Mikal Keefer - 13 Very Big Mistakes People Made and What God Did about Them

13 VERY BIG MISTAKES PEOPLE MADE AND WHAT GOD DID ABOUT 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 2017952574

ISBN 978-0-8307-7258-2

eISBN 978-0-8307-7298-8

2018 David C Cook

Developed by Standard Publishing

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

Cover Illustration/Design: Dennis Jones

If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

1 John 1:9

We honor God when we obey him.

Genesis 2:1518, 22; 3:119

Being jealous hurts everybody.

Genesis 4:316

God is more powerful than anyone.

Exodus 5:14; 7:1424

We worship only God.

Exodus 20:14; 32:18

God knows best.

1 Samuel 13:814

God gives us strength to do what he wants.

1 Kings 19:112, 18

We cant hide from God, and we dont need to.

Jonah 1:15, 1517

God cares about our hearts and our actions.

Matthew 23:17, 2728

We can trust Jesus.

Matthew 14:2231

Lets make sure were doing what God wants.

Acts 9:16; 13:25

God wants us to tell the truth.

Acts 5:110

God wants us to put him first.

Luke 18:1830

Jesus loves children.

Luke 18:1517

First, thanks. Thanks for caring about children and for helping them dig up 13 mistakesbig mistakes!that people in the pages of the Bible made. Youll explore the mistakes, figure out what went wrong, and show kids how to avoid those mistakes themselves. Your kids might be surprised at all the ways people got themselves in trouble, and even more surprised at how God used those people for his purposes anyway.

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 six-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: We honor God when we obey him.

Scripture Connect: Genesis 2:1518, 22; 3:119

Supplies for all Session 1 activities options: pencils, prepared poster, paper, plastic or paper cups (1 per child), water, towels, Bible, clean socks (1 per child), markers (that wont bleed through) or colored pencils, 10-foot clothesline (or heavy twine)

Its easy to criticize Adam and Eve. They had just one rule to obey. Just oneto not eat the fruit from a specific treeand yet they disobeyed. Big mistake.

But are we all that different?

Jesus said that, to please God, we should love him with all our hearts, souls, and minds and love our neighbors as ourselves (Matt. 22:3540).

Two rules. Just two.

And how have we done with obeying those two rules?

As you prepare for this session with your kids, if you feel a tug of conviction about your own disobedience to God, pause. Let that conviction do what it needs to do: call you to change, repentance, and freedom.

In what ways can you honor him today?

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!

After kids have signed in, give them 30 seconds each to explain why they placed their initials where they did. Be sure to include your own initials and explain your placement on the line. Kids will begin to express themselves more over time, and hearing their stories will help you adapt this lesson to make it relevant to your kids lives.