Continue around the circle until the entire verse has been recited. For younger kids, if it s difficult to just say one word at a time, allow them to each say the entire verse. Repeat this a number of times until it seems like everyone remembers the verse. In the end, have everyone return the bracelets to their owners. Allow the kids to wear their bracelets while you talk about the following questions: Question: Can you tell us about a time that God came through on one of His promises to you or answered one of your prayers? 2017 Mooblio. All rights reserved. 6

7 LETTERS TO GOD (Group Prayer Activity) Directions: Place the letter pieces from a game such as Scrabble or Boggle Jr. in the center of your group. Tell the kids to think of something they need prayer for. One at a time, have them reach into the center and choose the letter pieces needed to spell out a key word from their prayer request. Have the rest of the group try to guess the word before the spelling is complete. For younger kids who are still learning to spell, you may choose to have them find only the first letter of the word and then share that word. Be prepared to help. Once they ve spelled the word out or have found the first letter, ask them to say more about their request. When everyone has had a turn spelling out their request, open the group in prayer. Allow anyone who would like to pray an opportunity to do so. When it seems like everyone who wants a turn has prayed, close the group in a final prayer. Encourage your kids to remember everyone s prayer request and to be praying for them throughout the week Mooblio. All rights reserved. 7