Kindergarten-2nd October 3-4, 2015 Elisha and Naaman 2 Kings 5; Micah 6:8 God wants us to obey, even when it s not fun. Connect Time (15 minutes): Five minutes after the service begins, split kids into groups and begin their activity. Large Group (30 minutes): Begin 20 minutes after the service starts. Model what it looks like to be engaged in large group. Small Group (15 minutes): Keep kids in small groups until parents arrive. If you all have extra time at the end, you can review the video and songs together. During check-out, follow up with any kids who were especially quiet during small group. Sometimes kids don t enjoy talking in front of lots of other kids, and they would rather talk one on one. MAKE SURE EACH KID TAKES HOME A SURVEY POSTCARD (SHOULD BE LOCATED NEAR THE DOOR) During Large Group, kids will hear the story of Naaman, a general who was healed by God. Help the presenter with crowd control and encourage the kids to worship together. Look for different learning styles in the lesson today. Kids learn in all different ways through listening, seeing, doing, and repeating. We try to incorporate all different kinds in each lesson. Naaman wanted Elisha to heal him on the spot. Instead, he did the hard work of obedience. Sometimes God wants to heal or grow us, but he asks us to obey him first.
GOAL: Connect Time is all about engaging kids in an activity that allows them to connect with each other right away while simultaneously piquing their curiosity for Large Group and preparing their minds for what they re going to hear. OBEY NO MATTER WHAT *This would probably work best as whole group. Give kids several tasks. Warn them before you start that some will be fun and some won t. After each task, let them vote: Was it fun or not? You can let kids come up with ideas and make up your own. Here are some ideas to get you started: o Find somebody wearing green and give them a high five o Count down from 10 to 0 o Stand on one foot o Do 10 pushups o Sing I m A Little Teapot and do motions o Go high five a wall and return to your spot o Do a curtsy o Spin like a ballerina o Play the air guitar o Do 15 jumping jacks o Sit on the ground and twiddle your thumbs o Solve a math problem (a simple one, like 2+2 or 3+1) o Say the alphabet o Whatever you want! Just vote after each one: fun or not? CONNECT Tell me about a time you obeyed, even when it wasn t fun. (Or, if kids are stumped, they could share a time they disobeyed because it didn t sound fun to obey.) Before you go to Large Group, you can also remind kids of the expectations for Large Group behavior: (1) be kind, (2) listen when somebody speaks, and (3) follow the leader s instructions.
Goal: Kids will (1) recognize that Naaman obeyed God even when it wasn t fun and (2) understand that we can obey God even when it isn t fun. Why? When we follow God, we obey him. Sometimes he asks us to do hard things or things that don t make sense. It doesn t matter: we follow him. Tip: Notice that kids will be doing a review activity and then answering discussion questions to help make it personal. REVIEW THE STORY (ACTIVITY) Take one brown paper bag with the following items: 3 sponges, 3 cotton balls, 3 shoe strings, 3 papers with the number 7, and 3 blue streamers Dump out the supplies and have each kid take one (just make sure each item is used at least once) Have kids move so that they are sitting next to people with a similar item. Tell them you need their help to retell the story: o Sponges: One day there was a little girl who had been separated from her family and forced to work as a servant.! (Everybody with a sponge should pretend to clean) o Cotton balls: She heard that the man who took her away from her family, Naaman, was very sick.! (Have kids with cotton balls blot their skin to pretend there are swollen white wounds all over them and look very sad.) o Sponges: The little girl told Naaman, I know somebody who can help you.! (Have kids say that.) o Shoestrings: Naaman and his servants traveled from Syria to Israel to find Elisha.! (Have kids pretend to be riding galloping horses, with shoestrings as the reins.) o Sevens: When Naaman found Elisha, he told Naaman to dip in the Jordan River seven times.! (Have kids hold up their seven signs.) o Cotton balls: Naaman thought that was silly! He said, Ew, no!! (Have kids repeat that.) (Continue on the following page)
2 o Streamers: Naaman s servants begged him to try it, so Naaman did.! (Have kids wave streamers and count to seven.) o Cotton balls: Naaman was healed!! (Have kids throw the cotton balls back into the paper bag.) If you want to switch roles and review it again, go for it! Just make sure you leave time for the Make It Personal questions below. **PLEASE COLLECT ALL ITEMS AND PUT THEM BACK IN THE BAG FOR THE NEXT SERVICE MAKE IT PERSONAL *If your group is having a hard time engaging in productive discussion, have them draw their response to #4 on the back of this week s coloring sheet, and share! 1. If you were the little girl, would you have helped Naaman? (Why or why not?) 2. If you were Naaman, would you have obeyed? (Why or why not?) 3. What happens when we obey? 4. What s one way you can obey God this week? *Pray together, asking God to help kids (and you!) obey him. Give kids a coloring page. Then act out the story again or re-play the obedience game from Connect Time and give each kid in your group a chance to lead.
1 There are many lessons we can learn from the story of 2 Kings 5. Our emphasis today is on obedience, but read the passage ahead of time and ask God to speak to you about the story. There are many opportunities for kids to interact with you in this script. You can engage them as it s written or switch it up: have them turn and tell a friend or ask them to think in their heads and raise one finger when they have an idea. Do what s best for your group! WELCOME AND INTRO (6 min.) Hi everybody! Welcome to Kids Club. It s great to see you here. And if it s your first time, I m really glad you came. Before we get started today, I have some exciting news: you may have heard that Kids' Club has got some brand new awesome songs! (Click to show the Strong EP image.) This is what the CD will look like, but we won't be giving out CD s for awhile. If you want to get the songs early, before everybody else, have an adult fill out a survey on our website, CrossroadsKidsClub.net (refer to screen). Then you can download the songs early! Now, back to what we re talking about today: We re going to think about obeying God, whether that s fun or not. Your game gave you a little bit of practice obeying, but let s do a few rounds together. Everybody, stand up! (Let kids stand.) OK, I m going to give you some actions. You have to obey whether you think it s fun or not. Sound good? But I d like to help with this. Raise your hand if you have something really, really fun (Choose one kid to come up and share the fun idea; direct kids to do it. After they obey, take a vote): So raise your hand if you thought that was fun (let kids vote). Raise your hand if you thought it was NOT fun. (Let kids vote.) Great! Now I need a volunteer who has something that s really, really NOT fun (Choose one kid to come up and share the NOT fun idea; direct kids to do it. After they obey, take a vote): So raise your hand if you thought that was fun (let kids vote). Raise your hand if you thought it was NOT fun (let kids vote). Nice work! And I m proud of you guys for doing it even when you didn t think it was fun. Go ahead and have a seat. (Let kids sit.) Now, before we get started, I d like to hear from you guys. That was a silly game. But in real life, has anybody obeyed even though it wasn t fun? (Let 2-4 kids share.) Awesome!
You know, following God means we obey him. And sometimes he asks us to do things that don t make sense or don t seem like fun. We re going to hear about a couple people who obeyed today. ELISHA INTRO (1 min.) We ve been talking about a guy named EliJAH. He was a prophet. Does anybody know what that means? (Let kids respond.) Yes, it means he hears from God and shares it! Elijah had a chance to show lots of people who God is, but he began to get old. And when he got old, he chose another prophet to take his place to help give the Israelites, God s special family, messages from God. The new prophet s name was EliSHA. Can you guys say, Elisha? (Let kids say it.) Great! In today s story, Elisha gives somebody a command to follow God. NAAMAN AND THE LITTLE GIRL (4 min.) While Elisha was a prophet, Israel had lost a battle to a country called Syria (show map of Israel and Syria). The leader of the Syrian army was called Naaman. Can you guys say, Naaman? (Let kids say it.) Great job! When Naaman was fighting Israel, he took some prisoners home with him. One of the prisoners was a little girl who was a kid like you guys. She was separated from her family and had to work for Naaman s wife. Can you guys say, Oh no! (Let kids say it.) How would you guys feel if somebody took you far away and made you work for them? (Let kids respond.) Yeah, I d probably feel sad and angry. Do you think you d like Naaman very much? (Let kids respond.) No way! (Show picture of sick Naaman.) But this little girl found out that Naaman had a very bad skin disease called leprosy. It s when somebody s skin swells up and turns white. It s a terrible disease that can cause people to lose their hands or feet. And it can spread all over the body. Everybody look at your arms or hands and pretend there s big white lumps everywhere! (Let kids lift their hands and pretend.) When the servant girl found out that Naaman had leprosy, do you think she wanted to help him? (Let kids guess.) You know what? She did! She told Naaman s wife that she knew a prophet named Elisha from her home in Israel. And that Elisha would be able to help Namaan! NAAMAN GETS HEALED (4 min.) When Naaman found out about Elisha, he went to visit him right away. And Elisha told him what to do if he wanted his leprosy to be healed. Naaman didn t really like what Elisha told him to do, but he obeyed anyway. We re going to watch a video about what happened. As you watch, see if you can figure out what Elisha told Naaman to do. Video: Naaman (about 1 min.) So what did Elisha tell Namaan to do? (Let kids respond.) Yes, he told him to dip in the Jordan River seven times! Seems kind of strange, doesn t it? Has anybody ever been sick and gone to dip in a river? (Let kids respond.) No, that s silly, isn t it?!
But that s what Elisha told Naaman to do. And why didn t Naaman want to do it? (Let kids respond.) Yes, maybe because it was silly. And also because the Jordan River was in Israel and Naaman wanted to stay in his home in Syria. Also, it was really yucky. (Click to show an image of the Jordan River.) Look at that water! Let s take a vote again. Do you think dipping seven times in muddy water would be fun or not fun? Raise your hand if it looks fun (let kids respond). Raise your hand if it looks like it would NOT be fun (let kids respond). Well, Naaman would have voted with you guys he thought it did NOT look like fun. WE CAN OBEY (5 min.) Just like Naaman, we can obey God, even when it s hard. Let s look at some of the things God commands us to do in the Bible. If you think it looks fun, hop into the air, like this (model). If you think it looks hard or like not much fun, make your whole body an X, like this (model). If you guys are ready to do that, stand up! (Give kids the following statements. You don t have to read the verses out loud, but references are included so that you can personally look them up if you choose. After you read a statement, let kids vote. Tell them it s OK if their answers are different. Admit when something s hard for you too, and feel free to add a personal story or two about times YOU obeyed even when it was hard.) Pray for people who hurt you (Matthew 5:44) Obey your parents (Exodus 20:12) Always tell the truth (Exodus 20:16) Forgive people no matter how many times they mess up (Matthew 18:22) Love everybody (Mark 12:31) Don t worry about anything (Matthew 6:25) Talk to God all the time (I Thessalonians 5:17) Great job! Go ahead and have a seat (let kids sit). Let s look at one more verse with some commands from God. If we do these things, we ll know we re obeying him. It s from a book of the Bible written by another prophet named Micah: SLIDE: Micah 6:8: The LORD has shown you what is good. He has told you what he requires of you. You must act with justice. You must love to show mercy. And you must be humble as you live in the sight of your God. Can you read that with me? (Read one line at a time and let kids repeat after you.) Awesome! This verse reminds us to act with JUSTICE, which means treating everyone in a way that s right and fair; to show MERCY, which means forgiving people no matter what they do and even if they don t say they re sorry; and to be HUMBLE which means doing what God wants instead of what we want.
You know, sometimes it s fun to obey. And sometimes it s really hard. But God might tell us to do something that might seem crazy, like dipping in muddy water 7 times. And even though we ll all mess up and make a wrong choice sometimes, we can keep on obeying God. Just like the little girl and Naaman! RESPOND (1-2 min.) Naaman asked Elisha what to do because Elisha heard from God. But now, we can ALL hear from God. Let s spend a minute talking to him right now. I m going to put on a slow song. As you listen, ask God, How can I obey you today? (Click to put on the song below. But only listen as long as you d like. If kids are getting restless, you can move on to worship!) Music Video: Trust and Obey (about 1 min.) (Wrap up by praying for the whole group.) WORSHIP (6 min.) Now let s declare through singing that we want to follow God and obey him! Music Video: Boss of Me Music Video: Come With Me *Dismiss kids to small groups.
Obey No Matter What game- no supplies needed Per kid Coloring page Per group Markers 1 Bible brown paper bag with these objects (to be re-used at each service): -3 sponges -3 cotton balls -3 shoe strings -3 pieces of paper with the #7-3 blue streamers Other: (to be handed out at door) 1 survey postcard Bible 1. Song slide: for when kids enter the room (All that You Need instrumental; mp3 only; can be downloaded on website) 2. Image: Strong EP 3. Image: Israel and Syria 4. Image: sick Naaman 5. Video: Naaman (Miscellaneous) 6. Image: Jordan River 7. SLIDE: Micah 6:8: The LORD has shown you what is good. He has told you what he requires of you. You must act with justice. You must love to show mercy. And you must be humble as you live in the sight of your God. 8. Response Song: 0:19-1:36 of Trust and Obey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2_5fnlztaa) 9. Music Video: Boss of Me (https://vimeo.com/118151941) 10. Music Video: Come with Me (https://vimeo.com/49923933) Tell me about the little girl and Naaman. Want early access to new music? Visit CrossroadsKidsClub.net.