THANKFULNESS Unit Objectives: Thankfulness is not a natural stance. It is a decided attitude, a practiced way of life, and an important part of our relationship with God. As we cultivate thankfulness we are drawn into a deeper relationship with our Savior and with others. Week One Shadow of Entitlement The abundance in our culture brings much to be grateful for and, unfortunately, it also breeds a sense of entitlement. Entitlement shadows our joy in giving and ruins gratefulness and contentment. Even Jesus disciples struggled with this! Twice Jesus uses the supper table to teach the lesson of humility emphasizing its value as far more important than the recognition of men. As Living Prisms we face the crucial decision to be thankful, to present our thanksgiving to God, and to engage in a life of humility and service. Supply List: Arrival time music. Opening Activity: Something is Missing: Blue and yellow washable paints, 1 paintbrush, scrap paper for painting, 1 pencil, 20 sheets of plain paper for drawing (can be scrap paper), 1 can of play dough, 2 bowls of candy, 1 tape measure, instruction sheets for each table (see template). Worship Time music (2-3 songs of your choice). Living Prism Graphic - one for each Shepherd group. Paper and pencil one for each student for Shepherd Time. NOTE: Blue Prism Cards and White Shadow Cards WILL NOT BE USED THIS WEEK. Experiential Worship Prop: Shout It Out, No props. Experiential Activity: Enough? One small bowl of small unwrapped candies like M & M s or Skittles for each shepherd group. One empty paper or plastic cup and one plastic spoon for each group. Cultural Link: Jimmy Kimmel, I Ate All Your Halloween Candy prank. Select the video you like from on-line. Movie Clips: Cars, 2006, Pixar Animations Closing Activity: Give It Away One small pack of candy for each student that is the same candy as used in Large Group. Teacher and Shepherd Preparation: Lead Teacher: Read through the lesson carefully to familiarize yourself with all the activities you will lead. There is a change to the Momentum Rituals this week. Read and be familiar with Mark 10:35-41 and Luke 14:7-14. Watch the movie listed above if time permits. Shepherds: Read through instructions for Shepherd Time. You will need to set your room for this activity and note the change in cards that students will be filling out. Be familiar with Mark 10:35-41 and Luke 14:7-14 and the talk points in Shepherd Circle during Large Group time. 1
Arrival Time Arrival Time Music Select two to three songs that play in a loop for arrival time. Play them each week of the unit. Both students and parents will become familiar with them. Our suggestions: Thank You, Hillsong, 2010, A Beautiful Exchange Thank You for Saving Me, Delirious, 1994, Cutting Edge Once Again, Matt Redman, 2009, The Friendship and the Fear Forever, Chris Tomlin, 2001, The Noise We Make Arrival Time Opening Activity: Something is Missing Create art stations at different tables but omit key props or supplies that would be needed for everyone to participate easily. Tell students that instructions are at each station and must be carefully followed. Let students know you will divide them into groups to go to a specific table and that they will have 5 minutes to complete the projects after you say GO. If they finish their project and it is correct, perfect, and truly completed they may exchange the project for candy for their group. Ask one or two shepherds to hold a bowl of candy in view of students to offer enticement. They should walk around during this activity and talk about how good the candy looks, ask students questions like, What is your favorite candy? etc. Keep in mind that students may complain or be very uncomfortable during this activity as finishing the projects perfectly is impossible. You may see some students try to come up with ideas, some just quit and not try, some complain and get cranky, etc. This will be a teaching point. Encourage them to keep trying. The point of the game is help them notice what is missing and how they feel about it. Station One: Painting. On this table place only two colors of washable paint, one paintbrush, and plenty of any kind of paper. Print out and place on this table instructions telling students to paint a rainbow with correct colors. Station Two: Drawing. On this table place plenty of regular sized paper and only one pencil. The instructions will tell students to draw a sunset with appropriate colors that is 8 feet wide. Station Three: Art Dough. On the third table place one can of play dough. Instructions here will tell students to make a snake that is 10 feet long. NOTE: You will want to duplicate these stations offering more than one painting station, drawing station, etc. if you have a large group of students. Plan to offer one station per every 10-12 students in your program. Lead Teacher you will need a tape measure just in case a group wants you to measure a completed project. Lead Teacher Discussion: Was that fun or frustrating? Why was it frustrating? (Did not have what we needed, no way to complete it with what we had, wanted candy and could not have it, etc.) When we told you to go to the table and complete the project, what were you expecting? Where you expecting to have everything you need? Why? 2
Did any of you give up? Why? Did any of you keep trying to figure out the solution? Why? Did you have a positive or negative attitude during the activity? This weekend and next as Thanksgiving draws near, we are going to pause from studying Old Testament characters and turn our hearts and minds toward the Living Prism character trait of thankfulness. To understand what it means to be thankful, we must also understand the shadow of the attitude of entitlement. Entitlement is a big word that basically means we think we should have what we want or need just because. because we are a good person, because it has always been provided for us, because we go to church, because it is our right, because the teacher said so, because we have earned it You can insert your own reason into this! Entitlement is the opposite of thankfulness. And, we are going to examine that Living Prism trait today. Worship Time: Your Worship Team can greet students and lead them in two to three songs, depending on time available. Consider adding an experiential worship activity instead of or in addition to at least one weekend during each unit. Experiential worship idea for the unit: Shout It Out Play a song of praise and thanksgiving. Ask students to refrain from singing but instead to shout out what they are grateful for while the song plays. You can have them all shouting at once, or ask them to take turns. Be ready to share what you are thankful for too so you can set the example. Shepherd Time Shepherds Today s Shepherd Time will be different from what the students are accustomed and will take a little extra time. You may need to bring items from home to use today. Also note that Blue and White cards will not be used today. Before Shepherd Time begins change up your classroom to make the kids really uncomfortable. Ideas: There won t be enough chairs around the table. Place only two or three for your whole group. Provide only broken yucky crayons for the students for writing. Make your table dirty. (Clean up afterwards, of course!) Bring something smelly from home to place in your classroom. You can open a can of tuna fish and place it on the table, or bring really stinky shoes, etc. If you usually serve a snack or treat, don t bring any. Make one of the girls go to the boys group and one of the boy s go to the girls group. Exchange leaders with groups. If you meet with the same group each week, change to another group. Only give instructions by writing them on a piece of paper and passing it around the group. Come up with your own ideas! Be creative and think of what students may take for granted chairs, cleanliness, pencils, treats, each other, good verbal instructions, etc. 3
When the kids come into the room, watch their expressions. Hand each one a piece of paper and ask them to make a list of things for which they are thankful. After a minute or two have the kids come in around you if they are not already sitting or standing close to you. Today s Topic Related to Living Prism Theme: Do you take for granted what is usually provided for you at church? Are you a little uncomfortable right now with the way our classroom is set up? Day in and day out all around us what we have, our environment, and our possessions, each other those are all conditions that should bring forth thankfulness in our hearts and minds instead of an attitude that we are entitled to it all. Sometimes, we get upset over not having things others have. Today you might have been unhappy about not having a chair when others did. You might have thought to yourself, We have always had chairs. But do you really need a chair to have church? We open ourselves up to ungratefulness and bring in the attitude of entitlement when we compare our situation to other people or what is usually available to us. When we compare to better times or people in better situations our thankfulness can fly out the window. For example, we complain about not being able to eat a favorite restaurant or have our favorite foods at home when we are accustomed to doing so. But, we would not complain about those things after volunteering in a homeless shelter. Having a lot and having a lot of options tends to create an attitude of entitlement. (Share the laminated color Living Prism Graphic with your students. Hand out the individual cards made for the students and pencils or pens.) This is our Living Prism Graphic. As Living Prisms we have the privilege of shining the light of God for others to see. The attitude of entitlement is a shadow that dims God s light as it comes between us and God and between us and others. Let s practice Thankfulness today by spending our prayer time in thanksgiving. (Lead your group in such a prayer. You can use the idea below or come up with your own.) Experiential Prayer Idea for Thanksgiving Unit: Silent Prayers of Thanksgiving Have students spread out or just bow their heads where they sit. Ask them to spend two minutes in prayer telling God what they are thankful for without stopping during the two minutes. It may seem difficult to some of them to fill up the whole two minutes talking to God about ONLY that which they are thankful. Encourage them to try this activity every day at home setting a timer so they can build up to 5 minutes. Large Group Time Lead Teacher: Go through Momentum metaphors and rituals but NOTE the changes for today s lesson: Living Prism: (have the Living Prism graphic on the screen) - In Momentum everything we study and learn goes back to this idea (point to the screen). We are Living Prisms for God! Share with me a few ideas on how we can shine the light of God to others so that they can see it? Poem: In Momentum we believe in living intentionally for God. So, we say this poem together each week to remind us: (Lead Teacher Only one life; Students Will soon be passed; Lead Only what s done; Students for Christ will last.) This reminds us that our lives are finite that means they will not go on forever. When a day has passed, it is gone. When a week has passed, it is gone. 4
Rock: We use this box of rocks to remind us of the passing of time and for us to be intentional about living lives for God. Each week we throw one rock out the door to symbolize a week that has now passed and to ask ourselves, Did I live intentionally for God this week? (Select a student and throw the rock.) Blue and White Cards and Offerings: Not using these today. See next. Thanksgiving Lists: In Shepherd Time today you had the opportunity to write a list of things for which you were grateful. Instead of dropping our blue and white cards off today we are going to share our lists of Thanksgiving. So, right now I want you find a partner and when you hear the music begin to play softly, I want you to share what you are thankful for. (Cue the music. Give the first person 30 seconds to 1 minute and then cue them to switch to the other partner.) Lead Teacher: Intro to Today s Lesson Was it easy for you to create your list of things for which you are thankful? Why or why not? Was it easy to share? Why or why not? When your partner shared his/her list did it help you to think of other things for which you are thankful? Thankfulness is something we choose. Did you know you could be in the midst of great difficulty, tragedy, or lack and still be thankful? How do you think that is possible? (choice and practice). The more we practice thankfulness the easier it becomes. If you regularly practice the attitude and act of thankfulness your list will grow! And it will become easier to share those things with others. And, as you share thankfulness it will encourage others to do the same. Also, as you practice thankfulness, the shadow of entitlement will shrink growing smaller and smaller because those two things thankfulness and entitlement - cannot exist at the same time. Entitlement hides in the shadow of darkness. Thankfulness stands in the light of God. Cultural Link: Jimmy Kimmel s I Ate All Your Halloween Candy, prank. Lead Teacher Introduce the video: When we lose something or when something is taken from us that we feel entitled to, we can have a strong reaction. Let s watch this video to see that kind of reaction. (Play selected video.) Lead Teacher Discuss: What do you think about the reactions you saw in the video? Were those kids entitled to their candy? Why or why not? How could an attitude of thankfulness changed their reactions? Could you relate to how they felt? Why? We can all relate because we have all felt entitled at one time or the other. That sense of entitlement creates anger or sadness or the desire to even retaliate. It is not always easy to be thankful. We are going to continue to explore the shadow of entitlement and the Living Prism characteristic of thankfulness by exploring a couple of stories that will shed light on how Jesus taught his disciples about thankfulness and entitlement. Shepherd Circle Shepherds examine the two scripture passages with your students. Tell the story from these passages in your own words. You can pick out significant verses you want to read to your students. The talk points below are as guide. You can choose which ones you discuss based on the needs of your group. 5
Luke 14:1-14: Jesus was at a Sabbath meal at the house of a prominent religious leader. The man was a Pharisee. The leaders of the Pharisees were both curious and sneaky when it came to Jesus. Often what Jesus said or did made them mad and in their eyes Jesus did wrong when he healed on the Sabbath as all work was forbidden on the Sabbath. They also knew of the miraculous things Jesus did and could not deny that. Jesus sets them up to remain without an argument when he questions them both before and after the healing. Then Jesus watches how the Pharisees arrange themselves around the meal table. In his time, where you sat at the table the closer to the host the better was symbolic of your importance. The Pharisees all go straight for the best seats! Jesus takes the moment to teach his disciples. He tells them the way to be exalted in God s eyes is through humility not self-importance. When you are surprised with praise or recognized as important when you least expect it, how does that feel? When you are feeling like the top dog and someone moves you down, how does that feel? The Pharisees did not come to the Sabbath meal with thankfulness and a heart to thank God for all He had done. They came in arrogance looking to accuse Jesus and they came with the spirit of entitlement for the best seats. Mark 10:35-45 Now we see the disciples with the same struggle of entitlement as the Pharisees. James and John want the best seats in heaven! They ask Jesus to make the arrangements! Jesus tells them they would have to drink the cup he is about to drink. That means they would have to suffer and die taking on the sins of the world just as he was going to in the near future. They say, We can. They did not really know what that meant. Jesus indicates that they will know suffering and both of them did eventually die for their faith, but Jesus also reminds them that only God has the authority to determine who sits where in heaven and that he will not go against His father. James and John were not focused on thankfulness but entitlement. The other disciples overhear the conversation and become angry. They are not angry that James and John bothered Jesus. They were angry that James and John would try to outdo them and get ahead of them even in eternity! Jesus reminds them all that things that are valued in the world money, power, prestige are opposite for the Kingdom of God. In God s Kingdom serving others in humility is the greatest position. How do you think an attitude of thankfulness would help you to desire to serve others? (When we are thankful we want to help others with less, we are not focused on who has more or what but can genuinely love and serve all kinds of people, we take our minds off what we are entitled to and the opportunities to serve become obvious) Experiential Activity: Enough? Pass out one bowl of small unwrapped candies (like M & M s or Skittles), one plastic spoon, and one paper or plastic cup to each Shepherd Group. Instruct students not to touch these items until you give further instructions. 6
Now ask one person in each group to take the cup and put it on the floor at either the front or the back of the room. (Let shepherd groups close to the front place the cup at front of room and groups toward the back place their cup at the back of the room.) After they place the cup up against the wall on the floor they may go sit back down. Let students know that their objective is to move the candy, one piece at a time, from the bowl to their team s cup using the plastic spoon. Each person must take a turn and then start over and take another turn in the same order taking a piece of candy to the cup. They may start over as many times as time allows. Only one person at a time may get up from the table/floor. If they drop the candy, they must pick up the dirty piece and take it to the trash and then go back and get another piece and start over. If they take more than one, the shepherd must go get the cup and empty it back into the bowl and they must start over. Let students know the cue to start will be music. When they hear music begin to play (choose an upbeat song), they can begin. They will be allowed to keep and eat the candy that is in the cup if they happen to be touching the cup when the music stops. Lead Teacher cue the music to begin. Let students play for 1-2 minutes. (The trick to this game is that students must determine some candy is enough and keep a person at the cup touching it rather than trying to race to put more and more into the cup. The main point is that we focus on getting more rather than saying we have enough.) Lead Teacher: After the activity ends, debrief and summarize: Did you have fun racing to put candy in your cup? Why or why not? Was it easy? Why or why not? Were any of you touching the cup when I stopped the game? If you were, how did you pull that off? (most likely coincidental) For those of you who had no one touching the cup, why not? What were most of you focused on during this game? (Getting candy into the cup most likely, not dropping it, waiting for my turn, etc.) Did any of you stop to consider that you could have just said, We have enough candy in our cup. Then one of your group members could have just stayed at the cup touching the cup rather than continuing to fill it? It is our human nature to focus on getting more rather than finding contentment with less. Most of you switched into a competitive mode or were focused on filling that cup. Maybe a few of you were considering that you could stop and enjoy what you already had in the cup. When you think about your life, are you content with what is in your cup? Can you stop and focus on thankfulness? Or are you focused on getting more? Jesus reminded his disciples many times that the road to greatness in God s Kingdom started with humility. In a place of humility we can truly be thankful for all the good things in our lives and we are able to say, Enough. Movie Clip from Cars, 2006, Walt Disney Pixar Animations Lead Teacher Set up the clip: In this scene, Lightning McQueen thinks he is a one man show. He races to the finish ignoring his pit crew. He thinks he is a winner and entitled to the limelight. Play Clip from 7:20 to 10:50. 7
Lead Teach Discuss: Lightning disrespects those who help him instead of being grateful for their help. He lavishes the limelight. How would thankfulness have changed that situation? Then he takes the stage thinking he is a winner when he is not actually the winner and embarrasses himself. How would contentment have prevented him for embarrassment? Is it more fun to win and have the spotlight or to celebrate others? Why? Does Jesus teaching on contentment and thankfulness challenge you? Why or why not? Closing Activity This activity can be done in Large Group setting or after the students are dismissed to parent pick up locations. Lead Teacher or Shepherd: I am going to give you something to take home today. It is a small package of candy. But, let me tell you what you are to do with this candy. This candy is not for you to eat. It is not for you to save for later. This week your mission is to practice thankfulness and humility and serving others. I want you to look around at the people who you see each day this coming week. Ask God to help you identify a person who needs your encouragement someone you can serve. At home, consider writing that person a note or think about what you will say to them. Then give away this candy to that person and your words of encouragement. After spend time thanking God for the opportunity to bless someone. I know you probably noticed this is the same candy that was used in the game we played. And, you may be thinking that you deserve this since you didn t get any or did not get much during the game. But, I want you to remember that we are going to throw off the shadow of entitlement and instead choose thankfulness this week! (Close in prayer thanking God for the opportunities He will provide your students to serve others.) 8