Fools Rush In

252 Groups November 2013, Week 3

Small Group, 4-5

Fools Rush In

Bible Story: Fools Rush In (choose your friends wisely; Rehoboam listens to fools) •Proverbs 13:20; 1 Kings 12:1-15a

Bottom Line: If you want to be wise, hang out with wise people.

Memory Verse: “Choose my teaching instead of silver. Choose knowledge rather than fine gold.” Proverbs 8:10, NIrV

Life App: Wisdom—finding out what you should do and doing it.

Basic Truth: I need to make the wise choice.

GET READY

Prepare ahead of time for 4th–5th grade Small Groups this week:

Plug In: Focus the Energy (Choose one or both of these activities.)

Early Arriver

· An offering container

Five Things for Fools

· Scrap paper

· Pencils

· A long piece of mural paper; tape it to the wall in your Small Group area

· Markers

Catch On: Make the Connection (Choose as many of these activities as you like.)

* If you don’t have time to do all these activities, be sure to do activity #1. Activity #2 is particularly good for children who need to move in order to stay engaged.

The Dangers of Fools and Their Friends (application activity / review the Bible story)

· One copy of “Scripture Search” (Activity Pages) for each kid

· Bibles

Mold-A-Friend (application activity / great for active learners)

· Several pads of sticky notes

· Pencils

Hot Rock! (memory verse activity)

· Bibles

· Gold and silver rocks from Weeks 1 and 2

Prayer

· Scripture Search page from “The Dangers of Fools” activity

· Sealing wax (optional)

· Some kind of stamp, signet ring or seal to make a mark in the wax (optional)

Note: Sealing wax can be expensive. Consider purchasing one for each room and let an adult go around and help kids use it. Another alternative is using a glue gun and a crayon to make the wax dollop for your seal. You may want to experiment with your seal before using.

Additional Resources:

· Make copies on cardstock of this week’s GodTime and Parent CUE cards.

· Tell parents about our additional family resources:Studio252.tv, CUE Box, and the Parent CUE app. To find out more about these great resources, go tohttp://www.Studio252.tv/leaders.

FOR LEADERS ONLY

GOD VIEW: the connection between WISDOM and

God's character, as shown through God's big story

This month, let’s think about how:

(1) Choosing wisdom is not always easy. God’s Word is full of truth we can apply to our lives.

(2) The Bible challenges us to respond to others with wisdom even when it costs us something.

(3) Showing wisdom proves that God is at work within us.

This week, we’re discovering:

In this week’s Bible story, King Rehoboam needed to make an important decision (1 Kings 12:1-15a). He asked the elders of the kingdom for advice. Then he asked his buddies and they disagreed with the elders. The king decided to agree with his buddies, and his decision led to a split in the nation of Israel.

Our Bottom Line is: If you want to be wise, hang out with wise people. Proverbs 13:20 says, “Anyone who walks with wise people grows wise. But a companion of foolish people suffers harm.” (NIrV) The people we hang out with will always influence the decisions we make. We want to choose friends who will encourage us to be wise, not people who will push us to do foolish things.

The monthly memory verse is: “Choose my teaching instead of silver. Choose knowledge rather than fine gold.” Proverbs 8:10, NIrV Good friends will help us remember what is most important. When we’re trying to make a decision, they will point us to God’s wisdom to help us make the right choice.

Fools Rush In

Bible Story: Fools Rush In (choose your friends wisely; Rehoboam listens to fools) •Proverbs 13:20; 1 Kings 12:1-15a

Bottom Line: If you want to be wise, hang out with wise people.

Memory Verse: “Choose my teaching instead of silver. Choose knowledge rather than fine gold.” Proverbs 8:10, NIrV

Life App: Wisdom—finding out what you should do and doing it.

Basic Truth: I need to make the wise choice.

Plug In: Focus the Energy (Small Groups, 10-15 minutes)

Focus the energy on today’s Bible story in a Small Group setting with an engaging discussion question and an interactive opening activity.

Before kids arrive, pray for each regular attendee by name. Pray for those who might visit your group for the first time. Ask God to help the kids find friends who encourage them to make wise choices. Pray they will be wise friends. Thank God for the people He has given us who help us be wise.

1. Early Arriver Idea

What You Need: Offering container

What You Do:

Ask if anyone remembers what you talked about last week. What are the things they should remember when someone says bad things about them? (They should remember the things that God says are true about them. They were made by a perfect Creator. They were made for a purpose, and God will be faithful to complete His purpose in them. God loves them, and they are important to Him.) Invite kids to put their offerings into the offering container.

What You Say:

“Did anyone get a chance to practice what we learned about saying the opposite of the negative words they heard? Have you been more cautious with words when speaking or texting? How much time does it take to think before you speak?”

2. Five Things for Fools

What You Need: Scrap paper, pencils, markers, mural paper taped to wall

What You Do:

Give each kid in your group a piece of scrap paper and a pencil. Ask them to list five things that “fools” do (without listing any names or giving too-specific examples). Make them realistic. Think of the most foolish things they have seen or heard their friends or others do. When they are finished, let them take their five ideas to the wall and draw them “Wimpy Kid™” style, with stick figures doing the foolish things. Spend some time talking about the foolish things and how they might have been avoided.

What You Say:

“Great job with that mural, guys. It gives me a lot to think about—ways I don’t want to act myself! [Transition] Did you know there were fools even in the Bible? Let’s go to Large Group and learn about some of them.”

Lead your group to the Large Group area.

Catch On: Make the Connection (Small Groups, 25-30 minutes)

Make the connection of how today’s Bible story applies to real life experiences through interactive activities and discussion questions.

* 1. The Dangers of Fools and Their Friends (application activity / review the Bible story)

What You Need: “Scripture Search” (Activity Page), pencils, Bibles

What You Do:

Give a copy of the Scripture Search to each kid. Ask them to find five or six of the verses and translate them into their own words. It’s okay if their version is very close to the actual version, especially if they have an easy-to-read translation. Ask them also to be thinking about what each verse has to do with choosing your friends wisely. When they have completed their Scripture Search, let them talk about the verses they thought were the most interesting and will be most helpful for them when they are choosing friends.

What You Say:

“You all made some good translations of verses. I hope they are really helpful when you are making choices about who to be friends with. [Apply] The Bible says that a companion of fools suffers harm. It also says that when you walk with wise people, you will be wise. That doesn’t mean we need to schedule times to go for a walk with smart people. It means we should be very careful about who we choose to spend our time with. We should think about and choose our friends intentionally, rather than just hanging out with whoever is around. [Impress] If you want to be wise, hang out with wise people.” [Personalize] (Tell the kids about a friend you have chosen who is wise. Why did you choose him or her? How has he or she shown wisdom?)

2. Mold-a-Friend (application activity / great for active learners)

What You Need: Sticky notes, pencils

What You Do:

Invite kids to work in same-gender pairs to sculpt their best friend in the world. One kid will be the clay, and the other will be the sculptor. The sculptor works to put the friend into a position that shows him or her as the best friend the sculptor could ever find. Ask them to think before they begin about what kinds of things true friends do with their hands, their eyes (be careful), their ears, their feet, etc. Then give each sculptor a pad of sticky notes. Ask the sculptors to label their friends to show how they would know this person is a good friend. The clay people should stay still for the entire activity. When they are complete, have a look, and then ask the kids to reverse roles.

What You Say:

[Apply] “The best way to start choosing friends wisely is to be the best friend you can be and then look for friends who are making the same kinds of choices. What things about you would you have to change to be the best friend you could be? (Take some time for them to work on their thoughts and answers.) Remember, [Impress] if you want to be wise, hang out with wise people, and be one, too!”

3. Hot Rock! (memory verse activity)

What You Need: Gold and silver rocks from previous weeks, Bibles

What You Do:

Together, look up the memory verse and ask kids what it means. Then, play a game similar to hot potato with the gold and silver rocks. Pass both the gold and silver rocks around your group (beginning in the hands of two different students). As they pass the rock, each kid should say one word of the memory verse (but since they are passing the rocks at the same time, they will be saying their words in unison). Let them try this a couple of times, and then change it up by asking one kid to pass his rock in one direction and the other kid to pass her rock in the other, so they are going the opposite directions. If this is still doable for them, try asking them to skip one person each time as they pass the rock.

What You Say:

“Maybe we don’t think much of silver and gold. What about choosing wisdom instead of an iPod® (cell phone, etc.) or choosing God’s teaching instead of lots of money? Now it starts to make more sense to us, right? [Apply] The fact is: God’s wisdom is more important than all of these, because without wisdom all of these things can lead you to danger or harm. We don’t want to live without the wisdom of God in our lives. So, [Impress] if you want to be wise, hang out with wise people!”

Optional 5th Grade Discussion Questions

If you lead fifth graders, consider asking these discussion questions:

· How do you know if someone is wise, so you can choose that person for a friend? (You can usually tell wise people by their actions. Wise people do wise things. Foolish people do foolish things. This makes it pretty easy. Just stand back and watch.)

· What do you do if you find yourself surrounded by people who make terrible choices and sometimes even try to involve you in them? (This is very difficult; sometimes more difficult than parents might think. But talk to an adult. Tell your parent or another adult about how you are struggling with this issue. See if they have some good ideas. You can also distance yourself without being mean. Maybe, instead of cutting these people off completely, you will just choose to spend less time with them. If you find yourself thinking that maybe your parents or the people in charge of you are making unwise choices, talk to another adult you trust.)

· What should you do if you find it difficult to make friends with the wiser kids? What if they seem too busy for you? What is a way to ask them to be friends without feeling embarrassed about it? (If they really are wise, they will know that a person who chooses friends carefully is a good friend to have. If you have the courage to do it, you could tell the person you want to be friends with that you think they are the kind of person you would like to spend time with. You might be surprised to get a very positive response to this.)

Pray and Dismiss

What You Need: Sealing wax and stamp (optional), Scripture Search (from Activity 1)

What You Do:

Ask kids to use the Scripture Search they did earlier to help them to pray for a partner. Each partner should pray that the other one would be a wise friend and find wise friends. You may choose to pull a pair of kids up at a time and pray for them, or pray for your group corporately. Pray that good friendships will develop among the kids in your group and that they will encourage each other in their mutual faith. When you are finished, you may choose to seal their Scripture Search pages and stamp them with an insignia or signet ring.

What You Say:

[Apply] “The best way to choose friends wisely is to ask God to direct you in your friendships, to lead you to the best people, and to protect you from becoming friends with fools. [Impress] If you want to be wise, hang out with wise people. God will use these people to build you up and help you stay connected with Him. Don’t forget to pray that He will do this! I hope you’ll spend all week this week looking for who you think the good, wise friends might be. Let’s talk about it when we come back next week.”

Give each child a GodTime card. Pass out Parent CUE cards as adults arrive to pick up.

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