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Grow and Go - Nuer Spiritual Growth - Session #4

MATERIALS: Cut paper into strips, glue or tape, markers. Photocopy all Bible Verse Visual Aids for colouring. Photocopy Sword Play Tracks
Jigsaw puzzle.

AS KIDS ARRIVE PRIOR TO THE LESSON:

1. GAMES: (10 minutes)
Fellowship game: One person stands in the front and says one fact about themselves eg "I like Mandazi " or "I go to church" or "I have a dog' or something like "My favourite colour is blue" etc Anyone that also shares that favourite thing stand up and yells ‘That’s me, we are friends!’ This is great fun and kids love to know others are similar to them and end up making lot of new friends.

2. TEAM GAMES: (10 minutes)
Friendship chain: The group is divided into two teams boys and girls.

3. ACTIVE PRAISE CHORUS:
(10 minutes)

4. INTIMATE WORSHIP: (5 minutes)

Prayer: Heavenly Father you are faithful, you have called us into fellowship with your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Let us not be yoked together with unbelievers because we are taught that righteousness and wickedness have nothing in common. So let us walk in the light, as You are the light, so we may have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, your Son, purifies us from all sin. Amen

5. TEACHING:

Download Session #4 English Spiritual Growth Series Visual Aids

a) Review

Do you remember last Sessions' Bible Reading about Worship?

Who came to worship Jesus? (The wise men)

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." Matthew 2:1-2 DOWNLOAD Nuer Review Bible Verse colouring poster

c) Teaching the Lesson - Five Means to Spiritual Growth: Fellowship: (Friendship with other Christians)How does our friendship with other Christians help us to grow?

When we are with other Christian friends, we can pray for each other and help and encourage each other. In this way we can help each other to love Jesus and live for Him. God desires that ongoing and open fellowship exist between him and his children. When we diminish the importance of unity in the body of Christ, we risk being invaded by the enemy. God has called us to divine fellowship. That fellowship is one of the most powerful tools of witness to a lost and dying world. It takes effort to get a long and be in agreement with other brothers and sisters in Christ to be in fellowship. It is definitely a lesson in love. It takes humility, patience and endurance but we are to be eager to guard and keep this harmony and oneness into which we were called. Unity is produced by the spirit of God and it has the power to bind us together in peace. We were called to one hope and as such we have more in common with each other than not, so we should recognize this and strive to live in harmony.

Do you enjoy working jigsaw puzzles? Jigsaw puzzles can be a lot of fun. (Open the box to reveal the pieces of the puzzle.) Wow! Look at all the pieces of this puzzle. The pieces of this puzzle are in many different sizes, shapes, colors. If you look at one piece of this puzzle, you don't get very much of the picture, do you? No, the pieces are not very important by themselves, but when they are all joined together and become one, they show the total picture.This jigsaw puzzle can teach us an important lesson about the church. The church is made up of many individual members. Like the pieces of this puzzle, the members of a church come in different sizes, shapes, and colors. Jesus himself prayed that the church would be one so that the world would see God's love in us. You and I are part of the picture. Jesus wants us to love one another, help one another, and serve one another. When we do that, we become one, just as Jesus prayed we would be, and when we are one, the world can see God's love in us.Unfortunately, just as it is sometimes difficult to put all of the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle together, the individual members of the church sometimes have a hard time being one with each other. We may hear people in the church saying things like "I don't like the songs we sing" or "The preacher preaches too long." When we say things like that and concentrate on our own likes and dislikes, we are no longer being one. We are like the individual pieces of the puzzle. The world cannot see God's love in us. They don't get the whole picture.If you ever find yourself thinking about yourself, rather than being united with others in the church, remember that Jesus prayed that we would be one. When we are one, bound together by Christ's love, the world will see God's love through us.

Extracts from http://www.sermons4kids.com/we_are_one.htm

6. APPLICATION/ENCOUNTERING GOD:

Encourage the children to come forward read 1 Thessalonians 5:11a "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up." This verse commands Christians to continue to encourage and lift up fellow followers of Jesus, spend some time speaking words of encouragement to each other.

10 Ways to Encourage Others in Christ

1.   Share your excitement in the Lord with others.

Simply share with others the ways you see God working in your heart, ways he has answered your prayers or has been providing for your needs.  

2.   Thank others who encourage you with their excitement in the Lord.

In thanking others for encouraging you, you're actually encouraging them to continue encouraging others.  This creates a cycle of encouragement.

3.   Tell stories of what God has recently done for you.

We believe in a God who is sovereign over all things, so it's good to recognize some of the infinite ways he is working in our lives and then boast in him.

4.   Share with others what God has been showing you in his Word.

I have a friend who always seems to have something to share from his daily devotional reading. His example makes me want to read the Word more carefully and be more expectant of God opening his Word to me in new ways.  

5.   Point out ways you see others growing in the Lord.

Recognizing and sharing ways you see others growing in their walk with God helps them notice things they themselves may have taken for granted.

6.   Thank others for specific ways their actions have pointed you to Christ.

Many of us have people in our lives who help us feel closer to Jesus after having spent time with them. Some of them do this without even realizing that God is using them this way. Encourage them by sharing the ways you see them doing this. 

7.   Acknowledge that God has given the giftedness you see in others.

The Bible is clear that we are all given gifts meant for building up the body of Christ. Taking the time to recognize those gifts in others makes them want to use them more.

8.   If someone is hurting, take the time to pray with them right then and there.

Taking the extra minute or two to pray for someone in the moment (rather than telling them as you walk away that you will pray for them) is always an encouragement. Pray for them in the moment when you're able.  

9.   Share your own struggles and how they have grown your dependence on God.

Most people value transparency. Being transparent with our weaknesses gives us the perfect opportunity to boast in God's strength.

10.  Help others see how God's Word speaks into their current situation.

Pointing others to the relevance of God's Word encourages them to continue to seek God's wisdom and direction in the future.

These are just a few of the many ways we can be encouraging other believers. The more we practice these forms of encouragement (and others), the more natural this will become for us, and the more we'll be able to strengthen our brothers and sisters.

Extracts from 10 Ways to Encourage Others in Christ - Small Town Summits

CLOSING PRAYER: Today, I pray that you make every effort to live in unity with other believers. May the spirit of God grant you the love and patience required to live in singleness of mind so that the power of God will be evident in your lives and through it bring glory to you Father.

ENGLISH TAKE HOME BIBLE VERSE:

Print the Take Home Bible Verse one for each child. DOWNLOAD English Take Home Bible Verse Visual Aid

NUER TAKE HOME BIBLE VERSE: DOWNLOAD Nuer Take Home Bible Verse Visual Aid

NEXT WEEK:
We will learn how to witness to our friends using the Gospel Presentation and other excellent evangelical tools and visual aids to assist with sharing your Faith.

CLICK to view English Spiritual Growth Session #5

CLICK to view Nuer Spiritual Growth Session #5

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