Page 1 guide 5 guide guide 5 Property of Tri-Cities Baptist Church 171 Promise Land Dr. Gray, TN 37615 Chief Contributor and Editor: Jennifer Thurman July 2016
Page 2 overview STORY: CREATION God created everything. Everything we see, hear, feel, taste, and that exists was created by Him. Not only did He create everything, but He created everything perfectly, including humanity. He created mankind in His very image and likeness to reflect His worth. All of creation was made just like He wanted and designed it to be. To His delight, God looked at everything He made and declared that it was good. All creation exists for God, is good, and was created to bring Him glory. BIG TRUTH: BIBLE VERSE: Psalm 139:13-14 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it well. BIG IDEAS Everyone has value and worth because we are made in God s image. Our failures and sin do not change our value and worth. We are made lovely by God s love for us through Jesus. BIG AIMS KNOW Every child should know that God is the Creator who created man and woman in His image. Every child should respect others as the image bearers of God, the Creator. FEEL Every child should feel unique and important as an image bearer of God. Every child should experience the desire to be holy like God is holy and to reflect God s image. DO WANT BIBLE STORY: JOHN 4 Every person is created by God and has great value. Because every person is created in God s image, we are all valuable no matter how we sin or fail. God loves each person and has made us all uniquely and incredibly. We are of great value to Him and we should value all life. FAMILY DEVOTION: EVERY PERSON IS VALUABLE There isn t one person who has ever lived that wasn t valuable to God. Everyone has great value and is loved by God. We are valuable because God has made us valuable, not because of anything we do or don t do. Help families build on this week s Big Truth by encouraging parents and guardians to utilize this weeks devotional available online at www.tcbchurch.org/2fdp
Page 3 game plan STUDY SESSION (LEARN TRUTH): The Study Session is where children are taught the week s foundation principle concerning who God is and what He has given. Big Truth: God Made Me Valuable Bible Verse: Psalm 139:13-14 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it well. Verse Activity: Help the children memorize Psalm 139:13-14 by dividing the children into groups of two and having them practice saying the verse out loud to one another. Teaching Focus: We are all valuable because we re made in God s image. Big Story: John 4 Big Question: Since we are all made in God s image, how should we think of and treat each other? Use John 4 to teach that God made us valuable. Provided Resources Opening Illustration resources will be provided. WORSHIP SESSION (LOVE TRUTH): The Worship Session is where children, together with the family, praise and make much of God through song, Bible reading, and teaching in the weekly gathering. We value the family coming and worshiping as one body. Use the weekly message notes and music set list to engage your children in worship at www.tcbchurch.org/news LIFE SESSION (LIVE TRUTH): The Life Session is where children are engaged to interact through additional Hooks that help reinforce the Big Truth and Big Ideas of the week. Bible Reading: John 4 Teaching Focus: Our sin and failures do not make us less valuable. Bible Story: John 4 Big Question: Since we are made valuable by God, do our failures make us less valuable? Use the resources included to teach the truth that God made us valuable and of great worth. Use the supplied Hooks or an approved activity to help children learn and understand the Big Truth and Big Ideas. GENERAL HELP: Stay on subject with the Big Truth and Bible Verse. Every talk should return to the Big Truth. Keep it simple. Make it memorable. Reinforce the Big Ideas in conversation with the kids. Prepare with conviction. You will not use everything, but the supplied resource is designed to provide you with a clear understanding of this Bible Story and how it relates to The Big Truth. Give consideration to the Big Ideas & Hooks in your preparation and delivery. Pray for wisdom and receptive hearts.
Page 4 BIBLE VERSE: PSALM 139:13-14 God knows our lives before we are even born. God is our Creator and He has a plan for our lives before we are even born. God knows us and is involved in creating us. He is the all-knowing Creator who knows the course of our lives before we are even born. God forms us in our mother s womb. God is the giver of all life. We are first thought of in God s mind and then He creates us in our mother s womb. He allows our lives to begin in our mother s womb, creating every detail of us. He knows us and forms us in our mother s womb and knows how long we will live. Because God creates us in His image, we are valuable. God is intimately involved in all of our lives and He is especially in our beginning. We are not born accidentally or by chance. God knows us and forms us. He is our powerful and great Creator who gives us life in our mother s womb. God s creation of us in His image gives us great value. Every person is created in God s image and every person has value.
Page 5 BIBLE STORY: JOHN 4 The Samaritan Woman Supporting Scripture: Psalm 95:3; Zephaniah 3:17; Romans 5:8; John 3:16 Teacher Introduction: When Jesus set out for Galilee, He made a choice to pass through Samaria. This was an unusual choice for a Jew to make because the Jews did not like the Samaritans. Yet, Jesus traveled through Samaria and that is where He met the Samaritan woman gathering water at a well. The Samaritan woman had not lived a good life. Her life was a broken life and her reputation was bad. She was not gathering water in the morning when the women would have gathered water, but was gathering in the middle of the day. Most likely this was to avoid seeing the other women. Yet, Jesus chose to talk to her while she was at the well. His disciples were amazed that He was speaking with her. The Samaritan woman was amazed that a Jew would speak to her, much less ask her for water. Jesus knew the woman s past and even her present situation, yet He loved her. He shared the truth with her and she believed in Him. Jesus love for someone like the Samaritan woman teaches us the value of every single person. We are all made valuable in the image of God. We are all loved by God who considers us all to be valuable. No matter what the Samaritan woman s past was, she was valuable to God. The same is true of every person. We are made valuable by God our Creator. Teaching Guide: The guide below is provided to help you teach the narrative: The Samaritan Woman. The three points are the Big Ideas that should guide your lesson as you share from John 4 and teach the narrative: The Samaritan Woman. Footnotes are provided for further study of the text and God s interaction with His people. Throughout the lesson, questions are placed to help you guide the students to think about and process the narrative: The Samaritan Woman. Opening Illustration: Gather together several soft balls and medium sized containers. Divide the children into two to three small teams. Give each team one of the balls and ask them to toss the ball into the container. If they hit the container, they get to name something that God created. If they miss the container, they get to name some way that God rules over creation. Once they ve played several times, lead them in a discussion about how God is the Creator of everything, even people and He rules over everything. Who is the Creator of all things? (God is the Creator of all things.) Who rules over all of creation? (God is the ruler of all creation.) God is our Creator. He creates every person and He cares for us, too. God is the Creator of everything everywhere.
Page 6 BIG IDEA: EVERYONE HAS VALUE AND WORTH BECAUSE WE ARE MADE IN GOD S IMAGE. What does it mean for something to have value? (It means it is worth money or it is considered special to someone.) God is the greatest being alive. 1 Because God is the one, true God, His image is valuable. We are created in God s image, so we are very valuable. There is no one like God. No one is as mighty or as great as God is. Since God is so mighty and great, we are of great value. The Samaritan woman was valuable to Jesus. She was so valuable, He was willing to pass through Samaria even though it was normal for Jews to go around Samaria. DO Help the children make a list of all the people who are valuable to a town or city. For example, a fireman is valuable because he puts out fires and rescues people. Lead them in a discussion about how we are all valuable to God and we are all made in His image. God created every person in His image. Every person is formed in the image of God. We are all a reflection of God s image. We are made in His image even if we sin or fail at obeying Him. Even those who do not follow God are made in His image. Every person is created by God in His image. Our value and worth are found in God. Because God, who is the most holy being, created us, we have value and worth. We are valuable because God made us and He makes us valuable. Because God considers us to have worth, we have worth, no matter the actions and decisions we make. 2 1. Psalm 95:3: God is the greatest of beings. No one is higher or greater than He. 2. Zephaniah 3:17: God rejoices over His people. He finds great value in man who is created in His image.
Page 7 BIG IDEA: OUR FAILURES AND SIN DO NOT CHANGE OUR VALUE AND WORTH. 3 We have value and worth because God formed us. Our value comes from God and not from anything we do. The Jews did not think the Samaritans had worth. They looked down upon the Samaritans. They would bypass Samaria in order to avoid any interaction with the Samaritans. When Jesus chose to go through Samaria to Galilee, He showed His followers that every person has value because every person is made in God s image. The Samaritan woman at the well had great value and worth because she was created in God s image, not because she did anything to make herself worthy. Every person, no matter where they come from, has value because their Creator is valuable and He says they are valuable. Nothing we do takes away the value we have. The Samaritan woman had made bad choices in her life. She had made sinful choices and failed at many things. She had not glorified God with her life, but she still had value and worth. Jesus proved the value of every life by going through Samaria to Galilee. Even though the Samaritan woman had sinned, she was very valuable to God. She was made in God s image and that made her valuable. FEEL Give each child a piece of blank paper and a marker. Ask the children to make a mark for every time they have disobeyed God this past week. Ask them questions about their week to help them think of times they have disobeyed, such as did you obey your parents every day this week? Were you nice to your brothers and sisters every day this week? Next, lead them in a discussion about how their pieces of paper can t really be used for anything now, but that s not how God sees us. Show them that even though they disobeyed or behaved badly this week, He still sees them as valuable. What gives people value and worth? (Being made in God s image gives people value and worth.) 3. Romans 5:8: God shows us mercy and loves us even while we are sinners. We are valuable to Him no matter the life we live.
Page 8 BIG IDEA: WE ARE MADE LOVELY BY GOD S LOVE FOR US THROUGH JESUS. Our value is given to us by God. Nothing we do or say makes us valuable. God gives us life and He gives us value. He is our Creator and He determines what is valuable and what is not. Because we are made in God s image, we have great value. God loves us and His love for us makes us valuable and lovely to Him. God s love makes us valuable. God s love is perfect and eternal. We have value because God loves us. We are important to Him. God loves us and made us in His image to be known by Him. God s love makes us lovely because His love works in our hearts. When we have saving faith in His Son, Jesus, our hearts are changed by God s love. FEEL Ask the children to name something that is very valuable to them. Allow them to take turns describing it and explaining why it is valuable. Most will probably say that they love the thing that is most valuable to them. Lead them in a discussion about how God loves us and His love makes us valuable and lovely to Him. Because of God s love for us, He sent His Son to pay our sin debt. 4 At times in our lives, we have disobeyed God and behaved badly. Our disobedience and poor choices are our sin debt to God. Because God loves us, He considered us so valuable that He sent His Son to pay our sin debt. We could not pay our own sin debt, yet God made a way for us to be with Him without having to pay our own sin debt. God s love changes our hearts and shows how valuable we are to Him. Nothing we do makes us lovely. It is only God s love of us that makes us lovely. We are lovely because God loves us and considers us valuable. He gave up His only Son that He might be reconciled to us if we repent of our sins and believe in His Son, Jesus. How are we made lovely? (God s love makes us lovely. We are not made lovely by anything we do or say.) 4. John 3:16: It was God s love for us that caused Him to send His Son to die on the cross for our sins.
Page 9 hooks CHURCH KNOW Everyone Is Valuable Print out or write Psalm 139:13-14 on a large piece of paper. Create a puzzle of the verse by cutting puzzle pieces out of the piece of paper after the verse is written on it. Divide the children into teams and let them take turns timing themselves putting the puzzle together. Do it several times to give each team and opportunity to do it quickly. Lead the children in a discussion about how each person is valuable because they are made in the image of God. What do these verses say about how we are created? (They say that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.) Does this mean that we have value? (Yes. We all have value.) God made every person in His image and this means that we are very valuable. FEEL We Are Valuable Even When We Sin Use a large piece of paper to draw a person or outline a person. Cut the outline out so that you have a large paper person that can be attached to the wall with tape. Next write the word Everyone in large letters across the person. On medium slips of paper write out different sins that people commit, such as lying, stealing, being unkind, gossiping, etc. Play a modified version of Pin the tail on the donkey with the children. Using a bandana or a piece of cloth, blindfold a child and hand him or her one of the slips of paper with a piece of tape attached to it. Have the child try to tape the slip of paper to the paper person attached to the wall. Allow the children to take turns trying. When a child successfully attaches a slip of paper, have the child read the sin out loud. Lead the children in a discussion about how we are all sinners, but that doesn t change our value. We are all valuable to God no matter our sin or failures. WANT God s Love Makes Us Valuable Divide the children into groups of three to four. Give each group a piece of paper and some markers. Ask the group to list some of the things that each person in their group loves and why they love them. When each group is finished making their list, have the groups share their lists and explanations. Lead them in a discussion of how God s love makes us valuable. He loves us and considers us to be very valuable.
Page 10 hooks HOME Help your child memorize Psalm 139:13-14 by helping your child write the verse on a piece of paper that can be placed in a visible area. KNOW DO Help your child show that every person has value by creating a care package for someone. Help your child choose the person he or she wants to send a care package to and then help him or her gather the things they want to send. They can make cookies, send cards, etc. Talk with your child about how we should see every person as valuable because God made every person in His image. FEEL Help your child gather together at least three things that they consider valuable. Spend some time talking about why they are valuable and what makes them important to your child. Talk with your child about how valuable God finds them. Tell him or her that He created them in His image and He loves them very much. Spend time as a family singing praise songs thanking God for His love for all people. WANT FAMILY CONNECT The focus of today s lesson was: God Made Me Valuable. This week s devotion will focus on: Every Person Is Valuable. As parents drop off their children share with them the Big Truth: God Made Me Valuable. As parents are picking up their children ask them to ask their children how Jesus showed that everyone is valuable by going to Samaria.