Words At Their Best. Proverbs 24:26, 13:3, 11:12-13, 15:1

Transcription

1 79 K-5 Joint Group Time Words At Their Best Proverbs 24:26, 13:3, 11:12-13, 15:1 Main Point - God wants us to choose the best words to speak. Honest and kind words, words that are few in number. Memory Verse Ephesians 4:32 Ask: - What words does God want to hear coming out of your mouth? - How do you know if your words are kind? This verse can be found on Colin Buchanan's CD, 10, 9, 8 God is Great. To find out more about this CD, go to the Music Links page of the Kidswise web site. James 1:19 (optional) Learn the verse by saying it as instructed: Everyone should be (pause, take a breath, say next bit very fast) quick to listen, (pause, say next bit very slow) slow to speak (pause, say next bit even slower) and slow to become angry. (pause, say next bit normal speed) James chapter one verse nineteen Singing Select 2/3 songs that remind us that our words matter to God (kind words, honest words, few words and gentle words). Sing the following song as a theme song for the book of Proverbs: God Speaks (from the CD, Get Ready, EMU Music).

2 80 Fruit Tasting Warning: check for allergies before asking children to do this activity. If unsure, have a leader taste test the fruit. Need: - four different kinds of fruit (orange, banana, apple, lemon) - blindfold Instructions: - Blindfold the taster. - Hand taster one piece of fruit at a time and ask them to guess what sort of tree the fruit came from. - (hold up fruit) We know what sort of tree it was picked from. - The fruit tells us that. - We know that this came from an orange tree, this came from an apple tree. (hold up the fruit one at a time as you speak). - The words that come out of our mouths are our fruit. - The Bible tells us that the words we speak show what our hearts are like. - If we love God, then we will be different from people who don t. - We will be more like Jesus who only ever spoke good, kind and truthful words. - What do your words say about you?

3 Group Time Words At Their Best Proverbs 24:26, 13:3, 11:12-13, 15:1 Main Point - God wants us to choose the best words to speak. Honest and kind words, words that are few in number. Word Relay Need: - whiteboard and whiteboard markers (a different coloured marker for each group) - or large sheet of paper and markers (a different coloured marker for each group) Instructions: - Divide the children into teams. - Hand them one marker each (each team should have a different colour). - Write the phrase, God wants us to choose the best words to say in the middle of the whiteboard/sheet of paper. - Each team has to look at the letters in this phrase and think of words (of three letters or more) using only those letters. - When they have thought of a word, they have to send one person from their group to write the word on the whiteboard/paper. - Once a word has been written by a team, no other team can write it. - If two teams are writing the same word at the same time, the person who finishes first gets to have the word for their team (i.e. put a cross through the other team s word). - Set a time limit (5 minutes). - The team with the most number of words wins. - God wants us to choose our words carefully. - To choose the best words to say. - To say the right thing at the right time. - We need to ask God to help us stop and think before we speak. - To slow down and choose the right words to speak.

4 86 Slow Down Games Need: - Jumping sacks - Long ropes - Hoops Instructions: - Play a number of games whereby going too fast is not the way you win. - Example: sack race, if you fall over you have to pick up your sack and go back to the beginning and start again. - Example: walk along the length of a long rope, if you step off the rope you have to start again. - Example: roll a hoop, if your hoop falls over you have to pick it up and go back and start again. - Example: slow motion race, must keep moving forward but the person who goes the slowest wins - Sometimes it s better to go slow. - Slowing down in these races meant we were more likely to be the winner. - Slowing down and thinking before we talk means we are more likely to choose better words to speak. - God wants us to stop and think before words come rushing out our mouth. Story Time - Download the children s talk titled, Slow Down Sam (available from the Kidswise web site) and retell the story to the children. Discussion (small groups) - Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me. Is this true? Why do words hurt so much? - When people say kind words to you, how do you feel? (happy, loved, feel good/nice, like it) - What do kind words do to people?

5 87 (they help people, make people feel loved, help people calm down when they are angry) - When people say unkind words to you, how do you feel? (sad, unhappy, angry) - What do unkind words do to people? (make people feel hurt, sad, angry, lonely, hit back) - What words does God want us to say? (kind words) - Jesus only ever says the right words. - He always speaks the truth. - He is always kind. - He always knows what to say. - We need to ask God to help us stop and think before we speak. - To slow down and choose the right words. Mind Map (small groups) Provide easy to read Bibles, an A3 sheet of paper per child and pencils or markers. - Ask the children to create a mind map (words, captions, pictures) of everything the selected verses from Proverbs (see page 89) tell them about the words they speak. - Begin by asking the children to write the word, Words in the middle of the page and then to draw arrows/lines out and summarise what they read. - Encourage them to divide their page up. On one side use words, captions and symbols or pictures of words not to say, and on the other side words to say. - A mind map is simply a summary of the passage, using both pictures/cartoons and captions/quotes. - For example: Proverbs 10:9 - write the word honest add ticks around it, on opposite side of page write the word dishonest draw a net over it. - Mind map the following Proverbs: 6:12, 10:9, 10:11, 10:19-21, 16:27-28, 12:18, 15:1-2 (copy page 11 and cut up the list of Proverbs verses for each child).

6 88 - When finished, have children share what they have learnt. Prayer Time - Ask the children to pray about what they have learnt from their mind map. - Encourage the children to say sorry for words they have said that have hurt others. Card Making/Letter Writing (optional) - Provide material for the children to make a card and write a note to someone they know. - Encourage them to think about how their kind words can encourage someone.

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