Small Group Leader s Guide Theme: Responsibility Date: 28 Feb / 1 Mar 2015 Character Focus: Responsibility Lesson 1 of 4 I will keep my promises Series Overview We are starting on our new series on the character value of Responsibility. Responsibility is knowing and doing what is expected of me. All of us have responsibilities. Students are responsible for paying attention and obeying their teacher; children are responsible to obey their parents; parents are responsible to train, protect and provide for their children. The children will learn to demonstrate responsibility through the 5 I will s namely:- 1. I will keep my promises 2. I will not make excuses 3. I will make things right when I ve made a mistake 4. I will do all my work to the best of my ability 5. I will know my duty and carry out my duty Memory Verse: Suppose you can be trusted with something very little. Then you can also be trusted with something very large. But suppose you are not honest with something very little. Then you will also not be honest with something very large. Luke 16:10 (NIrV) Bible Passage: Numbers 23:19, Exodus 19:7-8, Exodus 32 Introduction We are going to teach the children on the performance values on character Responsibility. There will be 4 lessons on Responsibility. Lesson Character Action Point 1 I will keep my promises 2 I will not make excuses I will make things right when I ve made a mistake 3 I will do all my work to the best of my ability 4 I will know my duty and carry out my duty Copyright 2015 by GKidz, FCBC Page 1
CONNECT / ICEBREAKER CHOP CHILLI CHOP (15 mins) Objective: Pass a series of actions around the group by paying attention to the person sitting on your right and copying their action. Get the group to sit in a circle facing each other Choose one person in the group to be the one to create which actions the group must do (Person A). Leaders should model for the group first, and allow the group a trial round to be familiar with the game. The group continually says out the rhythm beat words chop chilli, chop chilli, chop chop chop. This is one beat. 1) Person A creates Action 1 according to the rhythm words beat 2) Person A creates Action 2, while Person B (sitting to Person A s left) does Action 1 at the same time, according to the rhythm words beat 3) Person A creates Action 3, Person B does Action 2, and Person C (sitting to Person B s left) does Action 1 at the same time, according to the rhythm words beat Continue until someone makes a mistake with the action and the actions no longer pass on through the group. The trick is to pay close attention to the person on your right and follow them in the subsequent beat Suggested actions: clapping your hands, flapping your arms like wings, scratching your armpit, punching your fists in the air, alternate a smile and a blank expression on your face, make bunny ears on your head and twitch your fingers. Your creativity is the only limit! The funnier the actions, the more fun it ll be for the children. Ask the children:- 1. Is the game easy or difficult to play? 2. What is difficult about this game? 3. What is the character value that is needed for this game? (Answer: to be responsible in my task of being attentive) INTRODUCTION TO RESPONSIBILITY AND FIRST I WILL (10 mins) One of the character values that is needed for this game is Responsibility. If each one of us is responsible and plays our part well, the action will be able to pass through the entire group smoothly. Definition of Responsibility Logistics: Responsibility I wills laminated sheet (GKidz to provide) Does anyone know what responsibility means? [Allow children to respond] Responsibility is knowing and doing what is expected of me. All of us have Copyright 2015 by GKidz, FCBC Page 2
responsibilities. Students are responsible for paying attention and obeying their teachers; teachers are responsible to make sure that their students are learning the curriculum; children are responsible to obey their parents; parents are responsible to train, protect and provide for their children. We will be learning how to demonstrate Responsibility through the five I will s. There are 5 ways to practise Responsibility:- 1. I will keep my promises 2. I will not make excuses 3. I will do all my work to the best of my ability 4. I will make things right when I ve made a mistake 5. I will know my duty and carry out my duty. Today, we are going to focus on the first I will. That is, I will keep my promises. A responsible person will keep his or her promises. Introduction to First I Will Have any of you ever broken a promise before? Maybe you promised your parents that you would bathe by a certain time, but because you were watching TV, you forgot about the time, and didn't manage to get it done. Or maybe you promised your friend that you would always be their friend, but then they do something to make you angry, and in that moment of anger, you decide to stop friending them! [Allow the children to respond] Broken Promise Object Lesson Logistics: An A4 piece of coloured paper, a marker, some scotch tape (GKidz to provide) I m going to write a promise on this piece of paper. [Write a promise that one of the children suggested earlier during the discussion] When we break our promise, it s like this. [Tear the paper with the promise written on it down the middle] Would you trust someone who treated his promise like this? No! But slowly, over time, if the person changes and earns your trust, then slowly by slowly, the tear can heal and be like before. [paste the scotch tape on the tear and join the pieces back together] It s not always easy to keep our promises, and I think all of us at one time have broken a promise before. But do you know that there is one Person who has never ever and Copyright 2015 by GKidz, FCBC Page 3
will never ever break His promises. And that's God! BIBLE READING (20 minutes) We are going to look at two passages from the Bible. First, let s turn our Bibles to Numbers 23:19 (NIRV). God isn t a mere human. He can t lie. He isn t a human being. He doesn t change his mind. He speaks, and then he acts. He makes a promise, and then he keeps it. Wow! The Bible passage says that God makes a promise, and He keeps it. He speaks and says that He s going to do something, and then He does it! He is 100% reliable, 100% faithful, 100% trustworthy, 100% of the time! God is Someone who always keeps His promises. Not a single promise that God makes will be broken. God is responsible to us and responsible to do everything that He promises that He will do. How about people in the Bible? Were they always able to keep their promises? Some people didn't keep their promises to God, like the Israelites who told God that they would obey all the commands that God had given them. Turn to Exodus 19:7-8. Moses explains all of God s commands and the people say, yes God! We will do it! But what happened after that? In Exodus 32, they broke their promise and disobeyed Him and worshipped other gods that they made with their own hands. Object Lesson Logistics: A tissue paper, pen (to poke tissue paper) and a rock/pebble (GKidz to provide) All of us have lied or broken a promise before, and these items represent how responsible we are for keeping our promises. What is an irresponsible person like? An irresponsible person is like this tissue paper. [Hold up the tissue paper, or ask a child to help you to hold up the tissue paper] An irresponsible person is someone who breaks their promises. [Use the pen to poke through the tissue paper] Each time they break their promise, it s like a hole that goes through the tissue paper. Their level of responsibility and trustworthiness is just like this. [Hold up the tissue paper for them to see the holes] Copyright 2015 by GKidz, FCBC Page 4
[Hold up the rock] This rock represents God s responsibility. A rock is strong, and solid, and is not breakable. If you punch it, if you poke it with the pen, it s not going to make a dent in this rock. In the same way nothing can change how God is responsible and will always keep his promises. 3x3 Prayer Application We want to be responsible as a rock, not as responsible as a tissue paper. Just now we heard about Easter and many of us committed and promised to pray for our friends to come. Can we commit to pray everyday for our friends to come for Hiscraft and know God? If that's you, and you want to be responsible and pray for your friends, I m going to say a short prayer, and I want you to repeat after me. Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that You are always responsible to Your children. You always keep Your promises and I can trust in You. Help me to grow in responsibility and keep my promises, just like You. Help me to keep my promise and be faithful in my 3x3 prayer. In Jesus name I pray, amen! APPLICATION ACTIVITY COUNT ON ME, BEAN! (15 mins) Materials: One plastic cup with cover, 1 piece of paper towel, 3 lima beans, 1 worksheet, a blank sticker for labeling their cup (all per child, to be provided by GKidz) This week, everyone is going to practice responsibility. These beans want to grow to become sprouts and they need your help to do so! You are each going to receive a troop of 10 beans and will need to follow the instructions in this sheet to help them reach their goal! Give out one worksheet to each child and review the instructions with them Get them to label their cups using the blank sticker Do not start the planting process i.e., wet the cotton wool at GKidz, this is something they are responsible to do at home Remind them to bring their beans back to GKidz next weekend! REVIEW MEMORY VERSE (10 mins) Memory Verse: Suppose you can be trusted with something very little. Then you can also be trusted with something very large. But suppose you are not honest with something very little. Then you will also not be honest with something very large. Luke 16:10 (NIrV) Copyright 2015 by GKidz, FCBC Page 5
Read through and review the memory verse together with the children. Encourage them to be responsible and faithful in something very little this week, like taking care of their beans. PARENT S TOOLKIT (10 mins) Remind the children to do these at home with their parents. 1. Go through pages 9 & 10 of Booklet A Performance, Character Development Parents Toolkit. 2. Go through Week 1 of the Star Action Chart and earn as many stars as you can. References 1. RIO Curriculum, Elementary, Summer Year 1, Unit 10, Lesson 1 God is faithful to provide 2. Character First Education Series 2, Booklet 1 Copyright 2015 by GKidz, FCBC Page 6