Elisha Saves Two Boys from Slavery

Elisha Saves Two Boys from Slavery 2 Kings 4:1-7 July 29, 2012 ON OUR PLATE TODAY The kids will understand: The account of Elisha and the widow with two boys. That God gave a widow something to do and actively involved her in His plan of provision for her. That God wants us to be an active part of His provision for us and others. PUPPET SKIT Puppet #1 is just staring blankly at the kids. Puppet #2 enters and stares at #1 for about 5 seconds. 2 puppets #2: (waves hand in front of #1 s face) Hello, is anybody in there? #1: Don t bother me. I m busy. #2: Busy? You re just staring straight ahead. #1: No, I m not. I m waiting on God. #2: Ooooo-kay, what are you waiting on God for? It must be pretty big! #1: It is! I m really hungry. I m waiting on Him to provide some food, maybe make me a sandwich or something. #2: What? A sandwich? Are you kidding me? Are you out of food? #1: No, I have all the stuff at home. I just thought He could make it appear like when He fed Elijah by sending an angel to make him some bread. Copyright 2010 KidzMatter Ministries Inc. All Rights Reserved. 1 www.kidzmatter.com

#2: Aw, come on. That was different. Elijah didn t have any food. He was in the wilderness at the time, for crying out loud! You can use what you already have in your kitchen to make your own sandwich. #1: Yeah, I know but God is my Provider! #2: That s just plain lazy! You don t need a miracle from God to eat. You can make your own doggone sandwich. You have some serious issues, man! #1: (surprised) You know, you re right, I don t need a miracle! God already gave me all I need to make my own sandwich! Maybe I ll make a whole meal! ACTIVITY - VIDEO Beforehand, download this YouTube video entitled Honda The Cog submitted by WebRidesTV. We have included an additional instruction file for both Mac and PC users, in case you have difficulty downloading. YouTube video http://youtu.be/_ve4m4usjqo View the video and then talk about the following questions. What would ve happened if someone had removed one of the pieces? What do you think this video has to do with being active and playing a part in what God s doing? What does it feel like to be a part of getting a job done? This was a very creative and fun video, wasn t it? It took a lot of planning and knowledge to pull it off. It took all those pieces, placed at precisely the right place, and knowing exactly how far they would move when tapped. Now, what do you think God s plans look like? I mean, He is the Creator, has all knowledge and has placed imagination in each person. Can you imagine the number of people and things He involves to accomplish things over the entire earth? WOW! How do you think it affects God s plan when people aren t willing to work, but just want to sit back and wait for God to deliver? BIBLE ACCOUNT - SKIT You will need 3 actors 2 teen boys and an interviewer named Will Askew. The boys will be in biblical costumes. The microphone for Will does not need to work. Hand out skits in advance to the actors to learn and practice. Will Askew, the reporter/interviewer is standing with the widow s two sons, Eli and Levi, soon after God performed the miracle with the oil jars. Will talks into the microphone and puts it in front of each son as they talk. 2 actors - teen boys interviewer actor biblical costume clothes microphone Will: Hello boys. Your names are Eli and Levi, right? Yep, I m the firstborn son. Eli is short for Elisha. I was named after Elisha the prophet. He came to our house often and spent time with our family. My dad trained as a prophet under Elisha. He served and worked with Elisha faithfully. Levi: Hi, I m the younger son, Levi. Will: Your father was a brave man who feared the Lord and served Him with all he had! I m so sorry about your father. I understand that your mom now has a huge debt, too! And, with your father gone, she has no way to pay it. 2 www.kidzmatter.com

Yeah, right after my father died the creditor that sold us our land and house came by and demanded payment for the money we owed. Levi: He said if my mom couldn t pay by the next day that he would take Eli and me to work for him to pay off the debt! My mom just lost my dad. It would be too much for her to lose us, too! Will: Oh my! That s terrible. I was talking to some of your neighbors and they told me that your mom has been acting kind of strange. She came and borrowed a bunch of empty pots from them. She must not be thinking clearly with all that s happened. (smiles big) Well, that s what we thought at first. But, (shakes head, but still smiling, looks up and points toward heaven) thank you, God! It s hard to talk about it right now. I still can t believe what happened. You tell him, Levi. Will: (looks excited with the promise of an exclusive story) This sounds BIG! Yes, Levi, tell me while Eli s getting himself together here! Did the sky open up and money rain from heaven? Did it suddenly appear on the ground like manna? Did a bird bring it? Did Levi: (interrupts and grins big, shakes head) Now hold on, Will nothing like that. But wait, Eli, you re the oldest; you should tell him! Will: (frustrated, can t stand it) Well, someone needs to tell me! Okay, okay, my father and mother always feared God. I mean, He is our refuge and strength! Mom went to Elisha the prophet and told him what was going on that we owed the debt and all. Levi: Elisha asked mom what he could do to help her. Then he asked her what she had in her house. I think he wanted to know if we had anything to sell. Will: (excited) Like a garage sale, right? Go on go on! (rolls eyes) Uhhhh yeah, right. Anyway, Mom told Elisha all we had was a small flask of oil. That was it! Will: (puts microphone down at side and looks disappointed) That s all? That isn t much! Levi: Well, that s what we all thought, too. But Elisha told her to do something really weird. He told her to borrow as many empty pots from the neighbors as she could. Mom did what he asked. She went everywhere, and man, it was hard work! Will: Now that is strange. What good is that going to do? We wondered that, too! I mean, come on God, please. My mother has been through enough. Can t you just send a miracle quickly? I mean, empty pots? But mom obeyed and she took us inside the house and shut the door. She told us to bring her the pots one at a time. Will: Okay, this IS getting weirder by the minute! Levi: Now hold on Will, this gets better! We did what she said. Mom took the little flask of oil and started pouring oil from it into the pot. We couldn t believe our eyes! Each pot would fill all the way up to the top and we would bring her another one. We did this until all the pots we had borrowed were filled! Then get this there was no more oil left in the little flask when all the pots were filled not one drop! 3 www.kidzmatter.com

Will: Are you guys kidding me? That little flask filled all the pots with oil? Levi: Yep, that s right. We were jumping, dancing, crying and praising God. It was crazy! Oil is worth a lot of money! Then mom ran out of the house to tell Elisha. You should have seen the neighbor s faces! Will: I can hardly believe it! That s a miracle! Levi: Oh yeah, you got that right! We did what God told us to do, even though it seemed really weird. We gave Him all we had in the house and He used it! Elisha told us to sell the oil and it would pay our debt! And get this he said there would be enough money left over to live off of, too! Will: (turns to the audience) Well, there you have it. There has been a miracle at the house of the widow. God told her what to do and she did it! God provided all she needed and more! GAME You will need a bunch a whole bunch of pairs of gloves. This can be winter gloves, ski gloves, mittens, rubber gloves, work gloves, gardening gloves, baby mittens, driving gloves, any kind of sports gloves, baseball mitts, military gloves, oven mitts, disposable latex gloves, and medical gloves, for a start. You just need to make sure that each pair is alike enough so the kids can identify the match. You ll also need 3 buckets the 5-gallon paint buckets are ideal. lots of gloves 3 buckets medium-size box Before class place ONE glove of each pair into a box. Divide the glove mates into the 3 other buckets and place the buckets at the other end of the room. Form teams of about 10 kids to a team. To begin the game, you will pull one glove out of the box and hold it up for the kids to see. At the signal, one player from each team will run to the 3 buckets at the other end of the room and try to find the glove that goes with the one you held up. The kid who holds up the mate first will be asked one of the questions about the story (below). Shuffle the gloves around a bit before beginning the next round to find the match to the next glove you pull from the box. That was fun, wasn t it? A lot of these gloves are used when you re working or active. God wants us to be active in His work, even when it may seem a little strange, like it must have been to the widow. We matched the gloves sometimes easily and others times with a little frustration. As we look for ways to be active in God s plan, God will match up our talents, abilities and resources to how He wants us to be part of that plan. Questions and Answers Who came to Elisha for help? (the widow) What did the widow s husband do before he died? (served Elisha as a servant and prophet) Why did the widow run to Elisha for help? (He was a friend. She was in debt and had no way to pay. Her sons would be taken away by the creditor to work.) Did Elisha turn her away? (No, he asked how he could help her.) What did Elisha ask the widow? (what she had in her house) What did the widow say she had in the house? (nothing but a small flask of oil) What did Elisha tell the widow to go borrow? (containers/jars/pots from the neighbors) How many jars did Elisha tell the widow to borrow? (as many as she could) Once the widow had borrowed the containers, what was she told to do? (go into the house with her sons, shut the door, and then pour oil into the containers) When did the oil run out? (when all the containers were full) What did Elisha tell her to do with all of the oil? (sell it to pay the debt and live off of the rest) 4 www.kidzmatter.com

ACTIVITY - VIDEO Beforehand, download the YouTube video, Todd Agnew Give What s in Your Hand Story Behind the Song, submitted by fairtradeservices. YouTube video http://youtu.be/p1dtwbw8bia View the video. What a great testimony of how God unexpectedly gave to Todd when He was willing to come to work and give! Discuss the video with the following questions: What did Todd expect to do once he got to the church? How did God surprise Him? Before Todd arrived, what had the people he was going to help already learned? Have you ever gone to help someone and walked away with a bigger blessing than the person you went to help? What do you think we can learn from the fact of Todd being obedient to go and what he received? MESSAGE You will need to gather a piece of pipe or hose, a pitcher of water, a bowl, a fast food cup, and a puppet. There s no need for a puppeteer, because the puppet is used as an object lesson. (show slide #1) Come to God. He is THE source. That s a pretty amazing story about the widow and the oil, isn t it? The widow had a desperate need. She did the right thing by first going to Elisha, the man of God. She knew God was her source and would work through Elisha to provide for her and her sons. God s provision = water. What is a source? It s where something starts or begins. Well, where does everything come from, anyway? Who is the creator of all good things? God! He is the source of everything! You might think your source is your parents, but that isn t true. God provides all you need THROUGH your parents. God involves your parents in providing you what you need. They are a pipeline from God the source to you! Hold up a pipe. PowerPoint Slides Bibles puppet pipe or hose pitcher of water bowl table fast food cup The provision the widow needed was money to pay her debt. Place a bowl on the table. Hold up the pitcher of water (but do not pour the water, yet). Let s say this pitcher represents God the source. The water is God s provision what He provides. Or, in the case of our story today, the oil. Provision means something that is provided or given to you something you need. The hose/pipe represents both Elisha and the widow. The bowl represents the widow s need. Pour some water into the pipe and let it flow into the bowl. God provide for the widow through Elisha and the widow s involvement. Point to each physical thing as you say this statement again. God = water. Hose/Pipe = Elisha and the widow. Bowl = the need. We must recognize, just like the widow did, that God is our source of provision! Often, God works or flows through us to supply the provision! He wants us to be an active part and to be involved! (show slide #2) Are you ready to work? I think we would all like to pray and POOF, God instantly provides it for us. Maybe God will miraculously provide it or possibly your parents may surprise you, but maybe not. God could have told Elisha to strike a rock and oil would gush out of it. He could have just put the money in one 5 www.kidzmatter.com

of the pots. I mean, God is God; there is nothing He can t do, right? But, instead God involved Elisha and the woman in His plan of provision. She had to do what Elisha told her to do. She had to do something she didn t understand. She had to be willing to look a little foolish in front of her neighbors, didn t she? (show slide #3) Romans 12:11 NLT, Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. There were a lot of pots to fill, and there was work involved in selling the oil so that the widow and her sons would have money for their needs. Are you willing to work for what you need? Are you willing to do it with enthusiasm and with all your might? Will you do it with a cheerful attitude? (show slide #4) God will not force us. Hold up the puppet. God wants to work through us. Slide your hand into the puppet and move appropriate parts as you speak. Move the mouth. He wants us to speak kind and encouraging words to help people. He wants us to share the Gospel and testify of His provision and goodness. Move hands. He wants us to work and not be lazy. He wants us to help others and to share what we have. Hold the puppet up and take your hand out. This is important. God will not make you do anything. He won t push your hand in the puppet forcefully and act like the puppet is putting up a fight force you to be involved and to let Him work in you. No, God asks us to willingly work and serve Him. He wants you to submit yourself to Him so He can work in you, empower and activate you. Slip your hand in gently and move the puppet. God wants willing, enthusiastic workers. Put the puppet down and hold up the fast food cup. How many of you have gone to a restaurant where they have free refills on drinks? It s an endless supply, right? Well, until your parents cut you off (laugh)! Hold up the cup. God gives endless refills, too. We re like this cup and the widow s flask of oil. We are containers vessels of God s Spirit holding His gifts, talents, abilities and blessings. When we empty ourselves and pour out what we have, doing God s work, He gives us a free refill! God will keep pouring out more and more and filling us up, so we can do more great things for Him! God doesn t NEED us but He WANTS us and ALLOWS us to be involved in His work and plan! What a privilege to be given the opportunity to work and be active in His plan of provision! GAME Note: This is a water activity and it will be messy! This game should be done outside or in an area that can get wet. Divide the kids into teams. Each team will need identical supplies: a ¼ c. measuring cup, a 2-cup measuring cup that has a spout, a gallon jug of water, and a clear container/vase. The dollar store is a great place to find clear containers/vases that would work. Before class, measure a line up from the bottom of each container and mark a line around it. This will be the fill-line, so you ll need to determine that according to the size of your container. This race involves a lot of people. Why? To be an active part of the plan! Each team needs a pourer and a filler, as well as runners. The teams will line up at one end of the room. At the other end of the room (or at a designated point), each team will have their marked clear container. About halfway between the lined-up team and their container is where the pourer and filler will be positioned. gallon jugs of water 2-cup measuring cups, spouted ¼ cup measuring cups towels transparent containers black permanent marker ruler masking tape 6 www.kidzmatter.com

Each pourer will have a 2-cup spouted measuring cup. Each filler will have a gallon jug of water and be in charge of keeping water in the pourer s cup. The first player of each team will have a ¼-cup measuring cup. At the signal, one player from each team will run to the pourer, who will fill their ¼-cup. They will run to their clear marked container at the end of the room to deposit their water. Then, they will pass off the ¼-cup to the next player on their team who will do the same thing. The filler is responsible for seeing that the pourer always has some water in their 2-cup pitcher. Continue in this fashion until one team s water level reaches the line on the container. Wow, was that fun or what? There was a lot of activity going on. There were a lot of people with jobs to do! We had the runners, the fillers and the pourers. What about this game reminded you of our lesson? The pourer s water never ran out. It was always being filled so more could be poured out of it. The widow kept pouring oil from her one little jar into all the other jars. God was miraculously refilling the little jar so it could fill all the other jars with oil. It was a small cup that filled a larger container. You each were a part of the plan and had a job to do. In our story, Elisha, the widow, and both the sons had jobs to do in order for God to deliver His provision. OBJECT LESSON Hold up the liquid hand soap pump bottle. How many of you have one or more of these in your kitchen or bathroom? What happens when you use all the soap inside? You could throw it out or, even better, you could recycle it. But, the best thing would be to refill it with this larger bottle. Hold up the large refill bottle. That s like what happens with us when we are active in God s plan. When He uses or involves us in His work, He doesn t just pitch us and grab a new person when we get drained or the work is done. NO! He fills us back up with more! More what? More of His Spirit. He energizes and revives us, replenishes us to involve us in more of His plan. liquid hand soap pump bottle large soap refill bottle We are actually vessels like the flask the widow had. We are containers of God s Spirit and we have talents and gifts He has placed inside of us. As long as we re willing to work and pour out what we have inside of us, God will keep filling us up! PRAYER The kids will look up 2 Timothy 2:21. If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work. Discuss with the kids what this verse is saying. Are you ready to do God s work? What do you need to do in order to be a special utensil for God s use? God uses clean utensils or instruments people as tools. Are you willing to do whatever He chooses for you to do? Has God put something on your heart to do? Take some time to meditate and pray that God would speak to each heart about how they can be used. Encourage the kids to confess anything to God that might keep them from being a pure and clean utensil ready for His use. 7 www.kidzmatter.com

Ask them if they have ever desired that God would use them in a certain way. Is there something on their heart that you really would like to do? God may already be preparing you for a work to do! As you pray together, ask the kids to hold their cupped hands out as an offering to God, to give what s in their hand (as the Todd Agnew song said). Important: If some kids are unsure what they would like to do or how they can be used, ask them to just offer themselves to God for Him to speak to them in their devotion and prayer times at home. CRAFT You will need a clay jar, bottle or some kind of plain container for each kid. They don t all have to be the same, because the jars that the woman and her sons would ve collected would ve been all different sizes and shapes. We are also all different sizes and shapes. The kids will be pressing their handprint around the outside of the container, so the containers need to be big enough to hold that print. Put a different color of craft paint in a very thin layer on each plastic disposable plate. After choosing a jar, each kid will press his open hand onto one paint on a plate. They will then open their hand and press it around the outside of the jar/pot, making sure that each finger is pressed completely against the jar s surface. Every child should have a wet wipe before beginning the paint process. clay jars or bottles craft paint wet wipes plastic disposable plates This jar will help us remember that we offer what is in our hands to Him. Think about what you offered up to God in our prayer time. God wants each one of us to make ourselves available to carry out His plan, according to the talents and resources He has given us. As you think of what God has placed in your hands to be part of His plan, you can write it on a piece of paper this week and slip it into your pot/jar. BLESSING May you always be willing to use what God has placed in your hands. EXTRA ACTIVITIES KNOW YOUR BIBLE Show the PowerPoint slide of clay pots. This slide helps us get an idea of the jars that the widow may have collected from neighbors, friends and family. They weren t all the same size or shape. PowerPoint of clay pots People had lots and lots of these jars, because they were used for storage, as well as serving. There wasn t anything like Tupperware or even cardboard boxes. Food, grain, and all kinds of liquids were kept in clay jars like these. When archaeologists dig at ancient sites, they find pieces of clay jars everywhere more than anything else they find. The jars were made out of clay and then baked in a super hot oven to keep them from falling apart. Our Tupperware is very lightweight, but these jars were really heavy, even when they were empty. The women and children would take a jar like these to a well and fill it with water; then, they would carry the heavy jar full of water back to their home. They may spend hours each day going back and forth with the jars to get enough water for what they needed. 8 www.kidzmatter.com

SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION Psalm 34:8-9 (NLT) Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! Fear the LORD, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need. The kids will sit on the floor in circles of 6-8. It would be beneficial to outline the circle with masking tape or rope. Place 5 clay pots or Mason jars in a cluster in the center of the circle. Each of the kids needs a penny. At the signal, the kids will go around their circle tossing their pennies at the pots. When everyone has had a chance to toss, then the missed pennies will be retrieved and tossed again (making sure they toss from behind the marked circle). When a group successfully gets a penny in each of their pots, they ll stop and shout the verse loudly together. All the groups will retrieve all their pennies and begin again. PowerPoint slide of verse clay pots or Mason jars pennies The widow was instructed to fill the containers up with oil. In our game we put something in each of our pots. The widow had nowhere to go but to God for refuge and to meet her need. She and her husband had served and feared God for years. By her act of faith and obedience God provided all she needed just like this verse says. I m sure she and her sons were full of joy as they saw how God provided in their need! SNACK You will need a variety of dried snacks, such as: pretzels, Chex cereal, Goldfish, chocolate morsels, raisins, Craisins, dried fruits, Cheerios, marshmallows, M&Ms, sesame seeds. For each of these you will need a special container made from a margarine cup. Use an Exact-o knife to cut a whole in the lid of the container that is slightly bigger than the ingredient (one of the dried snack items). Put the food item in the container, snap on the lid, and now you have created a shaker. Do this for each ingredient. Give each kid a bowl and a cup of water. In different places around the room, place the various shakers of ingredients. The kids will move around the room, shaking their choice of ingredients into their bowl in order to create their own trail mix style snack. Be ready to quickly replenish any container that runs low. Replenishing is part of the lesson. napkins disposable bowls margarine cups Exact-o knife variety of dried snacks paper cups water Did you notice that I refilled the containers as they were emptied? God replenished (refilled) the widow s oil in her flask so that it never ran out. I could have mixed all the snacks before class and then just handed them out to you. Instead, I chose to let you be part of the provision process. You were involved. And, didn t you like it more than me just handing it to you? God has a plan for provision and He wants us to participate and be active in it! MUSIC You are provided with some great Yancy songs for this quarter: All I Need is You and Every Good and Perfect Thing. For more information about Yancy, go to her website at yancynotnancy.com. DVD music downloads 9 www.kidzmatter.com