LESSON SNAPSHOT BOTTOM LINE: God wants us to have faith like a child. OBJECTIVE: Kids will learn that they have the kind of faith God can use to follow Him. KEY PASSAGE: Luke 18:15-17, The Little Children MEMORY VERSE: I can do all this by the power of Christ. He gives me strength. - Philippians 4:13 (NIrV) SUMMARY: Sometimes we think that we won t have the kind of faith that God wants us to have until we are grown ups. But kids will learn that Jesus recognized that they have a special faith to see and follow him right now. SIMPLE PRAYER: Dear God, Help us to keep a child-like faith all of our lives so we can follow you. In Jesus name, Amen KIDS BIBLE: YOU
MEMORY VERSE I can do all things through him who gives me strength. - Philippians 4:13 (NIV) I can do all this by the power of Christ. He gives me strength. - Philippians 4:13 (NIrV) LARGE GROUP: Split the main group in two. See which group can recite the memory verse from memory the loudest. SMALL GROUP: Without putting the verse on display or looking it up, see how many kids can recite the memory verse. KIDS BIBLE: YOU
SKIT A KID LIKE YOU ITEMS NEEDED: Biblical costumes CHARACTER BREAKDOWN: 2M/1F CHARACTERS: Miriam- Moses sister Josiah- The boy king David- The shepherd boy Miriam, Josiah, and David enter. MIRIAM: Hello, I m Miriam. JOSIAH: I m King Josiah. DAVID: And I m David the shepherd boy. Over the last several weeks, you ve learned about kids like us. I killed a giant. JOSIAH: I brought my people back to God. MIRIAM: And I saved my brother from certain death! JOSIAH: Today s story isn t about one of us. It s about a kid who s not in the Bible. It s all about you. DAVID: You mean that kid right there? JOSIAH: No. I mean yes, that kid, but every other kid in here too. KIDS BIBLE: YOU
SKIT DAVID: All of them? JOSIAH: All of them! MIRIAM: Even the girls? JOSIAH: Yes, even the girls. MIRIAM: All right! JOSIAH: Maybe you ve heard our stories and thought, That s really cool, but I could never do anything great. Well that s just not true. All it takes to follow God is faith. DAVID: And guess what? You have the faith it takes to follow God! MIRIAM: There are a lot of things that require you to grow up before you can do them, but having faith is not one of them. JOSIAH: In fact, Jesus said that anyone who wants to follow him has to have faith like a child. MIRIAM: That goes for you grown-ups too! JOSIAH: If you have faith like a child, you have all you need to follow God. DAVID: And when you follow God, you ll do great things. JOSIAH: Following God is the greatest decision you can make. And when you start following him as a child MIRIAM: You ll follow him all your life. DAVID: So follow Jesus. Have faith like a child. And one day, you too will kill a nine-foot tall giant. MIRIAM: Or not! DAVID: Okay, probably not, but you can still do great things because of your faith. KIDS BIBLE: YOU
OBJECT LESSON OR KIDS SERMON ITEMS NEEDED: M&Ms Can small things make a big difference? Can something small make something big happen? Can something small make things a little bit better? Bring out the M&Ms. You tell me: do these small things make your day a little brighter? Pass out some M&Ms. M&Ms may be small, but they bring a big smile to kids and adults. M&Ms can cheer you up on a bad day. They make it worth your time to finish up a yucky dinner. I guess they can have a big impact, can t they? Jesus said that anyone who wants to follow him has to have faith not like a grown up, but like a little child. Children have active imaginations, and they can dream bigger than adults. God wants us to keep that child-like capacity to dream and believe so that we can do great things for the Lord. Faith like a child, not a grown up, is one of the keys to following Christ. Have faith, and God will do big things with your life - starting now. KIDS BIBLE: YOU
LARGE GROUP GAME SORT RAINBOW ITEM NEEDED: A bag of Skittles INSTRUCTIONS: Choose two players for this game. Dump an entire bag of Skittles in the center of a table. The players have 60 seconds to work together and sort the Skittles by color on the table. If they can group the colors in 60 seconds or less, they win a prize. VARIATION: Use a small bag for small kids and a giant bag for the big kids. WHAT S POINT? Kids may be small, but it takes the faith of a kid to follow Jesus. KIDS BIBLE: YOU
LARGE GROUP LESSON BOTTOM LINE: God wants us to have faith like a child. OBJECTIVE: Kids will learn that they have the kind of faith God can use to follow Him. KEY PASSAGE: Luke 18:15-17, The Little Children INTRO Over the last several weeks, we ve met a lot of kids in the Bible. We started with John the Baptist, who showed us that even kids have a purpose. Joseph reminded us that God is always watching over us. Miriam showed us that we can help others in need. Samuel taught us to listen for God s voice. David showed us how God gives us strength. Josiah taught us how we can lead others to Jesus. And Jesus himself showed us that we can find wisdom from God. Today, we re not going to talk about another kid, though there are still plenty of kids with great stories in the Bible. These kids, like the ones we ve met, were called and used and empowered by God. Their stories were written down to remind kids and grown ups of the power of God. Today, however, the one kid we re concerned with is you. It s good to know what God did for kids like Miriam, David, and Josiah, but if we don t apply what we ve learned to ourselves, what have we really learned? God doesn t want us to be content knowing what he s done. He wants us to realize he can do the same things for us! How do I know God has a plan for your lives? For one thing, God has brought all of you here today to hear this message. Many of you have been here for every lesson in this series. He wanted you to hear this, and I hope, to share it with other kids your age. Yes, you are just kids. Yes, you are limited in the things you can do because of your size and your age. KIDS BIBLE: YOU
LARGE GROUP LESSON But God can use you now, and in doing so, prepare you to serve him all of your life. But how can God use me? you say. I m just a kid. Do you know what Jesus had to say about kids? Let me show you how Jesus felt about kids. READ LUKE 18:15-17 MAIN POINT This is the greatest story in the gospels if you re a kid. Here s Jesus, welcoming and blessing all these children. The disciples are trying to shoo the kids and their parents away. Get these kids out of here! Jesus doesn t have time for kids. He s busy with grown up stuff. What does Jesus say? Let the children come to me! Do not hinder them! That means, do not block them or get in their way. Then Jesus puts the disciples and everyone in their place when he declares that anyone who wants to follow him needs to have faith like a child. It is a child-like faith, not a grown up faith, that Jesus desires. There are a lot of things you have to wait for, being a kid, but having the faith to follow Jesus is not one of them! DRIVE IT HOME What makes a child s faith different than an adult s? Kids have imagination. They are able to see, to think, to dream in a way that most adults have forgotten how to do. Kids have no trouble believing in things like walking on water, the great flood, Jonah and the whale, and even David and Goliath. They believe. They trust. And because they believe, they are able to draw closer to Jesus. God doesn t want us to lose that child-like faith as we grow up. He wants us to keep it so we can continue growing in our faith. Faith helps us to keep going when life gets hard. It keeps us believing when we go through tough times. If you remember nothing else from this series, remember this: that you, as a child, can have the faith needed to follow God. You can have a relationship with Jesus, who died for you. You can have strength, wisdom, and courage... all of the traits of the godly kids we ve met in this series. The choice is yours. Jesus extends the invitation to everyone, and he s waiting for your response. If you ve already given your heart to Jesus, renew that commitment. Let God know that you are in it for life, and ask him to fill you with his Spirit. If you ve never given your heart to Jesus, today could be your day. Talk to your small group leader or a parent about what it means to follow Jesus. KIDS BIBLE: YOU
LARGE GROUP LESSON God wants to use you to change the world, and he doesn t want to wait. Let Jesus know you believe. Tell him today. Let him come in to your life so that you can be a part of the work God is doing. It takes the faith of a child to follow Christ. Have faith, follow Jesus, and see what he can do with you, even though you are just a kid! CLOSE WITH A SIMPLE PRAYER Dear God, Help us to keep a child-like faith all our lives so we can follow you. In Jesus name, Amen KIDS BIBLE: YOU
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION (K-2ND) ICEBREAKER What s a cool thing that kids can do that adults cannot? MEMORY VERSE ACTIVITY Philippians 4:13 Without putting the verse on display or looking it up, see how many kids can recite the memory verse. SMALL GROUP GAME/ACTIVITY Have the kids make up a skit based on today s scripture. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Read Luke 18:15-17 Why were all the adults bringing their kids to Jesus? What did the disciples say to the adults? What did Jesus say to the disciples? What kind of faith does Jesus want us to have? How can we receive Jesus as our Savior? SIMPLE PRAYER Dear God, Thank you for Jesus, and for the love you have for kids. Give us a child-like faith so that we can follow you all our lives. In Jesus name, Amen KIDS BIBLE: YOU
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION (3-5TH) ICEBREAKER What s a cool thing that kids can do that adults cannot? MEMORY VERSE ACTIVITY Philippians 4:13 Without putting the verse on display or looking it up, see how many kids can recite the memory verse. SMALL GROUP GAME/ACTIVITY Have the kids make up a skit based on today s scripture. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Read Luke 18:15-17 Why did the disciples try to stop the kids? What did Jesus say to the disciples? Why does Jesus want us to have a child-like faith? How can we place our faith in Jesus? What can we do if we have the faith of a child? SIMPLE PRAYER Dear God, Thank you for Jesus, and for the love you have for kids. Give us a child-like faith so that we can follow you all our lives. In Jesus name, Amen KIDS BIBLE: YOU
POWERPOINT REVIEW GAME Do you remember who this was? This kid saved her baby brother from certain doom and reunited him with his mother. MIRIAM This kid was sold into slavery by his brothers but later saved their lives. JOSEPH This child king brought his people back to God. JOSIAH God called this kid to be a prophet when he was still a boy. SAMUEL This kid flipped in his mother s belly when Mary, the mother of Jesus, came for a visit. JOHN BAPTIST This kid was found in the temple talking with the priests. JESUS This kid killed a giant. DAVID KIDS BIBLE: YOU
5 Simple Ways You Can Make This Lesson Stick With Your Kids THIS WEEK S LESSON: YOU IN CAR: Ask your child what they learned about this week on the drive home: Sometimes we think that we won t have the kind of faith that God wants us to have until we are grown ups. But kids will learn that Jesus recognized that they have a special faith to see and follow him right now. Luke 18:15-17, The Little Children HANGING OUT: Make this week s lesson real: Tell your kids about a time you had to have faith and God provided for you. AT DINNER: Here are some great discussion starters: - Why were the disciples trying to stop the parents from bringing their kids to Jesus? - What did Jesus say to the disciples? - What kind of faith do we need to follow Jesus? AT BEDTIME: Quiz your child on this week s memory verse: I can do all this by the power of Christ. He gives me strength. - Philippians 4:13 (NIrV) PARENT TIME: What you need to know: Have you lost the child-like faith you once had? Pray that God will give you that faith and instill the same faith in your children all through their lives. KIDS BIBLE: YOU
I can do all this by the power of Christ. He gives me strength. - Philippians 4:13 (NIrV) I can do all this by the power of Christ. He gives me strength. - Philippians 4:13 (NIrV) I can do all this by the power of Christ. He gives me strength. - Philippians 4:13 (NIrV) I can do all this by the power of Christ. He gives me strength. - Philippians 4:13 (NIrV) CUT ON DASHED LINE
CRAFT ACTIVITY Have the kids color or draw a picture of Jesus welcoming the children. KIDS BIBLE: YOU