MADE TO PLAY. day 1: PLAY day 2: PREPARE day 3: LISTEN day 4: ACT day 5: YIELD. Made To Play. Produced by Infinity Sports Produced by Infinity Sports

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1 MADE TO PLAY Made To Play day 1: PLAY day 2: PREPARE day 3: LISTEN day 4: ACT day 5: YIELD

2 Made to PLAY Session 1: Made to Play Goal: Help kids understand that they are Made to Play by God. He has made them wonderfully complex to play for His glory. Biblical Focus: Parable of the Three Servants (Talents) Memory Verse: Psalm 139:14 (NIV) Supplies: flip chart, 1 dry erase marker, 4-6 paper bags, 30 tennis balls, 1 piece of construction paper for each child, 1 pen for each child, 15 play coins Session 2: Made to Prepare Goal: Help kids realize that they have to prepare for life just like they have to prepare for a big game by learning the playbook and using the right equipment. Biblical Focus: Armor of God Memory Verse: Ephesians 6:11 (NIV) Supplies: flip chart, 1 dry erase marker, 5 cans of playdough (one per team), 1 playbooks/rulebooks for any sport, 4 different colored sets of 8 same colored balloons, Bible verse cut into 8 strips of paper Session 3: Made to Listen Goal: Show the kids that God wants to call the plays in their lives, but they have to be willing to listen to Him and know His voice. Biblical Focus: Samuel Memory Verse: Proverbs 8:33 (NIV) Supplies: flip chart, 2 dry erase markers, 2 laminated mazes, 2 blindfolds, 1 sport ball of choice Session 4: Made to Act Goal: By sharing God s gift of salvation with the kids, let them know that God has made them to act on this plan for their lives today. Biblical Focus: Josiah Memory Verse: James 1:22 (NIV) Supplies: flip chart, 1 dry erase marker, 5 Bible verse puzzles printed and cut into pieces Session 5: Made to Yield

3 Goal: When we yield to God, even when we don t understand or it makes us uncomfortable, he can do amazing things through us. Biblical Focus: Saul Memory Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) Supplies: flip chart, 1 dry erase marker, 1 flashlight, mini marshmallows (enough for each child to have 5), 1 index card for each child, 1 pen for each child Made to PLAY Session Schedule: Intro. Activity 10 min. Lesson min. Life Application 5-10 min. Memory Verse Activity 5-10 min. Prayer 5 min. Total Time: 45 min.

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5 Made to Play.. Day 1 Goal: Help kids understand that they are Made to Play by God. He has made them wonderfully complex to play for His glory. Biblical Focus: Parable of the Three Servants (Talents) (Matthew 25:14-29) Memory Verse: Psalm 139:14 (NIV) I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Supplies: flip chart, 1 dry erase marker, 4-6 paper bags, 30 tennis balls, 1 piece of construction paper for each child, 1 pen for each child, 15 play coins For the Bible Study Leader: Read Matthew 25. It is short and you will be a better person for having read it. Then, read verses again, as that will be our focus. It is cool to see how Jesus talks about the Kingdom of Heaven and how He speaks in normal terms, referencing things we can understand. Keep this in mind as you prepare to teach the kids. They would really like to understand what you are teaching them. You can be the one to open their eyes to this portion of scripture in such a way that it reveals to them something that they have never understood. God has created them to be wonderfully complex and gifted them all differently, but with a specific purpose in mind. Intro. Activity (10 min.) Divide the group into 2-3 teams and have each team form a line. At one end of each line place a bag filled with tennis balls. Make sure each group has different amounts of balls in their bag. At the other end of the line place an empty bag. Tell the kids that they will have the challenge of getting the balls from one bag to the other, by passing them with their elbows. The first person on each team will hand a ball to the second person to hold between their elbows. They will then pass it on down the line and the last player will drop it into the bag. Tell them that every ball they get into their bag is worth 2 points, but every ball they drop is minus one point. Give them a few minutes or allow them to run out of balls, add/subtract points and celebrate the winning team. Have the kids circle up and talk about how they played the way they played. Most likely they will all try hard to win. Discuss possible outcomes of different strategies, for example: What if they constantly passed the balls? or passed them only after one had made it to the end? or tried to pass several at one time? What if they passed only one and hoped that the other teams dropped more than they made? Let them know that we are going to talk about some guys that had a task not too different from this game and their decisions made a big difference in their lives. Grade K-2 option: Give each child two, three, or four small items. Ask if their piles are little or big. Say: Your job is to use your pile, whether it is big or little, to make something even bigger! Have the children stand in a line, each holding his

6 or her items. Have the first child choose a way to get to the other side of the room, such as skipping, walking, or crawling, while still carrying his or her items. When the first child gets to the other side, he or she is to stack his or her items and walk back as fast as he or she can to touch the next person in line. The next person does the same thing. Teach kids this song to the tune of If You re Happy and You Know It to sing while everyone is completing the task: If you ve got a gift to use, bring it in. If you ve got a gift to use, bring it in. If you ve got a gift to use, Let us share the happy news. If you ve got a gift to use, bring it in. Say: How does our collection look now? When we use what we have been given, we can make something much bigger than what we started with. It pleases God when we use the gifts he gives us. Lesson (10 min.) Tell the story from Matthew 25:14-29 in your own words. (grade 3-6 option is to create a role play. Choose three students to act out the role of servants as you share the story). (even without role play, use 15 play coins as visual while telling the story). The NLT is a great place to start: Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip. The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master s money. After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more. The master was full of praise. Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let s celebrate together! The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.

7 The master said, Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let s celebrate together! Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn t plant and gathering crops you didn t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back. But the master replied, You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn t plant and gathered crops I didn t cultivate, why didn t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it. Then he ordered, Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. How many of you are really good at something? (Allow time for responses). God has given each of us talents or the ability to do something very well. It can be a playing a sport (basketball, football, cheerleading, skateboarding, gymnastics), playing an instrument, or being good at a subject in school (Math, Science, etc.). What God wants us to do is use what we have been given talents to honor the Master, God. How do we honor Him? We work hard, have a good attitude, and be a good example of what God would look like if He were out there doing what you re doing. Now can you see the similarity in this story and the game we played earlier? There is no way you would not try your hardest to win that game. Everyone used their mind and body to do the best they could do to win the game. You are a wonderfully complex creation of God, full of amazing talent. God made you with a plan in mind. You were Made to PLAY! Don t let your talents go to waste, use them to fulfill the plans God has made for you. Life Application (10 min.) Give each student a piece of paper and something to write with (If you could be outside this would be a great sidewalk chalk activity). Have them write their initials on the paper/sidewalk. For each letter they write, have them come up with 2-3 things that they are talented at doing that starts with that letter. (grade K-2 option is to use the page in your flip chart. Have each child come up with a word for one of their initials, and write it on the flip chart page). For example, Jon Mark Smith could write down Jumping, Jogging, Making my little brother cry, Math, Sports and Snowboarding. Some will come up with more than others and they might need a little help getting started (especially if his name is Zachary Xavier Qualls). Give them a few minutes to think about this and write down their answers, then allow each student to share a few with the group. As each

8 student shares, allow the others to brainstorm ways these talents and abilities can be used in a positive way, that benefits others, glorifies God and keeps them playing in the game of life. Let them know that each one of them has been given talents and abilities. Some of can come up with tons of talents and others, just a few. Today we are learning that no matter how talented or untalented we may feel, whenever we use our talents, it glorifies God, so He doesn t want us to hold back, no matter if we have 1 talent or 100, we have to use what we ve got! We re made to play! Bible Verse Activity (5 min.) Psalm 139:14 (NIV) I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Display the Bible verse and say it together. Then ask the children to say the verse in several different ways: At a normal pace while standing In fast forward while jogging in a circle In a whisper while jumping In slow motion while walking backward **You could even use basic drills or warm up activities for your sport instead. Finish by having everyone quote the verse together. Prayer (5 min.) Allow the students to share something they would like the group to pray for them. Close the session by praying that the students will realize God has made them wonderfully complex to play their best for Him in this game of life!