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How to BeJesus’ DiscipleLesson 2: Disciples Pray and Obey
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Lesson 2—Disciples Pray and Obey
Unit SummaryWe spend a great deal of time in ministry doing a great many wonderful things—reaching, teaching, and training kids for Jesus. However, Jesus gave just one primary command before He returned to heaven: “Go and make disciples.” What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? Can young followers of Jesus experience victory in their Christian walk? This unit introduces children to five basic principles for having P-O-W-E-R to follow Christ in their faith: Praying from the heart, Obeying the Holy Spirit, Worshiping with the Church, Explaining their faith to others, and Reading their Bibles daily. Yes, children can experience profound P-O-W-E-R in their walk with God when they begin to apply these life-changing disciplines.
Lesson SummaryA disciple of Jesus is a friend of Jesus. Jesus said so Himself when He said that He used to call us servants, but now He calls us friends. Our friends are those we talk to and have a relation-ship with. One of the most important keys to a good relationship with God is talking with God, and that is called prayer. But what good is prayer if we don’t follow through and do the things God asks us to do? A life of obedience is the mark of a true disciple. Jesus also said, “You are my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:14). When we pray and obey, we will discover all that God has for us and avoid so many of the pitfalls that this world would rather have us encounter.
Paul’s Power Principle: Life goes better when the Lord’s in charge!
How to Be Jesus’ Disciple
Know• God eagerly responds to their prayers, and
the Holy Spirit can direct their steps each day
Feel• Amazed that God communicates directly to
them via prayer and the Holy Spirit
Do• Make and begin using a “Pray/Obey” chart
each day this week
In this lesson, your children will...
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SPARK INTERESTChoose from the following activities and ideas to engage kids and grab their attention.
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Welcome!—Assigned SeatingSupplies: paper, tape
Ahead of time, label all the chairs with codes. If you don’t use chairs, have squares of paper on the floor laid out with codes printed on them. The codes can be simple combinations of letters and numbers, such as K5G4. (You can use the coding system from the classic game “Battleship,” numbering the rows A, B, C, D and the chairs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Assign seats with a code such as B4, meaning “row B, seat 4.”) As children arrive, give them slips of paper with codes. Their job is to find the matching code—that will be their seat for the beginning of the service.
When the service starts, ask children how they did finding their seats, and thank them for obeying and going along with the new seating plan. You will use this seating arrangement in “Let’s Meet-n-Greet.” Then they will have an opportunity to move to somewhere they’d prefer to sit.
PowerPoint PresentationAs you plan your lesson, select PowerPoint slides that correspond to the lesson elements you choose. In the “Slide Sorter” View, you can rear-range and/or delete the slides as necessary. For descriptions of the included slides and tips on their use, see the notes accompanying each slide.
General Supplies Bibles, puppets, video projection (optional) Pencils, pens, paper
Spark Interest WELCOME!: no additional supplies LET’S PLAY!: play dough or modeling clay
Explore Scripture LET’S LEARN: T-shirts, candy, remote-control car KEYVERSE: none
Inspire Action DRAMATIZE THE POINT: various props
Welcome to DiscipleTown
It’s Time for DiscipleTown
sUpplies
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gLet’s Meet-n-Greet!Welcome the kids to their new seats. Have them turn and meet the people next to them on both sides. Have them find out their neighbors’ names and what they like to do for a hobby.
Optional: After several minutes of greeting time, you may allow kids to move around and do some seat trading, if they would like, in order to sit next to friends they may have been separated from due to the code-assigned seating.
Leaders, be sure to stop whatever you are doing to move through the audience and greet the children, especially those you do not recognize. Announce any birthdays for the week. (See the How to Use DiscipleTown guide for quick and easy ways to acknowledge visitors and birthdays.)
Let’s Worship!In your time of worship during this lesson, the focus should be prayer. Open and close your time of singing with prayer. Choose songs that address God and offer praise to God, as opposed to songs that simply talk about God.
Recommended Song: When We Pray from Jesus Music Box by Yancy (not Nancy), available at Kidology.org/jesusmusicbox.
Puppet IntroLeader & puppet introduce today’s lesson. You will find a scripted version of this intro at the end of the lesson.
Puppet comes out carrying a prayer list. Leader asks to see it; he says he will join in praying with Puppet, because there is power in prayer when two people join in prayer. Puppet is very excited and says he is praying that his teacher will accidently leave the questions for the big test out on his desk during recess so that Puppet can come in and see what will be on the test. That way, he’ll have an advantage and won’t have to study so hard. He is so thankful that Leader is going to help him pray for this miracle. Leader says he isn’t going to pray for this. Puppet asks why—doesn’t he believe in miracles? The teacher normally hides the questions to the test, so it would truly be a miracle for him to leave them out so Puppet can see what will be on the test. Leader says he won’t pray for Puppet’s request because that would be cheating. Puppet says he sees it more as being wise and discerning and saving time. He’ll have more time for working on his Bible memory and sharing Christ with his neighbors! Leader says that cheating is wrong, and praying to ask God to help him cheat would make God a cheater too. Puppet hadn’t thought of that. Maybe God could just make the teacher forgetful. Leader says, “I think it is YOU who are being forgetful.” Puppet says, “Oh, yeah. I guess cheating is a sin, right?” Leader says, “Um, yes. We are supposed to pray to ask God to help us do the right thing, to help us OBEY.” Puppet says, “Do you think God will give me the power to do the right thing?” Leader says, “I know He will, if you ask Him.” Puppet says, “I need Him to help me, because on my own, I usually don’t.” Leader says, “Why don’t you try it?” Puppet says, “God, help me to do the right thing.” Leader: “There you go.” Puppet says, “Well, I know what I need to do now.” Leader says, “What’s that?” Puppet says, “I need to go study for that test now.” Leader says, “I’ll help you; let’s go.”
Let’s Play
Let’s Meet-n-Greet
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gLet’s Play! —Extreme PictionaryIn the classic game of Pictionary, contestants race to illustrate a word or phrase on a board or paper while their team tries to guess what it is before time is up. If their team fails, the other team gets a limited amount of time to identify the drawing. In this “Extreme Pictionary” game, the pencils and markers are gone, and the drawing is done with physical objects. The rest of the rules are primarily the same.
Divide the room into two groups, usually the right and left side of the room. Choose three or four children to come up on stage to participate in “drawing.” They get 60 seconds to create the word or phrase they take from a bucket while their team tries to call out what they think it is. The team members are “drawing” on the floor with the item described below. (It changes each week.) The other team watches silently. If the first team identifies it correctly, it gets 1,000 points. If it wasn’t guessed correctly when time is up, the other team gets 15 seconds to try to guess. No changes are made to what has been “drawn.” If the other team guess correctly, it is awarded a “steal” and gets 500 points.
You may play up to three rounds if time permits, so six words are provided.
Week two: Play with play dough or modeling clay.
Application: Isaiah 64:8 says that God is the potter and we are the clay. In order to obey God, we need to be moldable and pliable so we can be shaped into what God wants to make us.
Connect with Your KidsIt is one thing to tell kids they need to pray and obey. It is entirely another to give them a real-world example from someone they know who has done it. Prayerfully reflect on a time in your life when you have needed to “pray and obey,” and then God gave you the power to do the right thing. Share your story. It can have a powerful impact on your students. Don’t underesti-mate the power of your story on your students. We often tell Bible stories and forget that these Bible “characters” were just ordinary people like us. They didn’t know their stories would end up in the Bible; they just made choices like you and I have. So in a sense, your story is as much a Bible story as the stories of Joseph and Esther and Ruth and Daniel. And your story will mean as much to your students—perhaps more, because your kids actually know you!
Let’s Play
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gDiscipleTown VisitorCoach Knuckles: an enthusiastic coach for a thumb-wrestling team. Each week during this unit he will visit the group; his experience with his team helps to illustrate the lesson of the day.
Costume/Props: Coach Knuckles should come in dressed in athletic gear, with a water bottle, towel, whistle, clipboard and pen, and running shoes.
[Coach enters feeling bummed out; he is mumbling to himself and pacing back and forth.]
Coach: I can’t believe it! We trained so hard. We should have had that! There is no reason that should have happened. [Continues pacing and gestures in frustration.] I thought I was clear. We could have had a perfect season! I’m going to have to speak to him!
Leader: Hi, Coach! How was your first round of competition?
Coach: It was amazing, it was fantastic! We were set to do a clean sweep and then...
Leader: And then...
Coach: Cheating! One of my star players was disqualified for cheating! [Gets very heated.] Do you know how hard it is to cheat at thumb wrestling?
Leader: Using two thumbs?
Coach: That’s it! That’s the only way! Your second hand can’t be involved in the match! It’s one of the only rules, but NO-O-O-O! My player decided that he knew best and did his own thing. Even after I specifically explained the rules!
Leader: Nasty mistake! Sorry, Coach!
Coach: Mistake? That was no mistake, it was blatant disobedience. When you are given specific instructions and you do the opposite, that isn’t an oopsie!!
Leader: Obedience can be hard.
Coach: Ah, hard yes, but very important! We let the whole team down when we don’t obey! I’m going to have to go deal with this. I can’t have this happen again next round! We have a cham-pionship to win!
Leader: Well, good luck! I hope you get everything sorted out!
Coach: Oh I will. Obedience is the very best way to show that you’re a part of the team!
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Let’s Search!—Bible DashSupplies: Bibles
Ask all kids with Bibles to participate, or invite a few volunteers to come to the front. As children hold Bibles closed with hands on covers, state the Bible reference twice, then on the command “SEARCH!” have the students race to locate the verse. Once they have a finger on the verse, they can stand and call out, “FOUND IT!” Have the first child read the verse aloud while you project the verse on a screen via PowerPoint. See suggestions below for comments on each verse. Keep your comments brief and to the point of the lesson.
• 2 Chronicles 7:14 If we will be humble and pray, God will listen.• John 15:7 God desires to answer your prayers.• 1 John 5:14–15 Ask in accord God’s will and we’ll have it!• Galatians 5:22–23 These are the things the Holy Spirit produces in our life.• John 14:26 The Holy Spirit reminds us of things.• John 16:13 The Holy Spirit will guide you toward truth.
Paul’s Power Principle: Life goes better when the Lord’s in charge!
Suggested Bible NarrativeJoshua 2–3—Rahab and the Spies and Crossing the Jordan
Once God’s people decided to obey, they had to get across the Jordan River. Spies went into the land; this time they obeyed God. Crossing the river required obedience in order to see the miracle God had in store for them. Something that hadn’t been seen since their ancestors had crossed the Red Sea many years before! The people obeyed everything the Lord and Joshua commanded them to do—EXACTLY.
Let’s Learn!—Disciples Pray and ObeySupplies: (for each week): five large T-shirts each with one of the following letters on them: P-O-W-E-R. Make them look as much like superhero logos as possible.
Invite five children to come on stage. Put the T-shirts on the children and let them know that they are the Power Team for this week! This month we will be learning about how to have P-O-W-E-R in our Christian walk! And each of these letters in the word power contains a secret to how we access God’s power to win over evil and live for the Lord! Explain that you are going to teach a motion for each “superhero.” Each child will act it out as they say their “superpower.”
The first is P. Have the child wearing the P shirt step forward. P represents “Pray from your heart.” Have the child wearing the letter P fold his or her hands as if in prayer and say, “Pray from your heart” loudly!
The next letter is O. Have the child wearing the O shirt step forward. O stands for “Obey the Holy Spirit.” The child will give two enthusiastic thumbs up while yelling, “Obey the Holy Spirit!”
EXPLORE SCRIPTURESeize on the children’s interest and direct them into God’s Word.
Let’s Search-James 4:4
Let’s Learn
Bible Narrative
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gContinue having each child step forward in order. Teach the following letters and what they mean while each child does the appropriate motion.
• W: “Worship with your church.” The child holds hands up as if in worship.• E: “Explain your faith to others.” The child points to his or her heart with both hands and then
motions outward, pointing at everyone else in a sweeping motion.• R: “Read your Bible daily.” The child makes a circle with his or her hands, starting at the top and
ending with hands in front in the shape of an open Bible (representing the globe, or daily).
In summary:• Pray from your heart• Obey the Holy Spirit• Worship with your church• Explain your faith to others• Read your Bible daily
After the children return to their seats, note the letters you are teaching on today. Put those shirts on hangers and leave them on display throughout the lesson. In this lesson, the focus is on the letters P and O, so leave those shirts on display.
Object Lesson—Fancy Prayer!The P in power stands for pray. So let me open this part of our lesson in prayer. Proceed to go into a “fancy prayer.” Say “Lord” or “Father God” A LOT in your prayer. Use lots of big words and be flowery in your speech. Raise your voice and arms and be dramatic and make bold promises and quote verses that have nothing to do with what you are saying, and conclude with images of rainbows and doves and kittens and lambs dancing together in the clouds—use your imagination!
Then ask the kids if they were “impressed” with your prayer. (Most will say no.) Tell the kids you are glad they weren’t impressed because it wasn’t a genuine—a real or sincere—prayer.
Read Matthew 6:5–8. What does this passage tell us about prayer? (1. Don’t show off. 2. Pray privately. 3. God already knows what we need.) Read Hebrews 10:22. How does God describe the kind of prayers He wants? (sincere heart, assurance from faith)
Sometimes we want to pray, but we aren’t sure what to pray. Present the H-E-A-R-T acrostic to help your students remember various types of prayer: praise, confession, requests, and thanksgiving. (If you have taught DiscipleTown’s How to Pray, this will be review.)
H: Honor God with praiseE: Examine your lifeA: Ask for your needsR: Request help for othersT: Thank God for blessing you
It is one thing to talk about prayer; it is another to actually train kids to pray. After explaining the elements of the H-E-A-R-T method of praying, take five minutes and guide the kids through actually doing this. Encourage them to spread out around the room and find a quiet place. Play some peaceful instrumental music. Guide them through each letter, taking about 10 seconds to give them the letter and what it is, and then be silent for about 40 seconds. Use the last 10 seconds for a brief sample prayer. Don’t feel you need to do this for them. Let it be their time of prayer. Go through each letter using a total of just one minute per letter including your talking/praying time. At the end, explain that what they have just done, they can do every day at home, without your help! It’s that simple to do, and it will make a huge difference in their lives.
POWER Acrostic 6
HEART Acrostic 6
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gMini Skit: Have a volunteer from another room call you on your cellphone so that you will need to stop and answer it. Put it on speakerphone. Have the person on the other end either pretend to be your spouse or simply a friend asking for a favor. It needs to be something that you can do, such as buying something on the way home, helping someone move, or lending something to someone. The caller can be unaware that you are in a church service, and apologize for the interruption. The key is that the caller should thank you for the favor at the end of the call, and you say, No need to thank me yet. I haven’t done it yet. The caller says, “Hey, just doing what the Bible says to do, ‘ask with thanksgiving’!” You shrug and remark, I forgot about that.
Read Philippians 4:6–7. Point out that instead of worrying, we are to take our requests to God. And we can ask “with thanksgiving,” thanking God even before He answers, because we know He will do what is best for us. That is WHY we can have the “peace” promised in this verse.
The O in power stands for obey.
Game —Mirror, MirrorTell the kids to break up into pairs. Use leaders to make sure every child can participate. Have them choose who will be the “mirror” first. This person must “reflect” or mimic whatever the other person does for the next minute. No talking is allowed. After one minute, switch who is the mirror. Talk about how this is like obeying Jesus.
Read 1 Corinthians 11:1. Paul asked believers to “imitate” him as he “imitated Christ.” We need to imitate Christ; we should imitate others only when they are imitating Christ. Read 3 John 1:11. We are to imitate what is good, and not what is evil.
How do we hear from God? Read John 8:47. When we belong to God, we learn to hear from Him, through His Word and in our heart. The more Scripture we read, the more “material” the Holy Spirit has to work with in our heads. If we take quiet time to pray and listen for His voice, we’ll learn to hear. Read Jeremiah 6:10. God wants to speak to us, but we must be listening!
Operation Listen Carefully!Supplies: bag of candy
Tell the kids you are going to give them an important message, but they must listen very carefully in order to get the message from you. Start by mouthing the words to the message below (or one you make up) as clearly as you can and see if any of them can figure it out. A few may understand and obey. Then, start to whisper the message so that more can hear. Some may move closer to hear you better, which is okay.
The message is: You may take one piece of candy from the bag by my feet.
After all the children have finally heard the message and gotten their candy, point out that they needed to concentrate to get the message. Some needed to listen very carefully. Others needed to move closer. Some asked others what you said. Others saw what others were doing, and responded by doing the same thing. These are all ways that we listen to God. We focus on God. We concentrate. We listen. We move closer to Him. We ask others what God is saying. We see others responding to God and decide to respond as well.
Read John 10:27–28. God says that He is our shepherd. This not only means that He takes care of us, as we are familiar with in Psalm 23, but it also means that we learn to hear His voice.
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gObject Lesson—Remoteless Remote Control CarSupplies: remote control car (without the remote!)
Show a remote control car (or other remote control toy) and talk about how fun and amazing it is, and then set it down and start to give it commands. Obviously, it won’t work. Ask the kids what is wrong. They will tell you that you need the remote control. The car needs the remote in order to do the things it was made to do. It’s pretty useless otherwise. In the same way, by ourselves, we can’t be or do or experience what we were created for if we aren’t controlled by the Holy Spirit. We need to be listening to God.
Read John 14:23. If we love Jesus, we will obey Him. He is like the remote control that gives us instructions about which way to go in life. Read Psalm 32:8. God will instruct and teach us which way to go, but we have to be listening. (We also need a clear conscience, if you want to touch on verses 1–2.)
“Pray / Obey” ChartMake two columns on a piece of paper. On the top of the left column, write “Pray.” Ask the kids to list My Requests and to record God’s Answers during the week. At the top of the right column, write “Obey.” Have the kids list Holy Spirit “Promptings” (times when the Holy Spirit nudges them) and to write My Responses (what they did with each Spirit-led prompting).
Dee’s Disciple Tip: When in doubt, give a shout—to God!
KeyVerseTopic: God’s PowerReference: 2 Peter 1:3
As you review the KeyVerse, focus on the phrase, “given us everything we need.” God gives us everything we need! When we pray, this is important to keep in mind—God will give us what we need. When we are tempted to do wrong, it is because sin is trying to get what we need the wrong way. Prayer helps us obey so that we can enjoy God’s best in God’s way.
Object Lesson: A shopping list. Show a list of things you might want from the grocery store. Talk about why it is helpful to make that list ahead of time. God knew in advance when you would be born, what would happen to you, and everything you would need. He never forgets and He never gets surprised. Sometimes we have to be patient while He is working in our life, but He that began a good work in you will finish it! (Philippians 1:6)
KeyVerse-2 Peter 1:3
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Dramatize the PointThe drama for this series is read by a narrator while the actors simply act out what is said. It is optional whether you have them say their few lines or whether the narrator says them and they simply move their mouths and hands and pretend to be speaking. Having Jack and Jill familiar with the script is helpful but not necessary.
Dark Pretender has stolen a bucket of Living Water and taken it up to the top of Deception Hill. Adven-turers Jack and Jill are invited on a quest to get it back!
Characters: Jack should be dressed like Tom Sawyer—overalls, gold crown, handkerchief hanging out of his pocket, pants rolled up, white socks, and sneakers. Jill is dressed in a longer dress with a bon-net, a picnic basket and braided hair, kneesocks, and Mary Jane style shoes. The Dark Pretender is dressed in a snazzy suit, looking charming, witty, and anything but sinister. Sign Holder: no costume required. Messenger: Dressed in running shorts and running shoes, carrying a letter on parchment paper, rolled and tied with a ribbon.
Props: letter on parchment, tied with a ribbon; birthday crown; picnic basket with picnic items (food, plates, cups, napkins, etc.), picnic blanket; five signs, one that says each of the following: Wind, Footsteps, Dark Pretender, Chirping, Suddenly
[Create a grassy knoll with a 6’ x 6’ piece of green turf or carpet and large houseplants/greenery. Nar-rator stands at the side of the stage and explains the noises the audience will need to make to add to the story! Hold up the signs one at a time and have children practice making the sounds.]
Wind: Whoosh! Whoosh!Footsteps: Kids slap hands on knees like footsteps.Dark Pretender: Kids all say, “Oh no!”Chirping: Kids all chirp like birds.Suddenly: Kids all say, “Da-da-da-dum” (holding out last sound).
[Assign a sign person to hold up the signs whenever you say the key words on the signs. Jack and Jill are ready in their costumes for narration to start. Narrator should pause to allow noises and action as he/she reads.]
Narrator: Jack and Jill had decided! They were going to go on the quest to find the bucket of Living Water that was stolen by the DARK PRETENDER. They would rescue it from Deception Hill, and everything would be saved! They arrived first thing this morning with birds CHIRPING and loud FOOTSTEPS at the bottom of Deception Hill. Jill inspected Jack from toe to crown. Jack spun Jill around to make sure she was ready to go! Jill was excited but a bit afraid! Today they would head up Deception Hill to find the bucket of Living Water. Jack grabbed Jill’s hand, and together they began climbing.
Narrator: Their FOOTSTEPS echoed across the valley as they headed up Deception Hill. As they climbed the WIND blew and the birds continued their CHIRPING. Jack and Jill looked at the amazing view all around them. SUDDENLY, the birds were quiet and the air was still. Jill shivered and Jack froze as he SUDDENLY heard FOOTSTEPS coming up behind them. They both turned to look. There was a very nice-looking man in a fancy suit coming up the hill after them. Could he be a helper? Maybe he knew where the Bucket of Living Water was!
Narrator: Jack and Jill stopped in their tracks and turned to face the stranger. They both felt cold and rubbed their arms to get warm. The stranger arrived with a big smile on his face! He waved grandly and said a fine hello to Jack and Jill. The stranger asked Jack and Jill where they
INSPIRE ACTIONEncourage kids to apply the Bible truth to their lives.
Jack and Jill
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gwere headed. They pointed to the top of the hill and explained to the stranger they were look-ing for the bucket of Living Water. The stranger looked surprised. He had heard of the missing bucket and told Jack and Jill that he had heard some children talking about it down in the valley. He pointed in the opposite direction Jack and Jill were headed. He promised the children they would find the clues to the missing bucket down there. With a wave and a twirl the stranger continued walking up Deception Hill.
Narrator: As the stranger’s FOOTSTEPS disappeared, the birds began CHIRPING and the WIND began to blow. SUDDENLY Jack and Jill felt warmer again, but now they were very confused. The stranger seemed to know exactly what he was talking about. Were they headed in the wrong di-rection? Did they read the letter wrong? Should they go back down to the valley? Jill was getting so upset that she slumped to the ground and began to cry. Jack had to think of something quick. SUDDENLY, he had a bright idea. He sat down beside Jill and explained to her that they should pray and ask the King of a Thousand Hills to help them know which way to go. Jill thought this was a brilliant idea, so they both knelt down to pray. They prayed earnestly, asking the King of a Thousand Hills for help and power to finish this important task.
Narrator: As they finished praying, a big gust of WIND blew and Jack noticed the stranger’s hat blowing past him. SUDDENLY it got very cold again, and Jill jumped up with surprise! “Wait a min-ute,” she exclaimed. “The cold, the WIND, that hat! They all belong to the DARK PRETENDER.” Jack couldn’t believe his ears. It all made sense! The DARK PRETENDER had tried to trick them with his charm and good-sounding advice. Jack and Jill knew that the King of a Thousand Hills had sent them a sign, so they picked themselves up and kept walking up Deception Hill. [Jack and Jill hike off stage.] Stay tuned next week to find out what happens when they reach the top of Deception Hill!
Object Talks—P & O = Pray & ObeySupplies: video projection
The short video clip for this lesson features Karl, the Kidologist, doing a short object lesson featuring two letters, P and O, as they interact with the voice of a child and explain first two secrets to having power in the Christian life: Pray and Obey. Use this short teaching video to show the kids or to train a leader to do the talk “live.” (Special voice guest: Luke Bastian)
Featured Verses: John 1:12, Psalm 25:4
Let’s Talk!—Small Group DiscussionSupplies: simple drawing by Leader, pencils (1 per child), blank paper (1 per child)
Ahead of time, draw a pattern or design using basic shapes (squares, triangles, circles). The shapes can and should overlap each other but shouldn’t be too complicated.
Pass out a pencil and paper to each child. Choose an older child to be your describer. Set the describer up behind a book or cover with the drawing you created ahead of time. Be sure to do it so that the other students cannot see the design you created. Instruct the describer to explain to the other kids how this picture is laid out so that they can draw the picture by obeying his or her instructions. (For example, “There is a small circle in the center of the page. Under the small circle is a large triangle. The bottom of the triangle is as wide as the bottom of the page.”) Once the exercise is complete, allow the students to compare their drawings to the original artwork.
Let’s Talk
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gUse these questions to discuss the day’s topic within your small groups:1) What was difficult about this activity?2) In order to have a hope of getting this drawing close to the original, what did you have to do?3) Why is obeying God kind of like this activity?4) Why is it important for us to trust God and obey Him?5) Can we trust Him even if it doesn’t make sense to us or we don’t have all the pieces of the puzzle? Why or why not?6) How can we learn to trust God more?7) In what areas do you need to trust God more?
DiscipleTown Super CitizenAward the Super Citizen certificate to someone caught doing “the right thing” during the service.
Let’s Pray!Dear Jesus, we thank You that You know the best plan for our lives. We want to learn to trust You more. Please forgive us for the times that we disobey and go our own way. We invite Your Holy Spirit to teach us and help us to know what is right and give us the power to obey. We desire to walk in Your ways every day. Thank You for loving and helping us. In Your name, amen.
Cy’s Challenge: Do what you’re asked right away without delay!
Let’s Review!Use these questions to review the lesson with the children:
1) How do you know if someone has obeyed?2) Why does God want us to obey?3) What happens when we don’t obey?4) How can we become better at obeying God?
Let’s Review
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gFor the HomeDiscipleTown Table Talker: Give each child a copy of this week’s DiscipleTown Table Talker. As you show them how to put it together, encourage the kids to ask their parents to lead family devotions three times this week.
Parent E-mail: Copy and send the e-mail below to help your parents connect with their kids during the week. Send them early in the week, but not on Sunday. As a courtesy, be sure parents have opted to receive these e-mails. Review and edit as necessary to reflect the lesson elements you have used. You can also find this e-mail as a Microsoft Word document in your download bundle.
Dear Mom and Dad,
This week we continued our investigation into how to be a disciple. We learned that obedience is a key component to being a good disciple. Often obedience feels like drudgery, but we want to encourage you to build your child(ren) up in their obedience. Remind them that when they obey you as their parent they are also obeying God and practicing this very important skill of a disciple.
As you sit down to meals this week, use the Discipletown Table Talker to initiate discussions about being a disciple and being obedient. Share your own stories and lessons of times you obeyed, and perhaps even times you didn’t, and the results of those choices.
As you proceed, if you need support or have questions about how to help your child(ren) understand this significant principle, let us know how we can help! We are praying for you and your child(ren) as you deepen your walk as disciples of Christ this month.
Building young disciples,
[Your Name]
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Chip’s Snack Time!Supplies: sliced apples, honey or caramel sauce, plates, disposable wipes
Explain that you are going to give the instructions for eating their snack today, and that you would like them to practice obedience. The instructions are that they can hold the apple slices in their fingers, but their fingers cannot touch the caramel/honey sauce. Allow them to eat. Ask them why you would make such a rule for their snack. Allow discussion as needed.
Additional IdeasBop It—If you can locate a “Bop It” game, it is a fun interactive electronic toy that challenges the player’s ability to obey audio instructions quickly. The game speeds up as the player follows the instructions of “bopping,” pulling, or twisting the different parts of the toy. Invite different children up on stage to try the toy and then talk about why the game is difficult. Tell them that obedience takes concentration and practice, but they get better the more they work at it.
BONUS MATERIALSUse these options to extend your time or as substitutes for the ideas above.
How to Be Jesus’ Disciple—Lesson 2 © 2013, DiscipleLand. Permission granted to reproduce for volunteers.
DIRECTOR’S NOTESThe words in italics are notes for you and your puppeteers; they are not to be read aloud.
[Puppet* comes out carrying a long prayer list.]
Leader: Hey there, [puppet name], what are you reading?
Puppet: Oh, this is my prayer list.
Leader: Great idea! Can I see it? I would love to join you in praying for the things on your list.
Puppet: You would? Why?
Leader: Well, because the Bible says that there is power in prayer when more than one person joins in.
Puppet: [Very excited:] That is fantastic! One of the things I am praying for is that my teacher will accidently leave the questions for the big test out on his desk during re-cess so that I can come in and see what will be on the test. That way I’ll have an advantage and won’t have to study so hard.
Leader: Uh ...
Puppet: Thank you so much for helping me pray for this miracle!
Leader: Sorry [puppet name], I will not be praying for that prayer request.
Puppet: What? Why? Don’t you believe in miracles?
Leader: I am not praying for this because I would praying to help you cheat!
Puppet: Cheating? Well no, I see it more as being wise and discerning and saving time. I’ll have more time for working on my Bible memory and sharing Christ with my neighbors! I’m sure God wants all of those things to hap-pen, right?
Leader: I agree with most of that except that the Bible says that cheating is wrong, and praying to ask God to help you cheat would make God a cheater too.
Puppet: Oh, wow, I hadn’t thought of that. Maybe God could just, uh, make the teacher forgetful?
Leader: I think it is YOU who are being forgetful.
Puppet: I guess there is no way around it. Cheating is a sin no matter what, right?
Leader: Um, yes. We are supposed to pray to ask God to help us do the RIGHT thing, to help us OBEY.
Puppet: Do you think God will give me the power to do the right thing?
Leader: I know He will, if you ask Him.
Puppet: I need Him to, because on my own, I usually don’t.
Leader: Why don’t you try it?
Puppet: [Bows head and prays:] Dear God, please help me to do the right thing.
Leader: There you go!
Puppet: Well, I know what I need to do now.
Leader: What’s that?
Puppet: I need to go study for that test.
Leader: Great idea! I’ll pray that everything you study sticks in your brain!
Puppet: Now THAT is a good thing to pray for; I’ll join you in that!
*PUPPET: Develop a puppet character to use regularly. The children will get to know the personality and enjoy these regular visits. Dee, Cy, and Paul puppets are available at DiscipleLand.com.
Puppet Intro—Prayer Request
curriculum Map
.comTM
How to Grow Spiritual Fruit
How to Make Good Friends
How to Walk in the Spirit
How to Be Jesus’ Disciple
How to Build Character
How to Navigate the New Testament
How to Explain My Faith
How to Earn Eternal Rewards
How to Follow God’s Plan
How to Make Good Choices
How to Navigate the Old Testament
How to Be Jesus’ Disciple
How to Know the Truth
How to Discover Gifts and Talents
How to Walk Victoriously
How to Meet with God
How to Worship God
How to Use My Bible
How to Show Respect
How to Pray
How to Be Faithful Workers
How to Be Jesus’ Disciple
How to Memorize God’s Word
How to Be Global Christians
(DiscipleTown Units in no particular order)
Each DiscipleTown Unit will teach your kids an essential “how to” skill to become victorious disciples of Jesus!