As kids leave, ask them to share their plan to love an enemy this week. Encourage their ideas. And be sure to follow up next week!

Connect Time (15 minutes): Five minutes after the service begins, split kids into groups and begin their activity. Large Group (30 minutes): Begin 20 minutes after the service starts. Model what it looks like to be engaged in large group. Small Group (15 minutes): Keep kids in small groups until parents arrive. If you all have extra time at the end, you can review the video and songs together.

Personal stories are great additions to lessons. They hook kids, and show them that these lessons are more than just “church stories.”

*Note for Connect Time: Before kids arrive (or before starting the game), hide ten David images in different places throughout the room.

Today’s story is focused on loving our enemies. David showed incredible love for Saul, even as the king of Israel tried to kill him on multiple occasions.

You’ll be asked to share a time when you showed love to an “enemy.” This story will show that loving enemies isn’t just for kids, and will give the kids a “real-life” example.

God wants us to love our enemies1 Samuel 24 & 26, Colossians 1:22-23

David and Saul November 11-12, 2017

GOAL: Connect Time is all about engaging kids in an activity that allows them to connect with each other right away, while simultaneously piquing their curiosity for Large Group and preparing their minds for what they’re going to hear.

DAVID HUNT*Before kids arrive (or before starting the game), hide ten David images in different places throughout the room.

● Gather all the kids in one large group, and tell them that we’re hearing about a guy named David in today’s lesson. And during this activity, we’re going to hunt for ten “David” images, hidden throughout the room.

● Release the kids to find the Davids, and have them return to you when they find one.

● When all Davids are found, allow the kids who found each David to rehide them in a different spot (while the rest of the kids close their eyes).

● Repeat the game a few times, then gather in small groups and talk through the following:

● Where was the weirdest place you found David hiding?● When you play Hide-and-Go-Seek, would you rather be the hider or the

seeker? Why?● Where is your best hiding spot, the one where no one would ever find you?

Before you go to Large Group, you can ask kids how their week went. You can also remind kids of the expectations for Large Group behavior: (1) be kind, (2) listen when somebody speaks, and (3) follow the leader’s instructions.

Today’s lesson is going to be set up like a game show called What Did David Do?

There will be three opportunities during the lesson for kids to guess David’s next move. Kids will choose from multiple choice answers on the screen.

Today’s God’s Story video is available at crossroadskidsclub.net/weekend

The big idea for today is that we love our enemies because that’s what God did for us when we were his enemies. If being God’s “enemy” is hard for a kid to understand, explain that it doesn’t mean God ever stops loving us, but that we sometimes make choices that God doesn’t like or approve of.

*Click to play intro music.● Say: Hey everyone! I’m so excited you’re here! Today, we’re

going to talk about a guy from the Bible named David. That’s why we spent all that time hiding fake “David’s” around the room! Does anyone know anything about David? (Let kids respond).

● Say: Well I know something about David that nobody shared….David was a master at hide-and-seek! In fact, he was involved in the most intense game of hide-and-seek ever.

● Say: But don’t take my word for it. Check out this video. While you’re watching, see if you can identify the hider, the seeker, and why this “game” was so intense.

● Video: God’s Story: David and Saul● Say: Wow! What an amazing story! Did anyone catch the

game of hide-and-seek going on? Who was the hider? Who was the seeker? (Let kids respond.)

● Say: King Saul hunted for David, and David would have to hide, because if Saul found him, he’d be killed! Imagine you are David - where would YOU go to hide? (Let kids respond.) Good ideas!

● Say: Today, we’re going to look a little deeper into this game of hide-and-seek between Saul and David. And we’re going to play a little game of our own!

WELCOME AND INTRO

Main Goal: Review Connect Time and introduce the lesson.

Notes:

WHAT DID DAVID DO?INTRODUCTION

Main Goal: Introduce the What Did David Do? game.

WHAT DID DAVID DO?PART 1 - THE CAVE

Main Goal: Introduce the first tangible way David loved his enemy, Saul.

● Say: The name of our game is What Did David Do? Let’s all say that together like we’re on a gameshow! (Repeat with kids.)

● Say: The instructions are simple. I’m going to read you a part of the story of David and Saul. And when I stop, I want you to try to guess what David did next.

● Say: First, let’s talk about one of the places David hid from Saul: in a cave. It was so big, that if you walked into the front of the cave, you couldn’t see all the way to the back!

● Say: Let’s pick up the story when someone important walks into David’s cave!

● SLIDE: 1 Samuel 24:2-4: Saul… set out to look for David and his men… He came to a cave, and Saul went in... David and his men were far back in the cave. David’s men said, “This is the day the LORD spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.”

● Say: Okay, time for question number one! Saul walks into David’s cave and doesn’t see David or any of his men. What did David do? Did he:

● SLIDE: (a) come rushing out of the dark, surprise and kill Saul, and become the king of God’s people, b) stay in the back of the cave because he was scared and let Saul escape, or (c) sneak up behind Saul and cut off part of his robe.

● Say: If you think it’s answer A, raise one hand. (Pause.) If you think it’s answer B, raise two hands. (Pause.) If you think its answer C, wiggle your arms. (Pause.) What did David do? (Let kids respond.) Let’s find out...

● SLIDE: 1 Samuel 24:4: Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

● Say: What?! Did anyone see that coming? Why do you think David did that? (Let kids respond.)

● Say: David did not kill Saul because he knew that he was supposed to respect the king of God’s people, even if that person was trying to kill him. And David knew that God would keep his promise to make him king. So David patiently waited...But the hide and seek game wasn't over just yet!

WHAT DID DAVID DO?PART 2 - THE CAMP

Main Goal: Introduce the second tangible way David loved his enemy, Saul.

WHAT DID DAVID DO? PART 3 - THE BIGGIE

Main Goal: Understand that one way David was different from Saul was that he loved his enemies.

● Say: Later, King Saul got word that David was hiding out in the wilderness, where there were no homes or people. So Saul took 3,000 soldiers with him to hunt down David. They couldn’t find David, so the entire group made camp beside the road.

● Say: Late that night, after the entire army was asleep, David and his friend, Abishai, decide to sneak into Saul’s camp. Let’s pick up our story there.

● SLIDE: 1 Samuel 26:7-8: David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there was Saul, lying asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abishai said to David, ‘Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t strike him twice.” David said…

● Say: Question number two! What did David do? Did he: ● SLIDE: (a) Let Abishai kill Saul; since David hadn’t

hurt the king, it was okay. Then David became king, (b) Take Saul’s spear and water jug and leave the enemy camp, or (c) Use Saul’s spear to write him a message in the sand.

● Say: If you think it’s answer A, make a sheep noise. If you think it’s answer B, make a cow noise. If you think it’s answer C, make a chicken noise. What did David do? (Let kids respond.) Let’s see what the Bible says...

● SLIDE: 1 Samuel 26:9,11: David said to Abishai ‘Don’t destroy him! … let’s go.’

● Say: Whoa!! David had a second opportunity to kill King Saul and take his place as king. And both times, he didn’t take it.

● Say: Time for the last question. In both of these stories of David, we learned that one thing David definitely always was...

● SLIDE: (a) Take whatever he wanted, (b) Love his enemies or (c) Pray that bad things would happen to King Saul.

● Say: If you think it’s answer A, put your hands on your head. If you think it’s answer B, put your hands on your mouth. If you think it’s answer C, put your hands on your heart. What did David do? (Let kids respond).

WHAT DID DAVID DO? PART 3 - THE BIGGIE

Main Goal: One way David was different from Saul was that he loved his enemies.

RESPONSE TIME

Main Goal: Understand that we choose to love our enemies because God chose to love us when we were his enemies.

WORSHIP

Main Goal: Worship God through some interactive quiet time.

● Say: That one was easy, right? David loved his enemies. Even though Saul wanted nothing good for David, he loved Saul and wouldn’t do anything to hurt or even disrespect him. David’s ability to love his enemies makes him one of the most amazing characters we meet in the Bible.

● Say: David gives us an amazing example of how to live our lives, by loving our enemies. You probably don’t have an evil king trying to hunt you down (I really hope not!), but you DO have people in your life that are hard to love. Maybe it's a bully at school, or a person in your neighborhood, or even a family member that just makes you so mad, or sad or even afraid.

● Say: Instead of disrespecting them, or speaking meanly to them, or even pushing them down, God wants us to love everyone - even the people who deserve it the least.

● Ask: Now WHY do you think God wants us to love our enemies? (Let kids respond.) We should love our enemies because that’s how God treated us when we were His enemies. Check this out:

● SLIDE: Colossians 1:22-23: You were God’s enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ...As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

● Say: We love our enemies because God loved us when we were his enemies. And he has reconciled us - which is another way of saying he has moved us from being enemies to being his family - all because Jesus died for us and rescued us. Amazing stuff!

● Say: For worship today, we’re gonna do something different. I’m going to play an instrumental song quietly. And instead of us singing and dancing together, we’re going to spend some quiet time with God.

● Say: I’m going to put a few questions on the screen for you to answer to yourself. When the song is finished, I’ll pray and then we’ll go to small group!

● Click to play music and the following slide.

● SLIDE: ○ (1) We can move from being God’s enemies to

God’s family through Jesus. Have you done that?

○ (2) What is one way God has shown love to you recently?

○ (3) Who is someone in your life that you need to show love to?

● Close in prayer: Dear God, thank you for loving us, even when we were your enemies. Thank you for the example of David loving Saul. Help us to love everyone we meet this week with your love, even difficult people. We love you. Amen.

WORSHIP

Main Goal: Worship God through some interactive quiet time.

Goal: Kids will understand that (1) God wants us to love our enemies, (2) we love our enemies because God loved us when we were his enemies and (3) learning to love difficult people takes practice.

Why? Conflict is part of everyone’s life. But most people don’t deal with their “enemies” in a way that shows them God’s love. If we can learn to do that, our cities would be flipped!

Tip: For today’s small group, you’ll need to take the 2 pages of “Love your enemy scenarios” and cut or tear them into strips.

REVIEW THE STORY1. Today, we talked about the most intense game of hide-and-seek ever. What would it

feel like if you were David, always having to hide from Saul? 2. David had two opportunities to pay Saul back for the evil he was doing. Instead, he

chose to love. Do you think that was a hard decision for David to make - why? 3. Why do we love our enemies? Why is it important to do that?4. Who is someone that has been mean to you that you need to show love to?

MAKE IT PERSONAL● Get one Bible per group, and have the kids find Luke 6:31-32. Have one student in

each group read the verse aloud to everyone. ● Tell the kids that in this verse, Jesus is teaching his followers to love their enemies.

He wasn’t telling them that they would never be in conflict, or never get angry or frustrated with someone else - but when they did, they should still love that person and do good to them (just like David did with Saul).

● Tell the kids that loving our enemies is really hard stuff, but it’s exactly what Jesus tells us to do. Share a personal story of a time when you loved an enemy well, or a time when you could have done better.

● When something is difficult, it takes practice for us to get better at it - so today we’re going to practice loving our enemies through some scenarios.

“LOVE YOUR ENEMY” SCENARIOS● Take the 2 pages of “Love your enemy scenarios” and cut or tear them into

strips.● Split kids into groups of 2-3, and give each one a scenario to read through. Give

them a few minutes to brainstorm how they can love their enemy in that scenario. (Continued on next page.)

● Gather everyone back together, and have each group share their scenario and their ideas for showing love. Engage everyone in conversation around each scenario, and take ideas for anyone willing to share.

Extra time? Have students make up their own Love Your Enemy scenarios for each other, or choose a few scenarios for them to act out like a skit.

Tell me about David and Saul. How can we show love to our enemies?

3rd-5thNovember 11-12, 2017

Large GroupItem Usage Details

Adventure Bible1 per large group,

reusedBiblesbythe Case.com site

Connect TimeItem Usage Details Provided by

David image 10 images per room per service

8.5x11 cardstock, cut into quarter sheet, color, page 11

site

Masking/painter’s tape 1 roll per room, reused

site

Small GroupItem Usage Details Provided by

Markers 1 set per small group, reused site

“Love your enemy” scenarios (2 page set)

One 2 page set of scenarios

per small group

8.5x11 paper, b&w, Pages 12-13, *print SINGLE sided site

Adventure Bible1 per small group,

reusedBiblesbythe Case.com site

Scenario 1:

You are really excited about the new school year and want to get off to a great start! When the teacher asks questions, you always try your best to have a good answer, and you oftentimes raise your hand to share. You studied really hard for the first test and got a 98%! You are really excited about how this class is going until you hear the girl sitting behind you call you a teacher’s pet and a suck-up. She even said that you probably don’t have any friends because you spend all your time studying.

How do you love your enemy?

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Scenario 2:

You and your brother have been fighting over video games a lot lately. Neither of you wants to stop and let the other play. You’ve waited for over an hour, and your brother is still playing. When you ask him when you can play, he gets mad, throws the controller, and it breaks. Now no one can play! You are furious!

How do you love your enemy?

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Scenario 3:

You practiced all summer, and gave it your best shot - but still didn’t make your school’s soccer team. One of your friends has been telling everyone in your grade that you didn’t make the team because you are too slow and aren’t any good.

How do you love your enemy?

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Scenario 4:

You got a new iPad for your birthday and you love it! You invited some friends to spend the night - and after they left, you couldn’t find your iPad anywhere. The next week at school, one of your friends has an iPad that looks just like yours. You ask them about it and they said it was a gift - but you’re not sure if you believe them.

How do you love your enemy?

Scenario 5:

You got a new hair cut and aren’t sure if you like it very much. In Kid’s Club the next Sunday, some of the kids you don’t know very well are making fun of it. It really hurts your feelings.

How do you love your enemy?

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Scenario 6:

You really wanted a new pair of Air Jordans for Back to School, but your parents said it was too expensive. On the first day of school, you see another kid in the shoes you wanted so bad. And to make it worse, this kid used to bully you some last year.

How do you love your enemy?

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Scenario 7:

At your house, you are responsible for a few chores every week. When your mom realizes that you haven’t done them for the past month, she is extremely mad and disappointed with you. She tells you to go to your room. You don’t think it's fair that your little brother doesn’t have any chores, and you really want to yell at your mom.

How do you love your enemy?

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Scenario 8:

After basketball practice, you invite one of your teammates to come with you to Kids Club on Sunday. He laughs at you, and says that church is dumb and a waste of time.

How do you love your enemy?

1. Song slide: for when kids enter the room (All that You Need instrumental; mp3 only; can be downloaded on website)

2. Video: God’s Story: David and Saul (https://vimeo.com/208506112) 3. Slide: 1 Samuel 24:2-4a: Saul… set out to look for David and his men… He came to a cave, and

Saul went in… David and his men were far back in the cave. David’s men said, “This is the day the LORD spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.”

4. Slide: Did David a. come rushing out of the dark, surprise and kill Saul, and become the king of God’s peopleb. stay in the back of the cave because he was scared and let Saul escapec. sneak up behind Saul and cut off part of his robe

5. Slide: 1 Samuel 24:4b Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.6. Slide: 1 Samuel 26:7-8: David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there was Saul, lying

asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abishai said to David, ‘Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t strike him twice.”

7. Slide: Did David a. Let Abishai kill Saul; since David hadn’t hurt the king, it was okay. Then David became

king.b. Take Saul’s spear and water jug and leave the enemy campc. Use Saul’s spear to write him a message in the sand

8. Slide: 1 Samuel 26:9,11: David said to Abishai ‘Don’t destroy him! … let’s go.9. Slide: One thing David definitely did was

a. Take whatever he wanted b. Love his enemies c. Pray that bad things would happen to King Saul

10. Slide: Colossians 1:22-23: You were God’s enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ... As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

Slides #11 and #12 should be combined into one slide:11. Song: Reflective music loop (0:00-5:00; KC/SM media videos songs>songs>itunes)12. Slide:

a. We can move from being God’s enemies to God’s family through Jesus. Have you done that?

b. What is one way God has shown love to you recently? c. Who is someone in your life that you need to show love to?

K-2nd