Free Children's Ministry Curriculum Written by Sheryl Coats
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Hillbilly Days
Wonderfair
The Wacky Worship Workshop
The Celebration Medical Centre
The Celebration City Courthouse
Growing in God's Garden
The Armour of God
The Wild Wild West
Welcome to the Celebration City Municipal Court System.
The set: set up the room like a court room.
This week: We will discover that fighting and jealousy is a sin.
To teach the kids that:
Write up the rules on parchment paper to look like a legal document. Have the bailiff read the rules at the beginning of the session.
Prayer is the key to effective ministry!!!!
Characters needed: a judge, a defendant, witnesses (could use puppets for this), lawyers, bailiff (the kids will serve as the jury)
Kids will participate if they see the leaders participating. Be sure to worship the Lord and actively participate in worship...the kids will be watching you.
The bailiff will welcome the members of the jury and explain to them what they will be doing and then ask all to rise as the judge enters. The judge will then announce the case and ask the defendant to stand. Then the attorneys will begin trying their case with opening statements, calling of witnesses, etc. The members of the jury will then be asked to go into deliberations and come back with a verdict.
Members needed for this case are the Judge, Bailiff, two attorneys or one who changes his hat to play the role of both attorneys, Jeanne and Jenny who have been involved in a dispute which they took to fists (you might want to give one of the defendants a black eye or broken arm). Jenny decided to beat Jeanne up because she made a better grade on her spelling test than she did. When asked about what happened to Jeanne she should sound like Cain and ask "am I her guardian or something?"
There should an eye witness in this case who observed the crime. Jenny can testify that she accidentally tripped Jeanne, but the evidence should indicate otherwise.
The lawyers should focus on questioning the girls about jealousy, their relationship, feelings, and their response to those things.
Once the witnesses have been called and the attorney makes closing statements allow the children to gather and decide on a verdict. Is Jenny guilty of malice and sin? Was her response to her friend wrong?
Tell the story of Cain and Abel.
Game One
You will need two buckets filled with sand or rocks. Allow the kids to run a relay race first with the buckets and then without to demonstrate how jealousy and anger weigh you down.
Game Two
You will need a soda can for this game, or several if you want to divide the group into smaller groups. Have the kids form a circle. Begin by talking about anger. Now tell the kids that the soda can (with soda in it) represent anger. Allow the kids to begin tossing it back and forth calling out something that makes them angry. After a minute or two call time and the person holding the soda must open it. The built up pressure of the carbonation from tossing it will cause it to explode. Explain how anger builds and builds in our hearts until we eventually explode. We need to take those feelings to God when we have them and allow him to help us get rid of them. Rather than bottling up our anger we need to release it to God. This is a great time to encourage a discussion on the biblical way to settle disputes.
Anger is cruel and destroys like a flood. Proverbs 27:4
Bobo: Oh am I steamed!!! Why I'm so mad I could just, I could just, well, I could just spit!
Leader: That's terrible Bobo!
Bobo: Would you rather I be so mad that I could pick my nose and....
Leader: Stop!! Don't even go there Bobo. Let's not get gross.
Bobo: Well, I can't help it! I am just so mad, mad, mad!!!!
Leader: What made you so mad?
Bobo: Mad? Mad? Now that's an understatement! I'm not just mad, Why, I'm SO mad I could just punch Einstein right in that big old snout he has!
Leader: Well, what in the world did Einstein do?
Bobo: What did he do?? What did he do you ask? He did the meanest thing anyone ever did do in all of history!
Leader: What was it?
Bobo: You want to know what he did?
Leader: That is what I asked wasn't it?
Bobo: He was sooo mean, you just won't ever believe it!
Leader: I'm about to give up on ever finding out what he did.
Bobo: Well, I'm just about to tell you. He, He, He...gave a valentine card to Rosie!!
Leader: Well, what's so bad about that? It is valentines day and one does give cards to people on valentines day.
Bobo: What's so bad about that!!?!?!?!? What's so bad about that?!?!?!?? How can you say that? Don't you even care about me?
Leader: Of course I care about you. Who is Rosie anyways?
Bobo: OH Rosie is the prettiest, most beautiful, most adorable dummy you ever did see.
Leader: am I to understand that you like Rosie an awful lot?
Bobo: She is the dummy of my dreams. And that bozo of an elephant went and gave her a valentine card.
Leader: It sounds to me like you are a little bit jealous and a lot angry.
Bobo: You bet I am. He is supposed to be my friend! How could he do this to me?
Leader: Bobo, let me ask you something. Did Einstein only give a card to Rosie?
Bobo: well, no, he gave one to all the girls in the class, even that mean one.
Leader: Isn't Einstein your friend?
Bobo: He was until today.
Leader: I think you are allowing jealousy and anger to control you. The bible tells us that anger is a terrible thing that destroys like a flood. If you don't get rid of your anger you are going to destroy your friendship with Einstein.
Bobo: Really? You mean the Bible really says that?
Leader: It sure does. The best thing to do when someone hurts us or makes us angry is to go and talk with them and try to work things out.
Bobo: Are you sure about that? I mean he did give my sweet heart a valentine card you know.
Leader: Bobo, he gave everyone a card.
Bobo: You have a point there.
Leader: And Bobo, one more thing. You are too young to have a girl friend.
Bobo: You're kidding right?
Leader: Nope! You definitely are too young. At this age you need to concentrate on friendships with people. You'll have plenty of time for girlfriends when you are older.
Bobo: Oh alright. She isn't all that great anyways. She has cooties you know?!?!
Leader: Well, I'm glad we got this all straightened out.
Bobo: me too. Say, do you have a bible story about anger and jealousy and fighting?
Leader: As a matter of fact I do. Do you want to hear it?
Bobo: Sure!
Leader: Have you ever heard of Cain and Abel?
Bobo: Oh yeah, cannibals are these terrible people who eat other people. Really gross!
Leader: No, not cannibals, Cain and Abel. They are two brothers we hear about in the bible.
Bobo: OOOHHH.....
Leader: Cain was a farmer and he brought a gift to God.
Bobo: OH yeah, what'd he bring? Gold, a frankfurter, or maybe some marmalade?
Leader: Not any of those things. He brought some of his crops; you know like grain or veges.
Bobo: Sounds kinda weird to me.
Leader: Well, that was the way they did things back then. They gave God a portion of what they had and Cain had crops. But God wasn't pleased with Cains gift.
Bobo: Why not? He wasn't hungry or something?
Leader: The reason that God wasn't pleased with his gift was because Cain didn't give his best to God. He just gave him the left overs.
Bobo: OH BAD, BAD, BAD!
Leader: His brother Abel was a shepherd. He brought a gift to God also. He brought a lamb to sacrifice to God.
Bobo: And what did God think of Abels gift. Did he think it was dorkey too?
Leader: oh no, God was pleased with Ables gift because he gave his best to God. He gave it out of his love for God.
Bobo: Oh boy, I bet that Cain was really mad huh?
Leader: Boy was he ever. He was furious with his brother. In fact he was so angry that he killed him.
Bobo: No way???? He killed him, like dead you mean?
Leader: that's right. He became so jealous and angry that he killed his brother. He allowed his anger to control him.
Bobo: Wow. What happened then?
Leader: Well, as a punishment, God made Cain to leave his presence and wander about the earth and the ground that once provided for him no longer yielded crops for him.
Bobo: That is some punishment.
Leader: Life would have been so much better for Cain had he not allowed his anger to control him.
Bobo: Well, I guess I have learned a lesson here today.
Leader: I'm glad to hear that Bobo. Maybe you'll learn another one next week.
Bobo: Well, I'll be back in children's church next week for sure. I love this place. See you next week.
You will need vinegar and baking soda. With this lesson you want to demonstrate that anger affects others as well as yourself. Set up a glass and bowl on a tray and put several other items around the glass. Fill the glass with baking soda and begin adding vinegar. The foam will spill out and cover the items you laid around the glass. Explain that our anger not only hurts us but it also hurts others.
Have communion prepared before service starts. Take time to review what you have learned about anger. Then read the passage from Matt. 5:23-24 Explain to the kids that the Bible tells us that if we are harbouring anger against someone we need to go and make things right. Encourage the kids to find a place of prayer and search their hearts. If they are harbouring anger encourage them to ask forgiveness and make things right if it is possible. After this time of prayer call the kids to form a circle and hold hands with those standing next to them. Have a group prayer time and then have the kids form small groups (all first graders in one group for example). Have one group leader review what was learned, answer any questions, explain communion and then serve communion to their group.
Copyright 1998, Sheryl Coats
