Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 1 What Is the Salvation Army?
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Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 1 What is the Salvation Army? Guiding Principle: The ministry of The Salvation Army is widespread, both in our communities and overseas. Memory Verse: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV) Leader’s Background Information: Sometimes it is hard to explain the work and ministry of The Salvation Army to adults. It can be much harder to explain the concept to children! But The Salvation Army is so much more than a church and so much more than a charity. This lesson really hones in on the military metaphor and teaches that we are fighting with more powerful weapons. We are fighting with the message of hope—the message of Jesus Christ. Guiding Principle: The ministry of The Salvation Army is widespread, both in our communities and overseas. Scripture: 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV) Activity What Kids Do Preparation Materials • Copies of Worksheets #1-10 on cardstock (only one set) • Box cutter Paper City: Have the cut-outs ready. • Crayons/markers Junior soldiers design a Score the necessary lines. IMPACT • Scissors papercraft city of Salvation Copy Worksheets #1-10 (only (10-15 min) • Glue sticks Army buildings. one set). • Tape • Pennies • Green Army Men Junior soldiers learn about • Yarn/String Review lesson. some of the different • Small shields from Review verse. ILLUMINATE ministries of The Salvation Worksheet #11 (10-15 min) Cut out the small shields Army, both domestically and • Tape from Worksheet #11. abroad. • Bibles Junior soldiers watch Mama Luma explain some of Have PC/tablet ready to • Video the ministries of The INVEST play the video. • Small group questions (13-15 min) Salvation Army. Read through the questions • Small notebook Junior soldiers reflect on the ahead of time. • Small reward lesson and the things God may be saying. • Copies of Worksheets Go over game directions. Salvation Army Bingo: #12-15 Copy Worksheets #12-15. Junior soldiers try to get • Worksheet #16 INSPIRE Copy and cut-out names (8-10 min) three Salvation Army • Small shields from from Worksheet #16. buildings in a row. Worksheet #11 Copy Take Home Worksheet. • Take Home Worksheets One idea to keep the junior soldiers engaged is to set up stations! If you have a large group, play the game and teach the lesson with the junior soldiers all together, then divide into two groups. The first group will watch the video and go through the small group questions, and the second group can work on the craft; then switch. IMPACT Papercraft City Group size: 2+ Preparation Time: 5 minutes Time Needed for Activity: 10-15 minutes Materials: • Copies of Worksheets #1-10 printed on cardstock—only one set • Box cutter (for teacher use only) • Crayons/Markers • Scissors • Glue sticks (you can use other glue, but glue sticks work best) • Tape • 12 pennies • Green army men Preparation: • Copy Worksheets #1-10 on cardstock. • Before your junior soldiers arrive, it would be helpful if you score the dotted line creases on the cut-outs. This can be done with scissors, but it is most effective when using a box cutter. • Leave the images within the worksheet, so that the junior soldiers can cut them out, but use the box cutter to score the dotted lines. To score the lines, simply put the cut-out on the table, and lightly run the box cutter over the dotted line. It should make a cut in the paper, but not go all the way through. This helps when folding the cut-outs to form the structures. Directions: 1. Begin by having the junior soldiers color the buildings on Worksheets #1-10. 2. Cut out each of the buildings. 3. Some of the buildings have dotted lines. These are lines that need to be scored with scissors, if not scored before class. You may need to assist your junior soldiers with this. 4. Fold the cut-outs along the scored creases and glue the edges together to create papercraft buildings. 5. Tape a penny to the side of the buildings to help give weight to each structure for standing up. 6. Pass out the green army men and let the junior soldiers play with the papercraft town while you teach the lesson. Say: Building our papercraft city filled with Salvation Army buildings is a fun way to remember that The Salvation Army's ministry is widespread, both in our communities and overseas. M1U2L1: What is the Salvation Army? 3 ILLUMINATE Allow the junior soldiers to play with the green army men and the papercraft city as you teach the lesson. Say: Today, we are going to talk about what it means to be an army. Our church is called The Salvation Army, but is that like a regular army? How is it different?(We don’t use weapons, no violence, etc.) Modern-day militaries can be both highly visible and discreet. They may carry out large-scale missions as well as small-scale secret operations. They defend, guard, dismantle, build, train, and secure at any given time depending upon the context where they are working. They are innovative and adaptive; they plan, calculate, and execute commands. As militaries go, The Salvation Army does all of these things and more, but they use different tactics, strategies, and a more powerful message than any earthly army can use. While other armies may use fear and power to fix a troubled situation, The Salvation Army uses courage and love to bring peace, hope, and transformation. Modern armies use weapons that kill, destroy, and tear down. The Salvation Army uses weapons that give life. Let’s look at what Scripture says about fighting against the forces of evil. Note: Reading Scripture as Who would like to look up Ephesians 6:10-18? children can be difficult, but it is an important part of our spiritual Let your junior soldiers take turns, going around the room, each one reading development. It is our job to help a verse. them understand God’s Word and begin to look to it for answers. Say: Be patient and encourage your An army that operates in wartime is an army that operates within scary junior soldiers. environments. If no threats exist, there is no need for an army. The Scriptures remind us that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood” and assumes that our lives lived on this earth are in some ways a battleground. In such a threatening world, The Salvation Army is true to its core when it seeks to overcome the number one threat among human beings—sin and its effects— and offer salvation in Jesus as the solution. The world can be a very dark and scary place. Sin runs deep and we can find it everywhere. Where are some places that you see sin? (Bullying at school, an area of my neighborhood that has a lot of drug activity, kids being treated differently because of the color of their skin) While it may seem like sin is everywhere, the “Salvation” in The Salvation Army is wider, deeper, and all-encompassing. Just like sin can look like bullying, drugs, or racism, salvation has just as many forms that meet and 4 M1U2L1: What is the Salvation Army? ILLUMINATE overpower that darkness, helping people in need. For those that may feel trapped, there is a rescue and then freedom. For those who are torn apart by hate, there is hope; for those who feel held back, there is power. For those separated from a relationship with Christ, there is forgiveness. Salvation is full, whole, and all-encompassing. Paul says in chapter 5, verse 20 of his letter to the Romans, “where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” In the early days of The Salvation Army, William and Catherine Booth felt that the sinfulness of people and society was at an all-time high, and that the desire of average churches to offer forgiveness, hope, and the message of salvation was at an all-time low. Something had to change. Catherine Booth characterized the crisis of the Church in this way: “people have come to associate ideas of stiffness, formality, and uninteresting routine with our church and worship.”1 It is not so different in our world today. She then responded with what would characterize the ministry of The Salvation Army when she said, “if we are to be co-workers with God for them (the masses) we must move out of our jog-trot paces, and become all things to them, in order to win them. If they will not come inside our consecrated buildings, we must get at them in unconsecrated ones, or out under the canopy of heaven.”2 Tape one end of a piece of yarn/string, to a papercraft building and hold the other end in your hand. Tape one of the shields from Worksheet #11 to the helmet of one green army man and place him on the string so that he “parachutes” into the papercraft building by sliding down into the city along the string. Pass out the small Salvation Army shields that you cut out from Worksheet #11, and instruct the junior soldiers to tape them to the helmets of the green army men. Tape a string to each building. Give your junior soldiers the chance to “parachute” army men into the city. Say: The Salvation Army brings the message of hope to millions of people around the world.