week #6 fear - razor planetmedia1.razorplanet.com/share/511981-5135/resources/... · 2014. 10....
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Good day Community Group Leaders! Below is your Week #6 CAGES material, also available at www.mccag.org by clicking on RESOURCES > COMMUNITY GROUP LEADER RESOURCES Quick Reminders:
• Please begin to prayerfully consider whether or not your group will continue to meet after the
‘CAGES’ series concludes. You may decide to meet only occasionally during the holidays (mid-‐November until early January) and then pick back up weekly or bi-‐weekly in 2015. You’re off to such a great start in these relationships. Let’s not lose that momentum. We have wonderful group resources available for you to utilize after the “CAGES” series, including www.RightNowTraining.org and the ever-‐growing list of group resources (available on your resource page at our website.) Or, your group may enjoy doing Truth Search next. I look forward to speaking personally with you about this.
• Send us any videos or pics from your group. Be sure we see faces and fun!
• Be certain to include your group’s plans for reaching out missionally in your weekly group report.
Sincerely His and yours, Pastor Dwayne
WEEK#6 – BULLETIN INSERT The Cage of FEAR Legitimate fear requires an imminent and powerful threat.
A spirit of fear lacks either imminence or power and reveals itself as anxiety, worry or dread. 2 Timothy 1:7 Anxiety is like a scarecrow, having no authority and only the power we give to it. Your fear is directly related to your own doubt concerning God. Fear may cause you to miss your:
Big moment of destiny (1 Samuel 14) Daily opportunities for fruitfulness (Matthew 25)
The key to escaping the cage of fear is to trust God. (Philippians 4:4-‐9)
1. Admit when you are anxious. 2. Surrender anxiety through prayer. 3. Feed your mind wisely. 4. Allow God’s peace to guard you.
MATERIALS NEEDED: Pencils/Pens Message notes bulletin inserts from Sunday See individual ORANGE activities for materials required.
WELCOME/SNACKS 20 minutes
MISSION MOMENT 10 minutes Finalize your group mission/outreach plans.
OPEN (Ice Breakers) 10 minutes Choose from these questions that are appropriate for all ages:
1. Briefly tell the group about the last time that you did something really daring.
2. What character or circumstance from a popular book or movie frightened you when you were younger (or still frightens you today)?
3. When you were afraid as a child, who would hold your hand and comfort you? How did that help you?
ADULT INTERACTION OVER SUNDAY’S TOPIC/MESSAGE 30-‐40 minutes
Choose from the following questions. Consider what will work best in your group. Be certain to refer to your notes from Sunday’s message as you facilitate your discussions.
1. In your own words, discuss some differences between legitimate fears and anxiety (“spirit of fear”). (Legitimate fears stem from a threat that is both imminent and powerful, while a spirit of fear, or anxiety, lacks either imminence or power. Legitimate fears cease after the threat is gone, while anxious fears can continue indefinitely, regardless of external circumstances. Legitimate fears come from the outside, while anxious fears come from within a person.) What are some results of each kind of fear? (Legitimate fears can keep us alive because they work alongside our God-‐given instinct for survival. Anxious fears slowly – or dramatically – drain life from us by sapping our strength, consuming our thoughts, and paralyzing our actions. We waste our lives worrying about what “might happen” instead of engaging in life as it truly is.)
2. On Sunday we heard: “Anxiety is like a scarecrow; it has no authority and only wields the power that we give to it.” Agree/disagree? Why?
3. Would you say that you are more afraid of missing opportunities than of making mistakes? Why or why not?
4. Is there a time in your life when fear may have caused you to miss a “big moment of destiny”? (See 1 Samuel 14:1-‐23)
5. How might fear be preventing you from making the most of the everyday opportunities and resources that you have to be more fruitful to God and others? (See Matthew 25:14-‐30) (Example: a fear of failure prevents me from trying for the promotion at work; I’m too afraid to participate in feeding the homeless on a Saturday with MCC; Fear prevents me from asking my spouse to have that important conversation with me that could make things a lot better; etc.) -‐ OR -‐ Where have you been “playing not to lose” instead of playing to win?
6. What is something daring you’d like to do for God now? (e.g. go on a missions trip; help out in a ministry; speak to a neighbor about Christ, etc.) What fears stand in the way of your doing it? What might God like to say to you about those fears?
GROUP RESPONSE AND PRAYER 10-‐15 minutes
Choose from the following questions. Consider which one(s) will work best in your group.
1. How would this coming week be tangibly different if you started living out your dreams instead of living out your fears?
2. READ: 1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. “ SAY: God loves us perfectly, so when we are afraid, we can take those fears to God, and trust that whatever is happening in our lives is in His hands. We don’t have to run away, we don’t have to isolate ourselves, and hurt those around us. We just have to trust Him with our lives. ASK: What are you afraid of? What fear in your life has become bigger than the God who created and formed you? Will you trust Him today or will you run away? Will you model for your children what perfect love can do to fear?
3. What specific anxiety or concern do you need to surrender to the Lord? What gets in your way of doing this?
4. You may do this together as a group or use the TRUSTING GOD page to allow individuals to do this as a personal activity during group time or later this week.
Read Philippians 4:4-‐9 aloud as a group. On Sunday we were encouraged to apply this passage of scripture: Admitting your anxiety, surrendering it through prayer, filling your mind with good stuff, and allowing God’s peace to guard your heart. Upon which of these actions do you tend to get stuck? How might the group help you with that step tonight and in the days ahead?
TRUSTING GOD
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. __Philippians 4:4-‐9.
On Sunday we were encouraged to apply this passage of scripture by: Admitting our anxiety, surrendering it through prayer, filling our minds with good stuff, and allowing God’s peace to guard our hearts. 1. What specific anxiety or concern do you need to surrender to the Lord?
2. Upon which of the above actions do you tend to get stuck? Why is this so? 3. How might the group help you with that step tonight and in the days ahead?
Week #6 – ORANGE Resources for Group Leaders and Parents
HELPING CHILDREN DEAL WITH FEAR Supplies: Candle (w/ stand & matches)
Hand fan of some kind (homemade is fine) One piece of paper for each child 1 clear plastic zip-‐lock bag
This simple demonstration can help the children to visualize prayer and how it can help us when we feel afraid. 1. Invite the children to write some things on the piece of paper
that cause them to be afraid (I can imagine that thunder, bad dreams, the dark, big barking dogs, and shots from the Dr. will make it on to the paper).
2. Next, light the candle, allowing the children to safely examine it. (Perhaps turn off the lights.) Tell the kids that the flame represents them.
3. Take your own folded paper fan and wave it gently toward the flame. The breeze from the fan makes the flame wobble back and forth and up and down. SAY: “The fan is like the things we are afraid of. When we are afraid, we can wobble all around like this flame is. We are not standing secure.”
4. Next, hold up a plastic zip-‐lock bag. Help the children observe that since the bag is transparent, it was difficult to see. SAY: “The plastic bag represents prayer. We can’t see prayer, but it can make a big difference when we feel afraid.” To demonstrate this point, hold the plastic bag between the candle and the fan, and wave the fan back and forth as you did before. Of course this time the flame will NOT flicker, because the bag is blocking the breeze. SAY: Although the scary situation may not go away when we pray, they can trust that God will give them peace.
5. If you like, have the children fold their fears into fans and allow them to attempt to make the flame flicker while you hold the zip-‐lock in place. Use this link for simple instructions for folding paper into a fan: www.wikihow.com/Make-‐Paper-‐Fans
6. Read Philippians 4:6-‐7 (NIRV): “Don’t worry about anything. Instead, tell God about everything. Ask and pray. Give thanks to him. Then God’s peace will watch over your hearts and your minds because you belong to Christ Jesus. God’s peace can never be completely understood.”
UNSEEN FAITH
This object talk demonstrates how faith in our Lord can help us from being crushed by fear.
MATERIALS: 2 plastic water bottles Old glove
PREPARATION:
Before group time, take an old glove and draw or glue the following letters on the knuckles: F -‐ E -‐ A -‐ R.
WHAT YOU WILL DO: You will take two empty plastic water bottles, and tightly cap one of them. Do not cap the other bottle. During class, you will put on the glove and form a fist to show the word fear. Then you will hit both bottles. The uncapped bottle will crush, but the one that has the cap on tight will not crush. You will compare the uncapped bottle to a person without faith, and the capped bottle to a person who has faith. Although faith itself is not visible, what faith produces is easy to see.
WHAT YOU CAN SAY:
Today I want to demonstrate how we can see faith. Here I have two empty plastic bottles. They look the same, but there is a difference. This one with a cap is full of faith. You cannot see it now, but it is there. The other bottle does not have faith—it is empty. (Put on the glove showing the word fear.) What do you think will happen to this bottle without faith when fear comes along? (Allow for answers, and then smash the bottle with your fist.) Do you see that fear was able to crush it? What about this bottle filled with faith? (Hit the capped bottle.) Look, fear could not crush it. In fact, it does not even look hurt. With faith, we get strength from God to overcome our fears. Jesus once said to His disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" (Mark 4:40) We cannot see faith itself, but what faith produces we can see quite easily, such as strength, courage, peace of mind, and self-‐control. We do not need to worry or be afraid of anything when we have faith in Jesus.
Psalm 56:3 “When I am afraid, I put my trust (faith) in you.”
SCARECROW Supplies: Scarecrow coloring page (next page)
Colored pencils, crayons, or markers
This activity will help children learn that God wants them to overcome their fears by trusting him. When they trust God instead of their fears, they will discover that their fears are powerless, just like an old scarecrow in the field.
Allow the children to color the scarecrow on the next page while you relate the following: Newly planted corn or pumpkins are a temptation to many species of birds and small mammals. Farmers put scarecrows in the fields (sometimes adding noise–makers, as well). Scarecrows work by providing a human-‐shaped presence in the garden or cornfield that frightens the wildlife away. Scarecrows look like people, even though they are not real. While this might work for a while, the critters eventually get wise to the fact that the scarecrow is not a living thing and that it poses no real threat. (That’s why you see birds sitting on the scarecrow in your picture.) God wants us to understand that our enemy, the devil, puts “scarecrow fears” in our lives to make us afraid. Our “scarecrows” might be fears like being afraid of the dark, being alone, fear of clowns, or the fear of something happening to someone you love. They are fears about things that aren’t at all likely to happen or to harm us; they only feel real. What are some scarecrow fears that you have? When we are afraid, it prevents us from trusting in God and from doing the things that God wants us to do. So it is important that we face our fears with faith in God. We might say that we must learn to “trust God and to doubt our fears”. Why shouldn’t we be afraid? God is with us no matter what fearful time we are going through. God says….
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
– Isaiah 41:10
My fears are like scarecrows – they only look real and want to hold me back. I will choose to trust
God and to doubt my fears.
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
– Isaiah 41:10
Fear Meets Faith
Supplies: index cards with questions and scriptures pre-‐written on them, optional sour patch kids candies and optional mirror for introduction
This teaching will take a considerable amount of time (probably 20 minutes or so). It can be used with the children during group time or given to parents to utilize sometime over the next week. Preparation: Write out each of the five questions on five index cards (one question per card). Write the corresponding five scriptures on another five index cards. How many of you are human here? Well if you are human (and I do believe all of you are), you are going to struggle with being afraid. You could be afraid of the dark, being alone, clowns, bugs, or the fear of something happening to someone you love. When I was younger, I used to be afraid of ___________. Share a story in which you were fearful as a child.
Did you know that there are hundreds of things to be afraid of? For example, some people have what is called Acerophobia, which is the fear of foods being sour. (Anyone up for a sour patch kid?) Others have Catoptrophobia, which is not the fear of cats, but the fear of mirrors. (Hold up a mirror and scream!) Still others are afraid of chopsticks, numbers, and certain fabrics. These may sound like silly fears to us, but to some people, these fears are real! What are some other things people may be afraid of? (Invite student responses.) God knew that we would be people who struggle with fear. He knew that in our world darkened by sin, there would be many things to be afraid of. If you search the Bible, the word “Fear” is mentioned 326 times. Over and over again, God says, “Do not be afraid.” “Do not be afraid?” How is that even possible? Let’s investigate today.
Conduct a question and answer time with the children. Distribute the 5 statements/questions on the index cards randomly to the children. Then distribute the five scriptures on index cards as well. As you lead the discussion, ask whoever has question #1 to read the question and open it for discussion amongst the children. Then invite whoever has the corresponding scripture card to read it aloud. Move on to question #2 when ready. 1. Our world is full of fear. Why shouldn’t we be afraid? God says….
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” – Isaiah 41:10 (God is with us no matter what fearful time we are going through.)
2. What if we don’t want to be afraid anymore. How can we stop?
“For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” – Isaiah 41:13
(He helps us. We can’t do it on our own. He gives us His Word to hide in our hearts when we are scared, His Holy Spirit to comfort us, grown-‐ups who follow Jesus to help us, prayer, and friendships. Make it clear to your students that you are always there to support them and help them get over a fear.)
3. What would happen if we don’t give our fears to God?
“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” – Romans 8:15 (Fears tend to grow, sometimes out of control. The more you are afraid, the less you live the life that God has for you. Being afraid is like being in a prison, but God has set us free. As His children, we can trust Him because He is a good Dad.”
4. How can we trust Him? Will He really help us with our fears?
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” – 1 John 4:18 (Jesus’ love for us is perfect. He showed us that by dying on the cross to rescue us from our sins. Perfect love is the only thing that can drive out all fear.)
5. What if we do learn to trust Him? What then?
“Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing.” – Psalm 34:9 (If we trust God more than we fear the world, we show Him honor and love. This verse says that we will lack nothing. In other words, we will be given everything we need in Him. Wow! Now that’s a promise worth holding onto!)