Module 1, Unit 4, Lesson 1 The great adventure of The Salvation Army Guiding Principle: God always moves His people forward to begin something new. Memory Verse: “He told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branch- es.’” Matthew 13:31-32 (NIV) Leader’s Background Information: The story of the beginning of The Salvation Army is the story of God making all things new. This lesson will focus on the conversion of Paul and the call of William Booth to show how God can use people from all walks of life to be the vessels of His message. In this lesson, you will ask the junior soldiers to be quiet and listen for what God might say to them. It is valuable to start teaching children at a young age to listen for God’s voice and to give them time to practice. It can also be confusing for some children because especially younger junior soldiers are concrete thinkers. They want to hear God’s voice in their ears. Some might think they don’t really love Jesus if they don’t “hear” anything. It’s important that these young ones don’t get discouraged. Guiding Principle: God always moves His people forward to begin something new. Scripture: Matthew 13:31-32 (NIV) Activity What Kids Do Preparation Materials See Ya!: Junior soldiers answer Create an open space for IMPACT • None (8-10 min) questions in groups to learn play. about each other. • Lightbox • Action Figures Junior soldiers learn that Review lesson. • Flashlight ILLUMINATE God changed the life of Saul Review verse. • Cardboard box (10-15 min) to begin a movement that Make a lightbox using the • Craft knife continues today. instructions on Worksheet #1. • Tape • Scissors • Bibles Junior soldiers watch the members of the SRT in the Treehouse as they Have PC/tablet ready to • Video INVEST learn how The Salvation play the video. • Small group questions (10-15 min) Army got started. Read through the questions • Small notebook Junior soldiers reflect on the ahead of time. • Small reward lesson and the things God may be saying. • Copies of Worksheet #2 on acetate paper or overhead Read through project projector sheets directions. • Fine-tipped Sharpies® Story Viewer: Lay out the supplies for each (variety of colors) INSPIRE Junior soldiers make a junior soldier. • Scissors (10-15 min) story viewer. Print Worksheet #2 on • Toilet paper tubes acetate sheets. • Craft knife Copy Take Home Worksheet. • Glue • Tape • Take Home Worksheets One idea to keep the junior soldiers engaged is to set up stations! If you have a large group, play the game and teach the lesson with the junior soldiers all together, then divide into two groups. The first group will watch the video and go through the small group questions, and the second group can work on the craft; then switch. IMPACT See Ya! Group size: 8-50 Preparation Time: 5 minutes Time Needed for Activity: 15 minutes Materials: • None. Preparation: • Prior to class create an open space for play. If you are indoors, put chairs around the perimeter of the room. If you are outside, find an open space to play that is free of debris or obstacles. Directions: 1. The junior soldiers will be divided into small groups of 4-5 people and will stand in a circle. 2. The object of the activity is to have participants discuss some things that they may have in common, and then to decide which person has the most (or least, or best, etc.) of these. For example, in your groups of four or five participants, find out who has the most brothers and sisters. The facilitator should allow the group about a minute or so to discuss this; leave a bit of time to learn the names of everyone in the circle. 3. Then, the facilitator says loudly, “one, two, three,” and the rest of the group says loudly, “See ya!” as they bid farewell to the person with the most brothers and sisters. This person then moves on to another circle. For those circles where a member has left, but a new member has not yet joined, encourage them to say loudly, “Over here, over here, over here!” 4. Once a new member joins a group and learns the names of the others, a new question is given to the group, such as, “Who has traveled to the most states in the US?” which typically not only brings about the number of states, but perhaps a few stories about some unusual or interesting locations that the junior soldiers in the group have visited. After a few minutes, say, “One, two, three…See ya!” Say: Let’s form a circle to hear the directions for our game. First, I need everyone to get into small groups of four to five people and stand in a circle. Let’s have the groups be about 15 feet apart from one another, if possible. First, we need to teach everyone a couple of rules. Count how many people you have in your group right now. This is the number of people that you always need to have. For example, this group here has five people in it. It will always need to have five people in it. Okay? In a minute, we’re going to be M1U4L1: The great adventure of The Salvation Army 3 IMPACT switching up people in our groups, so we need to make sure that all groups have the right number of people in them. I’m going to give you a question to discuss in your small circle, for example, “Who has the most siblings in your group?” Once you decide who the person is, you wait for me to say “READY?” When you hear me say that, the group will all say, “See ya!” and the person who the group indicated had the most siblings will leave the group and find a new group to join. It is important that no one leaves the group until they hear the words "See ya!." Once this person leaves your group, you then say, “Over here, over here, over here!” until a new person joins your group. Let's pretend that someone has just left your group, and you are wanting to welcome a new person into your circle. Yell "Over here, over here, over here!" Remember, only one person can join a group each time we switch. Are there any questions? Let’s begin.1 Try some of the following questions or think of your own: • Who has the most pairs of shoes? • Who is the tallest person in the group? • Who has the most cousins? • Who has the most pets? • Who has the largest pet? • Who has watched the most videos or movies this month? • Who has the most books in their room? • Who is wearing the most jewelry? • Who has the whitest socks on? • Who has traveled the farthest distance from here? After the game, say: In this game we started in one circle, then had to move to a new circle and meet new people. In today’s lesson we are going to talk about how God moved people to cross new boundaries to meet new people and to visit new places. God always moves His people forward to begin something new. Let’s learn more about this. 1 Cain, James and Thomas Smith. The Book on Raccoon Circles. (Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, July 2010), 46. 4 M1U4L1: The great adventure of The Salvation Army ILLUMINATE Before class, create a lightbox using the guide on Worksheet #1. Say: Today, we are going to talk about how God is about new beginnings. Let’s say a prayer before we get started. Dear Jesus, we praise You because You are a God who is always making all things new. Open our eyes to the things that are broken, and how we might help in situations that need attention. Help us to always ask for Your help. In Your name we pray. Amen. God always moves His people forward to begin something new. He moves them to cross new boundaries, to meet new people, and to visit new places. God began something new when He sent His Son, and His Son Jesus, in turn, sends us to be His ambassadors (John 20:21; 2 Corinthians 5:20). God is a God of new beginnings. From the beginning of time, God has been creating new things. In the very beginning, He created the world and all that filled it. The story continues today with each new generation, in new places and with new stories of God's redemption. YOU are a part of that story. Let’s look at the Bible to read about someone who had a pretty crazy transformation. We are going to read about the conversion of Saul. But first, I need some helpers! Choose three junior soldiers: one will be Saul, one will be Ananais, and one will be the blinding light. You will need your light box that you created using the instructions on Worksheet #1. Use two action figures for Saul and Ananais and a flashlight for the blinding light. Once your junior soldiers have their characters, read the Scripture and instruct them to act out their part in the story inside the lightbox. The blinding light will be a flashlight given to one junior soldier to hold and turn on during the story.