Mikal Keefer - 13 Very Bad Days and How God Fixed Them

13 VERY BAD DAYS AND HOW GOD FIXED THEM

Published by David C Cook

4050 Lee Vance Drive

Colorado Springs, CO 80918 U.S.A.

David C Cook U.K., Kingsway Communications

Eastbourne, East Sussex BN23 6NT, England

The graphic circle C logo is a registered trademark of David C Cook.

All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form without written permission from the publisher.

All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

LCCN 2017952543

ISBN 978-0-7847-2122-3

eISBN 978-0-8307-7299-5

2018 David C Cook

Developed by Standard Publishing.

The Team: Lindsay Black, Amy Konyndyk, Rachael Stevenson, Abby DeBenedittis, Susan Murdock

Cover Design/Illustration: Dennis Jones

This is the day the L ORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

God wants us to obey him.

Genesis 6:57:5

God is in control.

Genesis 37:1236

God has a plan.

Exodus 14:531

God wants us to trust him.

Daniel 6:124

God forgives us.

Jonah 1:12:10

God keeps his promises.

Luke 2:17

Jesus takes care of us.

Mark 4:3541

Jesus is powerful.

John 11:116, 3844

Jesus loves us.

Matthew 27:3250

Jesus rose from the dead.

Luke 24:112

Jesus saves us.

Acts 6:87:1; 7:5160

God can use us all.

Acts 9:18, 19b22

God desires action, not just words.

Acts 16:2533

First, thanks. Thanks for caring about children and for helping them see that even a bad day holds amazing surprises. Thats what the people who experienced the bad days described in these 13 sessions discoveredand what your kids will discover too.

With God, bad days are a chance for God to show his power!

These sessions for elementary kids are carefully designed to make your life easy. Theyre light on supplies, quick to prepare, and long on fun. Youll find most supplies in the churchs supply closet or kitchen or at home in your garage, pantry, or junk drawerno need to spend time ordering materials online.

Because these sessions are created so beginning teachers or mature teenagers can lead them confidently, you wont need highly trained teachers. And the variety of options in each session will snag the attentionand hold itof first-grade through sixth-grade children, including the boys!

Best of all, youll see kids grow in their faith as they open their hearts to what God shares with them through these 13 sessions.

Preparation is easy too. Each week youll focus on one key Bible truth, which children will explore and apply. Youll drive that point home through Bible exploration, fun discussion, giggle-worthy games, and Oh, wow! activities that engage kids in multiple ways through multiple learning styles.

Each week, your children will actually experience a Bible story. Theyll discover it, ponder it, talk about it, pray about it, and apply what they learn. If thats what youre looking forfor your children to do Gods Word instead of just hear ityoure in exactly the right place. And heres a tip: supersize the learning by using a kid-friendly version of the Bible to make sure the stories are understood by children.

We get it: sometimes you have to punt. A sermon goes long or short. Kids are quick to dive into a lesson or need some time to warm up to being together. Older kids might zip through an activity while their younger friends take longer.

Relax. Weve got you covered.

You can use these sessions with kids in practically any setting: in Sunday school, childrens church, evening programs, or while kids parents are attending an adult class or small group. Theres maximum flexibility because each session is written to last 45 minutes and then provides enough extras to fill a full hour. These sessions stretch to fit exactly what you need, when you need it. Theyre

• multi-agedsuitable for mixed ages of elementary children;
• easily adaptedsessions work for just a couple kids or a packed classroom;
• relationalchildren grow close to Jesus and one another;
• flexiblebrimming with options to fit varying time frames; and
• funeven easily distracted kids can engage, learn, and grow.

So are you ready for some fun? Lets dive in!

The Point: God wants us to obey him.

Scripture Connect: Genesis 6:57:5

Supplies for all Session 1 activities options: pencils, prepared poster, 10 index cards per child, Bibles, paper

When God interrupted Noahs life with instructions to build an ark, Noah wasnt looking for new projects. He was already busy raising a family. He had flocks and herds to tend. He was living his life.

But in a single day Noah received two challenging pieces of news. First, he was supposed to drop everything and gather materials, round up animals, and hammer together a floating zoo. And second, there was a flood coming. A big flood. Suddenly, what seemed like a strange request made perfect sense. Noah needed to build an arkand the sooner he got started, the better.

God asks us to do things that dont make sense too. At least, they dont make sense at first glance

Turn the other cheek when someone hurts us?

Forgive our enemies?

Give away a chunk of our income from every paycheck or allowance?

Silly. Senseless. Pointless. Except God knows something is coming that requires we value what he values, that we obey God and let him shape our hearts and minds. If were followers of Jesus, well be with God for eternity. Were learning how to obey God for when we get to our real homeheaven. Noah obeyed God, and as raindrops splashed against the arks deck, he was reminded yet again that God always wants us to obey himand thats a wise choice!

Time: about 5 minutes, depending on attendance

Supplies: pencils, prepared poster

Before kids arrive, draw a line on a poster. Write a 1 on the left end of the line, a 10 on the right, and a 5 in the middle. As kids arrive, ask them to pencil in their initials on the line.

Say: If this past week was so awful you wish youd slept through it, place your initials by the 1. If it was a great week you wish you could repeat, put your initials by the 10. Place your initials anywhere on the line that shows how you feel about this past weekexcept exactly on the 5. Because theres no such thing as a week thats exactly half good and half bad!