"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy , peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Against this there is no law".

"When a person accepts Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to live in their heart. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit produces Christian virtues in the believer's life. These virtues are the fruit of the Spirit and we become more Christ-like. We will exhibit the fruit whether we are aware of it or not, it happens completely through the work of the Holy Spirit. We can't produce fruit by our own effort, it comes from God's presence and interaction in our lives."

Offner, Hazel. Fruit of the Spirit. Downers Grove, Ill: Intervarsity Press, 1987

Objective: The objective of  The Zoo Children's Ministry is to reach kids with the Gospel message and to teach them about God's love and how to live as Christians in today's world.

The purpose of this particular series is to present salvation and explain that when they make a decision for Christ the Holy Spirit will live in their hearts. They can have the fruit of the Spirit begin to show in their lives.

Themes: We have chosen to divide the fruit of the Spirit into sets of three. With each set there will be a different theme. All props and stories will teach the lesson but incorporate the theme.

Pirate Days Theme

Preparation: The theme is "Pirate Days". It is easy to find lots of props for Pirate Days. Use anything nautical and tropical. Costumes for volunteers or leaders can enhance the effect.

Lesson Five KINDNESS

Kindness is an important fruit of the Spirit that can help people see Christ in us. God has shown us kindness. It is our responsibility to be kind to others and show them tender loving care.

Goals

• To be examples of kindness in the lives of these children.
• To teach the children to be kind to everyone, not just their friends.

Opening

Puppet Songs about pirates are difficult to come by. It is possible to find songs about boats and fishing. Suggestion: Acapella Children ,"We Are Not Afraid", c 1994. The Acapella Company, song - "Sailin". Words and Music by Hank Fenn and Keith Lancaster.

Rules

The Pirate Captain lays down the law for anyone who wants to be a good pirate.

Prayer

Continue to pray for guidance and for the needs of the specific ministry.

Music

On occasion it is nice to offer treats or prizes to the team singing loudest and doing the best actions. It just makes for a little change.

Games

Pirate Relay

Select four boys and four girls for each team. This is a three step relay:

• Step1- Walk the plank. A board is placed on top of two bricks. It forms a balance beam. The children walk across it to the other end.
• Step 2 - Peg Leg. Once the children arrive at the end of the plank, they hop on one foot to the next stop.
• Step 3 - Search fro treasure. The kids hop to a bag filled with stuffing which they must unpack and there is a treasure at the bottom. Then the first contestant will take the treasure and replace all of the stuffing into the bag and hop back to the plank and walk back across it. They will tag the next team mate who will then proceed. The team that gets all of its participants through the relay first wins.

Clothing Relay

In this game the children dress up as pirates run to a pylon and back and remove the costume and hand it to the next contestant. This game can be played with any number of children. Three may be comfortable, if you have a restless audience.

Memory Verse

Interaction between leader and puppet. "Be kind and compassionate to one another." Ephesians 4:32.

The puppet is the nasty "Blue Beard". He surrendered one piece of his map in the last lesson but is unwilling to surrender another piece. The children must learn the verse in order to get piece number two.

Leader: Do you guys remember that mean pirate who was here last week? I sure do. He was grouchy but we managed to get one piece of the map. Let's see if we can find him and convince him to give us another part of the map. Ok? I would really like to find that so we can open the treasure chest.

Blue Beard: What do you guys want this week? If you think I'll give you another piece of my map you're crazy. Forget it, It won't happen.

Leader: Blue Beard, you said last week that if we remembered the memory verse you had we could have a piece of that map. Can we learn another verse so we can have the next piece?

Blue Beard: No!

Leader: You promised last week, didn't he?

Blue Beard: All right, all right. I may be a nasty pirate but I'm honest. You did make a deal with me. I told you if you learned a verse you could have a piece of my map. I have a verse here but don't even bother to try it. It is just too hard for you guys!

Leader: Well, you know Blue Beard, I think we have a pretty smart crowd here. You say your verse is difficult. I think we can handle it. Can't we kids?

Blue Beard: Ok but you'll be sorry. Here it is.

Leader: Ok Let's read it.... "Be kind and compassionate to one another". Ephesians 4:32. That doesn't seem so hard to me.

Blue Beard: All right then smarty what does compassionate mean?

Leader: Ok kids what does compassionate mean? (allow the children to try to answer) That is right compassionate means showing love and concern for someone.

Blue Beard: Maybe you guys are smarter than I thought. Read it again with the kids.

Leader: "Be kind and compassionate to one another." Ephesians 4:32.

Blue Beard: Not bad but what does the whole verse mean.

Leader: Well, this verse explains how God wants us to treat other people. He wants us to be kind and compassionate. That means that we have to love others.

Blue Beard: Ok, then say it without looking at the verse.

Leader: "Be kind and compassionate to one another." Ephesians 4:32.

Blue Beard: I guess I have no choice I have to give you the second piece of the map. Even though I hoped you wouldn't be able to learn the verse, you did it. How depressing.

Object Lesson

The object lesson is usually used to reinforce the point of the lesson. This can be done using objects but for variety, other methods can be used. Mime is an interesting dramatic technique that can be used. In this case two sets of pirates doing mime would be appropriate.

Scene 1: Two pirates enter. They both look happy and shake hands. They appear to be friends and are having a conversation. The tone of the conversation changes. The two look angry. One slaps the other. The one who was slapped apologizes. He appears to be sad. The other turns his back on the apologetic pirate and walks away.

Scene 2: Two different pirates enter. They also appear to be happy but they don't really know each other. They meet and engage in a conversation. A disagreement ensues and the two are in heated conversation. They seem to work things out. Shake hands and exit.

Ask the audience which was an example of showing kindness to others. Discuss who we should be kind to and how we can show kindness.

Story

"The Good Pirate" - an adaptation of "The Good Samaritan".

This story was told by Einstein the Elephant. He is a puppet. There are pictures to go with it.

Introduction by leader
Einstein, the elephant was an excellent pirate. He worked hard and he never stopped. All of his superiors liked him. One day he was working on the ship. He washed the port holes, he swabbed the deck, he did everything. I'll let him tell you his story.

Einstein

Oh do I have a sad story. As they were just saying, I was an excellent pirate. I did everything I was told but one day I had a really bad day. See this bandage on my nose, it is really sore. I hurt it you know. One day the captain hold me to raise the sails and so I did. But when I did it, I got my nose stuck in the winch. It was jammed. I managed to get it out but I fell down on the deck. My nose was bleeding and I was moaning and groaning. I couldn't get up. I just kept crying. It was terrible, one of the worst days of my entire life. Miserable.

I don't know how long I laid there. Then I saw one of the other pirates come up on deck. Oh thank goodness I thought someone will finally save me. How wonderful. But she just walked right by. She seemed to be in a hurry and she pretended not to see me. I kept on crying. Then I saw the captain of the ship getting close by. He looked down at me and he looked like he would be sick. I thought I heard him say "captains don't have to clean up messes." He walked right by. I couldn't believe it, not even the captain would help. By now I was in a great deal of pain. My nose was getting swollen. It was still bleeding. I kept moaning.

A short while later another pirate came by. I just lay there. No one else helped me I thought and no one will. This guy will walk right by just like the others. You know what, he didn't! He stopped. He used his t-shirt to bandage my nose and he carried me to his cabin. He put me in his bunk and told me I would be Ok. He even brought me a snack. He was so nice. I was very thankful.

Leader's Conclusion: Thank goodness Einstein is Ok now. Which pirate showed kindness and compassion to Einstein? Isn't that how God would want us to behave towards others?

Copyright 1996, Bread of Life Ministries