So You Think You Can Use Your Time Wisely

252 Groups October 11, 2017, Wednesday

Small Group 3–5

So You Think You Can Use Your Time Wisely

Bible Story: So You Think You Can Use Your Time Wisely (Teach us to number our days) • Psalm 90:12, NIV

Bottom Line: Use your time wisely.

Key Question: How can you best use your time?

Memory Verse: “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much.” Luke 16:10a, NIV

Life App: Stewardship—taking care of what you have because it all belongs to God.

Basic Truth: I need to make the wise choice.

GET READY

Social: Providing Time for Fun Interaction

Get Your Head in the Game

Made to Play: an activity that encourages learning through following guidelines and working as a group

· Deck of cards; one for every 5 students

· Timer (optional)

Groups: Creating a Safe Place to Connect

1. Bible Story Extension

[Live for God | Application Activity]

Made to Imagine: an activity that promotes empathy and facilitates biblical application through role-play andreenactment

· Bible

· Index cards with lines (blank on one side)

· Pencils

· Any book with a blurb about the author on book jacket or back page

2. Discussion Questions

[Live for God | Application Activity]

Made to Connect: an activity that invites kids to share with others and build on their understanding

· No supplies needed

3. Making it Personal with Prayer

[Pray to God | Prayer Activity]

Made to Reflect: an activity that creates space for personal understanding and application

Social: Providing Time for Fun Interaction (Small Groups, 15 minutes)

Welcome kids and spend time engaging in conversation and catching up. Get ready to experience today’s story.

Get Your Head in the Game

Made to Play: an activity that encourages learning through following guidelines and working as a group

What You Need: Decks of cards (one deck for every 5 students), timer (optional)

What You Do:

· Ask everyone to get in a group of 5 or less and sit in a circle or around a table.

· Tell them to divide the deck of cards equally between the players.

o Everyone holds his/her own cards in a pile, facedown.

· Explain that you’ll play a game by going around the table clockwise with each player placing the top card of their pile face up in the center of the table or floor, making a face-up pile.

o When someone plays a jack, the first player to slap it (i.e., put their hand down on top of the center pile) wins the pile and adds those cards face down in the bottom of his or her own pile.

o Play continues, starting with the player to the left of the player who won the cards.

o Tell kids that when they are playing a card, they cannot peek at it in advance; they must turn it over so that everyone sees it at once.

o It is best if the card is moved to the center of the table face down and then turned "away from" the player (so that, if anything, the others will see it a split second before the player who plays the card).

o If several people slap the pile, the person whose hand is underneath (i.e. in contact with the card) is the winner of all the cards.

Note: A referee might be needed if your students are very competitive about this!

· Explain that if a player slaps a card that is not a jack, the player who slapped has to give the top card of his or her own pile face down to the person who played the card that they wrongly slapped. That person adds it to the bottom of his or her own pile.

· Tell them that when they run out of cards, they no longer play a card when it is their turn, obviously. But they are still entitled to take part in the slapping of the next jack, and if they win, they are back in the game because they have cards again. If someone else wins or if you slap a card that is not a jack, you are officially out of the game.

· Say that when one player has all the cards, that player wins.

Pro Tip: If you wish, you can play with a time limit, and if no one collects all the cards before then, the person holding most cards when time is up is the winner.

Wrap Up and Say:

“Quickly pick out the card that best represents you today—maybe your mood, your energy level or something else. Hold it up to your forehead and turn to someone next to you. Explain why you choose that card. (Give them time to do this and then get their help getting the cards put away.) These cards are full of numbers. We had a time limit in case someone didn’t win all the cards. Life kind of has a time limit, too—we don’t know how much time we’ll have. Let’s head to Large Group and hear what God has to say about our time.”

Groups: Creating a Safe Place to Connect (Small Groups, 25 minutes)

Create a safe place to connect and learn how the Bible story applies to real life experiences, through interactive activities and discussion questions.

1. Bible Story Extension

[Live for God | Application Activity]

Made to Imagine: an activity that promotes empathy and facilitates biblical application through role-play andreenactment

What You Need: Bible, index cards with lines (blank on one side), pencils, book with a blurb about an author

What You Do:

· Remind kids of today’s Bible passage, Psalm 90:12. Ask someone to open a Bible and read the verse aloud.

· Challenge them to figure out how many days they’ve been alive.

· Pass out the index cards and pencils—they can use the blank side to do some math and figuring. Note: They will need the lined side for something else.

o For those who figure it out quickly, ask them to try to figure out how many minutes they’ve been alive or how even many seconds. (It doesn’t matter if they are correct—it’s just supposed to get them thinking about the size of the number.)

· Show them the book jacket, quickly reading some of what is said about the author.

· Ask them to use the lined side of their index card to write or list what they want to be said about them someday—what will be their accomplishments?

· Give them a few minutes to do this.

· See if anyone would like to read his or her paragraph or list to the group.

· Finish by asking: how could thinking ahead to what you want to be known for help you spend your time wisely now?

2. Discussion Questions

[Talk about God | Bible Story Review]

Made to Connect: an activity that invites kids to share with others and build on their understanding

What You Need: No supplies needed

What You Do:

· What kinds of things can we do with our time that would show God we love Him?

· What kinds of things can we do with our time that would show God we love this earth?

· What kinds of things can we do with our time that would show God we love the people in it?

· Who is someone you know who spends their time carefully—they have a plan and goals?

· Who is someone you know (don’t name names) who doesn’t seem to have a plan or purpose so they seem to waste a lot of time? How can you use them as a cautionary tale and not be like them?

3. Making it Personal with Prayer

[Pray to God | Prayer Activity]

Made to Reflect: an activity that creates space for personal understanding and application

What You Do:

· Instruct them to close their eyes so you can pray and send them out.

Dear Jesus, teach us to number our days. We want to be careful in how we live. We want to be wise and not foolish. We want years from now to be proud of how we’ve loved You and others. Help us to remember not to take each day we have on this earth for granted. We love You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

If you change the content of this document, please add to the copyright: Adapted by (Sanctuary Kids/August 2017).