"Learning to Play on a Team"

Tigers Christian Club -- Lesson for Wednesday, May 8, 2018
Adapted from “Learning to Play on a Team” from Kids Honor Club from Biblical Parenting

Song: “Who’s the king of the jungle?”

Intro and follow-up questions: We’ve been talking about what honor means and how we can show honor to our families.  Honor means treating people as special. It also means doing more than what’s expected and having a good attitude.

But tell me?  Who is your family?  How many people do you have in your family?

Well today we’re going to talk about how when we work together to love God and follow Jesus, we become part of God’s family.

Game:  We have a couple of games to play to show the importance of working together.

Game 1: Three-legged race while carrying an egg on a spoon -- pair up and work together!

Come have a seat on the rug.  You did a great job working together.  That’s good teamwork. Now, split into two groups for the second challenge.  I have two Bible verses cut out from construction paper and you with your group need to place the words in order and recite the verse.

Game 2: Place the sections of construction paper in order to make our Bible verses.  Work together now. Ready, go!

Bible verses: John 1:12 says “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

Jesus said: “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”  Mark 3:35. Isn’t that amazing that Jesus called us his family?

Story/Skit: Today’s Bible story come from Matthew 12:46-50 and talks about how when you follow Jesus, you become more than a team.  You become part of God’s family.

“One day Jesus was helping a lot of people and the house they were in was crowded.  In fact, it was so full that not even one more person could fit inside. Someone leaned over to Jesus and said, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside and want to speak with you.”

“Did you know that Jesus had brothers?  What would it have been like to be a brother of Jesus growing up?  Do you think that Jesus fought with his brothers and sisters? Do you think he yelled or said mean things?  Do you think he shared his toys and helped his mom around the house? It’s fun to think about that, isn’t it?  Jesus loved his mother and brothers. In fact, when Jesus was on the cross dying, he took time to care for his mother and told his disciple, John, to take care of her.

“But on this occasion [when Jesus was helping a lot of people and the house they were in was crowded] Jesus wanted to teach the people something very important.”

When people told him his family was outside waiting to speak to him he said,

“Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”  Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.  For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:48-50)

“He wanted to teach [his disciples] that they have a spiritual family of brothers and sisters when they choose to follow him.  Did you know that when you trust Jesus as your savior you enter a new family? God is the father and all of the other people who have trusted Jesus Christ are your brothers and sisters.  If you’re a Christian and I’m a Christian, what does that make us together? It makes us brother and sister!

“Why did Jesus want the people to know that?  Because Jesus knew that if people would recognize this truth then they would treat each other differently.  A family is a special thing and when we become Christians we join the family of God. That means that we need to learn how to get along with our new brothers and sisters in Christ.  It means that we get to know how Heavenly Father.

“It’s fun to think about having a big family and getting to know everybody that way.  But one of the nicest things is that if you and your parents are Christians then your mom and dad are your brother and sister in Christ.  [And your moms become my sisters.] Now, that is a different thought.  Isn’t it?”

Bible verse:  There’s one more Bible verse we need to learn to help us to remember how to work together.  Give a few kids the cut up construction paper to assemble the verse and read it: 1 Thessalonians 5:11 says, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up.”  Can you say that with me?

How can we work together to encourage one another to love God and follow Jesus?

We can treat each other kindly, we can love one another and we can show honor to each other.  What is honor? Treating others as special, doing more than what’s expected and having a good attitude.

Closing:  Let’s review now what we’ve learned today.

We learned that when we work together to follow Jesus we become brothers and sisters in Christ.  We become a family that can encourage each other.

Prayer:  Dear God, Teach us to treat each other kindly.  Help us to treat parents in kind ways as our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Thank you for giving us a big family so that we can learn and grow. Amen.

Decorate a family photo frame:  Hand out a photo of the group as well as an image of a picture frame on cardstock for each child that they can decorate.  Encourage them to hang up their photos somewhere in the house where they be reminded of their brothers and sisters in Christ.  (Need photo of the group, cardstock, stickers, pens)

Parting on the rug:  Hand out lollipops as a parting gift to remind us that showing honor is like giving a gift.  Remind the kids that honor is: treating others as special, doing more than what’s expected and having a good attitude.  Good job, everyone! That’s the end of our honor curriculum!