I Give and I Get All Ages 6-26-2016 This Week s Theme: Why can t I receive without giving? Teacher Insights : One of the main principles of prosperity is the law of giving and receiving. We will focus on the act of giving of your gifts with the knowledge that as we give we receive. The lesson is designed to provide the children with the opportunity to help them focus on the ways they can give of what they have. The purpose of this lesson is to explore what it feels like to think of others and to do something for others! This is also a great way to help remind (or introduce) the children to the teaching of God as our source: our joy, love, etc. Everyone has something to give, and when you share your gifts, you get a lot of love back! Unity Writings: The key to prosperity is the realization that prosperity doesn t come by getting more. It comes by giving more. The Quest, Richard and Mary-Alice Jafolla Prosperity is based on the conscious possession of the idea of God's abundance back of all things. Things come and go, but the idea of abundance endures The divine resource never fails. - The Revealing Word, Charles Fillmore Scripture: Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. - Luke 12:32 (NRSV) Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back. - Luke 6:38 (NRSV) Unity Principles: (today s principle is highlighted) 1: God is all Good and active in everything, everywhere. 2: I am naturally good because God s Divinity is in me and in everyone. 3: I create my experiences by what I choose to think and what I feel and believe. 4: Through affirmative prayer and meditation, I connect with God and bring out the good in my life. 5: Practice, Practice, Practice. I do and give my best by living the Truth I know! I make a difference!
Pre-session: My Gifts from God Make sure you create a sacred space at the tables in your rooms. You can do this by lighting the Christ candle and then placing sacred objects around it. Greet Parents and Children. As much as possible, try to greet parents at the sign-in table. o At the Sign-in table ask: Please print names Does your child have a registration form filled out? Any special needs that we should know about? Allergies? Can we have your email address for updates? Pre-session Activity: What can I give? In your tubs you will find various items for the children to choose from: construction paper, markers, colored pencils, various craft supplies (pipe cleaners, craft sticks, legos, wood blocks, etc.), glue, and scissors. As the children arrive, invite them to create something that represents a gift from God, that they possess. Urge them to use as much detail in their creation, whether it is something constructed or drawn on paper. * We will be using these sheets during our discussion later in the hour. Sacred Circle: I Give and I Get 3 Ohms: In order to synchronize our energies, have the children sit in a circle and begin sacred circle with 3 ohms. Who is Jesus for us in Unity? Our way-shower, the great master of love. Affirmation: I love myself just as God created me! NEW Introductions/Namaste/Hugs: In turns, have each student stand and, one at a time in a circle say Namaste and put their hands in a prayer position, bowing to their neighbor on their left and then give them a hug. The child receiving the hug in turn repeats the greeting with their neighbor. Namaste means : "The light in me sees the light in you." Heart Agreements : Heart Agreements establish the boundaries of how everyone in the group agrees to show up in Sunday school. They are not being TOLD how they must show up; they are telling YOU how they have agreed to show up. During the course of the lesson, you may refer back to the Heart Agreements. For example, if a group of kids is perpetually talking while you are speaking, then you may say to the class as a whole, What was our heart agreement about listening to speakers? And let the kids tell you!
Our basic heart agreements are: Gentle Hands Open Hearts Walking Feet Listening ears Kind Words Love Offering: Divine Love, Blesses and multiples, all that I have, all that I give and all that I receive. And I am joy-filled and grateful. FYI: students may place lots of things besides money in the love offering basket: joy, friendship, peace, love, etc. Meditation: Let s close our eyes and imagine that we are in our favorite place. It is a place where we feel safe and secure and all good things are here with us. As we feel our breath going in and out, we feel peaceful and know that all is well Pause We know that we are powerful beings and have many gifts to give and share. One thing that we can always share is a kind thought. As you are sitting here feel the love of God radiating through you. Send a silent message to the person on you left that says how wonderful they are. It can be as simple as You are a perfect child of God. Keep sending these loving thoughts around the circle Pause Now bring your attention to your center, to your heart. Feel yourself filled with light and love Pause Notice your breathing again, and when you are ready open your eyes and return to the present moment. Mediation Processing: Ask: When you were sending your loving thoughts around the circle to your left, did you feel anything coming to your right? Say: Giving and receiving is a circle. Often we give to one person and receive from someone else, just like in our circle. We never really know what direction our good is coming to us from. Our job is to stay open to receiving from all directions! Story time: The Giving Tree You will find today s story in your tubs. This is Shel Silverstein s classic poem about a tree who gave unconditionally to the boy who loved it as it loved the boy. At each
stage of his life, the tree gave what the boy needed for himself and eventually his family. Discussion Questions: (Not all questions need to be asked.) What is happening in this story? What does the boy ask the tree for? Why do you think the tree was happy to give the boy what he needed? Does the tree always give the boy what he needs? How is God like the tree in today s story? Do you think God will give us what we ask for? When can we be like the tree? When are we like the boy? Creative Experience: What will you give to build our perfect world? ** We will have our assembly in room 212 this morning. Today, we will briefly take more suggestions for naming our perfect world. Also, we want to come together and start figuring out what each child is willing to bring to the perfect world. Everyone will have a chance to share their creation from the pre-session, and tell/show the group what they can offer, to make our perfect world work. Next week we will start mapping out our perfect world on paper, and deciding, based on what was agreed upon, what should go where. Closing Prayer: Let us pause for a moment in silence. We send thoughts of love to everyone in the world. Pause. Father Mother God, thank you for this time together to learn about the power of your presence in our lives. In this moment we choose to create a wonderful world for all. We allow our Christ light to shine out for the world to see and speak words of love and peace into our world. We are grateful. Thank you God! Amen.
Teacher Reminders : Please HELP o Return the teacher tub and all supplies to the Resource Room o Sign out by writing the number of children you had on the Teacher Sign-In Sheet. o At 11 put the sign-in sheets in your supply tubs. o Put the love offering in the envelope in your tubs.