PICK A SPOT Opening Activity Lesson 3 - I Will Listen To Authority! PURPOSE: This activity will introduce the children to the lesson of the day. DESCRIPTION: The children will play a game where there is a risk of getting messy if they don t listen to authorities. MATERIALS NEEDED: You will need this Help Sheet, a blindfold, an mp3 player with headphones, sound dampening earmuffs, and supplies for the version of the game you choose to play. Messy Version: 3 kiddie pools, 6 chairs, 3 tarps or large drop cloth, 3 buckets, several bucket-fulls of flour, baby powder, confetti, or other dry but messy ingredients. Clean Version: 6 chairs, empty bucket, buckets full of paper wads. Super-Duper, Extra-MESSY Version: adult volunteer to be the Chooser, clothes that can be ruined, towels, 3 kiddie pools, 6 chairs, 3 tarps or large drop cloth, 3 buckets, several bucket fulls of wetgross-messy stuff. (Oatmeal, soy sauce, mud, soda, milk with cereal, paint, pudding, etc...) Note: Set your spots up before the children arrive. Put down the drop cloth. Put down the kiddie pools. Set one chair in each kiddie pool and one chair behind the kiddie pools. Set the buckets near the chairs. TO INTRODUCE THE ACTIVITY: One way to avoid a lot of mess in our lives is to listen to instructions from authorities in our lives.. One of you will have the chance to do just that in today s opening game. 3. In just a few moments, one of these spots on stage will be clean and two of them will be covered in a mess. 4. We are going to see what happens when someone listens to my instructions and when someone doesn t listen to my instructions.. For detailed instructions on how to lead the activity, see the Small Group Leader DVD. DURING THE ACTIVITY: I will need three of you to stand on the chairs, prepared to dump the mess on two of the spots. You will be our Dumpers.. I need one of you who is willing to listen to my instructions in order to avoid the mess and stay clean. You will be our Chooser.. 03 Fellowship Church CONTINUED ON PAGE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE Note: Choose your volunteers and get them in place. Hand a bucket to each of your Dumpers. Hand a full bucket to two of them and an empty bucket to one of them. 3. One of these Dumpers has an empty bucket and two of them have buckets full of mess to dump on their spots. 4. Listen to my instructions to know which spot you should choose to sit in. 5. Then the Dumpers will pour out their buckets on the spots. If you listened and chose correctly, the bucket you are sitting under will be empty and you will stay clean. Note: After the first round, bring out the mp3 player with headphones and ear muffs to put on the Chooser. If you are doing the Extra-Messy Version, use the towel to wipe off the chairs that were dumped on, and make sure to get the mp3 player before the messy stuff is dumped so that it is not damaged. 6. You did a good job listening to me and you avoided the mess, but now I want to show what happens when you don t listen to me. 7. I m going to put these headphones on you and play some loud music. These earmuffs will go over the headphones to ensure that you aren t listening to me tell you which is the safe spot. 8. I will also put this blindfold on you so that you can t see anyone who might point and tell you which spot is safe. 9. Then you will choose a spot and we will dump again and see how you do. Note: If you are using an adult volunteer, arrange ahead of time which spot they will choose and you can ensure that they get hit the first time. If you are using a child, he or she may get lucky and choose correctly. Just keep playing until he or she gets dumped on. AFTER THE ACTIVITY:. You were able to avoid the mess in this game as long as you were listening to me, but what happened when you stopped listening to me? (I got mess dumped on me.). I was there to help you make the right choice and avoid the mess in this game. 3. God gives us people who are there to help us make the right choices and avoid making a mess of our lives. 4. Those people are the ones in authority over us like our parents, teachers, baby-sitters, and pastors. CLOSING STATEMENT: If we listen to the authorities in our life, we can avoid a whole lot of mess. Let s learn more about that in our Large Group time. 03 Fellowship Church
I Will Listen To Authority! LESSON GOAL: The children will learn that we should listen to and obey figures in authority because all authority comes from God. MAIN POINT: I Will Listen To Authority! BIBLE LESSON: Samuel Hears God - Samuel 3 BIBLE VERSE: And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Philippians :6 (NLT) 03 Fellowship Church WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THESE ACTIVITIES? MAKE THINGS GUESS THINGS CHALLENGE (WEEKLY OPENING ACTIVITY) This activity will introduce the children to the Main Point as they use creativity to communicate a clue by building or making something. PICK A SPOT (OPENING ACTIVITY) This activity will introduce the children to the lesson of the day. SKIT AND BIBLE LESSON (LARGE GROUP ACTIVITY) This Skit and Bible Lesson will teach the children that we should listen to and obey figures in authority because all authority comes from God. MTI VIEWERTUBE (WEEKLY REVIEW CRAFT ACTIVITY) This activity will help the children review the lesson and give them a tool to use to share the lesson with others. AUTHORITY FENCE (APPLICATION ACTIVITY) This activity will teach the children that our lives will be better by listening to the authorities God has placed in our lives. FIND THE AUTHORITIES (APPLICATION ACTIVITY) This activity will help the children practice identifying authorities who they should listen to in different situations. KNOW AUTHORITY (APPLICATION ACTIVITY) This activity will teach the children that God helps us by giving us authorities to listen to in different areas of our lives. ASSEMBLY REQUIRED (REVIEW GAME ACTIVITY) This is a strategic time to review and reinforce the content of the lesson.
I WILL LISTEN TO AUTHORITY! Wa tc hing the Bib ible Les so n an d Skit on DVD Single Teacher using the Watch It/Train DVD PURPOSE STATEMENT: This Skit and Bible Lesson will teach the children that we should listen to and obey figures in authority because all authority comes from God. MATERIALS/PROPS NEEDED: None. Lead the children through the Opening Activity. logo Begin Large Group Time. Note: For this lesson use Sound Track CD #. Welcome back to Make Things Industries, everyone! Here we make the coolest gadgets, the most awesome toys, and the most delicious candy in the world! And all of you are my fellow employees, so let s get to work...on this first song. Everybody, up! Song Teacher leads the children in singing the song. 3 Great singing, my friends! Now before we find out what we re making today, I want to talk about this company. If you ve been here before, then you know this place is about more than just toys, gadgets, and candy. At this factory we work on people, too. At a factory, with hard work and a little time, we turn basic things into amazing things. Metal and plastic become cool toys. Simple parts become cool gadgets. Basic ingredients become delicious candy! And it s the same with us. With time and hard work we become better people. And if we follow God and obey Him, then He will help us become the leaders He has designed us to be. Our factory Bible Verse confirms this. Let s take a look. 3 Bible Verse And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Philippians :6 (NLT) Optional: Have the children recite the verse two or three times. Then assign specific words in the verse to specific children. Have them recite the verse again with each child only saying their assigned word. Repeat this until the rhythm is smooth. Or the teacher can use a conductor-style wand and point to specific children to say the next word in the verse. 03 Fellowship Church
4 I love this verse because it tells us that God is interested in our lives and cares about us enough to want what is best for us. He keeps working on us our entire life. He doesn t quit or give up. And one of the ways He works on us is by teaching us lessons from the Bible. Today we re learning about authority. When I say authority I mean people that are over you like your parents and teachers. To help us learn, we re going to need our Main Point on the screen! So let s play Down The Assembly Line to find out what our Main Point is. Note: Play Down the Assembly Line Video chapter # 4. During Down The Assembly Line the Teacher will guide the kids through the game by watching the screen and jumping over obstacles, ducking under them, and dodging to the right and left of them. (out of breath) And here s our Main Point: I Will Listen To Authority! 4 Down The Assembly Line/Main Point The Teacher works with the children to make up cheerleader-type hand motions that go along with the Main Point. Once everyone has gone over the Main Point, have the children repeat it with motions two or three times. Okay, that was some great shouting. And I am definitely feeling the energy. Now I want everyone to understand that authority is about more than just being told what to do. Did you know that all authority comes from God? (allows children to respond) It s true. The Bible says in Romans, chapter 3, that all authority comes from God. That means that the people who are in authority over you were placed there by God. That means if you disobey authority, or choose not to listen to authority, then you re disobeying God. Things will always be better when we stay under God s authority and the authority of those God puts in charge. We ve mentioned that parents and teachers are in authority over us but there are many more people in authority, too. Your pastor, your Small Group leaders, your principal, your soccer coach, and police officers are all authority figures. And God wants us to listen to them and obey them. And trust me, life is much better when you choose to obey authority. But sadly people have had issues with authority for a long, long time...even back in the Bible. Let s check in with Shipping and Receiving to see if they have a Bible Lesson that can help us learn about authority. 5 Child Letter/Bible Lesson 5 Note: Play Bible Lesson Video chapter # 5. Samuel understood the importance of authority from the time he was a small child. He grew up in the presence of the LORD and knew that all authority comes from God. By constantly listening to authority, Samuel achieved amazing things in his lifetime. And if we listen to authority, God can use us for amazing things, too. Now some of you might like some of your authority figures but you might not like others. Maybe you don t want to listen to all the authority figures in your life. I think Mr. Winowitz might have a way of helping you look at things 03 Fellowship Church
6 7 differently. Let s see what his plans for Wedge and Kate are for today and let s see how they do. Note: Play Skit Intro Video chapter # 6 followed by Hat And Seek Video chapter # 7. Whoa, things turned out awful for Wedge and Kate when they didn t listen to Lou s authority! God wants us to consistently listen to authority and to obey. Leadership and structure aren t ideas that we made up here at the factory. Those ideas come from God. He is a God of order, and He designed us to obey authority. When we do, we are blessed by Him. When we don t, we suffer the consequences. Now some of you might be wondering if there is ever a time when we shouldn t listen to authority. The answer is yes. The only time you shouldn t listen to authority is when someone in authority tells you to do something that you know God says is wrong. If your teacher tells you to hurt someone, or if your dad tells you to steal something, then you should listen to God in those moments and do what He wants instead. But unless it s a strange moment like those, it s usually a safe bet to listen to and obey authority figures. And if we faithfully listen to authority, one day God may choose to place us in positions of authority. We ll only know how to use authority if we make of habit of listening to authority now. And right now, we are going to spend some time worshiping God, our authority, through singing and also by giving our offering. Please stand and sing to God with me. 6 7 8 skit video hat and seek song 8 Teacher leads the children in singing the song. After the song, the Teacher begins the offering time. Thank you for singing. Now we ll continue to worship God by giving our tithes and offerings. This is the time to think about everything that God has blessed you with. This is a time to be thankful and to show our thanks by giving back to Him. Please bow your heads and pray with me as we prepare to give. 9 Offering 9 OFFERING 4 Note: Lead the children in prayer. If you want to, include elements of the lesson you are teaching today. For instance, today we are talking about authority. So, you might say, God, we know that You are our authority and that all authority comes from You. Help us to remember that as we listen to and obey the people You have placed in authority over us. Amen. Take up the offering. 0 Thank you for singing and for giving. But we re not finished yet. It s time for Small Groups. Learn from your Factory Supervisor and have fun in today s Small Group Activity. [0] When you come back, we ll play our Review Game. Note: If the children do not change rooms for the Small Group time, review the Main Point before you begin the activities. If the children do change rooms for the Small Group time, have the children review the Main Point while they exit. Also, encourage the children to exit the room while performing some sort of creative motion. 0 Small Groups 03 Fellowship Church 3
SMALL GROUPS Teacher greets the children as they return from Small Groups. Welcome back! Small Groups are done and that means it s time for Assembly Required! Let s answer some questions and play games! Note: For specific instructions on how to lead the children through this Review Game, you will need to print out Assembly Required Lesson 3 from your Lesson Materials CD-ROM. Lead the children through the questions. Press Play when a child has given you the right answer. MP still Assembly Required CLOSING Great job at the factory today, everyone! Don t forget what we learned today. In fact, let s all say our Main Point together one more time. I Will Listen To Authority! Remember that Main Point, and come back to the factory next time as we keep on making things at Make Things Industries! 03 Fellowship Church 4