Unit 1 Summary: Act Up

Unit 1 Summary: Act Up T here is an amazing God working behind the scenes of our everyday lives. While our lives may seem ordinary and boring, this God is just waiting to break into our day and take us on adventure. Like any good quest, there s plenty of excitement and danger along the way, an enemy to outwit and mysteries to solve. In this adventure-themed series, kids will learn how to pay attention to those kairos moments, when God gets their attention and invites them to join His epic quest. In Kairos Quest, kids will use the Life Shape of the Learning Circle to discover how to hear from God and act on what He tells them. 69

LESSON 4 (Large Group) Key Concept: God wants me to build my life on what He says. Bible Story: The Wise and Foolish Builders (Matthew 7:24-27) Bible Verse: Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Matthew 7:24 3DM Principle: The Circle (Act / Review) Large Group Overview: Kids will learn that listening to God s word and putting it into practice will lead to an amazing life. Huddle Overview: Kids will do an activity to help them distinguish between a wise and foolish life and will have the chance to share what God has been saying to them. 3 9 10 12 1 2 11 Lesson Outline Lesson Set Up Live kid interviews / Circle Illustration (10 min) Game Kairos Quest Challenge: Tower of Doom (5 min) Personal Story Sand Castle Example (3 min) Bible Story Wise and Foolish Builder (8 min) Application Apply Bible story to kids lives (5 min) 70

Lesson Set Up Hey Guys, welcome to Kairos Quest, where we re discovering the adventure that God has in store for our lives. Over the last several weeks we ve seen that our adventure begins when we learn to hear from God. Every day God is speaking to us. Every day He is trying to get our attention in all kinds of ways. We call this stuff kairos. Kairos is where an awesome, amazing God breaks into our ordinary, everyday lives and says, Hey, I have something to tell you that can change your life, and I want you to do something about it. Right now we re going to hear from a couple of our friends who have already started their adventure by paying attention to what God is up to in their lives. Bring up two kids you ve talked to ahead of time to interview them about a way God spoke to them over the last few weeks. Maybe it was through last week s Bible story or maybe it was a way He prompted them to help someone or change some behavior. Maybe it was a way God just encouraged them. Keep it short and use the following questions as a guide. 1. What s your name? 2. What grade are you in? 3. How did God get your attention this week? 4. What do you think He wanted you to do about it? 5. What did you do? 6. How did it go? Hey, thanks for sharing your adventure with us. (to audience) Let s clap for our friends here for helping us out. Dismiss interview kids to audience. Those are some pretty cool stories. You see guys, God wants to talk to kids just like you and turn your life into an adventure. Let s see how much you remember about how this works. 71

Circle Review Turn to flip chart or white board and draw a horizontal arrow going left to right. Does anyone remember what this line? Take responses. It stands for our ordinary, everyday lives. The Bible teaches us that sometimes something amazing happens when, bam! Draw starburst in the middle of the line. God breaks into our day and gets our attention. Maybe it s with a Bible verse, maybe it s through a person, maybe it s just through something going on in your life. That stuff is called kairos. Now what s the first thing we do when God breaks through? Take responses. We notice it. We observe it. We say, Whoa! Everybody say, Whoa! Write Whoa! in the upper right corner of the circle. After we notice it, we do what? Take responses. We think about it. We say, Hmm. Everybody say, Hmm. Write Hmm in the middle of the right side of the circle. Then we find some friends, and we do what? Take responses. We talk about it. Everybody say, Yadda, yadda, yadda. Write Yadda, yadda, yadda on bottom right corner of the circle. But we also said it s not enough just to think about it and talk about it. We have to have a plan to do something about it. Turn to someone next to you and say, What s the plan, Stan? Write the word plan on the lower left corner of the circle. Then we said we need a buddy to help cheer us on to carry out our plan and do what God s told us to do. Write Buddy up in the middle of the left hand side of the circle. Turn to someone next to you and say, Gooooo team! That s all great, but you see there s one spot left on our circle. One spot that everything else leads to. It s not enough to hear God, not enough to think and talk about it, not enough even to have a plan and a buddy. At the end of the day, it all comes down to doing something. Turn to someone next to you and say, Just do it! 72

Write Just do it on the upper left hand corner of the circle. The final illustration should look something like this: Just Do It! Buddy Up Plan Whoa! Hmmm Yadda, Yadda, Yadda Today we re going to see that every time you just do it, every time you actually put your kairos into action, you are adding another brick to building an amazing, one-of-a-kind, unstoppable life. Kairos Quest Challenge: Tower of Doom Game Instructions Supplies: 6 50 plastic cups divided into groups 6 Two tables big enough to build towers on out of the cups 6 Watch or timer to time kids for two minutes 6 Upbeat game music How to Play: Choose two boys and two girls to compete against each other. Each team will be given two minutes try to build the tallest tower out of plastic cups. Play upbeat game music during the competition. To help us understand this today we re going to talk about building stuff. How many of you like building toys like Legos or K nex or Magnetics? How many of you have ever built a fort and tree house in your yard and maybe a tent with bed sheets? Building is definitely fun. 73

Today, we re going to see just how good you guys are at building. I m going bring up two girls and two boys to compete head-to-head in a Kairos Quest Challenge called the Tower of Doom. Here s how it works. I m going to give you a short amount of time, only two minutes, to build the tallest structure out of plastic cups as possible. The game s called The Tower of Doom because if you don t build it right, the whole thing is doomed to collapse. All right, who s ready to build? Bring up two boys and two girls and give them each 25 plastic cups. Okay, we re going to need the boys and the girls to cheer for their teams. Who thinks the boys are going to wins? Who thinks the girls are going to win? Let s get ready to play the Tower of Doom! Start the timer and play game music. Build excitement by reminding kids how little time is left on the clock, Only 30 seconds to go! When ten seconds are left on the timer, count down to zero with the kids. Give a prize to the team with the tallest tower. Personal Story Tell a personal story, such as the following one, about a time when you or your family or friends built something that got torn down. How many of you guys have ever built a sandcastle? One year I went to the beach with my daughters when my oldest was four year old, and they kept asking me to help them build a sandcastle. And it couldn t be just any sandcastle. She wanted me to build this huge, amazing sandcastle she had seen in a book. So I spent hours helping her build the biggest, coolest sandcastle I could. She loved it, but then she kept getting upset when her baby sister would come and smash her way right through it. She didn t want to let other kids play on the beach anywhere near it, and she was convinced it would be there when we returned the next year. I had to explain to her, Honey, it s a sandcastle. They just don t last. If you build something out of sand, you know it s going to collapse. 74

Bible Story The teaching area should be set up with a brown or tan tarp on one side representing the sandy foundation and a row of landscaping stones on the other side representing the rocky foundation. The teacher will build the foolish house on the tarp and use the tarp to collapse the house at the appropriate part of the story. The teacher will build the wise house just behind the row of rocks to suggest the house is being built on the solid rock. One day Jesus told a story about some people who were builders. Only they weren t building sandcastles or towers out of cups. They were building houses. Jesus said there were two builders. Teacher should move to the rocky foundation. Jesus called one guy a wise builder. What does it mean to be wise? Take responses. Yeah, this guy knew what he was doing. Not only was he smart, he had good judgment so he could put what he knew into practice in real life. Well, since he was so wise, this builder knew that the most important part of a building is the very bottom. It s called the foundation. It s the part that you build the entire rest of the house on. So he figured if his whole house is going to be standing on it, he d better build that foundation out of something really strong. The wise man, Jesus said, built his house on top of the strongest thing he could find solid, sturdy rock. As the teacher talks, he or she begins picking up cardboard boxes and building the cardboard house on the rocky foundation. So the wise man built and built and built until his house was completed on the strong foundation of rock. Teacher should move to the sandy tarp. But there was also another builder. This guy was not so wise. In fact, Jesus called this man the foolish builder. What does it mean to be foolish? Take responses. 75

Foolish doesn t necessarily mean dumb. This guy could have known as much about building houses as the wise builder, but he didn t have the wisdom to put what he knew into practice. He may have had all kinds of building knowledge, but he didn t use it. Sometimes people who build houses will try to take shortcuts and build it quicker and cheaper. That s what this guy did. Instead of starting with a strong foundation of solid rock, the foolish man built his house on the sand. Not a good idea. Anyone who s ever built a sandcastle knows that things built on sand do not last. As the teacher talks, he or she begins picking up cardboard boxes and building the house on the sandy foundation. So even though he might have known better, the foolish man put a lot of work into constructing a house on a foundation of weak sand. Jesus went on to say that after both of these guys built their houses, it began to rain. Not just a little bit of rain, but a huge storm. The rain poured down, and the stream near the house began to flood. The wind began to blow and beat against each house. The wise man s house that was built on the rock stood strong even in middle of the storm. But the foolish man s house? When the rain came down and the stream flooded and the wind hit it, it fell with a great crash. Teacher pulls tarp out from under the foolish man s house making it collapse. Be prepared for a little chaos during this moment. Kids will go crazy when the teacher knocks down the house. Application / Wrap Up When Jesus told this story, he wasn t really talking about building houses. He was talking about building lives. Jesus says that anyone who hears what I say and actually does something about it is like a wise man who built his house on rock. When life gets stormy, when trouble comes your way, you will stay strong if you build your life on what Jesus says. But the foolish man is a like someone who hears what Jesus says but doesn t do anything about it. When life gets stormy, when trouble comes his way, the foolish person s life falls apart. 76

Notice that both people heard what Jesus said, but the wise person actually put it into practice. Our Bible verse this week says, Whoever hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on a rock. Jesus is saying, When it comes to my words, just do it. Every day at school, at home, in your neighborhood, we all make choices about what kind of life are we going to live. We have a choice between two kinds of lives: A wise life that s built on doing what Jesus says and a foolish life that s built on just doing whatever seems like a good idea at the time. Just like the houses in the story, all of us will face stormy times in our lives. Maybe we fail a test. Maybe we get picked on. Maybe our favorite pet dies. Maybe our parents are fighting. These things feel like storms. They feel like they re going to tear us apart. But if we build our life like this by listening to Jesus and doing what He says, we ll be like the wise man who built his house on sturdy rocks. When a big storm came, his house stayed strong. And when troubles come for you, Jesus will help you to be strong too. But if we build our life just doing whatever and ignoring what God says, we ll be like the foolish man who built his house on sinking sand. When the big storm came, the sand washed away and the house collapsed with a great crash. If you build your life in a foolish way, when troubles come you ll fall apart like this house. But the good news is that it s your choice. What kind of a life do you want? Jesus wants to give you the best kind of life. He says if you listen to Him and do what He says, you ll live an awesome life that s built to last. Prayer God, thanks that not only can we talk to you, but that you actually talk to us to. Thank you for inviting us to join You on your adventure. Please help all of us learn to recognize your voice this week and hear the cool things that You want to tell us. Amen 77

LESSON 4 (Huddle) Key Concept: God wants me to build my life on what He says. Bible Story: The Wise and Foolish Builders (Matthew 7:24-27) Bible Verse: Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Matthew 7:24 3DM Principle: The Circle (Act / Review) Large Group Overview: Kids will learn that listening to God s word and putting it into practice will lead to an amazing life. Huddle Overview: Kids will do an activity to help them distinguish between a wise and foolish life and will have the chance to share what God has been saying to them. Supplies 6 Blocks or cups (12 per group) 6 Scenario Cards (1 set per group) 6 Gray cardstock to represent wise man s rock (1 piece per group) 6 Tan cardstock to represent the foolish man s sand (1 piece per group) 6 flip chart, dry erase board or poster board 6 markers 78

9 10 11 12 1 2 3 Huddle Group Outline Welcome / Review Questions to review lesson (5 min) Activity #1 Building Wise and Foolish Houses (10 min) Activity #2 Huddle Discussion (5 min) Activity #3 Unpacking Kairos (Circle Review) (10 min) Bible Verse Prayer (5 min) (5 min) 79

Huddle Time Welcome / Large Group Review Gather kids in a circle either on the floor or around a table. Welcome back to our huddle. Today in large group we heard a story that Jesus told about two builders. Ask: 6 What did the wise builder build his house on? Rock 6 What did the foolish builder build his house on? Sand 6 What happened to the house of the foolish man when the storms came? It fell down. It was destroyed. 6 What happened to the house of the wise man when the storms came? It did not fall. It survived the storm. 6 Jesus story wasn t really about houses, was it? What was it about? About building a life God s way, listening to God and doing what He said. 80

Huddle Activity 1: Building Wise and Foolish Houses Today during huddle time, kids will play a game where they identify examples of a wise life or foolish life. Sit in a circle with your kids and put the rock cardstock and the sand cardstock in the middle. Give each child a cup and a scenario card. Each child should read his or her scenario. If the example describes a wise life, he or she should use his or her cup to build a tower on the rocks. If the example describes a foolish life, he or she should use his or her cup to build a tower on the sand. When completed, each tower will look like this: Supplies: 6 Twelve blocks or cups 6 Twelve scenario cards 6 Gray cardstock with rock graphic printed on it 6 Tan cardstock with sand graphic printed on it Today we re going to play a game to see if we can figure out what it looks like to live a wise life and what it looks to like to live a foolish life. This brown paper is going to remind us of the foolish man who built his house on the sand. This gray paper is going to remind us of the wise man who built his house on the rock. When it s your turn, you ll pick up a cup and draw a scenario card. If you think this example is a kid living a wise life by listening to God and doing what He says, then stack your cup on the gray paper. If you think the kid is being foolish by ignoring God or not doing anything about what God says, then stack your cup on the brown paper. By end we re going to build two houses, just like in today s story. 81

After both towers have been completed, read the story from Matthew 7. Pull the sand cardstock out from under the foolish house and watch the house topple. You can see that if we re foolish and don t listen to God or act on what He says, we ll miss out on the awesome life God has in store for us. But if we re wise and build our lives on what God says, our lives will be an amazing adventure that is built to last. Scenario Card Situations: 6 There s an elderly lady who lives on your street whose family never visits her. Every time you walk by her house, you notice the yard is mess because she can t take care of it. You know it wouldn t be a big deal to go rake her leaves or something, but you never get around to it. (Foolish Life) 6 There s a bully at school who is always saying mean things about you. You have a Bible verse poster in your room that says God made you in amazing way. You don t feel so amazing, but every time you look at that poster it reminds you that what God says about you is more important than anything the bully says. (Wise Life) 6 You ve been saving your allowance all year to buy an ipod, but at church they re taking a special offering to buy toys for some kids who don t have as much as you. Every time they talk about it, you know God wants you to do something about it. You take half of your ipod money and give it to the church. After all, it s all God s money anyway. (Wise Life) 6 Your dad told you never to set off any fireworks without him. When you re at your friend s house, he breaks out a pack of bottle-rockets and wants to set them off in the backyard when his parents are gone. You figure no one will find out and go along with the plan. (Foolish Life) 6 You have a kid on your soccer team who doesn t play very well, and everyone else is giving him a hard time. God reminds of you of how bad you felt when the same thing happened to you once. So, instead of making fun of him like everyone else, you point out all the things he did right in the game. (Wise Life) 6 Every time you pray, you keep thinking about a kid in your class who just moved here from another country. So you start praying for him and ask him how he s doing the next day at school. (Wise Life) 82

6 You do so many after-school activities that you never have a day just to hang out. You feel kind of stressed because you re so busy and have a hard time getting your homework done. Your best friend says his parents only let him do one sport a season and says you should think about it. That seems like a great idea, but you don t know what you d give up. So just keep doing everything. (Foolish Life) 6 You get invited to a sleep-over, and you know your friends are planning to sneak out of the house after everyone goes to bed. You got busted doing that once before. So you decide to stay home and invite a new kid from school over to your house instead. (Wise Life) 6 You brought a whole bag of Sour Patch Kids to school today. A kid asks you if he can have one, but you tell him no way. You know God wants you to be generous, but, c mon, these are Sour Patch Kids! (Foolish Life) 6 Even though you aren t supposed to play ball in the house, you did it anyway and broke your mom s favorite lamp. When she asks you what happened, you blame it on the dog. The next week at church, they talk about being honest, but you figure what your mom doesn t know won t hurt her. (Foolish Life) 6 You were playing dress-up with your mom s jewelry and lost one of the earrings your grandmother gave her. You re tempted to not say anything, but you know God wants you treat other people the way you would want them to treat you. You go straight to your mom and tell her what happened even though you ll get in trouble. (Wise Life) 6 Your little sister breaks the controller on your brand new Nintendo Wii you got for Christmas. She says she s sorry, and you know it s an accident, but you re still mad so you break her doll to get even. Your mom has told you need to get control of your temper, but you just don t care. (Foolish Life) 83

Huddle Discussion Did any of those situations we talked about sound familiar? Maybe God s been talking to you about something just like that, or maybe about something else. Can you think of a time when you knew God wanted you to do something and you did it? Allow kids to share. Take some time to ask kids if God got their attention last week. They may not understand how to recognize God s voice yet. If kids are having a hard time coming up with examples, use some of the following questions as prompts for discussion: 6 Was there a Bible verse or Bible story that you thought about this week? 6 Was there anything that made you really happy, sad, worried, or mad? 6 Has anyone hurt your feelings this week? 6 Is there anyone you need to forgive? Do you have any enemies? 6 Is there anyone who you need to tell that you re sorry? 6 Was there someone you helped or should have helped? 6 Did you have a chance to give generously to someone? Did you do it? 6 Did anything really good happen this week? Don t pressure kids to share or try to force kairos if God doesn t bring anything up. If kids don t have anything to share, just review the circle with them. If they do share, however, follow up by taking some of the significant events from your kids week and walking them around the circle to unpack what God is saying. Remind them of the key words and phrases you used over the past four weeks to learn about the circle. You will draw a shape similar to the one at the top of the next page. 84

Just Do It! Buddy Up Plan Whoa! Hmmm Yadda, Yadda, Yadda 1. Whoa! Prompt them to observe God speaking by saying that God could be using some of these situations to get their attention. 2. Hmmm Prompt them to reflect by asking them to think about how this experience made them feel. 3. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda Prompt them to discuss it by asking them to share with the group. 4. Plan Prompt them to make a plan by asking what they think God wants them to do about it. 5. Buddy Up Prompt them to get accountability by encouraging them to tell their parents and tell them that you ll be praying for them and will ask about how it went next week. 6. Just Do It! Encourage them to act on their kairos before next week s huddle. Remind kids that God loves them no matter what they do or don t do, but that He wants to help them live the best kind of life. Great job reviewing the circle. Remember, this isn t just a picture. This is a picture of your adventure with God. It s all about asking, What s God saying to me? and What am I going to do about it? Doing something can take a lot of trust. Bible Verse If we memorize what the Bible says, God will remind of us of His words when we re faced with choices on how to live. A great way to memorize what the Bible says is to put motions with the verse. Let s try to make up motions for today s verse together. Read Matthew 7:24 (NIrV) to the kids: So then, everyone who hears my words and puts them into practice is like a wise man. He builds his house on the rock. Ask the kids for suggestions for motions, and repeat the verse together. 85

Prayer Take prayer requests. Write them down so that you can pray over them during the week. Follow up on prayer requests from last week. Take time to pray together as a group. You may want to close out with a prayer like the following one. God, thank you for teaching us the right way to live. Please help us to remember what you have taught us this week. Help us to live wise lives by following You. Amen 86

Lesson 4 Huddle BibleVerse Cards Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Matthew 7:24 Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Matthew 7:24 Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Matthew 7:24 Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Matthew 7:24 Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Matthew 7:24 Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Matthew 7:24

Lesson 4 Huddle Scenario Cards There s an elderly lady who lives on your street whose family never visits her. Every time you walk by her house, you notice the yard is a mess because she can t take care of it. You know it wouldn t be a big deal to go rake her leaves or something, but you never get around to it. There s a bully at school who is always saying mean things about you. You have a Bible verse poster in your room that says God made you in amazing way. You don t feel so amazing, but every time you look at that poster it reminds you that what God says about you is more important than anything the bully says. You ve been saving your allowance all year to buy an ipod, but at church they re taking a special offering to buy toys for some kids who don t have as much as you. Every time they talk about it, you know God wants you to do something about it. You take half of your ipod money and give it to the church. After all, it s all God s money anyway. Your dad told you never to set off any fireworks without him. When you re at your friend s house, he breaks out a pack of bottle-rockets and wants to set them off in the backyard when his parents are gone. You figure no one will find out and go along with the plan. You have a kid on your soccer team who doesn t play very well, and everyone else is giving him a hard time. God reminds of you of how bad you felt when the same thing happened to you once. So, instead of making fun of him like everyone else, you point out all the things he did right in the game. Every time you pray, you keep thinking about a kid in your class who just moved here from another country. So you start praying for him and ask him how he s doing the next day at school.

Lesson 4 Huddle Scenario Cards You do so many after-school activities that you never have a day just to hang out. You feel kind of stressed because you re so busy and have a hard time getting your homework done. Your best friend says his parents only let him do one sport a season and says you should think about it. That seems like a great idea, but you don t know what you d give up. So just keep doing everything. You get invited to a sleep-over, and you know your friends are planning to sneak out of the house after everyone goes to bed. You got busted doing that once before. So you decide to stay home and invite a new kid from school over to your house instead. You brought a whole bag of Sour Patch Kids to school today. A kid asks you if he can have one, but you tell him no way. You know God wants you to be generous, but, c mon, these are Sour Patch Kids! Even though you aren t supposed to play ball in the house, you did it anyway and broke your mom s favorite lamp. When she asks you what happened, you blame it on the dog. The next week at church, they talk about being honest, but you figure what your mom doesn t know won t hurt her. You were playing dress-up with your mom s jewelry and lost one of the earrings your grandmother gave her. You re tempted to not say anything, but you know God wants you treat other people the way you would want them to treat you. You go straight to your mom and tell her what happened even though you ll get in trouble. Your little sister breaks the controller on your brand new Nintendo Wii you got for Christmas. She says she s sorry, and you know it s an accident, but you re still mad so you break her doll to get even. Your mom has told you need to get control of your temper, but you just don t care.

LESSON 4 (Family) Today I Learned: God wants me to build my life on what He says. Bible Story: The Wise and Foolish Builders (Matthew 7:24-27) Family Challenge Have some fun building something as a family this week. Bust out the Legos or Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs or K nex. If you re really ambitious, grab some sheets and blankets and build a fort in the living room or use scrap lumber to construct one outside. As you re working, talk about the story of the wise and foolish builders from Matthew 7. Remind kids that every time they hear God speaking and actually do what He says, it s like adding another brick to building a wise life. Remind them if they ignore what God s saying, and don t act on it, life is much harder. Share some examples of times when you were like the wise builder and put God s word into action and share about other times when you suffered because you ignored it. * Act Account Observe Learning Culture Plan Reflect Discuss * The four questions you are asking are ways of figuring out what your kids Kairos moment was 90

Dinnertime Discussion At dinner time this week, ask these questions to get your family talking. 1. If you could build an entire house out of your favorite food, what food would you use? 2. What would it be like to live there? How would it hold up in a storm? 3. Did you have anything that felt like a storm in your day? 4. Is there anything God told you to do today that you re glad you did or wished you d done? Use these questions to help kids discover things God may be prompting them to do and help them put a plan in place to do it. Remind kids that every time they act on what God tells them to do, they re building stormproof lives, built to handle anything that the world throws their way. 91