30 Maret 2014

Kelas Balita

Coach Dewi

Asst 1 : Awan

Asst 2 : Felicia

Kelas 1 - 3

Coaches : Agus Rianto

Kelas 4 - 6

Coaches : Savitri (Miguel)

Because of Jesus, I am a SAINT of GOD (Eph 1)

1.       Lesson

Eph 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus ...

• Introduction:
• The apostle Paul visited a place called Ephesus and taught about Jesus. Later on, He wrote a letter to the believers there. He wanted to remind them about what Jesus has done for them, and who they are.
• Isn’t that funny? Reminding someone about who they are. Imagine someone coming up to me and saying, “Hi. You are Anne/Joanna etc.” Who will forget who they are?
• But many people do. When they look at themselves, they see the physical. They see the short, fat person, or the one who didn’t do well in exams, or the one with a pimple, or the one with a bad temper.
• They don’t see the person whom God sees. They focus on what is outside and forget who they really are.
• So today we’re going to remind ourselves of who we are in Jesus. Who God sees when He looks at us.
• Because of Jesus, I am a SAINT
• In His letter, Paul addresses the believers in Ephesus as SAINTS.
• What’s a saint?
• A saint is not a goody-goody two shoes who walks around in a long robe with a halo on the top of his head.
• A saint is someone who is holy, set apart for God.
• When Jesus died, He took all our sins, our “badness”, and gave us His goodness. He gave us His life.
• So today, when God sees me, He sees Jesus’ perfection and holiness.
• You and I are holy saints because Jesus lives in us and through us.
• Tell your friend, “Because of Jesus, I am a saint.”
• Because we are saint, we don’t have to do be stuck doing things that are not good. We are free to live the life that God wants us to live and experience.
• We don’t have to work hard to be good. We don’t have to try with our own strength to be good.
• We just need to remember: Jesus is living in me. And He makes me good!
• So when we feel like doing naughty things, or we think of doing something that will make our mummy and daddy sad, remember that you are a saint — Jesus has made you good — so you can be good; you don’t have to do that naughty thing or make your mummy and daddy sad anymore.
• And even when you do something bad, it doesn’t change who you are. You may make mistakes, but God still sees you as good.
• Just remind yourself of who you are and what Jesus has done for you. You can pray, “Lord Jesus, sorry for the naughty thing I did. I thank you that you have forgiven my sins. Thank you that I am holy and that I am Your righteousness. Thank you that I am a saint because of You.
• Memory Verse: Hebrews 10:10 “We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

2.  Activity Ideas

• Craft: Nametag
• Get kids to make nametags with the words: <Name> is a Saint of God
•  You may cut out name tags in different shapes and colours, and put a safety pin behind card.

• Memory verse
• Prepare 2 sets of memory verse cards (one word per card) and put each set in an envelope each. Divide kids into 2 groups. Hand each group and envelope to sort and arrange memory verse on the floor. First group to finish correctly wins.
• Using same sets of cards: put blue tack behind cards and place face down on floor in 2 piles. Kids line up in 2 rows. First kid from each group runs forward, picks up a card, and sticks on wall to form memory verse. First group to finish correctly wins.

23 Maret 2014

Kelas Balita

Coach Javelyn

Asst 1 : Laila

Asst 2 : Susan

Kelas 1 - 3

Coaches : Sianty (Andy)

Kelas 4 - 6

Coaches : Iwan & Shevica

Abraham & the Child of Laughter

Lesson: Nothing is too difficult for God (Gen 11-21)

1.       Game: Laughing Game

Play a simple laughing game; modify as you see fit.

• Mrs Mumble
• Everyone sits in a circle. First person turns to the one on the right and asks “Have you seen Mrs Mumble?” without showing his/her teeth or laughing.
• The next person has to say, “No. I’ll ask my neighbor.” And then ask the following person the same question without showing teeth or laughing.

• Ha Ha game (for younger kids only)
• Get the kids to lie on their backs, with their heads resting on another player’s stomach. Tell the kids that the aim of the game is not to laugh at all. The first kid has to say somberly “Ha”, then the next one says “Ha ha”, the third one says “Ha ha ha” and so on. The person who does not laugh at all wins.

 2.       Story: 

• The last time we learnt that God gave many promises to Abram.
• One of the promises was that Abram will have many children, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the shores.
• But as many years passed (24 years since God first called Abram), Abram and his wife, Sarai, still did not have any children.

• Gen 17: Then one day, when Abram was 99 years old, God appeared to him and told him that yes, he will still have many children. In fact, God wanted to change his name to Abraham, which means “father of many nations”.
• And his wife will now be called “Sarah” — she will be the mother of nations and kings!
• Sarah was a beautiful woman, but she was also very old now. She was almost 90 years old! How many of you have grandmothers who are 90 years old?
• But God said that Sarah will have a child.
• The thought of that made Abraham fall down on his face and laugh!

• Gen 18: Another day, two men visited Abraham, and he prepared a meal for them.
• After they had eaten, they asked Abraham, “Where is your wife, Sarah?”
• “There, in the tent,” he said.
• One of the man said, “I will return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”
• Now Sarah was listening from inside the tent. She couldn’t believe what the man said, so she laughed to herself. “We’re both so old; how can we have a son?”
• The man said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the LORD?”

• Gen 21: True enough, nothing is too hard for God. One year later, Sarah gave birth to a baby! They named him “Isaac”, which means “son of laughter.” 
• She said, “God has brought me laughter! Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”

3.       Lesson: Good News for Today!

• When all else fails, know that God is all powerful and NOTHING is too difficult for Him.
• Romans 4:18 says, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’”
• Whatever problem you may face, trust that God will always keep His promises.
• Isaac brought much joy to Abraham and Sarah.
• The good news is that through Isaac, God brought another special baby in an even more miraculous way. This baby’s name was Jesus, and His birth brought lots of laughter and joy to the whole world! Praise the Lord!
• Memory Verse: “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” Genesis 21:6

4.       Activity ideas:

• Song: Ah Lord God (Nothing is too difficult for you)

• Craft: 
• Something smiley face related, e.g. a happy face mask, with memory verse“God has brought me laughter.” (Genesis 21:6)
• Other ideas: Toothy Puppet, Smiling Craft

•  Crossword puzzles
• Easier
• Harder

16 Maret 2014

Kelas Balita

Coach Junita

Asst 1 : Kasey

Asst 2 : Adeline

Kelas 1 - 3

Coaches : Savitri (Miguel)

Kelas 4 - 6

Coaches : Swanky

God promised to bless Abraham

Lesson: The Blessings of Abraham are Yours

1. Story

• There was an old man named Terah with 3 sons; the eldest was called Abram. 
• Abram married a beautiful woman named Sarai.
• They went from Ur to Harran, where Terah passed away at 205 years of age.
• Then God said to Abram: “Go from your country, your people and your father’shousehold to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will blessyou; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessedthrough you.” (Genesis 12:2-3)
• Abram was 75 years old when he took Sarai and his nephew Lot with him to Canaan.
• God gave Abram more promises: "To your offspring I will give this land." (Genesis 12:7)

• At that time: 
• Abram had no descendants, no household, no significance, no identity
• Abram meant "exalted Father", but he had no children. His name became ajoke.
• His wife was barren. At that time, childlessness was considered a curse.

• But God was promising to him who was:
• Dry & Burnt Out? A land flowing with milk and honey; a land of rest (Heb 4)
• Feeling Insignificant? He will make him a "great nation"
• Having to toil hard? He will bless with abundant increase
• The butt of jokes? He will make his name famous and distinguished
• Feeling accursed? He will be a blessing and God will bless those who bless him

• God gave many, many more blessings and promises to Abram.
• Because of Jesus, we also have a part in Abram's blessings!
• Galatians 3:14 He redeemed us from the curse of the Law in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesusso that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
• Galatians 3:16  The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed" meaning one person who is Christ.
• Galatians 3:29  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, andheirs according to the promise.

• Thank you Jesus that all God's promises are "Yes" and "Amen" because of You!

9 Maret 2014

Kelas Balita

Coach Susan

Asst 1 : Tasya

Asst 2 : Felicia

Kelas 1 - 3

Coaches : Iwan & Shevica

Kelas 4 - 6

Coaches : Lusiana & Lily Bun

Adam and Eve sinned: The 2 Trees

1. STORY (based on Genesis 3): 

• God created Adam & Eve in His image. 
• They lived in the beautiful Garden of Eden

• There were 2 important trees: 
• Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (God says not to eat or will die)
• Tree of Life

• Adam & Eve choose to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil 
• Listened to lies of the Snake
• Doubted God’s goodness/love/wisdom
• Wanted to be like God
• Sin came into the world
• Became afraid of God
• Driven out of Eden (eternal death)

• Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil: represents the Law 
• Wanting to attain right standing with God through our own efforts
• Exposes our nakedness and shame
•  Try to cover with fig leaves (human acts of righteousness)

• Tree of Life: represents Grace
• Life and righteousness given freely to us through Jesus Christ
• Adam and Eve did not choose this tree

• However, God didn’t send them away just like that.
• He killed an animal – shedding of blood to atone for sin – and clothed them in the skin
• Already a plan was set in motion, when the Lamb of God will be killed to atone for the sins of the world and reconcile them to Himself forever.

• From the beginning, God had already planned for Jesus to come to die on the cross so that we may have life. The cross became our Tree of Life, so that all who ate from it will never die.

2. SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

• Craft: Tree of Life (source)
  

2 Maret 2014

Kelas Balita

Coach Carrie

Asst 1 : Laila

Asst 2 : Junita

Kelas 1 - 3

Coaches : Susi Tjio (Asst. Fenny)

Kelas 4 - 6

Coaches : Swanky
  
God created the world

1. HOOK:

• Show video on creation

2.  LESSON:

• Tell the story of creation from Genesis 1
• Emphasise that everything God created was "GOOD"
• God created the world. God created you and me!
• Of all the wonders in this world, we are God's best masterpiece because we are created in His image.

3. ACTIVITY SUGGESTION

• Craft: Creation Spinning Wheel 
• Get kids to colour the pictures of the different days of creation.
• Under "God's best masterpiece", draw a picture of themselves
• Put another round circle card (with a pizza-slice cut out) over it and secure with a fastener in the middle so that both cards can move.
• Kids would be able to turn the top card to show different days of creation.

23 Februari 2014

Kelas Balita

Coach Yemima

Asst 1 : Awan

Asst 2 : Dewi

Kelas 1 - 3

Coaches : Sianty (Andy)

Kelas 4 - 6

Coaches : Iwan (Shevica)

Kings: Ahab & Prophet Elijah

1. Story: King AHAB & Prophet ELIJAH (1 Kings 16:29 – 1 Kings 17)

•  In our story today, the king who is ruling over the northern kingdom (Israel) is King Ahab. Let’s read what kind of king he was. 
• King Ahab was a very famous king in the Bible. Do you know why he was soooo famous? King Ahab was famous because he was a very wicked king. 
• He was also famous because he had a very wicked wife. Her name was Jezebel. She was not a Jewish woman. God told His people that they should not marry women who do not worship the One, True God. Jezebel had not been taught in her home to worship Jehovah God, but she had been taught to worship a fake god, called Baal, which was made of stone. (They offered their infant children as sacrifices to their god.) 
• King Ahab who never should have married Jezebel in the first place brings her into his family and makes her his wife. As the leader of his family he should have never allowed her to bring her Baal worship into their home. But since he didn’t make a good first choice and married a woman who didn’t love God, he made a second bad choice and allowed her to worship Baal in their house. This was a very wicked thing. 
• The bad influence of Ahab and Jezebel affected the Jewish people and many people sinned as a result. The people of Israel began to follow their leader’s example and many people in Israel began to worship Baal. They forgot that they had the One True God who made the whole world, who loved them, and who brought them out of Egypt. 
• Because God loved His people He sent messengers called prophets to call the people of Israel back to Him. Sometimes they didn’t listen, so sometimes God had to allow them to get into some sort of trouble before they would call out to Him. 
• One of God’s prophets was called Elijah. Elijah’s name means ‘my God is Jehovah’. 

• One day, Elijah went straight to King Ahab and said, “As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, whom I serve, there will neither be dew nor rain in the next few years, except at my word.” 
• What do you think King Ahab and Jezebel did as this messenger from God stood before them? It’s not written in the Bible, but based on what Elijah did next, we can only imagine that they threatened his life. 
• But God proved His faithfulness and love to Elijah with 3 wonderful miracles! 

• Miracle #1: 
• God told Elijah to go hide by the Brook Cherith by the Jordan River. He told him that he could drink water from the brook. He also said that He had commanded the ravens to feed him there. 
• When Elijah got to the brook he had plenty of water to drink. Just as God had said, every morning and every night God sent ravens with bread and meat for Elijah to eat. I couldn’t help picturing these obedient ravens swooping down on someone’s picnic and grabbing a hamburger or hotdog for Elijah to eat! Even the ravens obeyed God. 
• As time passed with no rain, the brook began to dry up and there was no more water for Elijah to drink. God had taken care of him this far, would God continue to help Elijah? Of course! 
• God told Elijah, "Arise, go to Zarephath, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow to provide for you." 
• When he got to Zarephath, the widow was at the city gates gathering sticks for firewood.

 

• Miracle #2: 
• "Please bring me a little water in a cup," Elijah asked the woman. "Please bring me a morsel of bread." 
• "I do not have bread," the widow answered. "Only a handful of flour in a bin and a little oil in a jar." Sadly, the lady told the prophet that when this was finished, she and her son would starve to death. 
• "Do not fear. Make me a small cake from it first, and afterwards make some for yourself and your son," Elijah said. "The flour will not be used up, nor the oil, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth." 
• God would have to work a miracle for that to happen. And He did! The lady and her son ate for many days, yet the bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry! Elijah lived with them.

• Miracle #3: 
• One day a sad thing happened. The widow's son died. In those days, women depended a lot on men to take care of them. After her husband died, her son was her only hope. 
• Elijah carried the boy's body to an upper room. He cried out to the LORD, saying, "O LORD my God I pray, let this child's soul come back to him." What an impossible prayer!
• The LORD heard the voice of Elijah and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. When Elijah took the child and gave him to his mother she said, "Now by this I know that the word of the LORD in your mouth is the truth."

(Source: Ministry to Children; Bible for Children)

 2. Lesson: 

• God provides for our every need.
• He provided food for Elijah through the ravens 
• He provided for the widow and her child with never-ending flour and oil! 
• Whenever we give what little we have to God, whether it is money, time or energy, it opens up our hearts so that God can fill us up with more. And when we give our lives to God, we can trust Him to make things right for us and to be the rewarder of our faith.

• We can trust Him even in bad times. 
• When Ahab and Jezebel tried to kill Elijah, he trusted God to protect him. 
• When the widow’s son died, he trusted God to do the impossible and bring him back to life! 
• We, too, can trust in God in every circumstance of life. Certainly, God is able to take care of us, no matter how hopeless our situation seems, just as He cared and provided for the widow and her son.

• We don’t need to look to other fake gods because we have Jesus, our Everything!

• Our faith is built as God delivers us from one difficult situation and then another, just as the widow’s faith was built. Let us keep our confidence in God. He will never fail us! God wants us to learn how to trust in Him.

 3. Suggested Activities:

• Pick a Word Review
  • Choose 10-15 key words from today’s lesson (eg: Ahab, Baal, flour, oil, ravens, Elijah, widow, son etc.). Write them on a small piece of paper and place them in a bowl. Pass the bowl around class and have each child pick one word each. After everyone has chosen a word, allow the children to take turns sharing what their word is and how it fit into today’s lesson.

• Flour Game
  • Prepare some flour, 2 bowls, 2 small spoons and 2 small jars that are the same size. Split your class into 2 equal teams. Set up a table for each team. On each table set up a bowl filled with enough flour to fill up a jar. Place one jar and a spoon on each table. Have 2 teams line up facing each table. 
  • When you say “go”, the first child in line goes to the table and takes a spoonful of flour and put into the jar. Then returns to tag their friend who goes next. Continue until all kids have their turn. Winner is team with most amount of flour in the jar. 

• Testimony time: Get kids to come up and share how they trusted God and He provided and protected them.

16 Februari 2014

Kelas Balita

Coach Jevelyn

Asst 1 : Adeline

Asst 2 : Junita

Kelas 1 - 3

Coaches : Yungcien (Dedy)

Kelas 4 - 6

Coaches : Savitri (Miguel)

Kings: Review & Kings of Israel

1. LESSON: Review & Kings of Israel (1 Kings 15: 25-16:28)

 

• In the past few weeks, we’ve been looking at the kings of Judah who ruled over theSouthern Kingdom (2 tribes): (use actions to reinforce and review)
• Rehoboam: Not a servant king
  (actions: an “X” sign with hands then open palms for “serving”)
  Proud and refused to serve the people. As a result, his father’s kingdom was split into 2 — Judah (2 tribes) and Israel (10 tribes).
  Jesus is our servant King who came to give us rest.

• Abijah: Relied on God for victory
  (actions: do V for victory sign with fingers)
  God gave him victory over Jeroboam (who tried to ambush Abijah with double the number of troops) because of His covenant with David. 
  Because of His New Covenant with Jesus, God fights our battles for us and gives us victory!

• Asa: Trust in God or trust in self?
  (actions: stand on 1 foot and lean to one side; ie who are you leaning on?)
  When Asa trusted in God, God gave him victory over the Egyptian king and his mighty army. But when threatened by King Baasha, Asa decided to rely on himself and formed his own alliances, instead of trusting God.
  Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

• Today, we will look at 5 more kings of Israel (Northern Kingdom; 10 tribes) and see how they fared. 
• Generally, all the kings of Israel didn’t follow God. They did evil and led the people to worship idols. It was a vicious cycle with each new king. And there were always wars and unrest as a result.

• Jeroboam (22 years)
  (actions: 2 fingers on sides of head like cows’ horns)  
• We’ve learnt about King Jeroboam. Who remembers what he did? He made 2 golden calves for the people to worship, so they didn’t have to go to the Temple in Jerusalem.
• Jeroboam tried to let unholy people worship a holy God everywhere. 
  Jesus’ death made us holy and opened the way for us to worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. 

•  Nadab (2 years)
  (actions: show thumb; he is 1^st of 5 new kings we’re learning today)
• Son of Jeroboam; followed his father’s ways. 
• One day, when Nadab was busy attacking a town in Philistine (Gibbethon), one of his own people, Baasha, from the tribe of Issachar, plotted against him and killed him! 

• Baasha (24 years)
  (actions: show 2 fingers — thumb and forefinger)
• As soon as Baasha killed Nadab, he made himself king.
• He killed Jeroboam’s entire family, as was prophesied to Jeroboam before as a result of his idolatry. (1 Kings 14:14-16)
• Last week we learnt of how Baasha tried to attack King Asa of Judah, but Asa made a treaty with King Ben-Hadad to stop him.
• Baasha also did many evil things and worshipped idols. God sent His prophet to tell Baasha: “I lifted you up from the dust and appointed you ruler over my people Israel, but you followed the ways of Jeroboam and caused my people Israel to sin and to arouse my anger by their sins.” 
• As a result, God told Baasha that he and his family will suffer the same end as Jeroboam and his family. 

• Elah (2 years)
  (actions: show 3 fingers — thumb, forefinger and 3^rd finger)
• Son of Baasha.
• His official, Zimri, who commanded half his chariots, plotted against him. One day when Elah was drunk, Zimri came in and struck him down.

• Zimri (7 days)
  (actions: show 4 fingers — thumb, forefinger, 3^rd finger and ring finger)
• Zimri succeeded Elah as king of Israel and ruled in Tirzah.
• Just as Baasha killed the entire family of Jeroboam, Zimri killed all of Baasha’s family, as was prophesied.
• However Zimri was the shortest-reigning king in Israel. Guess how long he reigned? 7 days!
• When the Israelites in the army camp heard that Zimri had plotted against the king and murdered him, they proclaimed Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that very day there in the camp.
• Omri and the Israelites then attacked Tirzah (where Zimri was ruling).
• When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the royal palace and set the palace on fire around him. So he died. 

• Omri (12 years)
  (actions: show 5 fingers)
• Some Israelites supported another person to be king —Tibni, but Omri’s followers were stronger, so Omri became king.
• Omri bought a hill from a man called Shemer for 2 talents of silver. He built a city on the hill and called it Samaria, after Shemer (the former owner).
• Sadly, like the other kings before him, Omri also did evil in the eyes of the Lord. In fact, the Bible says he sinned more than all those before him.

 

• Conclusion: 
• What can we learn from the kings of Israel? (revise with actions)
• Jeroboam
• Nadab
• Baasha
• Elah 
•  Zimri
• Omri

• Because they didn’t follow God, because they did evil and led the people to worship idols, there were always wars and unrest 
• (note: If you recall, in the beginning, God was the King over the nation of Israel when He brought them into the Promised Land. He had judges to rule over Israel. But Israel grumbled and complained — all the other nations had kings, so they wanted a human king too! That was how Saul was appointed as Israel’s 1^st king.) 
• Through history, we see how human kings always fail. Because they are human. They are not perfect. They make bad decisions. They try to do things their own way, not God’s way. And as a result, the people will suffer.
• Today, we have a good King. He never fails. He is perfect. He makes wise decisions. He does things His way because He is God. And as a result, all of us are blessed in Him! His name is Jesus!
• Out of the 5 kings, 3 became king by killing the previous king — Baasha, Zimri and Omri. They were greedy for power and seized it for themselves by destroying others.
• Jesus was King of all who came to give His life for us. When the people wanted to make Him king by force, Jesus withdrew because He knew that was not God’s time (John 6:15). When He finally entered Jerusalem as a king on a donkey (John 12:15), his purpose was to die on the cross and give His life for us.
• Because Jesus died for us, you and I can be prince and princesses of the Most High God! Thank you Jesus!