THE WILD WILD WEST

LESSON SIX - BEING A SERVANT

Theme: We will be in the wild west discovering Godly Character traits for kids.

The Set: Set up the class room to look like a town in the wild west. Decorate with cardboard cactus, stick horses, a jail house, a place to park horses, a hotel, wanted posters, etc.

CHARACTERS NEEDED

Sheriff Sam - a good guy, the sharpest shooter in the west.
Deputy Do Good - a dumb deputy who is good at heart and always tries to do good.
Reckless Rex - a mean outlaw
Pauly Peddler - a traveling saleswoman who always has something for sale she thinks will save the day.
Miss Daisy - the waitress at the local restaurant
One Eyed Will - a puppet who has only one eye. He is the memory verse bandit and is always lurking around waiting to steal the memory verse.
Bobo - a big hairy puppet that is always getting himself into trouble.

This week: Kids will discover the importance of being a servant.

GOALS

Kids will learn that:

• God has called each of us to be a servant.
• Being a servant means giving of yourself to others.
• Sometimes being a servant isn't fun.
• We are called to serve even those who are mean, or different, or unlikeable.
• Being a servant often requires sacrifice on our part.

PRAYER

Have kids spend 1-2 minutes at their seats in prayer and then allow Deputy Do good to open in group prayer. This time is very important as it teaches the kids not only how to pray but also that they can pray.

RULES

Add a western spin to the rules this week. The sheriff can come out and explain the rules.

• No Walk: Keep those horses tied down....including legs, fingers, etc..
• No talk: Keep your voices down or you're sure to upset Deputy Do Good.
• Have fun: We are here to have fun praising God.

WORSHIP

Start the worship with a cowboy puppet song. Encourage the kids to sing along with the puppets. Worship is a special time. Encourage the kids to worship with their hands, hearts, and voices.

OPENING SKIT

Miss Daisy is strolling along with several packages. Reckless Rex comes riding into town grumbling as usual. He bumps into her and knocks her down. Rather than helping her up and helping her get her packages he laughs at her. When she asks for help he grumbles about her being in his way and refuses to help her. He storms off yelling that he has better things to do with his time than help some puny little lady. The sheriff comes along and helps Miss Daisy up and they talk about how important it is to be a servant to others.

OBJECT LESSON/SKIT

Set up a small "restaurant". Miss Daisy is a waitress at the restaurant. Reckless Rex comes storming into town. He wants service and he wants it now!!! He is rude and obnoxious. Miss Daisy doesn't offer him very good service (since he wasn't willing to help her earlier). She is slow and inattentive and makes numerous mistakes in his order. Reckless gets madder and madder until he finally storms off screaming about the terrible service. The deputy and the sheriff come into the restaurant and Miss Daisy offers them much different service than she offered Reckless. Reckless comes storming back in and discovers that she is offering different service to the sheriff and the deputy and makes a commotion over it. The sheriff and deputy try to explain to Miss Daisy that God has called us to be servants to all, not just to those that we like. They explain what servant hood means and encourage Miss Daisy to serve Reckless, but reckless storms off screaming that she'll be sorry before she gets a chance to serve him.

BIBLE LESSON

The sheriff tells the story of the woman who washed Jesus feet as an act of servant hood. He washes Miss Daisy's feet as he tells the story. He stresses the importance of servant hood as he explains to the kids that servant hood is not always the most pleasant task, but one that is necessary as children of God.

MEMORY VERSE

The pony express (a horse puppet) delivers the memory verse written on brown paper wrapped around a brick and tied with twine. The deputy unwraps it and teaches it to the children. As he is teaching it the memory verse bandit one eyed will sneaks up and steals it. The deputy freaks out and the sheriff comes running. The deputy doesn't know what to do. How will the kids learn the verse? Thankfully the sheriff just happens to know this verse and finishes up teaching it to the kids.

OBJECT LESSON/SKIT

Pauley Peddler comes out to demonstrate one of her products she has for sale. The sheriff and the deputy are watching. It is a horse o matic ( a saddle on a work horse). It is like a virtual horse ride machine. Everyone is oooing and ahhhhing until Reckless Rex comes riding into town. He is still pretty upset from the earlier incident. He rides up and sees the horse o matic and wants it. He tries to bully the peddler around and steal the horse o matic. The sheriff and deputy run off to hide instead of doing their servant duty to help the peddler. Miss Daisy then comes out from the restaurant and lectures the sheriff and deputy about being servants even when it might require a sacrifice. The sheriff feels remorse and goes out to help the peddler.

GAMES/POD GROUPS

You will need a different color of balloons for each pod group. On slips of paper write down the events of the good Samaritan story. Place one slip in each balloon. Write a number on each balloon. Have pod groups form circles. Toss the balloons into the circle and have them bat them back and forth while music plays. When the music stops yell "stop and pop number (fill in a number)". Have the kid holding that balloon pop it and retrieve the paper that is in it. Do this until all the balloons have been popped. Then have groups attempt to sequence the slips of paper correctly. Once the story is in the correct sequence have pod groups discuss how servant hood applies to this story. Be sure to encourage discussion on how they can be like the good Samaritan. Spend a few minutes praying as a group.

POD GROUPS

Mark off a line on the floor for each pod group. Tell the kids that you are going to hand out a treat. Ask them to line up on the tape facing their pod leader. Once the kids are lined up have pod leaders distribute the candy starting at the end of the line rather than the beginning. Then have pod groups return to their seats.

The bible tells us that the first shall be last and the last shall be first. If we want to be a servant as God has called each of us to be we must think of others needs first. Being a servant might mean that you do without a treat so someone else can have one. It might mean scrubbing a toilet even though it's not pleasant. Being a servant means giving of yourself to someone else.

SERMON/ALTER

Jesus came to earth to serve, not to be served. He came to give of himself, not to see what he could get. We often get caught up in our own needs and fail to remember that we are called to be servants.

1. God has called each of us to be a servant.
2. Being a servant means giving of yourself to others.
3. Sometimes being a servant isn't fun.
4. We are called to serve even those who are mean, or different, or unlikeable.
5. Being a servant often requires sacrifice on our part.

Have you been the servant that God has called you to be? Or have you been caught up in yourself?

Copyright 1999, Sheryl Coats