How to Earn Eternal Rewards

How to Earn Eternal Rewards Lesson 1: My Reward- Giving God DiscipleLand.com 800.284.0158

How to Earn Eternal Rewards TM Lesson 1 My Reward-Giving God Unit Summary God loves to reward His children for their hard work, obedience, and service on earth not only with blessings in this life, but with rewards in the life to come. The Bible teaches that every attitude, thought, and action has both earthly and eternal consequences. For believers, bad attitudes, negative thoughts, and selfish actions will burn up at Christ s judgment seat. But God will reward good attitudes, positive thoughts, and selfless actions, generously multiplying their value in heaven. This is both assuring as we know that we ll be forgiven for our failures, and also motivating as we understand that we ll be rewarded for the good things we do. Lesson Summary So often children are told do this and don t do that and can come to view God as a heavenly rule giver instead of a heavenly reward giver. Our heavenly Father delights in rewarding His children for their obedience and godly choices, not only in this life, but in the life to come. Understanding this reality can change a child s perception of God and serve as a motivator to please God. Paul s Power Principle: God loves to reward His children! Disciple TargETs In this lesson, your children will... Know Eternal rewards are God s bonus for doing good works FEEl Eager to invest their talents for the Lord Do Look for opportunities to use their abilities for God and His kingdom 1

SUppliES General Supplies Bibles, puppets, video projection (optional) Pencils, pens, paper Spark Interest WELCOME!: music, prizes LET S PLAY!: beanbags assortment of miscellaneous buckets, trash cans, boxes, etc. Explore Scripture LET S LEARN: none KEYVERSE: no additional supplies Inspire Action DRAMATIZE THE POINT: various props PowerPoint Presentation As you plan your lesson, select PowerPoint slides that correspond to the lesson elements you choose. In the Slide Sorter View, you can rearrange and/or delete the slides as necessary. For descriptions of the included slides and tips on their use, see the notes accompanying each slide. SPARK INTEREST Choose from the following activities and ideas to engage kids and grab their attention. How to Earn Eternal Rewards Lesson 1 2013, DiscipleLand. All rights reserved. Karl Bastian / Kidology.org Welcome! Who Will Help? As kids arrive, have some music playing and just let them mingle and have some free time before you start. However, have a few obvious things wrong with the room that could use correcting. For example, a trash can knocked over with trash on the floor. Some soda cans in the middle of the room. Perhaps a poster that has fallen or some books that are scattered. Have some leaders assigned to see if any children see the messes and stop to pick them up without being asked to. If they do, note who they are; then in the opening time, call them up and explain to the group that you had some messes in the opening time and these kids helped fix those messes without being asked. Give them a really nice gift or prize. If no one does it, point out the messes and tell what you would have given if someone had done it! Talk about how eager you were to reward someone for doing these things and how you enjoyed watching to see who would do them. Talk about how God is the same way. He delights in rewarding His children for doing good things. Then introduce the unit you are beginning this week. 2

Let s Meet-n-Greet! Encourage the children to turn and greet the children to their right and left; if they already know them, have them greet someone nearby that they do not know. Ask them to find out the names of the new kids. Ask the kids if they met anyone new, and ask them to introduce their new acquaintances. After the first child has done so, give a small reward to the child who shared and the person who was introduced. Others will start raising their hands. Continue to reward those who share. Comment on how you noticed an increase in hands when you started to give out rewards. Rewards motivate us. Then give a little something extra to the first child who shared without knowing that he or she would get a reward. Leaders, be sure to stop whatever you are doing to move through the audience and greet the children, especially those you do not recognize. Announce any birthdays for the week. (See the How to Use DiscipleTown guide for quick and easy ways to acknowledge visitors and birthdays.) Let s Worship! As you open in worship, mention to the kids that when we follow Jesus we are winners every day in this life and forever! God is worthy of our praise and expressions of thanks for all He does for us. He has saved us, which we didn t deserve; but on top of that, He delights in giving us rewards. That makes us winners! The song below talks about how we win every day because of God. Recommended Song: I Win Everyday from Love Out Loud, available at Kidology.org. Puppet Intro Leader & puppet introduce today s lesson. You will find a scripted version of this intro at the end of the lesson. Puppet* comes out carrying a toy catalog (or a printout from a toy website), and he is all excited. He has circled things that he wants from the catalog. Leader asks Puppet what he is doing. Puppet explains that he just learned that God loves to gives rewards to His children, so he is making a list of things for God to give him when he gets to heaven. It s kinda like my Christmas list, only it s my heavenly list! Leader explains that it is true that God loves to reward His children, but it isn t with toys. God gives blessings and rewards that are far better and will last far longer! *PUPPET: Develop a puppet character to use regularly. The children will get to know the personality and enjoy these regular visits. Dee, Cy, and Paul puppets are available at DiscipleLand.com. 3

Let s Play! Beanbag Buckets! Supplies: beanbags (at least four per player, but six to eight is better, ten to twelve is fun!), slips of paper, assortment of miscellaneous buckets, trash cans, boxes, etc. Each container should be marked with a point value such as 25, 50, 75, and 100, based on level of difficulty. (Some factors that can add difficulty could be distance from the thrower and size of the opening.) All your hard work won t be worth a pile of beans unless you are investing in eternity! NOTE: There is a twist to the games in this unit. While the games stand alone as fun activities, each winner will be given an important choice. The winner gets to choose: (1) keep the prize now, or (2) draw a name from everyone present to give the prize away to and instead get a prize at the end of the unit. There should be no pressure to make one choice or the other. They have earned the prizes, but on the last week of the unit the prizes they earn will be much better! (Don t tell them that.) Choose several contestants from the audience to come up and play. Give each one a collection of beanbags. The containers should be about ten feet away, but adjust the distance based on your room and the age of the children. Place the buckets close together so that if a beanbag misses one, it may go into another one. Point out the value of each bucket and the points a child will receive if a beanbag lands in that container. Each player throws all his/her beanbags; then add up the score. The highest score wins. If there is a tie, have a tiebreaker with fewer beanbags. Or for a speedier toss-off, you can have them alternate tossing until one person scores. (Always let them have an equal number of turns. If the first toss makes 25 points, the second person gets a chance to match or beat that number.) The Point: Mention that you noticed that the players seem to aim for the higher-point buckets. Ask the audience why they think this is. (The contestants wanted to win!) In the same way, in our lives, shouldn t we live in such a way that we will get the most reward out of life? Living for God is simply the smartest way to live because God will reward us for a life well lived. Be sure to give the winner the choice: get a prize now, or draw a name to give the prize to and get a different prize later. Connect with Your Kids Teaching is more effective when the teacher is impacted by the lesson in a personal way and the students are able to make a connection to the teacher through this personal impact. One of the keys to this lesson is expressing the joy in a reward that was not expected. Can you think of a time when someone gave you a gift or reward you were not expecting because of something you had done? An unexpected expression of thanks means so much. Share your story and then explain that God loves to do this for His own children. We don t live for God in order to get rewards, but knowing that God loves to reward us is exciting and adds joy life. 4

DiscipleTown Visitor Farmer Frank: Dressed in overalls, work boots, and a straw hat; he has a bandana hanging out of his pocket. An exaggerated accent would add to the fun. Props: Small bag of bean seeds (or dry white kidney beans), potting soil, six-pocket seedling planter (cut from an egg carton) [Farmer arrives carrying egg carton prepared with soil; the seeds should be in a separate bag.] Farmer Frank: Well, look at this! What a wonderful bunch of young eager farmers. I am so glad you came to my talk today. Leader: Uh, hello there! Farmer: [Extends his hand.] Farmer Frank s the name, and planting is my game! Time to edumacate these young-uns! If you don t mind! Leader: Well, all right, but be quick. Ha ha. Frank: Well it goes like this. I have me my ready soil, and I am going to plant me a garden. My favorite vegetables are carrots, green peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans, and lettuce. I am going to plant me a garden salad! I need some help, though. Can I get a helper? [Choose a child to help Frank.] So I am going to get you to hold my pots of soil and I am going to get out my trusty bag of seeds and plant my garden salad. [Gets out his bag of beans and reaches in to grab one seed.] First, I am going to plant the carrots. [Pokes a hole in the soil of the first pod and plants the seed and covers it up. Then reaching into the same bag of seeds, he pulls out a second seed.] Next I m going to plan the green peppers. [He pokes a hole in the soil of the second pod and plants the seed and covers it up. He pulls out a third seed from the same bag of beans.] Now I m going to plant cucumbers. [Goes through the same routine. At this point the kids are going to realize that the farmer is confused and may begin to challenge his ideas. If time is short you can reduce the number of seeds he plants.] Three more left, this seed [Holds up seed] will give me yummy tomatoes. [He pokes a hole in the soil of the fourth pod and plants the seed and covers it up. Then reaching into the same bag of seeds, he pulls out a fifth seed.] This yummy seed will be Leader: Um, Farmer Frank, are you sure you have that right? I mean, you are wanting to plant a whole bunch of different things, but you are using the exact same seed. Frank: Ahh, you are a keen one, aren t you! But I ve been farming a long time. I can grow a whole garden from this bag of seeds. Leader: A whole garden of beans, yes, but not a whole garden of different vegetables! Frank: You re right, [leader name]. Sadly a lot of Christians think that this is how farming works. A lot of Christians think that they can plant seeds of going to church every Sunday and reap rewards of great value in heaven. Leader: That s true, we need to be good stewards of the things God has given us. We need to plant the things that God says are important. Frank: That s right! If we plant selfishness, we will reap the rewards of selfishness. If we plant humility, we will reap the rewards of humility. We will reap what we sow, both in this life and in the life to come. Leader: Thank you for reminding us of this. As for your garden, I don t think you are going to get much out of this one! Frank: Ha ha, you re right, this won t amount to a hill of beans! Leader: Well, maybe just a few beans. Thank you, Farmer Frank. Frank: I will! Bye, young farmers! [Exits.] 5

EXPLORE SCRIPTURE Seize on the children s interest and direct them into God s Word. Let s Search! Bible Dash Supplies: Bibles Ask all kids with Bibles to participate, or invite a few volunteers to come to the front. As children hold Bibles closed with hands on covers, state the Bible reference twice, then on the command SEARCH! have the students race to locate the verse. Once they have a finger on the verse, they can stand and call out, FOUND IT! Have the first child read the verse aloud while you project the verse on a screen via PowerPoint. See suggestions below for comments on each verse. Keep your comments brief and to the point of the lesson. Jeremiah 17:10 Hebrews 11:6 Matthew 19:29 Psalm 58:11 Daniel 12:13 Revelation 22:12 He searches so He may reward. God rewards sincere seekers. We ll receive more than we give up for God. There is a reward for those who live for God. There is an inheritance for us from God. Jesus is coming again to reward. Paul s Power Principle: God loves to reward His children! Let s Learn! My Reward-Giving God Have you ever won an award or prize? Allow kids to share. Those are great. Those are awards you earned. You ran the race or won the contest and were awarded. It s a great feeling. Have you ever been given a reward, something you didn t expect to get? Allow responses, this takes more effort on the children to answer. The Bible teaches that everything we do will have eternal consequences. Consequence is a big word that means something that will happen because of something else. Read Galatians 6:7 9. These verses teach us that everything we do in life matters. Both the good and the bad things we do will have consequences, both in this life and in the life to come. It often seems that bad people are getting away with things, doesn t it? Have you ever seen a kid at school who did something bad and didn t get caught? Maybe you ve even gotten away with something! Read: Psalm 58:11. God says the righteous will be rewarded. Righteous is a big word that means people who do what is right. No one is getting away with anything in this life even if they aren t caught or seem to get away with it. Read Luke 12:2. That s why we need to plant good things in our lives! Read: Proverbs 11:18. What is the coolest thing you can imagine about heaven? What would make it the most amazing place possible? Allow responses and encourage creative answers, such as A mountain of LEGOS or Ice cream for breakfast. 6

Optional: Do a quick game of Pictionary in which children come up and draw on a board something they think would be really neat to have in heaven; let the audience try to guess what they are drawing. The Bible says that we can t even imagine how great heaven is going to be! Read 1 Corinthians 2:9-10. If it is true that God will judge everything, and that He will reward those who do good things, what effect should that have on our lives and the way we live? Allow responses. Suggested Bible Narrative Matthew 25:14 30 Parable of the Talents Supplies: brown lunch sacks of gold (play money or candy bars) Paraphrase this story, bringing three children on stage individually at the appropriate point in the story. Hand each child a bag of gold in accordance with the passage (5, 2, 1). As you describe each businessperson and what he or she accomplished, stand next to one of the children. When you finish the story, reward the first two by doubling their amount, and have the last one give the one bag to the child with ten! Then reward them all equally for helping with the story. Ask the children what talents God has given them. You may mention the three Ts time, talents, and treasures. These are three things we can give to God to earn rewards. Ask for examples of each. Dee s Disciple Tip: The irony of getting rewards from God is that it is when we aren t seeking them that we earn the most. It is when we are focused on loving God and others that God enjoys rewarding us. When we are focused on getting rewards, then we start to think we deserve them. The truth is, we don t deserve anything from God. That is the meaning of the word grace getting what we don t deserve. Therefore, each week let s look at one of four character traits that get our focus off ourselves and onto others. In the end, these are the traits that God will reward not because we sought them, but because they please God. Humility Putting the Focus on Others Unlike what many think, humility is not a low opinion of oneself. It is instead an honest opinion of oneself and a desire to focus on others. There is nothing wrong with recognizing what you are good at and having a healthy sense of pride in yourself. God gave you the gifts and talents you have. You just need to remember they come from God and not brag about them (1 Corinthians 4:7) and not think about yourself more highly than you ought to (Romans 12:3). 7

KeyVerse Topic: God Rewards Us Reference: Jeremiah 17:10 Preparation: Before the children arrive, print the verse out on four to six pieces of paper. Fold them and tape each one under a different chair. (If you do not sit in chairs, hide them somewhere in the room, but chairs are ideal.) Have the kids go on a search to find the KeyVerse. They may get up and go searching around the room. As each paper is found, ask the child who found it to read the verse. (Do this every time a piece of paper is found; repetition is good.) Read Acts 17:26 27. God wants to be found, and He is not far away. Sometimes people go to far-off places to find God, but He is near to each of us. We just need to be looking for Him. And God is also searching. He is searching our hearts and minds and looking to see who will live for Him so that He can reward us for the good that we do. Display and read the KeyVerse again together, and challenge your students to work on memorizing it this week. 8

INSPIRE ACTION Encourage kids to apply the Bible truth to their lives. Dramatize the Point Going the Extra Mile Part 1 Transition dialogue for Leader: If possible, try to transition to this sketch by ending with a comment something along these lines: Don t forget; this week we go for the extra mile. Characters/Costumes: Stanley and Justus are in regular clothes; Poor Billy and Five Poor Folk are dressed in disheveled, torn, dirty layers. (There should be a significant visual distinction between them and Stanley and Justus.) [Poor folk enter first and sit in a huddle on stage left. Stanley is sitting on a chair or stage step, reading his Bible with a case of bottled water beside him (or under his chair) on stage right. Justus enters stage left, passing the poor folk, to meet this friend on stage right. He responds with disgust to the poor folks request for some water.] Poor Folk: [All talking at same time, different requests:] Please, sir, can we have some water? We are so thirsty! Can you help us? Justus: [Hurries by with a bit of disgust on his face.] Sorry, I can t help you. I don t have any! Stanley: [Sees Justus coming by.] Justus, how are you doing, buddy? So good to see you! Justus: Oh man, it s been so long! How are you doing, old friend? I see you still have the same great hair and bad taste in fashion! Ha ha. Stanley: I m doing great! I have been thinking about everything you told me about Jesus and the church. I did it! I decided to become a Christian and follow Christ! Justus: [Gives him a big hug.] That is so wonderful, Stan. Congratulations! It s great to know you aren t going to hell, eh Stan? Stanley: Well, yes I guess so, I hadn t really thought about that! I am more amazed at how much God loves me, and loves, well, everyone. I feel like my life has meaning and purpose now. Justus: That s great, Stan. So are you going to come to my church? Stanley: I don t know for sure yet. There is one close to my home that I have gone to a few times. I really like it. Justus: [Disappointed, and a bit arrogant:] Oh, well, picking a good church is important, you know. [Pauses:] Say, you wouldn t happen to have any water, would you? I m dying of thirst from all that walking. Stanley: Yeah, I picked some up today! Here you go [Reaches for the package of water bottles. He goes to pick one out, then reconsiders and passes the whole case to him.] You know what? Take the whole case; you might need it. Justus: Dude, thanks! Stanley: Hey, go the extra mile, right? [holding up his Bible] Justus: [Looks confused at the association with the Bible.] Uh, yeah, right. Say, look, I don t mean to run off, but I gotta get going. I hope to see you at my church sometime soon! [Picks up case of water and heads back toward the poor folk.] Poor Folk: [See water and begin crying out again.] Please, sir, can we have some water? We are so thirsty! Can you help us? 9

[Realizing he actually has water, Justus gives Poor Billy one bottle to share.] Poor Folk: Thank you, thank you so much! Poor Billy: Thank You, God, for this water! [Opens and hands it to his friends.] You guys drink what you need; I ll take whatever is left. Justus: [Taking the other bottles, walks out to the middle of where the kids are sitting and stops to ponder.] Oh, man, I could have given them two at least. That was a bit stingy! Oh, but this was a gift to me. Stanley gave these to me because I was thirsty. [Pauses.] Oh, what if Stanley bought these for himself because he was thirsty? He gave them all to me! Oh, that s what he meant when he said go the extra mile. [Counts the poor folk, then counts his bottles.] Oh, if I give them each one, then there is none left for me. Oh what am I going to do? [After a moment, turns around and heads back to the group.] Poor Folk: Thank you, kind man. Thanks for the water! Justus: Oh, let s not kid ourselves. I wasn t kind at all; I was selfish and proud. This water was given to me, and I kept it mostly to myself. This is what I should have done. [Hands out a bottle to each one.] Poor Folk and Poor Billy: Thank you, kind sir. Thank you so much! Justus: You all have a nice day now! Poor Folk & Poor Billy: You too, kind sir. Justus: [To himself as he leaves the room:] Wow, I never really thought about what it actually means to go the extra mile. I guess Stanley was right! I did need the water, but not for myself. I think I need to talk to Stanley more. He s a pretty wise guy and he is out six bottles of water, which he paid for. Wow, I am really a whiner. I am pouting about six free bottles of water! Time to get my head on straight! [Exits.] [Stanley reads Matthew 10:42 aloud. Everyone exits.] Object Talks The Heavenly Rewards Show: Humility Supplies: video projection The short video clip for this lesson features Karl, the Kidologist, presenting one of his classic ToyBox Tales. Host Mr. Rich Richards greets Stan and Molly who are contests on the Heavenly Rewards Show. The theme of the day is Humility as they compete to see who is worthy of Heavenly Rewards. Only one will be shown to be worthy, who will it be? Featured Verse: Matthew 23:12 10

on presented by month day year Let s Talk! Small Group Discussion Supplies: twenty ping-pong balls, one black fine-point marker, bucket or bowl Let s Talk Ahead of time, on each ball, write assorted seeds (good and bad) that we plant in our lives by our choices (for example, hate, beauty, fame, money, greed, anger, selfishness, pride, sympathy, love, peace, kindness, self-control, gentleness, humility). Place all the balls in a bucket or bowl. Choose one child to draw a ball from the bucket. Have a brief discussion about the kinds of actions or behaviors that seed would produce in our lives. Use these questions to discuss the day s topic within your small groups: 1) Why would God want us to be careful about the things we plant in our lives? 2) Why do you think God gives us rewards? 3) What do TV programs tell us is most important for our lives? 4) Whom can we trust to know what is truly best for our lives? And why? 5) Why is humility important if we want to grow good seeds in our lives? Awarded to for Demonstrating humility award DiscipleTown Super Citizen Reward a child who demonstrates humility preferring others above him or herself. Let s Pray! Dear Jesus, we thank You that You care so much about us to teach us what to plant in our lives. We thank You for teaching us that the greatest soil for our seeds to grow from is humility. We ask that You would forgive us for the times when we have been proud and not willing to listen or learn. Help us to choose humility and putting others ahead of ourselves. Thank You that You are never far away from a humble heart. We love You, Jesus, and we desire to live our lives for You. In Your name, amen. Cy s Challenge: Sow something for God this week. Let s Review! Use these questions to review the lesson with the children: 1) What is the difference between an award and a reward? 2) True or false: some things do not have consequences. 3) Name a character trait that God rewards. 11

For the Home DiscipleTown Table Talker: Give each child a copy of this week s DiscipleTown Table Talker. As you show them how to put it together, encourage the kids to ask their parents to lead family devotions three times this week. Parent E-mail: Copy and send the e-mail below to help your parents connect with their kids during the week. Send them early in the week, but not on Sunday. As a courtesy, be sure parents have opted to receive these e-mails. Review and edit as necessary to reflect the lesson elements you have used. You can also find this e-mail as a Microsoft Word document in your download bundle. Dear Mom and Dad, This month we are embarking on a challenging topic as we explore the heavenly rewards that God has for us when we obey Him. This is often a tricky subject, for we know that as we mature as Christians our motivation will not be rewards at all, but to know Christ and to see others come to know Him. That being said, Scripture talks much about heavenly rewards, so this month we are going to explore what that really means and how we should live our lives in light of eternity. This week, we focused on the significance of humility in our lives. The good things that God wants to plant in our lives cannot grow if they aren t planted in the soil of humility. As you go through this week, think about times in your own life when pride robbed you of having something good in your life or when humility helped you to grow. Be encouraged to share these moments with your child(ren) during the week. If you need to get a conversation started, you can use the DiscipleTown Table Talker. It can be used at mealtime, in the car, or even before bed. As we go through this journey we will be challenging the children to give up their prizes and put others ahead of themselves, so be open to teachable moments when topics of fairness come up as a result of our lessons in this series. As always, we are here to be a resource and support for you as you lead your child(ren) in faith in your home. Let us know how we can be a blessing to you. Building young disciples, [Your Name] 12

BONUS MATERIALS Use these options to extend your time or as substitutes for the ideas above. Chip s Snack Time! Soak it Up Supplies: rice pudding cups, spoons Pass out rice pudding cups to everyone, and share the teachable point as the students eat. Teachable Point: Rice pudding is a little different from other puddings. The rice goes in the pudding and soaks up all the yummy flavor of the pudding. Do you think the rice could soak up the flavor of the pudding if it were outside the cup? The rice tastes best when it is soaking in the pudding! In the same way, our lives show Jesus best when we are soaking in humility. Additional Ideas Pennies for Heaven Supplies: This month, as you focus on investing in eternal results, it would be a great unit to do a fun missions or ministry fund-raising contest. One such contest that is easy and fun is called Pennies for Heaven. Divide the children into teams for this fundraiser. It can be as simple as boys against girls, or grade against grade. Each team will need a secure container or bank that money gifts can be put into. Determine what missionary or ministry your gift will go to. Each week the children bring money to put in the banks, but here is the twist: a penny in a bank is one point, but silver coins or paper money in a bank are negative points. (A quarter is -25, a dime -10, a dollar bill is -100, a twenty-dollar bill is -2000!) So kids will put pennies in their team s bank, but silver or bills into another team s bank. Because you ll announce each week at the end of class the points, and can display points on the banks each week, there becomes some strategy to which bank to put the silver or bills in. Note: Because the points tend to go negative with more silver and bills being given than pennies and young children may be confused as to why the larger number is losing (it is negative), consider starting each team with 1,000,000 points so that the scores never go below zero. Each week talk about how the contest is fun, but remind the kids why you are doing it: to invest in eternity. You can tie this project in to the lesson each week. Lesson One: God loves to reward, so we want to be generous. Lesson Two: We need to make choices with our money. Lesson Three: We are helping others serve God. Lesson Four: Only eternity will show the impact of our giving! Consider: www.mrifoundation.org, which helps support children s workers all over the globe. Additional idea: There is a bonus idea for Lesson 3 that you ll need to read and promote weeks in advance if you want to do it. It s called Sack Lunch Service Sunday. It is recommended to read that now, in case you d like to do it in Lesson 3. 13

Limbo Game Supplies: pole that can be used for limbo and some fun beach music Either before class or as part of your lesson you, could have all the kids walk in a circle around the room and try to walk under the limbo pole, walking forward and leaning back. After everyone has passed under, keep lowering the pole a few inches so it gets progressively more difficult. As kids fall or touch the ground with their hands or knees, or twist sideways, they are out. See who can limbo the lowest. Talk about humility, and how it is a willingness to walk with Jesus and to lower ourselves so that others can get more attention. It is putting the focus on others. It isn t a lower opinion of ourselves, but a choice to become less. Read John 3:30. 14

Puppet Intro Heavenly List DIRECTOR S NOTES The words in italics are notes for you and your puppeteers; they are not to be read aloud. [Puppet* comes out carrying a toy catalog (or a printout from a toy website), and he is all excited. He has circled things that he wants from the catalog.] Puppet: Oh, this is going to be so great! I can just see myself playing with this now! [Looks at the next page.] Oh, no! This one is much better! I want this one! It has buttons and makes cool barking noises! Leader: That sounds like an interesting toy. Is it a robotic puppy? Puppet: [Disdainful:] Robotic puppy? [Pauses, then changes his mind.] Uh, yeah. Robotic puppy, that s it! Leader: Are you getting ready for Christmas or something? It s a little early, don t you think? Puppet: Ha ha. Well, it is kind of like Christmas, but only better! It s my heavenly list! You see, I have been learning that God loves to reward His children, so I am just helping God by picking out all the things I would like to be rewarded with. Leader: I see. I didn t know that was how God s rewards worked. Puppet: It s going to be great! I mean, can you imagine the size of closet I am going to need in my mansion to hold all this stuff? Leader: Wouldn t they get broken all stacked on top of each other? Puppet: Oh my goodness, I can t even believe I didn t think that through! Of course! I m going to need rooms, with shelves and proper ventilation and security and... Leader: [Interrupts.] Oh, [puppet name]! Lucky for you God has that all looked after! Puppet: [Relieved:] Oh, whew! He is God, so I guess it makes sense that He would have genius storage ideas! Leader: [Laughs.] Well, He actually has done better than that! You see, instead of giving us tons of toys that could break or simply get boring, God gives us blessings that are far better and will never wear out or break. Puppet: He s genius! Pure genius! That means I don t have to go hunting through this catalog then either which means God is saving me a good bunch of time, too! Leader: He is the Creator of the universe, after all! Puppet: Good point. I guess that even if I don t have a say in what rewards God has for me, I know they will be awesome! Leader: Your job is simply to live a life worthy of rewarding! Puppet: Good point. I guess staring with glassy eyes at a toy catalog dreaming of barking toys, isn t really the work God has called me to, huh? Leader: I would say you are correct! Puppet: Well, I best be getting to work. It s kind of neat to think about God as a rewarder of those who seek Him, not just a boss man! [Exits.] Leader: Hebrews 11:6. Nice work, [puppet name]. God does reward those who seek Him. *PUPPET: Develop a puppet character to use regularly. The children will get to know the personality and enjoy these regular visits. Dee, Cy, and Paul puppets are available at DiscipleLand.com. How to Earn Eternal Rewards Lesson 1 2013, DiscipleLand. Permission granted to reproduce for volunteers.

Curriculum Map (DiscipleTown Units in no particular order) How to Worship God How to Use My Bible How to Show Respect How to Pray How to Be Faithful Workers How to Love God How to Memorize God s Word How to Be Global Christians How to Grow Spiritual Fruit How to Make Good Friends How to Walk in the Spirit How to Be Jesus Disciple How to Build Character How to Navigate the New Testament How to Explain My Faith How to Earn Eternal Rewards How to Follow God s Plan How to Make Good Choices How to Navigate the Old Testament How to Love God How to Know the Truth How to Discover Gifts and Talents How to Walk Victoriously How to Meet with God Each DiscipleTown Unit will teach your kids an essential how to skill to become victorious disciples of Jesus! TM.com