God wants to be our friend.

God Is a Friend to David Lesson 13 Bible Point God wants to be our friend. Bible Verse He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you (Deuteronomy 31:8b). Growing Closer to Jesus Children will n discover that God watches over them because he wants to be their friend, n learn that God sent Jesus so they could be friends with God, and n talk about what they can do to be God s friends. Teacher Enrichment Bible Basis n God is a friend to David. 2 Samuel 2:1-7; 7:1-16 After Saul died, David was anointed king by the leaders of Judah, his own tribe. But many battles and skirmishes ensued between that anointing and the solid kingdom David was ruling over. In fact, we read at one point that that was the beginning of a long war between those who were loyal to Saul and those loyal to David. As time passed David became stronger and stronger, while Saul s dynasty became weaker and weaker (2 Samuel 3:1). Eventually though, at 30 years of age, David became king over all the tribes of Israel (2 Samuel 5:1-4). The second portion of today s passage, 2 Samuel 7:1-16, details God s remarkable promise to David. It begins with David s wanting to honor God through the building of a temple for him. Through the prophet Nathan, God responds to David s request by saying something like That s not what I want from you. My time will come for a temple. Now is the time I want to bless you. It s not surprising that God would bless David because of his faithfulness, but the extent of the blessing was likely mind-boggling to David. God promised him a kingdom that would last forever (2 Samuel 7:12-16). And through Jesus, a direct descendant of David, that promise came true! Prayer Read Isaiah 41:10. Reflect on the kind of friend that God promises to be in this verse. How can you be that kind of friend to your children? Thank God for the amazing friendship he offers to you. Ask God to strengthen that friendship and give you the opportunity to share that friendship with your children. Hands-On Bible Curriculum Grades 1 & 2 149

Lesson 13 Before the Lesson n Collect items for the activities you plan to use, referring to the Classroom Supplies and Learning Lab Supplies listed in the chart. n Make photocopies of the Growing Together handout (at the end of this lesson) to send home with your children. n Pray for your students and for God s direction as you teach the lesson. This Lesson at a Glance What Children Will Do Classroom Supplies Learning Lab Supplies Welcome Welcome! Receive a warm welcome from the teacher, and make name tags. Best Friends Name Tags (p. 116), scissors, markers, tape or safety pins Attention Grabber Module Review Discuss how this module s Bible Points apply to their lives. I Spy Play I Spy, and learn that God watches over them and protects them all the time. Bible, paper, tape Bible Exploration & Application God Is David s Friend Listen to a story from 2 Samuel 2:1-7 and 7:1-16 to learn that God was a friend to David. Bibles Mirror Images Mimic each other s actions, follow each other, and learn from Deuteronomy 31:8 that God will be with them all the time. God s Friendship Gift Learn from John 3:16 that God sent Jesus because he wanted to be friends with us, talk about the good things Jesus did, and thank God for his gift of friendship. Bible Closing God Is a Forever Friend Talk about ways to be God s friend, and sing a song as a promise to be friends with God. CD player, construction paper, markers 150 Hands-On Bible Curriculum Grades 1 & 2

God Is a Friend to David Welcome SUPPLIES: Best Friends Name Tags (p. 116), scissors, markers, tape or safety pins Greet each child individually with an enthusiastic smile. Thank each child for coming to class today. As children arrive, ask them about last week s lesson and take-home page. Ask questions such as What comforting things did you give thanks for last week? and How did you comfort a sad friend? Say: Today we re going to learn that God wants to be our friend. Hand out the name tags children made during Lesson 9, and help them attach the name tags to their clothing. Have extra name tags on hand for children who were not in class last week or to replace damaged name tags. Tell children that the attention-getting signal you ll use during this lesson is clapping a rhythm. Choose a different rhythm each time. Ask children to respond by repeating the rhythm as they stop talking and focus their attention on you. Rehearse the signal with the children, telling them to respond quickly so you ll have plenty of time for all the fun activities planned for this lesson. n Module Review Use the casual interaction time at the beginning of class to ask children the following module-review questions: How have you depended on a good friend during the last month? Why have you been happy for a friend during the past few weeks? What problem did you work out with a friend lately? How did you comfort a friend this week? What s your favorite thing you ve learned this month? Why? Attention Grabber n I Spy SUPPLIES: Bible, paper, tape Have children sit in a circle. Roll a piece of paper vertically so it s a narrow tube (less than an inch opening), and tape it together in several places. Give the paper telescope to a volunteer, and have the children play I Spy. Tell the volunteer to look through the telescope and spy something, saying, I spy with my little eye something and describe what was seen. Tell the rest of the children to ask yesand-no questions to help them guess what was spied. Whoever guesses what was spied gets to look through the telescope and choose another item. Play several rounds, making sure all children have a turn if they want one. Then ask: How much of the room could you see through the paper telescope? (Not very much; only one thing at a time; only small things.) Say: It works out fine for the game I Spy to see only a little of the room because you need to spot only one thing at a time. But God can see If you need to define words in a passage such as fail and abandon, let children discover the definition through an example. For the word fail, you could give them this example: If you fail a test at school, you feel horrible because you didn t do very well. But God will never fail like that and make you feel horrible because he always does well with everything, especially being our friend. For the word abandon, this example can help: If you get lost while you re Christmas shopping with your family, you may feel scared and abandoned. Feeling abandoned and alone is like feeling lost. God is such a great friend, he will never leave us all alone. Hands-On Bible Curriculum Grades 1 & 2 151

Lesson 13 everything all at once. He watches everything that happens. Listen to what the Bible says. Have a volunteer read Psalm 32:8. Ask: Why does God watch over you? (To show me where to go; to see if I do good things or bad things; to protect me; because he loves me.) When does God watch over you? (Always; at night when I m sleeping; when I do something bad.) Say: God is a friend to everyone because he watches over you all the time, no matter where you are. He knows each one of you very well, like a best friend knows you. God can see everything that happens in the entire world. And God will take care of us as a best friend. Check out what it says in the Bible: He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you (Deuteronomy 31:8b). Ask: What would it be like if God did fail us or abandon us? (Everybody would always be mad at each other; he wouldn t have sent Jesus as our best friend; my brother and I would always be fighting; no one would know how to love.) Say: That verse tells us that God will never leave us and is always a perfect friend! God wants to be our friend. God will be the best friend you ll ever have. He will always be with you. Let s find out how God was David s good friend. It may be tempting to help children with the answers right away. Try to resist this temptation. We provide the answers to help you, the teacher, be prepared for possible answers you may receive. Give children think time during this debriefing process so they can learn through their own self-discovery. Work to serve as facilitator during this time. Bible Exploration & Application n God Is David s Friend SUPPLIES: Bibles Help kids find 2 Samuel 2:1-7 and 7:1-16 in their Bibles, and tell them that the passage for today is found here. Say: Today s story tells how God was a faithful friend to David. We re going to use the brilliant ball to help tell the story because it shows us what faithful means. When you bounce the ball on the floor, it will always come back up. God is faithful because he always does what he says he ll do. Have children stand in a circle on uncarpeted floor. Give the first child the brilliant ball. Say: Listen carefully to the story. When you hear about a friendly thing God did for David, bounce the ball on the floor. Catch the ball, and give it to the next person in line. Everyone listen carefully. If you hear about a friendly thing God does, encourage whoever s holding the ball to bounce it. Here we go! When King Saul died, God made David king over Judah just as he had promised. Pause. Then God made David s kingdom peaceful David s enemies no longer attacked the country. Pause. One day, David said to Nathan the prophet, God has given me a beautiful palace to live in that s made of sweet-smelling cedar wood. Pause. But the sacred ark of the covenant is in a tent! God has been kind to me by giving me so much. I should build a beautiful temple for the ark of the covenant because it s so special. 152 Hands-On Bible Curriculum Grades 1 & 2

God Is a Friend to David That night, God gave a message to Nathan to give to David. God said, You were a shepherd who took care of sheep. But I made you king the leader of my people. Pause. I have been with you everywhere you have gone. Pause. I have defeated your enemies for you. Pause. I will make you as famous as any of the great people in the world. Pause. I will continue to give you peace from your enemies. Pause. Your children and your grandchildren will be kings of Israel after you. Pause. When you die, one of your sons will become the next king. Pause. He s the one who will build a temple for the ark of the covenant. I will never stop loving your son. Pause. Someone from your family will be king forever. Pause. Nathan told David everything God had said. Then David praised God. He said, You have made wonderful promises about me and my family. You have already given me so many good things. You are a great God! There is no one else like you. Put the brilliant ball back in the Learning Lab. Ask: Why was God a good friend to David? (Because he loved David; because God is a good friend to everyone.) How does God show that he s a good friend to you? (He promises to love me all the time; God stays with me; God protects me; God gave me a good family.) Say: God wants to be our friend, just as he was a friend to David. God always keeps his promises to us, just as he kept his promises to David. Let s find out what else God does for us. As you tell this story, pause to indicate when children should bounce the ball. There are 12 pauses. If you have more than 12 children in class, have remaining children each think of a friendly thing God has done for them and bounce the ball. HANDS-ON BIBLE Give each student a piece of paper and a pen, pencil, or marker. Ask: What are some ways you talk to your friends? (I write my friend notes at school; I send letters to my friend because he just moved away; I call my friend on the phone; I use e-mail.) How can we talk to God as a friend? (I can write down my feelings; I can pray whenever I think of him.) Say: David had a close friendship with God, and one way he talked to God was by writing psalms. Psalms are kind of like writing notes to God. I m going to give you an opportunity to grow your friendship with God right now. Turn to the David Bio near Leviticus 23 in your Hands-On Bible, and look at the Write It! activity. Follow the directions to write your note to God. Help children follow the directions as necessary. Ask: Why is it important to talk to God? (God wants to know how we feel; God wants to be our friend; when I m having a bad day, God can help me feel better if I talk to him.) After class today, remind kids to take their pieces of paper home to add to a prayer journal. Hands-On Bible Curriculum Grades 1 & 2 153

Lesson 13 Boys and girls may not like being paired together. If you must have coed pairs, tell the back partner that he or she doesn t have to touch the front partner. Be ready to be a partner yourself in this activity. n Mirror Images SUPPLIES: none Form pairs. Have partners take turns shadowing each other. Have partners stand facing each other and choose which one will go first. That partner will make motions and faces, and the other partner will copy the actions as they are being performed. After one minute, have partners switch roles. After another minute, call time by clapping a rhythm. Have children respond by repeating the rhythm and sitting together on the floor. Ask: What made it easy or difficult to shadow your partner? (Easy, my partner did his motions slowly so I could follow them; hard, I couldn t figure out what my partner was going to do; hard, I was laughing too hard to follow my partner.) How is shadowing your partner like sticking close to your friends? (We are always with our friends; we stay good friends for a long time.) How does God show us he is a good friend? (He sticks with us; he s always there; he loves us.) Say: It s hard to stick with our partners even when we do our best to imitate them. But God doesn t have any trouble sticking with us. No matter what we do, God sticks with us all the time. Listen again to what our Bible verse says about God: He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you (Deuteronomy 31:8b). Ask: What does God promise to do? (Always be with us; never leave us.) How is this like being a good friend to us? (Good friends stick together; good friends don t fail.) Say: Let s see what it would be like to always be with someone. Stand by your partner. Choose one partner to be in front and one partner to be in back. If you re the back partner, put your hands on your partner s waist. Front partners, lead your back partners around the room, and see if they can stick with you. Have the children in front lead their partners around the room in a fast-paced, winding way. After a minute or two, have the children switch roles. After another minute or two, clap a rhythm to get children s attention, and wait for a response. Ask children to sit down. Ask: How did you feel leading or following your partner? (I felt like I didn t know what to expect; I felt like I was being dragged; I felt like I was doing all the work pulling my partner.) How was this like the way God stays with us? How was it different? (God stays close to us; God doesn t stay behind us; God lives inside of us.) Say: God stays with us all the time and will never leave us no matter how fast we go or where we go. God wants to lead us and guide us to show us the right way to go. God will always be with us to protect us and guide us because God wants to be our friend. 154 Hands-On Bible Curriculum Grades 1 & 2

God Is a Friend to David n God s Friendship Gift SUPPLIES: Bible Before class take all of the items out of the Learning Lab box except the foam person and the Wikki Stix. Begin a crown of Wikki Stix for the foam person by sticking a few strands of Wikki Stix around the head to create a circlet. Kids will be adding to the crown, so don t place it too high on the head. Gather the children in a circle. Place the box on your lap, but don t let the children see inside it. Say: Sometimes friends give gifts to each other. I have something inside this box that represents a gift that God has given to each of you to show his love and friendship for you. Listen to this Bible verse, and see if you know what the gift is. Read John 3:16. Ask: What is the gift that God has given to you? (His Son; Jesus; everlasting life.) Open the box, and show children the foam person. Say: God loves you very much. God wants to be our friend. That s why God sent Jesus to the world. Jesus did wonderful things while he was here, but the best thing Jesus did was to die on the cross for the wrong things we have done. Because Jesus died on the cross for our sins, we can live with God and be God s friend forever. Once, some men made Jesus wear a crown of prickly thorns. But Jesus deserves to wear a crown full of beautiful jewels. We re going to make Jesus a crown like that to say thank you for being such a good friend to us. Let s think of the good things Jesus did to show that he wanted to be our good friend. For each idea you have, take a strand of the Wikki Stix, shape it into a jewel or other decoration, and stick it onto the crown on the head of the foam person. When we ve finished, it will look like a crown fit for a king. Have children think of the good things Jesus did, such as dying on the cross, healing sick people, and feeding hungry people. For each idea, let children stick a Wikki Stix jewel on the crown. Say: Let s thank God for being such a good friend that he sent Jesus. Let s all say, Thank you, God, for sending Jesus to us. Hands-On Bible Curriculum Grades 1 & 2 155

Lesson 13 Closing n God Is a Forever Friend SUPPLIES: CD player, construction paper, markers Pass the crowned foam person around the circle. As each track 11 child receives the foam person, have that child tell the class one thing that shows God is a good friend to us. Ask: What can you do to show you ll be friends with God? (Spend time with God; tell others about God; sing songs to God.) Help children find partners, and give each pair two pieces of construction paper and some markers. Say: You and your partner are going to take turns drawing on your pieces of paper one thing you ll do this week to help others know that God wants to be their friend. If you are drawing, you can t say anything just draw. If you are not drawing, watch what your partner draws so you can guess what your partner is going to do to help others know about God s friendship. An example of something you could draw is a picture of yourself being a friend to someone who is lonely. Another example could be you giving someone a Bible. I ll allow each partner one minute to do this. Then we ll switch roles, and the next person will have a chance to draw. Then we ll sing I Will Be Your Friend as a promise to be God s friend. Allow each partner about one minute to draw how he or she will show God s friendship to others; then play the CD (track 11), and have everyone sing along. Lyrics are at the back of your teacher guide. When the song is over, turn off the CD player. Pray: God, we know you want to be our friend. You promised to watch over us and be with us. You sent your Son, Jesus, so we can be your friends. Help us be good friends to you. Thank you for being our friend. In Jesus name, amen. Growing closer to Jesus extends beyond the classroom. Photocopy the Growing Together handout (at the end of this lesson) for this week, and send it home with your children. Encourage children and parents to use the handout to plan meaningful activities on this week s topic. Follow up the Growing Together activities next week by asking children what their families did together. 156 Hands-On Bible Curriculum Grades 1 & 2

Friendship 13: God wants to be our friend. Bible Story God is a friend to David. (2 Samuel 2:1-7; 7:1-16) Bible Verse He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you (Deuteronomy 31:8b). Pizza and Friends Today your child learned that God wants to be our friend. The children learned that God watches over them, protects them, and stays with them. The children also learned that God gave Jesus, a precious gift, so that they could be friends with him. Use these activities to teach your child about friendship and how to be a friend to God. Friendship Sun-Catcher Invite several of your child s friends over for an after- Thanksgiving pizza party. Give each child half an English muffin. Provide pizza sauce, cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, and lots of different pizza toppings. Let each child top his or her own pizza. Put the pizzas on a baking sheet, and bake in a preheated oven at 375 for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Don t forget to thank God for friendship and good food before you eat. Sweet-Smelling Friendship Put several drops of vanilla flavoring inside a deflated latex balloon. Be careful not to let any of the flavoring touch the outside of the balloon. Blow up the balloon just enough to allow it to fit inside a shoe box. Place the balloon inside the box, and put the lid on tightly. Leave it closed for an hour. Open the box, and you ll smell vanilla. Talk with your child about God s love. Say, The material the balloon is made of isn t strong enough or thick enough to keep the sweet smell of the vanilla inside. God s love is like the sweet vanilla. It s so strong and powerful that there s nothing that can separate us from God s love. Read Romans 8:37-39 together. Create a cheery sun-catcher by taping colored tissue paper shapes to the window in a design that will remind you of God s friendship. Every time the sun shines through the tissue, thank God for his friendship. Parent Tip Teach your children John 15:14: You are my friends if you do what I command. Then, when you remind your children to obey God s rules, motivate them by explaining that we follow God s rules because we love God. It s a way to praise God with our lives. You could call God s rules love commands or friendship rules to remind your children to live as God s friends. Refer to these verses with your family throughout the week: Isaiah 41:10. How has God strengthened, helped, and upheld you in your life? Matthew 11:28. Last week we talked about how friends comfort each other. In this passage Jesus comforts us. How can you let your friend Jesus comfort you? Romans 8:37-39. What do you worry about that makes you feel far away from God? How can you give that worry to God so you feel close again? Permission to photocopy this page from Group s Hands-On Bible Curriculum Grades 1 & 2 granted for local church use. Copyright Group Publishing, Inc., 1515 Cascade Ave., Loveland, CO 80538. group.com 157