Jesus Blog (Year 5 Leaders): September 2010

Prayer (3/11)

PRAYER

Since Prayer is not a new topic to the Sec 1s, we have decided to take the practical approach to teach the students about prayer this Sunday because I believe it is important that they know how to pray and not just know about prayer. We will break into small groups to mentor and walk them through on the various steps of prayer. Hopefully this will erase whatever fear they have of praying with others or on their own.

Luke 11:1- “Lord, teach us to pray….”

4 steps of prayer – A-C-T-S

1) A-Adoration

2) C-Confession

3) T-Thanksgiving

4) S- Supplication

Adoration: Begin by praising and acknowledging who God is and

His attributes:

Shepherd – ‘Lord, just as a shepherd knows his sheep, You care for us so deeply.’
Creator – ‘You are the Creator of Heaven and Earth yet You love us so much You know us by our name’
Faithfulness – ‘Lord, you are a faithful God, You never leave us or forsake us.’
Loving – ‘Lord , You are a loving God. Though we do not deserve Your love, You still gave Your all for us.’

Confession : God may reveal some areas of our live that are not pleasing to Him. Take a few moments to silently confess those sins.

Name the sin specifically, agree with God that it is sin
Repent , thank God and ask the Holy Spirit to help you overcome your sin

Eg. ‘ Lord forgive me when I lied about the money I took from Mom, I confess it as sin. Please forgive me, Lord’ Thank you for forgiving me and may the Holy Spirit help me to never do that again. Amen.

T- Thanksgiving: When we give thanks to God, we honor Him. Give thanks specifically for all that He has done for us.

‘Thank you Lord, for helping me to understand the difficult Math problem and for bringing John to help me with it.’
‘Thank you Lord for giving me the peace throughout my exams.’
‘Thank you Lord for giving me good Christian friends in my school’
‘Thank you Lord for protecting me from the accident just now’

*We’ll soon realize we have so much to give thanks for!

S – Supplications or Requests (finally!) : We lay all our requests before God, our own and for others( interceding) Again, be specific.

‘Lord, please help me to know You more and to love reading your Word, give me understanding I pray.
‘Lord, please heal my father’s headache and give him your rest.’
‘Lord, I pray for Jack that he will be able to come and join us for Tackle Box this Sunday.’
‘Lord, I need your help in understanding my work in History. Pray that the teacher will be interesting and I won’t fall asleep in his class.’
‘Lord, please help me to be patient with Sean even though he is getting on my nerves.’

* Ask in accordance to God’s will , ask in His Name and He will surely answer us!

A Heart That Forgives

Like it? Mp3

I want a heart that forgives
A heart full of love
One with compassion just like Yours above
One that overcomes evil with goodness and love
Like it never happened, never holding a grudge
I want a heart that forgives that lives and lets live
One that keeps loving over and over again
One that men can’t offend
Because Your Word is within
One that loves without price, like You Lord Jesus Christ
I want a heart that loves everybody....even my enemies
I want to love like You, be like You, just like You did
I want a heart that forgives,

I want a heart that forgives!
When the ones that are closest, that I’ve known the longest, hurt me the most;
I still wanna love them just like You love me
Even though I’m hurting
I want a heart that forgives
When the pain is so deep, it’s so hard to speak, about it to anyone
Just like Your Son, I give up my right to hold it against them with hatred inside
I want a heart that loves everybody....even my enemies
I wanna love like You, be like You, just like You did
Wanna walk like You, talk like You, just like You did,
Wanna be like You, live like You, just like You did

'Cause the heart that forgives is the heart that will live
Totally free from the pain of the past
And the heart that lets go is the heart that will know so much freedom

Heavy Duty Love - 26 Sept

Heavy Duty Love

Let sec 1s do survey first (Yipeng will upload this, so please be patient and wait)

Hook: Ranking different acts of love (print and cut out the flash cards provided)

Let them work together as a group to arrange the flash cards in terms of 1.

how ‘great’ the act of love is, and then ask them to 2. classify them into the 3 groups:

Agape, Phileo, and Eros.

If they cannot remember what the three types of love ... then you can do a quick

recap of the Hugs and Kisses lesson.

Phileo being friendship or brotherly love
Eros being love on a more physical, sexual level
Agape being sacrificial love. Agape love is love of God and from God, who is love tobegin with (1 John 4:8). God showed Agape love in that he sent His son down to die for our sins even though we didn’t deserve it at all

There is no fixed set of answers for the flashcard hook so it would be based on how you leaders perceive the types/ rankings of love to be. It's easier for you to explain to the kids why some acts of love you would rank before others.

The aim of the hook is to simply show them some examples that we think the kids

would be familiar and would be able to relate to of the 3 types of love.

Lesson:

1 . Can we love an enemy? (hint: is love an emotion or choice?)

If the kids do not have a definite answer to that question then continue to ask them why do we want to make that choice to love in the first place?

1 John 4:19

Because God first loved us and he is love. If we say we love him we must respond by loving the people around us.

So back to whether to or not we can and should love an enemy?

1 John 4:11-12

Love has to be demonstrated and that is why the response to God’s love comes in here by making a choice to love one another including your enemy. Verse 12 shows that also just by loving one another we are in fact winning people over for God because they would be able to see God in us.

2 . Referring to the survey, do some of the acts of love involve more emotion? (does this mean this act of love is bad, since love should be a choice?)

Yes, it seems as though some acts of love would involve more emotions than others but that does not mean that since love should be a choice that emotional love is bad. God never makes mistakes and it was him who made us with emotions which set us apart from robots and computers. However this does not discount the fact that we have to still love those we do not like or are just difficult to love can be challenging. We need to enlist God’s help to do this and we do this through prayer.

3. Refer to Survey qn 1: showing their answers, ask them how important are emotions when loving (or trying to love) an enemy(or someone difficult to love)?

Matt 5:43-48

This should shed some insight to whether emotions are important when we are trying to love an enemy. From 46-47 its clear, Jesus said that anyone on earth can give emotional love because that is human nature that you love those who love you.

So we are challenged to do something that is really difficult for us to do: love when it is difficult to. We feel like it's not in our nature to do it. That is why only through God can we accomplish such acts, that is EXPECTED of us as Christians.

4. Ask them to define agape love. (test them again to see if they were listening to the recap during the hook and also we want to bring the lesson back to the most important love of all - agape)

Agape being sacrificial and unconditional love. Agape love is love of God and from God, who is love to begin with (1 John 4:8). Give them concrete examples of conditional love to illustrate this point.

5. Read Psalms 103

Divide the Psalms into 1-5, 6-10, 11-18 What do these verses mean? Do people deserve love? Why then, does God still love? (He is the perfect example for us as loving Christians)

So basically this is the conclusion for today’s lesson that even though it might be so tough to love someone that we dislike God did not just command us to do so without showing us how The people in the verses did not deserve his love, we do not deserve his love because we are sinners but God LOVES us UNCONDITIONALLY. God showed Agape love in that he sent His son down to die for our sins even though we didn’t deserve it at all. Therefore in the same way we are to show that love to others around us that might not deserve that love because God loves us and to show that we love him, we have to love his people too.

Daena's note: You could also end by having the kids identify one person in their lives (a classmate, a sibling etc) whom they find difficult to love. Challenge them to think about how much God loves this person in spite of the fact that the kids find him/her unlovable, and challenge them to start loving that person the way God loves us.

LINKS:

1. Flashcards for hook: http://www.box.net/shared/y7746vpoxu

2. Heavy Duty Love Survey: http://www.box.net/shared/vjf4vn2kmj

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Optional (a story that you might like to share with your kids)

It is the true tale of what took place in the Japanese prisoner-of-war camp made

famous by the movie The Bridge On the River Kwai. The camp stood at the end of the Bataan death march that brought Allied soldiers deep into the jungles of Asia. Few would survive, and everyone knew it. In order to make the best of a terrible situation they teamed up in pairs, each watching out for a buddy.

One prisoner was a strapping six-foot-three fellow built like a tower of iron. If any could come out of this alive, all felt he would. That was before his buddy got malaria. The smaller fellow was much weaker, and very likely to die. Their captors did not want to deal with sickness, so anyone who was unable to work was confined in a “hot house” until he succumbed to heat exhaustion, dehydration, and the collapse of his bodily systems.

The sick man was locked into a hothouse and left to die. Surprisingly, he did not die, because every mealtime his strong buddy went out to him, under curses and threats from the guards, and shared his meager rations. Every night, his strong buddy sneaked from the prison barracks, braved the watchful eyes above that held guns of death, and brought his own slim blanket to cover the fevered convulsions of the sick man.

At the end of two weeks the sick man astounded the guards by recovering well enough to be able to return to work. He even survived the entire camp experience and lived to tell about it. His buddy, however — the strong man all thought invincible — died very shortly of malaria, exposure and dysentery. He had given his life to save his friend.

The story does not end there. When the Allied troops liberated that camp at the close of the war in the Pacific virtually every prisoner was a Christian. There was a symphony orchestra in camp, with instruments made of the crudest materials. There were worship services every Sunday, and the death toll was far lower than any expected. All this because of the silent testimony made by a strong man toward his buddy facing death.

It is not so much what we say but how we live that will make a profound

difference in our world.

John Chrysotom, preaching in the early centuries of the church knew this: “Let us astound [the world] by our way of life. This is the unanswerable argument. Though we give 10,000 precepts in words, if we do not exhibit a far better life, we gain nothing. It is not what is said that draws their attention, but what we do. Let us win them therefore by our life.”

So in relation to the lesson, refer back to 1 John 4:12

What's the first step in winning people over for Christ? Loving them as Christ loves us.

-Gail & Petrina. (:

Daena

Here is the heavy duty love link: http://www.box.net/shared/vjf4vn2kmj

Parents Day

Hey bro and sis! Good job interacting with the parents. Hopefully it will be the start of meaningful relationships with them.

I know some of you were surprised by Pastor Ming's slides which suggested that we will only be retaining 12 of you. That was not what we had previously agreed on, and I think it is just a communication error. 12 leaders simply refers to 12 new leaders for next year sec 1s. Rest assured that as far is it is in my power, I will make sure that you are not wronged, and that you guys and girls who have served passionately and faithfully in this ministry will continue to be able to do so.

Also don't be overly concerned with any policy changes. These things will come and go. The most important thing is to persevere so that the work of the Lord is fulfilled. If you do have a concern, raise it with me and I will see that it is addressed.

Why should we read the bible? (10/9/2010)

Why should we read the bible?

Focus

1) To understand who God is

2) Improve our relationship with him

3) To become more Christ-Like

Hook

Get the kids to tell you about their favourite book. Ask them who is their favourite character in the book ask them if they think they know the character well. Ask them to tell you about their favourite book and why do they like reading it.

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Useful Verses

2 Tim 3: 16-17
Pov 3: 1-6
Matt 4:4

What is the Bible?

Ask the kid what is the bible and what does the bible mean to them. (Use this question to get them thinking and it gives the group leaders a chance to know more about the kids understanding of the Bible. Get the kids to answer you before giving the answer) Ask them if the bible is more important than their favourite book mentioned in the hook. (ask them why)

The bible is the manual to life and it is also the good news. (This is the easiest answer to explain to the kids.) You can explain to them that the bible is the source of life as it tells us how God saved us and teaches us how to live as Christians in this world.

The purpose of reading the bible can be found in Pov 3:1-6. The verses are to help them understand that the bible contains the promises of God (e.g. V6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.), the purpose of life (Living a life that is pleasing in God’s sight) and is also a way God uses to speak to us(V1: My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart,).

To understand who God is

Ask the Kids who do they think God is? (the kids will probably reply God is the father, Jesus is God, God created me). In order to understand who God really is, we will have to read the bible and find out through the bible stories.

God is the God of love, forgiveness and even anger. However we will be focusing on a few characteristics of God today through the Bible.

God of Compassion

God loves us so much that he has compassion for the weak, the poor and the helpless. Ask the kids what it means to have compassion on others. Then read John 11: 32-44. This is the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Jesus had compassion towards Mary and Martha when he saw how hurt they were due to the loss of Lazarus. (Vr33: when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.) We then learn later on that Jesus went to revive Lazarus from the dead and this is an act of compassion to Mary and Martha and to those who loved Lazarus, because they were badly hurt by the loss of Lazarus.

God of wrath

Apart from a God of compassion and love, God is also a God of wrath and anger. Ask the kids what do they get angry about and ask them if it was right for them to be angry. (Do try to correct your kids if they were angry for the wrong reasons). Then read Deu 1:29-40. This is the passage about the Israelites who disobeyed God. This caused the Israelites to feel God’s wrath as they were forced to wander in the Desert for 40 Years. God did have a right to be angry as the Israelites disobeyed God’s commandment when the commandment was very clear.

God of mercy

Ask the kids if they have ever gotten away from some sort of punishment that they duly deserved. Ask them if they have done anything to try and make up for their mistake which led to the punishment. The Bible tells us that God is a God of Mercy. Mercy in the dictionary means: A disposition to be kind and forgiving. In other words, God shows us a lot of mercy by removing the punishment we duly deserve. Read Jonah 3:1-10. This is the story of how Jonah warns the people of Nineveh how corrupted and evil they were. The people of Nineveh were afraid and therefore begged for the forgiveness of God, who in turn showed mercy upon the people of Nineveh by not destroying the city (V10). Ask the kids if they have been showed mercy before and if they have shown mercy to others as well.

God of Forgiveness

Definition of forgiveness: disposition or willingness to forgive.

We have all been hurt by friends or loved ones before and it is very hard to forgive one who has hurt us really badly. But if God can forgive our sins (Which caused Jesus pain and death), we too should show forgiveness to others. Read Luke 19:1-10. This is the story of Zacchaues the Tax collector. He wrongly collected high amounts of taxes and pocketed it for his own. When he realized his error he sought after God’s forgiveness and amended his ways. Jesus forgave his sins and gave him a new start to life. Ask the kids if there are any area in their life where they can show forgiveness and try to encourage them to show more forgiveness to others.

In conclusion we can only understand more about God’s characteristics and traits when we read the bible and studying the bible. If we had not read the bible we would not have known God was the God of all the above characteristics. We wouldn’t have known he forgives people or that God does feel anger as well. Therefore reading the bible is the way for us to understand more about God.

Improving our relationship with God

Ask them how we can improve our relationship with God. Explain to them that the bible holds the answer on how to improve our relationship with God.

Read Luke 10: 38-42

The passage depicts the time when Jesus visited Martha and Mary. We realized that all Mary did was just to sit down and listen to Jesus speaking. Because Martha was too busy with the preparations, she forgot what was truly important, and that was to listen to what Jesus said. Mary did what was important in God’s sight, and that was to listen to God and improve her relationship with him.

Martha wanted to serve Jesus and do the best she could for him and it is not wrong to serve God (In fact one of our purpose on earth is to serve God). However God wants us to focus on him instead and improve our relationship with him first before serve him. We can focus and develop our relationship with God by listening to what has to say to us through the word God in the Bible. (V39 .....Mary sat at the feet of Jesus listening to what he said). For many Christians in this world the Lord speaks to us through the Bible as it is God’s Words. Therefore by reading the bible, we are listening to the voice of God.

To become more Christ-like

Our purpose as Christians is to become more Christ-like. However we can only become more Christ like when we develop our relationship with God and develop the fruits of the spirit, which are found in the bible. By developing our relationship with God, we can become more Christ like as we will understand what pleases him and what does not.

Read Gal 5:22-26

The fruits of the spirit tell us what we as Christians need to develop to become more Christ like.

Go through the fruits of the spirit with your kids. And ask them which area of their lives they would need to improve on. Then you can pray for them later to improve that area of their live!

In Conclusion:
The only way to become more Christ-like is to know the characteristics of God which will help to develop a deep relationship with God, by reading the bible daily!

P.S. Sorry for the late post!

Sept Schedule

Sept will be messy... but this is my suggestion...

5 Sept (evangelistic service, no class)

12 Sept Alden & Alex: Petrina and Gail are scheduled to lead the next but since Pet won't be around, could you prepare "Why is it important to read the Bible?" for this Sunday? Feel free to get creative ;)

- Hannah, Myself, Petrina, Yun Ying, Elvira, Kenn, Ariel will be away at YMLC

19 Sept (Parents Day, no class): Will need the majority of you in LT2 between 11:30-12:30 to "Meet the parents". If there are kids whose parents are not coming, a few of us could chillax and get to know them & play card games k?

26 Sept - Petrina and Gail's lesson: God's Notion of Love