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Being a Christian is Difficult

Unit 1 / Lesson 3

Being a Christian is Difficult

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Teacher's Prep

  • Games

  • Main Activity (Gingerbread Cookies): 

    • Assemble ingredients, supplies, and equipment needed for making cookies. You are, of course, free to make any type of cookie you prefer.


    Intro

    SLIDE 1

  • Gathering

    • How was your week?

    SLIDE 2

  • Intro Activity: Limbo

    • Instructions

      • We'll start our lesson with a game! It's called Limbo! It's a really simple game. We'll have two people holding a stick, and we'll all take turns walking under the stick.

      • The tricky part is, the stick will keep getting lower. So, you'll need to walk lower by bending your knees and leaning back.

      • You can't touch the floor with your hands. If you do, or if you fall, you're out, and you’ll stand to the side and watch your friends to see how low they can go.

      • Teacher: try to do a demonstration with two volunteers to the side holding the stick.

      • Let's all form a line and give it a try!

      • Teacher: Volunteers should hold the stick in cupped hands so that it will fall easily if touched. Also, you may want to play music during the game

    SLIDE 3

    • Debrief

      • We played this game because it's hard! At least at the end, it gets hard. However, the game wouldn't be very fun if it were too easy.

      • At the end of the game, we can only win if we're doing our best and we can get our body to do something really hard.

    SLIDE 4

  • Relevance

    • Being a Christian is a bit like that. The Bible tells us it's hard to be a Christian. It’s supposed to be hard. Some people think it should be easy to be a Christian, and then when it gets hard they're surprised and they’re not prepared. But if we expect there to be hard times, then we can be prepared. It's like if you're expecting the weather to be cold outside: you'll put on your jacket and your gloves to keep you warm. So, it's good to prepare for trouble as a Christian.

    SLIDE 5

  • Big Question

    • Our big question today is: why is it hard to be a Christian?

    SLIDE 6

  • Big Idea

    • Our Bible story tells us two reasons why it's hard for everyone.

      • 1. We need to try our best for God, and

      • 2. We need to train an animal.

    SLIDE 7

  • Bible Reference


    SLIDE 8

    Point 1

  • Our first point is, we need to try our best for God.

    SLIDE 9

  • Game

    SLIDE 10

    • We will have two teams, and each team will have one rattle. One person from your team will take a turn shaking the rattle until the top part is empty. Then they'll pass it to the next person, and they'll turn it over, and do the same thing. Once everyone in your team has finished, you are done, and you win.

    • Teacher: demonstrate how the rattle works, and clarify any questions. Then, form teams and play the game. If there is time and interest, you may want to re-form teams and play another round.

    SLIDE 11

    • Debrief

      • We played this game because it takes effort. We can't just shake the rattle once, we need to keep working at it until it's done.

      • That’s what it’s like to be a Christian. We need to try our best for God, and it really matters if we try our best.

      • That's what we learn from our Bible story.

    SLIDE 12

  • Option B: Suck it Up

    • Instructions

      • We'll start this point with a game! It's called Suck it Up.

      • Teacher: you may want to play this video which will show everyone how the game works:

      • Maybe some of you have played this before. We will have two teams. Each team will have two bowls. Your goal is to transfer all the Smarties from one bowl to the other bowl, and the only thing you can use is a straw. Someone from your team will put a straw in their mouth, and they’ll suck up the Smarties and move them to the other bowl one by one.

      • Once they’ve finished moving all the Smarties to the other bowl, the next person on your team will take a turn, and they’ll move all the Smarties back. Everyone on your team will have a turn moving the Smarties. When you all finish, you win!

    SLIDE 13

    • Debrief

      • We played this game because it takes effort. We can't just suck up one Smartie and be done. We need to keep working at it until all the Smarties are transferred.

      • That’s what it’s like to be a Christian. We need to try our best for God, and it really matters that we try our best.

      • That's what we learn from our Bible story.

    SLIDE 14

  • Bible Reference

    • Let’s read the first half of our Bible story

    • Genesis 4:1-7 (CEV)

      • Adam and Eve had a son. Then Eve said, “I'll name him Cain because I got him with the help of the Lord.” 2 Later she had another son and named him Abel.

      • Abel became a sheep farmer, but Cain farmed the land. 3 One day, Cain gave part of his harvest to the Lord, 4  and Abel also gave an offering to the Lord. He killed the first-born lamb from one of his sheep and gave the Lord the best parts of it. The Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering, 5 but not with Cain and his offering. This made Cain so angry that he could not hide his feelings.

  • Explanation

    • Let’s go over the story again. There were two brothers, Cain and Abel.

    • Cain farmed the land, and Abel farmed sheep.

    • One day it was time to give a gift to God. When we study our passage, we find out they were giving a special kind of gift. It was called a tribute. A tribute is a gift for a king. It's the kind of gift that's supposed to show how much you love the king. And, it's supposed to be the best of what you have.

    • If you've ever had to write a test at school, maybe you know the feeling that Cain and Abel had. When you were studying, you could get distracted and have fun. But, when you are writing the test, you need to try your best.

    • Or, if you ever had to perform a song for someone, you need to try your best. You can be silly while you're practicing, but when it's time to perform, you need to do your best.

    • In our Bible story, it was time for Cain and Abel to try their best. Abel gave his best to God. It was Abel's way of saying he loves God and he trusts God, and he serves God. But, Cain was different. Cain just got a basket of things he found in his field, and he gave that to God. It was Cain's way of saying that he doesn't care very much about God, and God is not very special to him, and he didn’t really want to try.

    • The Bible tells us God was pleased with Abel and his offering, but not with Cain and his offering.

    SLIDE 15

  • Application

    • We need to learn from that, because every day, we have the same choice as Cain and Abel. God is with us everyday, and we get to give a tribute to our king.

    • We could be like Cain and not try. We can save our time and our energy for something we like more than God. But it’s a good idea to try our best for God.

    • The Bible tells us that if we give anything to God, sooner or later He will give it back, and it will be better. We might serve God, but God serves us more. We might love God, but God loves us more. We might be giving up our favorite things, but God is giving us better things. So let’s always try our best for Him.

    • If we’re learning things at school, we’re learning for the Lord. When we talk to people, we are showing them God's love. When we help people at home, we are serving God. When we try our best, God will be happy with us, and eventually we will be very happy with Him.

    SLIDE 16

  • Discussion Question (optional)

    • What is something that God might want from you?


    SLIDE 17

    Point 2

  • Our second point is, we need to train an animal

    SLIDE 18

  • Activity: Beanbag Relay Race

    • Instructions

      • We will start this point with a race!

      • Teacher: you may want to play this instructional video

      • We will have two teams. Each team will start at one wall. When it’s your turn, you need to walk to the far wall and back with something on your head. If it drops, you need to let it fall to the ground without catching it in your hands. Then you can pick it up and keep going. You start your turn by touching the near wall. Then you will touch the far wall. Then you come back and touch the near wall again. Then the next person on your team can go. When everyone on your team is done, you win!

      • Teacher: you may want to do a demonstration before the children try. Also, depending on time and interest, you may want to play more than one round of the game.

    SLIDE 19

    • Debrief

      • We played this game because it's about keeping our body in control. We can't just let our body do whatever it wants, but we need to really try to keep it steady.

      • As Christians, we can't just do whatever we feel like. We need to keep ourselves under control.

    SLIDE 20

  • Bible Reference

    • Let’s read the second half of our Bible story. This time we'll read from an adult Bible. The adult Bible has bigger words, but it helps us understand the story better.

    • Genesis 4:4b-7

      •  The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

        6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

  • Explanation

    • I’ll explain it. God was happy with Abel because Abel did the right thing. God was not happy with Cain, because Cain did the wrong thing. Cain saw that God didn't like his gift, and he was very angry.

    • God talked to Cain and said Cain could do the right thing too, and he could be friends with God, and everyone would be happy. But, if he didn't do the right thing, then sin was right there. It was like an animal crouching at the door.

    • Normally, if there's a dangerous animal, we can get rid of it. If there's a lion or a bear in the streets, we can just call the police and someone will get the animal out of there. However, sin is the kind of animal you can’t get rid of. This is because sin is a problem inside of us. WE are the animal! The only way to keep out of trouble is to keep our own body under control.

    SLIDE 21

  • Application

    • The good news is, we can train an animal. If you want to train a dog, you need to help it practice doing the right thing. You need to put it on a schedule, so you have times for it to eat and times for it to poop. You also need to reward it for being good, and you need to have consequences for being bad. If we keep training it like that, the dog will build good habits, and it will be a lot easier to live with.

    • Actually, we can train ourselves like dogs too. We can practice doing the right thing. We can have a schedule, we can reward ourselves for being good, and we can have consequences for being bad. Over time, we will build good habits, and it will be a lot easier to be good. That's how we keep ourselves under control, and that's how we can do great things with God.

    SLIDE 22

  • Discussion Question (optional)

    • What's an example of a good habit?


    SLIDE 23

    Conclusion

  • Let's end by going over our big ideas again, and then we'll do our activity.

  • Our big question today was: why is it hard to be a Christian?

  • Our Bible story told us two reasons why it has to be hard.

    • 1. We need to try our best for God, and

    • 2. We need to train an animal (which is ourselves).

  • That's why it's hard for everyone who wants to be a Christian. If we know it's supposed to be hard, it’s actually a good thing because then we can be prepared.


    SLIDE 24

    Main Activity: Gingerbread Cookies

  • Now it’s time for our activity! Today we are making gingerbread cookies!

  • Gingerbread cookies help us to understand our lesson, because they take effort. It makes a difference when we try our best when we're making cookies. And, if we want to give them away, we also need self control so we don't eat them ourselves.

  • Teacher: lead the baking activity as you see fit. You may want to give the kids something to do while the cookies bake.

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