Day Two ─ God to the Rescue!

Harrow everybody! Today, we will be talking about.. hold your breaths.. God! Like every other Sunday in the year! Yay! But today is gonna be an exciting lesson, so please get excited... NOW. Let’s begin. :D (Not to say that the other lessons aren’t exciting, of course. I’m being motivational. =D)

Ask our friends (don’t call them kids, it hurts their peelings) who their favourite comic book hero is. E.g. the Flash (YEAHHHH!), Batman (so-so), Superman (eh..) etc. Or if your friends are females, try asking them who their favourite hero in general is, if they don’t read comics.

Then ask them why. Awesome superpowers? Awesome utility belt? Awesome cape? Or was it something the character/person did? Maybe Stalin was a great man with great dreams? Maybe they could relate to Scott Pilgrim? Maybe the dude saved a kitty from a tree or a drowning lizard from the pond?

Now, we get to the seeree-uhs stuff. What makes a hero? Powers or selflessness? Utility belt or sacrifice? The most celebrated heroes are usually the ones who.. sacrificed selflessly. Ask them to think again about their reason(s) very very carefully. Who is the hero of heroes?

Yes, geniuses. God. Why? You know why. He made the greatest sacrifice. No other sacrifice even comes close to this One. Indeed.

Um, to aid in further understanding of how seriously BIG this sacrifice is, (though this part is optional but highry recommended) please turn to Numbers 19:1-8. The main star of this mini passage (a seemingly ordinary OT ritual) is the red heifer. A heifer is a cow that had not been pregnant before and so could not produce milk yet. Okay, no big deal, you say. Next requirement was that it had to be a red heifer. A red cow. That’s pretty rare. Okay, but I’m sure you’ll still be able to find one without too much hassle, you say. The red heifer was to be “without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke”. Dude, you have a cow and you’ve never used it for farming before?! Can you now see how rare this animal was/is? Valuable, rare and pure. This was the specificity of the requirement of the sacrifice. This parallels with Jesus. Jesus was a man who was perfect in every way. Perfect. No defect, no blemish. He lived on earth for about 33 years. He never sinned. And then God sacrifices this Perfection-Personified. For us. Does that help? :/

Let them do the first part of the book. Remind them that Jesus came for the sinners, not the righteous. (Refer to Mark 2:17) Go on to the second part as well. Then ask them to think about question 3. “Why is it hard to accept something you didn’t earn or work for?” We don’t deserve it.

Now, ask our friends if they’ve ever thought “Oh no, now God will NEVER forgive me after what I’ve done this time!” Or “Shoot, messed up again. Great, now I’m DEFINITELY going to hell ):” Yes? No? Probably yes. Remind them about last week’s resson. Remember how limitless God’s grace is? Of course, sometimes we think it’s.. 2 good 2 b true. However! Ye of lil faith! Jesus made a way for us! GOD made a way for us! He “makes even evil people right in His sight”! (Rom 4:5) Impossible? I think NOT. Do the ‘too good to be true’ part. (Note that I didn’t incrude the ‘trading records’ part cos I didn’t think it flowed very nicely. But feel free to just stick it in somewhere in between. Still important stuff.)

Can we see? God is our hero. He RESCUED us from sin and death. Even though we don’t deserve anything from Him, He saved us. That’s some amazing grace right there. Smiley face.

Now, what do all these stuffs mean? What are we talking about here? Ask them to recap what they’ve learnt. Do the ‘into God’s presence’ part/heart of the matter/memory verse/heart of Jesus and then throw them some application questions. (Not literally, though. Don’t harm them physically.)

Apprication time!

ONE. Now that we know God has saved us, how do we respond to that?

Say “oh, thanks, God” and go on living our lives as usual? Be the best person you can be?

(Don’t give them options unless necessary though.)

TWO. According to the memory verse (Eph 2:8-9) we were saved by grace, yes? Well then, how do you feel about all this? Knowing that God made the biggest sacrifice everinthehistoryofthewholeentireworldofallthingsbigandsmall, how do you feel about that? Does the fact that He rescued you feel far away? Do you feel unaffected? Or perhaps you feel humbled. Accepted. Loved.

Think about it and pray that if our hearts are stubborn in our rebellious ways, God will change our hearts anew with the right attitude to come humbled before Him because He loved us and saved us while we were living against Him (see Rom 5:6-8 pg 50) and we don’t deserve His love or mercy.

Before the cell, remember to pray that whatever we discuss/teach will be from Him.

OKAY that’s all. God loves you all. Bye bye.

Equipping opportunity for you!

Alden's Lesson

Title: Day 5- The Journey's End. (Psalms 119:165)

Objective of lesson: To help the Sec 2s' identify how to experience God's peace, as well as make them more conscious of some issues hindering them from living in peace.

Hook: To create a visual reminder of the lesson, using the "light at the end of the tunnel" analogy.

Materials required:

a) Plastic bottles x n*

b) OPAQUE paper x (n*+1)

c) Needle/Pin x 1

d) Roll of scotch tape x 1

e) Markers/Coloring materials

*Where n= number of kids you have

Steps:

1. Using the paper, wrap around the plastic bottle tightly, such that the entire bottle, except for the cap, is covered.

2. Secure the paper around the bottle, with scotch tape.

3. Using a needle/pin, make a SMALL (though large enough to let light through) hole at the end of the bottle.

4. Decorate the bottle (optional)

Link (1): Ask them, "What do you think this represents?", and try to guide them to the whole "light at the end of the tunnel analogy. Then, try linking them to the metaphorical meaning that the "light" = heaven, and the "darkness" in the bottle = life's problems.

Link (2): Once link (1) has been established, move on to linking them to last week's lesson, by asking them to give a quick recap of what they've learnt/remembered from last week (John 16:33). It should go somewhere along the line of "God is for us and with us, and He gives His peace readily to all who earnestly seek Him." - John 14:27

Lesson:

Begin with an opening prayer

From Link (2), since we all know that God is willing to give His peace, and help us through every storm in our lives, WHY do we not experience this peace... all the time? WHY can't we say "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil."-Psalms 23:4a Get them to think, and share one time they have been distressed. (In the event of unresponsiveness, leaders can start sharing themselves)

As we journey through life, (I.e. through the "darkness"), get the kids to read Psalms 23:4b, and lead them to the portion which says "your rod and staff, they comfort me". Ask them what they think it means, but try to lead them to the following breakdown:

So, continue by getting them to reflect on their lives, and then get them to think of times when they have hated discipline (scolding), and ask them if they can link it to a specific time when the lack of acceptance of discipline has led to the problem worsening...

Help them to understand, that discipline is necessary, and that a Christian life is never easy. That one way God helps us to experience His peace is through correction, followed by guidance.

End with a prayer for them, that they may accept God's correction when it comes, and pray over them that when it comes, they may not forget this lesson, and will persevere on, and grow in God...which then will give them the peace we've discussed for the last 4 weeks.

Summary:

God's peace is obtained by growing in Him, which is done through accepting God's discipline and then looking to Him for guidance.

Memory verse:

Romans 8:6

The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.

---Joshua----

Whenever your youth need assurance of salvation ,encourage them to read 1 John. There they will find their answers.