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Seven Special Servants References Monthly Theme Acts 6:1-7; the Acts of God Gives Us Skills for Service

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Seven Special Servants References Monthly Theme Acts 6:1-7; the Acts of God Gives Us Skills for Service LESSON FIVE Seven Special Servants References Monthly Theme Acts 6:1-7; The Acts of God gives us skills for service. the Apostles, pp. 87-96 The Bible Lesson at a Glance To better meet the needs of the many people who look to the Christian community for support, the believers form ministry teams. One group continues to preach, while a new group orga- Memory Verse nizes the daily distribution of food. Seven wise, Spirit-filled men are “There are different chosen for this new responsibility. God blesses their efforts, and kinds of gifts, but the the number of believers continues to grow. same Spirit. There are different kinds of This is a lesson about service. service, but the same Lord” God gives different gifts to different people. Among the gifts of (1 Corinthians 12:4, 5). the Spirit is the gift of organization. Effective service is well orga- nized. We honor God by dividing the many responsibilities among those who are ready to serve Him. Teacher Enrichment Objectives “ ‘God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all The children will: churches of the saints.’ 1 Corinthians 14:33. He requires that order Know that the skills and system be observed in the conduct of church affairs today no God gives us can be less than in the days of old. He desires His work to be carried for- organized for better service. ward with thoroughness and exactness so that He may place upon Feel happy that God needs it the seal of His approval. Christian is to be united with Christian, and uses us to serve others. church with church, the human instrumentality cooperating with the Respond by dedicating divine, every agency subordinate to the Holy Spirit, and all com- our gifts to serving God. bined in giving to the world the good tidings of the grace of God” (The Acts of the Apostles, p. 96). Room Decorations See Lesson 1. The Message When we organize our gifts, we serve God better. 50 LESSON FIVE www.gracelink.net/primary SERVICE Program Overview Lesson Section Minutes Activities Materials Needed Welcome ongoing Greet students at none door; hear pleased/ troubled _________________________________________________________________________________ Readiness Options up to 10 A. 20 Questions one or more church officers 1 (deacon, elder, treasurer), screen B. Treasure Hunt things associated with deacon’s duties (offering plate, map, towel, basin, Communion glass) _________________________________________________________________________________ Prayer and Praise* up to 10 Fellowship none Any Time Songbook Sing for Joy Mission Children’s Mission Offering box covered with words/pictures of people serving others Prayer picture of church, Post-it notes or adhesive labels _________________________________________________________________________________ Bible Lesson up to 20 Experiencing the Story Bible-times costumes 2 Memory Verse none Bible Study Bibles _________________________________________________________________________________ Applying the up to 15 A. Shadow a Deacon none 3 Lesson B. Church Organization chart of local church organization, chart of world church organization, small cards _________________________________________________________________________________ Sharing the up to 15 A. Thank-you Card card stock, pencils/markers, art 4 Lesson supplies B. Appreciation Day chalkboard or whiteboard chalk or marker *Prayer and Praise me be used at any time during the program. www.gracelink.net/primary LESSON FIVE 51 TEACHING THE LESSON Welcome Welcome students at the door. Ask how their week has been—what they are pleased/troubled about. Listen to last week’s memory verse and encourage the children to share any experiences from last week’s lesson study. Have them begin the readiness activity of your choice. 1 Readiness Activities Select the activity most appropriate for your situation. A. 20 Questions You Need: In advance, invite one or more church officers to come to your Sabbath School. • one or more Have each person stand behind a screen. Have the children ask up to 20 questions church officers about that person’s church duties, and guess who the person is and what they do. (deacon, elder, Have the person then tell some more facts about their duties. Repeat with another treasurer, etc.) church officer as time allows. • screen Debriefing Ask: What do you think is most interesting about the service [name] per- forms for our church? Would you like to do this when you are older? Why? What are some of the other positions of service in our church? Why is organiza- tion important in church? (So people can best serve God.) Today’s message is: WHEN WE ORGANIZE OUR GIFTS, WE SERVE GOD BETTER. Say that with me. B. Treasure Hunt You Need: In advance, hide some things to do with a deacon’s duties. For example: offering • several things plate, towel, basin, Communion glass. Say: I have hidden some things that are con- connected with nected to the duties of a deacon. How many can you find? Give the children two or a deacon’s three minutes to hunt. Give them an opportunity to explain why they have chosen the duties (see things they have picked up. They may think of other things. activity) Debriefing Ask: Why is it important to have clearly defined duties in the church? (God is a God of order. When we are organized, we are more effective and can serve God bet- ter. It helps us to do all the things God wants us to do.) Each one has a task to do. All the people aren’t doing the same thing. All that needs to be done is done when the duties are organized. Our message for today says: WHEN WE ORGANIZE OUR GIFTS, WE SERVE GOD BETTER. Say that with me. 52 LESSON FIVE www.gracelink.net/primary Prayer and Praise Any Time Fellowship Report the students’ joys and sorrows (pleased and troubled) as reported to you at the door (as appropriate). Allow time for sharing from last week’s lesson study and review last week’s memory verse. Acknowledge any birthdays, special events, or achievements. Give a special warm greeting to all visitors. Suggested Songs “Trust in the Lord” (Sing for Joy, no. 111) “Give Me Oil in My Lamp” (Sing for Joy, no. 132) “We Are His Hands” (Sing for Joy, no. 129) “I Will Make You Fishers of Men” (Sing for Joy, no. 135) “This Little Light of Mine” (Sing for Joy, no. 134) “There Were Twelve Disciples” (Sing for Joy, no. 63) Mission Use a story from Children’s Mission. Emphasize that having an organized church provides a framework in which people may better serve God. Offering Say: There are different levels of organization in the You Need: church. We have a worldwide network for sending mis- • box covered with sionaries, teachers, doctors, and nurses to teach others. words/pictures of peo- When we give our Sabbath School offerings, we support this ple serving others important network and help others learn about Jesus. Prayer Give each child a Post-it note and suggest that they You Need: write or draw a church office position and place it on • picture of a church the church. Pray specifically for the church and its lead- • Post-it notes or adhesive labels ers as well as other prayer requests. www.gracelink.net/primary LESSON FIVE 53 2 they would have no time to preach. And Bible Lesson they needed to concentrate on teaching people about Jesus. Experiencing the Story [All gather around the apostles.] The You Need: 12 apostles gathered all the believers • Bible-times Characters: You need four groups. together and said, “If we took time from costumes Group 1 Greek-speaking Jews teaching the Word of God to serve food, Group 2 Hebrew-speaking Jews we would not be doing what God has Group 3 apostles called us to do. Choose seven men who Group 4 deacons are wise and full of the Holy Spirit, and If your group is small, some children we will ask them to be responsible for may be in more than one group. Deacons caring for these practical matters.” may come from both groups. Everyone thought it was a good idea. [Look around at the group and choose Read or tell the story. seven to be deacons.] The believers chose The young church kept growing. Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Every day more people came to learn Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, all good, more about Jesus. [Mime teaching people.] kind, Spirit-filled men. The apostles were kept busy teaching The apostles were pleased. Now and encouraging the new believers. they could concentrate on serving God [Each child “helps” someone else.] All by teaching others. They held a special kinds of people joined the church. Some service to dedicate these seven men to were rich. Some were poor. Others lost their new duties as deacons. They prayed their jobs, or their families did not want for them and laid their hands on them. anything to do with them when they [All kneel down. “Apostles” put hands on became Christians. All the believers tried “deacons.”] to help one another. The rich sold some Everyone was happy. Once again the of their property and used the money young church was united. The apostles to buy food for those who did not have served God by teaching and spreading any. People were busy with teaching and the gospel. The seven deacons served by preaching, and did not think much about caring for the practical things that needed other things. to be done in a growing church. God [Greek Jews come to apostles and seem blessed both the apostles and the dea- angry. Point to the other groups.] One cons as they served Him. day the Greek-speaking Jews came to the apostles and started complaining. Debriefing Everyone was shocked and upset.
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