Kindness lesson 2. Fruit of the Spirit. Elisha traps blinded Arameans. Episode 2. 2 Kings 6:8 23

Transcription

1 Kindness lesson 2 Fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5:22 The fruit of the Spirit is kindness Kindness Going out of your way to make others happy. Episode 2 Elisha traps blinded Arameans 2 Kings 6:8 23 MEMORY VERSE Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. 1 Thessalonians 5:15 KEY POINT Remember to treat even your enemies with kindness. Lesson 2 page 12

2 Let s Play EARLY ARRIVAL (before service) Have some upbeat music playing. Welcome children warmly. Have some simple toys available to make the environment welcoming. Teachers should take this time to engage in conversation with children as they sit to play with them. Ask them about their week, school, and home. Begin to establish relationships. BEGIN CLASS (service time) Introduce yourself and your assistants. Before the discussion questions, PRAY that the Lord will bless your time together. Have a set of supplies for yourself to demonstrate as you explain. SUPPLIES for game Four bandanas or scarves PREP it : : : instructions 1 Divide children into two teams (boys vs. girls). 2 Have the girls form a wide circle. 3 Select one girl in the circle and tie the bandana around her neck like a bowtie. 4 Select another girl and have her stand in the center of the circle. 5 Do the same with the boys. 6 The objective will be for the child in the center to capture or tag the child with the bowtie. The first team to tag the correct person wins. PLAY it : : : instructions 1 Before you say go, say that you forgot one thing, and then blindfold the child in the center of the circle by covering his or her eyes with another bandana. lesson 2 Kindergarten 1 st grade page 13

3 2 When 3 Say you are ready to begin again, say you forgot something else. The children in the circle will walk around so that the blindfolded child won t know where his or her target is. In other words, instead of spinning the one who is it, the whole circle spins. go. CONNECTit CONNECT it : : : SAY This game was but a bit tricky, wasn t it? The kids in the center thought this was going to be a piece of cake until I blinded you, and then I made it even tougher when the circle started to move around. We re going to read a story about a real war against God s people in Israel. Something similar happened to their enemies. They thought they were going to capture the prophet of God easily. They surround the city, but just before the invasion, they really were blinded and then the prophet tricked them. At the end, when Israel s king had an opportunity to take the enemy captive, he... well, I don t want to spoil this great story for you. Let s watch Virtuality now to learn exactly what happened to the prophet and to Israel s enemies. Later we ll read the entire story in the Bible. We are going to learn how God wants us to treat our enemies. WATCH it : : : Go to large group to see the Virtuality DVD, Fruit of the Spirit Series DVD (VOLUME 5, EPISODE 2) lesson 2 Kindergarten 1 st grade page 14

4 Let s Talk Bible BIBLE STORY : : : Elisha traps blinded Arameans 2 Kings 6:8 23 BE PREPARED Read the Bible story and study the background information at home. Before you begin reading today s Bible story tell children the background information in your own words. BACKGROUND information : : : SAY IT in your own words There are two great prophets in the Old Testament with similar names Elijah and Elisha. The first, Elijah, was well-respected and considered to be one of the greatest prophets. He is even recognized in the New Testament during Jesus transfiguration. As the men watched, Jesus appearance changed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothing became dazzling white. Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus (Matthew 17:2 3 NLT). What is interesting is that Elijah never died. That s right; he was taken to heaven alive! Elijah was training Elisha to be his replacement as Israel s next prophet of God. He would have been a tough man to replace in the hearts of the people, so Elisha asked for a double portion of his spirit (or his power) as a prophet. This may sound greedy, but it wasn t because Elisha s motive was pure; he wanted to serve God as well as Elijah had, if not better. God granted his request, and that s when it happened: As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11). God took Elijah to heaven alive and He also granted Elisha s request. Elisha s ministry lasted twice as long and he did twice as many miracles as his teacher Elijah. Some of the miracles were big (he raised two people from the dead), others were really small (he retrieved an ax that had fallen into the river by making it float up). This shows that nothing is too big or too small to pray to God about. God cares about our big problems as well as our small problems. We re reading today about another miracle that Elisha asked God for and was granted. This story will teach us the importance of kindness toward everyone, even those we consider our enemies. Let s go to the Bible and read about this amazing miracle. lesson 2 Kindergarten 1 st grade page 15

5 PREP it : : : props and characters 1. Select a few children to act out portions of the story as you read it. If you don t have enough children, they can play multiple roles in the different sections of the story. These are the characters.» King of Aram» King of Aram s officers» Elisha» Elisha s servant» Israel s guards» King of Israel 2. If you are able, bring a few of these props from home to enhance the story.» A toy sword for Israel s king» Two crowns for the kings READ SCRIPTURE READ Bible Story : : : 2 KINGS 6:8 23 Before you begin reading, set up Elisha, his servant and the king of Israel on one side of the room and the king of Aram with his offi cers on the opposite side. The king of Aram was at war with Israel. He had a council meeting with his officers. He said, (King of Aram, say to your offi cers:) I will set up my camp in this place. (King of Aram, point to a location in the room.) But Elisha sent a message to the king of Israel. It said, (Elisha, write a note and give it to your servant. Servant, take the note to Israel s king. King, read it:) Be careful! Don t pass that place. The Arameans are going down there! (King of Israel, walk to the place where Aram s king pointed out and leave a guard there.) The king of Israel checked the place about which Elisha had warned him. Elisha warned him several times. So the king added guards in those places. (King of Aram, point somewhere else, and king of Israel, leave another guard there. Do this several times.) The king of Aram was angry about this. He called his officers together. He said to them, (King of Aram, look angry at your offi cers and say:) Tell me who of us is working for the king of Israel. One of the officers of the king of Aram said, No, my master and king. It s Elisha, the prophet from Israel. He can tell you what you speak in your lesson 2 Kindergarten 1 st grade page 16

6 bedroom. (One of Aram s offi cers say, It s not us! It s Elisha. ) The king said, Go and find him. Then I can send men and catch him. The servants came back and reported, He is in Dothan. Then the king sent horses, chariots and a large army to Dothan. They arrived at night and surrounded the city. (Aram s offi cers, hide surrounding Elisha and his servant while they sleep.) The servant of Elisha got up early. When he went out, he saw an army with horses and chariots all around the city. The servant said to Elisha, (Elisha s servant, look around and look scared) Oh, my master, what can we do? Elisha said, Don t be afraid. The army that fights for us is larger than the one against us. (Elisha, yawn and stretch from your sleep unafraid.) Then Elisha prayed, Lord, open my servant s eyes. Let him see. The Lord opened the eyes of the young man. And he saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (Servant, look around astonished and say, Wow! God is protecting us. ) As the enemy came down toward Elisha, he prayed to the Lord. He said, Make these people blind. So the Lord made the Aramean army blind, as Elisha had asked. (Aram s offi cers, start to walk toward Elisha, then go blind. Hold your eyes and say, We can t see; we can t see! ) Elisha said to them, This is not the right road. This is not the right city. Follow me. I ll take you to the man you are looking for. Then Elisha led them to Samaria. (Elisha and his servant, guide the officers to the king of Israel.) After they entered Samaria, Elisha said, Lord, open these men s eyes so they can see. So the Lord opened their eyes. And the Aramean army saw that they were inside the city of Samaria! (Aram s offi cers, open your eyes and scream, Ahhh, it was a trick! We re captured. ) The king of Israel saw the Aramean army. He said to Elisha, (King, takes your sword and say:) My father, should I kill them? Should I kill them? Elisha answered, (Elisha, stand in front of the captured offi cers to protect them.) Don t kill them. You wouldn t kill people whom you captured with your sword and bow. Give them food and water. And let them eat and drink. Then let them go home to their master. (Everyone, shout, We re having a party! ) So he prepared a great feast for the Aramean army. They ate and drank. lesson 2 Kindergarten 1 st grade page 17

7 Then the king sent them away. They went home to their master. (Aram s offi cers, go back to your king and say, We got captured and they gave us a nice party. ) The soldiers of Aram did not come anymore into the land of Israel. (King of Aram, look shocked and say, I can t fi ght kindness. I give up. ) CONNECTIT MEMORYVERSE KEYPOINT CONNECT it : : : SAY Our memory verse tells us to... Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. 1 Thessalonians 5:15 When the Aramean army found themselves in enemy hands, they expected to be treated exactly how they would have treated Elisha if they had captured him. But they received kindness instead. (2 Kings 6:8-23) If Israel had killed the captured officers, the war would have continued. Nothing would have changed. The world will see God s goodness when we do the unexpected. Being kind isn t easy to do, especially when you have the chance for payback But we learned last week that the Bible tells us not to do that. For it is written, I will take vengeance; I will repay those who deserve it, says the Lord (Romans 12:19 NLT). God decides how to take care of those who do wrong, whether with the punishment they deserve or His grace which they don t deserve. It s not up to us. What are we supposed to do instead? Remember to treat even your enemies with kindness. PRAYER LET S PRAY : : : SAY Dear God, Thank You for always taking care of us. Help us to treat everyone with kindness, especially those who aren t so nice to us. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen. lesson 2 Kindergarten 1 st grade page 18

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9 Let s Review This Month s Verse KINDNESS THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS KINDNESS Going out of your way to make others happy. TODAY S LESSON Bible Story Elisha traps blinded Arameans Location 2 Kings 6:8 23 Memory Verse Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. 1 Thessalonians 5:15 Key Point Remember to treat even your enemies with kindness. TIME FILLERS Ask if anyone would like to play the teacher and review today s lesson with the class. Play games to help children memorize today s Bible memory verse. TAKE HOME SHEETS VIRTUE Quest is the take-home sheet designed for children to do with their parents. The sheet contains information about today s lesson. The goal is to partner with parents to continue and to reiterate the lesson. Be sure to hand all parents a sheet as they pick up their children. lesson 2 page 20