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7th week of our Journey - Making Friends

This week’s destination: REACHING OUT
• Developing a conversation to make friends with people they know and don’t know. This will enable the children to can share the Gospel with them.

MATERIALS:
Games: Ball
Teaching: Print Visual Aids and Music Song Sheets from Visual Aid Manual. Print Photocopy Sword Play Tracks. Print: Gospel Squiggles Caterpillar. Print The Bridge Visual aid. Photocopy One Door Dollar Bill, Lak-A-Word Booklet crayons. Photocopy ‘Gospel Squiggles Caterpillar’ Print Military Cadence.

‘Mystery Clue’ Witnessing Tool:
• Lak-A-Word Booklet (for younger children)
• One door dollar bill (for older children)

AS KIDS ARRIVE PRIOR TO THE LESSON:
Welcome Teacher/Trainers, Trainers and students.
As the children arrive give them the Lak-A-Word Booklet, scissors, crayons. Get them to start colouring. One child colour Gospel Squiggles Visual Aid.

1. OPENING GAME: (10 minutes)
Circle of Friends Material: A ball or a world globe beach ball,
Activity: The Trainers and children stand in a circle. The leader throws the ball the child that catches the ball shouts our their name. They throws the ball to someone else and they shout out their name. This is repeated until all children and Trainers have shouted their names.
Round two: Repeat the process this time shouting out your age.
Round three: This time shout our your school or church
Round four: Repeat the process this time make up a funny word
Round five:Tthis time making a funny face.

2. TEAM GAMES: (10 minutes)
Divide the group into two teams, boys and girls, the children have to take turns trying to ‘catch’ fish from the other team.

3. ACTIVE PRAISE CHORUS: (10 minutes)
Lord I lift your name on high (See lyrics in Music Options section)
We are the Gospel Frizzles (See song sheet. Make ‘Gospel Squiggles Caterpillar’ or finger puppets as visual aids)

4. INTIMATE WORSHIP: (5 minutes)
What a friend we have in Jesus (See music song sheet)

Prayer: Dear Jesus, you have given us our mission, may each of us be willing to accept our mission and tell others about your love and forgiveness. Amen.

5. TEACHING:
a) “Back Track”
• Have you polished your Diamond stories? (Get volunteers to come to the front of the room and demonstrate each of the 6 Diamond stories)
• Review Romans 6:23 The Bridge. (Get children to come up and demonstrate the Bridge)

b) Sword Play (Wave the Power Sword)
Ready…Swords up… Revelation 1:16… CHARGE!
In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. (Revelation 1:16a) (Give out the Sword Play Tracks one for each child, junior and senior)

c) Teaching the lesson

This week we are ‘Making Friends’. In our game ‘Circle of friends’ we get to know people by asking lots of questions. When we threw the ball we were asking their name, their age, where they went to school or to church. We were making friends in a FUN way!

Now this week, we will learn how to ask questions in order to build relationships with others.

To begin a conversation we usually ask a question, or we may make a comment. Can you think of anything you might say to begin a conversation with your classmate at school? (How did you do in the test?)

How about with your neighbor. (How are your mum and dad keeping?)

How about with your relative? (Where are you going for Thanksgiving/Holiday?)

People usually like it when you ask them their opinion; for example:
What kind of games do you like to play?
What do you think about the West Indies Cricket Team?
There are questions we can ask to get the conversation onto a Spiritual level.
Do you ever think about Heaven? Tell me about it.

We want to avoid questions such as:
Are you a Christian?
Are you saved?

These questions are ‘church talk’ as Christians we get so accustomed to certain phrases that people in the world may not understand them like ‘Are you covered by the blood of the Lamb?’ Because we have grown up in the church we know exactly what this means but someone in the world may think we want to cover them with lamb’s blood! This may not be very appealing! So we try to avoid using ‘church talk’ that is confusing to an unbeliever.

Optional: Plan “Fishing Trips” – ‘On-the-Journey Training’ (OJT) Learn it, use it or loose it!
Its simple…identify opportunities to have safe and successful Fishing Trips (On the Job Training) Enabling children to share the Gospel in Sunday school classes for younger children, schools, orphanages, other churches, Bible clubs, and other children’s events using the ‘Mystery Clue’ Witnessing Tool: The Power Swore, Treasure Map, The 6 Diamonds, Wiggling Fingers, The Bridge, Lak-A-Word Booklet, Dollar Bill, etc

Do you like to go fishing? If someone were to ask me that question, I guess I would have to say, "No." I like to catch fish, but I don't enjoy fishing unless I am catching fish.

One day Jesus was standing by the sea of Galilee. A large crowd of people started to gather around him. He saw some fishermen nearby who were cleaning and mending their nets so he climbed into one of their boats. He asked one of the men whose name was Peter, to put the boat out a little way from the shore. Jesus sat in the boat teaching the people.

When he had finished teaching, Jesus said to Peter, "Put the boat further out into the deep water and let down your nets to catch some fish."
"We've been fishing all night long and haven't caught a thing, but if you say so, we will let down the nets one more time," Peter answered.

An amazing thing happened! When they started pulling the nets up, there were so many fish that the nets began to break. As they pulled the fish into the boat, there were so many fish that the boat was beginning to sink. When Peter and his fellow fishermen saw this, they were astonished and even a bit frightened.
Jesus said, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will fish for people."

The Bible tells us that they pulled their boats up onto the shore, left everything, and followed Jesus. From that day on, Peter and his friends fished for people and brought many into God's kingdom.

Jesus wants you and me to fish for people too. If we will be faithful in telling people about Jesus and his love, we can trust Jesus to bring in the catch!

This week we have taught you how to get into a Spiritual conversation with someone you may not know.

The ‘Mystery Clue’ Witnessing Tools will be a bridge that will help start a conversation with a stranger.

• One door dollar (For mature students) (Gently fold the bill in half and half again, open it and cut a door from the centre to the third fold just below I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK down through the middle of the Jesus ’Light of the world’ circle back to just below Jesus’ beard at the centre fold, just above www.gospelmagic.com)

(Holding the door shut and the bill folded in half ask someone) - "Have you ever seen one of these?" (Most children will say it’s a US $) Well let’s look more careful at what this is one. (Show them the dollar holding the door shut) Whose picture is this? (Most will say Jesus or God) Yes, it’s Jesus, what does this say at the bottom? (Many will say One Dollar) Take a close look, yes it says ONE DOOR.

So I have put a door in it,(stick your finger through the door to pop the door open outwardly) now let’s see what is on the other side, it says LIFE. This is talking about eternal life about how God wants us to be with Him in Heaven some day. Do you ever think about Heaven? Well this illustration will help us to understand how we can be with God in Heaven some day.

There is a Scripture in the Bible Jesus says ‘I stand at the door and knock and if anyone heard my voice and open the door I will come in.’ Is that talking about a real door… NO it’s talking about the door to our heart. Jesus is standing on the outside of the door and wanting to come in.

But the person on the inside has to open the door. Jesus is a gentleman He will not come in uninvited or kick the door down. So in this illustration this dollar bill represents a house and I need you to reach out and take hold of Jesus (open the door) and hold on very tightly. (Release the dollar and place your hands above the dollar bill to represent the roof of the house) Jesus is on the outside of the house but for me to receive eternal life He has to come inside the house or inside my heart. (Fold both outside edges inward, fold the top down and the bottom up, ensure the person keeps holding the door. Fold what remains from left to right and start to unfold from left to right, fold up the top and down the bottom then open the left flap and the door is then on the inside!)

(While folding and unfolding say…) When I asked Jesus to come into my life as my personal Lord and Saviour He came in and changed me from the inside out and now Jesus lives on the inside of my heart and I am a new creation. He has forgiven me of my sins and I am born again… share your personal testimony. The wages of sin is death but the God’s gift is eternal LIFE THROUGH Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23)

Optional: Rev. 3:20 Military Cadence. (See Visual Aid Manual)

• Lak-A- Word Book (For younger students)
  (These will have been photocopied, cut and folded prior to the lesson so at the start the students can colour them)
  Take a look at my’ Lak-A‘ Book (turn a page) That’s pretty boring!! (turn the page right back so only the orange coloured page is viewed) Heaven is a free gift…(turn the page right back so only the black/brown dark page is viewed) Share about SIN…(turn the page right back so only the white page is viewed) There must be a different way……(turn the page right back so only the red page is viewed) Share the Jesus section of the Gospel Plan. …(turn the page right back so only the blue page is viewed) How do we receive this free gift? BY FAITH. …(turn the page right back so only the green page is viewed) Now it’s time to GROW and GO! Share about Spiritual Growth.

6. APPLICATION/ENCOUNTERING GOD: Refer to our Encountering God Handbook for ideas for this important section of the session. Experience the Holy Spirit Learning Centers creating an atmosphere.

CLOSING PRAYER:
• Pray for opportunities for the children to share their testimony
• For courage to share their faith using their ‘Mystery Clue’ Witnessing Tool:

TAKE HOME PAGE: Optional: ‘Take Home Quiz’ books are available for the children at the end of this session.
Sword Play Scripture Track.

NEXT WEEK: The children will learn how to share their testimony. Encourage the children to store all their ‘Mystery Clue’ Witnessing Tools in their Treasure Chest and bring it back next week for more treats!

CLICK to view Session #8.