lesson 7 when life gets tough -...

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Bible Readiness

Bible Activity Choices

Bible Response

Four Step Lesson Path

▫▫ This symbol will appear whenever preparation takes more than five minutes or whenever supplies are needed that are not included on the list of standard materials (on page 6).

LESSON 7

Bible Study:

When Life Gets ToughBible Basis: 1 Samuel 30:1-20

Lesson Focus: Talk to God when life gets tough.

Memory Verse: “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” 1 Chronicles 28:20

To apply the Bible story from 1 Samuel 30, children will choose to pray when life gets tough.

- Bible Discoveries, p. 4, pencils, PraisePac CD and downloadable PDF song sheets, CD player, Friends, Lesson 7

Children will explore the need to talk to God when life gets tough.

▫▫ Prayer TIme: Stationary and fun pens, floor pillows, Bibles, whiteboard, markers▫▫ 3-D Board Game: “Rise to the Throne”

(Teaching Aids 7—9), coin, game markers - Roleplays: Index cards, pen

1 Samuel 30:1-20Children will study how David talks to God when life gets tough.

- Bible Story: Bible Discoveries, pp. 2-3, Teaching Aid 2, 7, Bibles, pencils

▫▫ Bible Review: Discovery Pack, Project G, flashlights

- Memory Verse Practice: No materials needed

To relate to the Bible story of David’s tough times, children will talk about tough times they face.

- Bible Discoveries, p. 1, pencils

Understanding the BibleAfter being pursued by Saul for years, David chose to leave Israel and in desperation went to the land of the hated Philistines (l Sam. 27). David and his men would fight alongside the Philistines. As a reward from the king’s son, David and his soldiers were given the city of Ziklag. It was here that David, his men, and all of their families would enjoy a brief time of peace.

While David hid out among the Philistines, he found himself in the awkward position of being expected to fight against his own people. At the same time, Philistine commanders feared that David and his men would turn against them in battle. This had happened previously to the Philistines (1 Sam. 14:21). Achish, the Philistine king, expressed confidence in David, who for his part was willing to stay and fight for the Philistines. But the Lord spared David from this dilemma and put it in Achish’s heart to send David and his men away.

When David and his men returned home to Ziklag, they found their families and possessions gone. They had been taken captive by the Amalekites, who should have been completely destroyed by Saul, but were not (1 Sam. 15).

LESSON 7

Bible Basis: 1 Samuel 30:1-20

Teacher Devotional

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When Teaching the Bible to Elementary Students . . .Second and third graders tend to have high expectations of themselves—and they experience frustration if they can’t complete a task to their own satisfaction. Kids this age are becoming sensitive to the limits of their talents and abilities. They might refuse to try a new project if they’re not sure about it or if they’ve tried it before and failed. Use these ideas to make your classroom an open and accepting place where children feel free to try new things and make mistakes.

• Look for ways to affirm children—not just for their accomplishments, but for their efforts.• Let the children know that you have confidence in them and that you are always ready to help when they ask.• Let your students know that it doesn’t matter if they don’t always have the perfect project or the right answer. Encourage them to feel comfortable with exploring and seeking answers, rather than having to “know it all.”

When Life Gets Tough

L ife was tough for David. This week’s passage shows us one of the more difficult experiences in David’s life: his allies didn’t trust him so they sent

him away; his family was kidnapped; everything he had was destroyed or stolen; his men blamed him and wanted to stone him. David felt desolate and cried his heart out. Yet he found the strength to go on after he talked with God.

We all face tough times. Often they are situations over which we have little or no control. We always hope they will be few and far between! But when life overwhelms us, we have someone to go to. God will hear us and strengthen us.

This promise is throughout Scripture. Look in your Bible’s concordance and find some verses that talk about praying. The sheer number of verses illustrates that David wasn’t the only person in the Bible who knew to talk to God when things were tough.

What do you need God’s strength for this week? How will you spend time seeking His strength?

Early Bird OptionsCharades—To help the children relate to David’s and the Israelites’ feelings in the

Bible story, let the kids play this version of charades. On slips of paper, write different feelings—sad, happy, angry, bored, lonely, surprised, and so on. Let the kids take turns choosing a slip of paper and silently acting out the emotion while the others guess what it is.

Singing—Let the kids start learning the Unit 26 song from the PraisePac CD in the teaching aids packet. You may want to put out rhythm instruments for the children to play as they listen and sing. The song sheets are downloadable PDF files on your PraisePac CD.

Bible Readiness

LESSON FOCUS: Talk to God when life gets tough.

Link to Last Week

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To prepare the children to understand the Bible story of David’s response to his tough time, lead the children through an activity page and discussion about their own tough times.

Life has its good times and tough times. Sometimes the tough times go on for a long time or they feel worse than anything we’ve ever felt. Let’s look at some tough times you might have struggled with.

Hand out Bible Discoveries for Lesson 7, page 1. Have the class look at each picture individually and ask this question about each of the four pictures:

.. What do you think is happening in this picture? The kids will have a variety of ideas and will include being made fun of, being left out, not having enough money or wanting to spend money on something else, and failing at school.

Now read the directions at the top of the page. Allow a minute for the children to write down their own tough times these pictures remind them of. What they write may be different from what is pictured. These pictures are a starting point for helping the kids relate today’s lesson to their own experiences. For example, rather than failing at school, some children might be reminded of failing at something else.

When everyone has had a chance to think about the pictures, let volunteers share what they wrote down and tell a little about their specific experiences. If you have a large class, divide into smaller groups for this sharing time.

Children this age go through a variety of emotions as they face problems. Some problems that upset children may seem small to an adult. Yet these tough times are still hard for the child to go through. Other children may be facing very serious problems, similar to what David faced with

losing his home and family. Be sure to be sensitive and caring to all the children as they share what they struggle with. If the children are to relate to and learn from the Bible story, they need to feel it can be applied to whatever situation they are facing and how real it feels to them.

Everyone goes through tough times. Some of our tough times seem harder than others. These four pictures are just four kinds of tough times.

.. What other kinds of tough times have you gone through? Allow the children to volunteer answers. Help the children feel comfortable about sharing with the group. You may want to share an experience from your own life.

.. What are some words that describe how you felt when life was tough? Sad, lonesome, afraid, confused, not knowing who to trust, feeling like it would never end, etc.

.. What did you do about the tough things that happened to you? Talked to my parents or a friend about it, got someone to help me, prayed to God for help, cried, etc. Some children will say they didn’t do anything or they didn’t know what to do, which is normal for this age.

Tie to the BibleOur Bible story today tells about a really tough time that David went through—even tougher than the hard times we’ve been learning that he had. And the Bible story also shows us a great way to respond to tough times. We can do what David did. Let’s see what he did with his tough time.

Last week the children learned that God’s way is better than getting even. Share together choices they made that showed choosing God’s way. Where did they make those choices? Be sure to include a choice you made in response to the lesson.

To relate to the Bible story of David’s tough times, children will talk about tough times they face.

Materials:

- Bible Discoveries, p. 1 - Pencils


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Bible Study:1 Samuel 30:1-20

Let volunteers summarize where last week’s story left off. (David and his men were living in the wilderness; King Saul and his soldiers kept chasing David, trying to kill him.)

Have the children turn in their Bibles to 1 Samuel 30 and in Bible Discoveries to pages 2-3. Some children may have trouble reading the word tough. You may want to print the word on the board to introduce the children to it.

Place Teaching Aid 6 after Teaching Aid 4 on your visual timeline. Ask a student to find, on the Bible Overview Chart, Teaching Aid 2, the book of the Bible that contains all the stories studied so far this quarter.

Have students find and mark 1 Samuel 30:4 in their Bibles. Remind them to use the table of contents in the front of their Bibles if they need help finding 1 Samuel.

Let the kids take turns reading

paragraphs of the Bible story from Bible Discoveries. Whenever a reader comes to blank lines, have the whole class look up the Bible reference in their Bibles and read the Bible verse aloud together. Then have the class discuss the answer and come to an agreement. The children write the answer in their Bible Discoveries books.

When finished with the story, let a volunteer read aloud the memory verse. Use the questions and activity on the following page to check for understanding and reinforce the Bible story content.

Children will study how David talks to God when life gets tough.

Materials:

Bible Study - Bible Discoveries, pp.

2-3 - Teaching Aid 2, 6 - Bibles - Pencils

Bible Review Activity - Discovery Pack,

Project G▫▫ Flashlights

Bib

le Discoveries, p

p. 2-3

the Lord

cried strength


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Memory Verse

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“Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”

Memory Verse PracticeDivide the children into two groups. Assign a phrase of the memory verse to each child. Have them stand in two lines facing each other. Let the class practice the verse by calling out their assigned phrases to each other. You may want to print the phrases on the board (in two groups) until the kids remember which phrases to call out. Then erase them as the children become confident practicing the verse.

1 Chronicles 28:20

Bible Review Questions .. What was the tough time

David was going through? What had happened? The army they were supposed to help didn’t trust them and sent them away; they returned home to find their homes burned down; their families had been kidnapped; David’s men were angry at him and blamed him.

Some children may ask how David and his men came to live in a town when they had been hiding out in the wilderness. If so, use the information in Understanding the Bible on page 51 to answer their questions.

.. How did David feel about his tough time? He cried until he had no strength left to cry; he may have been worried that his men were turning against him; etc.

.. What did David do about his tough time? First he cried; then he talked to God and asked God what to do.

.. How did that help? Talking to God gave David the strength to keep going during his tough time. He also received direction from God on what to do next.

.. What might have happened if David hadn’t talked to God when life got tough? He might have been too depressed to do anything; his men might have

killed him or deserted him; he might not have gotten his family back; he might have kept on feeling bad for a much longer time; etc.

.. According to the memory verse, what can we remember when life gets tough? That God is with us and won’t fail us.

Read through the memory verse again. Talk about how discouraged means feeling uncertain or unhappy because of something that happened.

Bible Review ActivityPunch out the flashlight tags and the item inside the tag from Discovery Pack, Project G. Place each tag in front of a flashlight to retell some of the stories you have learned about David. See what happens when you move the tags closer to or farther away from the light.


Bible Activity Choices

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Roleplays3-D Board GamePrayer Time

- Index cards - Pen

These roleplays reinforce that children can turn to God in both good and tough times. On index cards, write some happy times or tough times that kids might experience. For example: birthday party, A+ on test, friend comes to visit, parent lost a job, feel sick, best friend is mad at you, moving away.

Children at this activity take turns choosing a card to act out. They may use words and make sounds in addition to acting. The others watching guess what is being acted out and in return act out a response that would please God. The kids might act out happy times by cheering, giving a hug, or praying to thank God. They might act out tough times by praying, listening, or offering to help. Encourage the kids to think about the Lesson Focus, “Talk to God when life gets tough,” as they decide appropriate responses.

▫▫ “Rise to the Throne” (Teaching Aids 7—9)

- Coin - Game markers

This board game reviews Bible stories from the first two units and helps children learn to turn to God and trust Him.

Before class, assemble the game board for “Rise to the Throne” using the directions on Teaching Aid 9 (the small sheet). Provide game markers (such as buttons or small squares of paper) and a coin.

Have the children read the directions under “To Play” on the bottom of Teaching Aid 9. Because this game reviews facts and applications from Lessons 1-9, there may be a few questions related to Lessons 8 and 9 which the children do not yet know. This game will be

played again in Lesson 9 to further strengthen the review.

▫▫ Stationary and fun pens▫▫ Floor pillows - Bibles - Whiteboard and markers

Allow your students to have a quiet time to pray about the tough situations in their lives.

Before class, arrange the area with large, comfy pillows to sit on, paper and pencils, pens, or markers to write or draw with (include clipboards or large books for a hard writing surface), and Bibles, and a CD playing quietly in the background.

Suggest they do this by praying silently or quietly with each other. Invite them to also write and illustrate their prayers. List Psalms of David’s prayers in tough times (3, 7, 22, 28, 57, and 59) for the kids to read as their prayer or talk about quietly.

You may want to leave this area set up throughout the quarter as a space for students to spend quiet time with God processing the lesson.

If possible, keep this activity separate from the others or even in another room with supervision. Students may want to spend time praying or reading together. As long as they remain focused and don’t disrupt the other students, allow students to participate as they feel led.

Children will explore the need to talk to God when life gets tough.

To help the children explore today’s Bible lesson from 1 Samuel 30, offer the children a choice of these activities.

Bible Response


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TAKE–HOMES

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Extra–Time ActivityHave the kids make a prayer chain. First have the kids cut construction paper into strips the size of links in a paper chain. Then on each strip, the kids write a brief prayer request. Each child may make as many links as he or she wants. Before joining the links, let the kids either share their requests and pray for each other or take a moment to silently talk to God about their concern. Then the kids staple together all the links to form a chain. Hang the chain in your classroom as a reminder to the kids that they can turn to God with anything that’s on their minds.

5 Friends, Lesson 7

5 Bible Discoveries, Lesson 7

5 Discovery Pack, Flashlight Tags

After the children have cleaned up their activities and gathered back into one group, help them apply the Bible story from 1 Samuel 30 with the following discussion.

We can talk to God when life gets tough. And life really gets tough sometimes! Maybe this week you will have a tough time dealing with something.

.. What are some tough things you might be facing? Students may mention a test at school, someone moving away, friends won’t play with me, getting in trouble at home, my team has an important game, etc.

.. How can talking to God about your tough time help? Let the kids take time to think through this question. As they recognize God’s nearness and willingness to listen, the children will be more likely to talk to Him during their tough times. Kids might talk about the strength God can give, help to know what to do, or maybe just patience to hang in there.

Pass out pencils and Bible Discoveries and have the children turn to page 4. Read the directions aloud. Then let a volunteer read the prayer starter. Allow time for the children to choose what they’d like to pray

and write it down. Encourage the children not to be sidetracked by spelling concerns but to concentrate on what they would honestly like to say to God, including asking, like David did, what God wants them to do. You might want to let the children move to different parts of the room to have some quiet time as they think and write. When finished, gather the group back together.

Have the children choose a friend or two to pray with. Let these pairs or small groups move to different parts of the room. The kids pray the prayers they wrote on their Bible Discoveries page. The kids may also pray for other concerns that they are comfortable sharing with each other. When the groups have all finished, have them join together.

Prayer TimeReinforce the unit by singing together the song for Unit 26 found on the PraisePac CD in the teaching aids packet.

Close class with a prayer praising God that we can talk to Him when life gets tough.

To apply the Bible story from 1 Samuel 30, children will choose to pray when life gets tough.

Materials:

- Bible Discoveries, p. 4 - Pencils - PraisePac CD and song

sheets - CD player - Friends, Lesson 7

lesson 7 when life gets tough -...

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