Put a Bow On It

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December 4th, 2016 .:. .:. Room 301

Pathways Kids Weekend Small Groups

This curriculum is for the 9, 10, 11 and 12 year olds.

This Weeks Scope

Foretweeting
Bible Story: Foretweeting (God promises a Savior) Isaiah 9:6-7
Bottom Line: I can have joy because God keeps His promises.
Memory Verse: Always be joyful because you belong to the Lord. I will say it again. Be joyful!
Philippians 4:4 (NIrV)
Life App: Joyfinding a way to be happy even when things dont go your way.
Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what.

Welcome Time
Welcome kids and spend time engaging in conversation and catching up. Get ready to experience
todays story.
Before kids arrive, pray for each regular attendee by name. Pray for those who might visit your group
for the first time. Pray that kids would experience the authentic joy that is offered to them and desire it
above any joys the world can give. Ask the Holy Spirit to ignite their hearts with understanding and that
you all, as a group, would grow more intimate with our awesome God in your time together today!
What You Need: Marshmallows, candy canes, plates
What You Do:
Ask kids to find a partner, or you can assign pairs to avoid anyone feeling excluded.
Give each team a plate and each person two candy canes.
Explain that they will be using the candy canes as a tool to pick up, move, and stack
marshmallows one on top of another. They cant touch the marshmallows with their hands.
Before they begin, ask the teams to discuss how many marshmallows they think they can stack
then invite them to make a marshmallow promise by telling everyone the number of
marshmallows they will stack.
What You Say:
Promises are not always easy to keep. And some are way more important than others. Keeping a
marshmallow promise is not nearly as important as a promise to help a friend with homework or take
your little sister to the playground. Whenever we say we will do something, even in a silly game of
stacking marshmallows, we should do our best to keep our promise, which is exactly what you guys
did. Great job! [Transition] When it comes to keeping a promise, no one does it better than God.
Lets go to Large Group and learn more about our faithful, promise-keeping God. You wont be
disappointed when you hear what the Bible has to say about it. I promise!
Lead your group to the Large Group area.

Activity #1
What You Need: Paper, pencils, tray- there will be random items in your bin to put on the tray and
cover the tray
What You Do:
Have kids sit in a circle. Set out the covered tray of objects, making sure the Bible is on it.
Hand out paper and pencils.
Explain that you will remove the cover and let kids look at the items for 10 seconds. Then youll
cover it back up and ask kids to write down as many objects as they can remember.
After the kids have had a chance to write down what they remember, uncover the tray once
again and let them check their lists.
Challenge the group to figure out what all items on the tray have in common. (They are all
considered unbreakable.)
Finally, hold up the Bible and ask why they think it was included on the tray of unbreakable
things. In what way is Gods Word unbreakable? (The cover and the pages may tear or come
apart, but the promises of God written in the Bible are true, unbreakable, and will last forever.)
Read a few of your favorite Bible promises or choose from the verses below. For each verse, let
the kids identify the unbreakable promise and why that promise can give them joy.
o Deuteronomy 31:6; Isaiah 65:24 (God hears our prayers)
o Jeremiah 29:11 (God has a plan for our future)
o John 3:16 (Salvation is promised to those who believe in Jesus)
[Make It Personal] (Share with the kids about a promise in the Bible that you clung to
when you or someone you know experienced a hard time.)
What You Say:
Stuff made out of plastic is durable and not easily broken. Even if it accidently gets dropped, it wont
break into a million pieces. Gods Word is infinitely more unbreakable than plastic. The promises of God
endure forever. They will never fail us when we need them. Why? Because God holds each promise in
place. Hes been doing so before the world was createdbefore Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, and
even before time began. One of Gods greatest promises is one He made long ago. He promised to
send a Savior to rescue us from our sin, and He kept that promise. Its why we can celebrate Christmas
in a way that those who dont know Jesus are not able to do. Christmas means that [Bottom Line] I
can have joy because God keeps His promises.

Activity #2
What You Need: Bibles
What You Do:
Guide the kids in looking up Philippians 4:4 together using the following Bible navigation tip:
Finding verses with 9, 10 and 11 year olds. Tell kids that the verse is from Philippians. Ask them to tell you whether
thats in the Old Testament or the New Testament. (New) Explain that Philippians is near the end of the Bible. Instruct
kids to open their Bibles toward the back. When they find Philippians, explain that the big numbers on the page are
the chapter numbers. Tell them to find chapter 4. Explain that the small numbers are verse numbers. Tell them to
them find verse 4 in chapter 4.

When everyone has found the verse, choose someone to read it aloud.
Discuss what the verse means by asking the kids to define the word rejoice.
Let kids share about times when its hard to put a smile on their face and rejoice, such as when
it seems like God isnt answering their prayers or when things are not going the way theyd like.
Remind kids that joy is about smiling on the inside even when life isnt fun on the outside.
Emphasize that happy feelings are not necessarily the same as joy. Gods promises give us a
deeper kind of joy.
Practice saying the verse together as kids wear their biggest smile.

What You Say:

Turn to the kid closest to you and show him or her your greatest grin as we say Philippians 4:4
together one more time. (Say the verse.) Arent you glad that true joy comes from God and not from
things like money or having fun? We wont always have everything we want and there will be times
when were not having any fun at all. But we can still have genuine happinessthe kind that comes
from trusting God even when worries and trouble are in our life. Philippians 4:4 is a command from
God, not just a nice idea! With every command He gives, God also promises us His help to obey. This
week, if you dont feel super joyful because youre disappointed or discouraged, ask God to help you
rejoice in Him. You could also ask a parent or friend to help you look for a promise in the Bible that
encourages you to trust God when its hard. Read it with a smile on your face and say, [Bottom Line] I
can have joy because God keeps His promises.
Optional Additional Discussion Questions
Name some ways to learn and remember Gods promises.
Can you think of a dark time you or someone else has gone through? How did you or that
person handle that situation? Were you able to have joy? If so, how did it change things even if
the situation didnt necessarily get better?
If someone asked you why you had joy in a dark time, what would you tell them?
How would you explain the difference between having joy and being happy?
When things are not going well, is it okay to doubt or question Gods promises? What should
you do if that happens?

Prayer
Opposites

Time

What You Need: Paper, pens

What You Do:
Ask each of the kids to write on a slip of paper one word that describes how they feel when they
think about the fact that God keeps His promises to us.
Invite the kids to interject the words they wrote as you close with the following prayer:
What You Say:
Lord, we just want to say how grateful we are for the many promises You have given us in Your Word.
When we think of Your promises, we feel (pause to let kids read the word they wrote on their slips of
paper). Your promises give us hope and joy. They remind us that You love us and are always with us
even on our hardest days. Thank You for giving us a way to be happy even when things dont go our
way. We love You. In Jesus name, amen.