Tag Archives: acceptance

March 9, 2011 · 1:01 am

Weakness (DEVOTION)


As a group, read the following Scriptures, and then discuss the questions below.

  • Psalm 10:2 (the wicked man hunts down the weak)
  • Psalm 41:1-3 (blessed are those who have regard for the weak)
  • Isaiah 40:29-31 (He increases the power of the weak)
  • Ezekiel 34:16 (I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak)
  • Acts 20:35 (we must help the weak)
  • Romans 8:26 (the Spirit helps us in our weakness)
  • Romans 14:1-4 (accept the one whose faith is weak)
  • Romans 15:1 (bear with the failings of the weak)
  • 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (God chose the weak things to shame the strong)
  • 1 Corinthians 9:22-23 (to the weak, I became weak)
  • 1 Corinthians 12:21-26 (the weaker parts of the body are indispensable)
  • 2 Corinthians 11:30 (I will boast of the things that show my weakness)
  • 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (for when I am weak, then I am strong)
  • Hebrews 5:1-3 (the high priest is subject to weakness)
  1. How does God feel about weakness?
  2. How is this different from how the world often feels about and acts toward weakness?
  3. How are we called to respond to weakness?
  4. How do these Scriptures relate to the weaknesses people have in regard to the work that they do and the relationships that they are in?
  5. Do you think God wants us to fix our weaknesses?  Why or why not?

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Filed under acceptance, Agape Love, Bullying, Challenges, Devotion, Humility, Kindness, Love, Relationships, self-image, Self-worth, spiritual disciplines, Spiritual Growth, Spiritual Health, Strengths, struggles, temptation, Weakness

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December 1, 2008 · 3:51 pm

Ugly Fruit


rambutan

Time

10 minutes

Description

This object lesson helps children understand that it’s not the outside that is most important; it’s the inside. God looks at their heart and sees the best in them.

Materials

  • Several uncut fruits that are ugly on the outside. (Some fruits that would work would be: ugli fruit, rambuttan, dragon fruit, passion fruit, jackfruit, durian.)
  • Several of the same fruits cut for you to taste
  • Enough pieces of the cut fruits for all the kids to have a piece
  • If you can’t find a fruit ugly enough, feel free to use the slide show I prepared for this lesson. (It’s on the Lesson and Material Downloads page.) It has my daughter trying a piece of rambuttan, a fruit common in south and southeast Asia. (It’s quite tasty and makes a nice piece of perishable jewelry, as you’ll see in the slideshow.)

Preparation

  • Cut up fruit – have pieces available for you and pieces available for all the kids.
  • Practice script.

Procedure

Use the following script (or modify to suit your needs):

  • (Hold up one of the ugly fruits and say…) ”Anyone interested in eating something like this?”
  • “Looks pretty nasty, doesn’t it?”
  • “Okay, so it’s not the prettiest fruit out there, but have you ever tasted it?” (Eat a piece.)
  • “Mmmmmm…. That’s really sweet!”
  • “I bet some of you would like a piece, huh?” (Have someone pass out fruit pieces.)
  • “Now, how can something that’s so good on the inside be so ugly on the outside?”
  • “I think there is a lesson for us here.”
  • “Just because something – or someone – isn’t beautiful on the outside doesn’t mean they can’t be wonderful on the inside.”
  • “It’s hard to see inside someone, isn’t it?”
  • “But you know who can always see the wonderful things inside us?” (Listen for responses.)
  • “Right, Jesus!”
  • “He sees the best in you!”
  • “So even if some people have told you that you are an ‘ugly fruit,’ remember that Jesus can always see what’s good inside of you!”
  • “It’s ‘Rhyme Time! Here’s our rhyme for today’s lesson:” (Post this on a poster or project it using an overhead or LCD projector, and have the kids repeat it after you several times to reinforce the lesson.)

He loves me like I am today

And sees what others cannot see.

While others only see my faults,

Jesus sees the best in me!

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Filed under acceptance, Christianity, Object Lesson, Value

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November 19, 2008 · 4:19 pm

That’s Not Fair!


Time

10 minutes


Description

This object lesson helps kids to understand that unfair things happen to all of us. We can’t always change that, but we can change how we respond to what happens to us. If we look for the positive aspects, we might find that God has really blessed us through what originally looked unfair.

Materials

· “Magic Coloring Book & Crayons” from www.stevespanglerscience.com (about $15)

Preparation

· Practice the trick. You’ll need to be very smooth with your hand movements in order to fool the kids.

· Practice the script.

Procedure

Use the following script (or modify to suit your needs):

· “I have a magic trick to show you today, and I’m going to need a volunteer.” (Select volunteer to join you up front.)

· “I went to the store the other day and bought a new coloring book, but when I got home, I found that all the pages were blank!” (Help child flip through the pages while you hold the bottom corner of the spine. Make sure that the child stands to the side so that the audience can see the blank pages.)

· “That’s so unfair! I used my whole allowance on this!”

· “But then I realized that I had the coolest coloring book in the world!”

· “I mean, other kids have coloring books with pictures already in them.”

· “All they can do is color them. I had page after page of blank paper, and I could draw anything I wanted.”

· “So I drew pictures on every page.” (Help child flip through the pages while you hold the top corner of the spine. Black and white illustrations will appear.)

· “When I got done, I was really tired. So I put my cool coloring book under my pillow and I went to bed.”

· “In the morning, I got up, pulled out my cool coloring book, and flipped through the pictures.”

· “I was very surprised to see that I had colored in all the pages in my dreams!” (Help child flip through the pages while you hold the middle part of the spine. Colored pages will appear.)

· “At first, I thought this was really, really cool! But then I realized that there was nothing left to do with the book.”

· “I decided that I would try to un-color the book in my dreams.”

· “So I put it back under my pillow that night before I went to bed.”

· “When I got up the next morning, I was surprised to see that I had gone too far.”

· “Not only did I un-color the pages, but I un-drew them, too!” (Help child flip through the pages while you hold the bottom corner of the spine again.)

· “That may sound bad to you, but I thought it was really cool, because other kids have coloring books with pictures already in them. But I have a coloring book in which I can draw anything I want!” (Thank child and dismiss.)

· “Sometimes unfair things happen to us.”

· “We don’t get what we deserve. Someone gets more than us, or we get something bad that we didn’t deserve.”

· “Those things happen, but if we keep trusting God, He will bring good things out of bad. (Romans 8:28)”

· “We might even be surprised to find out that something that looked unfair at first really turned out to be a blessing in disguise!”

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Filed under Challenges, Christianity, Coping skills, fairness, illusion, Magic, Object Lesson, struggles, test, tool

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September 22, 2008 · 5:26 am

Where You Focus



Time

15 minutes


Description

This object lesson helps children (and adults) understand that sometimes we don’t give people a fair chance and that it’s important to look at the good things about people, too.

Materials

PowerPoint file, “Where You Focus.ppt,.” a projector and a screen or blank wall.  (This PowerPoint is available on the “Downloads” page.”

Preparation

Set up projector and load file.

Procedure

Use the following script (or modify to suit your needs):

· “I’m going to show you a magic trick.”

· “On the next slide, there will be 8 cards.” (Show slide 2.)

· “I want you to pick one and memorize it… Have you memorized it?” (Show slide 3).

· “O.K., on the next slide your card is going to be turned face down.”

· “Was I right?” (Show slide 4.)

· “Pretty impressive, huh? Want to do it again?” (Show slide 5.)

· “OK, same thing – pick a card on the next slide and memorize it.” (Show slide 6.)

· “Got it?” (Show slide 7.)

· “On the next slide, it will be turned upside down.” (Show slide 8.)

· “I did it again, didn’t I?” (Show slide 9.)

· “Now a magician’s not supposed to reveal his secrets, but I think I’ll make an exception this time.”

· “How many of you want to know how I did that?”

· “Ok, watch this!” (Show slide 10, and ask one child to pick a card and tell you what it is. Flip to slide 11.)

· “Do you see it? Nope, not there – maybe it’s the upside down one.”

· “Let’s try again.” (Flip back to slide 10.)

· “Pick a different card this time, and tell me what it is.” (Show slide 10.)

· “Not there. Hmmm… We can’t have two cards turned down.”

· “Can anyone figure out how I did it?”

· “Right! None of the cards are the same.”

· “I know, it’s a dirty trick, but I showed it to you to make an important point.”

· “When you focus on just one thing, you usually miss everything around it.”

· “Sometimes, we do this with people. We focus on just one part about them and miss all the other stuff.” (For an example, pick on an adult or yourself.


· “If I focus on ______’s big nose, I might miss that he’s really funny.”

· “Or, if I focus on his ______, I might miss that he’s really smart.”

· “Does this ever happen to you?”

· “Do people notice just one thing and miss the rest?”

· “That hurts sometimes, doesn’t it?”

· “And it doesn’t feel very fair.”

· “You’ve got so many wonderful things about you.”

· “Well, God never sees just one thing about you!”

· “He always sees all the wonderful things.”

· “He sees the best in you and loves you just like you are.”

· “Can we make an agreement?”

· “Touch your neighbor and say, ‘I’m not going to focus on the bad stuff.’”

· “Touch your other neighbor and say, ‘I’m going to focus on the good stuff.’”

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Filed under Agape Love, Christianity, Focus, illusion, Kindness, Love, Magic, Object Lesson, Relationships

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