Hearing, Seeing, Doing

For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her (Prov. 8:11).

You'll Need: Paper, tape, crayons, markers

Get Started: Read each Gospel's account of Jesus feeding the 5,000 (Matt. 14:13, Mark 6:30, Luke 9:10, John 6:1)

Talk It Over: Ask what was different about each account. Tell everyone that Matthew wrote to Jews to show Jesus as King; Mark wrote to Romans to show Jesus as Servant; Luke wrote to Greeks to show Jesus as Perfect Man; John wrote to all people to show Jesus as God's Son. These writers knew that different people would learn about Jesus in different ways. We learn in different ways, too. Some of us learn best by hearing, some by seeing, and some by doing. Talk about the ways each of you like to learn.

Wrap It Up: Learn Psalm 23 by hearing, seeing and doing. Have each person choose two or three verses of the Psalm and draw pictures to illustrate those verses. Then tape the drawings together in order. Repeat the verse several times, looking at your mural. Pray that God will help you learn by hearing, seeing, and doing.

By Karyn Henley (visit Karyn at www.karynhenley.com)

Fighting Temptation

God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it (1 Cor. 10:13).

You'll Need: Three paper cups, a dime, paper, crayons, paper clips, scissors, string, and a magnet

Get Started: Ask everyone to close their eyes. Turn over the three paper cups, hiding the dime under one cup. Then ask everyone to guess where the dime is. After everyone has guessed, lift the cups and reveal the dime.

Talk It Over: Ask if making the wrong choice in the game was a sin. When is a wrong choice sin? Ask what temptation is (wanting to do something we know is wrong). Ask everyone to list some things that tempt people their age. Tell them that temptation is not sin. It just means we have a choice to make. Read 1 Corinthians 10:13 together. How does God want us to handle temptation?

Wrap It Up: Have each person cut out two large paper fish. Write a good deed on one fish and a bad deed on the other. Attach a paper clip to each fish. Tie the magnet to a string and when a fish is caught, read what's on it. Talk about avoiding bad deeds. Ask God to show you how to escape temptation.

By Karyn Henley

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