The Bible and Me Small Group Leader s Guide Timothy Club (P1-3) Year 2 Date: 9/10 May 2015 The Bible and Me: Lesson 3 of 5 Exploring the Bible and Doing Devotions Series Overview God has given us the Bible for us to know Him, to know His ways, and for it to be a guide for us to live our lives until we see Him again. We want our GKidz children to embark on a lifelong journey of discovering more about God through reading His Word and living out His truth and commands day by day. Date Lesson Lesson Focus Family Devotion Focus 18/19 April Lesson 1 What s the Bible all about? Share about God s Word in our lives 25/26 April Lesson 2 Knowing God and His Ways by Exploring the Bible Share about what you have learnt about God through reading the Bible 2/3 May Combined Service: 2 May (Sat) 5-7pm @ EXPO No GKidz this weekend 9/10 May Lesson 3 Exploring the Bible and Doing Devotions Start of 3-week explorer challenge 16/17 May Lesson 4 How to Do Devotions Continuation of explorer challenge 23/24 May Lesson 5 God s Word Treasure Hunt Completion of explorer challenge 30/31 May Lesson 6 Series Wrap Up / 1 st half 2015 Review Make a plan for reading the Bible together regularly Memory Verse: Your Word is like a lamp that shows me the way. It is like a light that guides me. Psalm 119:105 (NIRV) God has breathed life into all Scripture. It is useful for teaching us what is true. It is useful for correcting our mistakes. It is useful for making our lives whole again. It is useful for training us to do what is right. 2 Timothy 3:16 (NIRV) LEADERS BRIEFING AND PREPARATION We are going to spend the next few weeks talking about God s Word, what it s all about, but also how it applies to our lives. It s a good time for us as leaders to Copyright 2015 by GKidz, FCBC Page 1
reflect about a few things: What is one thing that God has revealed to you about Himself or His ways through His Word this week? Has God s Word been alive and active in our lives? Are we receiving fresh revelation from Him on a daily basis? Let s spur each other on to go deeper into God s Word by sharing about what God has been speaking to us through our daily devotions or reading during GKidz leaders briefing time. PLATFORM TEACHING (25 mins) Roles: Teacher #1 wearing explorer gear (e.g., cargo pants, fishermen hat, boots if possible, if not track shoes) o Backpack (leader to provide) o Bible (leader to provide) o Handheld mirror (leader to provide) o Facial wipes (GKidz to provide) Teacher #2 Female, normal outfit with a backpack o Backpack (leader to provide) o Bible (leader to provide) o Torchlight (leader to provide) o Lipstick (leader to provide) o Milk bottle (GKidz to provide) [Jungle sounds in the background GKidz to provide] T1: Hey [name of Teacher #2], are you ready to head off on our great exploration? T2: Yes, I m ready! But er, where are we going again? T1: Don t you remember that two weeks ago at GKidz, we talked about how we were going on a great exploration to learn more about God? Well today is the day that we set off! And we are bringing the children here along with us! T2: Wow that sounds super exciting! T1: Okay, before we go, we need to make sure we have everything that we need. What have you brought for the journey? T2: I brought my torchlight with me! [take out torchlight and try to turn it on but it doesn t work] Oh no but I forgot to bring the batteries! How am I going to find my way when the road is dark and I can t see where I m going? [pretend to stumble around like you can t see, using your arms to feel around] Copyright 2015 by GKidz, FCBC Page 2
T1: [Name of Teacher #2], don t worry! On a normal exploration, it would be a problem that your torchlight doesn t have batteries, but this is an exploration to learn more about God. So the normal torchlight won t work. We need something else to be the light for our path Children, do any of you know what that thing is? [Allow children to respond] Yes, you ve learnt your memory verse well. God s Word will be a light for our path and show us the way to God. T2: [Tries to use Bible like a torchlight to find the way around, but no light comes out, so shake and hit the Bible] Sigh, there isn t any light coming out. Maybe I need to also get batteries for my Bible. T1: No no no, your hardcopy Bible doesn t need batteries! What we read in God s Word shows us the way that we should take in our lives, and how we should live our lives at home and in school. God s Word is like a lamp or a torchlight that shows the way when we don t know what to do. [Name of Teacher #2], did you bring anything else? T2: Yes! You never know when you may meet someone out there in the jungle, and I want to look my best so I ve brought lipstick! [take out lipstick] Wait a little while ah. [apply lipstick but make a big mess by drawing outside your lips] How do I look? Nice right? A nice and bright lipstick color brings your face to life! T1: Er, [Name of Teacher #2], I think you drew your lipstick a little bit out of the line It would have been good to use a mirror to draw your lipstick on to guide you. [take out a mirror and show it to Teacher #2] This is how you look like. Do you think you can go out into the jungle like that? I think the monkeys may get a shock if they see you. Or start laughing. [pass mirror and wet wipes/tissue to Teacher #2] T2: [look into mirror] OH MY GOODNESS! Thank you for showing me how I look! I m going to clean up right now! [face away from the children and clean up] T1: A mirror shows us a reflection of ourselves. If our hair is messy, or we have a piece of vegetable stuck in our teeth, we need a mirror to see what we actually look like, so that we can do something to adjust and look better. God s Word is like a mirror. It shows us God s ways, and shows us what areas about ourselves we need to become better. For example, if we were rude and quarreled with our parents just this morning, then we read in the Bible God s command to us to honour our father and mother, God s word points out where we have done wrong, and then we can repent and change. T2: Ok, I m done! Hmm, I m a little hungry though. I think we need to bring some food Copyright 2015 by GKidz, FCBC Page 3
along with us for the journey. I have something here [take out baby bottle] Just fill this up with a little milk and I m good to go! T1: [Name of Teacher #2], milk is good nutrition for babies, but you need something more nutritious and filling if you want to have energy for the journey ahead! You need rice, meat, and vegetables. Not just milk. Children, in the same way, you may have grown up reading picture book Bibles, and know a lot of Bible stories, but as you grow in knowing God, you need to move on from just milk to solid food. God s Word is solid food that teaches us about God, and the more we read, chew on it and understand, the more we grow. For this journey and exploration, the one thing that we need is the Bible. It is a light for our path, it is a mirror for us to see ourselves better, and it is solid food for us to grow in knowing God. [slides provided as background for each item] Your leaders are going to give you your exploration brief and we are going to set off on this 3-week journey! But first, let s say a prayer! Dear Heavenly Father, we are going to start on an exploration to learn more about You. Speak to each of the explorers here from Your Word, so that they will know You and follow You all the days of their lives. In Jesus name we pray, amen! [Split into small groups] CONNECT / ICE-BREAKER MIRROR MIRROR (10 mins) Pair the children up and ask them to decide who will be A and B The pair will face each other and take turns to pretend to be the mirror image of the other person Child A will start first to pretend to do all the things that one does when you wake up in the morning. You can give some prompters to give them ideas of what to do. o The alarm clock rings and you wake up o Sit up in bed and stretch your arms o Pull off the blanket and go to the bathroom o Brush your teeth and wash your face o Smile at yourself in the mirror Child B will mirror Child A s actions if Child A uses his/her right hand to brush their teeth, Child B will have to mirror the same brushing action with his/her left hand After a few minutes, change over to Child B being the actor and Child A being the mirror image. Child B will do the actions when someone is about to go to sleep. o Look at the time and yawn o Go to the bathroom and brush your teeth o Pull down the blanket and get into bed Copyright 2015 by GKidz, FCBC Page 4
o Fluff your pillow and lay your head on it o Pray to God o Sleep FOLLOW UP FROM PREVIOUS WEEK S LESSON (5 mins) Affirm the children who did their take-home worksheets and brought it back to GKidz. Ask them to share what were some things that they learned about God through reading Psalm 23 (Leader s Note: Do be sensitive to children who come from pre-believing families, or whose parents may not have wanted to spend that time together as a family talking about the Bible. Encourage them that they can do the activity on their own, and that you re praying that they will be able to do it with their families one day.) Transition: We are going on an exploration over the next few weeks to know more about God. Explorers, what is the one most important thing that we need for this exploration? [Ans: the Bible] And just now during the teaching on stage we learnt what are some objects used to describe God s Word. ACTIVITY CHARADES: GOD S WORD IS LIKE (10 mins) Leader to say: I m going to act out one at a time the three descriptions of God s Word that we learned about just now, and you're going to guess what word I m describing. Only guess the word when I have finished acting. [Act out the word FOOD pretend to be hungry, then take a bowl, with a pair of chopsticks/fork and spoon, and eat it up noisily. End off with a big burp and pat your tummy like you are satisfied.] Can you guess what God s Word is like? That s right, God s Word is like FOOD that helps us to grow. It s okay to drink milk only if you re a baby, but as we grow older, we need food from God s Word. Are you ready for the next word? [Act out the word LIGHT pretend that it s very dark and you can t see where you re going, then take out your imaginary torchlight, turn it on and look very happy, that you can now see your way around and see all the wonderful things around you.] Explorers, God s Word is like a? That s right! God s Word is like a light for our path. His word shows us the way to take. Okay, here s the last word. Copyright 2015 by GKidz, FCBC Page 5
[Act out the word MIRROR pretend that you just woke up and stumble to the toilet. You look into the mirror and comb your hair, and wash your face and check for pimples.] What is God s Word like? Yes it s like a mirror that shows us what we look like, and who we are. So to re-cap, God s Word is like solid food that helps us to grow, it s like a light that shows us the way and it s like a mirror that reveals who we are. Transition: God is so amazing and God s Word is so amazing too! We are going to go on an exploration over the next 3 weeks into God s Word. Just like we eat food everyday, we need to read God s Word everyday to know Him better and to grow. BIBLE BASICS: DEVOTION EXPLORER CHALLENGE (10 mins) Leader to say: Every explorer here today is going to be given the challenge to read God s Word everyday for 21 days to know more about God. You will each receive one booklet, which will be your exploration journal for you to write down all that you learn about Him. Every day, there will be a short Bible passage, and some questions to answer or activity to complete. Every explorer needs help sometimes, and you can ask other explorers in your family, or ask your small group leaders when you come back next week. Remember, this is what an explorer of God s Word does: 1. Locate a passage in the Bible 2. Underline the words that show you more about God 3. Think about those words 4. Write a sentence about what you learnt about God in your journal It s going to be an exciting journey ahead, and I will also be going on this journey together with you. So let s come back next week, with all of the gems and jewels of God s truths that you re going to dig up during your exploration! REVIEW MEMORY VERSE (10 mins) Memory Verse: Your Word is like a lamp that shows me the way. It is like a light that guides me. Psalm 119:105 (NIRV) Ask the children to review the memory verse from memory. Introduce the new memory verse, without them having to memorise it yet: Copyright 2015 by GKidz, FCBC Page 6
God has breathed life into all Scripture. It is useful for teaching us what is true. It is useful for correcting our mistakes. It is useful for making our lives whole again. It is useful for training us to do what is right. 2 Timothy 3:16 (NIRV) References 1. Foundations Curriculum: Studying the Bible by Karyn Henley 2. Kids Sunday School Place Copyright 2015 by GKidz, FCBC Page 7