Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:15 (NKJV)

Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:15 (NKJV)

Bible Story Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego Daniel 3:1-30 Today s Takeaway Fear can't stop us, when we are focused on God! Theme Verse Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:15 (NKJV) Weekly Verse Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:15 (NKJV) 2

Skit Skit Information: The Fearless skits will require two people. One person will play the straight person (themselves), and the other person will play the character. It works best if you can find a person willing to commit to being the character for the entire series. Character Bio: The character s name is Extreme Eddy, could also be Daring Daphne if desired. Extreme Eddy is totally into all extreme sports: skate-boarding, snow-boarding, skiing, base jumping, motocross, parkour, etc. He believes he is completely fearless. He (or she) should be dressed like a skater or snowboarder. Consider putting your character in a helmet, body pads, and have them carry a skateboard or snowboard with them. 3

4 Week 1 Skit Leader: What s up kids? I can t tell you how excited I am to start our new series today, Fearless. I know I could use some teaching on how to be more fearless in my life. Extreme Eddy: Runs or skateboards in interrupting the leader before they can finish the sentence. Did someone say, fearless? Leader: Um, yes, I did say fearless visibly confused. Extreme Eddy: Well, no one could possibly be more fearless than Extreme Eddy! Leader: Ok and who exactly is Extreme Eddy? Extreme Eddy: You re looking at him! Poses proudly with his skateboard in hand. Leader: Oh I am? Looks at Eddy skeptically. Who exactly are you anyway? I ve never seen you around church before. Extreme Eddy: Oh, I ve been around, I just do a lot of traveling! Leader: That sounds fun! Why do you travel so much? Extreme Eddy: It is EXTREMEly fun! See what I did there? Pauses for leader to laugh, but gets no response. I travel all over the world doing extreme sports. Mountain biking, skateboarding, snowboarding, motocross, base jumping, parkour, you get the point! Leader: Wow, that does sound extreme! I don t even know what all of those things are. Do you ever get too scared to do any of those extreme sports? Extreme Eddy: SCARED!?!?! I m actually offended you would even suggest such a thing! Remember, no one could possibly be more fearless than Extreme Eddy! Leader: Ok, calm down. I didn t mean to offend you, but you seriously think you are the most fearless person in the world? Extreme Eddy: Oh, I don t just think so, I know so!

Skit Leader: Do you think you are more fearless than anyone who has ever lived? Extreme Eddy: Of course I am! Leader: You sure are confident, but I think you may be wrong. Extreme Eddy: Well, I m never wrong. So there! Leader: Would you be willing to walk right into a blazing, fiery furnace? Extreme Eddy: What?! That s not extreme, that s downright crazy! Who would do that? You would die! Leader: Yes, normally you would die if you walked into a fiery furnace. What if I told you that three guys did just that, and they made it out alive, not a burn on them? Extreme Eddy: I wouldn t believe you! It s not possible! Leader: Anything is possible when God is on your side. Why don t you stick around for today s message? You can hear all about those three guys and how they fearlessly accomplished the impossible. Extreme Eddy: I would love to, but I have to roll! I have a skateboarding competition that starts in ten minutes! Runs or rolls out of the room Leader: Yelling after Eddy as he rolls away. Have fun! Come back and see us next week! 5

Game: Guess That Phobia Supplies A screen for projecting slides or a white board/poster board to write the words on for the game. Optional: 2 buzzers Optional: A small table or stand for the buzzers. Setup Make slides or poster boards with phobias and their meanings (see graphics for slides) Set up table or stand. Put buzzers on each side of the table or stand. Phobias and meanings: Arachnophobia - The fear of spiders Ophidiophobia The fear of snakes Acrophobia The fear of heights Cynophobia The fear of dogs Claustrophobia The fear of small spaces Mysophobia The fear of germs Aerophobia The fear of flying Carcinophobia The fear of cancer Monophobia The fear of being alone Alektorophobia The fear of chickens 6

Game: Guess That Phobia How To Play 1. 1 kid from each team will play in each round. Choose new kids for each round to allow more kids the opportunity to participate (choose kids who are old enough to read). 2. Kids will stand behind one of the buzzers with their hands behind their backs. If you don't have buzzers, kids can raise their hand or jump up instead of hitting a buzzer. 3. The leader will read the phobia and the options of meanings before kids can buzz in. 4. The first kid to buzz in will get the opportunity to answer first. If they get it right give them a prize or points for their team. 5. If the first kid gets it wrong, allow the other kid to guess. Give them a prize or points for their team if they get it right. 6. Keep playing until you run out of phobias. 7

Message Supplies A Bible in your preferred version (New Living Translation is used in this message) Musical instruments sound effects Three envelopes Long strips of red and orange streamers (for the furnace) A long jump rope or rope 2 balloons (1 blown up without water, 1 blown up with some water in it) A match or candle Setup Download musical instrument sound effects to computer. (I used a fanfare clip from YouTube). Cut or tear strips of red and orange streamers and tie a few together. Blow up 2 balloons, filling one of them with enough water to cover the top. Test your object lesson before doing it in front of the kids. 8

Message Introduction Who would say that they are pretty fearless? You aren t easily scared? Allow responses. What are some things you are afraid of? Allow a few responses. Some of those fears might seem silly or funny to you if you re not afraid of it yourself. Other fears are more common for all of us. For example, the fears of death, divorce, pain, being alone, etc. The leader should feel free to be honest about a kid-friendly fear or two they have. No matter how fearless we think we are, we all face fear in our lives, possibly every day. Is it wrong to be fearful? Allow responses. It s ok to be fearful sometimes, that s normal, but it s how we handle our fears that really matters the most. Every week in our Fearless series, we will look at a different person or group of people in the Bible, and we can see how they faced their fears. Some of them faced them head on, while others chose to run away from what they feared the most. We can learn a lot about how we should handle our fears from reading the stories in the Bible. Bible Story Our Bible story today begins with a king who is having a serious power trip in Daniel chapter 3. That king s name was King Nebuchadnezzar. He wanted everyone to know and acknowledge just how powerful and important he really was, so he decided to do something really big to get everyone s attention. He made a gold statue ninety feet tall and nine feet wide. That s almost as tall as the length of a regulation basketball court! After he had this giant statue built, he sent out a message to all of the important people in the entire land to come out to the dedication of the statue. 9

Message There were three men who loved and worshipped God who also received this message from the king. Their names were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Choose 3 kids come up and play the characters. Let s pretend like we are all the important people who were invited to the statue s dedication. Have all of the kids stand. So all of these important people are just out there standing in front of this giant statue, waiting to find out what the deal is. Let s read verses 4-6 to see why the king called all of these people to see the giant statue. Read directly from the Bible. Then a herald shouted out, People of all races and nations and languages, listen to the king s command! When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical instruments, bow to the ground to worship King Nebuchadnezzar s gold statue. Anyone who refuses to obey will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace. Wait, what? King Nebuchadnezzar wants everyone to bow down and worship a giant statue, and if they don t, the consequences don t sound too good. Let s read verse 7 to see how the people responded. Read directly from the Bible. So at the sound of the musical instruments, all the people, whatever their race or nation or language, bowed to the ground and worshiped the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Have all of the kids except Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego bow down. Why do you think all of those people bowed down to a statue? Allow responses. They were afraid of the consequences. Was that the right thing to do? Allow responses. No. It might have been the easy and comfortable thing to do, but it wasn t the right thing. Well, as you may have noticed, there were three men who decided not to bow down, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Some of the other important people noticed that too, and basically went to the king to tattle tale on them. Here s what they said to the king about them: Read directly from the Bible. But there are some Jews Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego whom you have put in charge of the province of Babylon. They pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They refuse to go serve your gods and do not worship the gold statue you have set up. 10

Message Wow, not cool at all guys. Why do you think those people told on them? Allow responses. Whatever the reason, Nebuchadnezzar was furious, and he ordered for them to be brought to him immediately for questioning. King Nebuchadnezzar decided to give them one last chance to change their minds and bow down to worship the statue. He said to them, But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power? King Nebuchadnezzar actually thought he was more powerful than God. Well, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego very much disagreed with the king. Read directly out of the Bible verses 16-17. They said, O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. Notice they didn t say God might save them or hopefully he would come through. They said He will save us. They knew that God s power was far more powerful than King Nebuchadnezzar or any fears they might have. You can only imagine that their response made the king even more furious. He commanded that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual, and ordered that his strongest men in his army tie them up and throw them in the furnace. Choose a couple older boys to tie the three kids up with the jump rope/rope. Choose four more kids to create the fiery furnace by having them stand two kids on each side with some distance between them, waving the red and orange strips of streamers to create the fire. Have the soldiers throw them into the furnace. The Bible says that the furnace was so hot that it killed the soldiers who threw them into the furnace instantly. Have soldiers fall down and pretend to die. Two completely crazy things happened next. King Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace and saw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego just walking around in the furnace! Untie kids and allow them to walk around. That s not all, he saw an extra person walking in the furnace, and he said the fourth person looked like God. 11

Message At this point, the king ordered them to come out of the furnace, and he looked them over. Miraculously the fire had not touched them! Their hair wasn t burnt off, their clothing wasn t scorched, and they didn t even smell like they had been to a bonfire! The king was so amazed that he made a new decree that if anyone ever spoke a word against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they would be killed and their houses destroyed. He then promoted each of them to even higher positions in Babylon. Life Application/Object Lesson God was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego even when they were facing the biggest fear of their lives. I m sure they were afraid, but they knew they had to do the right thing, and God would take care of the rest. They knew that Fear has no power when God is on your side. Let s say Today s Takeaway together, Fear has no power when God is on your side. How many of you get scared sometimes? Allow responses. Well, when we are scared, we are kind of like this balloon, hold up pre-blown up balloon and this flame. Light candle Now watch carefully. Hold the balloon to the candle. POP!!! Now, we may not really pop like this balloon did, but this is an example of how fear makes us act and feel. You may not feel like doing what is hard or quitting. You may feel like crying or getting angry. Life is very hard when we try to carry all our fears around with us on our own. So, what do we do when we are afraid? Allow responses. Let's see what happens if we let God take all the heat out of our fear like He did for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Hold up balloon with cup of water in it. The water in this balloon represents God. Shake around so kids can hear and see the water. Let's say we are afraid to tell a mean girl at school about Jesus, but we let God take the fear and we ask him for strength and faith. What will happen? Let's see... Hold candle up to water spot on balloon. The balloon will not pop. He will strengthen us and the fear won't keep us from being strong and courageous. The next time you feel like you are so scared that you could pop, trust in God. Give God the fear and He will strengthen you to face it head on. 12

Small Group Questions 1. What are your top 3 biggest fears? Leaders can share their top 3 biggest fears with the group as well. If kids begin laughing at other kids' fears, remind them that we all have different fears, and it's not nice to make fun of others. 2. Why is it so hard to overcome your fears? 3. What are some ways we can work to overcome our fears? 4. How did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego handle their fears in today's Bible story? They chose to trust that God would take care of them and protect them from the fire instead of giving in to their fears and bowing to the statue. 5. What can you learn from Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's example in the Bible? 13

Optional Game: Would You Rather? Supplies Small bucket with questions written on small pieces of paper. Setup Write would you rather questions on small pieces of paper, and put them in the small bucket. Would you rather questions: 1. Would you rather eat a whole cake or a tub of ice cream? 2. Would you rather go sledding on a cold day or go swimming on a hot day? 3. Would you rather be able to fly or super strong? 4. Would you rather clear the table or clean up your toys? 5. Would you rather eat a piece of chocolate or a lollipop? 6. Would you rather go to the zoo or to a giant aquarium? 7. Would you rather ride in a convertible or on the back of a motorcycle? 8. Would you rather have a pet goat or a pet chicken? 9. Would you rather have a pet dog or a pet cat? 10. Would you rather eat a cookie or a donut? 11. Would you rather get out of bed very early or stay up very late? 12. Would you rather take a long walk or a long bike ride? 13. Would you rather camp in a tent or in a camper? 14. Would you rather play baseball or basketball? 15. Would you rather paint with a brush or with your hands? 16. Would you rather touch a snake or eat a worm? 14

Optional Game: Would You Rather? 17. Would you rather swim in a pool of marshmallows or a pool of M&Ms? 18. Would you rather eat only carrots or only apples for one whole day? 19. Would you rather have bright blue hair or bright blue feet? 20. Would you rather live in a place that was always very hot or a place that was always very cold? 21. Would you rather wear your shoes on the wrong feet or wear your pants backwards? 22. Would you rather have to mix up all your food before you eat it or eat everything with a spoon? 23. Would you rather have a pet lizard or a pet snake? 24. Would you rather go on a long train ride or a long airplane flight? 25. Would you rather be outside all day or stay in the house all day? How To Play 1. All kids can play this game. 2. The leader will draw a piece of paper out of the bucket and read the would you rather question. 3. For each question, the leader will give the kids two different actions to do to answer the would you rather question. For example: If you would rather do the first option, jump up and down, if you would rather do the second option, sit on the floor. 4. Keep playing choosing new would you rather questions and new actions. 5. There are no winners in this game. It is just for fun. 6. Optional: use this game in small groups instead of in large group time. 15

Review Questions 1. What is our new series called? Answer: Fearless 2. What was the name of the power-tripping king in our story today? Answer: King Nebuchadnezzar 3. Who chose not to bow down to the king's gold statue? Answer: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego 4. What happened to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when they were thrown in the fiery furnace? Answer: God protected them from the fire, and they came out without being burnt. 5. What is Today's Takeaway? Answer: Fear has no power when God is on your side! 16