The Unmerciful Servant



October 29, 2017

Bible Story Focus: We can praise God because He helps us.

David Praises God • 2 Samuel 6:5, 14; Psalm 149:1-5

Memory Verse: “We have the Lord our God to help us.” 2 Chronicles 32:8, NLT

Key Question: Who can help you?

Bottom Line: God can help me.

Basic Truth: God loves me.

SOCIAL: Providing Time for Fun Interaction

(Choose one or both activities)

1. Hat Match

Made to Play: An activity that encourages preschoolers to follow guidelines while having fun and learning new concepts

2. Praise Music

Made to Explore: An activity that channels a preschooler’s innate curiosity into a discussion of the week’s crucial concepts

STORY: Communicating God’s Truth in Engaging Ways

Engage kids’ hearts through a dynamic and interactive Bible story and prayer experience.

GROUPS: Creating a Safe Place to Connect

(Choose as many of these activities as you like)

1. Parachute Praise

Talk About God | Bible Story Review

Made to Play: An activity that encourages preschoolers to follow guidelines while having fun and learning new concepts

2. Mini Zigzag

Live for God | Application Activity

Made to Move: An activity that uses a preschooler’s natural desire to move to help them learn

3. Z Craft

Live for God | Application Activity

Made to Create: An activity that allows preschoolers to review the Bible story, Bottom Line, or memory verse by creating a craft

October 29, 2017

Bible Story Focus: We can praise God because He helps us.

David Praises God • 2 Samuel 6:5, 14; Psalm 149:1-5

Memory Verse: “We have the Lord our God to help us.” 2 Chronicles 32:8, NLT

Key Question: Who can help you?

Bottom Line: God can help me.

Basic Truth: God loves me.

Social: Providing Time for Fun Interaction (Small Groups, 15 minutes)

Activities that encourage preschoolers to enter the classroom and begin engaging with peers and Small Group Leaders by providing age appropriate and hands on fun while introducing new concepts they will hear in the day’s Bible story.

Prepare to offer one or more of the following activities as your 2-year-olds arrive. Let one or two teachers lead small groups of children in activities throughout the room while another teacher greets parents and kids at the door. At this age not all children will participate, but most will want to be part of the fun.

1. Hat Match

Made to Play: An activity that encourages preschoolers to follow guidelines while having fun and learning new concepts

What You Need: 5 solid-colored party hats (blue, yellow, green, red, and purple) and 5 pieces of construction paper in the corresponding colors

What You Do:

Before the Activity: Remove the strings from the hats and discard. Place the construction paper in a single layer on a table or the floor in the activity area. Place the hats in a stack next to the construction paper.

During the Activity: Challenge the children to take the top hat off of the stack and find the color of paper that matches the hat. Ask the children to place the hat onto the matching paper. Repeat the activity with the remaining hats.

What You Say:

Before the Activity: “I love praising God! When we praise God, it is like a party!”

During the Activity: “Look at these party hats! (Point.) They are all different colors. They each have a matching piece of paper. Can you find the paper that matches each of the hats on the table? (Pause.) Awesome!”

After the Activity: “Great job matching the party hats to the colored paper! Remember how I said praising God is like a party? (Pause.) Well, we can praise God in many different ways. One way is by hearing a true story from the Bible!”

Transition: Move to Bible story time by saying, “Are you ready to PRAISE God? Let’s walk to the story area by holding our hands in the air like we are praising!” (Demonstrate.)

2. Praise Music

Made to Explore: An activity that channels a preschooler’s innate curiosity into a discussion of the week’s crucial concepts

What You Need: Musical instruments

What You Do:

Before the Activity: Place the instruments in the activity area.

During the Activity: Encourage the children to play with the instruments to make praise music.

After the Activity: Be sure each child plays with each instrument if possible.

What You Say:

Before the Activity: “WOW! Look at all of the musical instruments that we get to play with today.” (Point.)

During the Activity: “We can play music with the instruments and praise God!” (Do the activity and make sure each child has an opportunity to play with each musical instrument.)

After the Activity: “Way to go! Your music sounded great! I love praising God with music!”

Transition: Move to Bible story time by saying, “Let’s go to the story area to hear other ways that we can praise God. I think we should dance our way there! I can’t wait for you to hear a TRUE story from the Bible!”

Story: Communicating God’s Truth in Engaging Ways

Engage kids’ hearts through a dynamic and interactive Bible story and prayer experience.

What You Need: A Bible, upbeat worship music, CD player, a plush lion, a toy sword, a toy castle/house, and a box to put these items in

LEADER: “Hey, friends! Come sit over here with me. (Pause.) All month long, we’ve been talking about David from the Bible and how God helped him. I have a question. Does God help us too? (Pause.) He sure does! And do you know that you can thank God by praising Him when you sing and dance, just like you did a few minutes ago? (Pause.) That’s right, friends, you can!

“Let’s see if we can remember all the ways God helped David. I’m going to ask you some questions about what we’ve learned about David from the Bible, and you can shout out the answer when I ask it. I’ll give you some hints to help along the way. Are you ready? (Pause.) Okay, here’s question number one!

“When David was a shepherd watching his flock of sheep, an animal came along and stole one of the sheep. What kind of animal was it?” (Hold up the plush lion.)

CHILDREN: “A lion!”

LEADER: “That’s right! The lion grabbed a sheep. But God helped David fight the lion and the sheep was saved!

“Then David had to do something that he couldn’t do without God’s help. (Hold up the sword.) He won lots of battles for King David.

“We also learned that David and Jonathan were best friends, but they needed God to do something really hard. What was it?

“I’ll give you a hint. What does this mean?” (Wave goodbye to the children.)

CHILDREN: “Say goodbye.”

LEADER: “Yes! They had to say goodbye to each other. Everyone wave goodbye to the friends around you. (Pause.) It was REALLY hard for those best friends to say goodbye, but God helped them. Okay, last question! Years later, when David became king, God helped him help someone else. Who did David help?

(Hold up the toy castle or house.)

“This was a hard question! David helped Mephibosheth, Jonathon’s son. David gave Mephibosheth a place to live and plenty of food to eat. He took care of him.

“God helped David SO many times. David made music and sang songs and DANCED because he wanted to say THANK YOU to God for helping him. Raise your hand if you think God wants to help you too. (Pause.) Wow! So many hands! And you’re right; God wants to help us. And that means we've got to dance and praise Him too. Everyone on your feet. Let’s dance and sing to God!

(Play an upbeat worship song; Storyteller can move into audience again to dance and sing.)

“That was SO fun! I love praising God with you. We can praise God because He helps us. Tell me: Who can help you?”

CHILDREN and LEADER: [Bottom Line] “God can help me.”

LEADER: “Yes, He can! He helped David, and He can help us too. Who can help you? [Bottom Line] God can help me. Let’s pray.”

Prayer

LEADER: “Heavenly Father, we love You so much. Thank You for David. Thank You for helping us. We can thank You with a prayer. We can thank You with a song. We can even thank You by dancing! We love You, God. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Groups: Creating a Safe Place to Connect (Small Groups, 25 minutes)

Create a safe place to connect through activities that are written to reach every learning style while reinforcing the bottom line that was introduced during the Bible Story and applying it to real life experiences. In addition, these activities provide preschoolers with an opportunity to build relationships with their Small Group Leader.

Prepare to offer one or more of the following activities after the Bible Story. Let one or two teachers lead small groups of children in activities throughout the room. At this age not all children will participate, but most will want to be part of the fun.

1. Parachute Praise

Talk About God | Bible Story Review

Made to Play: An activity that encourages preschoolers to follow guidelines while having fun and learning new concepts

What You Need: A Little People® male figure and a parachute or sheet

What You Do:

Before the Activity: Lay the parachute flat on the floor. Place the Little People figure on top of the parachute. Tell the children that the figure is David.

During the Activity: Ask the children to stand around the parachute with you, and invite them to each pick up a section of the parachute. Retell the Bible story. Invite the children to shake their arms so that the parachute moves very fast and bounces David around. Tell the children that David is jumping and bouncing to praise God. Repeat several times.

What You Say:

Before the Activity: “We have heard amazing stories about David all month long. God helped David protect his sheep, God helped him fight a battle, God helped him say goodbye to a good friend, and God helped him help Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth. WOW! God really helped David! David praised God for all that He did for him.”

During the Activity: “Let’s praise God with David! (Hold up the figure.) We can make David jump and dance on the parachute. Let’s all praise God!” (Do activity.)

After the Activity: “Great job! It is so much fun praising God! We should all praise God because He helps us just like he helped David. Who can help you? [Bottom Line] God can help me!”

2. Mini Zig Zag Zone

Live for God | Application Activity

Made to Move: An activity that uses a preschooler’s natural desire to move to help them learn

What You Need: A toddler tunnel, a ball, a basket, and floor tape

What You Do:

Before the Activity: Place the tunnel at the front of the activity area. Place the basket about five feet from the end of the tunnel. Then use the floor tape to make a circle on the floor beyond the bucket.

During the Activity: Guide the children to start at the beginning of the tunnel with the ball. Challenge the children to roll the ball through the tunnel. Have them pick up the ball at the other end of the tunnel and toss it into the basket. Then invite them to pick the ball up out of the basket and jump into the circle with it. Be sure each child has a turn to go through the obstacle course.

What You Say:

Before the Activity: “Let’s play in the Zig Zag Zone!”

During the Activity: “Let’s start here! (Point to the beginning of the tunnel.) I want you to roll the ball into the tunnel. (Demonstrate.) Then come over to this side of the tunnel and get the ball. (Demonstrate.) Then toss the ball into the basket. (Demonstrate.) Then you can get the ball out of the basket and jump into the circle. (Demonstrate.) Are you ready?” (Pause.)

After the Activity: “Way to go! You did a great job going through the Zig Zag Zone! That was hard to do, but God helps us do hard things! Who can help you? [Bottom Line] God can help me!”

3. Z Craft

Live for God | Application Activity

Made to Create: An activity that allows preschoolers to review the Bible story, Bottom Line, or memory verse by creating a craft

What You Need: “Z” Activity Page, white cardstock, blue painter’s tape, and dot markers

What You Do:

Before the Activity: Copy the “Z” Activity Page onto the cardstock. Make a large “Z” on the Activity Page with the painter’s tape. Each child will need an Activity Page.

During the Activity: Give each child an Activity Page and a dot marker. Challenge the child to use the marker to color the page with the marker, but they should be careful not to color over the words at the bottom of the page.

After the Activity: Remove the painter’s tape from the Activity Page to reveal a white “Z” on the page.

What You Say:

Before the Activity: “We are going to do a really cool craft in the Zig Zag Zone!”

During the Activity: (Give each child an Activity Page.) “Use your marker to color your paper. But make sure not to color over the words on the bottom. (Point. Do activity.) Great job! Now look what happens when I take off the tape! (Remove tape.) WOW! Look at the ‘Z’ that you made!”

After the Activity: “You can take your ‘Z’ home and tell your family that you had great time in the ZIG ZAG ZONE learning all about David! It was so much fun this month learning that God always helps us! Who can help you? [Bottom Line] God can help me!”

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