252 GroupsOctober 2017, Week 5

Small Group, K-1

Real Treasures of Heaven

Bible Story:Real Treasures of Heaven (Treasures in heaven)•Matthew 6:19-24

Bottom Line:Live like you know what really matters.

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 can trust God no matter what.

GET READY

Prepare ahead of time for kindergarten–1stgrade Small Groups this week:

Social: Providing Time for Fun Interaction(Choose one or both of these activities.)

Early Arriver

Made to Move:an activity that increases the oxygen in the brain and taps into the energy in the body

  • An offering container

Thief!

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

  • A quarter

Groups: Creating a Safe Place to Connect(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 #2.

1. Two Masters

[Talk about God | Bible Story Review| Application Activity]

Made to Explore: an activity that extends learning through hands on experimentation and discovery

  • Bible
  • 2 large beach balls of the same size (balloons can be substituted if they are VERY large)
  • Write (or use masking tape and write on it) “God” on one ball and “Your Stuff” on the other ball.

* 2. What’s Missing?

[Live for God | Application Activity]

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

  • Bible
  • Reuse (or reprint) the “Stuff Cards” Activity Pages from Week 3
  • Hula-hoop

3. Money Hop

[Hear from God | Memory Verse Activity]

Made to Move:an activity that increases the oxygen in the brain and taps into the energy in the body

  • Bible
  • Pennies; 1 for each kid
  • Quarters; 1 for each kid
  • Note: Kids will be keeping these coins after the activity.

Prayer

[Pray to God | Prayer Activity]

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

  • Hula-hoop

Additional Resources:

  • Make copies on cardstock or email this week’s GodTime and Parent Cue cards.
  • Tell parents about our additional family resources:Studio252.tv, CUE Box, and the Parent Cue app.

Real Treasures of Heaven

Bible Story:Real Treasures of Heaven (Treasures in heaven)•Matthew 6:19-24

Bottom Line:Live like you know what really matters.

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 can trust God no matter what.

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.

Before kids arrive, spend a few minutes praying that God would help make the abstract concept of treasures in heaven very real and concrete for your few. Pray that you would be able to facilitate an environment in which kids learn how to make wise choices with their time, money, and talents. Pray that kids would leave today with some tangible ways to live like they know what really matters.

1. Early Arriver Idea

Made to Move:an activity that increases the oxygen in the brain and taps into the energy in the body

What You Need:Offering container

What You Do:

  • Invite kids to put their offerings in the container.
  • Name an item from the list below and let kids share how they would feel if they no longer had that item.
  • They can indicate their answers by standing if they would be very upset and sitting if they would not be upset at all.
  • If their answer is somewhere in between they can scrunch down to whatever height expresses their answer.
  • Items:
  • Pet
  • TV
  • Candy
  • School books
  • Your piggy bank and all your money
  • Computer
  • Toothbrush
  • Crayons and markers
  • 1 sock
  • Your favorite toy
  • Broccoli
  • The shoes you’re wearing right now

2. Thief!

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

What You Need:Quarter

What You Do:

  • Choose one kid to sit a few feet away from the group with his back turned and eyes closed.
  • Then place the coin behind that kid.
  • Point to someone in the group to silently sneakup and steal the coin and then return to where he was seated.
  • Instruct all the kids to pretend they are holding the coin.
  • Signal the child in front to turn around and take two guesses to name the “thief.”
  • Repeat, letting each kid take a turn guessing or being the thief.

What You Say:

“Taking the coin was part of our game, but real stealing is always wrong. If you’ve ever had something of yours lost, broken, or even stolen, you know how sad it makes you feel. Did you know that there are some things that can never break, get lost, or stolen? It’s true![Transition] Let’s go to Large Group and you’ll find out what I mean.”

Lead your group to the Large Group area.

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

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

1. Two Masters

[Talk about God | Bible Story Review| Application Activity]

Made to Explore: an activity that extends learning through hands on experimentation and discovery

What You Need: Bible,2beach balls

What You Do:

  • Give each of the kids a turn at pickingup both beach balls at the same time and carrying them across the room.It’s essentially an impossible task, but let them give it their best try.
  • Read Matthew 6:24 andtalk to the children about the meaning of the verse.
  • Point out that God says it’s impossible for money to be our favorite thing and Him too.
  • Like the beach balls, we can only hold onto one at a time.
  • [Make It Personal] Kids’ treasures look different than those of an adult, but the choice to love God or our stuff is still the same. Tell the kids what you do to make sure you’re living like you know what matters. How do you put God first in ways that they can too?
  • Then ask kids how they can put God first too. (By making sure they do their GodTimes and read new stories in the Bible, by using the stuff they have to help others and show kindness to them, by forgiving friends and siblings when they break or lose something of ours.)

What You Say:

“God has given each of us so much, and it’s okay to enjoy all the great stuff you have. But when you begin to love your stuff more than you love God, it’s like trying to hold onto two beach balls at the same time. You will have to choose one or the other. God wants to be the one you pick. He wants you to remember that everythingyou have belongs to Him. Thank Him for givingso much to you.[Bottom Line]Live like you know what really matters.One of the ways to do that is by making God your NUMBER ONE andloving HimFIRSTand MOST.Appreciate and take care of the stuff God’s given you, but LOVE Him more than all those things.”

* 2. What’s Missing?

[Live for God | Application Activity]

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

What You Need:Bible,hula-hoop, “Stuff Cards” Activity Pages

What You Do:

  • Set the hula-hoop on the floor and have kids gather around.
  • Place the “Stuff Cards” one at a time inside the circle of the Hula-Hoop. As you add each card, let kids hold up 1-10 fingers to indicate how big of a deal that item is to them.
  • 1 finger = meh, no biggie
  • 10 fingers =can’t live without it
  • Read Matthew 24:19-21. Most kids don’t have a lot of money, so help them see their possessions/toys/favorite clothes as their money or treasure.
  • Let kids look at the “treasures” in the hoop and decide if they are earthly treasures or heavenly treasures. Explain that if something can be broken, stolen, lost, or end up in the trash, it’s not a heavenly treasure.Heavenly treasures are given to us when we use what we have for God.
  • Tell the kids to take a close look at the cards, and then have them close their eyes. Remove one or two cards and let kids open their eyes and guess what’s missing. Don’t replace the cards after you remove them.
  • Play until all the cards are gone.

What You Say:

“Eventually everything that was inside this hoop will be gone. It will break, get lost, or no longer be important to us. So,[Bottom Line]live like you know what really matters.When you give away stuff you don’t need to someone who does, that becomes a heavenly treasure. When you don’t hold on to your stuff but are willing to share, that becomes a heavenly treasure.When you use your stuff in ways that please God and help others, you’re storing up the kind of treasure that lasts forever. That’s a heavenly treasure.”

3. Money Hop

[Hear from God | Memory Verse Activity]

Made to Move:an activity that increases the oxygen in the brain and taps into the energy in the body

What You Need: Bible, pennies, quarters

What You Do:

  • Look up Luke 16:10a and say the verse as a group.
  • Give each of the kids a quarter and a penny. Tell them to place the coins on the floor a few inches apart.
  • Lead the group in reciting the memory verse by standing on the penny as they say the first part. Then have them hoponto the quarter as they say the second part.
  • After they finishthe verse, ask everyone to move their coins a little farther apart and say the verse again, hopping from one coin to the other.
  • Continue several more times, each time letting kids move their coins farther apart.

What You Say:

“When you [Bottom Line]live like you know what really matters, you spend time learning God’s Word. Great job remembering this month’smemory verse.Take your penny and quarterhome to help you remember Luke 16:10a. The penny will remind you to do little jobs well, and the quarter will remind you that little jobs done well can lead to even bigger and better things.”

Pray and Dismiss

[Pray to God | Prayer Activity]

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

What You Need: Hula-hoop

What You Do:

  • Place the hula-hoop on the floor and have everyone circle around it.
  • Give each of the kids a chance to stand or kneel inside the hoop as the remaining kids place a hand on his shoulder and you pray a prayer similar to the one below for each child.

What You Say:

“[Child’s name], I pray that you will [Bottom Line]live like you know what really matters.Dear God, help [child’s name]to use his time, money, and treasures to please You. Help him to love YOU more than anything else. Amen.”

As adults arrive to pick up, let kids show them their coins and recite Luke 16:10a.

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