Self-Control
Order
- Praise and
Worship
- Offering
(Using Self-control)
- Give kid’s one piece of candy and tell
them if they can hang onto it until after service and not eat it you’ll
give them one more. If not they just get the one.
- Bible Story
- Draw it!
Have kid’s draw the bible story
- Questions/Vinegar
and Baking Soda demonstration.
- Game: Dixie
Cup relay (water and Dixie cups needed)
- Puppets
Offering
Sermon:
(Bring
a birthday present or a seed and a fruit)
Q: Why do we give to God?
Q: How do you feel when someone gives you a birthday
gift? (Hold out gift)
Q: Why do we give birthday gifts?
Point: Just like people give us gifts because they
love us and want to honor us on our birthday so it’s like with God. Because we
are so thankful for all He’s done for us we give our gifts to Him!
Point: When we sow seed in the ground just like a
garden we will reap fruit!
Pray over offering
Story
Time!
"MINE!
It's MINE!" two-year-old Benji screamed, as he grabbed the baby doll away
from his older sister.
"Mom,
he's doing it again!" Terri cried. "He took my doll and won't give it
back."
"Why
don't you and I go to the kitchen and have a cookie," Mother suggested,
trying to calm her daughter. "By the time we are finished, Benji will have
grown tired of the doll and will be playing with something else. I'll go get it
for you when we are done."
Sure
enough, by the time Terri had finished her last crumb, her doll was lying on
the floor and Benji was busily playing with another toy.
Her mother
picked up the doll and quietly placed it in Terri's hands, as a big smile crept
across her face.
***
Isaac and
Rebekah were living happily in the land of Gerar with their twin boys, Esau and
Jacob. The Lord blessed them and their fields were producing. Isaac had many
flocks and herds as well as many maids and servants.
At first
the other men living around Isaac liked him and were friendly, but as the
famine in the land grew worse and Isaac was prospering but they weren't, they
became jealous of him.
Instead of
working hard and digging their own wells, they threw stuff in Isaac's wells to
clog them up. There was much tension in the land. So much so that King
Abimelech called for Isaac to come see him.
"Isaac,
you must leave our city," the King said to him. "You have grown very
prosperous. Since you and your family are so mighty, the people are afraid you
will take over their land and make them your slaves. Please leave so the people
will feel at ease."
Isaac
couldn't imagine how the people of the city could think such things about him.
He had no desire for their land or to make them slaves. He wanted to live
peaceably among them. In order to avoid confrontation, Isaac went home and told
Rebekah and all his household that they had to move.
Moving was
not an easy task. They had grown very wealthy and had a lot to pack. Soon the
camels and donkeys were loaded with all their belongings, and they were on
their way. Isaac had carefully chosen land in the valley of Gerar, which wasn't
too far away from the city.
When they
arrived at just the right spot, they unloaded their goods, and pitched their
tents, and made themselves a new home in a place where there was an old well
which his father Abraham had dug. To his dismay, Isaac found that the
Philistine men had thrown dirt in that well also.
Isaac and
his servants set to work busily digging out the junk and debris that had been
thrown into the well. It took several men several days of laboring in the hot
sun, to dig the well with picks and shovels. Finally, to their great joy, they
found fresh water.
Things
went well for Isaac in his new home, until the herdsmen of Gerar were in the
area with their herds. They saw Isaac's new well and decided it would be a good
place to draw water for their animals. They fought with Isaac's herdsmen.
"This is OUR well!" they shouted. "We have lived here much
longer than you, and the water is OURS!"
- Isaac didn't
want to fight, and he didn't want any of his servants or herdsmen fighting
either. He gathered them around for a talk. "The Lord has greatly
blessed us here and has promised to continue blessing us," he said.
"Those men aren't as fortunate as we are. They don't have any water
for their livestock. They need water as much as we do, and apparently they
don't know how to dig their own wells. We can give them this well, and we
can dig out another of my father's wells for us to use." So they
called the well Esek which means dispute (argue).
They
worked and worked and finally had another well ready for use, but it wasn't
long before the men of Gerar came to that well and starting
fighting for it. Isaac and his family still didn't want to
fight, so they peacefully gave another well to the herdsmen of Gerar. They
called that well Sitnah (opposition, unfriendliness)
Isaac had
another meeting with his family and servants. "It seems that we have to
move again," he told them. "The men of Gerar needed this well also,
so we have to move further away." His family and servants knew there was
no use in trying to argue with Isaac because Isaac just wouldn't argue! They
all packed up again, loaded their belongings onto the camels and
donkeys, and moved to another place.
By this
time they had quite an efficient digging crew! They got out their picks and
shovels and started working hard. In several days they had yet another well
ready for use. They had water for all their flocks and herds, and enough to
water their crops. This time the herdsmen from Gerar left them alone and didn't
fight for their water. There was finally enough for everyone to live peaceably.
Isaac called the name of that well Rehoboth, which means "room"
Questions for discussion
1. What
do other kids do when they want to pick a fight?
2. How
about your brother/sister?
3. How
do you feel when someone says that something you own is his/hers?
4. What
happened to Isaac’s servants?
5. What
did they do?
6. How
many wells did they have to dig before the herdsman of Gerar didn’t bother
them?
7. What
is the best thing to do if someone picks a fight with you?
Key concepts
Isaac’s servants had moved into a new territory.
Part of moving into new territory involved finding water for the flocks they
were caring for. As Isaac's men dug wells, the herdsman living in the new
territory argued with them and kept claiming the wells as their own.
Instead of fighting back and fighting for the wells that
were rightfully theirs, Isaac and his people just kept moving on and digging
another well, until the herdsmen of Gerar left them alone. These men exercised self-control and didn’t fight for their rights.
Isaac and his servants set a good example for all of us of what to do if
someone picks a fight with you. The best thing to do is to walk away and keep
the peace.
(Have kids demonstrate by using building blocks and
then another group messing it up and have the first group walk away by using
self control.)
Questions for discussion
Q: Have you ever said or done anything and later you
wished you hadn’t?
Q: What can happen when you say something without
using self-control first?
Q: When are you tempted to speak without thinking
first?
Illustration: Vinegar and Baking Soda explosion
Q: Just like our experiment made a mess when you
lose self-control it can cause what?
Q: When we do loose self-control and hurt someone
what do we do?
Q: When we do something wrong do you know that Jesus
already forgave us for it?
-Let’s ask God to help us have the fruit of the
Spirit self control in our lives!
Pray.
Game:
(Have two kids pretend to be a lion and the prey)
Consider the self-control of predatory animals as
they stalk their prey. Take turns pretending to be both hunter and prey.
Questions for discussion
Q: Do you think only people need to use self-control
or do animals have to as well?
Q: Can you think of any animals that might need
self-control?
Q: Would these animals ever catch anything if they
just charged in on their prey?
Q: Are your parents more likely to give you what you
ask for if you have a temper tantrum or if you ask politely?
Q: Will your friend play your game if you speak
gently and pleasantly or if you yell and whine?
Key concepts
Animals that stalk their prey need to use
self-control. Some examples include owls, cats, coyotes, and wolves. If these
animals charged their prey before waiting for an opportune time, they would
make a ruckus and the prey would have time to get away. In order to catch their
prey, these animals must very carefully sneak up on it. Even though they are
close enough to attack and they are very hungry, they must use self-control and
wait until exactly the right moment to pounce or they will have no dinner. To
be good hunters these animals need a combination of self-control and patience.
These animals can set a good example for us. Let
your children know when they are tempted to lose self-control in order to get
something they want, they need to remember the wolf/cat/coyote. Remind your
children, if they expect to receive something they need, they must use
self-control. Prior to playtime, tell your children that if they speak
politely, it is more likely that someone will play cooperatively with them.
To extend the learning time, pretend you are animals
hunting. Take turns being the hunter and the prey. Have fun sneaking up and
pouncing on each other. Then have your children role play some situations in
life where they also need to use self-control in order to accomplish a task. Close
your time with prayer.
-Pretend someone took your doll what do you do?
-Do a few scenerios where you have to use self
control.
-Mom said to wait til’ after dinner for a cookie.
DRINK RELAY: Fill small dixie cups
with water. Divide the children into teams and run a relay for the children to
run to the dixie cups and drink all the water and run back to their team for
the next player to do the same until all the children have had a chance to
play.
This is my Dinosaur!
Kaboom Kids Puppets
Wham-O, Kaboom Girl, Slinky-man
Wham-O:
Bark! Bark! Check out my new dinosaur, Kaboom girl!
Kaboom
girl: Wow! He’s pretty awesome, Wham-O!
Wham-O:
This morning he ate my dog.
Kaboom
girl: That’s terrible!!!
Wham-O:
My hot dog that is! Hee hee! Bark!!
Slinky-Man:
Whatcha got there, buddy?
Wham-O:
My new dinosaur!! He’s my best friend in the whole world!
Slinky-Man:
Yeah? Well it’s my dinosaur! Give it here!
Wham-O:
What?!! I’m gonna punch you in the face, buddy!
Kaboom
girl: Whoa! Wait a minute, Wham-O! You gotta use self-control!!
Slinky-Man:
My dinosaur!! (Takes dinosaur and runs away)
Wham-O:
Kaboom girl! He stole my dinosaur and said it was his!!
Kaboom
girl: Do you remember our scripture we’ve been learning, Wham-O? About the
fruit of the Spirit? The fruit we are learning about today is self-control. Do
you know what that means?
Wham-O:
It means I want to bite that guy in the leg!!!
Kaboom
girl: No, Wham-O, it means when people sometimes do something not nice to use
we have to stop ourselves from being mean back. Do you remember our bible story
about Isaac and the wells?
Wham-O:
I still want to bite him. But, I think you’re right, Kaboom girl. I’m going to
go tell my dad about this. (Leaves for a minute. Lots of barking and barking
then Wham-O comes back out with the dinosaur.)
Kaboom
girl: You got it back!!
Wham-O:
Sure did, my dad is pretty big and he just politely asked for it back and that
guy handed it right over.
Kaboom
girl: That’s great! Hey kids can you say your scripture with me so we remember
to use self-control? Ready? Galatians 5:22-23 But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Wham-O: I’m really glad I used self
control, Kaboom girl. Cause his leg probably wouldn’t have tasted very good.
Yuck!
Kaboom girl: Me too, Wham-O!!! Bye
kids!! Remember to use self-control.
Wham-O: Don’t bite people!! Bye!!
Most of the material on here is from a cool website I found. The puppet skit I wrote, and you're free to use. Hope your kids enjoy!
