Unit 11 Lesson 1.Indd

JuniorUnit 11Soldiers : Lesson 1 Living Healthy PURPOSE : For the children to explore and understand that how they look after themselves physically, emotionally and relationally is really important to God.

‘God paid a great price for you. So use your body to honour God.’ 1 Corinthians 6:20

Read:Consider & Prepare 1 Corinthians 6:12–20 Romans 12:1–2 Philippians 4:2–9 1 Corinthians 9:24–25 Being classed as unhealthy is not too hard to achieve. With the variety of fast foods, junk food and inac ve entertainment readily available for an inexpensive price, many people are choosing to live unhealthy lifestyles and forming unhealthy habits. Unfortunately, this means that issues such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes and, generally, a sense of being unwell starts to rise in the sta s cs. Looking a er ourselves physically is only one thing we need to be diligent about. What we do, how we spend our me and the people we hang out with can also have an unhealthy impact on what we think, say and do. The choices that we make, the ac vi es that we par cipate in, the things we watch and listen to and the people that we spend me with can infl uence our lifestyle and decisions and how we interact with and see the world. So why does this ma er? Why does God care whether we are healthy or unhealthy? These are the ques ons the Junior Soldiers will be exploring in this lesson. To help them explore these ques ons, we need to fi rst look at what being unhealthy can mean and all the factors that it involves. It is made up of a number of key areas which include our body, our mind and our spirit being unhealthy. If we aren’t reading our Bible and praying on a daily basis, we can become spiritually unhealthy. If we are watching television shows or reading books that are morally not right: our minds can become unhealthy. And when we feed our bodies unhealthy foods and drinks, overeat and do no exercise, our bodies become unhealthy. When these unhealthy choices are a part of our lives they can start to aff ect us physically, emo onally and in our rela onships. We might become lethargic, sad and unmo vated and fi nd it hard to achieve our daily tasks. It can also aff ect our rela onship with God and the quality of me we spend with Him. We might start to place other things such as television shows, computer games or food as a higher priority than spending me with God and living a life that is pleasing to Him. We can get distracted by things of this world instead of focusing our a en on on God, which is not healthy for us. On the contrary, when we are healthy, we are able to serve God to the fullest. When we are healthy we can be in tune with God and the way that He wants us to live our lives. God wants us to think about and look a er ourselves, our whole body and mind and spirit, as this is the place where the Holy Spirit lives. He wants us to use our body and look a er our bodies so that they can be used to honour God. It is important for the children to explore this topic and work out how they will care for themselves so that they will honour God. It would be helpful for them to hear your refl ec ons and how you go about keeping yourself healthy in body, mind and spirit. During this lesson, be sensi ve to your language and how the message is being received by children who may be obese or have weight or health issues; you may also have children from lower socio-economic groups who live day-to-day on fast food or poor nutri onal op ons.

What you will need: For ‘ConnecƟ ng In’ • The song ‘A Memory Verse: 1 Corinthians 6:19+20 (You Were Bought)’ by Colin Buchanan • A watch • Tennis balls • A variety of magazines and newspapers • Paper • Textas For ‘The Main Thing’ • Two blenders • A ‘Happy Meal’ • Strawberries • Banana • Yoghurt • Milk • Teaspoons & small cups For ‘Tying In’ • Bibles—a variety of versions, e.g. CEV, NLT, MSG • Large sheet of paper • Textas • Paper Magiclay For ‘Home & Beyond’ • Print off the ‘Home & Beyond’ cards for each child. Connecting In You were bought… For this ac vity you will need a copy of the song ‘A Memory Verse: 1 Corinthians 6:19+20 (You Were Bought)’ by Colin Buchanan. You can purchase this song individually on iTunes or fi nd it on the CD Jesus Rocks the World. Ensure that you listen to the song before the session so that you are familiar with it and you might like to make us some ac ons ready to teach the children as well. It would be good to also have the words on PowerPoint for the children to follow while they are singing. Get the children to stand up. Explain to them that you are going to sing a song together about a key Bible verse you are learning about today. Teach the children the ac ons and play the song. Ensure that all leaders are energe c and are par cipa ng in the singing and ac ons as well. Link: Read 1 Corinthians 6: 19–20 together. ‘These are the verses that the song we just sang is based on.’ → I wonder what you think ‘you were bought’ means. Who paid what for you? → Why does this mean we need to ‘glorify the Lord with our bodies’? Allow the children some me to begin thinking and sharing their thoughts about the topic and what stands out for them in the song and the verses. There will be other opportuni es throughout the lesson for them to explore what this means further. ‘God wants us to be able to worship, love and serve him the best that we can. This means that we need to be healthy with our bodies, our mind and our spirit in order to do this in a way that is pleasing to him. To do this, we must remember how much God loves us and the price he paid by sending Jesus to die for us so that we could live connected with God. We are blessed with the gi of life and it is important for us to look a er this gi and care for our health in all areas.’ Healthy Hearts… For this ac vity, children will be looking at and measuring their heart rate. To do this, you will need to help them to fi nd their pulse in either their neck or wrist. Then, get a leader to me 15 seconds while the children count how many heart beats occur in that me. At the end of the 15 seconds, mes the amount of heart beats by four to give you your heart rate per minute. At the end of exercising, a healthy heart rate for children under 11 is between 130 and 140 beats per minute. For children older than that it is slightly lower. ‘Today we are going to begin by having a look at the health of our hearts. We are going to be measuring our heart rates while we are si ng s ll, then we will complete some exercises and measure our heart rate again.’ The exercises that you might like to do for this ac vity can vary, however, we recommend that you include at least three or four diff erent sta ons. You may like to get all the children to par cipate together in the same ac vity, or they can rotate in small groups with a leader and par cipate for a certain amount of me. Some examples of exercises you might like to include are below: • How many push-ups can you do in 30 seconds? • How far can you throw a ball (like shot-put) in three tries? • How many shu le runs can you do in a minute? • How many star jumps can you do in 30 seconds? Once all the children have completed the ac vi es, get them to measure their heart rates again straight away. Link: ‘It can be lots of fun to exercise or play games and run around with your friends. → I wonder what your favourite game, physical ac vity or sport is. ‘As well as being fun, playing games and exercising is also a way of honouring God. God wants us to be healthy physically, emo onally and in our rela onships. This means that when we par cipate in something as simple as running around, it can be a way for us to par cipate in worshipping God because we are looking a er ourselves and trying to make healthy choices. Today we are going to explore together other ways that we can look a er ourselves by making healthy choices and why that is important to God.’ Collages… For this ac vity you will need a range of magazines, newspapers and catalogues with pictures of people, as well as a range of other items such as food, sports equipment or clothing, books, movies, games etc. You will also need a large sheet of butchers paper for the children to create a poster on. Depending on the size of your group, you may like to do this in a few smaller groups, or you might like to have two groups and get one to create a healthy poster, while the other creates an unhealthy poster. Ask the children: → What does it look like to be healthy? → What does it look like to be unhealthy? ‘Today we are going to create a collage based on what you think healthy and unhealthy looks like. You can use the pictures in the magazines, newspapers and catalogues to choose images that represent being healthy and unhealthy. You may also like to write some words (or use words from the magazines) that you think will help to represent healthy or unhealthy.’ Link: ‘Just looking at the wonderful collages that you have created shows me that there is a big diff erence between people that engage in healthy choices, and people that engage in unhealthy ones. I wonder what diff erences stand out to you. ‘God wants us to be healthy so that we will always be able to worship him at our best. This doesn’t just mean physically with the food that we eat or how much we run around, but also spiritually (how o en we might pray and read the Bible) and emo onally (whether we are feeling happy or stressed or sad or loved). Today we are going to explore together other ways that we can look a er ourselves by making healthy choices and why that is important to God.’ The Main Thing What you put in is what you get out… For this ac vity, you will need two blenders, a ‘Happy Meal’, strawberries, banana, milk and yoghurt. Please note that you may want to make the ‘healthy smoothie’ as a trial before this lesson to work out how much of each ingredient you need to make a tasty smoothie. You will also need some teaspoons and some small cups for the children to try the food smoothies. → What is your favourite food? Why? → Do you think this would fi t into the healthy or unhealthy category? → What are some foods that you would list as healthy? → What are some foods that you would list as unhealthy? → I wonder which list of food you prefer to eat from. ‘Who likes to go to McDonalds? I wonder what your favourite treat there is. Well, today I have a ‘Happy Meal’ with me that includes a cheese burger, fries and a Coke. Right now, this meal might look quite delicious and tasty but I wonder if you would put this in the healthy or unhealthy category.’ • Who likes fries? (As you are asking this quesƟ on, place the fries into one of the blenders.) • What about cheese burgers? (Again as you are asking this add the cheeseburger to the blender with the fries.) • And who likes to drink Coke? (Again add the Coke to the blender with the cheeseburger and fries.) ‘Each part of the meal that I have placed into the blender (chips, cheeseburger and Coke) represents some of the unhealthy things that we might put into our bodies. While they look nice and delicious at the start, as we start to blend (press the blender buƩ on), things start to look a bit yuk. Even though what is being blended up is s ll the same meal, it doesn’t seem to look as appe zing anymore. In fact I’m not sure that I would like to eat this at all and put it in my mouth and stomach—what about you? (Give a teaspoon to each of the children that would like to taste the blended meal). I wonder if you think this is a good meal for our bodies. Perhaps it might be a ‘some me’ food, a treat but not a choice that we make a lot—what do you think? ‘Well, the ‘Happy Meal’ is one choice but let’s have a look at another. There are other op ons of yummy and healthy foods that are really good for us.’ • Who likes yummy fruits like bananas and strawberries? (While you are asking this place the fruit into the blender.) • They have good vitamins and fi bre that are healthy for our bodies. • If these are not your favourite fruits what would you use? • To go with the fruit I have some yoghurt (while you are sharing this add the yoghurt to the blender with the fruit.) • This contains probio cs and protein. Both of these help our bodies to stay healthy and strong and feeling good. • Lastly, I have some milk (while sharing this, add the milk into the blender with the fruit and yoghurt.) • Milk gives our bodies calcium which helps to keep our bones strong. Without the right amount of calcium, we might even fi nd it hard to walk! ‘As I blend this together, have a think about the diff erence between this food that I am mixing now compared to the ‘Happy Meal’ we blended earlier.’ → I wonder which one tastes be er. → I wonder which one is be er for us. Give each child a small cup (be wary of allergies) to try the smoothie. ‘We have the choice to eat and drink healthy or unhealthy things. If you keep choosing the unhealthy items, I wonder how you will feel. Do you think that it will impact how you feel or your energy levels? ‘Food is just one area that we can focus on when we think about being healthy, I wonder if you can think of any others. (Allow the children some Ɵ me to think about and share their thoughts.) ‘Just like we can put unhealthy food in our bodies, we can also put other unhealthy things into our minds or spend me with others who make unhealthy choices. Things that we do, read or see can be unhealthy for us, just like food. Watching some television shows or movies or even some YouTube clips can impact how we think and behave as well as other choices that we make, especially if we do this o en. Our a tudes and words can also be infl uenced by the people that we spend a lot of me with and this might be an unhealthy thing. ‘God wants us to be able to worship, love and serve him the best that we can. This means that we need to be healthy with our bodies, our mind and our spirit in order to do this in a way that is pleasing to him. To do this, we must remember how much God loves us and the price he paid by sending Jesus to die for us so that we could live connected with him. We are blessed with the gi of life and it is important for us to look a er this gi and care for our health in all areas of our lives. Let’s have a closer look at what the Bible has to tell us about this.’ Tying In What does the Bible say? For this sec on you will need some Bibles or printed out copies of the following verses. It would be good to have a variety of versions for the children to read and explore as they wrestle with what God is saying, e.g. CEV, NLT, MSG etc. You will also need some large sheets of paper and textas for the children to use while they are looking at the following ques ons. It would be good to divide into small groups for the children to best engage in this ac vity. Read Romans 12:1–2 from a variety of versions of the Bible. → What stands out for you in these verses. → I wonder why God want us to have a healthy mind body and spirit. → I wonder how we might be able to use our bodies to glorify God. → Do you think we can glorify/worship God be er when we are healthy in mind/body and spirit? Why/why not? → When you have a healthy mind what might that look like, sound like and act like? → When you have a healthy body what might that look like, sound like and act like? → When you have a healthy spirit what might that look like, sound like and act like? Prayer… For this prayer ac vity you will need some paper magiclay and a large sheet of paper divided into three sec ons with the three headings, ‘Mind’, ‘Body’ and ‘Spirit’ wri en. Ask each of the children to use the paper magiclay to create a body shape. As the children are doing this, encourage them to think about the wise choices they can make to have a healthy mind; the wise choices they can make in order to have a healthy body, and the wise choices they can make in order to have a healthy spirit. The children can add words or pictures to the sec ons as you explore the wise choices suggested for each one. Ask the children to pass their paper magiclay body shape to the person si ng next to them and choose something from the three sec ons (mind, body and spirit) to pray for, asking God to help them make the wise decisions they will need in order to keep themselves healthy. Encourage the children to take their body crea on home as a reminder to keep praying not only for their choices but for the choices of the person they prayed for today. Home & Beyond Print off the ‘Home & Beyond’ cards a ached. The children might like to keep these in their journals or notebook where they could write or s ck the challenges, refl ect, answer ques ons or complete ac vi es each week. Diary/Graph… This week, create a sheet that shows the following about your family. It might look like a diary or a graph or a mind map: • The food you eat • Time spent in front of the television • Time spent praying and talking to God • Time spent reading or talking about the Bible • Time spent doing something ac ve Bring back your results to share with the group the next me you meet. As a group you might like to think if there is anything you would like to change.

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Diary/Graph… Diary/Graph… JuniorUnit 11Soldiers : Lesson 2 Including Others PURPOSE : For the children to explore and understand that even though we are all different, we all seek to belong and be included; and to refl ect on how they show love, inclusion and acceptance to others even when it is diffi cult to do so. ‘When others are happy, be happy with them, and when they are sad, be sad. Be friendly with everyone. Don’t be proud and feel that you are smarter than others. Make friends with ordinary people. Don’t mistreat someone who has mistreated you but try to earn the respect of others and do your best to live at peace with everyone.’ Romans 12:15–18 Consider & Prepare Read: Romans 12:15–18 Gala ans 3:26–29 1 Corinthians 12:12–31 1 Samuel 16:7 2 Samuel 9:1–13 Jemima’s Lullaby Today’s lesson has a social jus ce focus and looks specifi cally at social inclusion; it has been based around the book Jemima’s Lullaby which has been put together by Salvo Publishing and our Just Salvos department. As humans, we have all been created in God’s image and to live as part of community. Because of this we all seek to belong in many diff erent sorts of groups and situa ons. We are all seeking to be included, and lots of our children will struggle at mes with this at school, spor ng groups, churches, home and extended family ac vi es etc. It is important that prior to the session you refl ect on mes that you might have been excluded and how you felt and dealt with these situa ons as well as some mes when you might have been the one that was excluding others. While it can be diffi cult to admit when you might have wronged or been wronged, it is important for the children to hear about examples of how you have been able to work through these tough mes that might help them with situa ons they are currently experiencing. Below is the ‘Understanding the story’ text from the back of Jemima’s Lullaby which I am sure that you will fi nd helpful in prepara on for the session on social inclusion. It will also give you a clear picture of the story and how this story will help to connect the children with the topic. If you imagine a jungle, an ocean, a desert or a city fi lled with people, you will no ce one thing in common—they are all completely diff erent! The world is fi lled with unique and wonderful animals, plants, landscapes and people. Some mes, instead of enjoying the amazing and diff erent things around us, we look at certain things and say they are be er than others. We might say a monkey is be er than a fi sh, or that trees are be er than oceans, or that some types of people are more special than others. We some mes judge others on the way they look or speak, or on what they wear, or how well they can do things. If this happens, people may be le out, or treated meanly. Instead of seeing a person as be er or worse because they are diff erent, we should try to see what is special about their diff erences. In the story, Jemima thought her singing was be er than most others, and she excluded them, or tried to get them to change how they sang the lullaby. It was good that Gus could teach her that things go be er when we work together and use the talents and skills that make us unique and special. And it was great that the excluded animals could forgive Jemima and come back to the group once she had learned from her mistake. Now everyone was included in singing the song. We all have the choice to make others feel special, or to push them away and tell them they are not welcome. We hope you choose to accept everyone for who they are, and include them in your games and play me, no ma er how diff erent they may seem. So let’s take some me to get to know what is special about those we think are diff erent.

The verses above, from Romans 12, remind us how important it is to include others and work at ge ng along with each other in all circumstances; through the tough mes and the mes of fun and celebra on, when others have new things and we just have an old version, when we are star ng at a new school or have new children star ng in our class at school, when people look at us diff erently because of the way we talk or the clothes we wear and the list can go on and on. In every way possible, we need to work at including and being accep ng of one another. Throughout this lesson, we are encouraging the children to think about and explore ways that they might include others even when they might fi nd others diff erent to them or challenging. If you are looking for more ac vi es or some ideas for projects or extending beyond the session, the website found in the back of the book, www.harmony.gov.au, has a terrifi c range of lesson plans, cra s, ac vi es and informa on that we are sure you will fi nd helpful. It is important to know your kids and to be sensi ve to those that may have experienced hur ul situa ons of being excluded from groups and ac vi es. What you will need: For ‘ConnecƟ ng In’ • Blank jigsaw puzzle templates • Pencils, coloured pens or extra fi ne textas • Sheets of small s ckers • Prize • List of exclusion statements For ‘The Main Thing’ • A copy of Jemima’s Lullaby (can be ordered at www.salva onarmy.org.au/ supplies) • Lemons (enough for each child) • A container to hold all the lemons For ‘Tying In’ • Paper • Textas • Pens • Pencils • Pastels For ‘Home & Beyond’ • Print off the ‘Home & Beyond’ cards for each child. Connecting In Puzzle… For this ac vity, you will need a blank jigsaw puzzle template that can be wri en on, you can purchase these from most cra shops and even cheap variety stores. Each child for this ac vity will need a piece of the puzzle—depending on the size of your group you might need to give the children a couple of pieces of the puzzle or you may need to break up into smaller groups and have two or three puzzles on the go. While the puzzle is s ll together, on the reverse side, draw a large heart in black permanent texta. • Give each child a puzzle piece • Using a pencil, coloured pens or extra fi ne textas, on the front, write or draw on their piece some of their gi s, talents and characteris cs that make them unique. (Please note, if a child is struggling with what they could write, this might be a great me as a group to share what we like about other people’s uniqueness.) • If they turn over the puzzle piece they might see part of a black line. Ask them to colour one side of the line in one colour and then the other side of the line another colour. If a child does not have a black line on their piece then they can just colour their piece in one colour. • Once they have fi nished their piece, get them to connect the pieces together as a group to create the puzzle with everyone’s gi s and talents facing upwards. Link: → ‘I wonder if there are mes when you wish some people were more like you.’ → ‘I wonder if there are mes when you wish you were more like another person.’ ‘We can see from all the puzzle pieces joined together that no two pieces are the same; they are not the same shape or fi lled with the same informa on; we are all very diff erent. God made each one of us to be unique and who have much to share and contribute to diff erent situa ons. I am sure there are mes when you might get frustrated at others for not being as good as you or as good as you want them to be at something and I am sure that there are mes when you are sad and frustrated because you want to be good at something like someone else you know. ‘God gave us our gi s, talents and unique characteris cs so that we all have something diff erent to share and bring to groups and situa ons. Can you imagine if we were all like (choose a leader in your group) and we all could (choose a talent) as wonderfully as them. While it is fantas c that they are great at that, if we all did it, it wouldn’t be so exci ng and we wouldn’t be able to experience the wonderful talents of everyone else in this room. It is good to have variety and to all have something that we can bring to a group situa on. ‘It can be diffi cult, at mes, to always want to include everyone, especially when they are diff erent or think diff erently to us. But if we look at Romans 12:15–18 (get someone to read this from CEV) we are reminded on how to work together and include others. Let’s turn over the puzzle and see if it has something else to remind us about how we should treat others. What do you think? (Wait for responses.) It’s all about love. Including others even when it is hard, is showing love.’ Exclusion… For this ac vity you will need some small s ckers and a prize for the winning child. Encourage the idea that because someone has a certain characteris c they are be er than others. While, of course, this lesson is about teaching the complete opposite, we want children to feel uncomfortable with this situa on so that they can be er understand the idea of inclusion for everyone. Encourage children to ques on the fairness of this ac vity, however, be cau ous of children pushing this too far; also be sensi ve to those that may have had nega ve experiences of being excluded. Have all the children and leaders stand in a group in the centre of the room. Explain to them that you are going to make some statements that will divide the group and that they need to move to the side of the room that best describes them. Each me you divide the group, one of the groups will get s ckers. The child with the most s ckers at the end of the game will win a prize. Below are some statements that you might like to use for this ac vity and you might like to add some of your own that will help to divide the group. Some examples of statements are: • If you have brown hair go to the le , everyone else go to the right. (The people with brown hair get a s cker.) • If you have blue eyes go to the le , everyone else go to the right. (The people with blue eyes get a s cker.) • If you are a boy, go to the le , all the girls go to the right. (The boys get a s cker.) • If you have your ears pierced go to the le , all the others go to the right. (The people with their ears pierced get a s cker.) • If you play netball go to the le , all the others go to the right. (The people who play netball get a s cker) • If you walk to school go to the le , all the others go to the right. (The people who walk to school get a s cker.) • If you have your own mobile phone go to the le , all the others go to the right. (The people who own their own mobile phone get a s cker.) Link: → How did you feel when you were separated from your friends? → How did it feel to see other people ge ng rewarded for something you will never have, e.g. blue eyes etc.? → How did it feel to be rewarded? → Do you think it’s fair that (name the winning child) received a prize and no one else did? Why? → I wonder how you could have made this ac vity fairer. ‘Well, some of us might have had fun playing this game today but I am sure that some of us will have felt that it was unfair that people have received prizes just from having certain characteris cs. It can be hur ul to be excluded from a group or ac vity because you might be diff erent or not fi t in and none of us like it when this happens to us. ‘It can be diffi cult, at mes, to always want to include everyone, especially when they are diff erent or think diff erently to us. But if we look at Romans 12:15–18 (get someone to read this from CEV) we are reminded of how important it is to work together and include others and treat each other with love. Today we are going to explore further this idea of including others even when it is hard to do so.’ The Main Thing Jemima’s Lullaby… ‘Let’s fi nd out some more about including others even when it is diffi cult by reading together Jemima’s Lullaby. (Read the book.) → I wonder if you have ever felt like Jemima—you wanted everyone to be more like you. → I wonder if you have ever felt like the hippos—like you were not wanted because you weren’t good at something specifi c. ‘At the end of the story Jemima realised that the best choir was when everyone was involved and doing what they were good at. It wasn’t any good to try to have everyone doing the same thing—this just wasn’t the best. The animals all had diff erent gi s and talents, just like each of us. God created us each in a special and unique way and it is great when we can all work together using all that God has created us to be. ‘The Bible also reminds us that the church is like a body, made up of many diff erent parts. Let have a look to see how all parts are important and need to be included. Read together 1 Corinthians 12:12–31. → What stands out for you in this passage? → I wonder what God wants us to remember from these verses.’ Lemons For this ac vity you will need a lemon for each child. (If it is easier you can use apples, potatoes or any other food item that can look diff erent on the outside, but similar on the inside). Allow the children to choose a lemon from the container and ask them to study it. Tell them to look for the bruises, dents, marks, shape or anything else that might help them to remember which is their lemon and what it looks like. A er you have given them me for this, collect all of their lemons back into the container. → I wonder if you can pick your lemon out of the container. (Most children should be able to do this; give them some me if needed). → How were you able to tell which of the lemons was yours? ‘You might have been able to iden fy which was your lemon due to the size, shape, marks or dints etc. that were on the outside of the fruit. Even though the lemons were similar there were certain characteris cs that helped to iden fy each one. Well, there are lots of things that are similar between each of you and even the leaders that are here, but just like the lemons, we all come in diff erent shapes and sizes: there are diff erent colours of hair or eyes or skin and we will each have diff erent features that help us to iden fy certain people. This can be much more diffi cult when you have a set of iden cal twins but even then there are certain things that will help you to tell them apart.’ → I wonder what some of the features or characteris cs are that might make you diff erent from other people here. (As they are discussing this, have a leader collect their lemons and begin to peel them and place them into the container again.) → I wonder if you can pick out your lemon again. → What is the diff erence between trying to fi nd your lemon now and trying to fi nd it before? ‘If we think about ourselves, we are similar to these lemons—even though on the outside we might look diff erent and have certain things that others will be able to iden fy us by, on the inside we are very similar. We are all created in God’s image and to be in community or rela onship with others. We are all looking to belong and be included as a part of many diff erent sorts of groups and situa ons, and when we are excluded this can hurt. I am sure there have been mes, just like the hippos from the story, that you have been excluded and have felt le out and not valued for who you are. This is not unique to you, we are all like this, it hurts when we are not included in what is happening, especially when people don’t want us to be a part of things because we are not the same as them.’ • Let’s look at Romans 12:15–18 (CEV) together. • Think about how you feel when others don’t include you in what is happening. • From reading these verses, what does the Bible encourage us to do to help include others? • What can you do at home, school or church to help others feel included? • Will this be easy? • I wonder if anyone can help you with that. Tying In Prayer… This may be a sensi ve me for children who either have struggled with being excluded, or who might have excluded others. You may like to have some calming refl ec ve music on in the background to help the children focus during this me of prayer. ‘Today we are going to pray for others in a variety of diff erent se ngs, e.g. school, church, home, spor ng groups etc. As we think about the passage from Romans 12 and the words that remind us about how we are to treat others, and the passage from 1 Corinthians 12 that reminds us that the church is a body made up of many diff erent parts and that they are all important, I want you to refl ect on how you might include or exclude others. ‘You are now going to have the opportunity to pray both for those people that you might have excluded, and also for those that might have excluded you. To help you think about and talk to God about these people and situa ons, you are going to ‘pray in colour’. (Praying in colour is a technique that helps children to use paper and drawing implements and colour to think about and focus on what they are praying about.) • Give each of the children some A3 sheets of paper (they may also like to use their journal for this prayer ac vity) • Provide a range of drawing implements for the children to choose from, e.g. pencils, textas, crayons, pastels, coloured pens etc. • On your paper, draw a shape and write someone’s name inside it who you would like to pray for. • Once you have wri en their name, refl ect on why you are praying for them as you decorate their shape with pa erns and colours. • Once you feel you are fi nished praying for that person and situa on, create a new shape and write another person’s name in there. Con nue this un l you feel you have thought of all the people you would like to pray for today. • You might like to take this sheet home as a prayer guide during the week. Home & Beyond Print off the ‘Home & Beyond’ cards a ached. 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Praying for others in colour… in others for Praying colour… in others for Praying JuniorUnit 11Soldiers : Lesson 3 The Young Soldier PURPOSE : For the children to explore and understand that one of the early key developments in The Salvation Army was the commencement of programs and resources for children, including the provision of The Young Soldier.

‘And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.”’ Mark 16:15 Consider & Prepare Read: This lesson focuses on the history and purpose of The Young Soldier and the subsequent magazine Kidzone. The Salva on Army has always produced periodicals (magazines and newspapers) for its members—as have most Chris an denomina ons—but the Army has been quite unique in also publishing for children. William and Catherine Booth were ahead of their me in recognizing the value of children and the spiritual needs of children. They knew that even children could be converted and enter a rela onship with Jesus, and they knew that children could witness to other children be er than adults could. To help with this, the Army realized they had to resource their children with age-appropriate evangelis c material. The fi rst Army magazine for children was The LiƩ le Soldier, which began in England in 1881. It was replaced by The Young Soldier in 1888 and the fi rst Australian issue was released in 1890. This lasted for 109 years un l, in 1999, it was replaced by the full-colour magazine Kidzone. This lesson will familiarize children with the history of The Young Soldier, encourage them to read Kidzone and challenge them to use Kidzone as a resource for witnessing. For this lesson you will need to make sure you have two copies of the week’s Kidzone for each child, this may mean ge ng your corps offi cer to increase the order for just one week, which they can do by contac ng the editorial department at Australia Southern Territory THQ. Bear in mind, that some corps have the standard prac ce of providing each child with two copies of Kidzone every week, one for themselves and one for a friend—an easy way for your children to do outreach! What you will need: For ‘ConnecƟ ng In’ • A copy of that week’s Kidzone for each child. • Two sheets of A4 white paper for each child. • Pencils or textas • Enough working torches for one to each group of three children. For ‘The Main Thing’ • Butchers paper • Black texta • Blu-Tack For ‘Tying In’ • A4 paper • Pencils and textas For ‘Home & Beyond’ • Print off the Home & Beyond cards for each child. • Copies of Kidzone

Connecting In Finding Cousin Koala… Have a current copy of Kidzone at hand for each child and then ask them to race to ﬁ nd the informa on below: • Find where Cousin Koala is hidden in this week’s Kidzone • What is the name of the third person named on the birthday list? • What is the story tle on page four? • Who is the celebrity having a birthday this week? • What is the prize for this week’s colouring compe on? • Who is the editor of Kidzone? • What is hanging from Cousin Koala’s treehouse? Link… ‘I am sure when you get the Kidzone magazine you have fun just like we have had today. There are so many cool ar cles that tell us about certain topics and heaps of great informa on about being a follower of Jesus. I wonder if you know how long the Kidzone magazine has been around or if you think you might know why Kidzone was started. (Allow the children some Ɵ me to comment and share their ideas.) ‘Well, Kidzone was not always known as this, in fact the ﬁ rst name for the magazine was The LiƩ le Soldier and it began in 1881—how long ago was that? (Give them a minute to do the maths.) Then, in 1888 it became known as The Young Soldier and it stayed that way un l 1999 when it became Kidzone. Today we are going to explore why star ng this magazine was a key development in The Salva on Army; how the magazine has changed, and how it can be used to share the message of Jesus with others. Playing the old-fashioned way ‘Back before computers and even television had begun, games and ac vi es were much simpler for children and they were much easier entertained. Just for fun, we’re going to try two ac vi es that were included in The Young Soldier in the 1940s.’ (If you wish, you can print out enlarged copies of the examples for each acƟ vity below to show them.) 1. Hand-shadow sketching: Get the children into groups of three (use a leader/s if you need to make up numbers): one to hold a torch, one to sketch and one to make a hand-shadow. Place a piece of plain white paper on a table, one person makes a shape with their hands, the other holds a torch so that the shadow appears on the paper, and the third person sketches the outline of the shadow. Then swap roles, twice, so that each person has a turn in each role. The person whose shadow is drawn can keep the sketch for themselves, if they wish.

2. One-line picture: Give each child paper and pencil/texta. ‘It’s easy to draw a circle in one con nuous line or even a hand or a tree, but can you draw a car or a horse or an elephant or a helicopter using one con nuous line?’

Link… ‘These two ac vi es were printed in The Young Soldier in the 1940s; if any of you have grandparents who were in The Salva on Army back then, they may have done these very ac vi es when they were fi rst published! It’s amazing to think that The Salva on Army has been providing a magazine just for children for more than 130 years. And, just like today’s Kidzone, The Young Soldier provided not only fun ac vi es and cra and stories, but was also a way that children could learn about Jesus and the Bible and Bible characters like Noah and Moses and David and Mary and so many others. ‘To help us understand the purpose of Kidzone be er, we’ll explore the history of the magazine fi rst and then talk about what each issue contains and how to use the magazine to introduce other kids to Jesus.’ The Main Thing Timeline… ‘As we heard, The Salva on Army have been prin ng a magazine for children for more than 130 years. To help us visualize what that history looks like, we’re going to make a meline of some key events.’ Have some butchers paper (or paper joined together) about two metres long and mark the following dates on it with black texta: 1880, 1881, 1890, 1921, 1933, 1939, 1965, 1995, 1999, 2013. If you put 1880 at one end and 2013 at the other, you can place 1939 at about the middle and then place the other dates scaled appropriately along the line. Enlarge and print out a copy of each picture in Appendix A and distribute the 10 images among your children. ‘I will read through a history of children’s publishing in The Salva on Army and when I get to the event that you have the picture for, take a small piece of Blu-Tak (you can have a helper hand this to them), put it on the back of your picture and s ck it to the meline where it belongs.’ Read the history in Appendix B. ‘Well, look at the wonderful meline we’ve made. It’s great to know that while we love Kidzone, there’s a whole long history behind how it came to us. You know, decades ago, Junior Soldiers might have been having a lesson about how important their magazine, The Young Soldier, was. Well, we have Kidzone and we’re so glad we do.’ → I wonder if you receive the Kidzone each week. How, where, from who? → What is your favourite page or sec on or character? → Why do you think The Salva on Army makes a Kidzone magazine? → I wonder how you think ge ng a copy or reading this magazine might introduce someone to Jesus. → I wonder if you have ever shared your magazine with someone else or given them a copy. ‘In the Bible, in Mark 16:15, Jesus instructed the disciples to “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” As followers of Jesus, we don’t have a choice about this, we can’t decide, ‘Hmm, should I tell other people about Jesus or just keep it a secret?’, we are told, by Jesus himself, to do this. ‘Being able to give someone something to read about Jesus, like a magazine, helps in a few ways: • First, while you can tell them about Jesus, they might forget later, but if they have a magazine with them they can read the message again and again; • Second, if you get nervous talking to people about Jesus it can be helpful to have a resource or ‘help’ to start the conversa on. It’s hard to just sit down and say to someone, ‘Can I tell you about Jesus?’ but it’s very easy to say, ‘Hey, check out the great story in this magazine.’ • Third, it can be easier to talk to a friend about Jesus than a total stranger, so giving someone a copy of Kidzone every week is a great way to make a new friend! ‘So while Kidzone is a fun magazine to read, don’t forget that you can use it to introduce kids you know to Jesus. It’s a great way to ‘go into the world’ and tell people about the good news of Jesus.’ → I wonder how you might have tried to share the message of Jesus with someone else. → How could using Kidzone help you introduce someone to Jesus? Tying In Let’s make a magazine… It can be helpful for children to experience the sortof challenges the Kidzone team face every week pu ng together a new magazine—every week since April 1999 and coun ng! For this ac vity, if you have a small group, assign each child a page, if you have a larger group, divide them into pairs and ask them to work together. Each person/ pair should work on developing one page of the magazine. Before you divide and start work, decide on the theme for your Kidzone (e.g. being a good friend, honesty, respec ng others, helping parents, prayer, the Bible, or pick a Bible story like Noah’s ark or David and Goliath or the parable of the ‘good Samaritan’. Each person/pair needs to decide what will be on their page and announce it to the ‘editor’ (i.e. you), and then they can get to work. Some ideas for pages are: • a story and illustra on • some le ers to and from Cousin Koala • the front cover masthead, contents and picture • a cra ac vity (step-by-step with illustra ons) • a movie/DVD review • a puzzles page • informa on about a sport Give everyone 10–15 minutes; as editor you can move from group to group off ering advice. Once everyone has fi nished, collect all the pages. During the week you can colour photocopy them all and make a copy of the magazine for each child for the following week. Prayer… Using the Kidzone magazine for that week, get the children to open up to either the birthday page or the le ers page to Cousin Koala or the page with photos of children from another corps (if this is a copy that has these pictures). As you go around the circle ask the children to pray for one of the children named on these pages. Finish the prayer me by praying that God will help the children to be strong and courageous and share the message of Jesus with someone. Home & Beyond Print off the ‘Home & Beyond’ cards a ached. The children might like to keep these in their journals or notebook where they could write or s ck the challenges, refl ect, answer ques ons or complete ac vi es each week. You will need at least two copies of Kidzone per child for the ‘Home & Beyond’ sec on so that they can give one copy to their friend. Share the message… • Take two copies of Kidzone today. Keep one for yourself and give one to a friend. • Write a le er to Cousin Koala (you can also include a drawing) • Make sure you have added your name to the birthday list. • Fill in the coupon tled ‘Jesus loves you and wants to be your friend’ to receive some info about Jesus • Each day this week, check who is having a birthday and pray for them.

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Share the message… the Share • Take two copies of of copies • two Take Share the message… the Share Appendix A 1881 1880

1890

1933

1921

1939

1995

1999 2013 1965 Appendix B

A history of The Young Soldier (key dates are in bold print)

William and Catherine Booth were ahead of their me in recognizing the value of children and the spiritual needs of children, so when Captain John Roberts— the corps oﬃ cer at Blyth Corps in northern England—commenced a children’s mee ng on 30 June 1880, General Booth instructed all corps to do likewise and the Army’s work with children was born.

To help resource and disciple the children, the fi rst issue of The LiƩ le Soldier was released on 27 August 1881. The War Cry that week announced the launch of the children’s paper, describing it as: ‘A real Salva on paper for the youngsters. Simple, solid and straigh orward.’ The name changed to The Young Soldier a er seven years as The LiƩ le Soldier. The fi rst Australian Young Soldier was printed under Commissioner Thomas Coombs on 5 April 1890 and the editor was Staff -Captain Francis Cumming. It con nued as the ‘offi cial gaze e of the young people of the Salva on Army’ un l 20 August 1921, and then, on 27 August 1921, it became the ‘offi cial gaze e of the young people of the Salva on Army in Southern Australia’ because on that same day the Australia Eastern Territory launched their own Young Soldier. This con nued un l 7 January 1933 when, with the eff ects of the Great Depression being felt by Army fi nances, the decision was made to return to one na onal Young Soldier. At that stage, if children wrote a le er to appear in The Young Soldier, they addressed it to Cousin Kookaburra. Cousin Koala fi rst appeared in the 7 January 1939 issue and it was reported: ‘Our cheery friend Cousin Kooka, having already taken her fl ight to another nest, all le ers for this page, and those in type, have been re-addressed to Cousin Koala!’ No real reason given—just that Cousin Kooka had fl own away! Apart from Cousin Koala, the other incredibly popular Young Soldier character for many years was Bram. The fi rst Bram cartoon by James Moss appeared in the 25 September 1965 issue and con nued un l 20 May 1995. On 3 April 1999, the last ever Australian Young Soldier was released. Then, on the 10th of April, the magazine went full colour and was renamed Kidzone. The magazine also had a stronger evangelis c focus, aimed more at introducing children to Jesus rather than wri en for Chris an children. Kidzone is a unique magazine in Australian Chris an publishing. No other denomina on produces a magazine just for children. To accompany the Kidzone magazine, there is also Kidzone merchandise available, including T-shirts, Frisbees, pencils, notebooks, drink bo les, yo-yos and other things. In 2013 the Cousin Koala so toy arrived, so you can now have your own Cousin Koala! Cousin Koala is, theore cally, now 74 and s ll going strong, as is children’s publishing by The Salva on Army in Australia—123 years and coun ng! JuniorUnit 11Soldiers : Lesson 4 Let’s Celebrate! PURPOSE : For the children to explore and understand that we can celebrate today (and any day) because Jesus overcame a huge challenge at Easter—he defeated death and beat the Devil and established himself as the ruler of the world. Yay!

‘The women were frightened and yet very happy, as they hurried from the tomb and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and greeted them. They went near him, held on to his feet, and worshiped him.’ Matthew 28:8–9 Consider & Prepare Read: Ma hew 28:1–10, 16–20 1 Corinthians 15:1–28 There are many lessons that can be taught based on the events of the fi rst Easter, and many ‘angles’ that can be used to approach Easter, each revealing a diff erent truth for Chris ans. This lesson focuses on the victory that Jesus won at Calvary and that we share in that victory. Generally the winner walks away from a fi ght! So it may be diffi cult for the children to understand how Jesus died and was victorious. The victory, of course, was in his resurrec on. Jesus was sent by God to save the world, and when he died on the cross and was placed in the tomb Satan may well have danced in delight. However…a few days later Jesus was back. Satan had done his darndest—he’d killed God’s Son—but not even that stopped Jesus. Jesus conquered death and Satan was defeated. This lesson can be used in conjunc on with one of the other Easter lessons, Unit 7 Lesson 10, or they can both be done as standalone lessons. What you will need: For ‘ConnecƟ ng In’ • Resources for the ‘minute to win it’ challenges that you choose • Plain crown templates or cardboard to cut out your own • S ckers, textas, crayons, pencils, coloured paper, foil, jewels, beads, glue, foam le er or shape s ckers etc. • Scissors For ‘Tying In’ • Blank Sheet of A4 or A3 paper • Drawing implements – textas, pencils, crayons etc For ‘Home & Beyond’ • Print off the ‘Home & Beyond’ cards for each child. Connecting In ‘Minute to win it’ challenges… Choose some ‘minute to win it’ challenges from the website (h p://au.tv.yahoo.com/minute-to-win-it/games/). It would be good to choose some ac vi es that will not be too diffi cult for your children to succeed at, so that they can know the joy of winning, show their winning face and shout out ‘Winner’. Make sure that all children have the chance to play a game; you might like to have a couple of children doing the ac vity at the same me. Link: ‘We have all had a chance to play some ‘minute to win it’ games. How does it feel when you win something (give the children opportunity to respond)? We are going to talk today about how Jesus might have felt when He rose from the dead—when he overcame death. (Get the children to share what they think Jesus might have said when he rose from the dead.) I hope that you will be reminded of Jesus being a winner and overcoming death when you win things and overcome challenges. And remember that not only did Jesus beat death, but he wants to be our friend forever. Crowns… You will need some cardboard or pre-cut crown templates, s ckers, textas, crayons, pencils, coloured paper, foil, jewels, beads, glue, foam le er or shape s ckers, scissors etc. for this ac vity. Give the children the opportunity to create their own crown and decorate it. Link: Who wears a crown (give the children opportunity to respond: king, queen, prince, princess, royalty, someone in charge)? Today we have made a crown to remind us that Jesus is in charge. When Jesus overcame death He was given all the power and authority to be in charge of everything—you might say ‘king of the world’. Queen Elizabeth II is in charge of England and 54 other members of the Commonwealth of Na ons, including Australia, and there are many other kings and queens around the world who are in charge of their country or kingdom, but none quiet like Jesus. Jesus is king of everything and has been given the power and authority to rule over all the Earth, and that’s amazing!’ (You might like to get the children to write or add leƩ ers to their crown to say ‘Jesus = King of the World’.) The Main Thing Who likes to win? Who likes to win? Maybe you like to win a game, at sport, in a race, on the PlaySta on or Xbox. I wonder if you have ever watched the face and ac ons of someone who wins. Maybe you remember seeing some of the expressions and ac ons of the athletes from the Olympic games, or when a tennis player wins their match, or when a bowler takes a wicket in cricket or a soccer player gets a goal. Perhaps you have got a strike when ten pin bowling and you have done ‘the strike dance’. Maybe it has not been that you have won something, but it certainly feels like it when you overcame a challenge or fi nished a major task and it felt like a win. I am sure that you have all experienced this and seen others that have experienced it too. I wonder if that is how Jesus would have felt when he rose from the dead a er three days. I wonder what His face would have looked like or what He would have said when he came out from the tomb… (Get a couple of people to show their facial expressions and what they think Jesus would have said/yelled.) Let’s all have a go—you’re Jesus, conquering death and coming back to life and burs ng out of the tomb—on the count of three: one, two, three… Well, today as we think about Easter we can celebrate because Jesus overcame a huge challenge—he overcame death and defeated the Devil and established himself as the ruler of the world. He has full authority. No-one is more powerful than him and yet he wants to be your friend. I would like you all to help me with some ac ons so that we can all remember and celebrate this fact. Show the ac ons that you would like them to help you with; make sure that all adults and children are par cipa ng. • Chaos: wave your arms around in the air madly and say ‘boogity boogity’ over and over again, fast. • Overcame death: arms in muscle man pose like Mr Universe and roar ‘Aaagggh!’ like a giant. • All authority: one arm punching the sky (can add a jump too if you like) saying, ‘He’s the King of the World!’ • BFFs: high-fi ve the person next to you and say ‘You’re my BFF’ (Best Friend Forever). Okay, as I read the passage I want you to be listening for those words (Chaos, Overcame death, All Authority and BFF); when you hear the words I want you all to do your ac on and make the sound. ‘When God created the world, it was perfect. But when Adam and Eve chose to sin, into the world came chaos. Even though God tried to warn people to obey and honour him, they seemed to prefer the chaos. Finally, God sent his own son, Jesus to help people. But Satan wasn’t very happy about this, he liked chaos. When Jesus died on the cross, Satan was happy, but three days later, Jesus rose from the dead: he overcame death. Yes, he overcame death. Did I men on that Jesus overcame death? Okay. When that had happened, Jesus told his followers that all authority had been given to him and he could give all authority to his followers to do miracles and wonders in his name. Jesus wanted to be BFF with his disciples and he wants to be BFF with you, too!’ Tying In I wonder… Each child will need a blank sheet of paper either A4 or A3 and some drawing implements. Using the paper and drawing implements provided think about one of the following ques ons and ponder what sort of expression Jesus might have had. Create an image that shows what you think in regards to the following. → I wonder what Jesus looked like when He overcame death… when he won… and was given ALL the power… (draw this) → I wonder if Jesus was excited when He came out of the tomb… (draw this) ‘You know, Jesus was indeed victorious at Easter, but he wasn’t thrilled because of how clever or strong or tricky or amazing he was—he was thrilled because he had fulfi lled the mission that God gave him on Earth, he was thrilled because Satan was defeated, and he was thrilled because all of us now have a new hope. We share in his victory!’ Let’s Celebrate… ‘As we fi nish today let’s celebrate in prayer.’ Get all the children to stand in a circle and think about how they would feel if they had just won something or overcome something amazing. Ask them to come up with an ac on and a phrase that celebrates who Jesus is and what He did for us at Easter, e.g. Jesus you are amazing! Jesus you are king of the world! etc. Take turns going around the circle and showing their ac on and phrase—ask all the other children and leaders to copy the ac on and phrase and then move onto the next person. Finish by saying ‘Thank you, Jesus’ together.

Home & Beyond

Print off the ‘Home & Beyond’ cards a ached. The children might like to keep these in their journals or notebook where they could write or s ck the challenges, refl ect, answer ques ons or complete ac vi es each week. Review the message... Provide each child with the outline of the ac ons and the story that you used today in the lesson. Encourage them to repeat the message a couple of mes throughout the week with their family so that they can celebrate the good news together. Pray at the end, thanking and celebra ng how Jesus has rescued us. At Easter we celebrate because Jesus overcame a huge challenge—he overcame death and defeated the Devil and established himself as the ruler of the world. He has full authority. No-one is more powerful than him and yet he wants to be your friend. Do some ac ons to help remember and celebrate this fact. • Chaos: wave your arms around in the air madly and say ‘boogity boogity’ over and over again, fast. • Overcame death: arms in muscle man pose like Mr Universe and roar ‘Aaagggh!’ like a giant. • All authority: one arm punching the sky (can add a jump too if you like) saying, ‘He’s the King of the World!’ • BFFs: high-fi ve the person next to you and say ‘You’re my BFF’ (Best Friend Forever). Read the passage below and do the ac ons together. ‘When God created the world, it was perfect. But when Adam and Eve chose to sin, into the world came chaos. Even though God tried to warn people to obey and honour him, they seemed to prefer the chaos. Finally, God sent his own son, Jesus to help people. But Satan wasn’t very happy about this, he liked chaos. When Jesus died on the cross, Satan was happy, but three days later, Jesus rose from the dead: he overcame death. Yes, he overcame death. Did I men on that Jesus overcame death? Okay. When that had happened, Jesus told his followers that all authority had been given to him and he could give all authority to his followers to do miracles and wonders in his name. Jesus wanted to be BFF with his disciples and he wants to be BFF with you, too!’

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At Easter we celebrate because Jesus overcame a huge challenge—he overcame death and defeated the the defeated and death overcame challenge—he huge a overcame Jesus because celebrate we Easter At Review the message... the Review JuniorUnit 11Soldiers : Lesson 5 How do you know that your prayers are answered? PURPOSE : For the children to explore and understand that God ALWAYS hears and listens to us when we pray. ‘We are certain that God will hear our prayers when we ask for what pleases him.’ 1 John 5:14 (CEV) Consider & Prepare Read: Daniel 6:4–28 1 Samuel 1:9–20 Jonah 2 2 Corinthians 12:7–10 Most children have a simple understanding of prayer, mainly asking God for things, praying for others and thanking him for what they have. This lesson aims to extend their understanding of prayer and to explore some of the harder ques ons like: How do I know that God has heard me? How do I know that he has answered me? Why is it that some mes, when I pray, God doesn’t seem to give me an answer? When Jesus called on God to raise Lazarus from the dead, he said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefi t of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.’ (John 11:41–42) Further assurance comes in 1 John 5:14, ‘This is the confi dence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.’ The Bible is full of faithful people who prayed and believed that God heard them. Some of these that we will look at in this lesson are Daniel, Hannah, Jonah and Paul. Jesus also tells us the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1–8) to remind us to not give up on our prayers. This lesson will look at some of these examples and allow children to examine how faithfulness and perseverance in prayer are essen al. Read over these Bible stories before the lesson and spend some me looking at how these Bible characters lived out their prayer life. Spend some me with God, refl ec ng on what you are praying about, and what prayers He has answered for you. What prayers are you s ll wai ng to be answered? Perhaps God has given you an answer that was not what you were expec ng or hoping for. It is important to remember that there are some serious issues we might face in life. Many people will pray about these issues but feel that God is either not present or not answering their prayers. For example, ques ons like, ‘Why doesn’t God choose to heal my loved one with cancer?’ aren’t easily answered. Regardless of whether God says, ‘Yes’, ‘No’ or ‘Not yet, we need to hold fi rmly to the fact that he is the sovereign God and he is there for us to cast all our cares on, ‘because he cares for you’ (1 Peter 5:7). It is really important in this lesson, as leaders, to be prepared and have thought about your own responses to the topic but especially to the ques ons within the ‘Tying In’ sec on. This is a diffi cult topic that even many adults struggle with but if we are going to help our children to tackle the tough topics they need to see how prayer works in real life. It is very powerful to share your own stories with the children; it will help to make more links from the concept into their world and to help them to see how others have navigated these sorts of situa ons.

What you will need: For ‘ConnecƟ ng In’ • Duplo or coloured wooden blocks • Printed sets of instruc ons for each group For ‘The Main Thing’ • Sheets of A3 or butchers paper • Textas • Bibles For ‘Tying In’ • Four sheets of coloured paper per child • Textas For ‘Home & Beyond’ • Print off the ‘Home & Beyond’ cards for each child. Connecting In Build it up… For this ac vity, each group will need a set of Duplo blocks or coloured wooden blocks that can be stacked on top of each other in order to make a tower. You will need to divide your group into at least two teams (more if needed) and, if there are only a few children in each group, they can keep having more turns un l all the instruc ons are fi nished. You will need to have a printed copy of prepared instruc ons for each group. Each set of instruc ons will be diff erent. Two examples of these instruc ons are provided below; you may need to create another set if you have more than two groups. • ‘Today we are going to par cipate in a relay race.’ • One person from each group will need to stand out the front of the room with the instruc ons for their team. • The rest of the group will be at the other end of the room with the container of blocks. • When you say go, one person from the block end needs to go to the team member out the front and received the fi rst instruc on, go back to the blocks and begin their tower. • Con nue un l all instruc ons have been given and the tower is complete. • Once all the teams are fi nished take the instruc ons and compare them to the fi nished tower to see that the right colours have been put in the right order. • ‘Well done to those who have all the blocks in the right order.’ Example of two sets of instruc ons for two groups: Set 1 1. You need to fi nd a blue block. This goes on the bo om. 2. You need to fi nd a red block. This goes on top of the blue block. 3. You need to fi nd a yellow block. This goes on top of the red block. 4. You need to fi nd a green block. This goes on top of the yellow block. 5. You need to fi nd a red block. This goes on the top. Set 2 1. You need to fi nd a green block. This goes on the bo om. 2. You need to fi nd a red block. This goes on top of the green block. 3. You need to fi nd a blue block. This goes on top of the red block. 4. You need to fi nd a green block. This goes on top of the blue block. 5. You need to fi nd a yellow block. This goes on the top.

Link: ‘Well, we have just played a game where we know—by each team comple ng the task correctly—that they have heard the clues given to them by their team member. They heard the instruc on and went and put the appropriate coloured block into their tower, this shows they have heard the instruc ons. ‘Today we are going to be thinking about prayer and how we know God has heard what we have prayed about; we will explore how we might look for evidence that he has heard and responded to our prayers. Like in the game we played, we saw the evidence of people having heard the instruc ons because of where they placed there blocks; we can see evidence around us that shows that God has heard our prayers. ‘I wonder if you have ever had a me when you think that God has not heard or answered your prayers. (Allow opportunity for the children to respond.) ‘I like to think of prayer as a conversa on between me and God. You have conversa ons with lots of people every day but if we think speciﬁ cally about our conversa ons with our parents, that will help us best (though not totally) to understand our conversa ons with God and how he might respond. ‘There might be mes when we ask our parents for things—for example, ‘Can I go to play at my friend’s house tomorrow?’, ‘Can you buy me that video game?’, ‘Can you take me to the park?’ etc. They will generally say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, some mes they might say ‘Maybe’ or ‘Not right now’. When parents say ‘no’ to us, it might be because they don’t think that something is good for us, not a wise choice or perhaps it doesn’t ﬁ t into the schedule. Most parents, because they love their children, will not generally say ‘no’ just to be mean. Most parents want the best for their children and want to help their children navigate life by making wise choices. ‘This is just like God, he loves us so much and wants good things for us, we are told this in Ma hew 7: 7–12, that God is our Heavenly Father and he loves to give us good gi s. He also, like our parents, wants to help us navigate through life by making wise choices. When we pray and ask God for things, he may respond like our parents with a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ or ‘not yet’. The response is not always what you expect or want but you can trust that God always hears your prayers. Let’s look at 1 John 5:14–15 - ‘We are certain that God will hear our prayers when we ask for what pleases him. And if we know that God listens when we pray, we are sure that our prayers have already been answered.’

The Main Thing People praying in the Bible… For this sec on you will need some sheets of A3 or butchers paper, some Bibles and textas. In this sec on, the children will have the opportunity to explore together some Bible characters and how they prayed in par cular circumstances, as well as looking for evidence as to how they know God has heard and responded to their prayers. It would be good to divide the children into small groups. Depending on the number of small groups that you have, give each group one or two of the passages below for them to look at and explore and have them report back to the whole group on their fi ndings. Using the paper and textas provided, create a character profi le with pictures and informa on about the person outlined in the passage as you respond to the ques ons. ‘We have talked together about the answers that our parents might give us when we ask them for things and how this might help us understand how God responds to our prayers. I am sure there are mes when you can see clear evidence of how God has responded to your prayers but then other mes when you are not so sure if he has heard or responded. All of us—grownups, teenagers, children—struggle with this at diff erent mes. If you ever feel like this, it is important to chat to someone you trust, e.g. parents, Big Bud, trusted leader or friend etc. But remember that God does hear our prayers. We are going to explore some Bible passages now and have a look at how some people prayed and the evidence that might have told them that God had heard and responded to their prayers.’ Explore the following ques ons in small groups in rela on to this passage. • Who is the person who is praying? • What can you tell us about this person? • How did they pray? • What did they talk to God about? • What evidence is there to show that God has heard and responded to their prayers? • I wonder if the answer that God gave was what they expected. • Daniel 6:4–28 → Daniel → Three mes a day, on his knees → He is faithful → He gave thanks to God → Darius prayed that God would rescue Daniel → Daniel was saved from the Lions • 1 Samuel 1:9–20 → Hannah → She is brokenhearted → She prayed silently for a long me → She told the Lord about her problems → She asked God for a baby → God gave her a son • Jonah 2 → Jonah → Stuck in a whale → He tells the story of how God has rescued him → He makes a promise to always serve him → God makes the fi sh vomit Jonah up onto land • 2 Corinthians 12:7–10 → Paul → Begged three mes for suff ering to stop → He is sharing God’s answer to prayer with everyone → God has let him know that his grace is enough • Luke 18:1–8 → Parable that Jesus told about the widow and the judge → She kept pestering the judge asking him to be fair → The judge ended up helping her because he thought she would con nue to bother him → Jesus said to pray to God day and night When the groups have fi nished their profi les bring them back together to share with the others what they have found out. ‘You know, God doesn’t change. The God that these people we’ve heard about prayed to, is the same God we pray to. And if we’ve read today of the evidence of God hearing someone’s prayer and answering it, why should we doubt that God will hear our prayer and answer it? God is God: always has been, always will be. And one of the things he does is answer prayer when the nature of our prayer pleases him and isn’t just about our own selfi sh desires or wishes.’ Tying In What do you think? For this ac vity each child will need four sheets of coloured paper, on one sheet write the le er A, on another write B, on another write C and the fi nal one write D. During this ac vity, the children will have the opportunity to express what they think of the following ques ons. Each ques on and the answer op ons will be read out slowly and then the children will be given the opportunity to hold up the piece of paper that corresponds to the response that best suits what they think. A er the children have shared their responses to the ques on, allow some me for them to make comments if they would like about what they think. Some clarifying ques ons that you might like to use are: ‘Can you tell me why you chose that response? Can you tell me some more about that? Why?’ etc. 1. Prayer is: A. Saying special words over and over B. Asking God for things C. Having a conversa on with God D. All of the above 2. Who can pray? A. Anyone B. Only adults C. Only people who have never made an unwise choice D. All of the above 3. What can we pray about? A. Something that is worrying us B. Anything at all C. People who are sick D. All of the above 4. Do you pray? A. Every day B. Some mes C. Hardly ever D. All the me 5. Do you think that God hears your prayers? A. No B. Yes C. Some mes D. I don’t know ‘Today we have looked at some people in the Bible and how they prayed as well as how they could see that God had responded to their prayers. You have also just had the opportunity to share some of your thoughts on prayer, this will help you as you refl ect on the next ac vity we are going to do in our small groups. Just like we looked at the passages from the Bible and asked some ques ons about the people in them, we are going to ask those same ques ons about ourselves. In small groups explore the following ques ons together, think about these ques ons in rela on to yourself, who you are, how you like to pray and evidence that you have seen about how God has answered your prayers. (It is important that each leader is willing to share their own answers to these ques ons so that the children can see another example of God answering prayer in real life.) When fi nished sharing in small groups, it is important that the leader prays with and for each of the children. Read together the following verse: ‘Always be full of joy. Never stop praying. Whatever happens, always be thankful. This is how God wants you to live in Christ Jesus.’ 1 Thessalonians 5: 16–18

Home & Beyond Print oﬀ the ‘Home & Beyond’ cards a ached. The children might like to keep these in their journals or notebook where they could write or s ck the challenges, reﬂ ect, answer ques ons or complete ac vi es each week. Prayer List… • During the week, write a list or some notes about some of the things you have been talking with God about. • In coming days, look back over the list and see where God has been answering prayers. • Ask your family or Big Bud if there is something they would like you to pray for and add it to your list. • Place this verse somewhere that you will remember to read it throughout the week. ‘Always be full of joy. Never stop praying. Whatever happens, always be thankful. This is how God wants you to live in Christ Jesus.’ 1 Thessalonians 5: 16–18

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Prayer List… List… Prayer List… Prayer JuniorUnit 11Soldiers : Lesson 6 The Generals! PURPOSE : For the children to explore and understand how God has used key people in The Salvation Army; this lesson will focus specifi cally on the importance of the role of the General. ‘The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’ 1 Samuel 16:7 Consider & Prepare Read: The Salva on Army Year Book contains a brief explana on of the High Council (that elects each General) as well as a photo and brief bio of each General the Army has had. If you want to look deeper, read Inside a High Council, a book by John Larsson, or The People’s General, a tribute book to General Eva Burrows. The interna onal leader of The Salva on Army is given the rank of General and is based at Interna onal Headquarters in London. There have only ever been 20 Generals of the Army, including two Australians, George Carpenter and Eva Burrows; the fi rst General was our Founder, William Booth. Each General is elected to offi ce by a the High Council, this council is made up of the leaders of Salva on Army territories around the world—at the 2013 High Council, 117 offi cers met for six days before elec ng General André Cox into offi ce. The role of General carries a great deal of responsibility, not only for upholding the legal and ethical responsibili es of a church denomina on opera ng in (currently) 125 countries around the world, but the General also has the opportunity— with the Holy Spirit’s guidance—to set the spiritual direc on of the Army. Salva onists look back and discuss the legacy of diff erent Generals: how was the direc on and tone of the Army’s work and worship impacted by a General? So each General gives much thought and prayer to their me in offi ce and planning for the future of the Army. For this reason, the choice of General is incredibly important. In this lesson we will have an opportunity to discuss the Generals of The Salva on Army, but more importantly, we will consider the gi of leadership and what quali es we look for in a leader. What you will need: For ‘The Main Thing’ • A copy of the picture chart in Appendix A for each child • Pens or pencils • Paper to write on For ‘Home & Beyond’ • Print off the ‘Home & Beyond’ cards for each child. Connecting In Who would you follow? For this ac vity it would be good to divide the children into pairs. Each pair will have to agree on a leader they would like to have in charge for the following ac vi es. This leader can be anyone: a famous person, a celebrity or someone they know who has the right quali es. For example, if you had to choose someone to run as fast as they can around the block, who would you pick? Some children might choose Usain Bolt while others might choose their big brother or the fastest runner at their school. There are no wrong answers. Below are some examples for you to use with the children, but you might like to come up with your own, too: • Who would you choose to lead a team asked to cook a fantas c three-course dinner? • Who would you choose to star in a movie about Superman? • Who would you choose to sing the lead in a famous pop group? • Who would you choose to lead an expedi on into Africa? • Who would you choose to be the mayor in charge of your town or suburb? • Who would you choose to lead a team to renovate your house? Link… ‘I hope you had some fun choosing some leaders and key people for those tasks. It’s always a challenge picking a leader when there is a group of people involved: how do you decide which one has the quali es that make them a good leader? Can you tell me a me at school when a leader had to be picked—maybe it was for a school project or a spor ng team or even a school captain? (Take some examples from the group.) ‘You know, The Salva on Army is a big church, we operate in 125 countries round the world and have nearly two million members. Imagine picking one person to lead all of that. And yet, we do! We have a General who is the interna onal leader of The Salva on Army and is based in London but travels all around the world to visit members of The Salva on Army. The current General is a man called General André Cox and he became General in August 2013. ‘Today we are going to look at the people that God has chosen to be the General of The Salva on Army and we are going to think about how you pick a good leader.’ The Main Thing Guess Who… This ac vity is based on the game Guess Who, where you pick a person from a group of people provided on the board and then the other person asks you ques on based on physical characteris cs in order to discover who was selected. You will need to print off a copy of Appendix A for each child. You might also like to have the images on the projector screen if you are able. The children will also need some pens or pencils to cross out people they have ruled out. When each child has the sheet provided and a pen, you will need to select a General—but don’t tell anyone—and then invite the children to ask ques ons about physical characteris cs that will help them to eliminate the other Generals that have not been chosen. Ques ons should be broad ques ons about physical characteris cs, e.g. does your General wear glasses? Not, ‘Is your General the second one on the top row?’ Have the children con nue to ask ques ons un l there is only one General le on their sheet. ‘Is this your General?’ Once they have picked the General you selected, tell them a li le about that General (see Appendix B). You can play the game several mes. The last me you play, select General André Cox. ‘Our current General, André Cox, was born in Zimbabwe to an English father and Swiss mother, they were Salva on Army offi cers serving there. The General spent his childhood years in Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom, before moving to Switzerland, where he met his wife, Silvia, and from where they entered training to become Salva on Army offi cers, taking up their fi rst appointments in 1979.

‘In July 2013, the High Council was called to London where—on Saturday 3 August—he was elected as The Salva on Army’s 20th General. ‘Selec ng a leader is not always an easy thing to do. When that High Council met, there were 117 offi cers in the room and the process started with lots of prayer and discussion about the needs of The Salva on Army and the challenges it was facing interna onally at the me. Then people were asked to nominate someone for the posi on of General. ‘If a person was nominated and accepted the nomina on, they were then asked some ques ons about what they would do as General and their thoughts on The Salva on Army, and they also had the chance to make a speech about what sort of leader they would be and what issues were important to them. ‘Well, we’re not going to elect a General, but we are going to elect a school captain. I’ve decided that you are all students at …………. Corps Primary School (enter the name of your corps) and we need a new school captain. You can nominate whoever you want to be the captain and then it’s up to them if they want to accept the nomina on or decline it. ‘Once we have three people who have accepted nomina on, they will all go away to another room (with another leader, preferably; get a volunteer or Big Bud to help out for the morning if you need to) and plan a one-minute speech about why they should be our school captain (they can write it down if they want to). While they’re doing that, the rest of you will be discussing ques ons to ask of our nominees and then we’ll pick two ques ons to ask each nominee—so we need six diff erent ques ons in all. ‘Once we’re all ready, the nominees will come back in and each one will make their speech and be asked their two ques ons, then we’ll vote by wri ng down on a slip of paper—so it’s a secret—who you want to be school captain. Alright, let’s hear who you want to nominate.’ Once you’ve sorted out your three nominees, send them off to another room and everyone has about ten minutes to prepare. Call them back, go through the process, cast a silent vote and then count the votes and announce your winner.

‘Well, we have a school captain. Unfortunately, we’re not a real school—so you’re fi red! Alright, was that an interes ng ac vity to do?’ (Get a few responses.) → For those who were nominated, how did that feel? → For those who weren’t nominated, how did that feel? → For the nominees, was it easy or hard to prepare your speech? → For the voters, was it easy or hard to decide who to vote for? ‘Now, remember, there are only …… of us here but there were 117 members at the High Council. And we were just deciding who to be school captain not the leader of an interna onal church. So the job at High Council is both very complex and very serious. ‘That’s why every High Council starts with lots of prayer for guidance from God that the right person will be picked. It’s not just about picking the smartest person or the tallest person or the best looking person, it’s about picking the person right for the job. ‘Remember the ac vity we started with, picking someone to cook a dinner, renovate a house, lead us to Africa? It was important that we thought about what sort of person we needed before we decided who to pick. I might pick Jamie Oliver to cook my dinner but I probably wouldn’t pick him to renovate my house or sing in a pop band! ‘Let’s see what the Bible says about picking a leader.’ Tying In Saying Yes… ‘The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’ 1 Samuel 16:7 Read the verse out and ask the children what they think it means. What does it mean to ‘look’ at someone’s heart? ‘You know, being elected as leader of an interna onal organisa on like The Salva on Army must be an amazing feeling. A General must feel very proud and big-headed and like they’re the best Salva on Army offi cer in the world and a super Chris an. Is that right? How do you think you would respond if you were made General? (Give them a chance to respond.) → Would you feel scared of your new responsibili es? → What you be bossy and order everyone around? → Would you treat your old friends the same or diff erent now? → Does it mean you’re always right just because you’re the General? ‘At the 1999 High Council when Commissioner John Gowans was nominated as General—which he later won—he thought: ‘It was not that I thought I might be chosen for offi ce by my peers, but I did know that God o en chooses the weak for his purposes. If He wanted to make such a choice, I should not deprive Him of the opportunity. I did not nominate myself. I could not approve myself. In an odd way, I felt safe and at peace.’ ‘Commissioner Gowans felt comfortable because he knew God was in control. If He became General, it was God’s will. If he didn’t become General, well, that was God’s will. Commissioner Gowans’ job was to make sure his heart was right, because he knew God would judge him by his faith and his love of Christ and his love of people, above all else. ‘Remember, God doesn’t judge us by out outward appearance, but by our heart. Let’s fi nish by praying for the General.’ Home & Beyond Print off the ‘Home & Beyond’ cards a ached. The children might like to keep these in their journals or notebook where they could write or s ck the challenges, refl ect, answer ques ons or complete ac vi es each week. Thanks… • Throughout the week pray for your Junior Soldier leader, corps offi cer and for General André Cox and the leadership of each of these people. • Take me to thank some important leaders you know for what they do, e.g. your school principal, teacher, corps offi cer, spor ng coach, hobby group leader, music teacher etc. • You might like to write them a note of apprecia on or make a card to say THANKS.

cer cer cer

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on or make a card to to card a make or on on or make a card to to card a make or on

cer, spor cer, spor cer,

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say THANKS. say say THANKS. say

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• Take Take • Take •

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Thanks… Thanks…

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• Take Take • Take •

Thanks… Thanks… Appendix A

George Carpenter William Booth Bramwell Booth Edward Higgins Evangeline Booth

Albert Orsborn Wilfred Kitching Frederick CouƩ s Erik Wickberg Clarence Wiseman

Arnold Brown Jarl Wahlstrom Eva Burrows Bramwell Tillsley Paul Radar

John Gowans John Larsson Shaw CliŌ on Linda Bond André Cox Appendix B 1. William Booth and his wife Catherine were the Founders of The Salva on Army. He was born in No ngham in England in 1829 and, as a young man, became a minister in the Methodist Church before star ng The Salva on Army. 2. Bramwell Booth was the eldest son of William and Catherine. His fi rst name was actually William, too, but that was confusing so everyone used his middle name, Bramwell. He became General in 1912 when his father died. 3. Edward Higgins had been Chief of the Staff (that is, second-in-charge) to Bramwell and then became General when Bramwell died in 1929. He—obviously—wasn’t a Booth and was the fi rst General elected by a High Council. 4. Evangeline Booth was a daughter of William and Catherine and became the fourth General of The Salva on Army. Before becoming General, Evangeline led the work of The Salva on Army in America for 30 years! 5. George Carpenter became General in 1939. He was an Australian (yay!) born in the NSW town of Raymond Terrace and had worked mainly in editorial and literary work in Australia and England and was a well-known writer. 6. Albert Orsborn was an English offi cer, voted in as the sixth General of The Salva on Army. He was also a very popular songwriter and poet and many of his songs are in The Salva on Army songbook. 7. Wilfred Kitching became a Salva on Army offi cer when he was only 20 years old and was elected as General in 1954. He served as General for nine years and was known for travelling all around the world to visit Army services. 8. Frederick Cou s served in the English Royal Air Force before joining the Army—The Salva on Army! He was a very though ul man and wrote several books, especially on holiness. He was a gi ed teacher and speaker. 9. Erik Wickberg was the fi rst European General, born in Switzerland in 1904. He was fl uent in Swedish, German, French and English and a gi ed chess player, once defea ng the Swiss na onal champion. 10. Clarence Wiseman was the fi rst General to come from Canada. He served as an offi cer in Africa and, as General, was very suppor ve of advancing the work of the Army in Africa and other developing countries. 11. Arnold Brown was a gi ed preacher and writer and also pioneered the Army’s work in media, promo ng the use of radio and television in America, Canada and Australia. He was General from 1977 to 1981. 12. Jarl Wahlstrom was born in Finland and served The Salva on Army in Finland, Sweden, Canada and the United Kingdom. He also led a six-day Holy Land Congress involving 1,500 delegates from 23 countries. 13. Eva Burrows was General from 1986 to 1993 and became known as ‘The People’s General’ because of her love of being with people and travelling the world. An Australian offi cer, she was born in NSW and grew up in Queensland. 14. Bramwell Tillsley is a Canadian offi cer who became General in July 1993 and resigned from offi ce only 11 months later due to a serious heart condi on and health issues. He is a gi ed writer and speaker. 15. Paul Rader was the fi rst ever American General. With mul ple university degrees and doctorates he was and is one of the Army’s leading thinkers on ma ers of doctrine and theology. That means: he’s very smart. 16. John Gowans was born in Scotland and became General in 1999. A gi ed poet, writer and lyricist, he wrote 10 musicals for The Salva on Army with another offi cer, John Larsson, wri ng the music to accompany Gowans’ lyrics. 17. John Larsson followed his good friend John Gowans as General; between them they wrote ten musicals for The Salva on Army, Larsson being a gi ed songwriter and musician. He served as General from 2002–2006. 18. Shaw Cli on worked hard at establishing the Army in countries it had never operated before; while he was General our work grew from being in 111 countries to 123, including Greece, Nepal and Kuwait. 19. Linda Bond was the third female General of The Salva on Army and was born in Canada. She served as territorial commander of the Australia Eastern Territory from 2008–2011 before becoming General. JuniorUnit 11Soldiers : Lesson 7 Parable of the Talent s PURPOSE : For the children to explore and understand that God asks us to be faithful and true in how we use the talents, gifts, relationships and opportunities he gives us.

‘Each of you has been blessed with one of God’s many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. So use your gifts well!’ 1 Peter 4:10 (CEV)

Read:Consider & Prepare Read Ma hew 25:14–30 Access ‘The Parable of the Talents’ on the Max7 website (www.max7.org/resource.aspx?id=c78994a7-b082-46bf-a2c4- c116d5cbe990&crea nguser=1). It can also be found on YouTube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQOPwZpRoI8). The parable of the talents is a well-known story Jesus told to help people understand what is required of us when it comes to using what God has blessed us with. This parable may not be too familiar to the children, so this is a great opportunity for you to explore this story with them.

In the parable, the fi rst and second servants both received the same recogni on and praise from the master—which helps to remind us that the parable is not about the total amount they earned but, rather, the faithful responsibility in living up to one’s poten al and gi edness. Some of the children might fi nd it diffi cult to understand how the master could throw the third servant out of the kingdom. The third servant, even though he had not mul plied the money that he was entrusted with, had looked a er it, and so the master’s ac ons might seem harsh and unfair. Again, this is a great opportunity to work through this passage with the children and wrestle with what this might mean for them. With all that God gives us, it is important to look at the consequences associated with us not using those opportuni es and gi s from God. Think about a gi that you have spent me planning and saving for so that you could give it to someone, and then—when they have received it—they leave it in the box and don’t use it. I wonder how you would feel. Imagine how God feels when he gi s us with things and we don’t use them as we should. This parable has some tricky elements to it and we encourage you to do a li le more research than just reading the Bible passage; maybe you can also read about these verses in a Bible commentary or discuss the passage with your small group or ask your offi cer about it. We can’t expect the children to understand it if we don’t understand it ourselves. What you will need: For ‘ConnecƟ ng In’ • Money (real, fake, Monopoly or chocolate coins will do) • Sheets of A4 paper • Butchers paper or whiteboard • Pens or markers • Playdough • Box or bag • Slips of paper For ‘The Main Thing’ • For Op on 1: a DVD/computer loaded with the video clip • For Op on 2: a Bible or copy of the verses printed on sheets and props if you would like • Paper, pens, money (real or otherwise) • Bag or box, pieces of paper with ‘talents’ wri en on them • Butchers paper, Bibles and textas For ‘Tying In’ • Packet of seeds • $5 note • Gree ng card • A3 paper and textas For ‘Home & Beyond’ • Print off the ‘Home & Beyond’ cards for each child.

ConnectingAll that cash… In Place a large amount of money on a table in front of the children. (You could use real money although I would not recommend this; gold chocolate coins, Monopoly money or even pieces of paper with dollar values wri en on them will suffi ce.) For this ac vity it would be good to divide the children into small groups or pairs and give each group some paper and textas. You might like enough money so that each group has their own that they can hold as they work on this ac vity together. • Ask the children in their groups to decide: if this was their money, how would they spend it? What would they do with it? • Give the groups a me limit and then, when everyone is fi nished, ask the groups to share what they have decided. • On a whiteboard or large sheet of butchers paper have a grid divided into three sec ons with the headings ‘Spend it on others’, ‘Spend it on yourself’ and ‘Invest it’. • Ask the children to go through their lists and to work out which items fi t into each of the three categories and write them on the whiteboard/paper. Link: ‘It would be really nice to receive this money as a gi to be able to spend as you would like. I wonder, though, if someone in your family gave you this money and said that you must return it to them in a year, what would you do with the money? (Give the children some me to respond to this ques on and add any new thoughts to the paper or whiteboard.) ‘Jesus told a parable about some people who faced this exact situa on. Before their master went away on a long trip, he gave each of his servants a diff erent sum of money to look a er while he was gone. They had to make a very important decision: what were they going to do with the money that they had been trusted to look a er? How would they use it? They probably knew that when their master returned home, he would ask them what they did with it. I wonder what they did. Today we are going to explore what each of the servants did, how the master responded and what that might mean for each of us.’ What’s my talent? For this ac vity you will need a box or bag and some slips of paper that includes a variety of examples of skills, talents, abili es and spiritual gi s. For examples: music, dance, encouragement, a great smile, being friendly, caring, joyful, sense of humour, helping others, cooking, teaching, reading, wri ng, drawing, singing, sport, talking, listening etc. You might like to use any of the above or come up with some of your own. You will also need some playdough, whiteboard or butchers paper and appropriate markers for this ac vity. ‘Today we are going to play a game a bit like charades, however, it is not just about ac ng out what is on the slip of paper that you choose. You will also be given one of three ways that you will have to use to communicate what is on the slip of paper: ac ng it out, making it out of playdough or drawing it on the board/paper.’ • Explain to the children that the things that are wri en on the slips of paper are things that you would consider skills, talents, abili es, spiritual gi s and things that you might be good at. • Choose one child to start the game, once they have chosen the slip of paper from the box/bag have a leader tell them which of the three ways that they are going to use to try and communicate it. • Provide a me limit for the children to try and communicate what they have on their slip (e.g. one minute). • The other children must a empt to guess the ‘talent’ that is being drawn, constructed or acted out. • Have the child that has just fi nished their turn choose the next child to par cipate. • You may not get through all the children depending on the size of your group. • As the ‘talents’ are guessed, place them on the table for all to see. Link: ‘Today we have done an ac vity that helped us consider some of the things that we might be good at; you might call these skills or talents. There are diff erent things that each of us do well. There are also some skills and talents we have that God gives us and some people might refer to these as spiritual gi s or gi s from God. → If someone gives you a gi or a present what do you do with it? (Allow some me for the children to respond and talk about some of the gi s that they have received and how they have used them.) → I wonder if you have ever been given a gi that you have never taken out of the box or container and used. → I wonder how the person who gave you this gi might feel if they knew this. ‘Jesus told a parable about some people who faced a similar situa on to this. Before a master went away on a long trip, he gave his servants each a diff erent sum of money to look a er while he was gone. They had to make a very important decision: what were they going to do with the money that they had been trusted to look a er? How would they use it? They probably knew that when their master returned home, he would ask them what they did with it. I wonder what they did. Today we are going to explore what each of the servants did and how the master responded. ‘Many of the skills and talents that we are good at (that we looked at in the game) were given to us by God. If God has given them to us as a gi , I wonder how he might feel if we did not use them and use them well. Let’s explore this parable and what it might say to each of us about the things that we receive from God and how we might use them.’ The Main Thing I wonder… → I wonder if there is something that you might like to receive at the moment, perhaps for your birthday or next Christmas or maybe just because. Maybe a new bike, scooter, video game, iPad, book, clothes etc. (Allow a few moments for the children to respond.) → I wonder if you received that present if you would keep it in its box and not use it. Why/why not? (Again allow the children a few moments to respond.) → Imagine that you did leave that gi in its box; I wonder how the person who gave it to you would feel. ‘We have been talking about skills and talents and gi s, things that are given to us. Usually things that are given to us are meant to be used and enjoyed, not kept in a box. We are going to have a look at a parable that Jesus told that will help us to explore this idea further.’

Let’s explore the parable… ‘Parables are stories or illustra ons that Jesus used to help people understand who God is and what his Kingdom is like. The parable we are looking at today is called the parable of the talents and it is found in Ma hew 25. I wonder if any of you know about this parable and what Jesus was trying to help people understand. (Give the children an opportunity to respond and have discussion about which parable this is.) Let’s have a look together at what really happens in the parable and what Jesus might want us to take away from this passage.’ OpƟ on 1: Watch the Max7 clip ‘The Parable of the Talents’ (www.max7.org/resource.aspx?id=c78994a7-b082-46bf-a2c4- c116d5cbe990&crea nguser=1). OpƟ on 2: Read the passage in MaƩ hew 25: 14–30 and then read it again and have the children act out the roles • Before reading the passage, explain the meaning of the word ‘talent’ and how it is used in this parable. • ‘When we use the word talent we usually mean something that a person is good at. But in Bible mes, a ‘talent’ meant a lot of money—about the value of 20 years’ wages. That might be about $1.2 million today!’ • Invite some children to play the ‘master’ and ‘servant’ roles. The ‘master’ is to distribute the money as the parable is read. • Read the passage as the children act out their roles and what is happening. Following OpƟ on 1 or OpƟ on 2 For this sec on it would be good for the children to be in small groups and each group be given some butchers paper and textas as they explore the passage a li le more. Explore the following with the children in your small group. → I wonder what stood out for you in this parable. → What did you like about this parable? → What did you dislike? → Was there anything that you thought was unfair? Why? → Jesus used parables (stories) to help others understand a par cular message, I wonder what you think Jesus wanted people to see or understand from this parable about the talents. → I wonder if you see yourself in this parable: share with the group. → I wonder what you might have done with the talents if you were given them by the master. ‘The money from the master was not a gi . The master trusted each servant to use the money wisely and care for it while the master was away. What ma ered most to the master was not how much the servants were given or how much they returned to him, but what they did with what they were given. ‘When Jesus told parables he wasn’t just telling stories to amuse people or keep them entertained, he told them to teach a lesson about God and our rela onship with God and others. In this parable, Jesus teaches that God has given us each special talents, gi s and abili es and that we have a responsibility to use them to glorify God. ‘The servant who wasted his talent—remember, he buried it in a hole—was told oﬀ by the master. God doesn’t like it when he gives us the ability to do something special for him, and we don’t do it.’ Tying In

What will you do? ‘The parable of the talents helps to remind us that God wants to give us good things and trusts that the gi s he gives to us will be used well. We have many things to be thankful for, some big and some small things. It is important that we use all that God has given to us even when it might seem like a small thing.’ For this ac vity the children will need to be divided into three small groups (if you do not have enough children for three groups then you might like to choose one or two of the items below.) You will need a packet of seeds, an assortment of cards and a $5 note. • Each group will be given an item that they will be entrusted with from the list below, a sheet of paper and some textas to record their brainstorming. • Give the groups 60 seconds to brainstorm the best way to make our world be er, to encourage others or to serve someone using the li le things they have been given. • When the me is up, allow each group some me to share the ideas they have come up with. Examples of items: • Packets of seeds: Plant the seeds and grow the fl owers. Give the fl owers to someone, make an arrangement for church on Sunday. • Assortment of cards: Make more cards and send them to people who are sick or send a thank you. • $5 note: Give it in to the off ering on Sunday, buy someone a li le gi to encourage them. ‘Wow! What a great bunch of ideas to use a couple of small items to make a diff erence. I wonder how you might be using your own talents and the abili es that you have right now. I wonder if you are using them or if you might be burying them like the third servant.’

Prayer… For this sec on you will need some A3 sheets of paper, textas or other drawing implements. • Give each child a blank piece of paper. • Ask the children to write their name in the middle of the page. • Give the children a few minutes to refl ect and write down the gi s, talents, skill and opportuni es that they believe God has given them. (If some of the children are having diffi culty, you may need some leaders to help them talk through some op ons.) • Ask the children (when they are fi nished) to stop and refl ect on the good things that God has provided them with. Take some me to thank God for these things and helping you to use them the best you can. • Have the children stand in a circle holding their piece of paper out in front of them. • Encourage each of the children to pray for the child to their right, that God will help them to use their talents and give them opportuni es to do so. Home & Beyond Print off the ‘Home & Beyond’ cards a ached. The children might like to keep these in their journals or notebook where they could write or s ck the challenges, refl ect, answer ques ons or complete ac vi es each week. Using our giŌ s and talents…

• Talk with your family and Big Bud about the things you are good at and the things you like to do. • Ask them to share with you what they think your talents are. • I wonder how you might be able to use your talents for God. • Talk to your Big Bud about working on a project together where you can use some of your gi s to help others. If you are good at cooking you might like to make something together to serve at morning tea at church or to deliver as a gi to someone’s house. If you are good at drawing and wri ng you might like to work on some cards or le ers for people who you would like to encourage in the church, at your school, those who are unwell or someone who is serving overseas. If you are good at talking and making people laugh you might like to go and visit a nursing home or someone who is unwell. If you are a good helper then you might like to work together on helping someone around their house, in their garden or to do some shopping for them. There are lots of opportuni es to use your talents for God…be crea ve!

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Using our gi our Using gi our Using JuniorUnit 11Soldiers : Lesson 8 Bibles for All! PURPOSE : To help the children explore and understand that not everyone in the world has easy access to God’s Word, the Bible, and how they might be able to help with this.

‘He said to them, “Go everywhere in the world. Tell the good news to everyone.”’ Mark 16:15

Read:Consider & Prepare Mark 16:15 The story of Mary - www.biblesociety.org.uk/uploads/content/projects/mary_jones_story.pdf Social jus ce refers to the no on that everyone in the world can live safe and dignifi ed lives, unaff ected by discrimina on and inequality, and has basic human rights. Backing up this ideology is the belief that God created people to live that way but his perfect world was broken by sin. We believe that in the same way that the world was broken (by choosing sin) it can be made whole again (by choosing jus ce through Jesus). Although some complex issues are involved, social jus ce is also basic to our lives. It has an impact even on the playground when we are young. Li le kids have an innate sense of jus ce: just try distribu ng lollies unevenly and hear the instant and loud cries of injus ce, ‘That’s not fair!’ There is a deep sense within us of what is right. So what is injus ce? Injus ce is anything that oppresses and undermines a person’s right to live equally with others and fairly in life. Injus ce relates to greed, harmful prac ces and beliefs that diminish and o en humiliate people. From a Chris- an perspec ve it is anything out of line with the will of God. Is it God’s will that everyone should have access to the good news about Jesus? Yes, it is. Can we print enough Bibles so that everyone in the world could have one? Yes, we can. So what do we call it when some people have access to Bibles and some people don’t? We call it an injus ce. Today we are learning about the Bible Society and how we can help to spread the good news of Jesus around the world. The reason the Bible Society exists is because people either cannot earn enough to purchase their own Bible or do not know how to read. Through fundraising events that happen throughout the world, the Bible Society teaches and provides Bibles to diff erent countries. They have a specifi c project each year that children can especially be involved in to help provide access for children to God’s word. For 2014, the Bible Society is helping to put Bibles in the hands of children in China. When you download or receive your resource pack for the ‘Get The Word Out’ project, you will fi nd informa on about why China has been chosen as the country for this year. To fi nd out more about the Bible Society and what it does, you can look at their website at www.biblesociety. org.au For informa on about the project and resources for China in 2014, go to www.biblesociety.org.au/projects/get-the-word-out-in-china You can also call them on 1300 Bibles (1300 242 537) to place an order. What you will need: For ‘ConnecƟ ng In’ • A variety of approximately 20 items that range in value from under $1 to $10 • Bibles • A $10 note • Container with slips of paper for children’s names • Butchers paper or whiteboard and appropriate markers For ‘The Main Thing’ • Paper • Textas • Bible • Current resources from the Bible Society’s ‘Get The Word Out’ project. • www.biblesociety.org.au/projects/get-the-word-out-in-china For ‘Tying In’ • Bookmark/Bible tag template from the Bible Society website • Blank paper • Textas For ‘Home & Beyond’ • Print off the ‘Home & Beyond’ cards for each child. • Bookmark/Bible tag template (this can be found under the resources on the Bible Society website).

ConnectingThe price is right… In For this sec on you will need to have spread out on a table a variety of approximately 20 items that range in value. En- sure that you have some items that are worth the full amount of $10 (CDs, DVDs, iTunes card, magazines etc.) as well as some items that are under $1. You will need to know the exact cost of each item and have a list so that you can tally up the amount at the end of the challenge. You will also need to have a Bible (which will be counted as an item worth $10). You will also need to have all the children’s names on slips of paper that are folded and placed into a container. ‘Today we are going to play a game that is similar to one of the games you might have seen on the television game show The Price is Right. I am going to choose some volunteers by drawing one name at a me out of the container. These volunteers are going to come down the front to try and complete the spending challenge.’ (Choose your fi rst volunteer by drawing a name out of the container.) ‘For this challenge you will be given a $10 note—not to keep but for you to use for this ac vity. Your challenge is to choose items that will cost $10 in total. You can choose more than one item, e.g. a magazine and two packets of chips etc.’ Have someone recording the items that are chosen on a whiteboard or large sheet of butcher’s paper. Once the fi rst chosen volunteer has completed their turn, chose another name from the container. You can choose as many as you have me for. When all the turns are fi nished take some me to tally the results to see who got the closest to $10. They are the winner. Link: ‘There are a lot of good things on the table to choose from in our challenge today. Lots of the items were worth diff erent amounts. → I wonder, if you had $10 to spend down the street, what would you spend it on? What would you buy? ‘One of items on the table today was a Bible; I wonder how much your Bible cost. Perhaps someone bought it for you or you saved up some of your own money to have a par cular one that you liked. I wonder how many of you have more than one Bible or at least more than one Bible in the house. We are very fortunate to have our own Bibles or, at least, access to one in your house. Imagine what it would be like if you were not able to read about all the great stories and messages from God and Jesus—I know I would be very sad about that. ‘Well, there are many people in our world that do not have access to a Bible and there are heaps of children missing out on being able to read God’s Word. On the table today there was a Bible, if you had chosen just that you would have spent exactly $10. ‘Today we are going to explore a group called the Bible Society and how they go about helping people all around the world—including lots of children—have access to a Bible. Each year one of their special projects has a specifi c focus on children in a par cular country, this year it is China. People like you and me can go about helping the Bible Society and for just $10 can put a Bible in the hands of a child. I wonder if we can make a diff erence in China.’ Find the verse… Depending on the size of your group you may like to split the group into teams for this ac vity. If you do this, make sure that everyone gets a turn at helping to fi nd a verse. ‘Today we are going to have a Bible verse race against each other to fi nd selected verses from the Bible.’ Tell the children that once they (or their group) have found the verse that has been called out, they need to run to the front ready to read the verse aloud. You can either call out the verse that needs to be found or write in on a board out the front so that children can refer to it again if needed. When all the children for that turn have found the verse get them to read it out together. Some examples of verses to be found are: • Mark 16:15 • Ma hew 28:19 • John 3:16 • Proverbs 30:5 • Deuteronomy 6:5 • Psalm 139:14 • Isaiah 43:5 Link: ‘Well done to everyone for trying hard to fi nd and read out the verses that were selected today. We are very lucky to be able to play games like this where we can use and read God’s word. Did you know that not everyone can aff ord Bibles or knows how to read them? There are millions of people in the world that don’t have a Bible and would really love to either have one or access to reading one. ‘Today we are going to explore a group called the Bible Society and how they go about helping people all around the world—including lots of children—have access to a Bible. Each year one of their special projects has a specifi c focus on children in a par cular country, this year it is China. People like you and me can go about helping the Bible Society and for just $10 can put a Bible in the hands of a child. I wonder if we can make a diff erence in China.’ The Main Thing The Bible Society… The Bible Society has some great resources that are available to help support you in your ministry and working together with children and congrega ons on a project. A new project for children is set up each year with a focus on a specifi c country, this year it is China. You will be able to download or order the current resources from the Bible Society at www.biblesociety.org.au/projects/get-the- word-out-in-china The resources you are looking for are tled ‘Get The Word Out’ and include lesson ideas for helping to engage your children with the topic, games, cra s and prayer points as well as fundraising ideas and informa on about China. You might like to have a look at the sugges ons from the website along with the informa on below and plan out what you would like to do in this ‘Main Thing’ sec on, there might also be enough sugges ons and material for you to use over two sessions with the children.

Thankful… For this ac vity, you will need to give each child some paper and textas. Encourage the children to make quick responses as this should not be a long ac vity. ‘I am going to ask you some ques ons and I would like you to write or draw your responses on the sheet of paper that you have been given. There are no right or wrong answers, it is just your response. → What do you sleep in each night? → What do you eat for breakfast? → How many sets of clothes do you have to choose from when you are ge ng dressed? → How do you get to school? Is this the only way? → What chores do you have to do around the house? Each day/each week? → What do you choose to do when you get home from school? → When do you read your Bible? Invite the children to share their drawings/answers with the group. → ‘I wonder if you are thankful for all the things we have just spoken about. ‘Imagine if when you woke up in the morning it was so early that it was s ll dark outside and instead of being able to stay wrapped up in a blanket in a nice comfy bed, you needed to get up and do the chores in the house: making your bed, sweeping the fl oors, feeding the animals, and having to walk possibly a long way to get water. Then you might even need to come back to help prepare breakfast. But instead of ge ng to choose what cereal or toast you want to eat, or even having bacon and eggs for breakfast, you are lucky to have a small serve of rice every day. ‘What if when you went to get dressed you didn’t get to pick out your favourite clothes because you only had one pair of shorts and a T-shirt. Imagine if the only way you could get to school was to walk a very long way, and when you got home you had a small dinner before you had to do more chores before going to bed. ‘Imagine not having a Bible to read whenever you chose to, and even if you really wanted to have one your family could not aff ord one or you didn’t know how to read. ‘There are many children in the world who live like this every day. There are more than one billion people worldwide that earn less than $1.00 a day. The reality is that they will never be able to aff ord to buy a Bible because they need to use the li le money they earn to pay for important things such as food and shelter. ‘Back in 1804, a man named Thomas Charles, along with some others, realized this need—that people could not aff ord Bibles even if they really wanted to learn about God. So Thomas and the other men formed what we know today as the Bible Society. → I wonder if anyone has ever heard of the Bible Society and what they do. ‘The Bible Society provides Bibles to people in countries that really need them. They get lots of dona ons and people all over the world run fundraisers to help raise money to get Bibles into the hands of people who cannot aff ord them. This helps those people to then learn about God and have the opportunity to have a rela onship with him, just like we do. ‘Each year, children in schools and churches are invited to help out by taking part in the ‘Get The Word Out’ project. This project is aimed at a diff erent country each year and children are invited to raise as much money as they can to help provide Bibles for children in another country. This year (2014), the country is China.’ It would be a great idea to read out some informa on about this country that you can fi nd in the leader’s pack, the ‘Get The Word Out’ kids magazines or the DVD that should come with your pack. Get one of the children to look up Mark 16:5 in their Bible and read it out. → ‘I wonder what you think God is asking us to do.’ ‘To aid us in this task, we are taking on the project of raising some money to help get some Bibles into the hands of disad- vantaged children as our Global Project Task. For every $10 we raise (just like in our fi rst ac vity today, just $10) we can provide one children’s Bible and a specially designed bookmark which you can send to be placed in the Bible that will go to a child. So let’s get started!’ Use the rest of your lesson to plan out a fundraiser that your children can run to raise money to purchase Bibles for children in China. In the leader’s pack that you can download there are lots of ideas that can help in your brainstorm.

Some things to consider during your planning: • How will you communicate to the church that this is an important project for them to support? • What adver sing needs to be done? How will we do that? • What will each child be responsible for? Write these on the ‘Home & Beyond’ cards for each child. • How much work needs to be done between now and the fundraiser? Can the children complete most of this as part of their project or will they need some help and support? • What is your goal? How many Bibles does your group want to raise money for, e.g. $100 equals 10 Bibles? Having a goal will encourage others to be involved to help hit the target. Once you have planned out your fundraiser you can get the children to start doing some of the tasks with the me you have le or plan some me to meet together. For instance, if they need to make posters or write a speech, they can use this me to get started. Tying In By undertaking this Bible Society project you will be able to complete the Global Project Task in your passport for every level. Bookmarks… For this ac vity you will need to download the bookmark/Bible tag template from the resource pack on the Bible Society website. You will need two copies per child, one for this ac vity and one for the ‘Home & Beyond’ ac vity. ‘For every $10 that is raised, we are able to provide one Bible for a child in China. We also get to make a special bookmark/Bible tag that will go inside the cover of the Bible for the child to keep when they receive the Bible. On this bookmark we can write our names along with a message that could include a picture or a prayer or both. ‘We are going to spend some me now to create a bookmark/Bible tag for some of the Bibles that we will raise money for. (It would be good for each of the children to create a bookmark. However. if you do not raise enough to have one tag per Bible you can put some together and have two or three messages per Bible.) Brainstorm together about some of the things you might like to say to the child that is going to receive this Bible. Think about some ways that you might like to decorate it and possibly add a prayer, too.’ Prayer… Once the children have ﬁ nished their bookmarks/Bible tag, invite them to place it in front of them as they all sit in a circle. Encourage them to pray for the child that is going to receive their Bible. Some things that you might like to suggest they pray about are: • That the child who receives this Bible will come to know God and believe in Jesus. • That they will have enough of the important things that they need, e.g. food, water, clothes, shelter etc. • That they will have the opportunity to go to school/church and learn to read.

A er all the children have prayed, have a leader fi nish this me of prayer and thank God for the diff erence that the children in your group are making by being a part of this project. Home & Beyond Print off the ‘Home & Beyond’ cards a ached. The children might like to keep these in their journals or notebook where they could write or s ck the challenges, refl ect, answer ques ons or complete ac vi es each week. This will probably be a project that is ongoing and so it is important that everyone is aware what things that they need to do and follow up in the coming days as you work together as a team and encourage the rest of the congrega on to support you and get on board. You will also need to provide the children with another blank copy of the bookmark/Bible tag. Prepare and Pray… • List below the things you need to be responsible for in rela on to the Bible project. • • • • • Talk with your family and Big Bud so that they can support you in this project. • You can also make another bookmark/Bible tag for a child who will receive a Bible from you. • Remember to pray for them once you have made it!

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Prepare and Pray… and Prepare Pray… and Prepare JuniorUnit 11Soldiers : Lesson 9 Anzac Day! PURPOSE : For the children to explore and understand the link between the sacrifi ce made by the Anzacs for our bodies and the sacrifi ce Jesus Christ made for our souls. ‘Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.’ John 15:13 Consider & Prepare Read: Romans 5:6–8 John 15:7–17 The key message in this lesson is that a parallel can be made between the sacrifi ce that the Anzacs made for their countries and the sacrifi ce that Jesus made for humankind—both were made to provide freedom. The Anzacs brought poli cal and physical freedom whereas Jesus off ers spiritual and eternal freedom. Some of the words that are associated with the Anzacs are ‘courage, endurance, mateship and sacrifi ce’. There are many stories of men and women who sacrifi ced their comfort, freedoms and livelihood for others on the ba lefi eld; some, of course, gave the ul mate sacrifi ce of their life. There are also many stories, from across the centuries, of godly people who sacrifi ced their comfort and safety—and, yes, even their lives—to share the message of Christ’s sacrifi ce for us. God’s inten on has always been to be in rela onship with humankind, but since the fall (Genesis 2) we have sinned and turned away from God. We read verses such as John 3:16–17 reminding us that God provided a way for us to be in rela onship with Him again, but this came at a price. The sacrifi ce Jesus paid through His death and the victory he won in resurrec on means that sin is conquered and salva on is secured for everyone who believes in Him. We can experience freedom from sin and death and have assurance of eternal life when we believe in God because of Jesus’ sacrifi ce. Anzac Day is celebrated once a year, remembering the thousands of Australian and New Zealand lives given by men and women on ba lefi elds around the world. It is important, as you prepare for this lesson, that you take into considera on the age and background of your children. You will need to be considerate about how you share this informa on (i.e. mul ple deaths, injuries, war etc.) realizing that some may fi nd it confron ng and you may need to so en some aspects of what is communicated. Prepara on for prayer ac vity It is important to speak with families of your Junior Soldiers as well as those within your church community. Ask them if they know of the names of any friends or family members who sacrifi ced their lives in war. Ode to Anzacs The following ode and words are included in the YouTube clip. This is a great clip to set the mood for this lesson but remember that you may need to explore and explain what this means with the children. They shall grow not old, as we that are leŌ grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. We rightly say ‘lest we forget’ remembering the great sacrifi ce of others for our mortal bodies. How much more should we remember the sacrifi ce that Jesus paid for our immortal soul? Anzac quick facts • ANZAC is an abbrevia on for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. • AIF is an abbrevia on for Australian Imperial Force. • 25 April, Anzac Day, was the day the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915. • The Anzacs were on the Gallipoli Peninsula for eight months, around 8,000 of them died there. • The Anzacs were all volunteers (i.e. not conscripted to join up). • The fi rst dawn service on an Anzac Day was in 1923 and the fi rst offi cial dawn service was held at the Sydney Cenotaph in 1927. • The ‘Last Post’ played on the bugle gave one last warning to any soldiers s ll at large that it was me to re re for the evening. The ‘Last Post’ is incorporated into funeral and memorial services for defense force personnel as a fi nal farewell and symbolizes that the duty of the dead is over and they can rest in peace. The signifi cance of the wreath Wreaths are commonly made from evergreens as a symbol for the strength of life as these plants are able to overcome even the harshest of winters. It is also used to represent everlas ng life brought through Jesus and the circular shape of the wreath represents God, with no beginning and no end. Other components of wreaths are commonly fl owers, leaves, fruit, pine, holly (symbolizing immortality) and cedar (symbolizing strength and healing). In ancient Rome and Greece, people used decora ve wreaths as a sign of victory and achievement. Greeks used wreaths as crowns of honour.

What you will need: For ‘Connec ng In’ • Bibles • ‘Last Post’ YouTube clip (www.youtube.com/watch?v=N82wNJFVeK8) or read out the Anzac ode above. • A selec on of items that have diff erent textures to them, for example: feather, cork, corrugated cardboard, taff eta, fl ower, a spice that smells etc. • A cloth to cover the items • A blindfold • A long cloth, ribbon or rope For ‘The Main Thing’ • Map of the world and map or pictures of Gallipoli • Bibles • Anzac pictures (see appendix) • Anzac story cards (see appendix) • Blu-Tack For ‘Tying In’ • A3 sheets of paper, enough for each child • Some sheets of butchers paper • Some sheets of coloured paper • Green and black paint • Big brush (op onal) • Scissors • Paper plate or shallow dish • Red pa y pans • PVA cra glue • A list of names of family and friends (collected over the past few weeks) connected with your church family, of those who have sacrifi ced their lives in war. For ‘Home & Beyond’ • Print off the ‘Home & Beyond’ cards for each child. • Anzac biscuit recipe Connecting In Stuck in the mud… ‘I want you to think for a minute about what freedom is and share you ideas with me.’ (Allow some Ɵ me for the children to think and then share their thoughts.) ‘Today we’re going to play a game of stuck in the mud.’ • As per usual rules, there is one child who is ‘in’ who is to chase the other children in the group and tag as many as possible who are not already stuck in the mud. • Once someone is caught they then become ‘stuck in the mud’ and cannot move. The child must stand like a statue with feet and arms out wide so that others know that they are stuck. • To release someone who is stuck, they must be tagged by one of the children who are ‘free’ as they yell ‘you are now free!’ • The game ends when all the children are stuck in the mud. • You may like to play a couple of games. Link: ‘Today we have been playing a game of ‘stuck in the mud’ and having some fun. This is a game where the only way you are able to get free is if someone comes to free you from being stuck in the mud. → I wonder how you felt when you were stuck in the mud. → When you were free (i.e. not stuck), I wonder how you felt when your friends were stuck. → How hard did you try to free them? Why/Why not? → What did it feel like when you were freed from the mud by someone? ‘Freedom is not always something that those who are trapped can change. There are mes when you need others to help you or stand up for you or make a sacrifi ce for you. In the game, some people who were trying to free their friends made a sacrifi ce because they got close to the person who was it and also got caught and stuck in the mud. Today we are going to explore some important people that have made sacrifi ces so that we can be free to do lots of things in our communi es. The people that we are going to be thinking about today are referred to as Anzacs and they fought to defend our country and other countries. Anzac stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, so the Anzacs were soldiers from Australia and New Zealand. Blind man’s bluff … For this ac vity you will need a selec on of items that have diff erent textures, e.g. feather, cork, corrugated cardboard, taff eta, fl our, a spice that smells etc. All the items will need to be placed on a table with a cloth to cover them and you will need a blindfold as well. Before you play the game, ask the children what they think freedom is and allow them to answer. • Explain that you will need a volunteer for this game and that this volunteer will not have the freedom to use their sight and touch. • Choose a volunteer (especially one that does not have any allergies). • When you have your volunteer, you will need to put the blindfold on them and ask them to stand with their hands joined behind their back. • Before you start, explain that you have a number of items under the cloth that you would like them to try to guess only using their smell, taste or feel against their face; say you will bring out each item one at a me and that anyone watching is not allowed to help them or give them hints or clues. • Take one item out at a me and have the child smell, taste or maybe rub their face against it to see if they might be able to work out what the item is. Link: ‘Today it has been fun trying to guess what the items were under the cloth, maybe not so much fun for … because they were not able to use their eyes or hands to help them. They did not have the freedom to be able to use all their senses to work out the item before them. → I wonder how you felt when you were blindfolded and unable to use your hands. → How easy was it for you to work out what the items were? → When the blindfold was taken off and you were able to move your hands and you were free to use your eyes and touch to explore the items, how did this feel diff erent? → For those of you who were watching and were free to see the items, how did you feel when your friend was blindfolded and unable to use their hands? → How hard was it to not call out and help them? → Why did you want to help them? ‘The Anzacs were people who defended our country and other countries. They fought in ba les for our freedom and way of life. You could say that Jesus fought in a ba le too, a ba le against Satan and sin and evil. He was also trying to give us freedom: spiritual freedom. ‘We experience freedom in our lifestyle today because of the sacrifi ces made by the Anzacs, and we can experience freedom in our souls because of what Jesus did for us. We are not bound or owned or ruled by Satan, Jesus has defeated Satan for us. We are free to come to church, to talk to God, to read our Bibles, to learn about Jesus and to worship as we choose to, because Jesus won the ba le! Satan wanted Jesus dead and gone, but the resurrec on showed that neither Satan nor death could stop Jesus.’ Have the children look up and read together Romans 5:6–8. → What stands out for you in this passage? → Do you have any ques ons about this passage? Maybe we can help each other explore the answers. ‘The Anzacs fought for freedom. They sacrifi ced the comforts of their homes, the love and protec on of their families and communi es, good health and good living condi ons to go and fi ght for our country. A lot of good people died during this war while serving others. ‘Jesus Christ won a victory for everyone. He was a sacrifi ce for us all. He didn’t give his life just for those who were doing good things—God sent Jesus to give his life so that we could all be free to have a rela onship with Him and live in heaven forever. We are reminded of this in John 3:16–17, let’s look at it together (read the passage).’ ‘On Anzac Day we play the ‘Last Post’ and say the Anzac ode to remember the people who laid down their lives for us.’ Play YouTube clip or read the ode to Anzacs: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=N82wNJFVeK8 They shall grow not old, as we that are leŌ grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. We rightly say ‘lest we forget’ remembering the great sacrifi ce of others for our mortal bodies. How much more should we remember the sacrifi ce that Jesus paid for our immortal soul? The Main Thing Gallipoli… For this ac vity you will need a map of the world with a marker showing where you are and a marker showing where Gallipoli is. It would also be good to have a map of Gallipoli as well as some photos of the region. ‘Gallipoli is a place on the coast of Turkey. It was the site of one of the most important ba les of World War I and one of the main reasons we remember these people on Anzac Day. On the ba lefi eld of Gallipoli one of the biggest problems the Anzacs faced was the environment. They lived in trenches for months: these were open tunnels dug in the ground that fi lled with mud when it rained. The Gallipoli peninsula is a spectacular place: steep valleys, deep ravines and high cliff s towering above long, narrow beaches. It can be searingly hot in summer and bone chillingly cold in winter. For most of 1915, this was home to thousands of men and women, far from home. ‘Condi ons were really tough, much worse that just thinking about camping out in a tent; it was really rough. The weather took its toll with great heat or horrible cold along with plenty of rain. There was not always access to water and so some of the troops dug wells or collected rain. Ships brought in most of the water, loading it into tanks on the beaches. In late November 1915, Gallipoli was hit with a huge storm along the peninsula and there was water everywhere. The trenches were fl ooded and the rain swept away everything in its path. Lots of people drowned and heaps of things they used for living everyday were washed away. ‘Living in these condi ons was a big sacrifi ce that these people made as part of the plans to win the war.’ Sacrifi ce for others… For this sec on you will need to print off the Anzac pictures and story cards you will fi nd in the appendices The story cards will need to be cut up into individual segments. ‘Some of the words that are associated with the Anzacs ba le at Gallipoli are courage, endurance, mateship and sacrifi ce. There are many stories of men and women who laid down their lives for others on the ba lefi eld—they gave the ul mate sacrifi ce. There are also stories of godly people who sacrifi ced their comfort and safety to share the message of Christ’s sacrifi ce for us. ‘We are going to have a look at three stories of people who sacrifi ced their safety and comfort so that others would know freedom. As I read the stories, I have some pictures and cards about each of these people (hand out the cards to the children). When you hear the part of the story that matches the card you have, come and put it up on the wall with some Blu-Tack.’ Story One: Anglican Reverend Henare Wepiha Te Wainohu [Appendix 1]. ‘When soldiers of the New Zealand Pioneer Ba alion recalled ‘the Padre’, they spoke with great feeling for the Reverend Henare. As chaplain to the Maori troops during World War I, Te Wainohu made a big impression on the soldiers he served. At a me when they were separated from their own people and exposed to great danger, he provided them with spiritual and cultural support and guidance. Henare Te Wainohu risked his life for others on many occasions at Gallipoli. He worked with the medical teams and carried the wounded, gave out water, and comforted the dying—o en while he was being shot at! ‘On 6 August, the eve of the ba le at Sari Bair, Te Wainohu preached a sermon encouraging the soldiers to be fearless in ba le and not to turn their backs on the enemy, he reminded them of their duty to uphold the warrior tradi on of the Maori: ‘Remember you have the mana, the honour and good name of the Maori people, in your keeping this night.’ This gave courage to the soldiers and hope for an end to the fi gh ng. He was wounded in the back in September 1915.’ Story Two: Salva on Army offi cer, Captain William McKenzie [Appendix 2]. ‘Ask Australians to name the most famous Anzac of World War I and most will probably answer, ‘Simpson, the man with the donkey’. While Simpson is a household name, the soldiers who fought in the war would give a diff erent answer: Captain William McKenzie. ‘“Figh ng Mac”, as the soldiers nicknamed him, served as chaplain of the AIF 4th Ba alion. On Gallipoli, McKenzie won the respect of the Anzacs. Like other chaplains, he conducted burial services, o en under shell fi re. But he went further, fi nding chocolates for each man, or cu ng steps into a steep part of a track at night. At the Ba le of Lone Pine, McKenzie should have been in the rear trenches where it was safer, but he followed the charge, armed with just a shovel! He needed that shovel because over the next few weeks he buried 450 men. For his commitment and bravery, McKenzie received the Military Cross. It is reported that McKenzie led up to 3,000 men to Christ during the war.’ Story Three: Saviour of the World, Jesus of Nazareth [Appendix 3]. ‘Mary was a young teenage girl engaged to Joseph, a descendant of King David. Mary gave birth to Jesus in a stable in Bethlehem. It was prophesized that Jesus was the Saviour, the Messiah that God had promised to the Jewish people. A er Jesus was born, however, the family was forced to run away to Egypt because King Herod, the ruler of Israel, had ordered that this promised King of the Jews must be killed (because he didn’t want Jesus to take his place as king). ‘A er living as a refugee in Egypt for some years, Jesus and his parents returned to the li le town of Nazareth and he studied the Scriptures—as all Jewish boys did—and grew to understand his rela onship with God his father and with all people. ‘At around 30 years of age Jesus called 12 men to follow him as disciples to teach them all he knew about God and to spread the good news of the sacrifi ce he was about to make. He taught that by loving God we can be free from sin and unwise choices and can live forever in heaven. Believing in Jesus and God s ll gives hope to people. In John 10:10 it says, ‘I have come so that you may have life, and have it to the full.’ ‘Both the Padre and Figh ng Mac pointed soldiers to the fact that there is someone—Jesus—who made a sacrifi ce that was about for more than protec ng countries or property or people, it was a sacrifi ce that provided us all with the opportunity to win eternal life and victory over sin.’ Have the children open their Bibles to John 15:13 and read it together: → How would you feel if you were asked to go to war for someone else? → Which of these men made sacrifi ces for others? → How is the sacrifi ce that Jesus made diff erent to the sacrifi ce that other people have made? Tying In ANZAC wreath... For this sec on you might like to use the pictures provided in the appendices or, if you have access to a computer, it might be good to do a search for cenotaphs and see if there is one in your town or close to where you live. It would also be good to have one of the red poppies that are used for remembrance or, if possible, one for each of the children. You will also need some green and black paint, paper plates, A3 paper, red pa y pans, a large sheet of butchers paper, some PVA glue, some sheets of coloured paper and some scissors. ‘A cenotaph (show the children a picture) is a monument that has been built to remember people who have died but whose remains (body) are buried somewhere else. On Anzac Day, people tradi onally lay a wreath of fl owers at the cenotaph in memory of those who have died. ‘Today we are each going to make an Anzac wreath to help us remember the sacrifi ce of those who have died in wars as well as to remind us of the sacrifi ce that Jesus made for each of us. The red poppies that are used on Anzac Day and Remembrance Day are a symbol to help us remember those who served in the war as well as to represent the blood of Jesus. The green ‘leaves’ (hand prints that we will make) that go around it in a circle represents the never-ending life of Jesus and the memories that con nue of those who died in war. We are also going to add a cross to our wreaths which will remind us of Jesus’ sacrifi ce for us.’ Here’s how you make it... • Pour some green paint into a paper plate or shallow dish. Lightly dip hand(s) into paint and press hand prints in a circle shape on their sheet of A3 paper. • You might like to draw a circle shape on the paper with pencil before the children start to help guide where they need to place their hands. • When each child has fi nished their circle of handprints, ask them to place one handprint into the circle on the large sheet of butcher’s paper. (This will be used for the prayer ac vity.) • Paste some red pa y pans with PVA glue onto your wreath to make poppies. • Dip your fi nger into the black paint and place a dot in the center of each ‘poppy’. • When the paint is dry, the children can cut around their wreath. • Lastly, place a cross on your wreath to remind you of the sacrifi ce of Jesus. → I wonder if you can tell me what each part and colour of the wreath stands for. → If I now say ‘Anzac sacrifi ce’, what does that mean to you? → If I now say ‘Jesus sacrifi ce’ what does that mean for you? As you take home your wreaths today you will be able to look at it through the coming weeks and remember the sacrifi ce that others have made for you, for your freedom. Don’t forget to pray for the things you are thankful for in regards to this. Prayer... Ask the children to sit in a circle. Take the large sheet of handprints on the butchers paper and place it in the middle of the circle. ‘Some of your rela ves might have been involved in wars in the past or might even be serving or fi gh ng right now. There are also people who are connected to our church community who have lost rela ves during a war. I am going to read out a list of names that I have gathered over the last few weeks of some people that you might know or others in our church know. You can choose one or more names to write on your handprint as a way of showing that you remember the sacrifi ce they have made.’ Once the children have done this, draw a large cross on the page. Ask the children to take turns wri ng their name on the cross. Give the children an opportunity to pray for the soldiers who have made sacrifi ces in the past as well as those who are serving in the services right now. Also encourage them to pray and thank God for the sacrifi ce that Jesus made for each one of us. Have a leader fi nish in prayer.

Home & Beyond Print off the ‘Home & Beyond’ cards a ached. The children might like to keep these in their journals or notebook where they could write or s ck the challenges, refl ect, answer ques ons or complete ac vi es each week. Remembering the Anzac sacrifi ces… • Talk to your family or Big Bud about the Anzacs’ sacrifi ces for our freedom and how that makes you feel. • Talk to your family or Big Bud about the sacrifi ce that Jesus made for our freedom and how you feel about that. • You might like to par cipate on Anzac Day by a ending a parade or dawn service. • As a family, make some Anzac biscuits, you might even like to take some to share with someone you know who has either served or is serving in any of the defense services, or perhaps take some to a nursing home and visit a war veteran. Anzac biscuit recipe 1 ¼ cups plain fl our, si ed 1 cup rolled oats ½ cup caster sugar ¾ cup desiccated coconut 2 tablespoons golden syrup or treacle 150g unsalted bu er, chopped ½ teaspoon bicarb soda Preheat oven to 170°C. Place the fl our, oats, sugar and coconut in a large bowl and s r to combine. In a small saucepan place the golden syrup and bu er and s r over low heat un l the bu er has fully melted. Mix the bicarb soda with 1 ½ tablespoons water and add to the golden syrup mixture. It will bubble while you are s rring so remove from the heat. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix together un l fully combined. Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls and place on baking trays lined with non-s ck baking paper, pressing down on the tops to fl a en slightly. Bake for 12 minutes or un l golden brown.

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Appendix 1: Reverend Henare Wepiha Te Wainohu

Wounded in the back New Zealand Pioneer Ba alion

Nickname: the ‘Padre’ Ba le of Sari Bair

‘You have the mana’ Anglican Appendix 2: Captain William ‘Figh ng Mac’ McKenzie

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Nickname: ‘Figh ng Mac’ Ba le of Lone Pine

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‘I have come so that you may have life’ Jewish APPENDIX 4: Examples of cenotaphs JuniorUnit 11Soldiers : Lesson 10 Sheep & Goats! PURPOSE : For the children to explore and understand that God is entitled to judge us and he does so fairly. This is God’s creation and there are rules in place for how we are to live, what is right and what is wrong. ‘We believe in the immortality of the soul; in the resurrection of the body; in the general judgment at the end of the world; in the eternal happiness of the righteous; and in the endless punishment of the wicked.’ Doctrine 11 ‘We believe in Christ’s return in glory, the completion of God’s Kingdom, the resurrection of the body, the fi nal accountability of all persons to God, Heaven and Hell, the endless despair of those who reject salvation and the eternal happiness of those who are righteous through faith.’ Doctrine 11 (simplifi ed) Consider & Prepare Read: Ma hew 25:1–13; 31–46 John 5:24–30 The Handbook of Doctrine – chapter 11, p. 223–228 Many Salva onists fi nd this a diffi cult doctrine to fully understand, containing many heavy theological concepts and ideas that can’t be unpacked and explained in a short me—even more so when being taught to children! We need to make sure that what we teach our children is in agreement with Salva on Army beliefs and that we understand ourselves what we are trying to convey to the children. To assist with this, this lesson focuses predominantly on just one part of this doctrine—‘the general judgment at the end of the world’—and the other parts are only alluded to in passing. This is not the me to be strongly focusing on what the ‘resurrec on of the body’ looks like or how ‘endless punishment’ feels! Leaders are advised to read the sec on in The Handbook of Doctrine suggested above and put some thought into the doctrine—while parts of it will not be focused on in this lesson, you need to be ready if children ask you a ques on about a related ma er to what you’re discussing. There are laws of the land we are accountable to and, if we breach those laws, we may fi nd ourselves in a court room where we will be judged on our adherence or breaching of those laws. Similarly, this is God’s crea on and there are laws in place for how we are to behave in rela on to others and in rela on to God, one day we will be judged on our adherence or breaching of those laws. To deny that we will one day face judgment is to deny large por ons of the Bible and the teaching of Jesus himself. The doctrine of judgment is not up for debate with Salva onists—it’s part of the Bible and it’s part of our doctrines.

What you will need: For ‘ConnecƟ ng In’ • A container for each group • Five items for construc on: include the same amount of each item in each group’s container, e.g. icy-pole s cks, straws, sheets of paper, pegs, s cky tape, paper clips, pipe cleaners, paper plates, Blu-tack, pencils etc. For ‘The Main Thing’ • Butchers paper • Bibles • Textas • Large sheets of paper • Paper magiclay, plas cine or playdough • Camera and props for photos For ‘Tying In’ • A3 sheets of paper, two per child • Co on wool balls • Chunky brown wool, cut into 5cm lengths • Textas For ‘Home & Beyond’ • Print off the ‘Home & Beyond’ cards for each child. Connecting In Challenge Ɵ me… For this ac vity you will need to divide your children into at least two groups so that there is another group to take the challenge against, small groups of about three children would work well. You will need a container for each group that includes the same amount of items. You can choose your fi ve items to be included in the box if you like or chose from the following list: icy-pole s cks, straws, sheets of paper, pegs, s cky tape, paper clips, pipe cleaners, paper plates, Blu-tack, pencils etc. ‘Today we are going to have a team challenge. Each group will have exactly the same resources with which to complete the challenge. With your items you will need to follow the guidelines in order to complete the challenge as best you can in the me available; you will have 3–5 minutes as a group to complete this task. ‘Each group is trying to make the tallest tower that stands on its own. You must use all fi ve of the items that you have been given. Each tower must have three legs and a fl ag.’ When the me is up call ‘stop’. You will need to have a leader (chosen at the beginning of the ac vity) as the judge to check the completed towers and make sure all the guidelines have been adhered to. The judge will make a decision based on the guidelines being followed and the height of the tower. Link… ‘There are lots of things that are judged; today we had a challenge with guidelines that needed to be met in order for your group to win. We had a judge come and inspect the fi nal product and make a judgment about which group had done the best and win the challenge. → I wonder if you can think of some situa ons when things, people or items might be judged. (Allow some Ɵ me for the children to give some suggesƟ ons.) ‘There are mes when you might make a judgment about some items regarding which is best for what you need. You might fi nd there are mes when you are judged for your behavior or what you have said. And there are mes when some people’s bad behavior fi nds them in court wai ng for a decision from a ‘real’ judge. ‘Today we are going to explore a passage from the Bible where Jesus talks about how everyone will be judged for the things that we say, think and do. Let’s have a closer look at this together.’ The Main Thing Who makes the rules? → Can you tell me what some of the rules are in your classroom at school? → What happens if you do not follow these rules? What are the consequences? → Who makes the rules in your classroom at school? What about the whole school rules? → Can you tell me what some of the rules or responsibili es are for your household? → What happens if you do not follow some of these rules? What are the consequences? → Who makes the rules for your household? ‘There are rules all around us; almost every area of our life has rules. If you drive a car on the road you have to follow the rules. If you play a game of soccer you have to play according to the rules. If you are at home or at school there are rules. Even if you go to McDonald’s there are rules—imagine if you said, ‘I’d like 15 frozen Cokes and I’m not paying.’ ‘If there are rules, there are consequences. It’s pointless having a rule if someone breaks it and nothing happens. Imagine if you were playing a game of netball and you tackled the person who caught the ball! The umpire would say, ‘That’s against the rules’ and you would be in trouble. ‘Well, just like every other aspect of your life, there are rules for each of us that are followers of Jesus. I wonder if you can think of some of those rules that God wants us to live by; what can we do and not do if we are trying to be a good Chris an? (Allow a few moments for the children to make some suggesƟ ons.) ‘If the teachers and principle make the rules for schools and classrooms, and parents or grandparents make the rules for your house: who makes the rules for Chris ans? (Allow the children to answer.) ‘Why do you think God gets to make the rules? (It’s his creaƟ on, he made it, he gets to make the rules. Without God we wouldn’t even exist.) ‘There are certain rules that apply to how we treat people and how we are to behave, for example, you can’t just walk up to a stranger and hit them for no reason, you can’t take someone else’s lunch because you want it, you shouldn’t lie to your parents.

→ I wonder if you can think of some other rules to live by. → If someone was not to follow one of these rules, what would happen? What would the consequences be? → Who makes the rules for where we live? Who makes the judgments about consequences? ‘When someone doesn’t follow the law where we live, the police will usually be involved and then they may need to go to court. When you go to court you will be held accountable for what happened; you will need to share informa on with the judge about what you have done and the judge will make a decision about if you should be punished. ‘We just talked about God making the rules for us so that we can live our lives in a way that is pleasing to him, and we have also looked at what happens when rules are broken and being accountable for our behavior. We are going to explore a passage from the Bible where Jesus talks about how everyone will be accountable for the things that we say, think and do. Let’s have a closer look at this together and see what God might be saying to us.’

What does the scripture say? For this sec on it would be good to read the scripture all together and then divide into small groups and look at it again in more detail. Each group will need some butchers paper, Bibles and some textas. You will also need to have available for each group the materials needed for the ‘Create’ sec on, depending on which ac vity they choose. Read Ma hew 25:31–46 as a whole group Explore the passage again in small groups and write and draw some notes or responses to the following. → I wonder what stands out for you in this passage. → I wonder what you think are the most important sec ons of this passage. → Do you have any ques ons that come to mind a er reading this passage? → I wonder what you think this phrase in the passage means, ‘Come and receive the kingdom that was prepared for you before the world was created.’ (Allow some Ɵ me for the children’s responses but it would be good to explore the idea of heaven at this point.) → The last verse talks about eternal life and punishment forever (you might like to read it again), tell me what you understand about these. Create In your small group, choose one of the following ways to create and represent some of the important aspects of the passage you have just explored together. • Create a cartoon/movie strip or storyboard (a strip of pictures of key sec ons of the passage). • Create a scene using paper magiclay, plas cine or playdough to make the people, sheep and goats etc. • Create some s ll images that can be taken as photos that can share the key aspects of the passage. When each group has ﬁ nished their crea on it would be great if they could share them with the whole group and what the important things are that they picked out and how they chose to represent them.

‘You know, Jesus spoke a lot about the joys and privileges of being a believer in God, but he also spoke about our obliga ons and the fact we would each, one day, be held accountable for our behavior and our a tudes and our rela onships with others and with God. ‘The fact is, life has rules, and if there are rules there must be consequences if you break the rules. And if there are consequences to be decided, there must be a ‘decider’. When it comes to judging how someone has lived their life, the judge is God. ‘Very importantly, God has made it clear that he will judge us, that there will be consequences and what those consequences are. This is like your mum saying, ‘If you don’t clean your room today, there will be no TV for you tomorrow.’ If you then choose not to clean your room and, consequently, you miss out on TV the following day, you can’t really complain, can you? You knew the rules, you knew your mum would judge you, and you knew what the consequences would be. ‘God wants us to be with him in heaven for ever a er we die and are judged; he wants to judge us and say, ‘Well done, you have loved me and loved others, welcome to heaven.’ God does not want to send anyone to hell—that is why, in the Bible, he makes it clear that we will be judged, he will judge us and there will be consequences if we don’t obey God’s rules for living. God has been very fair in warning us that we will be held accountable for how we live.’ Tying In Personal refl ecƟ on… For this sec on you will need some sheets of A3 paper (enough for two sheets for each child), textas, cra glue, co on wool balls and some chunky brown wool cut into 5cm lengths. • On one sheet, encourage the children to s ck some co on wool balls to create a sheep’s body. • On the other sheet have them s ck some short lengths of the chunky brown wool to create a goat’s body. • Get the children, using a texta, to draw around the outline of the co on wool and create the extra elements of a sheep, e.g. head, ears, legs etc. • Get the children, using a texta, to draw around the outline of the short lengths of chunky brown wool and create the extra elements of a goat, e.g. head, ears, legs, tail etc. • Above the sheep, write ‘Choices that are pleasing to God’ and across the bo om of the page write, ‘My father has blessed you, come and receive the Kingdom…’ (Ma hew 25:34) • Above the goat, write ‘Choices that are not pleasing to God’ and across the bo om of the page write , ‘Get away from me! You are under God’s curse’ (Ma hew 25:41) When the children have fi nished ask them to fi nd a space where they can refl ect using their sheets on the passage and teaching from today. • Refl ect on some of the things that you think, say and do; some of the choices that you make. I wonder which page they would sit on? • Ask the children to spend some me with their sheet and with God as they pray about the things they have refl ected on. • Have a leader fi nish in prayer for the whole group asking God to help each of us with our choices about the things that we think, say and do. • Encourage the children to take home their sheets and use it as their ‘Home & Beyond’ to remind them about the things that they think, say or do and which sheet they might be si ng on, the one with the sheep or the goats.

• S ck your sheep and goats sheets up in your room or somewhere where you will see them through the week. • At the end of each day, go through some of the choices you have made about what you think, say and do and see which sheet you think they should appear on. • Share some of the choices that you have found challenging with your family or Big Bud so that they can pray and support you.

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