Building Trust in God: Living With Faith Week 5: Have Faith When You re in Trouble This includes: Leader Preparation Lesson Guide LEADER PREPARATION BIBLE BASIS Herod, in his jealousy, planned to kill Jesus, the newborn King. God could have made this problem for Jesus disappear get rid of Herod, send the host of angels to talk to him, or do something else creative and powerful. Instead, God simply spoke to Joseph in a dream and sent the family to live in Egypt. God doesn t always make our trouble disappear either. God whispers in our ears and reminds us that he s here. God gives us strength to get through the problem. Kids can learn to listen and have faith that God will be with them in times of trouble. DISCOVERY POINT Have faith when you re in trouble. BIBLE FOCUS Matthew 2:13-15 KEY VERSE The godly are rescued from trouble (Proverbs 11:8). TEACHING PREP The short overview below is designed to help you prepare for your lesson. Supplies You ll Need: Building Trust in God: Living With Faith (Year 3/Quarter 10) CD, LIVE Children s Curriculum (Year 3) DVD, CD player, TV/DVD player, Disappearing Act handout, Walk-Through Trouble handout, card stock, safety scissors, Bibles, newsprint, saltshaker, handkerchief, quarter, paper, and crayons Before This Lesson Print the Disappearing Act handout. Practice the saltshaker trick on the handout. Print two copies of the Walk-Through Trouble handout. Cut one handout as directed and keep the other to show kids as a reference. Set up a table (a small one is fine) for a simple illusion, and cover the front with newsprint or a tablecloth. Set a saltshaker on the table, and put a quarter on top of the saltshaker. Set a handkerchief or similar piece of cloth on the table. You may need to cover your saltshaker so kids don t see the quarter. Assemble Bible Exploration Kits (one per four kids): Bible, 8 1/2x11 sheet of card stock, pair of safety scissors, and one piece of paper and one crayon per child. Review Matthew 2:13-15. Cue "Into the Bible" (Track 1) on the Building Trust in God: Living With Faith (Year 3/Quarter 10) CD or (Quarter 10/Track 1) on the LIVE Children s Curriculum (Year 3) DVD. Huddle briefly with your volunteers beforehand. Answer any questions they have. Encourage them and pray.
PARENT EMAIL We ve provided you with a Family Devotion handout to send the Bible learning and faith discovery home. When kids and parents have faith discussions regularly, kids faith multiplies. So we ve given you two options: Print the Family Devotion handout and make enough copies for each child to take one home. Email the Family Devotion to families before or after the actual lesson. Or why not do both? That way you ll double the opportunities for parents to actually get the handout.
Building Trust in God: Living With Faith Week 5: Have Faith When You re in Trouble LESSON GUIDE WELCOME! Supplies: Building Trust in God: Living With Faith (Year 3/Quarter 10) CD, LIVE Children s Curriculum (Year 3) DVD, CD player, TV/DVD player, assembled Bible Exploration Kits 1. Play Into the Bible (Track 1) from the Building Trust in God: Living With Faith (Year 3/Quarter 10) CD or (Quarter 10/Track 1) from the LIVE Children s Curriculum (Year 3) DVD as kids arrive. Into the Bible Makes me wanna jump! Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump! Makes me wanna sing! Hallelujah! It s the greatest book. Come and take a look. Makes me wanna shout! Shout! Shout! Shout! Shout! So that everyone will see I m getting into the Bible And the Bible...is getting into me! We re discovering a brand-new world As we dig a little deeper (deeper), Finding out about who God is. Open it up and see it (see it)! There s nothin like God s Word, and I get So excited. It makes me wanna, Makes me, Makes me wanna jump! Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump! Makes me wanna sing! Hallelujah! It s the greatest book. Come and take a look. Makes me wanna shout! Shout! Shout! Shout! Shout! So that everyone will see I m getting into the Bible And the Bible...is getting into me! Into the Bible by Jay Stocker. 2006 Group Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission to use lyrics granted for local church use only. No unauthorized duplication permitted.
2. Ask kids to form Bible Crews of four, and give each crew a Bible Exploration Kit. SAY: I have a challenge for you. Find the thick paper in your kit. Work with your crew to cut a hole big enough so that every person on your crew can walk through that paper. It s possible; you just have to have faith and figure it out! Talk through your ideas first, because you only have one piece of paper. You ll see in your kits there s no tape or glue, just a piece of paper and scissors. That s all you have to work with. 3. Give crews five minutes to brainstorm and try to cut the hole. If a crew figures out the solution, let the crew share with the other crews. After five minutes, start the Penguin Countdown (Quarter 10/Countdown Track 1) on the LIVE Children s Curriculum (Year 3) DVD, and have the kids count down with you. (If no one successfully got an entire crew through the paper, show kids how to cut a sheet of card stock according Walk-Through Trouble handout.) 4. What were you thinking as you attempted to cut a hole you all could fit through? What helped you get through this troubling challenge? What has helped you get through troubling challenges in life? SAY: The situation I gave you seemed impossible! You had to get a whole person through a piece of paper. When you face trouble in your own life, you have two possible responses. First, you might say, I m never going to get through this! and give up. Or you could say, God has a plan to get me through this! and have faith that he will. Today we ll see how Jesus family got through some trouble and learn that you can have faith when you re in trouble, just like Jesus family did! LET S EXPLORE! Supplies: assembled Bible Exploration Kits, prepared illusion 1. Gather kids near the table you set up before the lesson. SAY: I can make things disappear! Pause for reaction. Then direct kids attention to the prepared saltshaker. SAY: I ll prove it by making this saltshaker disappear. Cover the coin and saltshaker you prepared before the lesson with a handkerchief. Wave the saltshaker and quarter back and forth, keeping them covered with the handkerchief. As you wave them back and forth, secretly drop the saltshaker into your lap while still holding the coin so it looks like you re still holding the saltshaker. Then suddenly smash the handkerchief down on the table. When have you wished you could just disappear so you didn t have to face a problem? 2. Have kids take their Bibles out of their Bible Exploration Kits and open them to Matthew 2:13-15. SAY: God doesn t usually make us disappear or make our problems disappear. But he did make Jesus family disappear when Jesus was in danger. Read about it with your Bible Crew in Matthew 2:13-15. Then create three frozen scenes to summarize the story, one for each verse. For example, if I wanted to create a frozen scene of the shepherds when the angels appeared to them to announce Jesus birth, I might do this. Look up and act surprised. You ll need one reader in your group. The rest will be actors.
Give crews about five minutes to read and make up their frozen scenes. Then have crews do their scenes as their readers read the verses aloud. 3. When everyone has shared their frozen scenes, Why was it important for God to make Jesus family disappear? Why doesn t God always choose a miracle to save us from trouble? When have you experienced God with you in a time of trouble? SAY: God loves each one of us, and he helps us when we need him. We can have faith when we re in trouble. God doesn t always choose a miracle to make us or our problems disappear. But God is always with us when we re in trouble. 4. Have kids form two large groups. Explain that kids in each group will think of times they found themselves in trouble and needed a solution. For example, maybe someone got lost in a scary place. Then the group will come up with a way for everyone in that group to act out that situation and how they feel when they face that trouble. After three minutes for group discussion, have each group act out its situation. After everyone has acted, SAY: In your group, think of a solution that shows you have faith in God when you re in that kind of trouble. And, yes, you ll act out the solution, too! Give groups three minutes to decide on a solution and a way to act it out. Then have groups act out their solutions for the other group. How did these solutions show you have faith in God when you re in trouble? Think of a troubling situation you faced recently or you re facing now. What is one way you can make sure you have faith to get through that situation? SAY: You can have faith when you re in trouble. God might not take you away from the trouble. God might not even make the trouble disappear. But God will be with you no matter what. Just have faith in God, and know that he s there. LET S PRAISE! Supplies: Building Trust in God: Living With Faith (Year 3/Quarter 10) CD, LIVE Children s Curriculum (Year 3) DVD, CD player, TV/DVD player 1. Why do we praise God? How does praising God help us have faith when we re in trouble? SAY: We praise God because he has done so many things that deserve our faith and praise. When we praise God, we remember how powerful God is and how much God loves us. Praising God shows him our appreciation for loving us enough to help us get through trouble. Let s praise God for that now! 2. Set up the Building Trust in God: Living With Faith (Year 3/Quarter 10) CD or the LIVE Children s Curriculum (Year 3) DVD. PLAY: Love is (1 Corinthians 13:4-5) (CD Track 2) (DVD Quarter 10/Track 2) Love is patient, Love is kind, It does not envy, It does not boast, It is not proud. It is not rude,
It s not self-seeking, Not easily angered, It keeps no record of wrongs. (No!) Love keeps no record of wrongs. Love is, love is Love is, love is (Repeat from the beginning.) Love is, love is Love is, love is Love Is (1 Corinthians 13:4-5) by Carol Smith. 2003 Group Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission to use lyrics granted for local church use only. No unauthorized duplication permitted. Everyone Who Believes (John 3:15) (CD Track 5) (DVD Quarter 10/Track 5) He gave it all So that we could live. He shed his blood; He gave all that he could give, All that he could give, Would have eternal life. Would have eternal life, eternal life. He gave it all So that we could live. He shed his blood; He gave all that he could give, All that he could give, Would have eternal life. Would have eternal life, eternal life, Eternal life. Would have eternal life. Would have eternal life, eternal life. Everyone Who Believes (John 3:15) by Jay Stocker. 2011 Group Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission to use lyrics granted for local church use only. No unauthorized duplication permitted. Living by the Spirit (Galatians 5:25) (CD Track 6) (DVD Quarter 10/Track 6)
God has given us a path To follow each and every day. We will listen, and we will live it out; Never doubt that God is leading. God has given us a path To follow each and every day. We will listen, and we will live it out; Never doubt that God is leading. Living by the Spirit (Galatians 5:25) by Jay Stocker. 2011 Group Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission to use lyrics granted for local church use only. No unauthorized duplication permitted. LET S PRAY! Supplies: assembled Bible Exploration Kits 1. Have kids find the paper and crayons in their Bible Exploration Kits. SAY: We all face trouble every now and then. Maybe it s kids at school making fun of us. Or it could be problems at home. Think about trouble you re facing right now, and draw a picture of it or write a paragraph about it on your paper.
2. Allow time for kids to draw or write. Then read the Key Verse, Proverbs 11:8, aloud: The godly are rescued from trouble. SAY: That means God is there for the people who love and follow him. Let s ask God now to rescue us from the trouble we face. Spend time in quiet prayer just you and God. When you finish, crumple up your paper. Pause as kids pray. When everyone has crumpled his or her paper, SAY: Now take off one shoe, and put the paper inside it. Then put the shoe back on. Pause as kids do this. Why doesn t prayer always take our troubles away? How does God rescue you from the trouble you wrote down? 3. SAY: We can have faith when we re in trouble. But that doesn t mean God will make our trouble disappear. You still notice the trouble, even though it seemed to disappear. God does rescue us, though. He rescues us by staying with us when we re in trouble. Pray silently again to thank God for rescuing you from trouble. Then take your trouble out of your shoe and throw it away. HIGH FIVES Supplies: none Have Bible Crews create a frozen scene to show faith in God. For example, they could freeze in a kneeling position. Then have kids do their frozen scene for at least one other crew and give high fives to everyone on that crew. FOR-EXTRA-TIME ACTIVITIES Disappearing Act, Take Two Supplies: 1 heavy object (a book or folding chair, for example) per Bible Crew Explain that one person on each Bible Crew will attempt to face troubles that are extremely difficult to face. Then have the person with the next birthday stand up and hold the heavy object at arm s length, parallel to the floor. While this child is struggling with this trouble, talk about how hard it is. When it s apparent that the person is starting to struggle more, have the rest of the crew help. How was this experience like or not like the way God helps us when we re in trouble? More Faith, More Power Supplies: saltshaker, quarter, handkerchief Have kids practice the disappearing act you performed in the lesson or create a disappearing act of their own. Encourage kids to use the disappearing act to tell their families about how God helped Jesus and his family through trouble. Hiding It in Your Heart Supplies: none Play a game of Freeze Tag to help kids think about how God might rescue them from trouble. You ll be Trouble, while the children try to run from you. When you tag children, they will freeze in position until they repeat the Key Verse, Proverbs 11:8, The godly are rescued from trouble. After the game, talk about how God helps us when we face trouble.
Create a Bible Dictionary Supplies: paper, markers, dictionary, CD player, Building Trust in God: Living With Faith (Year 3/Quarter 10) CD Ask kids to create one or more pages, each with a new word, for a Bible dictionary. Have kids suggest words from today s lesson rescue and trouble are two suggestions. Have them write each word on a sheet of paper in fun letters, add a definition, list Scripture references, and make illustrations. Play The Books of the Bible Song (Track 8), from the Building Trust in God: Living With Faith (Year 3/Quarter 10) CD while kids work. Add each page to a three-ring binder, and watch the dictionary grow!