Tournament- Round One (Sunday games) Self Control (Pop bottle) (Please hold the pop bottle over the tub provided when you open it to prevent it from making a mess on the floor.) Opener: Shake the bottle of pop up. As you are shaking the pop, explain that life has its shake-ups, too. Life s shake-ups are times when we feel a lot of pressure. For example, perhaps teasing from a sibling shakes you up; maybe it is feeling as though you re not getting your fair share or being treated unjustly. Maybe your team is losing a close game and you don t feel that the refs are making right calls, etc. Next, take the top off the bottle of pop and fizz from the pop will fly everywhere. Explain that when we lack self-control, we are just like the bottle of pop. Just as the pop flying everywhere makes a mess, we make messes when we lack self-control. Discuss Problem: What exactly is self control? It s eating just ONE of your favorite cookies when you are starving, controlling your speech and actions when you some makes your really mad. It s stopping a video game when you re about to complete a level to go do your homework. Why do we sometime lose self-control? (we don t think first, we are angry, we are only thinking about ourselves and how we are being effected) Discuss the Consequences: What kinds of messes do we get into when we lose self-control? (we hurt people s feelings, we get in trouble, others see that we are not displaying a Christ-like response) What does the Bible say: Proverbs 29:11 A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control. Application: Can you think of some things or people that make you lose self control? The Bible says that self-control is one of the fruits of the spirit. This means if we have Jesus in our lives, this is one of the traits we should be showing others. Self control is important for things like eating healthy, using your time wisely, etc. Self control comes for a growing relationship with God. It s one of the evidences that the Holy Spirit is working in your life. Once the pop is out of the bottle and has made a mess everywhere is it easy to get it back in the bottle and make it as it was before? No, and the same is true when we lose self-control. Once we lose our temper or say things we later regret, it s impossible to put them back. What are some things you can do this week to have better control?
Tournament- Round 2 (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday games) Honesty Opener: Tanner s reputation for being honest earned him a mention in the Scorecard column in the July 10, 1989, issue of Sports Illustrated magazine. During a T-ball game in Wellington, Florida, Tanner attempted to tag a player leaving first base. When the umpire called the player out, Tanner immediately informed the umpire that he hadn t managed to tag the runner. Two weeks later, Tanner encountered the same umpire in another T-ball game. This time, Tanner was playing short-stop and tagged a runner as they approached third base. When the umpire called the player safe, Tanner didn t say a word, but the umpire noticed his surprise at the call. Did you tag the runner? she asked Tanner. When Tanner affirmed that he had, the umpire changed her decision and called the player out. When the coaches and other parents protested, the umpire stood by her decision, informing them that she had learned to trust Tanner, because of his honesty. To read the original article http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/mag1068563/3/index.htm Discuss Problem: Today we are going to talk about honesty. Why do you think the umpire in the story trusted Tanner the second time? (because he had shown himself to be honest even when he could have gotten away with not be truthful about not tagging the runner.) Did you notice how Tanner handled the umpire s wrong call the second time? (He didn t say a word, even though he knew he had tagged him, he was willing to accept the bad call.) Why don t we always tell the truth? (We are scared of getting in trouble, we don t want to get in a confrontation, we don t think anyone will know, we want to make our story more interesting) Discuss Consequences: What happens when we don t tell the truth? (People won t know when to believe us, others won t trust what we say. we have to keep telling other lies to cover it up, others can get hurt by our lies) What does the Bible say: Proverbs 12:19 Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment. And in Proverbs 12:22 it says that the Lord delights in the truth.
Application: Is it hard to honest all the time? Do you have friends that you believe whatever they tell you? And, then do you have friends who always exaggerate their stories and tell you things that you aren t sure are true? Have you ever lied to your parents and then wished you hadn t? Have you ever told a lie and then had to tell another one to cover up the first one? If God delights in the truth then how to you think he feels about dishonesty? If you get trapped in a lie what should you do?
Tournament- Final Games (Friday and Saturday) Responsibility (broken item) Opener: Show them a broken item. Ask them how they think it got broken. Someone had to have broken it. It might have been a mistake or an accident. Maybe someone did it on purpose. Either way.someone was responsible for breaking it. People not taking responsibility for their actions is a major problem in the world today. Making excuses for our mistakes doesn t really fool many people and it certainly doesn t fool God. Discuss Problem: Today we are going to talk about responsibility. Why is it important for you to be responsible with your things? Your toys? Video games? Your actions? (because you want to keep them nice, you don t want to lose them, your parents paid money for them, you need to apologize and make things right when you make a mistake) Why are there times when you aren t always responsible? (being careless, don t care, don t think about what might happen) Discuss Consequence: What happens when we are not responsible with things? (Things get lost and broken, we lose our homework and don t do well at school, we lose our car keys, our phone, ipod then it cost extra money to replace them.) What happens when we don t take responsibility for our actions? (Our parents, teachers and other adults won t trust us with bigger responsibilities, we won t be given privileges that we might want if we have proven we can t handle it) What does the Bible say: Luke 12:48 From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. Application: This verse is telling us that we have proven we can be responsible what the few things we have then God and others will trust us with even more. What do you think happens if we don t prove ourselves responsible with what we have? For older kids- Can you think of athletes, actors, singers, etc. in the media who are constantly blaming other people and circumstances for their behavior and choices?
Each person is responsible for his/her own actions, behavior, and choices. You are accountable to your family and friends, or anyone else your behavior affects. Most importantly you are accountable to God. When you mess up, you need to admit it, apologize for it, and learn from it. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. How you behave after the mistake shows a lot about your character. Take responsibility and be honest about your actions.