252 Groups May 2017, Week 1 Saturday and Sunday 4/5 Large Group: 20 minutes in length

Transcription

1

2 252 Groups May 2017, Week 1 Bible Story: Naaman and Elisha s Servant, Gehazi 2 Kings 5 Bottom Line: When you are not truthful, you lose trust. Key Question: Why is it important for people to trust you? Memory Verse: Anyone who lives without blame walks safely. But anyone who takes a crooked path will get caught. Proverbs 10:9, (NIrV) Life App: Honesty Choosing to be truthful in whatever you say and do Communicator Props 1 Small Group Leader 2 Student Volunteers Kiddie Pool Water Gun INTRODUCTION COMMUNICATOR: Let s have a show hands... How many of you love desserts like brownies, cupcakes, cookies, etc.? (Pause for response.) Wow! That s what I thought there are tons of you with a sweet tooth. How about everyone gather in your Small Group to discuss your all-time favorite dessert? Communicator allows groups about a minute to discuss favorite desserts. Once groups finish, allow a couple of kids to share. Optional: Communicator can share an ageappropriate story about a time she lied to get something she wanted. COMMUNICATOR: Those sound delish! Now, I don t mean to brag, but my mom makes the BEST dessert... EVER! It s a homemade banana cream pie. I mean the BEST. When I was a kid, I d help her put away the groceries when she got home from the store just so I could see if she had bought any bananas and whipped cream, and if she HAD, I would go hog wild. I used to DREAM about that sweet, banana-cream filling hitting my tongue with the crunchy, graham cracker crust! But my mother was a devious woman, and 99% of the time when she made banana cream pie for dessert, she would also make vegetable lasagna for dinner. As much as I love banana cream pie for dessert, I absolutely DETEST vegetable lasagna for dinner. It is the worst! But the rule in my household was hard and fast: no dessert unless you clean your plate. So one night mom made some wonderful banana cream pie and some vile vegetable lasagna, and I decided to get sneaky instead of EATING my lasagna to clean my plate, I would just feed my lasagna to the dog, which was basically a furry little garbage disposal. So I fed my lasagna to the dog veeeery discreetly, and when my mom came around with the pie, she looked me dead in the eyes and asked, Did you clean your plate? TENSION

3 252 Groups May 2017, Week 1 COMMUNICATOR: Now, technically I did not clean my plate. My bottomless pit of a canine companion did. But I wanted that pie. I needed that pie! If I didn t have that pie, I was going to lose my mind! But getting to that pie meant lying to my mom lying right to her face. Obviously, dishonesty was not the best choice. However, who wouldn t go to desperate lengths to get mom s banana cream pie? If lying gets us something awesome, who wouldn t at least entertain the notion of stretching the truth? Especially if the dishonesty could get you an extra roll in the cafeteria, out of trouble with your parents, or a new pair of shoes. Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever wanted something SO BAD that you were willing to tell a lie to get it? That you DID lie to get it? If you re sitting there thinking, Yep, that s me, know you re not alone. Long ago, there was a guy who was also tempted to tell a lie to get something he wanted. His story can be found in 2 Kings of your Bible in the Old Testament. Bible CONNECTION: On your tables are a pile of Bibles. I want you grab one if you didn t already bring one from home and find our story for this week. I want you to turn to 2 King 5:11. If you need help then find someone at your table to help you out and as soon as everyone has found it we will begin. [wait for students to find 2 King 5:11] To tell this story, I need some help from a couple of willing volunteers. Any takers? Communicator selects two kids and a small group leader. The kids will play Elisha and Gehazi and brings them to stage left. Communicator briefly explains their roles. Small Group Leader plays Naaman and stands on stage right. TRUTH COMMUNICATOR: So our story starts with a guy named Naaman. (Point to Small Group Leader.) Say hi, Naaman. (Small Group Leader waves.) Naaman was a super important guy; he was the commander of the king s army in Aram! (Small Group Leader flexes.) The nation of Aram was no friend to Israel and God s chosen people. But Naaman had a serious problem: he had leprosy. (Small Group Leader slumps.) Leprosy was some nasty business. It made you tired. It made you weak. And it gave you nasty, nasty blisters all over your body. But Naaman had heard stories of a Samarian prophet named Elisha, and according to these stories, Elisha could heal him of his leprosy! So Naaman loaded up with his crew and his servants and headed to Samaria to meet this prophet. Small Group Leader walks to stage left to stand near kid #1 (Elisha) and kids #2 (Gehazi). COMMUNICATOR: After a long journey that included a pit stop with the King of Israel, Naaman and his posse found themselves in front of Elisha s home but when he knocked on the door... (Small Group Leader mimes knocking)... Elisha wouldn t come out! Instead, Elisha sent out a servant. (Communicator prompts Kid #2 steps forward to greet Small Group Leader.) This servant was named Gehazi. Say hello, Gehazi. (Kid #2 waves.) It was Gehazi who explained to Naaman that all he had to do to cure his leprosy was to bathe seven times in the Jordan River. Now, to some people this would

4 252 Groups May 2017, Week 1 have been good news. But it wasn t to Naaman. Naaman was MAD. (Small Group Leader fumes.) Naaman was REALLY MAD. (Small Group Leader fumes even harder.) In fact, the Bible says, (Open Bible and read 2 Kings 5:11) But Naaman went away angry. He said, I was sure Elisha would come out to me. I thought he would stand there and pray to the Lord his God. I thought he would wave his hand over my skin. Then I would be healed (NIrV). Naaman was an important dude. (Small Group Leader puffs chest.) Elisha should at LEAST do him the service of meeting with him face to face! But at this point, Naaman was willing to try anything. So we went to the Jordan... and took a dip. Small Group Leader crosses to center stage and steps into a kiddie pool. Pull out a water gun that is empty and make it look like you are going to blast them. COMMUNICATOR: But he didn t just dip in it once. After all, Elisha told him to do it seven times. Communicator reveals that there is no water in the super soaker COMMUNICATOR: And lo and behold, just as Elisha said, Naaman was healed! He was so happy! Naaman sang God s praises and rushed back to Elisha. (Small Group Leader crosses back to stage left and stands before Kid #1.) He had to repay him somehow for this miracle... and what better way to repay someone than with fat stacks gold, silver, and fancy clothing? (Small Group Leader makes it rain.) Naaman offered Elisha an absolutely ludicrous amount of money, but Elisha turned down the offer. (Kid #1 shakes head no.) In 2 Kings, Elisha says (Open Bible and read 2 Kings 5:16) I serve the Lord. You can be sure that he lives. And you can be just as sure that I won t accept a gift from you (NIrV). And no matter how much Naaman tried to pay Elisha, Elisha still refused. (Small Group Leader shrugs.) Still, Naaman thanked Elisha profusely and started on his way back. Small Group Leader turns around and walks to stage right. Gehazi, Elisha s servant had another idea. (Kid #2 rubs hands together greedily.) Gehazi had heard the offer Naaman made to Elisha and was stunned Elisha turned it down. (Kid #2 looks shocked.) That amount of money to turn down was absurd. Gehazi had to have some of that cash for himself (Kid #2 rubs hands together greedily.) So he ran after Naaman to catch up with him and his crew. Kid #2 runs to Small Group Leader and ends panting with hands on knees. Once with Naaman, Gehazi lied that Elisha had changed his mind and that he WOULD accept some of the money! So Naaman loaded up little ol Gehazi with some phat loot and sent him on his way. Kid #2 does a celebratory dance back to Kid #1 on stage left.

5 252 Groups May 2017, Week 1 When Gehazi returned, the prophet Elisha was waiting for him. Elisha asked where Gehazi had been. (Kid #2 shrugs disingenuously.) But Elisha knew better. He said to Gehazi, (Open Bible and read 2 Kings 5:26-27) Didn t my spirit go with you? I know that the man got down from his chariot to greet you. Is this the time for you to accept money or clothes..? You and your children after you will have Naaman s skin disease forever (NIrV). And as Elisha turned to go, it was so: Gehazi s skin began breaking out in horrible blisters, he felt sick, and he felt weak... he had gotten Naaman s leprosy. Let s give a rousing round of applause for our volunteers who brought this story to life. Communicator dismisses volunteers. Small Group Leader exits. APPLICATION STORYTELLER: Naaman simply wanted to thank Elisha for his help. When Elisha declined the reward, Gehazi felt greedy. He wanted what Elisha declined and was willing to lie to achieve it. In fact, Gehazi wanted the prize so badly he lied NOT ONLY to Naaman but ALSO to Elisha, his master! And in the end, it was his decision to lie that got him and his family in trouble. If Gehazi had just been honest, he would have been in the clear! But Gehazi had convinced himself lying to get his hands on Naaman s money would be worth it. In the process, Gehazi lost his health, his family s health, and the trust of Elisha. We see in this story that lying and dishonesty are nothing new, but they have serious consequences. Gehazi learned the hard way that consequences for being dishonest can be intense. When you are not truthful, you lose trust. When your friend asks you to keep a secret but you tell your best friend the secret, there are consequences. When your mom wants you to eat all of your vegetable lasagna but you feed it to your dog instead, there are consequences. But being truthful isn t just about telling the truth and telling a lie. Being truthful means that when you say you ll do something, you do it. It s not always easy to be truthful. But you can always go to God to help you live your life with integrity, where your words and actions line up. LANDING COMMUNICATOR: As we wrap up our time in Large Group, think about this question. CG: Key Question Slide COMMUNICATOR: Why is it important for people to trust you? Why do people need to believe you ll do what you say? Let s pray. CG: Small group slide Timing - Goal is to end by 5:40, 9:40, or 11:40 Communicator leads group in a prayer related to what they just heard. After prayer, Communicator dismisses kids to Small Group.

6 252 Groups May 2017, Week 2 Bible Story: David and Ahimelek 1 Samuel Key Question: When have you seen a lie hurt someone? Bottom Line: When you re not truthful, you hurt others. Memory Verse: Anyone who lives without blame walks safely. But anyone who takes a crooked path will get caught. Proverbs 10:9, (NIrV) Life App: Honesty Choosing to be truthful in whatever you say and do Communicator Props Bible Visual representations of the following Star Wars characters (see What You Do for more information) o Luke Skywalker o Chewbacca o Darth Vader o Stormtrooper o Yoda o R2-D2 o Optional: Additional Stormtroopers INTRODUCTION COMMUNICATOR: I love pets all pets! Pets with feathers. Pets with fur. Pets that are slimy. Even pets that are smelly. Regardless, I love pets! Is there anybody out there who shares my love for domesticated critters? (Pause for response.) I figured I wasn t the only one! How many of you out there have a pet at your house? And, no, your kid brother doesn t count. (Pause for response.) That s awesome! Okay, out of the people who raised their hands, how many of you are responsible for certain pet-related chores around the house? Filling the water dish? Scooping the cat box? Feeding the dogs? (Pause for response.) Good stuff! Then this will be easy for some of you to imagine. Everybody close your eyes. Let s pretend it is bedtime. You ve taken your bath and even remembered to scrub behind your ears. Your teeth have been flossed, brushed, and rinsed. You ve already changed into your jim-jams. Finally you crawl into your bed, say your night-night prayers, and pull your covers up to sleep. Oh! And you turn on your lamp because, truth be told, you don t like the dark. Just as it gets quiet, your mom comes in to say goodnight and asks if you fed the dog. The truth is... you skipped that chore. Why? Well, the dog s food bowl is out by the garage... and right now between the front door and the garage there s about ten yards of terrible, mysterious darkness, potentially filled with creepy things that go bump in the night. Plus, you re ALREADY in full bedtime mode. The last things you want to do are to get out of bed and go outside into the dark. So you tell your mom, Yes. Of course, mother, I fed the dog. You lie. It s not your proudest moment, but it works. Your mom nods, kisses you goodnight, and in the morning, no one is any the wiser. Now open your eyes.

7 252 Groups May 2017, Week 2 TENSION COMMUNICATOR: This may or may not have happened a time or two when I was a kid responsible for feeding my dog. BUT one could argue my little white lie protected me from the unknown creatures of the dark. Plus, my white lie helped my mom rest easy because I did SAY I fed the dog! And if you were in my shoes, I am confident you would have done the same thing. Think about it. If there was something to be gained by saying a little, teeny, tiny, lie AND nobody would get hurt as a result, who wouldn t entertain the idea of lying? This could help you avoid facing your (literally) darkest fear or staying up past your bedtime or avoid mom yelling, Get out of bed and feed your poor hungry dog! Nobody would get hurt by that stuff, right? That s just it. Sometimes our lies can hurt others... even when we don t think it is possible. That s what I want us to look at today. This is the reality David learned one day when he was on the run from King Saul. Bible CONNECTION: On your tables are a pile of Bibles. I want you grab one if you didn t already bring one from home and find our story for this week. I want you to turn to 1 Samuel 21:8. If you need help then find someone at your table to help you out and as soon as everyone has found it we will begin. [wait for students to find 1 Samuel 21:8] TRUTH COMMUNICATOR: Now, today s story has a lot of villains and good guys. It s a true story from the book of 1 Samuel (hold up Bible), but I thought it would be fun to use some characters from a made-up story that a lot of us love. This is David. (Hold up Luke Skywalker.) He might look like Luke Skywalker, but he s David. David was an unlikely choice to be the next king of Israel, but God had chosen him. However, he wasn t king yet. In fact, the current king of Israel, King Saul (hold up Darth Vader) wasn t too excited about the idea of giving up the job. This put David in a really sticky situation especially since King Saul was also the father of David s best friend, Jonathan. (Hold up Chewbacca.) DAVID AND AHIMELEK COMMUNICATOR: Jonathan (hold up Chewbacca) knew that his dad was angry at David and jealous of him. You see, David was really popular. Jonathan (hold up Chewbacca) warned David that his father had a plan to kill him. So David took off (make Luke Skywalker run away ) and headed to a place called Nob, where God s tabernacle was. David was all alone when he approached the high priest, Ahimelek (hold up Yoda). Ahimelek was actually terrified to see David. He was afraid that David s enemies wouldn t be far behind him. When he saw that David was alone, he demanded to know why. David had a choice to make. He knew that if he was honest with Ahimelek and told him that King Saul (hold up Darth Vader) was actually on the hunt for him, Ahimelek would have sent David away empty-

8 252 Groups May 2017, Week 2 handed. Ahimelek would be afraid of making the king mad. Because David didn t want to be sent home empty handed, David (hold up Luke Skywalker) decided to lie. He told Ahimelek (hold up Yoda) that King Saul had sent him on a mission a top-secret, special mission. He went on to tell Ahimelek that he did, in fact, have men with him, and he was about to meet up with them. That meant he would need food LOTS of food. He needed five loaves of bread, to be exact. Ahimelek (hold up Yoda) told David he didn t have any bread, except for the bread that was holy set apart for God. (Optional: Hold up the breadsticks.) David assured Ahimelek that he and his (air quotes) men had kept themselves holy. So Ahimelek agreed and gave David the bread. (Move the breadsticks next to David.) David decided to take the lie one step further. Let s read what happened next. Open the Bible to 1 Samuel 21:8 and read. David asked Ahimelek, Don t you have a spear or sword here? I haven t brought my sword or any other weapon. That s because the job the king gave me to do had to be done right away (NIrV). David was in luck for now, at least. Because Goliath s sword was actually there at the tabernacle. (Optional: Hold up the sword cocktail pick.) This was after David had killed Goliath. There wasn t any sword like it in the world, so David happily took the weapon and went on his way, gathering men as he moved from hiding place to hiding place. (Move Luke Skywalker away from Yoda, along with the sword.) Many members of his family came to join him, as did other men who were unhappy or in trouble with the king. Before long, David had almost 400 men ready to fight Saul with him. DOEG AND SAUL COMMUNICATOR: But Ahimelek wasn t the only one who noticed what David was up to. (Dramatically bring out the Stormtrooper.) King Saul s chief shepherd Doeg was there at the tabernacle and, unlike David, he actually WAS there on a mission from Saul. Doeg watched David very carefully. He would have some interesting news to report to the king. It wasn t too much longer before Saul (hold up Darth Vader) heard that David had been assembling an army and his hiding place had been discovered. He turned to his own men (optional: reveal more Stormtroopers), and accused them of keeping it all a secret from him. He thought they were all taking David s side. Doeg knew it was his time to shine. (Hold up the original Stormtrooper.) He stood up and told Saul (hold up Darth Vader) that he knew what David was up to. He told King Saul that he had seen David talking to Ahimelek (hold up Luke Skywalker and Yoda) in Nob, and that Ahimelek had given David bread and a sword. SAUL AND AHIMELEK COMMUNICATOR: Saul was FURIOUS. He called for Ahimelek and all the priests at Nob to be brought to him. (Bring Yoda near Darth Vader.) Saul accused Ahimelek of being on David s side and working to hurt him.

9 252 Groups May 2017, Week 2 Ahimelek trembled. (Shake Yoda.) He was only trying to be helpful, since David had said he was on a secret mission for the king. He tried to defend David, telling the king that David was faithful to him more faithful than anyone else, in fact! Ahimelek begged the king not to blame him for anything he thought he was helping the king with his secret mission, after all! But Saul wouldn t hear any of it. (Turn Darth Vader away from Yoda.) He believed Ahimelek was guilty, and so he gave the order to his officials to kill Ahimelek and his family, as well as all the other priests. But his officials refused they knew better than to kill a priest. Saul turned to the man he knew would do anything for him: Doeg. And sure enough, that day, Doeg did a terrible thing. He killed all the priests, just as the king had commanded. Swipe Yoda off the table and into the box. Only one man escaped: Ahimelek s son Abiathar. (Hold up R2-D2.) Abiathar fled to the countryside and found David (move R2-D2 near Luke Skywalker). He told David the news of what Saul and Doeg had done. David was devastated. He promised to keep Abiathar safe, all the while knowing that he was responsible for the death of Abiathar s family and friends. His lie had caused so much hurt for so many people. That s where we ll end our saga for today. Unfortunately, David learned something the hard way. Drop all the characters into the box and move out from behind the table. APPLICATION COMMUNICATOR: Instead of trusting God, David was trying to protect himself from another hungry day running away from King Saul. David never intended for his lie about that top secret mission to hurt anyone. David was motivated by fear to protect himself. If David had been truthful, what would it have cost him? Ahimelek could have still helped him. Nothing was gained by telling the lie because David was still on the run. Now David s lie contributed to the murder of Ahimelek and his family. Isn t this true about us as well? When we lie, it is out of fear. We don t want people to look at us differently or think less of us. And we certainly don t want to be put in uncomfortable situations... like getting out of our comfy bed to go outside... in the dark... to feed the dog! Often, we feel something bad could happen if we tell the truth. But if you tell a lie, there is a chance you could still suffer or someone else could suffer because of you lie. It s important to point out that lies are not a victimless crime. You are not the only one who can get hurt when you tell a lie. Lies can hurt feelings, destroy trust, and break up friendships. Ultimately, my dog was one of the ones who suffered. That evening meal would have been the only food he d get to tide him over until his next meal. If my mom learned I lied, she would have been hurt. And I doubt she would have trusted me the next time I said I fed my dog.

10 252 Groups May 2017, Week 2 LANDING COMMUNICATOR: When we choose to lie out of fear, we are not trusting God s plan. It should be our desire to trust God no matter what. Let s talk more about this in our Small Groups. CG: Key Question Slide COMMUNICATOR: As you head to your Small Groups, ask yourself this question: When have you seen a lie hurt someone? Before you all leave, let s pray. CG: Small group slide Timing - Goal is to end by 5:40, 9:40, or 11:40 Communicator leads group in a prayer related to what they just heard. After prayer, Communicator dismisses kids to Small Group.

11 252 Groups May 2017, Week 3 Bible Story: Haman s Plot Against the Jews Esther 3; 4:8b; 5:6-10; 6:6-11; 7:1-6, 9b-10 Bottom Line: When you lie to help yourself, you hurt yourself instead. Key Question: When are you tempted to lie? Memory Verse: Anyone who lives without blame walks safely. But anyone who takes a crooked path will get caught. Proverbs 10:9, (NIrV) Life App: Honesty Choosing to be truthful in whatever you say and do Communicator Props Pie Face o Board o Shaving Cream o 3 Towels Bible Baseball cap with #2 taped to it Chair INTRODUCTION COMMUNICATOR: What s going on, everybody? I want to bring out someone special to our [Name of Environment] today. So please give a warm and rowdy welcome to my good friend, [Name of Small Group Leader]. Communicator brings preselected SGL to the stage. I m sure most of you have seen him around 45, but you may not have been aware just how cool [Name of Small Group Leader] is outside of this building. That s definitely understandable, but looks can be deceiving. Seriously, [Name of Small Group Leader] is one of the coolest people I know. I m getting some skeptical looks right now from the audience. That s ok. I m going to prove to you he is awesome. We are going to play a game called Truth or Lie. [Name of SGL] is going to say a statement into the microphone about his/her life. It could be true or a lie and it s intended to make yourself look really really cool. If I guess correctly then they have to spin the Pie Face dial 2 times. Then repeat the process but now I am going to say a statement or is true or not and if they get it correct then I have to spin the dial 2 times. We repeat tell someone gets pie faced. COMMUNICATOR: Great job to our Small Group Leader! Communicator dismisses SGL back to their seat. TENSION COMMUNICATOR: Obviously, our volunteer did not need the lies to make himself look any better. He is plenty cool without any exaggerations or tall tales. But the lies were part of the game.

12 252 Groups May 2017, Week 3 But if I can be honest for just a minute, I don t always feel very cool. When I hang around people who I know are really awesome, I feel lacking sometimes. In fact, this feeling causes me to want to make up stories about myself to seem better than I really am. Have you ever felt the need to lie to seem cooler or more important or to impress someone else? Maybe your buddy claimed he ate half a box of pizza last week. When you heard this, you blurted out a time when you ate 27 slices of pizza... in one sitting! It wasn t true, but everyone was impressed. Or maybe your friend told you about her upcoming trip to Six Flags [or another attraction spot that your kids would be familiar with] during summer break. This prompted you to talk about a time you and your cousin got locked inside Disney World overnight and got to ride all the rides... alone! Again, it wasn t true, but you felt important. You don t really need to lie... but you want the other person to think MORE of you. You want to seem IMPORTANT. Anyone relate to this? Well, let me tell you a story about a dude named Haman who lied to feel more important... and it didn t end so well for him. Bible CONNECTION: On your tables are a pile of Bibles. I want you grab one if you didn t already bring one from home and find our story for this week. I want you to turn to Esther 6:6. If you need help then find someone at your table to help you out and as soon as everyone has found it we will begin. [wait for students to find Esther 6:6] TRUTH COMMUNICATOR: Today I ve got a true story for you from the book of Esther in the Bible. I need your help to tell it. First of all, I need two actors to play two men in our story: Haman and Mordecai. Choose two older boys and bring them on stage. [Kid #1 s name], you ll be playing Haman. [Kid #2 s name], you re Mordecai. You can sit here by the palace. Move Mordecai to the chair (under the palace sign). The rest of you are the people of Persia. So anytime I say anything in the story about the people of Persia, you should act out what the story says. The king of Persia was named King Xerxes. His commands were the law of the land. Soon after Xerxes became king, he threw a party for all his most important officials. It was one wild festival... until the king gave an order for his queen, Vashti, to appear before him. And Vashti refused! Yikes! Xerxes was so angry that he banished Vashti and chose a new queen a young girl named Esther. Esther and her cousin Mordecai were Jews, but the king didn t know that. Esther and Mordecai and a lot of God s people had been captured and forced to live in a new land. Mordecai warned Esther not to tell anyone about her family or where she had come from. He was

13 252 Groups May 2017, Week 3 hoping to keep her safe. One day, King Xerxes promoted a man named Haman to second in command of the entire kingdom. Bring Haman over to the middle of the stage and give him the #2 hat. Haman thought he was a pretty big deal, especially when the king ordered that EVERYONE in Persia had to get down on their knees before Haman. (To the audience) You heard him, everyone. Get down on your knees and bow. MORDECAI REFUSES COMMUNICATOR: Everyone obeyed and bowed to Haman. Everyone, that is, but Mordecai. Walk over to Mordecai, who is still sitting in the chair. Haman wasn t happy about that at all. The royal officials tried to make Mordecai obey the king s command, but still, Mordecai refused to bow down. (To the audience) You all can sit back down. (To Haman) Haman, you can go over there to pout. Direct Haman to the opposite side of the room from Mordecai. Haman s anger and frustration grew. When he found out that Mordecai was a Jew, he began to hatch a terrible plan. Prompt Haman to stroke his chin and fold his arms. Haman went before the king. (To Haman) Haman, you can head to the palace. As Haman walks in front of the audience, make sure they all get on their knees, except Mordecai. When Haman gets to the palace, let the kids sit back down. Haman told the king that there were people living in Persia who were different from them. They did strange things. The king asked for more details what strange things were these strange people doing? Haman didn t really have a good answer. But that didn t stop him from making one up. He told the king that the Jewish people weren t obeying his laws. He insisted that the king shouldn t put up with them. And the king agreed. (To Haman) Haman, you can head back home for now. Direct Haman to go back to the other side of the room. As he walks in front of the audience, make sure they all get on their knees, except Mordecai. When Haman gets back to the other side, let the kids sit back down.

14 252 Groups May 2017, Week 3 The king even followed through on Haman s suggestion that all the Jewish people should be destroyed. Yikes! The king sent the command throughout the land that on a certain date, they would all be killed. He had no idea that his own queen, Esther, was Jewish. ESTHER FINDS OUT COMMUNICATOR: When Esther heard the news of Haman s new law from Mordecai, she had a difficult choice to make. No one was allowed to see the king uninvited. Would she risk her life to go talk to the king and ask if he would save her people? Or would she keep quiet and try to save herself? Esther bravely stepped into the king s throne room. The king held out his scepter to show that she would not be punished, and he asked her what she wanted. I ll give you anything, he told her. Esther knew she would have a better chance convincing the king in private, so she invited him to a special feast. She asked him to bring Haman too. (To Haman) Okay, Haman, you re invited. You can head back to the king s palace. As Haman walks in front of the audience, make sure they all get on their knees, except Mordecai. When Haman gets to the palace, let the kids sit back down. The king and Haman attended Esther s special feast, but she didn t ask for the king s help yet. Instead, she invited both men to return the next day for another feast. Haman left the festive meal and headed home in good spirits. Dinner with the queen two days in a row he must really be a big deal! As Haman walks in front of the audience, make sure they all get on their knees, except Mordecai. But as Haman passed through the palace gate, he saw that Mordecai refused to honor him by bowing or in this case, standing. It made Haman so mad! When Haman gets back to the other side, let the kids sit back down. Haman was rich. He was the queen s favorite or so he thought. But he couldn t enjoy any of it while Mordecai was around. He wanted so badly to get back at Mordecai and his people. But King Xerxes had JUST discovered something amazing. Years earlier, Mordecai had stopped a plot to kill the king! The next morning, Haman headed back to the palace. When Haman arrived, the king immediately asked for his help. As Haman walks in front of the audience, make sure they all get on their knees, except Mordecai. When Haman gets to the palace, let the kids sit back down.

15 252 Groups May 2017, Week 3 Open the Bible to Esther 6:6 and read. What should be done for the man I want to honor? (NIrV) demanded King Xerxes. Haman was certain that Xerxes wanted to honor him! Listen to what he told the king. Open the Bible to Esther 6:7-9 and read. Here is what you should do for the man you want to honor. Have your servants get a royal robe you have worn. Have them bring a horse you have ridden on. Have a royal mark placed on its head. Then give the robe and horse to one of your most noble princes. Let the robe be put on the man you want to honor. Let him be led on the horse through the city streets (Esther 6:7-9 NIrV). The king loved this plan. He told Haman to go and do all of these things... for Mordecai! That s right. I can almost imagine Haman screaming when the king delivered that news, can t you? He was out to get Mordecai. But instead, he had to honor Mordecai by leading him through the streets on the king s horse! Haman stalked home afterward to complain to his family and friends. But he still had one triumph to gloat over: that evening, he would dine again with the queen. As Haman walks in front of the audience, make sure they all get on their knees, except Mordecai. When Haman gets back to the other side, let the kids sit back down. ESTHER REVEALS THE PLOT COMMUNICATOR: A royal official soon arrived at his door and announced the feast was ready. Haman headed back to the palace. As Haman walks in front of the audience, make sure they all get on their knees, except Mordecai. When Haman gets to the palace, let the kids sit back down. At dinner, the king asked Esther once again what she wanted; he would give her anything. Esther knew this was her moment. She begged the king to let her and her people live. She told him that someone was out to destroy all the Jews. King Xerxes was furious and demanded to know who this was. Who was trying to kill his queen and her people? Esther told the king who was out to get them: Haman! WRAPPING UP THE STORY COMMUNICATOR: I can imagine it now the king leaping to his feet, his face flushed with anger, furious at Haman. That day, the plans that Haman had made for Mordecai were instead used on him. Yes, that day, Haman was put to death. He had used lies to take revenge, but his dishonest words and actions cost him his life. And through the brave actions of Esther and Mordecai, God s people, the Jews, were saved.

16 252 Groups May 2017, Week 3 Let s give our actors a big hand. Thank you both! Dismiss both boys to their seats. APPLICATION COMMUNICATOR: This is an amazing story of courage for Esther. For Haman and all of us, it is a lesson on the perils of lying. Haman enjoyed the power bestowed upon him... too much. When Mordecai refused to give him the respect Haman felt like he deserved, he lied to get Mordecai in trouble... to get even. He lied so he would no longer be disrespected... so he could be viewed as really, really important. That didn t end up working out so well for him not only did he have to parade his worst enemy around town and sing his praises, but he was put to death for conspiring against the queen! So why do we lie? Like Haman, we want to look better and feel important. However, instead of looking cool, we look foolish. Haman chose dishonesty in an effort to get Mordecai to respect him. Was Haman successful? Not even close. When we make up stuff to get ahead, it doesn t work. What does work is trusting God s plan. Trust God to take care of your life without you padding your stories with artificial fluff. LANDING COMMUNICATOR: As we wrap up today, I want you to about situations in life when you desire to be dishonest. In fact, as we split up to go to our Small Groups, think about this question. CG: Key Question Slide COMMUNICATOR: When are you tempted to lie? Before you all leave, let s pray. CG: Small group slide Timing - Goal is to end by 5:40, 9:40, or 11:40 Communicator leads group in a prayer related to what they just heard. After prayer, Communicator dismisses kids to Small Group.

17 252 Groups May 2017, Week 4 Bible Story: Confession/Being Honest with God 1 John 1:9 Bottom Line: Being truthful with God helps keep you close to Him. Key Question: What keeps you from being truthful? Memory Verse: Anyone who lives without blame walks safely. But anyone who takes a crooked path will get caught. Proverbs 10:9, (NIrV) Life App: Honesty Choosing to be truthful in whatever you say and do Communicator Props Large Note Pad Marker Popcorn Container Fountain Drink Milk Carton INTRODUCTION COMMUNICATOR: Hey, hey everybody! I want to jump right into today. Let s have a show of hands how many of you have ever heard of Build-A-Bear Stores? (Pause for response.) For those of you who don t know what I m talking about, these are stores where you can create your own stuffed animal. You pick out the softness, the fur color, the clothing, and the accessories. It s pretty fantastic. This morning, I want us to do something similar. Let s have a Build-a-Friend workshop! With the help of all of you in our audience today, we are going to build the ideal friend using this very advanced data storage receptacle (gesture to the pad) and this very sophisticated data transferal unit (gesture to marker). What I m going to need from everyone else are words that describe the IDEAL friend. If you ve got a word, raise your hand I ll call on you, you can share your word, and we can add it to the Build-a- Friend board. Make sense? Great! Let s get this show on the road! Communicator takes suggestions from the audience. Make sure trustworthy is listed on the paper somewhere if kids don t suggest it, go ahead and add it yourself. COMMUNICATOR: Okay, perfect! I think we ve got enough data here. Let me just fire up the Build-a- Friend app on my phone and we should be seeing our new, improved, ideal friend walking out from behind those curtains right over there... COMMUNICATOR: Aw, man. That s disappointing. Communicator fiddles with phone and builds up suspense with a long, excited pause, pulls the curtain to find a stuff animal or something the Communicator chooses.

18 252 Groups May 2017, Week 4 COMMUNICATOR: All right, you got me turns out you can t actually build yourself a new best friend with pen and paper. But I really like all of these words we came up with! (List off a few, then land on trustworthy.) I want to camp on the word trustworthy. TENSION COMMUNICATOR: That s an important one. Think about this for just a moment. If someone s going to be my best friend, they ve got to be someone who can keep my secrets safe. He or she needs to be someone I can be 100% honest with at all times. I will be reluctant to share any information with my friend if he or she cannot be trusted with the information. When you are nervous about the upcoming big test or disappointed you lost your temper again with your little sister, who do you go to? I d venture to say most everyone in this room has a great friend who knows everything about you, and you know you can go to that friend no matter what. Maybe it s a cousin or neighbor or classmate. Your friend knows how you feel about your teachers, where you keep all your best Pokémon cards, and who you have a crush on. Our friends are important people to have in our lives in both good times and bad times. We trust our best friends because that s what we want from our friends. Yet despite this, a lot of us can still experience a disconnect with someone who already knows all of our secrets and shortcomings God. Here is a question for you to think about: how often do you go to God with this information the important stuff? We encourage everyone in this room on a regular basis to trust God no matter what. We ve discussed God is always with you... no matter what. He s not going to leave you if you do something wrong or aren t truthful. So why is it so many of us shy away from telling God the truth? Can we have the same dialogue we have with our friends... but with God? TRUTH COMMUNICATOR: We know life will throw all kinds of situations our way. There are lots of ways we can deal with the situations. Sometimes we respond well and other times not so much. Today we are going to look at several scenarios to explore ways we can respond when we are forced to make a difficult choice. Communicator pulls out popcorn container and fountain drink. Scenario One: you and your friends go to the movies to see [name of popular kids movie in theatres]. You bought your tickets at the kiosk, you made it past the ticket taker, and now you re inside. One of your friends suggests that instead of seeing [previously mentioned movie], you all sneak into the theatre that s showing The Avengers: Infinity War instead. You know two things for certain: the Avengers movie is rated PG-13, and your parents told you that if you ever watched a PG-13 movie without their permission then you ll be grounded so hard that you could get part-time work as a lightning rod. Still, your other friends seem really into the idea, and you don t want to be the odd man out... so what do you do? (Pause for response.) You sneak into the movie. After the film ends, your parents pick you up out front and ask you how the movie was. You don t want to tell them you saw a PG-13 movie... so you make up details about [previously mentioned movie] to cover your tracks. That night, though, when you re snuggled up in your bed, you can t stop thinking

19 252 Groups May 2017, Week 4 about how you went to a movie you shouldn t have gone to AND you lied to your parents. You KNEW if you went, you d be forced to be dishonest. Why did you do it? How COULD you do it? You feel the worst. You want to hide under the covers til these awful feelings pass. However, even if your parents do not find out about what you did, that feeling of dishonesty creates a gap between you and God. It doesn t matter how many layers of blankets you use to hole up, God knows all and sees all. When we refuse to talk this out with God, refuse to confess, it creates a distance in your relationship with Him. Communicator puts down the popcorn container and fountain drink. Communicator picks up a Bible. Scenario Two: you ve made it through the entire school day without messing up once. You re the teacher s pet because you always do what s right, and you re pretty sure you even do what s right in the eyes of God. You just finished reading the entire book of 1 John in your Bible while you wait for your parents to pick you up after school. It s a part of your regular routine read your Bible in the most visible location during any free time at school. On this day, your parents are running a little bit late. No big deal. Next you put down your Bible and begin to pray for the safety of your parents as they travel to the school... out loud... so everyone around can hear. Just as you began spending focused prayer time on the proper tire pressure in your mom s car, you re interrupted by your friends. They are exploring the empty school and discovered gasp! the ice cream freezer in the cafeteria is left unlocked! And they want you to join in their illegal dairy buffet! You refuse, knowing you need to stay put and stay out of trouble. As soon as they are out of sight, you decide to report their intentions to the nearest carpool teacher because you have that feeling when you know something is wrong. Then you immediately look up 2 Kings 5, which says Anyone who lives without blame walks safely. But anyone who takes a crooked path will get caught, to support your reason for telling the truth to the teacher. When your friends find out you told on them, they will most likely apologize the teacher, the principle, and even you. And they ll end up thanking you for pointing out the error of their ways. Right? How many of you could see this scenario playing out in your lives word for word? Not many. Nobody in this room is perfect. Most us don t spend a morning sinless, much less a whole day. And I don t know many people who use all of their free time reading God s Word and praying. If we are being honest with ourselves, several of us in this room would have been tempted to join our buds for an ice cream sandwich... or two. All of us are far from perfect. And closeness with God starts when we can talk to Him honestly. Communicator puts down the Bible. Communicator picks up a milk carton. Scenario Three: It s 11:30 p.m. on a Friday night, and you ve got the munchies in a bad way. You veeery quietly creep out of your bed and veeeery quietly creep down the stairs and move veeeeery quietly into the kitchen and pour yourself a bowl of cereal with milk. You veeeery quietly eat your cereal, veeeeery quietly wash your bowl, veeeeeery quietly put it away, and veeeeery quietly go back up the stairs and into your bed. When you wake up the next morning, the entire downstairs smells like a skunk

20 252 Groups May 2017, Week 4 funeral being held at a dumpster convention. In your efforts to be veeeeery quiet, it appears you accidentally left the milk out... and open... overnight... in a warm kitchen. Your father is livid. He asks you fire in his eyes if you have any idea who could have left the milk out. You look him dead in the face and say, Who indeed, father? Who indeed? and puzzle thoughtfully over this mystery. Your dad still seems mad but doesn t seem to suspect you... so he moves on to ask your siblings. At first, you re amazed by your quick response to deny the truth... but the more you sit on your lie, the more uneasy you get. You feel the weight of the lie like a rock in your stomach, and it makes you feel queasy and heavy and just... bad. You decide to pray to God for guidance to help show you what the right thing to do is in this situation. After you open up to God, your heart feels a little lighter. You feel less scared, less nervous. You find the courage to tell your dad the truth you DID leave the milk out, and even though it was an accident, you are so, so sorry. Your dad is mad, sure... but y all have a good conversation about honesty, and he tells you he appreciates the fact that you confessed and told him the truth. APPLICATION COMMUNICATOR: Keep this in mind, it is impossible to keep secrets from God. He knows everything from your past, present, and future. He knows your thoughts, feelings, and actions. It is impossible to lie to God. So God already knows that none of us is perfect. Sin is simply when we do something wrong. Every one of us has sinned and come up way short of perfection. This is true about your Small Group Leaders, you parents, and me, too. Sin separates us from God. For example, when we make the choice to tell a lie, it further isolates us from God. But there is hope. Although we are not perfect, Jesus is! Because God loves you and wants to have a relationship with you, He gave us a way to overcome our sin. God sent Jesus to earth to live a perfect life and die on the cross to pay the cost of our sins. This is awesome news for all of us. When we have honest conversations with God, it draws us closer to Him. I love what it says in 1 John. It says (Open Bible and read 1 John 1:9), God is faithful and fair. If we admit that we have sinned, he will forgive us our sins. He will forgive every wrong thing we have done. He will make us pure (NIrV). When we understand this truth and live it out on a daily basis, God sees us like Jesus. LANDING COMMUNICATOR: Your closest relationships are built on honesty and love. The same is true for your relationship with God. CG: Key Question Slide COMMUNICATOR: As you head to your Small Groups, ask yourself this question: What keeps you from being truthful with God? Before you all leave, let s pray. Communicator leads group in a prayer related to what they just heard. After prayer, Communicator dismisses kids to

21 252 Groups May 2017, Week 4 CG: Small group slide Timing - Goal is to end by 5:40, 9:40, or 11:40 Small Group.