"Blessed Are The Persecuted”

Big Idea

Follow God, not the crowd.

Schedule

1. Small Groups: Cool kids activity (5 min)

2. Big Group: Lesson (20 min)

3. Verse Activity: Ice cube activity (5 min)

3. Small Groups: Index card activity (10-15 min)

Materials Needed

1. Plate   2. Ice cube   3. Small strips of paper (a dozen or so)   4. Bowl   5. Index-card-sized pieces of paper (two colors, about a dozen of each) 6. Pair of dice

Before Big Group

1. Explain the following, writing the big idea below on the chalk/wipe board:

    The big idea for today is "Follow God, not the crowd." We'll find out more about what this means in big group time.

2. Place the ice cube on the plate and set it on the table. Set the bowl beside it. Explain the following:

    The reason is we have an ice cube on the table today is because we're talking about being cool. At school, we all know who the cool kids are.

    Let's name some things cool kids do. What do they wear? Where to they go? What do they watch and listen to? What do they say?

    Select a child to be a recorder. As the children offer up answers to the previous questions, have him/her write each one down on a separate strip of paper. Have another child fold each of these strips and place it in the bowl. Bring this bowl with you to big group time.        

After Big Group

1. Explain the following:

    Our big idea for today is "Follow God, not the crowd." We always need to obey what God says in the Bible, even when we get made fun of for doing it.

2. Roll the pair of dice. Starting with the child on your left and going around each member of the group clockwise, count to the number you rolled.

    Have the child you ended on describe something that cool kids do that disobeys what God says. Write this answer on one of the colored index-card-sized pieces of paper.

    Have the child roll the dice, and count the number rolled until you land on the next child. Have him/her name something a God follower could do when the cool kids act the way the previous child describe. Write this answer on an index-card-sized piece of paper of the opposite color.

    Have this child roll the dice and repeat the whole process, until you've created around 10 cards of each color or exhausted the children's ideas.

3. Take the cards you created and lay them all face up on the table, grouping them by color. Have one child close his/her eyes and blindly point to one card on the table. Read this card out loud, and then, as a group, figure out which card of the other color matches it. Remove these two cards from the table and repeat the process with another child.

4. Hand each child a journal page. Have them fill it out, writing down the big idea “Follow God, not the crowd” and how they can use it in their life (Examples: I won't join in when people tease someone.) Place the page in their journal binder.