Small Group 1 He [God] satisfies the thirsty. Psalm 107:9. Small Group Leaders Guide

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1 Small Group 1 He [God] satisfies the thirsty. Psalm 107:9 1. Go around and say your name and some way you used water this week. 2. The verse says God satisfies the thirsty. What does satisfy mean? Thumbs up/thumbs down Need More? To Please? Not Enough? Lives up to? Full? 3. Who can re-tell what happened to the scrunched up towel? How are we like the towel? How is God like the water? 4. What are good things about God? 5. Knowing that God is good and wants to satisfy our needs makes us want to... thumbs up/down Ignore God? Go to the Beach? Know God more? Do bad things? Thank Him for water? Love God? Work on memorizing Psalm 107:9 (above) together. Whoever can say it tomorrow in group gets a prize! Give out bookmarkers with verses to take home. Close by praying briefly for them. Then move on to craft. Small Group Leaders Guide Your Main Goal Is to love and spend time with the 4 to 6 kids in your group. You will talk together about the lesson points, pray for them, help them learn Bible verses, and spend time together doing a craft. There will be a time to ask them to believe and receive Jesus personally by faith. So Little Time! Remember, you cannot possibly cover everything children need to know about God in a few days. Just get across a few main ideas, and trust God to use other events and people in their lives as well. Wrong Answer? First, see if one of the other kids has the right answer. Agree with that one. If no one gets it, briefly state the correct answer and move on. For example, Actually, Jesus was a real person. The next question is... Memorization and Crafts Kids get a prize if they can say the verse tomorrow so practice it in fun ways, maybe through a song or using different voices or actions. Crafts provide fun time to get know your group. It doesn t matter if they aren t perfect. Show the kids you are glad to be with them.

2 Small Group 2 My people... have deserted me, even though I am the spring of water that gives life. God, in Jeremiah 2:13 NIrV 1. What happened in the skit tonight? Who can retell it? Did anything stand out or surprise you? 2. What did God want to do? Give a thumbs up or down *Make the digger feel bad and discouraged *Provide water the digger couldn t get his own way because he isn t as good as God. *Demand good behavior as a trade for water *Give good water as a free gift 3. How did the kid treat God? Who did he trust in to get water? How did that work out? 4. Is it wrong or bad to be thirsty? (no) Is it wrong or bad to do good things, like obey? (no) Then what was the big problem? (bad water, ignoring God s gift, trusting my way instead) What do you think the solution will be? 5. Finish this sentence. The digger thirsts for water like our hearts thirst for. Pray for the kids not to ignore God and not to trust in their own way over God s gift. Thank God that even though we will never be as good as He is, we don t have to earn His love. He wants us to come to Him. Small Group Instructions 1. Welcome your group. 2. Can anyone say the Bible Verse from memory? (He satisfies the thirsty. Psalm 107:9) If so, put a sticker on their nametag for their prize. 3. Go over the discussion questions together for 10 to 15 minutes. The yucky water stands for our own efforts, which will never be as good as God, no matter how good we are. God wants to give us love, not have us earn it. There is nothing wrong with feeling thirsty. The digger thirsts for water like our hearts thirst for God s love. 4. A f t e r y o After you pray, memorize Jeremiah 2:13 together for just a few minutes. Ask them what it says, what it means and how it relates to the skit. Think of fun ways to remember the verserepeating it in funny voices or making up actions. 5. Craft time is a great time to chat with the kids and get to know them. Keep it fun and light. Remember to put names on the crafts and send them home with kids at the end of the night.

3 Small Group 3 Jesus said, Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. John 7:37b. 1. What happened in the skit tonight? Who can retell it? How can the digger know that God loves him or her? What decision does he or she face? 2. True or False? Thumbs up or down. God will love and give good water to a person who has made wrong or bad choices. Some people can be good enough their own way and don t need God s Gift. God offers Himself, Living Water, to any who come to him. 3. In the skit, Jesus died from drinking the yucky water the digger deserved to drink. In real life, why did Jesus really die and rise again? 4. I will be your friend no matter what, so just pick the answer in your heart. Will you ask Jesus to make you clean from sin, to be living water in you, and to be with you forever? You can say... Yes, I d like to, I ll wait because I m not sure. No, I don t want to yet or Yes, I have already I m going pray about believing and receiving Jesus. If you think this is true and that you need Jesus, trust Him as I pray. If not, that is fine, just listen. Dear Jesus, thank you for dying for my wrong choices. Thank you for loving me even though I don t deserve it. I want to follow you and I ask you to be with me and in me forever. I trust and believe in you. Amen Jesus is wonderful! Let s work on the memory verse a bit. (See above) Small Group Guide Inviting kids to trust Christ Tonight may or may not be the time the gospel makes sense. We are not trying to get kids to say the words to a magical prayer. Salvation is based on faith. Is there a sense of understanding, even if it isn t complete? Is there a sense of surrender? If so, then do not be afraid to invite young people to put their trust in Jesus. Children can have a personal relationship with God and they will surely need it in the days ahead! Invite them without pressure and leave the results to God. When you invite children to believe and receive Christ, you want the issue to be Jesus, not pleasing you. You need to say, out loud, that however they respond, you respect their choice and will like them no matter what. Already? Some children may already be Christians. Affirm their faith. They do not need to keep praying to receive Christ over and over. What verses would you use to explain this? Next Rejoice with new believers, then pray for all the kids in your group before moving on to the craft. Children who trust Christ need to tell someone about it, like their parents, or you, or a friend. Pray for them. Connect them to church if at all possible. Give them a Bible. Let the leader know how things went in your group.

4 Small Group 4 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life. John 4:14 nlt 1. In the balloon trick, what did the fire stand for? What did the balloon stand for? What did the water stand for? 2. The popped balloon stands for our fear that even after we trust in God, He might leave if we mess up. Will He? Why not? 3. What if we do something selfish or wrong? Thumbs up for True/Down for False Make an excuse for it Agree with God it was wrong Thank Him for forgiving us Ask God to help us do right next time 4. Who can tell me something from the Mystery Box? What did it stand for about God? (repeat several times to review lesson) Small Group Leader Instructions 1. Welcome your group. Can anyone say the verse from yesterday? Jesus said, Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. John 7:37b. If so, put a sticker on their nametag for a prize. 2. Discuss the questions to the left. The fire stands for sin. The balloon stands for us, our lives. The water stands for God living in us. God did not come into our lives because we deserved it and He will not leave when we mess up. Jesus died for the wrong things we did. He loves us and we do not need to be afraid. Sin cannot destroy us if we have trusted Christ to live in and with us. 3. After reading John 4:14 and praying, do the final craft together. Be sure their name is on it and send it home with them. 4. Commit to praying for the children in your group as the Lord brings them to mind. Use your picture craft to remind you. May God bless you for your investment in these young lives! 5. We are thirsty for many things. Which one will quench or satisfy our true thirst? Thumbs up/down Fame and fortune? Getting our own way? God s life-changing forever love? End by reading John 4:14 (above) out loud one phrase at a time. Have them repeat each phrase after you. Then pray over your group. Maybe ask them for prayer requests. Also, see if anyone needs a Bible.

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