1.3 whoever believes - 10:10 kids! -...

Lesson 1.3

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John 3:16 - whoever believes

Big Idea: Belief requires action

Key verse: James 2:7b – “If faith doesn't cause us to do something, it's dead.”

Thoughts for leaders In our society, we have made the word “believe” to mean very little. “I believe it will

rain today” (but I may or may not bring an umbrella). “I believe in Santa” (not that he’ll

come down my chimney or anything). “I believe my team will win the Superbowl” (but I

wouldn’t stake anything on that). Belief, to us, is more like a feeling or something we

think may be true – it’s largely internal.

Not so in Biblical days. To believe something was to stake your life on it. If you

believed in Jesus, there was a good chance you would die or be imprisoned for that. To

say you believed in something or someone had long-lasting effects.

So when the Bible says “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved,” (Acts

16:31) it means really just that – only believe. There’s no prescriptive prayer, no ten

steps to salvation, no entry requirements: only believe. But that belief can’t be a benign

belief that has no impact on your life. This is a whole-hearted, whatever-the-cost kind

of belief that drives you to do everything for the one who gave his life for you – not

because what you do gets you saved, but because your belief in Jesus is so complete

you can’t help but give him your all!

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New

International Reader’s Version®, NIrV® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIrV” and “New International Reader’s Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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Supplies list: Attention Grabber Teaching Time Small Group Memory Verse

Mini chocolate bar

Full sized chocolate

bar

2 “Sorry” signs (pg 5)

$5 bill Prayer journals

Copy of small group

for each leader

Print out of Memory

Verse 1.30

(attatchment)

Craft Table Games

Yarn needle & yarn

2 small styrofoam

plates

1 tongue depressor

Duct tape

Scissors

Markers & stickers

Ping pong balls

Blindfolds

Obstacles (bean

bags, chairs, boxes,

etc.)

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3 leader volunteers, a mini chocolate bar, a full sized chocolate bar & 2 “SORRY” signs

Leader: Today we are talking about believing! We are going to find out which of our

volunteers you are most willing to believe! To do this, we’re going to play a little game

show: Believe it or Not! We need our three leader volunteers to come up front. Come

on down! (wait for them to assemble), and now we need a volunteer from our audience

(choose volunteer and have him/her come up front).

Leader: Alright, let’s have our first volunteer come forward! What’s your name? (allow

child to answer). Welcome to Believe it or Not Game Show! In this game show, we

give you a prize just for being on the show! You get – a mini chocolate bar! (applause)

Now, don’t eat it yet because you just might be able to get something better. The way

it works is, you have a chance to trade your chocolate with one of these leaders for

something they’re offering. The only catch is, they are not always trustworthy! Make

sure you know who to believe because they can trick you and just take your chocolate!

So, what we’re going to do is see what each of these leaders is willing to offer in

exchange for your chocolate.

(Leaders say lines, but keep hands behind their backs. 1st leader has chocolate bar behind

his/her back, and leaders 2 & 3 both have “sorry” signs behind their backs))

1st leader: I will trade your small chocolate bar for a large chocolate bar.

2nd leader: I will trade your small chocolate bar for a one hundred dollar bill

3rd leader: I will trade your small chocolate bar for a brand new H3 Hummer.

Leader: What a deal! Alright (volunteer’s name)! What will it be? Will you keep your

mini chocolate, or trade it in for a large chocolate bar, a one hundred dollar bill or a

brand new H3 Hummer? Audience, what do you think? Do you think he/she should

take the chocolate bar? The one hundred dollar bill? The Hummer?

Remember, (volunteer’s name), not every one of these leaders is trustworthy. Make

sure you know who you believe before you trade.

Now, who will you trade with!

(If he chooses the large chocolate bar)

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Leader: Well done! You believed the right leader and you get… a full-sized chocolate

bar! Great job! Let’s give him a round of applause. Thank you, (volunteers name), you

can take your seat.

(If he chooses either other option).

Leader: Oops! Sorry. You believed the wrong person. You get…. Nothing! But for

your volunteering at Believe it or not game show, we’ll let you keep your mini

chocolate bar. Let’s give him a round of applause for playing Believe it or not game

show!

Leader: Every day we get to choose who we believe or don’t believe. Sometimes it

doesn’t really make a difference: we can believe that the earth is flat and it might not

change your daily life at all. But usually, believing someone means you do something

about it. If the weatherman says it will rain today, and you believe him, you might bring

an umbrella when you go outside. Today our volunteer had to decide who to believe…

but he couldn’t just say he believed the leader, he actually had to do something about it

– he had to trade. Today we’re going to talk a little bit more about what believing in

something – or someone – might look like.

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Leader needs $5 bill in pocket.

Leader: Who here believes that I would give them $5 if they came up and asked

me for it? (If a child actually comes up for it, give him/her $5. If only hands go up –

congratulations! What a well behaved group! Prompt them a little more until someone

takes you up on it.) Do you actually believe me? Or are you just saying so? Is anybody

actually going to come up?

(Once $5 is given, continue with the lesson).

It’s one thing to say you believe someone, it’s another thing entirely to actually believe.

See, belief requires action. Even if everyone in the room had said “I believe you,” I

wouldn’t have given you all five dollars. I only gave it to the person who actually did

what they said they believed – the person who came up to me and asked for it. True

faith means we do something about it.

There’s a story told about a farming village. There had been a drought, without any

rain at all, for a long time, and crops were dying and all the wells were drying up. The

people knew that unless it rained, they wouldn’t have enough food or water to last the

winter, so they called everyone together to pray. On the day of the prayer meeting,

everyone showed up to pray for rain. The pastor asked if the people truly believed God

would send rain. The people all said yes, but the pastor wondered if they really meant

it. Then he saw the one person who he knew truly believed. How could he tell? The

pastor saw, right in the front row, there was a small girl carrying her umbrella.

Even though everyone said they believed God would send rain, only that girl was

expecting God to send rain, and only that girl was ready for the rain. It’s so easy to say

we believe something – and sometimes we truly think we do – but unless we do

something about it, it’s not really faith at all. The Bible says in James 2:7b, If [faith]

doesn't cause us to do something, it's dead. That means that even if we believe in our

hearts and talk about it all the time, unless we actually do something about it, there’s

no point to our faith. It’s pretty much dead.

When we say we believe something, that’s nice, but it isn’t actually true belief until we

do something about it.

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In John 3:16, our memory verse this month, it says that whoever believes in God will

not die but have eternal life. It would be so easy just to say those words, or even pray

them. Anyone can say “I believe in God.” But that’s not the kind of belief the Bible is

talking about. It’s talking about the kind of belief that changes you, that makes you

take action.

If my teacher said, “You can’t go outside for lunch until you finish your work,” and I

believed him, what do you think I would do? That’s right – finish my work. Now, if I

didn’t believe him, what would I do? That’s right, probably nothing.

It’s the same with God. When He says “love your neighbour,” and we treat our

neighbour really badly, do you think we actually believe God? No! You can tell if we

believe in God by how we listen to what He says. That doesn’t mean we get things

perfect! We mess up a lot, but if we say we believe God, and really mean it, then it

means we do our best to do what He says.

So when we talk about our memory verse, where it says “anyone who believes in Him

will not die but have eternal life,” that’s the kind of belief it’s talking about. Not just

saying “I believe,” but actually doing something about it. Because faith that doesn’t

cause us to do something is dead, just like the Bible says.

Lesson 1.3

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Trust Falls

If your group is older, and trustworthy, have them do this exercise with each other. If

there is even a chance of them letting each other fall, then do this exercise as a

demonstration only, with yourself or another leader being the catcher. Always give

children a chance to say “no.” This is an optional exercise only, and if done poorly will

do more damage than help!

Every group member needs to find a partner of similar height and weight. One partner

will be the faller, and one will be the catcher. The faller’s responsibility is to stay as

straight as possible, not bend at the waist, keep their arms across their chest, and

communicate with the catcher. The catcher’s responsibility is to get in a sturdy stance

(usually one leg in front of the other in a lunge position), be aware, keep hands right

below the faller’s shoulder blades, use arms as shock absorbers, not underestimate the

force being generated by the faller, and constantly communicate with and reassure the

faller. The faller will have his/her back to the catcher.

When ready, perform these lines:

Catcher: Do you believe I will catch you?

Faller: Yes. (falls straight back). (If no, then they do not perform the trust fall).

If desired, have the catcher/faller switch roles and perform the lines & the fall again.

Leader: If you believed you would be caught in this exercise, what did you do? (Fell

backwards). It’s pretty scary to do that, especially when you can’t even see the person

you say you believe!

How is that like trusting God?

Are there times we say “no” to God?

What do you think we need to “do” if we believe God?

Take prayer requests and review prayer journal.

Let’s pray!

Thank you, God, that you are trustworthy! When we believe in you, you don’t let us

down. Sometimes it’s really hard to trust you, so help us be courageous and trust even

when we’re scared. Amen.

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Monthly verse:

John 3:16 - "God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son.

Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.”

Weekly verse:

James 2:7b – “If faith doesn't cause us to do something, it's dead.”

Printout memory verse (pages 10-17) and place papers in a hopscotch pattern.

Have children play hopscotch on the verse, saying the words out loud as they land on

them. Slowly begin removing words. Children must still say the word, but hop over the

place where the word used to be. Eventually, children will have to say the verse and

just do one great big long jump!

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JamesJamesJamesJames

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2:7b2:7b2:7b2:7b

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If faithIf faithIf faithIf faith

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doesn'tdoesn'tdoesn'tdoesn't

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causecausecausecause us us us us

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to do to do to do to do

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somesomesomesome----thing, thing, thing, thing,

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it's it's it's it's dead.dead.dead.dead.

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Ping Pong Paddles

Yarn needle

yarn

2 small styrofoam plates

1 large craft stick/tongue depressor

duct tape

scissors

Markers, stickers, or other decorative items.

Ping pong balls

Younger children can have plates glue gunned together instead of sewing.

Leader: We are going to make ping pong paddles today. Who believes that would be a

fun game to play? Who actually wants to act on that belief and really play a game of

ping pong? Let’s make our craft and have some fun!

1. Notch out the bottom of one plate so that the craft stick can

lay flat against the bottom of the

plate.

2. Using duct tape, secure the craft stick

to the inside of one of the plates (a

large “X” works great).

3. Thread a needle with embroidery

floss. Help the child to sew two plates

together around the edges.

4. Decorate the plates to make your

own paddle unique.

5. Find a ping pong ball and challenge someone to a game!

Lesson 1.3

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Blind Faith

Blindfolds

Obstacles (bean bags, chairs, boxes, etc.)

Set up an obstacle course across a room. Place random objects (chairs, balls,

boxes, bean bags, etc.) throughout the room as objects to avoid, but make sure there

are clear paths through the rubble.

For groups of 15 or less, have children do this one pair at a time, with the rest of the group

being “distracters” from the sidelines. For large groups, have the children form pairs and

do this simultaneously with everyone else… there’s no need for distracters: it will be loud

enough!

Place children in pairs, and line up along the edge of the room.

Leader: We are going to see how much faith you have in your partner! In front of you is

dangerous ground. Your job is to get to the other side without touching anything but

the floor. If you accidently touch an object, you have to start over from the beginning.

The only problem is, you are blind, and only your partner can see. The other problem is

your partner is not allowed to touch you or anybody else. They can only talk. So you

have to trust them to lead you through the minefield safely only by listening to what

they say. Does that make sense?

There’s one other catch. This is not a quiet place. There are many distractions. You will

have to listen carefully to your partner’s voice and not get confused by people shouting

wrong directions to you! So if you are not leading someone, or being lead through the

dangerous ground, your job is to try and distract the people and get them to go the

wrong way! You may only do this by talking, not by touching. (You may choose to ask

any distracters to stay touching the walls, so as not to crowd the blindfolded person).

Once you get to the other side, partners can switch roles and the blindfolded person

can become the guide, and the guide can get blindfolded. Let’s see if we can do this!

1.3 whoever believes - 10:10 kids! -...

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